9.9.2024 Fall River School Committee

hey guys I'd like to call to order the regular meeting of the Fara school committee September 9th Deb would you please call the role Mr a here Mr Bailey Mr Das here Mr Cory here miss lar here miss Pereira May Coogan here salute to the flag pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy 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 recording or Transmissions are being made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible citizens input okay we have a number of citizens that want to speak

tonight we are going to respectfully request that you honor the three minute rule uh it'll definitely give everybody the same equal opportunity to talk and we're going to lead off with John Andre Prospect Street Lead Teacher three minutes John hello okay um Theodore Roosevelt said the best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done and self-restraint to keep

from meddling with them while they do it I'm going to use this logic to express my concern regarding the proposal to increase the number of classes that High School lead teachers teach um we've stated outright that with four classes the job is impossible Any teacher at the high school would tell you already that two preps isn't enough time in the day to complete their responsibilities already and adding leadership

responsibilities on top of that limited time frame is is just not imaginable we've talked about the necessity for our flexibility the time needed to address issues and put out fires and the work it takes to coach and your proposal has hardly budged and I want to talk about that um you said if High School teachers teach the same as Elementary and Middle School leads um it would restore Equity

to the position and then I I think you rethought that stance which I really do appreciate um because the stipend for high school leads was increased given that we teach the extra class your newly proposed stipend is an improvement but it's still kind of a huge pay cut just to be clear I'm open to showing you my math at the next bargaining meeting but um for now just know this I'm mentoring

three people this year mentoring three people will earn me about 3/4 of your newly proposed s meaning for me simply Consulting with three people is almost as lucrative as leading a department of 50 if you include par professionals it's a department of over a 100 the math there it it doesn't make sense and truthfully in the end no number you propose is worth our valuable time we just want the

prep to do our jobs um The Proposal the the claim about Equity the adjustment to the stipend it feels like a thinly veiled attempt to cut costs and circumvent the fact that we aren't paying a wage that fills classes sure um if this goes through and the lead teachers taught the extra class like eight more classes at the high school would be filled and that's great sure but the con is that you'd lose us nearly

all of us I've I've checked uh this proposal has forced us to have that difficult if then discussion with our Deans and supervisors and that's a shame because we're all passionate about being lead teachers at dery do I think we should get paid Bo like yeah duh right um but did I apply to be a lead for the money no not at all um I like helping my department head because I think she's an

excellent boss to work for I like helping my staff because um special at is challenging and it's also very rewarding and I like helping my school because I think dery has a huge amount of potential and we're we're getting there um we've made so much progress crippling our lead teachers like this is just a step in the wrong direction and I think it would reverse a lot of that progress to close this out um I'll add

that in many districts Deans teach a class and this hasn't been done in this distri district for a very long time because we recognize the importance of having and this is how the kids say it time to cook um so please also give me and my leads at dery high school time to cook please recognize the time that is required for lead teachers to implement strategies that will move the needle the

time that's needed to push into tough classes to offer support the time it takes to coach new staff and the time it takes to do our jobs thank you thank you

I need a motion to wave the rules the next speaker is from Warwick so moved do I have a second second I have a motion a second all in favor I opposed unanimous Helen Shoemaker War Rhode Island uh three minutes please Helen thank you good evening my name is Helen Schoonmaker and I'm an ESL teacher and teacher leader at cus I want to describe my financial situation to you my take-home pay is

$414 28 a month my mortgage is $2,289 26 cents a month I try to put in extra on my principal usually around 200 this leaves me with $1,615 and2 this is used for medical appointment co-pays Med medication co-pays gas from my car once a week because I travel from Warwick every day gas for my house electricity water credit card bills necessary repairs and more when I can I try to put some in

savings I haven't even mentioned buying things for my classroom because there are things I or my students need that as far as I know the district does not provide timers vinyl to cover my door's window a rug during my elementary days binders dividers for the binders good whiteboard markers and not the ones that last a day or don't erase well and so much more not to mention many language

dictionaries that I made sure were mcast approved because for the longest time in my first nine years here the district did not provide them for our multilingual Learners last year last year we finally got District purchase dictionaries and groceries sometimes I can pay for them but not every time my parents have been a blessing and helped me those times but that is not the case for everyone not to mention unexpected

expenses I currently have $451 5 in savings and $21 in checking for a total of $472 between both just this weekend my car needed repair for almost 2400 I couldn't pay it my father did to spare me credit card debt and something is still wrong with it and I again will be unable to pay it without without using my credit card or relying on my father I'm living paycheck to

paycheck and this is Step 10 with a masters with a teacher leader stipend I am I am single and don't have children there are plenty of single parents or households in which only one adult can work I cannot imagine supporting a family on only my salary I only one of roughly 900 members you may think my situation is unique but it's not this is my 11th year in Fall River despite the insufficient pay I stay

because right now I can I hope to marry and have children someday and my salary will no longer be just enough but for now I stay and want to stay for the child who ran to me the first day of my second year teaching at Henry Lord under Dr curlyy screaming Miss yes you didn't leave me like so many others do but I guarantee you I could get a job anywhere else because of the high demand

for ESL just look at dery and because I am told by others if you teach in Fall River you can teach anywhere teaching in Fall River teaching in fall river is a badge of honor for the wrong reasons we should not be known as that District where teachers simp survive but the district where teachers Thrive and you have the power to change that thank you

thank next the next speaker I'll need a motion to wave the rules from Middletown Rhode Island moov second I have a motion to second all in favor I opposed unanimous uh Carrie Divine Samson Lane Middletown R is this is my 29th year of teaching I began in 1995 at the age of 24 I am now 53 years old which means I've officially spent more than half of my life in the

classroom I can honestly say that I have as much passion for what I do now as I did almost 30 years ago but I'm angry and I frustrated which has led me to want to share some facts here today fact I deeply care for my students as most of us do I work tirelessly to provide them with the support they need both academically and personally I am at once an educator mediator crisis manager data

analyst and care provider fact I am one of the most important adults in many of my students lives as are my colleagues fact what we do is valuable the young people of Fall River are extremely valuable and deserve every opportunity to realize their best selves and contribute to their city and Society undeniably their education is a huge part of sending them on this path we Educators encourage and challenge our

most capable Future Leaders to capitalize on their strengths in order to give back to solve problems to lead the way we also support and uplift our most struggling students students and help them to believe in themselves and see potential where they may not be able to see it on their own I repeat what we do is valuable they are valuable harsh fact Fall River is losing teachers my department has lost too many

incredibly talented and caring professionals to other higher paying districts and this experience is repeated in departments and schools throughout Fall River harsh fact River School District is underst staffed it is insulting to we professionals with required master's degrees who work hard to develop expertise in the Art and Science of Education to think we can fill those voids with uncertified unqualified adults or

Platforms in order to just have a body in the room fact our kids deserve more we teachers work in service of them and their Futures and allowing the schools to be understaffed and the students to be underserved is not living up to the unspoken but understood promise of public education to support and uplift all of our young people individuals institutions and societies invest time money and in

conclusion and energy into what they value we assess the worth of something then make an investment if we deem it deserving this district has apparently assessed the value of its teachers and deemed us not worth the investment and I would argue by extension they are devaluing the Youth of this city by not doing everything in their power to attract and hold on to qualified Educators may I one little one little

ending next it's very important a little tiny okay I had the I have had the privilege of working at dery for 10 years now and I can say that I love my students we at dery love our students and it weighs heavily on my heart and my mind that this amazing group of dedicated professionals has to plead for wages that will help the younger teachers move out of their parents' homes and the other teachers to

comfortably support themselves and their families thank you for your time

I need a motion to wave the rules the next speaker is from Fair Haven Mass so moved second second all in favor I I opposed unanimous uh Nikki Jacobson uh Judson Drive Fair Haven three minutes please Nikki good evening a lot of people have been talking about the import import of teacher retention and open positions but I would like to discuss a slightly different issue the respect of Veteran

teachers I just began year 19 at dery this means in a traditional 35e timeline I am in the second half of my career over the past 19 years I have taught inclusion classes of multilanguage Learners College Prep accelerated courses and advanced placement I have taught core classes at the 9th 10th and 11th grade level as well as electives since the adoption of the new evaluation system I have received nothing less than

proficient and have earned exemplary ratings in standards 1 2 and four over the years I know I have been a dedicated professional and based on my evaluations I am considered an asset to my school and my department yet for almost 20 years of dedicated service and credits Beyond a master's degree which I paid for myself I do not feel that our current pay scale respects that level of

hard work and commitment for 19 years of service I get a longevity stipend of $1,000 distributed over my paychecks when you do the math of 180 school days this is $555 a day before taxes every year there's a new initiative a new District or Department focus a new goal so after almost 20 years I am still spending time reworking old lessons and creating new ones editing assessments and modifying them

for different needs I work with and guide my younger colleagues I participate and contribute to my plcs and common planning I am still constantly trying to better myself professionally to best serve my students I care great greatly about my students social emotional needs and academic success but why am I taking time away from my own family to do this in a district that shows such little respect

