Select Board: February 7, 2024

Transcript captured from MHTV’s Vimeo auto-captioning. No speaker labels; proper names and dollar figures occasionally misheard. Click any timecode to jump to that moment in the source video.

0:00 Okay. So let’s go forward and call the meeting to, or like our meetings to order. Um, I have to, I’m gonna admit Everybody can, can’t we just go back to our system? No, because the link that we, public link, everybody’s in. Got it. We’re stuck with it. Got it. Got it. And for the duration of our meeting. Yeah. Technically this is our meeting, not theirs. I’ll,

0:25 so Aaron, did you call your meeting to Order? No. Okay. Okay. All right. Okay. Um, Mr. Shores, I’m gonna call this meeting to order of February 7th, um, 2024. It is past our, it passed seven. It’s 7 0 7. And apologies for the technical difficulties. There’s a lot of interest in, um, what we have on the agenda tonight. So we just really wanted to give an opportunity for our technical support to, um, To Rectify it. Okay. Um, starting the live stream. So I will call the school committee to order at 7 0 8. And I just wanna reiterate, um, we are, we do have tech here trying to,

1:12 to fix the technological issue so that you guys can see us as well as I can see you on my screen right now. Um, but we, I also encourage if anybody’s having trouble for you to tune into MHTV ‘cause they have full coverage as well. Okay, Great. So I just, um, wanna welcome all of the applicants, uh, that are here tonight. It was really great to see so much, uh, interest in the vacancy. And, um, and we’re, uh, just wanted to go over the process for the applicants. Um, each applicant will be asked a question from, um, the select board and the school committee members, um, with, um,

1:58 and then the same questions will be asked for all applicants. We’ll have the same questions and any follow up questions by members should be just points of clarification, um, and to existing questions. So, um, just in, in the interest of fairness, um, to all, so we are going to be interviewing an alphabetical order and ask that applicants wait outside the room until their name is called. And once you are interviewed, you are welcome to stay in the audience, and we do need a majority of five, uh, to appoint to the position. So, um, there may be one, two or three, um, rounds. So, um, of voting. So, um, the order, let’s see,

2:48 I, And alphabetical is, um, Ms. Alexa ab abowitz. Sorry if I Alexa Abowitz. Okay, great. I I’m used to, so if you wouldn’t mind coming up to the table here, and then I’d ask Yeah, just any of the candidates to kind of wait out in the hall. And Kyle will get you an alphabetical order as, as we go through.

3:16 Okay. And so everybody has the list of questions. Um, Sarah had sent this to us and, um, everybody had a chance to submit their questions, so we’ll just kind of go in this order. Um, okay. So Ms. Ab, thank you so much for being here tonight. And, um, Jim, you have our first question. Okay. Uh, welcome Alexa. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, what, if any, preconceived notions do you have about the current school committee’s functioning that may have contributed to your desire to be part of the board? Um, My initial impression is that anyone who takes on the obligation of public service is, uh,

4:03 we should all be grateful to people who do that. It appears that sometimes, um, my initial impression is that that’s first people are making a sacrifice for their town, and that is something that, that we should be grateful for. Second is, uh, it does appear that this committee appears to maybe have gone off track or maybe have, have hit obstacles that people in the town are unaware of. Um, and so my impression is that while the, uh, folks who are looking to fill this vacancy might come with a background in education or a background in the law, of which I of course have, um, what you’re looking for really here is someone with a background in governance and communication. Um, I have experience in education both educating and advising educators. Uh, I have experience with governance and I have experience with both crisis management and communication.

4:50 One of the issues that often shows up in circumstances like this is that people who have preconceived notions, who are who, who actually have the opportunity to form them, it’s a communications issue. We’ve all had the circumstance where things go off the rails, but they’re not really as off the rails as people believe they are, because the communication about what has gone on is either ineffective or it’s not, it’s not sufficient. Um, as someone who has practiced as an attorney for as long as I have done it, everyone is aware of the attorney-client privilege, right? Everybody knows that there is such a thing. It can be used as a sword and a shield. And if you don’t know how to use it, you look like you’re hiding behind confidentiality. And that is my impression here. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Hi, Alexa. Hi. How are you? I’m welcome. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Of course. Um, how would you show up on day one

5:37 to help the school committee with its governance with an eye to the short term and longer term, and to prepare the groundwork to attract the best possible core professional district team, which includes the superintendent, the assistant superintendent, and the business manager? The very first thing that any new person to any new role needs to do is listen. And I think that is, um, that is something that one does. You know, in my profession, that’s what I do. I listen. So I need to understand where the school committee is. I need to understand what the challenges the committee are facing are, because I think as we discussed the preconceived notions and the, the publicity that has been around, it may be that I don’t have a proper impression of what has gone on and the work that needs to be done. So that’s something that I need to change if it’s in, if it’s incorrect.

6:23 So I need to listen. I need to understand what the challenges are, and I need to figure out what the school committee is doing with its sort of strategic plan for the next several months. We have several, we have multiple important positions in the district that need to be hired. We have a budget that’s gonna be cut by $2.3 million, and we have multiple collective bargaining agreements that come due August 31st, just on the downside of the most recent very successful strike in Massachusetts history. So where are we going with those things? Each one of those items would in and of itself be a challenge, but you have all of them now, and you have a school committee that’s not fully constituted that may or may not have the full, the full focus and, and, and the full, uh, backing of the town. And so I think what we have to do is figure out, put all that stuff in the table.

7:08 We have to figure out, you know, where do we move these pieces in order to be successful? What does the school committee have to do, have to look like, have to sound like, have to represent in order to, to attract the most successful professionals that we can get into these positions? Because without those successful positions with a budget that’s cut by $2.3 million, we’re not gonna have educators. We’re not gonna have people who want to come here, who wanna teach our kids. And, and I, I said in my letter, um, my nephew now lives with us. Unfortunately, his mother passed away a couple years ago, but he’s a junior at Marblehead High School. And I’ll, I’ll tell you a story. He’s got a brand new Latin teacher. So this is the Latin teacher for the junior. They’re honors Latin, honest to God. They’re kids who take Latin and, and, and there’s several of them. Um, so his Latin teacher, the, the, the kids

7:54 who were in this Latin class are also share the physics class. And one day during the Latin class, she realized, she’s like, oh, these kids are all talking about physics. Nobody’s talking about Latin. They’re all talking. They’re worried about their physics test. She stopped talking about Latin. She stopped teaching Latin and taught them physics. And that is the kind of educator we want here at Marblehead High School. And my, my nephew was like, oh my God, this is the best teacher ever. She taught me physics, and they all went on and did well because she understood what the need was and was able to fill it. That’s the kind of professional that this school board needs to be able to, to, to attract here. We need to, to be able to express our enthusiasm for that and also our enthusiasm for the town, for what we’re doing, for who we are. And that’s what we, the committee needs to represent. Thank you. Thank you.

8:40 As someone’s son who is a freshman, it takes LA night. You Excellent. There are going lots of kids here. Exactly. Um, well, good evening. Uh, my question is, what is the best way to address the differences in opinion on the, uh, school committee and between the school committee and the administration? When you say administration, The school administration. Okay. Um, someone has negotiation is the, is I think everyone has, has had the circumstance. Ne a successful negotiation means everybody’s a little unhappy. And that is where we need to understand where we need to be. You’re not gonna win all the time. Compromise is necessary. I think the, the importance of of, of working through this is that you have, you understand

9:26 where the other side is coming from. You understand what you can compromise and what you can’t. There are things that you have to compromise. I mean, how many, like, I’ll go back to my professional experience. I’m an attorney. I’ve settled hundreds of cases. Most of the time my client’s not like, yippee. That’s a great settlement. Every now and then we get one of those. But what happens is that the things that you win in the settlement are more significant than the things that you lose. And we can’t, if, if we go in with an automatic, I will not compromise. I will not compromise. I will not compromise. Great. But you don’t get anything done. And I, I know I sound like I’m, I’m, this is the whole world these days. This is the United States, this is the Congress, this is whatever. But I, but it really is important. And I think, you know, in my experience, when I was general counsel at, at Merrimack, um, one of the first things that new president did was

10:13 to institute an early retirement plan for professors. And you can imagine how that went over with the senior professors. Not only is this a new president coming in, he has the audacity, the temerity to suggest that I should retire early. My job was to go out and figure out how to talk to these professors to get them to buy onto the early retirement plan. Because without it, we couldn’t move the school forward. So what is it that they wanted it, they didn’t wanna retire, but there might have been some way to make it more attractive to them. So my job was to talk to them and figure out how I can engage with this group of people who have served the college for so long, who have given their life’s blood to, to English, to Latin, to science, to whatever, and get them to understand that this is a way to them to, for us to be grateful to them for their service. What is it that we can bring to the table that you want?

11:01 And that is what we have to talk about. That is how we have to move forward. Great. Thank you Very much. Of course.

11:11 Hi, Alexa. Alexa. Great. Hi. Um, so, uh, for the past two years, the school committee voted to bring forth the general override request to the town in response to their unmet budget needs. Uh, this year the school committee is preparing a budget with a projected deficit. That’s what we’re looking at this point. Um, please share your thoughts on areas you would recommend, uh, potentially addressing first and, you know, the financial challenges of the district. Generally, Uh, I have to say, I would like to see, um, more specifics about the budget in order to actually be able to fully answer that question. But I will tell you what I understand to be the case. Um, what I understand is that there is not, um,

11:52 the oversight of the money is appears to, from my vision to be lacking. What I’d like to see is how we put monies into, um, sports, how we put money into activities, how we put money into education, into what sections of education we put it in, where we put it into the physical plan, where we put it into substitutes, into, you know, um, other, other areas of education that require investment. And what’s, how do, how do we do, how do we do return on that investment? How do we check into where the money is going to determine whether it’s doing, you know, whether it’s being as effective as we want it to be. Do we audit, do we, those kinds of things. Do we, can we, can we take a look at, say, an investment in particular series of, of, um, in Latin,

12:39 for example, in Latin teachers? Can we understand that that is where we wanna go? Obviously, as a general rule, and the biggest budget, the biggest item in a budget is gonna be labor. And right now your labor is coming, is gonna be an issue because you’re gonna do collective bargaining. So the, the budget and the collective bargaining are gonna have to go hand in hand. You’re really gonna have to look at both, because unless that budget is something you can sell to the people you are collective bargaining with and to the people you wanna hire, you’re not, it doesn’t matter what the budget looks like, right? You’re gonna have to be able to do something with the money that you have. So I think, you know, in terms of specifics, it’s hard to answer that question because as I started at the top, all of this is interrelated. Um, you know, certainly I’ve had the opportunity to read a budget and to work through a budget. Um, but, you know, I’m sorry that

13:25 that’s not a specific answer. No, but that’s the one I have. That’s great. Thank you. Awesome. Um, I have a next question, Alexa. Um, I’m trying to understand people’s, um, willingness or whether they’re interested in becoming involved long term. So for the June election, nomination papers will be due in a matter of two to three months. Understanding circumstances can change. Is your expectation today that you will seek election to a regular term? I honestly don’t have an expect an expectation. Um, like I said, I think my skills are useful, possibly, maybe only in the short term. Um, you may be looking for somebody on this committee to fill out who is an expert in education, which I am not. You may be looking on some, for somebody to sit on this committee long term, who is an expert on budget and finance, which I am not.