for veteran teachers and their experience where where is the respect for teachers dedicated to staying in the classroom where is the respect for attending professional development over the summer voluntarily where is the respect for staying after school an hour most days and taking time away from my family on the weekends for grading and planning is the expectation that I simply copy and paste year after year

until retirement where is the compensation for continued personal professional growth yes we need to attract strong teachers and fill all positions but we should be doing that in part by showing them how fulfilling a career in Fall River can be where is the message that veteran teachers are still here because they feel valued appreciated and their pay reflects that by comparison my husband teaches in

a different district and has been teaching 5 years less than May yet his base salary this year at the same level of Education is5,000 more than mine I feel stuck I happen to teach a Content that does not have the number of vacancies as other contents there are very few job openings for me in neighboring districts believe me I've looked so my question to the school committee is do you want veteran

teachers to feel stuck do you want teachers who are uninspired do you want younger teachers to get the hell out of Dodge before they too get stuck or do you want veteran teachers to feel such a high level of respect that we are motivated year after year to better our craft and strive to be the best versions of ourselves for our students I love my students but that love doesn't pay my bills so please show

some respect for those of us who have dedicated our careers and lives to working directly with students in the classroom approve our pay raise and increase longevity or you might just start to get a lot of Warm Bodies with a cold heart in the classroom

next next up uh Dawn Gomes Alden Street Fall River good evening power professionals are often called the backbone of the classroom we play a critical role in supporting students learning and well-being yet too often we feel unappreciated overworked and underpaid this is especially concerning as our district continues to struggle with retaining staff especially for us bed classrooms in special education pars

work closely with students who have mild to moderate disabilities we supervise individual and small group work assist with behavior management and ensure that the classroom remains a safe and supported environment we are essential in making classrooms more inclusive many of us love our jobs because we know we are making a difference in the students lives however despite our dedication the

low wages are driving us away from the district that is already facing serious challenges passion alone cannot pay our bills or support our families we're told that our work is essential yet all of us are underpaid undervalued and living under the edge of poverty for the hard work we do we deserve better the shortage of poers and teachers in special education is already impacted students the special needs department

has the highest turnover rate in the district and it's also the Great in the greatest need of teachers positions that have been have been remain I mean sorry positions that have remained unfilled for the last three plus years this continues to be an ongoing issue and leaving many students without the services that they are entitled to under the Disability Act in our schools pirat

work with some of the most high needed students as more Educators leave the demand for special education support continues to rise our most vulnerable students may have violent outbursts physically assault others throw objects or even attemp to escape from classrooms these situations require us to be physically and mentally prepared every single day we continue to show up for our students and families we serve

because we deeply care about their success but it's becoming increasingly difficult to work in a district that doesn't value or compensate us fairly how much longer can the system ignore our voices pay us insufficient wages and fail to provide the support we need I urge the committee members to visit our schools and special education classrooms to see firsthand to see firsthand the

value that Paris bring to the district I also call on the district's leadership to focus on what truly matters the well-being and success of our students competition fair for our dedication our hard work and the unique skills we bring as Whitney Houston once saying I believe the children are our future teach them well and let them lead the way show them all the beauty they possess inside and

give them a sense of Pride to make it easier let their laughter remind us how it used to be these children need us what will happen if the Educators continue to leave for other school districts what will happen to students who have had substitutes or par Educators leading the classroom instead of a certified teacher it is time to Value all Educators and ensure that our students receive the support they need

these issues must be addressed students in for over school district particularly those in Special Needs population have endured too much instability and lack of consistency to uh from support from my district thank

you I need a motion to wave the rules as the next speakers from sumet so Mo have motion second all in favor I oppos unanimous Courtney def fratus Le River Avenue Somerset okay good evening I'm here to speak to you tonight about the contract negotiations with the f I have been serving as a silent representative but I'm not sure I can stay silent any longer I have I have been to all of the

bargaining meetings with the exception of one I felt like things started hopeful but quickly I realized that the Hope was one-sided the teachers of the F went in with hopes to come to an agreement making working conditions better for both students and teachers but I quickly realized we seem to be the only side that had that mindset every proposal set forth by the F has been to help with retention

Recruitment and overall Student Success the school committee has failed to agree or appropriately counter many of the proposals making the bargaining meetings less and less productive as time goes on on top of the productivity seeming to diminish we have faced more and more disrespect and frankly downright bullying from a particular member to agree to a contract that we don't deem Fair

last time I checked Fall River had a zero tolerance bullying

policy I have never seen someone speak to a room full of Professionals in such a disrespectful manner the more meetings I attend the less respected I feel as a professional educator the teachers that show up every day the teachers in this room right now are here because we care we are here because we love our students we are here because we care about our profession I can promise you it is not the pay that is keeping

us after the challenges I faced last year many people thought for sure I would not return but here I am stronger than ever and I refused to leave until I feel like I did everything possible to make things better for my students and colleagues it wasn't the pay that kept me it wasn't the benefits or the lack of parent leave it was the students family and staff I formed relationships with

over the last 8 years at the end of the day I remembered my why I encourage you to do the same thank

you all right guys all right guys yeah all right next I a motion to wave the rules the next speak is from East Wham so moved second I have a motion second all in favor I opposed unanimous Wendy Regal Bittersweet Lane West I'm sorry East Willam

Mass hi is this good okay hello my name is Wendy Regal and this is my nth year as a science educator in the fall of District I was employed at cus for 5 years prior to transitioning to dery in 2021 during this time I've had the opportunity to work with many amazing Educators and administrators however I've noticed a clear and balance with the respect given versus what is expected of us from the school committee

firstly the elephant in the room pay let's be honest it's low and the longer you stay working for the district the larger the pay Gap becomes just the other day a teacher from the district shared online that they're worth $177,000 more for the exact same position in taen but I'd like to shift away from the clear disparity in comparative pay and address some other factors here are three examples of how I

feel that we have been undervalued can you guess how many times I've called HR to get a single response about a question I had well to be honest I couldn't tell you I've called five times left messages and I've yet to yield a single response since July I watched a first year teacher crying out of frustration because our scripted lessons were not working properly and the only response from our

science District head was that she wasn't doing it with enough Fidelity no no compassion no support but all the blame she was a brilliant educator and took her talents to a new District after two years of such treatment Administration and social adjustment counselors have lunch and Hall duties effectively taking them away from being able to support Educators the students as well as other job

requirements additionally student conditions for learning are not being met I implore parents to ask their students if they have a teacher I promise you that some of your children do not at at dery there are some students that have spent their first two weeks with only a substitute or sitting in the cafeteria this is not giving your child the educational opportunity that they deserve and preparing them for their

future be angry I know we are within the nation there is a teacher shortage there are jobs open all across the state we don't live in a bubble we know salary expectations and general working conditions within other districts there are many districts within a 30-minute commute of every educator that will provide them with a better quality of life both in and out of work it is your long-term teachers

that serve as mentors help and support your green employees on a daily basis if you lose them the conditions for learning will decline the F Rea speaks for the Educators and there has been a lot of unwillingness to listen and embrace our requests in our new contract I ask I ask the school committee to take pause and ask themselves How does each of your proposals help our district how

will each of your proposals create opportunities for our students to increase their executive functioning skills how do your proposals create a working environment that will attract highly qualified Educators to fill in the 80 vacancies right now and lastly how will your proposals support the retention of Veteran teachers thank you for your time thank you

I need a motion to wave the rules as the next speaker is from East Providence so moved second I have a motion to Second all in favor I opposed unanimous Keith michon Tri on

Avenue good evening Keith michan president of the Far River Educators Association so this weekend I heard that uh mayor kougan would like us to take a vote so I take a lot of pride in the fact that I lead this Union with the most democratic way possible and take offense to any insinuation that myself or the bargaining team would be motivated by anything other than our demands of our members with upwards of

50 members in each bargaining session as many in planning sessions over 400 me members in our last meeting and everyone here tonight I think we know where they stand rest assured our leadership is having one-on-one conversations with all of our members before our next session so for our members to report oh so far our members report that the most recent response from the committee is on

incomplete it fails to satisfactorily address the issues that we've raised our schools may be better off than they were 25 years to go by some metrics but our educators are not tonight you will vote on contracts to fill Union positions with non-union Consultants not cheaper not better not likely to remain in the district when the contract is up and give our student stability why because we can't fill the

open positions that we have we need to seriously consider the proposals that have been made we're making very strong attempts to improve retention and recruitment in this District we haven't seen the same from the committee frustrations are growing show your employees that they are respected and they are valued thank you I a motion to wave the rules for the next speaker from Westport so moved

second all in favor I opposed unanimous carry Brum Shannon Drive Westport Mass good evening I'm reading a letter tonight on behalf of another teacher dear school committee I've been an L teacher for 11 years 10 of which were in the Fall River Public Schools throughout my time each and every single School school year I've been faced with a hurdle due to staff shortages and yet continue to stay and service this

community because I myself am a product of the Fall River schools and I love this community the students and my MLL Families my first year 2014 began as a par in a foundational classroom at lerno within the first eight weeks of school I transitioned to a grade five math and science teacher for mainstream and foundational students why the change you may ask because the grade five teacher

quit within five weeks and those students had a substitute for three weeks before the principal realized I held my elementary license and volun told me to take it as a favor to him second Year Sylvia the sole L teacher for grades K to 5 began the year with approximately 60 students and ended with nearly 80 one person six grade levels 80 students I'm sure you can imagine how many minutes of service those students

were actually getting third and fourth years same school still alone with a similar case load began running the numbers and advocating for another L teer finally receiving a second L teacher in my fifth year one who we had to share with chany three and a half hours of help a day didn't make much of a difference in service minutes to our kids year six decided to leave the district to go to a Suburban

District I was the sole L teacher K to8 with a case load of seven students very different than the 80 I was used to but deep down I real realized that this city girl needed to be back in the city she loved year seven Green height of Co returned as one of two L teachers the day before school started I was told I needed to shift to the kindergarten foundational room as the classroom

teacher because they didn't fill the position and school started the following day after 3 months a parent moved into the position and I returned to my original position but my partner L teacher remained in the foundational room that they forced her into so now it was just me only three of our sixth grade levels were being serviced this lasted all year year eight same school one of two L teachers for the first

three months of the school year until the other L teacher left the district alone with the entire building again three grade levels not being serviced year nine same school missed the first 3 months because I was on maternity leave which I came back from 2 weeks early to save sick days in case I needed them for my newborn I was also asked to Mentor two foundational teachers in our building

which I was doing remotely while on maternity leave this quickly became for mentees because the other two had a mentor teacher who left the district about four months into the year three grade levels to service four teachers to Mentor I'll skip ahead there's a little bit more and here is the age-old question why did and why do I stay I say because I'm committed to this community and our students if this

doesn't prove it I don't know what will this is the same level of commitment I see in the majority of my colleagues they've been here for the long run they do not go to work and have it easy they have challenges every day covering vacant classroom teacher positions when positions are not filled they're beyond flexible for the sake of our students and all of this is the reason our teachers need to be valued because

they're giving it all each and every day something I'm not sure you can say you're doing giving it your all in terms of fighting for our salaries thank you thank you thank you thank you Crystal brazan L

teacher next up uh Josh ler Deval Street Fall River

three minutes please Josh last Tuesday I was one of close to 50 Educators who was present at the bargaining for the contract my colleagues and I worked a long and tiring day of school and instead of going home to our families we went to Morton Middle School because to us making sure that we could secure a contract that retains teachers and keeps our schools afloat is of the utmost

importance I was dismayed to hear you Mr Mayor in an interview last week paint our bargaining team as being unwilling to meet because many of our bargaining members had vacations scheduled for the summer who could have seen that one coming when your bargaining team has canceled a session in late May with 5 hours notice when your bargaining team was unavailable for extra sessions in

June we didn't make a stink that your team wasn't serious about settling a contract we're teachers we understand that things happen but if you want to complain that we haven't been meeting more start by utilizing the time you have productively last week in that Auditorium your bargaining team sent a loud and clear message to our membership our team had previously requested responses to outstanding proposals many

of which your side has been holding on to for quite some time we requested more detailed financial information so that we could thoughtfully consider how our proposals could be adjusted to reach some common ground your team presented us with a thick packet of proposals which gave us some hope that you were serious about actually getting a contract settled that packet contains 60 proposals only nine of which were new

positions that you had I counted the rest of the packet was just a repeat of the months of agreement holds and knows without any new questions or comments we spent hours in that room for your bargaining team to waste our time recapping things we were already there for there was also no mention of the total Financial picture in the packets that we were presented no way for us to make movement towards finding a

compromise on top of the actual issues your bargaining team is routinely taken to lecturing your employees as if we don't know what bargaining looks like or tell us that you're offering the best Cola in the Commonwealth who this was after news last week that Salem offered its teachers more money and more parental leave now I try to be ones who assume the best in people right I maybe your

people weren't aware of this news but even after we pointed it out the lie was repeated often but teachers can read the news and we can do math when your team lies to us or talks down to us they're speaking with your voice when your team wastes our time you're the ones wasting our time when your bargaining team says you should have less prep time you should have to do homework for your meetings

you should have to waste time filling out extra lesson plan paperwork it's you telling us that so as a teacher and a voter in Fall River I ask each and every one of you up there if you care about your employees and you care about the students tell us why you think these are reasonable things to ask when we can't fully staff our schools we can't retain the staff we have if it wasn't insulting enough that

you would make these proposals in the first place they're still on the table almost eight months into bargaining putting aside all the financial issues we are nowhere close to a contract so long as those things are still on the table your bargaining platform based on all those proposals we've seen is nothing short of a disaster for everyone in our schools please send your team back to the bargaining table ready to

make a deal don't waste our time I'll need a motion to wave the rules next from Swansea I so move second I have a motion second all in favor I opposed unanimous Rachel Martin Oak Street Swansea I am going to be under the three minutes thank you good evening members of the school committee at the July 15th school committee meeting the discussion regarding Mr Ken Pico's raise was addressed after the executive session

during this discussion there was some debate about the appropriateness of the rise in particular Mr Corey who voted in favor of the pay increase remarked a person in that position referring to Mr Pico we just voted for the proper salary range in today's economy now no I'm not here to dispute Mr Pico his work or his salary at all rather I am here to highlight an important point the same level of

consideration and respect extend to Mr pachico is what we as educators are looking for I don't know how the amount of the increase was decided but I'm going to assume that he didn't have to bring graphs and charts and funding source documents to prove that he is indeed worth the salary that he now earns however these are the Hoops that the Educators and the bargaining team have

been forced to jump through in Seeking a fair and competitive wage simply stated we are asking for a salary that reflects today's economy and the conditions and a salary that is competitive with people in nearby cities in similar positions if this district is committed to recruiting and retaining highquality Educators and finally filling the many vacancies it is essential to come to a fair agreement

that addresses the deserved salary correction this matter has been discussed extensively at school committee meetings advisory meetings City City Council meetings we know that you know we are paid less than we're worth we know that you know we're paid less than Educators in nearby districts and we know that you know that it's a major contributing factor to why we have so many vacancies we've heard you say it

many times but now it is time to move behind discussion move Beyond discussion and take the necessary action let us agree to a fair contract so that we can all shift our Focus back to what matters the most the students thank you

uh I need a motion to wave the rules as the next speak is from Brockton second I have a motion a second all in favor I opposed unanimous Robert Gman kit Drive Brock the mass thank you I'm going to need all of your help at some point as well folks uh good evening ladies and gentlemen of the school committee throughout the bargaining process your attorney has guarded himself a certain level of ey

from the membership he's been described as discourteous as misleading and at times disrespectful but no matter how the membership perceives him to be I started reminding them as I've had to remind myself that this isn't personal for attorney Assad he is on your payroll and he's very good at his job you see he has no skin in this game he gets to Bill his hours no matter how this turns out

no the key thing to remember about attorney Assad is that he is the executive of your will when he filibusters by reciting nearly all of the proposals on the table none of which were considered to be the meaningful Financial proposals we were promised when he wastes our time you waste our time time when he claims that your Cola offer is the best in the Commonwealth and lies to the bargaining team you lie

to the bargaining team when he claims that our Union president the man we elected to execute our will is pandering thereby disrespecting our Union when he disrespects our Union you disrespect our Union and boy do we feel disrespected how crazy is it that we're fighting to be here we're fighting to have it make sense to stay in this District I attend every bargaining session looking for you to make it

possible for me to stay here I came to this district with the intention to stay for a year and make and I shopped around for a better position El uh elsewhere at the time the district was only a couple of thousand underc comparables I stayed eight more years I came to this district with the lowest expectations and I was astounded by how warmly I was received by the sense of community the teachers

in my department had fostered by how great the kids are here the salary has gotten to the point where you're scaring people away away veterans are getting scared away I'm almost scared away there are teachers out there that will never get to see how great the schools and follow here can be because you can't pay for rent with passion and dedication or fill up on gas with a warm

smile and a pat on the back what it does take is investment in this City's future that's what we're all here fighting for we believe in what this school district is capable of so we fight for it we believe that this city can invest in its future and attract the best teachers to help mold the best future citizens and taxpayers if it chooses to so we fight for it this Union and many

other unions have taken up the Mantra and help me out here folks when we fight we when we fight we win when we fight we win we don't win just because we decided to fight we fight because the cause we take up is just and there is no other option so please instead of being oppositional and filibustering and playing games fight with us for the future of Fall River thank

you um next up we have a couple of letters that were submitted I'm going to have uh uh Deb the first one is from Kristen Anderson Robison Street Fall River good evening school committee members hello again for some reason we keep running into each other in these meetings I am here to express deep concern regarding the ongoing neglect of fair compensation for our dedicated Educators despite their commitment to

shaping future Generations they continue to face stagnant wages that do not reflect the increasing demands of the profession failing to implement necessary pay correction sends a message to disrespect undermining their value and contribute contribution to the community this inequity not only affects their morale but also jeopardizes the the quality of Education we provide we must prioritize Fair compensation to

retain and honor the professionals who are the backbone of our school district without them there would be no need for a school committee I am 19 years old in college but in the last few months I've spoken out at multiple meetings about a few issues I bring this up as I've spoken on personal experiences and on behalf of future teachers of the district and when I speak I see you guys