14:10 What I have, are a combination of skills that might be able to right set the committee at this point. If I can do that, and if I am chosen to sit on the committee, and if it, if, if it appears that I am making a good contribution, and that the chemistry is there, because this kind of, you know, governance is part art, part science governance is partially chemistry. And if it’s not working, then it doesn’t matter what my intentions are, it’s better for the board and it’s better for the, for the town and for the school if I do move on. So I don’t have any preconceived notions back to preconceived notions about that. I would wait to see how I fit and how we all fit together and how we work together. Can we get the job done? That’s really what’s most important. Thank you. Mm-Hmm.

14:53 Um, general, Sorry. Um, um, how do you plan to collaborate with the other school committee members, the superintendent and the district staff? Best I can. I, I don’t, it’s, it’s hard. I, I’ll, I’ll go back to what I was saying before. Um, part about part of governance is chemistry. We have to be able to work together and to understand where we’re coming from. So my role in, in, in any, in any committee, any board, your role is to sort of figure out where you fit in the chemistry and then use the skills that you have to best augment how that all works together. Someone sitting on a board is not an individual, it’s a part of a bigger cog. And I think, um, you know, my, my job would be primarily to collaborate.

15:39 When you say how, um, it, it’s kind of a tough question to answer because if you have that as your primary goal with collaboration and compromise and negotiation and working together, then you do it however you can. You find a way to make it work if it’s going to work. And the whole point of, again, governance and of working together as a board is to figure out how to make it work. You know, this group together is gonna be what the adage is noses in hands out for the district. But at this point, that’s not necessarily possible because there’s too much, there’s too much up in the air. Um, collaboration again, um, to go back to something I said to start with, one of the first tools and most effective tools you can use in building a collaborative relationship is listening.

16:27 Um, Brian? Yep. Hello, Alexa. Hi. Thank you for coming. Thank you. During the first half of the school year, it’s been difficult for the school committee to accomplish its goals due to a large number of unusual events that have happened this year. One major issue the district has requested is to reduce our upcoming budget by a significant amount that will lead to a major reduction of staff and student offerings. Do you have any thoughts on how you can help address the major budget reduction On how I can help address it? Pardon Me? How I can help address it? I’m not sure I understand the question. Well, How would you help the school committee address with the parents these cuts that have to come? Well, I, I think I’ll go back to what I said at, at the start, which is a lot of this is communication.

17:13 And a lot of this is the, um, the tenor in which that communication is made. Um, I am, like I said, uh, I’m, I’m only recently in charge of a student, but it, it appears to me that the communication has not been collaborative. And that the town there, there appears, at least in the, in the news coverage that I’ve read and in the background work that I did to come here, that there has been, that there’s, there’s not an effort made to work together. The, the override that didn’t pass last year, I was astonished by that. I was astonished that didn’t pass. And I can say everybody’s nodding. Everybody was astonished that it didn’t pass. But why did you guys think about why it didn’t pass? And that’s a communication thing. There’s no question that, and nobody’s siphoning off money here.

17:58 Nobody’s taking the money to use for ill, for ill purposes or Ill gain, it’s, the town wants more understanding of how things get done. And now this is an over, this is an oversimplified presentation, certainly because I don’t, I’m not privy to what you guys are privy to, but I can only say as a citizen of the town who now is in charge of this Latin studying AP Bio Junior, that this is what my, my perception is. Um, this is an ugly thing. Cutting a budget, $2.3 million in, in time, like this is an ugly thing.

18:30 You can’t, and you can’t make that not ugly. So you have to go out and say, Hey, it’s ugly. How do we get through it together? Thank you. Mm-Hmm. Thank you. Uh, thanks for coming. I’m hearing that the audio is terrible on the Zoom link. I don’t, I don’t know if anybody knows that yet. Um, so a letter, uh, to the editor was written today from a contingent of constituents, noting a real or perceived lack of transparency on the committee. With your knowledge understanding of the school’s today, if appointed to the school committee, uh, what concrete specific examples and steps do you think you could take to start rebuilding the trust? I was thinking about this actually. So, um,

19:17 it sounds silly, but it works. Uh, when I first, when I started as general counsel at my current company, um, I was, everybody, everybody hates lawyers. Everybody hates general counsel in this particular company. They’re a healthcare company. They wanted to be left alone to provide healthcare. So I did lunches with Alexa, or lunches with legal, and I bought lunch. And the first time nobody came. I sat there and ate my pizza by myself, but then I started actually going out to people. So I brought my lunch to people and people came first for the free food because right, who doesn’t come for free food and I get good food and I had good cookies and I bathed the cookies myself. Um, but the more I did that, and the more I took food, and the more I, you know, I let people ask me all kinds of questions. ‘cause everybody has a question for a lawyer, right? Everybody has a question for a lawyer

20:02 and everybody, you know, my cousin this and my cousin that and the other thing. And eventually they got used to me and they got used to me being around, and then they started reaching out to me when they had problems. And that is the hallmark of being a good general counsel. You have to be available. You have to be trusted. You have to be, people have to want to know that they can get you if they need you. And so that’s how I would start. I would start with something like that. I would start with, you know, coffee with the committee, come tell us instead of getting us, instead of putting a letter in the newspaper, come talk to me. I’m here. You can tell me whatever you need to tell me. You can ask me the questions you want everyone. And we, we, you know, my idea would be to do that regularly and figure out some other way than we can make ourselves available to the town. To, to the, instead of, instead of some question about whether we’re hiding

20:48 behind some confidentiality or a lack of transparency, I’m here, I’m happy to tell you whatever, not on Zoom, not in this, not in this room, that’s lovely, but yet formal in, you know, Java Sun or in the Starbucks or in the park. Just hear, talk to me. Tell me what your concerns are. And then we, we have to respond to them. Mm-Hmm. So the committee has to actually say, okay, I’ve heard you Mm-Hmm. How does this sh how do we take it from here? And, you know, I’ve heard you, how do we take it from here? What’s your idea about how we take it from here? So I, I think one of the, one of the challenges of boards is that they, they tend to get insular. Um, and not just, not just these, I mean all boards, right? You know, any, any, any corporate board is an appointed collection of luminaries that, generally speaking,

21:34 doesn’t get involved with the folks they’re supposed to be governing. But that’s not for, for, for boards like this, for boards, like boards of trustees of schools, that doesn’t work. They need to understand what, how do you govern if you don’t understand what you’re supposed to be doing? And the only way to understand what you’re supposed to be doing, the only people to know the advice, you know, whose advice you’re supposed to be giving to is listen to them, is to go out and talk to them and make yourself available to them. And it’s hard work. Like, that’s not easy to do. It takes a lot of effort and a lot of smiles and a lot of cookies and a lot of pizza. But it’s worth it every time. I wouldn’t disagree. Uh, point of clarification. I think all of us are quite available to anybody. No, and I, I’m sorry, I don’t mean, I don’t mean to suggest that you aren’t, and like I said, because of the circumstances of these interviews, many of the, the, the responses I give may seem pat.

22:21 Sure. But I will tell you that these are, I can take, I can take the experience only from my own. Absolutely. I, but just to come finish my point of clarification, I do, it’s not a veil of, of confidentiality, but that is part of the job at times. And that’s, I think where the rub, um, comes in. That, that was kind of more where my, I guess I didn’t write it well, but that was more where my questions, when you do have those limitations. Yeah. Yes. Which is, it’s so hard, Legitimate, but I think, and I, I’ll go back to what I said at the top, there are definitely legitimate points of confidentiality that, you know, in any instance, you are obliged to keep Mm-Hmm. The question is how you manage the communication Mm-Hmm. About them. Yeah. Right. Because again, as an attorney,

23:07 I carry the attorney-client privilege, right? We, you know, my clients, I have one client right now who thinks everything he says is attorney-client privilege. And so he says, oh, it’s privilege. I’m like, it’s, it’s really not privileged, but it’s not. But one of the things the privilege does, and I’m just using this as an example, is it, it sort of cloaks the original conversations, right? You have an original conversation, the, the s has hit the fan, and you gotta figure out what to do about it. The attorney client privilege cloaks that. Then once you figure out what to do with that, that’s, that’s the crisis management and communication part. And it’s not easy and it’s not perfect. And sometimes the communication, uh, I’m not suggesting it goes well every time. It doesn’t, uh, I’m not suggesting I could make it go well every time because it can’t. Right. But I am suggesting that it, you know, it has to be a concerted, it has to be something you think about

23:55 as you’re making the decision to turn things confidential. Thank you. Of course. Alexa, um, thank you for also staying with us through all these tech difficulties and the background noise and all of this. We’re working really hard and, um, I’ve actually been thrown off the Zoom meeting four times, so we’ll keep going with this. Um, I, I just wanna take a minute to encourage people to go to MHTV, if you can, to see, um, so we are entering collective bargaining with all of our unions. While these discussions will be challenging, given the town’s extreme financial shortfall, it will be very important to maintain a respectful relationship with all parties throughout the process. Please tell us what specifically about you will help the process to avoid being contentious.

24:43 Um, a I have done collective bargaining before, and I understand, and I have done it specifically as representing a school district. So I, uh, I understand how it works. Um, BII Think, again, part of what I have done for my whole career is build bridges. And I’m good at it, and I like doing it. And, uh, I think that is what makes negotiations successful. We find points that we agree on, and we have find points that we agree to disagree on. But if we assume that we are all here for the right reason, right? And if we understand that what we are here for is to educate these kids who are studying Latin,

25:28 who are studying AP bio, who are studying physics, and whatever they’re studying, that’s what we’re here for. And whatever the challenges are, if we can agree that the goal is the same, which is our children’s education, then we can find some way to get there. And we’re gonna, you know, there are times when tempers get hot and other things, but it, you know, all of us have worked professionally, our whole careers. We understand that what we have to bring to the table is temperance and understanding and compassion and collegiality. Thank you so much, Alexa. Of course. I really appreciate you throwing your hat in the ring and, and taking the time to answer our questions so thoughtfully, thank you. Thank You so much. And again, you’re welcome to stay in the audience at this time.

26:14 Thank you. Thank you. So just a moment for housekeeping. How are we on the zoom?