listen and really pay attention I don't know if it's because you're younger or if it's because when I was in school I had spoken to you and made those connections either way I appreciate it and need you to listen to these teachers they are struggling and you are choosing to let this go on I am hurt because I have seen some of my favorite most memorable teachers at this very Podium

begging for an increase so they can provide for their families give back to their students and just live please think about this how can our teachers live on these wages why are highly skilled professional teachers with master's degrees having to work second and third jobs to live how are teachers PR prepared to teach their classes if they're stretching themselves so thin when are they supposed to spend time

with their own family and children I keep saying I wanted to come back to Fall River to teach ever since I was little I planned on teaching here in the district that I grew up but in but how can I how can I live with these wages why would I want to work with the school committee that disrespects and humiliates Educators in bargaining we need to we need this contract to be ra

ified now not tomorrow or in a few weeks but now these Educators have eight days without have been working 8 days without a contract the school year has started don't make this harder for our students and Educators find a way to work it out thank you for your

time uh and the last letter is from Rebecca Smith Rolling Green Fall River three minutes please Deb good afternoon I am writing in regards to the new passed new rule passed by the school committee regarding the no phone policy I would like to stop by saying I agree that these young adults shouldn't be using their phones in class unless Allowed by a teacher I also agree that there are social benefits in limiting

access to devices however I have some serious concerns that arise as a result of denying students access to their phones at all times throughout the day I would love to to have a conversation with the board in an effort to help me understand how the following concerns will be addressed one given the recent Trend in school shootings I am sure you understand the concern that phones

provide access to students in the event such as a tragedy were to occur in our area how will the students call for help should they see an intruder what safety or additional emergency alert systems have been put in place that allow a student to sound the alarm if an intruder is identified students should feel safe and confident knowing they were able to call for help instead of hoping someone with the phone sees or

hears of the threat two these bags block out the phone so that there was if there was a shooting or a child went missing you can't access their location this is a real concern three phones being in an unmarked locked bag makes it makes it convenient for them to be stolen since everyone has the same bag has there been thought to putting some form of name tag or personal identification on the bags

to reduce theft if stolen how will the student be compensated four a blanket policy that provides no access to phones at all does not allow students to become accountable and responsible for their actions self-control is a learned behavior instilling consequences for actions and sticking to them consistently helps kids learn that choices have natural consequences this does not this this does take effort by

The teachers's Faculty but I do believe it is worth it is a worthy cause and you probably believe and same otherwise you don't be and wouldn't be doing the job you are doing five if students allow if student wants to check in with their parents for any reason they should be allowed to during their lunch break additionally many times stud students are sent to the calf because there isn't a teacher

available to teach class you're being encouraged just get to the bottom because okay given given my above concerns and experiences I do not believe taking the students phones putting them in a locked bag is the answer but rather consistency in consequences if a student is caught using their phone they should have consequences I have spent time T talking to many teachers on this issue and their

challenge was lack of consistency and support in how the offense was dealt with when the VP office does not support the teachers in their reprimand it it perpetuates a culture of Disobedience I appreciate you taking the time to read through my concerns and look forward to hearing how the board will be addressing them okay thank you um um attorney Assad would like to talk a little bit about negotiations from our

perspective attorney asan let's be respectful folks we don't try to interrupt you guys what I'd like to do mayor is to advise the committee as to where we are in the negotiations great uh at the present time we have on the table uh for steps 1-8 7% first year 5% in the second and third years with respect to those in steps 9 through 12 we have 8% in the first year 5% in the second and third

year uh that does not include the automatic 5% that uh the step increases that come for those who are on steps 1 through 11 uh please if I could if I could if I could um basically this is the best offer in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts all right come on guys this is you you know if I could just continue okay this is exactly this is exactly what happened at our last

meeting correct when the cat calls came out so let me just have let me finish we allowed you to speak if you just let me finish okay with respect with respect to Salem uh the one of the comments that was made by the district came out uh in an article states that the the investment they made uh will necessitate significant cuts and hard decisions over the next few years the offer that the school committee has

put on there would be no Cuts as we all know there were many many jobs and positions that were put on in the last three years a matter of fact there's over 500 okay hey guys guys all you got to let him talk that would only be fair but okay I don't I don't think this is I don't want people doing this when you're speaking let's be fair and let them finish please be

fair one of the main issues that we have uh in the negotiations uh with the Union is the fact that uh the disparity in the income between what our district has paid over the number of years and what other communities have received uh the issue is not the fact and we've heard a couple of times that it was a bad contract and it's not going to happen again that's not the case the case is

you were represented by the same individuals the F and the MTA and they looked at every document possible over the last several years uh they reviewed it with their financial teams we reviewed it with our financial teams the bottom line was at the end of the day everyone agreed as to what would be a fair contract based on what the affordability was for our community here in Fall River please please all right

please could we let him speak please go all right no he is trying please got enough Bru yeah you knew that was going to happen no no the uh main thing is look uh we have consideration for teachers students no let let me finish please stud teachers students the community of Fall River everyone has a stake in getting this thing done uh we have had this proposal on the table now

since the 21st of August we have not received a response yet from your union you have not we have not received the response from Union we're hoping to have that response on at the next session uh and the bottom line is folks that at the end of the day there will be a contract going a work together we going to work together for the students for the teachers and for our community

got to get back to the bargaining table and we're got to work this thing out thank you Bruce all right let's go all right thank you next um hold on oh we're back on the meeting guys next item next item up on the agenda gender recognition Awards there are none tonight subcommittee report we have one subcommittee report parent and community outreach subcommittee Vice chair I mean I'm sorry subcommittee chairman Colin

Das thank you Mr Mayor um at the um subcommittee meeting of the parent and community outreach subcommittee um we had a great presentation with um many different parent teacher organizations learn their structure and learn some of their um strengths and weaknesses and I thought it was um very informative um for myself for the committee and for each other I think they learned a lot

from each other um there are two items um before the committee tonight that was referred out by the subcommittee um I can go more into detail um when those items come up on the agenda thank you thank you Mr Das uh s superintendant please

superintendent report okay we got to go back to the meeting yeah superintendent report superintendent Curley School opening update and hiring and another one go ahead sure so as you know um for most of our students today was day seven and the start of our first full week to date we have 11,110 students enrolled and in our seats here in the district um a point of Pride for us in the opening has been the

um average daily attendance to date it's um been 93.1% across the district and I just wanted to acknowledge some schools that are topping the charts um 97.2% at tany uh 96.4% at Green and at 95.6% we have Morton Spencer bordon and Vas our final site to open um is the Early Learning Center at Bishop Conley and that is set to open tomorrow so we'll be opening um opening that site and

welcoming U those students tomorrow I do want to give a hiring update um since our last meeting schools and Human Resources our schools in our human resources department have been really busy onboarding 124 new hires um the largest numbers of whom have been teachers 7 2 and Par professionals 36 during that same time frame we did have 19 resignations and 21 retirements as of today uh we do have

133 openings of teachers administrators and Par Professionals in the district including 71 teachers four administrators and 58 par professionals Mr chairman Mr AG can we please make sure that we have dayc super superintendent is talking just please let her speak it's a little out of hand now I have I have asked them for respect we don't interrupt any of this hold on see again that's not what it is that's

not what this is about we're back into the regular school committee meeting right now I'm asking you please respect the meeting let it go along we have work to do we appreciate you all coming out tonight but at the same time interrupting other people is got nothing to do with any of the teachers I ever knew go ahead Miss Dr Curley

you all that sure so the last piece of uh today's update is around our parent information sessions with respect to the cell phone policy and the implementation of Yonder pouches we do have six sessions that are coming up at each of the schools that we'll be implementing and I just wanted to review for um people here and those at home who may have missed some of the announcements six information sessions um related to

the cell phone free policy during these sessions district and school administrators are going to present research and data collected that led to the policy decision we'll be reviewing the implementation plan for each school and answer frequently asked questions as part of the presentation staff is going to be available to meet one-on-one with folks um after the session ends to any answer any personal questions that

people uh may have that weren't previously answered during those info sessions and I just want to review the dates on September 10th we actually have two meetings one of them is at 4:30 at Doran and the other at 5:00 P pm at cus on September 11th we have another two meetings 4:30 p.m. at Morton Middle School and at 5:30 at Henry Lord Community School September 16th is the day of dery high schools that's at 5:00

p.m. and on September 17th at 4:30 p.m.

talet school will have their information session thank you thank you superintendent U item number seven oh student comment we do not have a student comment tonight but item number seven we have six sets of minutes to approve um oh four two of hold I'm sorry the last two are held so we have 71 approval of the minutes for the special meeting of the subcommittee from 65 72 is the approval of the regular school committee

minutes from 610 73 is the approval of the minutes from the instructional subcommittee 617 and 74 is the approval of the minutes from the special meeting of subcommittee on 627 motion to accept all four May second okay we have one issue we have to take care of before we have a motion on that uh the minutes of 617 were tabled we need a motion to take them off of the table

first motion to take off the table 617 uh any discussion on 617 coming off the table Deb would you please call the rooll Mr agam yes Mr Bailey Mr D yes Mr Cory yes Miss larv yes Miss Perera yes mayor Coogan yes now back to the approval of all four I have ation 7172 7374 Miss larvie made a motion I have a second discussion Deb please call the role Mr

AG yes Mr Bailey Mr Das yes Mr Cory yes M larv yes M Perera yes mayor kouan yes item number eight is the approval of some travel requests uh Chief Information Scott cabol has some is there any discussion on the travel request for Mr cabal hearing none I'm looking for a motion a second sove second second I have a motion to Second Deb please call the rooll Mr yes Mr Bailey

Mr yes Mr Cory yes Miss larvi yes M Perera yes mayor cgan yes item number nine is the acceptance of donations we have two to accept tonight uh can I get a motion a second on those and then have um superintendent explain them I have a motion second uh motion second discussion Deb please call the role Mr AGA yes Mr Bailey Mr Das yes Mr Cory yes Miss larvi yes Miss Pera yes

mayor Coogan yes M uh superintendent you explain those two uh donations from the EOS Foundation the follower Republic schools accept a donation of $4,000 to be used at the discretion of the superintendent and from the Victory Church Senior pastors Joe and Meredith Kanto more in Middle School accepts a donation um of 30 brand new um book bags filled with school supplies thank you item 10 is the approval of

Grants we have two grants listed here do we have any discussion or holds on either of the grants uh gleam and Commonwealth preschool partnership motion to accept both I have a motion second I have a motion second discussion hearing none uh Deb would you please call the role Mr agam yes Mr Bailey Mr Das yes Mr Cory y Miss larvi yes Miss Perera yes mayor Coogan yes item number 11 is the approval of

contracts we have a number of them there and as we traditionally do I believe will take them and and hold on any that anybody has any concerns on uh Mr Das uh Mr Mayor like to place a hold on Yonder and Sunbelt Yonder and Sun Belt we're holding Yonder and Sun Belt under Grant contracts anything further I'll take a motion a second on the others please I have a motion second I have a

motion second TB call the rooll Mr agam yes Mr Bailey Mr Das yes Mr Cory yes Mr lar yes M Pereira yes Mar Coogan yes um on Yonder Mr Das thank you um I have a question as to where we're going to be placing the um the U the stations to like undo the um the magnets um where would they be placed throughout um I I'll say every school but like if we I don't know if

it's like a general idea we're going to place them at certain spots like when you come in when you come out or there's certain um certain areas I did receive a few complaints um well questions in regards to dery so if we could um if you could let us know where they're going to be placed um at dery if you have a general idea I I can give um a general

overview and just say that the the idea is not just to have them at the exits when students are leaving the building that they will be on multiple floors so that students will have um plenty of opportunities before even entering the main floor the bottom floor of the building um to unlock unlock their pouches um and certainly the idea is to have as you know as many as we can throughout the building with the

expectation that um with some of them being portable we'll be able to move some of those around when we see that there's a need in some areas of the building you know needed more than in other areas of the building okay thank you and um I did receive some ideas from a few parents on the placement um some parents believe um they should be placed in the lunchroom and give the

opportunity for students to be able to text their parents um Guardians loved ones if there's um a need and also in the office um is there any do you know for sure at dery we're going to have it in those locations so during the school day there is not any plan to have um set locations where students are able to unlock their pouches and use their phone at their discretion um certainly

students who are who need to call home um or make an important phone call would be able to access phones in their grade level offices and things of that nature they are able to have so a student is able to go into their um main office and be able to unlock their phone and be able to call their parents not to unlock their phones but they would have access to a phone um during the school day

during um if there is an emergency and they need to reach someone outside the building thank you I I again I hold the opinion um that this policy um needs to be um looked at again I think there should be some exceptions one in the main office for students to be able to um reach out to their parents and two in the room so I won't be voting for this

today um and and again for the policy I think we should really um take another look into the logistics of this thank you so any other questions can I get a motion in a second on Yonder motion to accept I have a motion second any further discussion DB call the role Please Mr AG yes Mr Bailey Mr Das no Mr Cory yes M lar yes Miss Pereira yes may

Hogan yes the next one you had to hold on Mr diet Sunbelt thank you um so just want to get a general idea um again a little bit new to this so with some Bel we're hiring six par professionals um is it typical that we hire um Power professionals from a third party company or is that something we're that's new it's not new for this year we often partner with outside agencies and for hard to fill

positions specifically um in the special education department thank and um just for the community edification why is um so where were these six um power power professionals be placed I don't know off the top of my head but I will take a look to see if it's in syia oh okay okay um is it is there a looking at the price tag is there like a cost savings from going with a third

party company there is not a cost savings okay um I'm going to make a motion to table at this time I think we should really look at um hiring in-house U I'll make a motion to table hearing no second Mr chairman Mr AGA just uh my opinion on these positions is that these are it doesn't say it in our notes here but I'm pretty sure from past experience that these are highly

specialized classrooms that have a need of children that we need to provide a service and that's the reason why we have to go outside to get these folks it has nothing to do with the amount of money we have to pay more when you go to a consultant whether that's for a speech pathologist a teacher a par whoever ever it is you're paying more for the individual absolutely but the need is

there that's the reason why this is here it's not because people want to just pay somebody extra through a third party this is out of true student need necessity and I want to make that clear that's the reason why I'm going to be supporting this and in the future hopefully we won't have to do this but we need to staff these buildings so the children have somebody in front of them

that's qualified to work with them I yield thank you thank you Mr a anything further on this I have a motion and um no I need ation a motion a second I'm Sor motion approve I have a motion second D please call the rooll on Sunbelt Mr AGA yes Mr Bailey Mr Das no Mr Cory yes Miss lovi yes Miss Perera yes Mary Coogan yes item number 12 is a discussion and vote to approve the

selection and appointment of Heidi turpening nurse for the forign public schools and Naisha Garcia LPN districtwide as presented by Mary gustoff director of chairman motion to Mr a we went over the did I did I don't think I missed it the continuations yeah um we just did Sunil I believe oh uh I thought we did all the grants except for you mean we should have took continue I thought when we did them all

we did them all I thought we always broke them up but if I'll go uh Mr agar is making a point uh we'll hold on item 12 right now continuation anybody want to hold a grant on any of paper education paper please paper please and uh any of the others motion to approve the others okay motion to approve do I have a second second uh discussion Deb please call the

role m d again yes Mr Bailey Mr Das yes Mr Cory yes M larav yes M Pereira yes mayor Coogan yes okay Mr agar paper education I the only question I would have is just looking for some data on usage and the effectiveness of thereof so I think we it from I looking at the quote is telling us how many we've used this for a few years now so

the only thing I would ask is that we get some data and I know we have a software package that supposedly can tell us this information on a a live basis so if we could just get that information okay it'll tell us what the program is and what it's whether it's working or not thank you a with that being said Mr are we going to approve it or motion to

approve second I have a motion to second on paper education Deb please call the role Mr agam yes Mr Bailey Mr Das yes Mr Cory yes Miss larvey yes M Carrera yes mayor couger yes item 121 we're going to put a hold on the RN nurse um Miss tping so the only one we're going to approve tonight is Naisha Garcia and LPN districtwide as presented by Mary Gustaf motion to approve I have a I have a

motion a second any discussion on Miss Garcia hearing none Mr Mayor oh go ahead I'm sorry Mr thank you um if if the superintendent is able able to in public form um can we have an explanation why we're tbling the no not in public forum okay uh Deb could you call the role on Miss Garcia M Mr dram yes Mr Bailey Mr Das yes Mr Cory yes welcome aboard m

larv yes M Perera yes may C yes Mr chairman Mr Rea just uh I I was trying to follow along when we pulled something but I think when we put it on an agenda we put us in a bind with what to do and how to remove it but if you think it's fine it's fine but when once it's on an agenda two days ago was fine now something happened I think there needs

to be a process to take it off because right now we're only voting on half of what's here so whatever the committee members want but just a point of Mr ass procedure I guess I I believe that the the matter uh mind understanding is it's not being tabled no correct just being held okay the the fact that it's not called I think is sufficient thank you okay uh 122 is a discussion and vote

to approve the revised academic calendar 24-25 as presented by Dr C so move second second third I have a motion a second discussion hearing none de please call the role Mr agam yes Mr Bailey Mr D yes Mr Cory yes M larvi yes M Perera yes mayor cougan yes 123 is a discussion and vote to approve the second read of the technology plan as presented by Scott cabal Chief Information officer so moved

second I have a motion to Second does anyone have any questions Mr Mr cabal please come to the

microphone Mr agon just the question on the at the subcommittee meeting I believe and we had mentioned some making a few changes to the original document and then I believe at the last meeting we talked about the same were those changes implemented so that we are working on them uh the CFO and are to sit down and strategically plan out um you know cost and pricing for um end of life cycle I know that's something that

we talked about that you wanted to see more of a a budget towards The Five-Year Plan of technology and and we're in the process of it but I will say with the opening of school it sat on the back burner to try to get the buildings open so we're in process uh next subcommittee meeting that we have we'll have more information for you so it's it's still a one-year plan

correct the only thing I I you know my stance on it uh at the subcommittee we talked about it being a one year's fine but we also need to have a longer term plan as part of this actual document and I don't see it here that's a little disheartening that the subcommittee meeting was four months ago and quite honestly this has been going on for way too long um I don't think the contents

of what it say is bad just that when subcommittee meets the recommendations to the superintendent I personally want them to be followed and whether that's a bullet point I think we even talked about it at a meeting and said we need to add a slide or we need to add something to re to reflect on the long-term nature of of the situation as well that's not here and that's disappointing I yield thank you Mr