26:24 I won’t have, Or how, how’s, I, I, are we, are we okay? Are we up and running? We’re up. They can only hear Sarah though, I think. No, I think, are we gonna able to just got the town audience live. Frank, are we gonna be able to get a, a shot of the whole table? Yes. Okay. So This laptop is gonna get this piece. Okay. And that laptop gets this side. Okay. I mean, you wanna see the speaker And Frank is gonna be able to switch. So he, here’s Sarah. Perfect. When you talk, and that’s speaker. So we’re only picking up Sarah’s audio, but the visual Yep. Just when she spoke, we’re not picking up. We should leave that audio on to pick up the applicants. Yeah. Okay. How’s the, Okay. Who do we have next? So hopefully that will pick up the

27:19 So much Paper. Okay. Who’s up next? Hi. I was gonna say that

27:28 Some Us people, oh no, you can take a seat. By all Means. Take a seat. Wanna look in the

27:41 welcome. Okay. Thank you. You welcome. Um, You Louis? Yes. Louisa Zini. Um, thank you so much for your letter of interest in submitting your resume. Um, so, uh, each one of us is gonna ask a question as I said earlier, so keep in mind that maybe, um, there’s nine of us and that if I should have said this at the outset, but I’m now gonna say it every time. Um, so maybe if there’s not an opportunity to say what you wanted to say, there’ll be other opportunities down the road Sure. To say it. So, um, so with that said, um, we’ll start with Jim. Welcome Louisa. Thank you. And thank you for volunteering. Uh, what, if any preconceived notions do you have about the current school committee’s functioning

28:28 that may have contributed to your desire to be a part of the board? Um, I don’t think, I don’t I have any preconceived notions about the school committee itself. It’s more that, um, purely that I have three children that are in the schools, in the public schools. I feel like I have, you know, the experience that could lend itself, uh, to adding value to the committee. So in terms of preconceived notions, I really don’t have any. It’s just, you know, that I’d like to serve and, um, and help out the school committee in any way that I can. Excellent. Thank you For a second. Is this is Louisa. Okay. Sorry, we had a withdraw. So I had emailed. Yes. Um, we had, um, two withdraw. Oh, okay. I didn’t know about the, I didn’t know that.

29:13 Yep. Um, Wendy Bates And Wendy and, um, Um, oh, the Earlier one, Griffin. Okay. We knew Lisa. I’m sorry. Sorry. No problem. Because I read your background and I’m like, no, thanks. Yes, to Hi, Louisa. Hi. Thank you. Thank you for, uh, joining us. We really welcome. Appreciate it. Oh, you’re welcome. Um, how would you show up on day one to help the school committee with its governance, looking both short term and long term, and to prepare the groundwork to attract the best possible core professional district team, which includes the superintendent, the assistant superintendent, and the Businessman? Um, I think that it’s important to show up with really, um, an open mind. Um, and, you know, sort of looking at something from a higher level, um, a higher perspective.

30:00 I think that, um, in terms of selecting a, uh, the right staff, the right leadership, um, I think it’s important to look at obviously their past experience, obviously, um, what they can bring to the district. Um, I think it would be good to, um, look far and wide, um, for leadership and for staff. So, yeah. Thank you. Good evening. Uh, what is the best way to address the differences of opinion on the school committee and between the school committee and the school administration?

30:39 Um, It’s interesting because I think that these kind of things, board ver like, you know, sort of board versus staff exist in so many, um, not-for-profit entities, um, you know, that I’ve been involved with. And I think that it’s very important to, um, really listen to the other side. It’s really important to, um, to listen to the, to the concerns really closely. It’s almost like putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, um, you know, where you don’t have the experience. Um, and I think that, you know, that would be what I would try to do, that I would, you know, and I think that, you know, to not have any, we’re all on the same level. You know, we’re not in silos, um,

31:26 and, you know, to really work to collaboratively and together. Thank you.

31:36 Hi. Hi. Thank you for being here. I appreciate your time. You’re welcome. Uh, so, uh, for the past two years, the school committee has voted to bring forth the general override request to the town, you know, in response to their unmet budget needs. Mm-Hmm. Uh, so this year the school committee is going to have to put through the work, you know, preparing a budget and they’re looking at another projected deficit. Um, please share your thoughts on areas, you know, you would recommend cutting or addressing or, um, just the financial challenges of the district and, you know, what they’re facing. Um, I mean, I think that there are a lot of, um, you know, different populations, different groups of people in the town. So I know that that has been a challenge, um, in terms of the override passing

32:22 and know that it didn’t, you know, it wasn’t even that close to passing last time. Um, and I think that part of the, the problem with, with why the override, maybe why it didn’t pass or, you know, was because that a lot of the, the people that voted really didn’t have a lot of information about what the override, you know, why the override, why was the override necessary? Um, you know, what are the, you know, really break it down, what are the positions that would be cut if the override didn’t pass? And I don’t think that was put out until the very end to the public. So I thought that that was really kind of, um, something that could have been done a little bit differently. Even for me as a, you know, as someone who’s, you know, considers themself involved, I wasn’t aware

33:08 of really the details of what that override, you know, would mean. And so I think that better communication definitely overall to the public would’ve been, you know, whether or not it would’ve passed. I don’t know, but I think it would’ve been better. Okay. Um, uh, are you committed to becoming more, um, becoming involved long term for the June election nomination papers would be due in a matter of two to three months. Mm-Hmm. Understanding that circumstances can always change, but is it your thought or expectation today that you would seek election to a regular term? Absolutely. I, one of the things that I did do, um, at the suggestion of Sarah was, um, to call the ethics commission, because I do work for Spur.

33:55 Um, I work at a part-time capacity, and I do enrichment for the various schools in Marblehead and beyond Marblehead. Um, so I did consult with the ethics, um, department, and they’re gonna get back to me on that. So that’s the one, um, glitch, uh, potential glitch, but I haven’t got, got a, you know, a yay or nay on that yet. Okay. But I am committed and, and would really, really, um, you know, love to run. Thank you. And Sharon, I just, when I, um, had asked her to reach out, it, it’s something that’s come up in the past, right away she was like, yep, I’ll make the phone call. So if there’s a delay In the answer, and someone answered the phone and it was awesome. Her part. I can, I can attest to that, so thank you. Um, all right. That brings us to Jen.

34:42 Hi, Lisa. Welcome. Thank you. Nice to hear that somebody wants to run. Um, how do you plan to collaborate with the other school committee members, the superintendent and the district staff who appointed the Position? Um, you know, I don’t know everyone, or I even know Mr. Oda just because I’m a mom and, um, my kids went to Glover. Um, I look forward really to learning more about the backgrounds and the interests of the school committee. Um, I feel like I do work collaboratively pretty well with, with people, so, um, would definitely look forward to that. Um, in my current job, I work with, um, you know, parents, teachers, administrators, um, and, you know, and feel like I could, I could probably be pretty effective, um, at, you know, getting along with everyone

35:30 and communicating with everyone. Thank you. Welcome Luisa. Thank you. During the first half of the school year, it’s been difficult for the school committee to accomplish its goals due to a large number of unusual and unexpected events within the district. One major issue is the district is requested to reduce our upcoming budget by a significant amount that will lead to a major reduction of staff and student offerings. Mm-Hmm. Do you have any thoughts on how you can help address this budget production?

36:02 Um, you know, I think that working collaboratively with the, with the town administrators, with the select board, um, in a way that’s, um, you know, both, um, transparent is, is essential to really communicate the needs of the district. Like I said, along, you know, with the override and with that process, I felt like there was a lack of communication, really detailed communication as to what positions would be cut. Um, and I think that that’s something that, um, you know, would mean a lot in terms of, um, to really, you know, to really drill down on what positions would be cut, how, how that would impact student learning. And, you know, student achievement I think is essential. Thank You, Allison.

36:49 Thanks so much for coming. Thank you. Um, so a letter to the editor was written today from a contingent of constituents, um, noting a real or perceived lack of transparency on the committee with your knowledge and understanding of where the schools are today, right. Being here, um, but also any understanding you may have of confidentiality agreements, NDAs that we’re required to stick to, um, if appointed to the school committee. What concrete specific examples could you think of, uh, as an opportunity to begin immediately rebuilding trust with the community?

37:23 Um, Like I said, I think communication with the public through, um, you know, various local media is, is important. Um, I think people, a lot of people do read, you know, the current, the, you know, the other newspapers in town. Um, you know, I think that by making the right decisions as a school committee down the road, um, that trust will, you know, gradually be rebuilt. I mean, I think that people, um, don’t quite know, um, you know, how these meetings are run and partially it’s because they’re not participating in them. Um, but also, um, I think that, you know,

38:08 there there’ve been some unfortunate, you know, kind of occurrences that have, have caused people to wonder what, what happens in these meetings. Um, but I do think that, uh, by, you know, by form, by collaborating, by communicating, um, it’s, it could get better. I, I’m hope I would be hopeful. Thank you. Hi, Lisa. Hi. Um, we are entering collective bargaining with all of our unions. While these discussions will be challenging, given the town’s extreme financial shortfall, it will be very important to maintain a respectful relationship with all parties throughout the process. Please tell me what specifically about you will help the process to avoid becoming contentious. Um, I think that, you know, if you talk to some

38:56 of the people that I’ve worked with, um, in my previous employment and my current employment, I think I am, you know, a I have the, I have the ability, I believe that I have the ability to talk to a wide, um, variety of people. Um, you know, I have experience in a lot of different sort of facets of, of this, of education, um, both higher ed, both, you know, fundraising, um, you know, that kind of thing, teaching of course. So I definitely have walked in in a few of those different shoes. So I definitely think that, you know, I could, you know, be a, a good value added person in that way. So thank you so much for, um, for volunteering

39:43 and for spending time answering our questions so thoroughly. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, Lisa. Thank you. Um, Frank, we have Ruth Farmer next Kicking me out of the Zoom. Someone keeps removing me. The Zoom keeps going, but they keep removing someone keeps kicking her out. Ruth Farmer, someone keeps removing me personally. I, and I’m the host, so no one should be evil to remove me.

40:12 How wifi Kyle, did she just leave? But does she know She can stay If she wants. Thank you. No, but just make someone else the host. Welcome. It’s keep Hi Rose. Sarah. Yeah. It’ll still work. So can I mention that that laptop is the microphone, right? So everybody, these microphones aren’t doing anything, so everybody has to project. Oh, Project. Okay. Okay. No, M HT V is still picking these, no. Okay. She was picking up Thanks, but Still doing something. You need to reach that laptop. We got you. Okay. I can do this. Thank you. I turn it back on. Don’t worry. Accept. Keep running from there. Sorry. It’s me. It’s me. James, blame me. I take the phone on that one.

40:58 Welcome, Ruth. Um, I just, um, each one of us has a question, so there’ll be nine questions in total. Um, so just asking folks to be mindful of time, and if you’re, you know, wanted to expound on something, maybe there’s an opportunity to do it at the, at a following question, there’ll be lots of opportunity to, to shine. So, um, uh, with that said, um, uh, we’ll start with Jim again, Welcome And thank you for volunteering. Appreciate that. Uh, what, if any, preconceived notions do you have about the current school committee’s Functioning that may have contributed to your desire to be part of the board?

41:40 Um, I think that, like, as a resident of Marblehead, I’m aware that, um, like things have been happening in the school board in terms of like, the impact on me to, um, volunteer to fill this position. I’m not sure that that is the most important thing that contributed to my decision. Um, I’m interested, like, I’ve worked in education for like, my whole professional career. Uh, I’m really kind of passionate about public education, and I recently became a citizen and I recently became a parent. And so being involved in Marblehead schools is something that is important to me rather than like what I’ve, rather than my decision being based on, um, other things that’ve been,

42:28 Thank you. Hello. Hi. Thank you for, uh, for stepping forward. We appreciate it. Uh, so how would you show up on day one to help the school committee with its governance, you know, with an eye to the short term and the long term, and to prepare the groundwork to attract the best possible core professional team? Uh, for, for the, uh, for the school district, including the superintendent, the assistant superintendent, and the business manager?

42:58 How would I show up? Yes. Um, I think that like, I’d be, um, interested to hear from like the, you know, what has happened already and coming in midyear, then you’re coming in and you need to know like what has happened already, what are the current gaps, um, like clearly, um, like some of the positions in Marblehead have, have being, had a lot of turnover. Um, and I’d want to know like, you know, what is, what has contributed to that? And you know, what, from all the kind of different stakeholders, what is like, what are people looking for going forward? And, you know, what would, how best would I feel like what is perceived to be missing? Mm-Hmm.

43:44 Great. Thank you. Good evening. Uh, what is the best way to address the differences of opinion on the school committee and between the school committee and the school administration?

43:57 I think first and foremost, um, especially when you’re dealing with educators, the most important thing is students. Um, and so bringing everything back to what is the student experience, what is the impact on students, um, like teacher wellbeing like is obviously significantly important and that it’s, that’s its impact on how, you know, how does that play out with students, um, when there’s disagreement? I think if you are always looking to be, um, you know, how do we best move forward with the interests of the students in the schools? And that brings everybody to back to, you know, what is important. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for being here tonight. Uh, so my question is, uh, for the past two years, uh,

44:44 the school committee has voted to bring forth a general override request to the town and response to, uh, the unmet budget needs. This year, this school committee is, uh, preparing a budget with a projected deficit. Uh, can you share your thoughts on what areas, you know, you would, reme you would personally, um, after, you know, whatever knowledge you have in regards to this recommend cutting or addressing, and just, um, your thoughts on the financial challenges of the district in general.

45:12 I think that like financial challenges, um, are something that’s hit in a lot of schools in a lot of areas. And like it’s, you know, as I’ve kind of said, the, the impact on students is the thing to most look at. And so to look at where, um, there are perhaps savings that can be made that don’t compromise student experience. Um, I think like often like a review of software and what, you know, what expenses are actually necessary in software. It can be a really big expense to districts and there can be other options. Um, it’s obviously staffing tends to be the most significant expense. And so reviews of staffing, while it’s like never gonna be popular, it’s obviously gonna be really important.

45:59 Great. Thank you. Jen? Um, oh no, I think Aaron. Oh, Aaron, I’m sorry. It’s Okay. Um, thanks again for being here. Are you committed to becoming involved long term and for the June election Nomination papers, um, will be due in a matter of two to three months. Understanding that circumstances may change. Um, is it your expectation or, um, that you would seek election to a regular term?

46:30 I think that’s something that I would be, um, like I’d want to discuss with the committee. Um, was there to be elected to a committee over like what the expectation is of somebody coming in midyear. Um, I don’t think that I’m against it, but I also like would not, and I wouldn’t want to say a definite yes or a definite no at this point. Okay. Thank you. Hi. Um, how do you plan to collaborate with other school committee members, the superintendent and the district staff? You’re appointed to the positions?

47:08 Uh, can you explain that? Well Just talk, maybe talk about your collaboration skills and how you work with other folks that you work with, Um, Versus different sort of different stakeholders that you work with. Um, yeah, as, um, I, I’m the, um, director of computer science in my charter school, which is a, um, pre-K through 12 school. And so I work with, um, administrators and teachers and, um, students and other stakeholders, parents in the wider community, um, in a variety of ways. Um, whether that’s like in person and meetings or whether it’s through email or, um, like in, in ways to collaborate. Thank

47:57 You. Welcome Ruth. Hi. During the first half of the school year, it’s been difficult for the school committee to accomplish its goals due the large number of unusual events within the district. One major issue is the district is requested to reduce our upcoming budget by a significant amount that will lead to major reduction of staff and student offerings. Do you have any thoughts on how you can help address this major budget deficit reduction?

48:30 I think, you know, a budget reduction is a really significant thing for a school. It’s a big one. It’s like 2 million something. Yeah. And so, you know, savings need to happen in, in pretty much everywhere. Um, but there’s also like opportunities to look at, um, you know, create more like what is offered to students and creative pathways for students. Um, so although, um, like you’re looking at reductions, like, you can also think of it as how do we, um, improve the school experience in the basis of these reductions? And so what are the classes that they offer, what are the electives that we offer? Um, what is happening in like, the world of education that is changing and that we could take advantage of

49:18 to restructure where we are. Thank you. Thank you so much for coming and congratulations on becoming a new parent as well. It’s not easy. Um, so a letter to the editor was written today in one of our news sources from a contingent of constituents, noting a real or perceived lack of transparency on the committee with your knowledge and understanding of our schools today. Obviously your experience where you are, um, and also understanding, you know, confidentiality that we’re, we’re required to stick to, um, NDAs that are placed upon us, et cetera. If appointed to the school committee, what concrete specific examples would you begin to take immediately or suggest for us to take immediately to start rebuilding that trust?

50:10 Um, I think, you know, one of the things that has come out is more transparency. And so, um, like using the press is one way of, um, communicating with a wider audience. Um, like clearly there’s, you know, there are things you can’t talk about, but, um, I think that issue of like transparency and communication with the community is something that comes up like on a regular basis in different places. And so, you know, publishing something that people can read or can watch, can access in different ways is, you know, important to make the community be involved. And it’s, it’s also like, it can be seen as a good thing. Like if you, like we have a community that cares. Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you so much. Thank you.

50:59 Um, we are entering collective bargaining with all of our unions. While these discussions will be challenging, given the town’s extreme financial shortfalls, um, it will be very important to maintain respectful relationships with all the parties throughout the process. Please tell me what specifically about you will help the process to avoid becoming contentious.

51:22 Um, I think I, like I always try and approach, um, you know, speaking and discussing people in, in the same way. Um, you know, I always try and maintain a respectful tone. Um, I think 18 years of working with teenagers as given me a lot of experience dealing with, um, you know, what can be challenging, communication, like conversations. Um,

51:50 Thank you. We are so grateful that you, um, volunteered and that you took the time tonight to answer all of our questions. Thank you, Liz, for Volunteering. Thank you so much and welcome to Stay. And if you’d like, um, You Welcome to stay in the room. Thanks For we have, um, Sarah Magazine is next in order of alphabet.

52:19 Sarah, are you planning to read this? It’s hot in here. It’s how my brain works. Don’t judge. 47.5. Should we correct the question that says hire a superintendent and that’s Julia. Why do Michelle?

52:39 So my or Moses, just point of clarification. We’re not hiring an assistant superintendent. I’m sorry. We’re not hiring an assistant superintendent. Oh, you’re Not. Okay. It’s, thank you. Business manager. Thank you for Correcting. Yeah, thank you. Oh, ‘cause she was an assistant. That’s right. But she’s really, yeah. But our assistant superintendent, Ms. Ferrera. Yep. You’ll scare our assistant superintendent. That One. She’s on the line. She’s, thank you. I apologize. Thank you Assistant superintendent. Hi Sarah. Hi. Thank you for being here. Of course. Um, so each one of us is gonna ask the question, so that’s nine questions, so just kinda keep that in mind. Yes. With your responses if you will. Um, we’ve been, um, we are gonna start again with Jim.

53:26 Welcome Sarah. Thank you. And thank you for volunteering. Uh, what if any preconceived notions do you have about the current school committee’s functioning that they, uh, that may have contributed to your desire to be part of that, of the school committee board? Okay. I don’t think I have any preconceived notions. I think, um, quite candidly, I have a lot of skin in the game. I have a first grader and I have a fourth grader and we have a long way to go in Marblehead and I’ve spent the last couple of years volunteering very actively. So I’m in my second year as the PTO President at Glover, my third year on the board. Um, and this is just a herculean task before us, and I thought really hard about doing this.

54:11 I never thought I would be sitting here. But at the end of the day, if we’re not willing to sort of roll up our sleeves and work together, the only way to get past this, in my opinion, is to get through it. And so that’s what’s motivating me to come here and do all of this. Thank you Sarah. Thank you. Thank you for being here tonight. Um, how would you show up on day one to help the school committee with its governance with an eye towards the short term and the long term and to prepare, uh, to prepare the groundwork to attract the best possible core professional district team, you know, including the superintendent and the business manager? So I’m gonna assume by the fact that you’re asking about governance, that maybe you’re thinking there’s a governance challenge.

54:57 I actually think there’s a communications challenge. I think that so many of the challenges that we have had over the last couple of years, um, really come down to clear communication from all the parties. And so my focus would be working with the school committee to try to communicate more and better than they are to all of our stakeholders. You know, the parents I talk to, they want more information, they wanna understand more about what’s happening. I see it, right? I’m in the schools as a volunteer, I’m a parent. Um, we have to find a way not just to communicate sort of to those of us that are watching this really closely, but to the whole community. I think that was part of the challenge we had, um, in raising revenue and in terms

55:42 of attracting talent. So you referenced the superintendent. Obviously that’s a critical hire. We’re all focused on I’m very worried about that. I’m worried about the director of, uh, Michelle’s job, the business director. Um, I’m worried about all of those administrative jobs. I’m more worried about our faculty and our staff because I think that we have gotten very comfortable saying, it’s okay. The chaos is okay. And I don’t say chaos to point at this school committee, a past school committee, anyone. It’s just, it’s chaos. That’s where we are. And my deepest fear is that 12 or 18 or 24 months from now, our teacher corps is gonna be decimated.