Agia any further questions for Mr cabal so I need a second no we have a motion we have a motion to second on the technology plan as presented by Mr cabal Deb could you please call the role Mr TR yes Mr Bailey Mr Das yes Mr Cory yes M larvi yes M perea yes mayor Coogan yes 124 is a discussion and vote to approve the revision of the cell phone free

schools policy as presented by Dr Amy bronhard assistant superintendent of student services and strategic integration motion approve second I have a motion second any discussion on the cell phone policy revision Mr Das can we get a presentation by assistant superintendent as to what the changes are for the public Dr

bronhard thank you um the policy will once approved here will be up and visible for All Families to be able to see on our website but as noted in your handout um there were a few word smithing opportunities within the policy particularly as it relates to the um exemption part to be certain that if we are are making any exemptions that that is connected officially through a students 504 plan and or IEP and as you

notice above the discipline Matrix we connected with M attorney Joyce to get a statement around discipline so that we are ensuring a fair implementation of the discipline Matrix across the district Mr Das thank you so um with the changes that are in here so the fifth and sixth offenses they went from in school suspension or Saturday school or one day of um out of school suspension to possible so

correct because anytime that we would impose an out of school suspension there would have to be a hearing that takes place in the former policy did not pull that out explicitly and so we wanted to be certain that it was clearly stated that when you get to that level of a consequence on The Matrix that nothing is automatic everything will be taken in context of the situation at hand okay so

there's even so there's a hearing for out of school suspension correct well for for because I see under like the in school suspension Saturday school so um it's some a disciplinary there's still hearings for that as well there are not hearings not official hearings the only time that official hearings are held are for out of school suspension however we're still looking to extend the

courtesy of communicating with families and taking into all consideration scenarios that occur that might put a student in a place of violating the policy the reason I mentioned that because under the fifth offense um possible one day in school suspension or Saturday school disciplin discipline I'm Sor you meant disciplinary hearing caregiver meeting suspension letter so it says there

should be a hearing in the policy I just don't want parents to you know read the policy and like I just don't understand like why that would be in there then to be in accordance with the law it was the lawyer's recommendation to include the language and we just want to be certain that we are giving due process most specifically even as it relates to in school suspension so there will be

hearings if there an in school suspension okay um again I think we need to go back um and have a discussion to see again if there's ever an emergency and making at least making sure if a student is able to go into the office to make sure they have access to a cell phone I don't want to hear in a few months from now um my my my son or daughter needed to use the phone and

there was no one in the office or they refuse to give me this like use of a phone if there is an emergency um something is that something that's like ju just so that you do know just to also clarify that piece every single one of our great offices will have a magnet in the office and so as with all you know School implementation of policies If the vice principal feels as though the

family need the student needs to use their phone to contact the family the vice principal or the principal will make that um direct decision but there will be available in the offices so that in extreme circumstances if the case arises a student would be able to have access okay you thank you uh anything further U Deb oh Mr Ager I'm sorry just uh two things on that one I I do think

that we need to be cognizant of the administration's uh daily schedule and what they have to deal with so we cannot be bombarded with students just coming in and saying I want to call home on my cell phone if it's truly emergency of course the staff will allow them to do it but I think we have to be careful of supporting the administration here and their implementation of this program

with Fidelity and we talked about the inconsistencies in the past you've owned them but now we're going to do this and I think we all have to be standing together and say we're going to do it with Fidelity the other piece I just think for the edification of the public is the moving the date back from sep M 23rd to October 8th uh based on not getting the stuff in and time and

whatever Back orders but I think um that's also important to note that we're going to have a few more weeks to get this ready to roll out and um I for one I'm going to stand with you and support you and I think it's a tall task for all the schools to do but we need to work together and back people up when they're going to make this determination I think

it's important to know and just give credit to all of our principles and their teams I had an opportunity last week to tour all of our buildings and meet with all of our leaders and their teams around a very detailed implementation plan I was overwhelmingly proud of our leaders because of the thoughtful energy that went into every developmental piece of the plan um and I just think they deserve you know all the

credit because all of that was done simultaneously with the launching of the school year and not one stone was unturned and quite frankly each school got stronger from the other schools because we were sharing best practice of what folks were coming up with across the district so it was very enlightening and it was certainly um an exciting opport for folks to come together in one effort to take this on and to really

support our schools with a transformation thank you I yield Mr Mayor uh Mr Das just one just one more request if um we could the committee can be be provided with the questions that were handed out the parents I received a lot of complaints as to um the questions that they were too generic but um just for our edification um if we could see those um questions that were sent out to

parents that' be very helpful we can share you the website because they're all listed on our website okay thank you absolutely de could you please call the role Mr AGA yes Mr Bailey Mr Das no Mr Cory yes Miss larvi yes M perero yes mayor Coogan yes item 125 is a discussion and vote to approve the creation of a Citizens advisory committee as referred by the parent and community outreach

subcommittee and presented by col D school committee Mr Mayor I'm going to request that this actually be um referred back to the subcommittee there's still um discussions to be had with this and um I'd like to get more input from my um members of my own subcommittee on this there still work to be done on this if I like to make that motion at this time second I have a

motion to refer back and uh I have a second any discussion Deb call the rooll on sending back 125 to the parent and committee Outreach subcommittee Mr Agia yes Mr Bailey Mr Das yes Mr Cory yes Mr larv no Miss Pereira yes mayor Coogan yes 126 is a discussion and vote to approve to send a letter to the city council to request a revision of section 918 of the city Charter specifically

concerning the rules governing public comment and special meetings as referred by the parent and community outreach subcommittee and presented by col thank you Mr Mayor this one um I believe is ready to go believe it's um it's quite a no-brainer um we have a section of our city Charter that limits individuals to come before the committee and speak you should be able to speak on any topic you

want whether it be a special meeting whether it be a full meeting and we shouldn't leave um archaic um sections of the charter that needs to be revised um in there and we ran into the issue a few months ago and um individuals came um from the union came before to speak about the mold issue was a special meeting um I think this is the right thing to do so at this time I'll

make a motion that the school committee send a letter to the city council to request a revision of section 9-18 of the city Charter second I have a second any discussion on that Mr AGA just on the uh I want to say that we had one time several years ago the law changed related to Citizen input time in a regular meeting and maybe attorney Assad can weigh in on this but I thought it

said something along the lines of that people can come and raise their opinions on anything they want before the meeting so I think this in context of whether it's a city Charter trying to limit the what the school committee is going to hear as a charter I I don't necessarily think that makes sense but can someone weigh in on what the what the legality of that is Mr asside yeah yeah I I was not part

of anything to do with the uh the charter and what the decision- making was all I can say is that uh it might have been a situation where uh the actual parliamentary procedure may have may have ruled a day uh the specifically uh parliamentary procedure especially Robert's Rules if it's a special meeting then that's usually what the the issue is um uh is it's tailored to what is on the agenda uh and I think that might

have been uh the reason for it but but again I don't know what their thought process was when they actually passed the charter can we limit the uh topics in regular public citizen input time of a meeting can we legally do that yes or no no special or regular no regular meeting no so I make a an amendment to the motion that we that we utilize the citizen input minutes uh citizen input

policy of the Fall Riv school committee to all meetings including specials second wait wait a minute yeah we have a motion a clarification yeah we have a motion a second on the table for the first one yep and I just made a motion to amend that motion Mr das's motion because it's going to get to what his intent is so so what you're basically saying is the rules that apply to our regular school

committee meetings should also apply to special meetings so that let's say we're having a special meeting about whatever a constituent can come in or a teacher or an educator come in and and address any topic it doesn't have to be that that's so my motion would be yeah in full transparency so if we're going to be transparent in a regular meeting I find no reason why we wouldn't be transparent in a special meeting

personally I thought they were the same ones anything further Deb call the rooll on the amended motion by Mr AGA Mr AGA yes Mr Bailey Mr di yes Mr Cory no Miss lvy no Miss Pereira know what to do now I don't like when things get amended last

minute so are we voting to send a letter to this what am I voting to send a letter to this city council right now is that what this is we're vot we're voting to follow the regular meeting rules that we have every time when we have a special meeting for Citizens input and attorney Assad your opinion on that was well the U with respect to special meeting is there anything wrong with the

rule the rule is uh parliamentary procedure is that it's it's limited to what is on the special meeting agenda with respect to a uh regular meetings U could as long as it's within the jurisdiction of the committee then they can okay then I'm going to vote now point point hold on I'm voting no Mr chairman Mr uh Mr chairman Mr Agia if we're going to ask if we're going to

stop the vote to ask questions I think we need to open it up so that people can give solid answers to what the questions were were that's all okay so got it related to this issue all right related to the reason why the reason why I made that motion was because Tony Assad just stated in a regular public meeting it is illegal for us to limit the speech for anybody to come up and say anything they