56:28 And we have some really wonderful, um, deeply experienced, deeply educated educators who you can understand why they would go enough. I’ve had enough. And we are not going to be the employer of choice. And so I think we have a reputation management and a communication challenge, and I think we have to shore that up in order to attract the talent that we need and to, and to retain them. Great. Thank you. Good evening. What is the best way to address the differences of opinion on the school committee and between the school committee and the school administration. I’m gonna start to sound like a broken record communication. Um, I think, I think one of the challenges

57:14 that I perceive right now, um,

57:19 is perhaps a misalignment on communication expectations. So I don’t think there’s a misunderstanding of the party’s roles. I think we have a misalignment on how we can work collaboratively and the level of engagement and participation and communication that we need, um, from the administration to the school committee and vice versa. And for parents, quite honestly. Right. Um, you know, there are a lot of things parents are asking that they’re not getting clear answers to, and that’s because we don’t have great answers in some cases. But we need to fix the communication challenge. And I think we’ve gotta sit at the table and all say, we wanna be very clear and very collaborative, because at the end of the day, this is about our kids. It’s about our kids, and making sure we’ve got the faculty in the buildings.

58:04 We, I, two of the questions I think have been about sort of administration. I keep going back to the rubber hits the road in the buildings, and so making sure they’re getting the support and the clear communication. And what can the school committee do to support the administration to clearly communicate with our teachers. Thank you. Hi. Thanks for being here. Sure. Uh, so my question is, you know, obviously for the past two years, you know, the school committee voted to bring forth the general override request to the town in response to the unmet budget needs. This year, the school committee is preparing a budget with a projected deficit. Uh, can you please share your thoughts on the areas you would recommend addressing cutting and the financial challenges of the district? Generally,

58:52 I don’t know how we can cut. I really, really don’t. Um, I have a, a daughter at the village school. She’s a classroom teacher and two inclusion teachers in that room. Which inclusion teacher are we gonna cut? We don’t have a librarian at the middle school. I think the town has forgotten that we don’t have a librarian at the middle school. We need to be talking about that. These investments are statements of our values. Um, and so I would not pretend to have all the answers. I just think we have to talk to people and help them understand what these buildings look like, what the profile of our kids is. Um, and then talk about the funding. I, the 2.2 or 2.4 or 2.5, depending on who you’re talking about.

59:39 Number is unimaginable to me. So, you know, do I think an override is likely? Do I think we’re going to see things get worse before they get better? Quite possibly. I’m not naive. Um, but I don’t think that’s where we can start. We have to find a way to resource our schools. I don’t think there’s a choice.

1:00:01 Um, I have the next question. Um, are you committed to becoming involved longer term for the June election Nomination papers would be due in a matter of two to three months. Understanding circumstances can change and, um, but is it your expectation today that you would seek election to a regular term? The answer is, I don’t know yet. That’s the honest answer. I didn’t think over the weekend I’d even be sitting here. Um, I had to think very long and very hard about this. Um, and I’m not gonna say no, but I’m not gonna say yes. Okay. Thank you. Uh, Jen’s next? Yes.

1:00:43 Uh, how do you plan to collaborate with the other members, the superintendent and district staff position? Sure. So, um, as I said a little while ago, you know, I’ve been really involved at Glover, um, on the PTO. Um, we took I think A PTO that was really strong and then atrophied during COVID because it was COVI and tried to rebuild it. And I think we’ve been fairly successful at doing that. And you know, to me it’s all about relationships and working with everyone. Um, so just get in there and roll up my sleeves and talk and work with anyone. I will work with anyone and everyone who is working from a spirit of

1:01:24 collaboration and good intention to support our kids and our teachers. Thank you. Hello, Sarah. Hi, Brian. Welcome. Um, during the first half of the school year, it’s been difficult for the school committee to accomplish its goals due to the large number of very unusual events that happen within the district. One major issue is the district has requested to reduce our upcoming budget by a very significant amount that will lead to a major reduction of staff and student offerings. Do you have any thoughts on how you can help address this major budget reduction? So, a lot of what I’m gonna, sorry. God Bless you. A lot of what I’m gonna say is similar to what I said to Alexa. We have to find a way not to get there. We simply do.

1:02:12 Um, it’s not acceptable to me as a parent that we don’t have a librarian at our middle school. It would not be acceptable to me as a parent if we didn’t have librarians at all of our schools. Um, I think we have to help people understand that the needs of our district are what they are. And what do I mean by that? I completely understand when people say 500 plus kids were enrolled in our schools a number of years ago, and they’re not there now, and we’re still spending 19,000 plus a year on each child. And so how can the math not work out? You have plenty of money. We need to look at the individual students and build from there. So when we were working on the override last year, one of the things that we asked for was, could you create profiles or avatars, right?

1:02:59 Not violating anybody’s privacy or confidentiality, but basically if you’ve got a kindergartner who’s getting zero supports, just go into kindergarten, right? And you’ve got a second grader who’s getting tier two reading support intervention, and you’ve got a sixth grader who’s getting, you know, one-on-one, whatever it may be, give us the number of those and start to really humanize what’s happening in the buildings. And so I think it is a herculean task, but I think we have to figure out what more we can say and how we can explain the numbers in a way that people realize there really is no choice here. We need more revenue for our schools. And that’s what I would try to do. Thank you, Allison. Thank you for coming.

1:03:45 Good to see you. Um, I like the Herculean task. I may steal that from you. I’ll give you credit though. Uh, so letter to the editor was written today from a contingent of constituents, noting a real or perceived lack of transparency on the committee, uh, with your knowledge and understanding of our schools today as parent PTOA volunteer, and also understanding confidentiality, uh, as well as NDAs that we are under. Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm mm-Hmm. If appointed to the school committee, what concrete specific examples and steps do you think we could begin to take to immediately start to rectify and build trust?

1:04:21 So we Say herculean task again. Yeah. Yeah. You wanna say that? We have a lot of work to do, right? There’s a lot of work to do in a lot of directions. Um, working with private and confidential information and trying to translate it to the public is something that I have had a lot of experience with in my career. Um, I am never suggesting we should violate anyone’s privacy, do anything outside the bounds of the law. I do think sometimes organizations, and I would include the school department in this, are guided by the most narrow interpretation of what they can and cannot say. And that is to the detriment of public understanding. And so I would encourage, um, us to sort

1:05:09 of push on that a little bit. Make sure that we really can’t share more than we’re sharing because, and we all live in this town, there’s a lot of information out there. A lot of it’s wrong. Um, a lot of it misses the context, and it’s only by being able to try to correct the record to a degree that we’re going to be able to do that. Um, beyond that, and this is maybe a little Pollyanna-ish,

1:05:39 we just have to come together. People have to just realize we are in a critical situation here. And, um, it’s time to move through it and move forward. Um, and that’s what we have to focus on because I think there’s an awful lot of wasted energy. Um, so bless You. Among adults, I will say. And the people that are getting hurt by that wasted energy are the kids. So let’s roll up our sleeves and let’s get to work. And it’s not all gonna get fixed overnight. We’re talking years. Um, uh, I, I’m almost afraid to say it. We can only go up from here at this point, Said that a few times.

1:06:25 Um, thank you. We are entering collective bargaining with all of our unions, which you may know. While these discussions will be challenging, giving the towns extreme financial shortfall, it will be very important to maintain respectful relationships with all parties throughout the process. Please tell me what specifically about you will help, uh, will help the process to avoid becoming contentious.

1:06:52 So, I’ll start with me. So to answer sort of part of your questions here, me personally, again, I, I’m going to come from a place of collaboration and goodwill. And that doesn’t mean that we’re always gonna agree. We’re always gonna vote the same way. Um, but we have to be able to agree to disagree and then move forward and just keep moving forward. So that would be part of it. Um, you know, one of the things that I think we’ve done really well at Glover over the last couple of years is we have a really good relationship with our teachers and our team. And gosh, if, um,

1:07:31 if we could do any more than we have done for them over the past couple of months, I wish someone would tell me what it is. ‘cause we wanna do that and more. And so I start from a place of deep appreciation and deep respect for our educators. And, you know, I think we’re not gonna be able to give them everything they want. We know what the fiscal realities are. I think they know what the fiscal realities are. Um, we’re all gonna need to try to stretch and, and meet in the middle. Um, but I think at the end of the day, I don’t know why it should be contentious. We’re all there for our kids. I mean, we keep saying our kids are okay despite all of this in our community because of our teachers. So it doesn’t hang through to me hang true that we could then become so adversarial

1:08:20 that, um, we would lose that. I think that we’re not gonna get where everybody needs to get, but we need to maintain that strong relationship with our educators. That is, that’s the best thing we’ve got going for us. Thank you very much for, um, volunteering and for answering all of our questions tonight. Thank you. Thanks Sarah. Thanks Sarah. Thank you Sarah. Thank you. Um, we have Tom Mathers up next. She can stay. Oh yeah. Sarah, you’re welcome to stay if you’d like. Okay. You wanna there

1:08:54 Wants Go talk to Who’s He said Debbie wants to stay getting kicked too. Welcome everyone. Hey, I’m hangry. So hopefully you won’t be A long way. Um, okay. So I just, I was reminding everybody that we’ll all get a chance to ask a question. So there’s nine of us. So kind of keep that in mind, if you don’t mind, in your responses. And if you, you know, there’ll probably be an opportunity to say what you wanna say along the nine ways, along the nine questions. I’ll be brief. No. Yeah. Welcome Tom. Oh, and thank you again for volunteering. Yes, sir. What,

1:09:40 if any preconceived notions do you have about the current school committee’s functioning that may, that may have contributed to your desire to be part of that board?

1:09:50 So I’ve worked with two of our school committee members previously, so, uh, I have a very, uh, a good idea of how things, uh, worked in the last, uh, uh, uh, term that I served, which was six months. So if I’m being completely honest, I have not tuned in to a lot of the school committee meetings this year until more recently when the budget discussions, uh, uh, began to percolate. So, um, I don’t know, uh, uh, Mr. Oda, I know he is a Marine, and, uh, I have met Ms. Schaffner just a few times. So I don’t have a lot of preconceived notions other than my working experience with, uh, both Sarah and Allison. Great. Thank you, Tom. Thanks for coming tonight.

1:10:35 Uh, how would you show up on day one to help the school committee with its governance with an eye to the short term and long term, and to prepare the groundwork, uh, to attract the best possible poor professional leadership team, uh, which includes the superintendent and the business manager? So I think, um, I had the benefit of serving, um, a term in the ma economic regional school, uh, uh, district committee, uh, as well as having served, uh, as a trustee at Butler University for, for four years. I, I also had a pleasure of serving here for a period of time, as you know, last year. Uh, so I have a lot of experience in, um, school committee governance and the roles limited to, uh, to the school committee and policy formation, obviously, uh, hiring

1:11:23 and supervision, the sup, uh, superintendent, and of course, uh, uh, formulating a budget, uh, and instituting that budget. And those are the core, core mandates for any school committee. And I think it’s important that we focus our energies as a committee on addressing those core responsibilities as a committee to the town. I think, um, with regards to the budget, I went through the budget process last year. So have, uh, some experience working with the, uh, the, the committee as well as the, the administrative team on understanding sort of the push and pull in any given budget cycle. I have a good understanding of the town finances and unfortunately, where we are as a town and sort of the limitations that provides

1:12:08 and understand some of the trade-offs that have to be discussed day one as we think about formulating a budget to present to the town. So from that perspective, I have, um, confidence I could hit the ground running. I think the second piece is we clearly have had significant leadership turnover in the administrative side of the schools for whatever reasons. I mean, at this point it doesn’t even matter, but I think what matters is putting together the right team to go out and recruit, hire, and retain the best people we have for the district. And it’s not easy. I mean, having, um, you know, hired a lot of executives over, over the years, and you don’t always make winning choices. Sometimes you make mistakes, it happens. So I think, you know, some of that scar tissue

1:12:54 that I’ve had could be useful as we think about replacing some key positions in a very short amount of time. Great. Thanks Doug. Yes, sir. Good evening. Uh, what is the best way to address the differences of opinion on the school committee and between the school committee and the school administration? So I think within the committee, I only can speak to last year. So, um, we had five committee members. I can tell you, not everyone agreed. Um, um, but I think deliberation and respect is incredibly important. I’m proud to say that when I was a school committee member, there were only two votes that were not five zero. Those were the vote on a su supersized override, which Ms. Fox was, you know, promoting in her role

1:13:42 as a chairperson, really advocating for all the needs of all the students and teachers, which I respect. But, um, you know, that vote did not, that vote went four one. Um, and the other vote was on the superintendent’s review where it was three and two. But I helped felt in both instances it was a healthy dialogue, deliberation, everyone gave the respect to one another. Even on the superintendent’s review, which was three, two, I think we all walked out of that room feeling like, all right, well, everyone was heard. We came to a decision shared governance, uh, amongst the five of us, and we, we moved on. So I think it can be done even in the face of a difference of opinions. Thank you. And I make a lot of jokes. Mr. Murray.

1:14:27 Uh, as you know, for the past two years, school committee voted to bring forth the general override request to the town. Um, this year the school committee is now preparing a budget with a projected deficit. Please share your thoughts on areas that you would recommend addressing cutting, and just the financial challenge of the district in general. Well, I think the, I think, and I said this, bless you, you okay back there?

1:14:52 I, I think I said this last year during the override discussions, and I thought an override last year was really important because, you know, an override last year sets us up for a less brutal situation this year that we’re facing. But unfortunately, we weren’t able to get that done. And so it is what it is. I think this year, uh, from my estimation, an overrides not in the cards and we’re facing the most important opportunity for the town in front of us in the school committee, which is negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement. I think we, we can’t ignore the fact of what’s happening in the towns around us. And this is gonna be a significant, a significant event for the entire, you know, school district and as the biggest expense in the town. We have to be aware of that. So I think that’s hugely important.

1:15:39 So knowing that we’re gonna have a really big increase on the expense side of the ledger, a fixed pool of capital to draw down from, that’s the town, the money we raise as a town, you have to look at anywhere. There’s unfunded liabilities. So what are those? All right, well, we own property as a school district. That is an unfunded liability that I don’t know what the plan is for our property. Are we gonna keep it? How do we turn that into a cashflow positive asset versus an unfunded liability? We have to look at any sort of non-financial terms in our agreements with our employees that cost us money, not just in salaries. And that has to be looked at very closely as we go through new collective bargaining. We have to look at any savings from reductions in, in, in headcount.

1:16:25 And that’s gonna happen. Let’s just face it. I mean, the reality is the budget was proposed with a 2% increase in wages and earnings for the professional staff of the schools, and it projects a deficit of X. But if that increase is greater than 2%, you’re gonna have a deficit of y. And so the only way in a fixed pool of capital, again, without an override with a fixed pool of capital, is you have to cut expenses. So where is that? It’s headcount, programs and services. So I don’t have specifics that I can point to, but I think the reality is we have to talk about as a town and as a committee, is balancing sort of the financial constraints that were dealt with versus the real needs of our district. And, and how do we do that effectively as a committee.

1:17:11 I think that’s where the challenge will be working with the administration. Okay, thank you. Yes, ma’am. Um, are you committed to becoming involved long term for the June election? Nominate nomination papers would be due in a matter of two to three months. Um, understanding circumstances? No, Ma’am. I can’t feel beyond this, this period of time. Okay. Thank you. Yes, ma’am.

1:17:36 Appreciate The brevity. Yes, ma’am. Jen is next. Dawn, that was quick answer. Um, how do you plan to collaborate with the school, other school committee members, the superintendent and the district staff? If you’re appointed to this position? Can you define collaborate? Is that a new dance or is it No, It’s, however you wanna just define it. I think I’ll stand on my ability previously to work with both members of the administration and other members of the committee. I think I pride myself in being very direct, even when I don’t agree with somebody, I can do it in a way that I’m hopefully not, um, insulting or condescending or in, in, in my mind. I’m trying to empower people. I can tell you I had many a conversation with Ms. Fox,

1:18:22 our chairperson last year, about trying to give her advice on how to evolve and, you know, really transcend some of the differences of opinions. And I think, you know, she worked hard on that. It wasn’t always popular to have. I think she kind of squinted at me and said like, why are you doing that? This giving me the stink guy. Because at the end of the day, my role is to come in day one, hopefully provide some stability and strength as we move forward and some very important issues over the next couple of months. We don’t have a lot of time. We got a lot of stuff to get done. So for me, if I can be helpful to any of the committee members in that, um, I’m all for it. I’m also all about accountability if much like the teams I’m part of and Mr. Oda was a marine, you, you’re in the foxhole people,

1:19:08 you gotta hold each other accountable. And that goes two ways. So it doesn’t bother me if somebody says, Tom, you’re full of crap. It doesn’t bother me. I hope you do it in a respectful way. But again, I would expect that level of transparency and accountability from one another. So is that collaboration? Yeah. Appreciate it. Alright. Welcome Tom. The ruining first half of the school year, it’s been difficult for the school committee to accomplish its goals due to the large number of very unusual events took place. One Major, I saw that movie one time, One major issue is the district has requested to reduce our upcoming budget by a significant amount that will lead to a major reduction of staff and student offerings. Do you have any thoughts on how you can address this major budget reduction?

1:19:54 Well, I think I, uh, address some of that question with Ms Singer’s question, which is looking for anything in unfunded liabilities that could be reduced or monetized in a way that contributes back to the, uh, the, the pending deficit within the district. But again, let’s be crystal clear for everyone. We are operating from a fixed pool of capital. Our costs are going up. And so the, you know, the only way you can control that unfortunately, is gonna be to tinker with program services and, and personnel. It’s the only way it gets accomplished. I think that the budget that I saw, and correct me if I’m wrong, ‘cause there’s a new budget that’s been, that been circulated publicly, was a estimated 2% increase in, in salaries and wages.

1:20:40 Is that correct? No, that was one the number we had originally. Yeah. Okay. So I think from seeing where contracts have settled in local communities and over Newton, I mean, are these aspirational communities for us? Maybe they are, but I think that those numbers are greater than 2% mm-Hmm. Can we all agree on that? Okay. So if that’s the reality, we have to start thinking about, I think this committee, if I were on it, I would want to help you roll up your sleeves and figure out how we get that done. Because one assumption is there’s not gonna be an override that can be passed in this town because we haven’t passed one in 19 years. So, I mean, that’s just a brutal truth. I don’t like it any more than anyone else does. Thanks, Tom. Yes, sir. Hi, good to see you again. Hello,

1:21:26 Ms. Taylor. And Again, thank you for your service. Um, so a letter to the editor was written today from a contingent of constituents noting a real or perceived lack of transparency on the committee. With your knowledge of our schools today, your experience with confidentiality, NDAs, all of those things, uh, if appointed to the school committee, what concrete specific examples or steps do you think you would take to begin? I immediately rebuilding the trust in the community? Well, I think it’s a hard thing. And you know, and on this sort of topic, it’s tough to be sort of in the seat of governance versus the seat of the public. You’re a parent with a kid, you feel aggrieved, what have you. And just the way the world works, whether we like it or not,

1:22:11 and personnel matters, these are rightfully and respectfully kept confidential. And so that leads to speculation, et cetera. And it, I’ve been on con a record saying that I didn’t agree with the termination of Dr. Bucky, but it’s, it was the right of the school committee. It was un there’s no question that was, you know, your right to do it. I didn’t agree with it, but it was the terms of that were all kept confidential. And that’s just the way it is. And unfortunately, we’ll never know as a general public, I don’t know. So, um, you know, it doesn’t change the outcome. It doesn’t change where we’re going. And then there’s been other issues that have emerged in the school where things have to be kept confidential. And so I think we just have to continue to explain that. I think one of the things that’s troublesome is

1:22:58 that we lost our law firm. And I don’t know the reasons why, but I do think that, that, you know, some law firms don’t fire clients. And I think that, um, they, they typically do it. And I’ve had this happen where I couldn’t pay a legal bill for patents in business before. And the patent attorney’s just like, you know what, we’re gonna go to a more stable customer, what have you, but it could be other issues too. And we, and we as the public just don’t know and probably will never find out, but the optics of it in all of this, just when you marry it all together, just doesn’t look good. Let’s just be frank. Mm-Hmm. It stinks. It stinks for you and it stinks for the public. And so that breeds a sort of gulf of distrust and discontent. I don’t know how you, you can’t flip a magic switch and make that happen, but I do think engaging

1:23:43 with the public in your school committee meetings, having conversations in, in public, and I think speaking truthfully is best you can at any given time is important. Thank You. Yes, ma’am. I’ve been waiting for this all day. Ms. Fox, first of all, how are your, how are your 22 children? They, well, All right, so we are entering collective bargaining with all of our unions. While these discussions will be challenging, given the town’s extreme financial shortfall, it’s very important to maintain respectful relationships with all parties throughout the process. Please tell me what specifically about you will help the process to avoid becoming contentious. Okay. Alright. So hands up. Whoever’s been on a negotiating team

1:24:28 for a collective bargaining agreement with a public school union, please hands up. Okay. So I’ve been on one, and Thatcher you’ve been on one. So I can tell you it’s, it’s a little bit like sharing a toothbrush. It’s necessary but not pleasant because at the end of the day, these are our friends, our colleagues who with whom you’re negotiating, right? And we all sort of want the best thing, which is the highest quality education for our children because it impacts all across the town and the value of properties to, uh, uh, the citizens we raise in our, in our district. So we could all agree we’ll want the same thing. The problem we all have is a share problem. It’s our fixed pool of capital coming back to that, that word. And we all know at the end of the day, the role of the,

1:25:15 the collective bargaining unit is to secure the best deal they can for their constituents. That that’s just what it is. And in a time where that results in reductions in personnel and headcount, et cetera, unfortunately, that’s the union’s issue to resolve, and they have their own ways to do that. But I do think that what I worry about is with whom we’ll be negotiating in this session, and who from our side will be in that negotiating room having been there before. In many instances, it’s somebody from outside the district that will come in to negotiate on behalf of the collective bargaining unit. And we need to be prepared for that. These are people who are professional, they don’t care about marblehead, they don’t care about our extreme ex uh, financial position.