want as long as it's related to a school issue that's what attorney Assad said so if that being in the premise that at a public meeting we're all elected official officials and somebody wants to come up for citizen input time they can raise anything they want as long as it's in the purview of the school committee all I was mentioning was that we should have that same rule for the special

meetings if we truly want to say that we're transparent and want to hear from people why in the hell would we not have a special meeting have the same citizen input rules as the regular meeting that's the only thing I'm asking it's a no-brainer it it did not pass it went down two to four two y four Nays um I I don't know I mean we could bring it back another time but tonight

it did not pass so on the motion on the floor so 127 on the motion on the floor Mr Das has a a motion here no M Mr point of parliamentary inquiry that the amendment to change the citizens inut did not pass correct I'm sorry Mr Das go ahead and if I could take uh you'll uh take the floor back um to through the chair the attorney side is it illegal

for the school committee to um hear citizens input on any Topic at a special meeting any school related Topic at a special meeting it's not illegal um it's illegal is is if you've actually broken the law uh it is parliamentary procedure it's also part of our our Charter right now uh and as a result the charter would control uh irrespective of what the vote would be of the school committee right thank you and so what

the motion is that I made is to send is to approve this send a letter to the to the city council the city council has the authority to change the charter it has to have to go through the home rot process all the stat is just send a letter asking them to change that section of the charter if you don't believe um individuals should come before the committee and speak on issues

at a special meeting uh you should vote no um I believe um in the right for any Resident any citizen or well we have people who aren't residents of the community to come to speak but you get what I mean for individuals to come before us and speak and um we have to hear them I think that's the right thing to do this is a charter that is severely flawed um I don't disagree

this severely flawed and this is a section of the charge that just shouldn't be there um again I I think there's other motives to why people are voting no but again the committee has their right I'm going to vote Yes because I believe in free speech for the residents of our city I yield Miss per so just to be clear because I really don't like it when I vote and people tell me why I'm doing

it the reason I am sticking with parliamentary procedure when I thought about this is because there's a reason as teachers and Educators know there's a reason we have rules there's a reason it's for decorum it's for getting work done it's not that I don't want to hear what people have to say there are many Avenues in which anyone can reach out to any of us via phone number via email via

coming to the meetings whether it be a subcommittee meeting or a regular school committee meeting my thought process is that if we're having a special meeting which we don't have too often but if we're having a special meeting it's because there's a a topic of great importance and that time of that meeting in my opinion should be dedicated to that topic it's not that I don't want to hear what other

people have to say I think that the reason these rules were put in place was to keep a level of decorum so we're having a special meeting related to a a serious mold and health issue in our schools I want that to be the topic of conversation for the meeting and have those comments and ideas I don't want a group of people coming in and hijacking a meeting that was designed to discuss

let's say the mold issue to hijack it and talk about something else because then that detracts from the big purpose we were there I think that's the reason the rules were put in place it's not to prevent people from Talking they have ample opportunity it's to keep decorum which is is nice to have so that's why I voted now not because I don't want to hear people speak just because because I think

there's a reason we have rules so do I agree with everything in the chart no but guess what they can do a the city council that's their job they can do a chat review and they can make those adjustments and if that happens then I will follow those rules this is the way every Community not every Community but the way the majority of of communities hold meetings so that they can be

productive and run smoothly it's it's not about not wanting to hear what people say it's about the right time and place for for that so that the discussion can be positive and can actually create good change and not just yelling with that I yelled Mr agar so we also have policy made over the years and guidance for chairs and vice chairs for meetings one of which is that we will have new business at every meeting

including a special meeting we will also have new business at every special meeting as well that indicates topics that anyone canot anticipate within 48 Hours of the meeting but surprisingly well actually not surprising this particular committee continually disregards that policy and just puts on an agenda to limit the actual scope only to that doesn't include new business doesn't include anybody's having an

opportunity so when we have a special meeting like we had several months ago where the topic something came up that we didn't anticipate coming up we're now trying to jump all over ourselves to say we got to wave the rules and do all this nonsense sense rather than have it on the agenda that says we should have new business or we should have people be able to come before us and speak

theoretically something could happen within 48 Hours of a special meeting a major issue and we're all going to be sitting here and no one on this stage can actually bring up the issue to try to fix it because that's the way our system is being run right now and that's why we should be having this open so if somebody came before us on citizen input time at a special meeting with a legitimate concern

nobody can do anything we're going to have another special meeting potentially to address something because we don't do things the way we should as far as the leadership on this board and it should be a new business it should be 48 hours and we should be allowing people to come up and speak I don't know what people are so worried about and Afraid about why we can't let people speak at a

special meeting and and Robert's Rules or any of that stuff does not prohibit it it's not illegal all it is is a recommendation and our policy supersedes Robert's Rules of Order Tad knows it and at the end of the day we should be doing it so I applaud Mr di for bringing this up and it's not going to go anywhere because we already had four members that don't want to deal with it but at the

end of the day I'm voting for this and I'm supporting Mr Das I yeld thank you Mr AGG Mr Das thank you and I'm not going to belabor the topic but just a few points so um at the special meeting that we had um a few months ago in July um had nothing to do with the mold situation we had several members from this from the from the um health and

safety committee come before us and we almost shut them down but again I I plotted the mayor the mayor made the right choice by asking for a motion to wave the rules um and we allowed them to speak even though it violated our city Charter but that was the right thing to do and that was the Constitutional thing to do to be quite honest I've come before this committee when back in 2021

and I've had that same exact Clause shoved right in my face when um I spoke out against the former superintendent so I just don't think we should um we should be fair across the board um if I can again through the chair to attorney side if you don't have an answer today I think we should research this is it constitutional and legal to have parliamentary procedure aside in the state of Massachusetts because I

know we're very liberal in in the right way when it comes to our public input policies in the First Amendment um is it legal ille or illegal for us to hinder um citizens input to only items on the agenda I think that's something we should look into to get a legal opinion on cuz I hate for it for a situation to come down the road an individual comes down to speak and then maybe the next

chairman in five years from now shuts them down we can't pick and choose when we're going to enforce that section of the charter whether it's um popular or expedient we got to be fair across the board attorney side all I could say on that is that the the charter irrespectful of any vote that the committee takes the charter would control over what the actions of the committee could be uh I think everyone

understands the the one time and and I've been here for a while now it's the one time where where was a a board of the committee to wave the rules it's an emergency situation that came up and students and teachers were going to go into a room into a a building in a classroom that no one knew at the time that vote was taken if it was going to

be safe or not and I think that was the the one the only time I've seen uh that wave uh but uh once again you could certainly uh uh do what you want in in terms of the committee in terms of a vot as to what the school policy would be but it would be subject to and uh be controlled by what the charter would State on that uh and I understand what

your your motion is to send a letter uh which doesn't really uh uh set a a policy for the the school committee but the the bottom line is until that Charter is changed uh if there was an issue that's what would control and just one follow-up question so you believe section 9-18 of the charter that's legal is what you think that you believe that's constitutional I have no reason I I first of all I haven't certainly

haven't researched that but I have no reason to believe it's not can we um make I like to make a motion I have a motion in a second right now on the floor we haven't voted on yet what have a motion can I motion was the original motion that Mr aga's amendment was attached to we voted on Mr aga's Amendment and now now the motion is on Mr das's proposal 12.6 we didn't Amendment didn't pass I'd

like to offer another amendment that we asked the the school committee attorney or we asked our legal counsel I know we have other legal counsel or it could be whoever to research the issue and see if section 9-18 of the city Charter is constitutional under um state Constitution the Federal Constitution I think past practice indicates this simple request is enough I mean some attorney aside would support

that he made a motion um to have attorney aside research 9-8 yes do I hear a second second question question Mr AGA typically attorney aside would just say sure I'll do that and we don't need to motion so Committee Member ask you for a legal opinion would you need a motion in order to grant that or would you just do it based on it should be a motion especially on this one uh I just

question the the committee we could I certainly can do the uh the research and make a decision but with respect to the Charter the the individual that actually makes a decision on the legality of any issue is Corporation Council but we certainly can do a a research here so a Committee Member ask you to research an issue you won't do it without a motion and a and a positive vote I I didn't say

that I said it's it's more proper to do it that way with a vote but you won't not do it otherwise you're not saying you wouldn't do it without a vote okay we have a motion I don't have a second I did second I'm sorry Mr AG seconded callate reiterate the motion again the motion is without touching the main thing Mr Das asked Mr Assad to research 9-18 related to the Charter's rights to

regulate speech at a special meeting correct and this is an amendment this is this is an amendment it's almost separate from his letter though so I don't know where we are now can't have two motions but that's what I we bring it up on the new business yeah we'll bring I'll Mr Mayor I'll bring it up during new business okay let's do that let's vote on the original 12.6 Deb can

you call the role Mr aam yes Mr Bailey Mr Das yes Mr Cory no M Miss lovi no Miss Pereira no mayor Coogan no 127 is a discussion and vote to approve the request for qualifications engineering service provides study evaluation and recommendation for all buildings regarding the HVAC systems as presented by Ken Pico Chief Operating Officer Mr