1:26:01 And as such, you just have to understand that’s with whom you’re negotiating. I’ve also been through a situation in a regional school district where there was, um, employee action, and we had teachers out in front of the schools picketing. And I can tell you it was very uncomfortable as a school committee member having to deal with that. And so we’ve seen employee actions now in multiple towns that we would call aspirational towns. So I think how I’ve dealt with it in the past, it was tough. Like, again, sharing that toothbrush, Sarah, we’ll share that toothbrush, but we’ll try to get there. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for Yes, ma’am, volunteering and answering our questions. Okay. Good luck. Thank You, John. Thank you. Thank you so much. Renton.

1:26:46 Speed is our next candidate interview.

1:27:06 Welcome. Hi, Brenda. Hi.

1:27:11 Hi. Um, thank you for, um, for your, um, interest. And we are each gonna ask a question, so there’s nine opportunities to answer a question. And, um, just, uh, if you could kind of keep that in mind, we try to keep things between like responses to a couple minutes or so. Sure. Um, Welcome Brenton. Thank you. And thank you for volunteering. We appreciate it. What, if any preconceived notions do you have about the current school committee’s functioning that may have contributed to your desire to be part of the board? So thanks for the question and the opportunity. Um, so I think as I, um, laid out in the kind of cover letter when I submitted my application, um, yeah, I think it’s important, um, given the situation in town

1:28:01 with the fiscal situation, the current open superintendent position, um, and, um, The various issues that I identified in the letter, uh, that the committee have a focus on, um, strong corporate, strong governance, um, and that it make decisions based on a, um, robust, um, an intentional process. So I think, um, that it would be helpful for the committee to have someone with a background, uh, in governance matters, in processes and practices to making, um, robust and sound and purposeful and intentional decisions. And so I I have just been as an outside observer who’s kind

1:28:49 of relatively new to town, concerned by some of the, um,

1:28:55 some of the, uh, activities and, um, controversies, I guess I would say, um, that have arisen over the past year or two years. Um, and so I just felt that, um, I could offer some different perspective, um, and experience that, um, could be beneficial to the committee. Thank you. Thank you, Brenda. Uh, thank you for coming tonight. Thank you. Um, how would you show up on day one to help the school committee with its governance with an eye, kind of the short term and, and, and longer term, and to prepare the groundwork to attract the best possible core professional district leadership, which includes, you know, the superintendent and the business manager? Right. Well, thanks for the question. So I think it’s important, um, in a process.

1:29:42 Um, you know, my experience is a little bit different, um, from a, um, but I think it’s transferable. So in the corporate or private company setting, in terms of like succession planning, whether that be for an executive role or board of directors, uh, I think a lot of those same processes and, uh, are are applicable to, to a, to a situation where you’re hiring senior leadership in a, in a, in a town for, um, the school district. So, um, I think from, you know, day one, uh, it’s important to have a clear set of, um, I think candidate specifications that’s derived from, um, input from various stakeholders across the community, um,

1:30:28 and, um, and in the school system. And I think it’s important to use, uh, experts like an outside, um, recruiting firm and consultants to help guide the process. So I think that’s really important. Um, I know people are, um, in marblehead all of these positions are volunteer and people have all sorts of other responsibilities in addition to their work that they perform for the town and the service that they provide. And so I think having that perspective and that resource is extremely helpful. And then I think it’s important that, um, the best decisions I think are typically, you know, reach not necessarily by consensus, but an overwhelming support amongst the various, uh, members of the committee and stakeholders.

1:31:14 And so I think identifying candidates who, um, satisfy the identified criteria and who have the confidence of, um, people across the spectrum is important. And so I think that’s kind of the approach that I would recommend, kind of, kind of taking. Great, thank you. Good evening. Uh, what is the best way to address the differences of opinion on the school committee and between the school committee and the school administration? So, thanks for the question. Um,

1:31:47 So obviously there’s gonna be, uh, like in any aspect of life or business, um, differences of opinion about that it can be legitimate differences of opinion, uh, in good faith disagreements. Um, and so I think it’s important that, um, people be open-minded, that they take the views of others into account. Um, I think second guess their own preconceived notions and opinions, um, and, um, that people openly, um, you know, communicate explicitly about, uh, their, their perspectives and that they feel open and welcome to having a dialogue back and forth.

1:32:34 Um, and I think also being, um,

1:32:40 uh, obviously willing to be, um, open and honest, but also receptive to, um, feedback. I don’t wanna necessarily use the word criticism, but criticism or feedback about, um, processes or views or assumptions. And I think if, um, people can act collaborative collaboratively in that respect, um, that that’s kind of how people, you know, you can achieve, achieve the best possible, um, outcome. So I think it’s, it’s, you know, clear communication, openness, um, and, um, collaborativeness, those are all critical, critical aspects. Okay. Great. Thank You. Thank you. Hi, thank you so much. Thanks for being here tonight. Uh, for the past two years, the school committee has voted

1:33:27 to bring forth a general override request, uh, to the town in response to their unmet budget needs. This year, the school committee is preparing a budget with a projected deficit. Please share your thoughts on areas you would recommend cutting addressing and the financial challenges of the district in general. Yeah, so that’s a, that’s a good question. Um, so to be totally, totally, um, open and transparent, like my background and expertise has not been in school committee budgets. Um, and so as I alluded to earlier, right, my kind of my interest, um, in applying for the position was largely driven by, I think, um,

1:34:14 governance and process, um, considerations and concerns. I, I would say more directly in response to the question, uh, that I would carefully evaluate, um,

1:34:27 each aspect of the budget. I think if there’s, um, obviously we’re in a very, uh, difficult fiscal financial situation as a town, and the school has budget has, um, been subject to level funding for, as I understand it, 15 plus years. And so I think we need to focus on the areas that are core functions of a school district, and that’s providing ensuring resources to provide, uh, a strong sound education in the, in the fundamental areas that are critical to the students to succeed later on in life. Um, and so I think I would take a critical eye, um, to all aspects of the budget, uh, to determine if there are,

1:35:14 um, areas that are, I guess I would describe as, as, as, um, discretionary and focus on those, um, and, and try to, and try to maintain, um, the resources, um, better necessary to perform the, the school’s core functions. Um, but as I said, I, that would, that would require a deeper dive into the, to the details, um, at, at the appropriate time. Great. Thank you. Thanks. Um, I have the next question. And um, I, um, are you, uh, are you interested in becoming involved long term for the June election nomination papers would be due in a matter of two to three months, understanding that circumstances can always change it.

1:36:01 Are you expect, is your, is your expectation today that you would seek an election of a regular term? Yeah, so I would say that, that I have not definitively made a decision, but, um, uh, but if appointed, I seriously would consider, um, seeking through your term.

1:36:21 Thank you, Jen’s, next. Yeah. Um, this next question, actually, some of the things you talked about few questions ago. Um, you talked about collaboration. And so my question is just how do, how do you plan to collaborate staff? You sure. Some of the details on how you Yeah, I mean, so, um, thank, thank you for the question. Um, so I think in terms of collaboration, um, I think it’s, uh, important to

1:36:55 share specific, uh, views and perspectives. I know obviously the official work of the committee occurs in committee meetings. I think it’s important in terms of developing, um,

1:37:08 sound views and opinions to, uh, be well versed and prepared. So I think in terms of, to the extent that there can be informal background, uh, work done between committee meetings and, um, kind of collaboration, um, between individual members to share views and perspectives, to the extent that that, um, would be valuable is something that, um, I think could be, um, a useful avenue to share ideas. I think, um, you know, I believe, you know, something that I have found effective is when folks, um,

1:37:49 Share their views, um, with each other in a way that is, um, I guess preliminary right? Rather than coming into a conversation or a meeting or a discussion with a, uh, uh, an opinion or a view set in stone. I think it’s important for folks to come to the table with an open mind. Um, I think it’s important to consider counter arguments to what might be your initial view and perspective. Um, and so I think an open dialogue and, um, is really important. I also think it’s important people be respectful to, um, each other, right when communicating. Um, as I said, I think that there are, um,

1:38:36 obviously legitimate reasons for people to have different views and there can be reasonable basis to ha to have, um, a disagreement. And so I think it’s important to be respectful and civil and be open minded, um, and ha ha pay constructive dialogue. So I think that’s really, when I think about collaboration, I think that’s important. And then I guess I would add to that, um, compromise, right? It’s no one in real life as far as my experience has been at least gets what they want all the time in every respect. And so, um, I think it’s important to realize that, um, sometimes, right? Um, you don’t want the perfect to be the enemy of the good, and sometimes the good is the best that you can get, especially when you’re trying to bring along a group

1:39:22 of people with diverse views. Actually just gonna ask a clarifying question on his answer, so I just wanna make sure I understood this correctly. So, are you, would, in the spirit of collaboration, would you advocate for members sharing their opinions with each other prior to meetings?

1:39:42 I don’t think, I, I think that if,

1:39:51 I mean subject to ensuring that there’s not a violation of, uh, right record laws, right? I think having members individually communicate, um, to the extent permissible under the open, uh, under the applicable rules and regulations, um, I, I do think, again, from a private persp company, right out kind of a non-government view, it’s often helpful I think to have kind of, um, initial discussions and have people share views and know where people are coming from, so that when you’re in a meeting and you have a limited amount of time and you’re trying to make a decision

1:40:33 that at least you have some context and background for where people might be coming from. And then obviously there needs to be open public discussion and debate and dialogue in a meeting, um, with the member, all the members of the committee with public discussion and votes and ob uh, subject to public, um, comment from the public. So I guess that’s what I’m trying to communicate. Right. Welcome. Thanks for coming tonight. Thanks. Thank you. During the first half of the school year, it’s been difficult for the school committee to accomplish its goals due to a large number of very unusual events within the district. One major issues in the district is a quest to reduce our budget by significant amount that will lead to the major reduction of staff and student offerings. Do you have any thoughts on how you can help us address this

1:41:21 major budget reduction?