Pico so the request is is twofold the the um request is to go out for an RFQ which would be a request for qualifications for engineering design um study work uh on all of our buildings for HVAC um validity basically taking a look at what we have where we need to go um to um hopefully uh improve air quality throughout all of our buildings I say twofold because there's a um the city

about a year and a half ago went out for uh qualifications to have for lack of a better turn a house doctor set up where we would pick three to five companies as a bid because it's a qualification and not necessarily price so we would lock in three to five um companies and they would in turn for a period of 5 years we would be able to use them to do this work what it does is

it saves six to six weeks or so maybe eight weeks of the procurement process since they were already procured once the topic for procurement was various Services related to design and Engineering uh qualifications so that has already been done um but I'm leaving it up to the committee uh as to which direction they would like to go in if they want to go out to um for regular RFQ then we would start

that process I would come back to the committee with the the full package of what that RFQ looks like and um and we would move forward with that particular piece motion to approve of the question I have a motion Mr do I have a second second I have a motion in second Mr agar just a question on the where it said negotiate the fee structure if we went the other way what would the pay be

would you who would select and what would the fee structure be for the if you picked one of those five so no matter what would happen um the if we if we choose the second piece actually if we choose either one um this committee would have to vote on a contract so the contract would come before this committee to vote on so if we if it's a request for qualifications request for

qualifications is done by the designer selection board which is a board made of different individuals on the city Side um I usually sit on it or someone else if there's a conflict would sit on it from the school side and um that process would go the same exact way but it would the contract would still come here negotiating of price the request for qualifications and the designer selection board would rate three and

then we would start with a rated number one person company see whether or not that price came in at what we thought was a good price and then move forward with that so you're going to have multiple people bid on it put a proposal together and then you're going to pick the committee is going to pick somebody and then we approve the contract exactly now that's already been done as I said

so that there is already five ready and I think the timing makes sense the only thing I would ask is what do we currently have and what are we going to expect at the end of this at the end of this are we going to now see the status of every single h where it's going how much it's going to cost to replace like is that the scope of the work so the

scope of work is is probably going to be all of that that you just mentioned plus the fact that where do we go tomorrow where are we going to be in a year from now what what can we do immediately to to make the systems better um what would we be doing un necessarily A Five-Year Plan and then full this is a major project so it it is gradual and and it

does have but we're going to get the full picture it's not the end of this next two years from now saying we're going to do another study to figure it out this is the full piece got it thank you I Yi I have a motion Mr uh Mr Cory I'm sorry so M Pico this is going to provide us with a strategic plan yes and and looking at looking at all of our school facilities down the

road with regular checkups yes of HVAC issues especially as they relate to mold and so that there will be a constant check on all of our build buildings is that what this is about so it's more more than just a mold obviously this is a complete air quality piece so efficien all those other issues and there'll be a complete check and report outs as issues arise to this committee at all times

exactly for the next number of years yes the report will be extremely comprehensive thank you I yield anything further Deb could I get a call if I if I I'm sorry I just needed which way we want to go so if we want to go with the current people who the C companies who've been selected to avoid the six or eight week procurement piece that would be one way the second way would be to go

out for full motion on the first second the first the first part of it was the motion yeah Mr Mr agas was on the first part okay uh Mr Coury so Mr Pico with that in place with with our first option in place do we retain the services the Consultation Services of Mr Terell and people like that it's a totally different situation Mr Terell is going to finish the project that he started

for us yes will there be Consultants like him available to us for the future we're looking for a firm that will be able to do all of that work so an engineering firm will also provide that study and follow through and a pricing Matrix so that we can look at at the end of this what kind of plan we going to put in place and how we're going to fund it okay thank you I

Y okay when Deb you want to call the role Please Mr Dr yes Mr Bailey Mr Das yes Mr Cory yes M larav yes M Perera yes mayor cougan yes 128 is a discussion and vote to approve the use of dery high school's Ray Street parking lot to hold the Holly uh Halloween drivein movie night and trunk Retreat event SEC um I have a motion second any discussion Deb call the role Mr Dragon

yes Mr Bailey Mr Das yes Mr Cory yes Miss larav yes Miss Perera yes Mar Coogan yes and this is a great night guys I hope everybody gets a chance to go by a number of Our Community Partners are there we have a drivein it's Hocus Pocus 2 um and again there's a lot of kids from all over the city so if you get a chance to go by we'd appreciate it uh

there's a number of things for your information we have retirements resignations uh motion to accept place on file thank you Mr Das I second regretfully there yeah Mr agar I brought this up uh last month or two months ago that we receive uh the appointments on this for the edification of the public I've asked for several months now that when we have somebody appointed to a new position that they also get listed we on

the school committee don't get notified When anybody gets appointed if they're already working in the school system and I think that's the problem not only for the myself but for the public this when we put somebody on here that gets appointed to a job if they've left a job in one they should be appointed and they should go on the agenda for the public certification every time somebody's

appointed I've mentioned this for months and it's still not happening so I'd once again ask that that happens and notifying the school committee when someone gets appointed to a different position thank you regretfully there are a few death notices but we can do them all at once I have a a motion and second on notifications Deb can you call the RO Please Mr H yes Mr Bailey Mr D yes Mr Cory yes M larvi yes

M Perera yes may Coogan yes uh new business thank you um I I had some um a second item I actually wanted to mention during um the superintendent report um but it has to do with the superintendent's Friday um report to the committee um I I do have some concerns um over the Boston Globe article that was released um relating to um relating to um exclusionary timeouts in at South Coast collaborative which um

we are a member of um I was going to requests and ask the superintendent if if she can report back to the committee if we can find out if um exclusionary timeouts are being used on Far students um I think it's something that's very important and at the same time um because this was an issue with the committee last year and I'm sure it's going to come up again um

the judge Rottenberg Center and and um I know they use um electric shock therapy as well and that was an issue um that was brought up last year if we can also um look into that same issue as well whether um forer students are um being subjected to those um practices that would be great thank you Mr Das thank you anything further Mr um I'm sorry Mr Agia we were going to bring up an issue

on new business uh Mr Das had I told Mr Das that I would be in the corporation council's office tomorrow telling them to do a research on 9.18 fair enough thank you um I'm sorry I didn't announce that you you are correct I did have a sideb with him um Mr uh Mr Assad any reason for executive session uh yes I would maam uh you want to give us the information M

general laws chapter 38 section 2187 to review and approve executive session minutes for August 26 204 special meeting of the committee school committee M general laws chapter 38 section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to Collective Bing agreement including hearing grievances Rel to All Professional teaching employees of forward School System including Co coaches Title One teachers nurses

occupational and physical therapist and specialist in the teaching profession represented by the former Educators Association is the chair has determined that an open session may have a detrimental impact on the baring position of the committee Mass general laws chapter 38 section 2183 to discuss strategy with respect to collect the bney relative to all administrators and employees represented by the forward

administrators Association as the chair is ATT T that no possession may have a detrimental impact on a bing position of the committee Master La chapter 38 2183 to discuss strategy of the expected collect the bargaining 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

open session may have a detrimental impact on the bargaining position of the committee National Law chapter 38 section 2183 to discuss strategy with respect to collective 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 as a chair has determined that open

possession may have a detrimental impact on abing position of the committee M laws chapter uh 38 section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collect the Bing relative to all custodial employees of the forward school system represented by the American Federation of state county and Municipal Employees Council 93 local 1118 is the chair session may have a detrimental impact on a bing position of the committee M

General Law chapter 38 section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with the respect to Collective bodying Rel to all safety security SEC employees of the forward school system represented by the American Federation of State County Municipal Employees local Council 93 local 1118 is a chair deter the Open Session may have a detrimental impact on a bargaining position of the committee M Law chapter 38 section 2183 to discuss

strategy with the expect collect the Bing Ro to all civil clerical employees of the forward school system represented by the forward Department of Civil Service clerical employees Association as your chair is determined an open session may have a detrimental impact on the bargaining position of the committee M Law chapter 2 38 uh chapter 38 section 21 A3 to discuss strategy the collect the Bing relative to all par

professional employees the for school system represented by the for Federation of par professionals the chair is determined that no possession may have a detrimental impact on a bing position of the committee we would reconvene the May and may up your statements at that time thank you Mo to go into executive session I have a motion second can I get a second second Mr um Cory discussion please call the RO

to go into executive session uh Deb Mr AGA yes Mr Bailey Mr Das yes Mr Cory yes Miss larv yes M yes mayor Coogan yes

recess you said that me oh yeah sorry we're back out of executive session Deb would you please call the role Mr AGA here Mr Bailey Mr Das here Mr Cory here miss laravie here miss Pereira here mayor cougan here anything further to come before the committee yes sir uh I'd like to make a motion to approve the executive session minutes for August 26 2024 special meeting of the school committee can I get a second

second uh discussion dead please call the role Mr AA yes Mr Bailey Mr Das yes Mr Cory yes M larvi yes M Pereira yes mayor kouan yes I entertain a motion to adjourn toj second I have a motion a second Deb please call the RO Mr Agia yes Mr Bailey Mr Das yes Mr Cory okay Mr lvy yes Mr Pera yes mayor Coogan yes aour