1:41:25 So, um, it’s a great question. I mean, I think we’re, as a town subject to the realities of the revenue base and the budget. Um, so I think that longer term,

1:41:44 uh, given that there were cuts this past year, and as I understand it, there’s a likely to potentially be or potential for further cuts in the, in this year and coming years. Um, that additional funding for the, for the schools, for the school district is something that, um, that should be pursued. I think we have to deal with the political realities that for two years in a row, an override failed for raising, um, taxes to provide more funding for the schools. And so I think that, um, it’s important that the voters of the town have, um, trust and confidence in the vision and direction that the school committee, um,

1:42:29 sets forth in terms if in the event that there is a request for additional, um, funding and an override vote. And so I think that that requires, um, both a, um,

1:42:46 Strong communication and transparency about, um, why if, to the extent additional fund there is an override ask requested, I think it’s gonna require a detailed, um, explanation of what those funds would be used for and what the vision would be over time to deploy those extra excess, um, funds. And I would also, um, say that the, I think the committee would be, need to be very pur purposeful and intentional about, um, what types of programs and activities it seeks funding for, uh, in the event, um, that it seeks, um, an override vote. So, um, you know, I think

1:43:33 subject to, um, further investigation and inquiry, my initial views would be, you know, I think the most critical aspects of our school are at, at the heart of the school are the, are the teachers and the staff that teach our children every day, um, and our role models for them. Um, and so I think, um, making sure that we have, um, sufficient resources to fund, um, staffing of the schools to ensure adequate, um, staffing in our classrooms is, um, vital and important. Um, and so I think the focus on that, I, I also think that the resources available to students and,

1:44:18 and that includes physical resources. I remember reading in the paper last year. So, um, of course, uh, assuming that there, the report is accurate, right? That there are, there are history textbooks in the high school that are from before nine 11. And so, um, I think it says a lot about a community in terms of what we, um, prioritize and how we invest resources and what resources we spend in investing in the children in the town. And so I would also, I think, emphasize, um, what, you know, investing in, in those, not only the staffing, but also resources that are used day to day for the education of, of the students. Thank you.

1:45:05 Thank you. Uh, so a letter to the editor was written today from a contingent of constituents, uh, noting a real, or as you mentioned, perceived letter, God bless you, of transparency on the committee with your knowledge and understanding of our schools today. Uh, along with understanding con confidentiality, especially as a lawyer, right? Um, required NDAs, et cetera. Um, if appointed to the school committee, what concrete specific examples and steps would you begin to immediately take to try to build trust back with the community? I, so it’s a, it’s a good question. Uh, I think trust is something that takes time to build. I think it’s something that’s easy to lose

1:45:51 and hard to, to, to build back up or to, or to build generally. Um,

1:46:02 I think that There’s frustration around, I think people

1:46:12 expect transparency. I know that’s been a common theme in campaign in campaigns. So I think that there’s a general consensus that transparency and for the subject, obviously to legal restrictions, um, is, uh, necessary and appropriate. Um, but I think that when foundational and critical decisions are made, I think to the maximum extent possible, uh, and this would include I guess the search, right? Obviously for the super permanent super superintendent, uh, that those decisions and the rationale for those decisions, um, to the maximum extent possible be made public, um,

1:46:59 to the maximum extent possible that, um, uh, I think committee members, um, rationales and reasons for the views that they have be communicated to the members of the town. I think that, um, it’s important given the, I think, current environment that, um, there be an extra effort made for receiving input from residents of the town and stakeholders. Um, because I think there needs to be an understanding that people are taking steps

1:47:44 that they believe are in the best interest of the students and of the town and of the school system and other stakeholders. And that requires, I think, as we were talking about before, I think not only collaboration, I think within the school committee, but I think there needs to be collaboration of the school committee and, and member residents of the town and other stakeholders. And so I think it’s really hard to point, I think, to a silver bullet or one specific, um, item or thing that can be done. Um, but that the, I think there’s been a, there’s a, there’s a some loss of confidence, especially around transparency given some

1:48:31 of the decisions that have been made that have been opaque and whether there may be legitimate reasons, um, in certain circumstances for information being, um, not widely shared. Um, but, but I think it’s critically important that to the extent possible, um, decisions be made in a process that is, uh, fair, it’s open sub subject to public feedback and comment, and that’s, and the decision itself is transparent. Sure. Point of clarification. Um, being a lawyer, you know, obviously when, um, we are required under a nons disparate, but non-disclosure, you know, I think it, the clarification is as important. We’re not, we’re not allowed to do any of that. So, um, that is, I think that was,

1:49:19 that was part of that, but thank you. Thanks. Um, we’re entering into collective bargaining with all of our unions. While those discussions will be challenging, given the town’s extreme financial shortfall, it will be very important to maintain a respectful relationship with all parties throughout the process. Please tell me what specifically about you will help the process to avoid becoming contentious. Yeah, so thanks. That’s a, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a great question. So in my experience, um, in the private sector, I’ve been involved in several, you know, numerous complex and contentious issues, um, negotiations, transactions, uh, whether that be, um, amongst, um, management and workers

1:50:06 or different parties to a negotiation. And so, um, you know, I have experience, uh, at one of the companies that I work for that was a French company, uh, you know, has a works council, which is similar to a union, slightly different. Um, but, um, management needed to consult with the works council on, um, any significant or material decision that would impact the workers, um, that were covered by that council. And so, um, so I had had experience, uh, communicating, making presentations to answering questions from members of the works council in, in meetings, um, in that forum. Um, and I think what that taught me, uh,

1:50:53 and the experience that that gave me was that, um, and I think it sim kind of echoes some of the points that, that have been raised in response to some earlier questions, is that I think it’s important to stress and emphasize even in the times where it doesn’t seem like the parties can break through and reach an agreement or find common ground, that at the end of the day, I think there are interests that different stakeholders all have in common. And I think it’s important to keep coming back to overlapping interests and interests that people have in common. So I think people that I know

1:51:39 that have gone into education and teaching, right, they, they don’t do it for the money. Uh, they do it ‘cause they love what they do and they love teaching children and, and, and, and the promise of what that brings for the next generation. Obviously the residents of this town want a successful, um, school district and school system, and the members of the school committee are, um, seeking to fulfill their duties to ensure that the um, school district operates in the best interest of the students. And so I think it’s con it’s important to continually, I think, focus on what ultimately the overlapping interests of the parties are and keep that in mind. And I think that there,

1:52:27 in the collective bargaining agreement, and we see this happening in all sorts of other towns around the commonwealth, um, I think there are gonna be points that are gonna be contentious. Uh, I don’t think there’s a way to avoid that. I think it’s more, I think, um, the way that those discussions are approached and kind of the tone and the tenor, um, and being clear and transparent, I think about what the limitations are that the town faces from a fiscal perspective and what the consequences, what that would potentially mean for, um, the union. They’ll have to be trade offs. And I think just being transparent and open about that. Um, and, but acknowledging that both sides have have, um, legitimate interests, um, is gonna goes a long way. And then ultimately I think obviously that we have to,

1:53:14 an agreement will be reached at the end of the day. Thank you very much for coming forward as a volunteer and for answering all of our questions. Thank you. Thank you. Thank You, Brian. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Um, do we need a restroom on that, Joe? Just do whatever you want. Take a break.

1:53:36 Um, we have been at it for two hours. I know one of our member needs to use the restroom, so maybe we take like a, a few minute recess. Yeah. Um, okay.

1:54:37 Oh, you’re welcome. You’re welcome. Still waiting on Alexa. Alexa. I know she still, she walked in right behind. Oh, she was gonna talk to her daughter. I think she’s gotta keep moving this through other, Nope. Yeah, she needs The answers. Listen some the Answers. Erin. What time did you recess? Five minutes. Didn’t I say five minutes? What time did you call the recess at? Oh, I mean, I’m gonna see you called it nine five. It was more than five minutes ago. I just need to know it for a minutes. Oh, I wanna say nine oh five, whatever you wanna call it. I’d call it nine oh five. Okay. Waiting for one member. One member. Um, I just had a request for members of the audience. Um, if you could please, um, refrain from talking during the, uh, interviews because it’s pro providing some feedback and difficulty picking up on the, um, the,

1:55:27 the interviewee and the questions. Thank you for that. I know it’s been a long night.

1:55:38 Um, I have to get back in. Sarah. I moved my phone so it keeps kicking me out. I don’t Know why, why I’ve been thrown outta it more than a dozen times. Alright, You wanna call back? Okay. Um, thank you Mr. Williams again for hanging on at this hour, um, to answer our questions. And, um, we each are gonna have, uh, we each get an opportunity to ask a question, the same questions that everybody’s been answered. So, um, also, um, asking folks to keep that in mind that there’s nine questions coming down the line. So, um, when, in terms of response time. Okay. Uh, Jim is first welcome, Mel. Thank you. Thank you for volunteering. It’s appreciate it. What, if any preconceived notions do you have about the current school committee’s functioning

1:56:24 that may have contributed to your desire to be part of the board?

1:56:29 I don’t, I don’t know if there were any pre preconceived notions that led me to apply for this. Um, I’m fairly new to the, the town and when I saw this opportunity, uh, I have some experience with education and my background and I just thought, um, that was really the impetus for me to apply for this position. Mm-Hmm. Great. Thank you, Al thank you for coming tonight. Really appreciate it. Uh, how would you show up on day one to help the school committee with its, uh, governance for the i to the short term and the long term? Uh, and to prepare the groundwork to attract the best possible core professional leadership team, which includes the superintendent and the business manager? Yeah. Um, I think, uh, there’d be a lot of preparation, right? Similar to a little bit what I’ve done to be prepared for this interview, right? There’s a lot of artifacts, there’s a lot of information

1:57:16 that’s available, a lot of videos, meeting minutes. So I would try to, before the first meeting, uh, go through as much of that as possible so that I could at least have some understanding of what’s expected and maybe what the potential issues are. Uh, I think the next most important thing, especially at the first meeting, as you mentioned, would be to be a very good and an active listener. Um, you know, there’s a lot for me to probably catch. There’s a learning curve, right? For most people who have, who have not been part of the committee up to this point. And so I would try to, uh, listen and, and understand different perspectives and different diversity of thought. Um, and then as it made appropriate, I would hopefully use, you know, the experiences that I’ve built in my career to, to kind of help the committee, um, be collaborative and work towards, uh, informed decisions around, you know,

1:58:05 following our plans or strategic objectives or anything that might be of a crucial nature. Great. Thank you. You’re Welcome. Good evening. Um, what is the best way to address the differences of opinion on the school committee and between the school committee and the school administration? Um, I think transparency is key in the communicate. Um, I worked for DuPont many, many years ago, and I, it’s interesting that certain things you remember, I can’t remember some things yesterday, but I can remember this from 40 years ago. Um, I went through some training and they talked about, uh, relationships before issues and tasks. And I still think that applies today. So around, whether it’s the superintendent or other members of the committee, I think it would be key for me to understand, uh, have some kind

1:58:50 of a working relationship with those people to understand what’s the best communication style with certain individuals and, and how to work through issues. Um, you know, there’s gonna be some controversies and advers, you know, adversarial things that are being addressed. What’s the best way to work with others so that, um, everyone’s viewpoints are, are respected. Uh, people don’t, aren’t worried about sharing those, you know, I, I’m a big believer in diversity of thought and part of that is making sure that everyone contributes towards that. Um, and then having a, a good process or framework for just, okay, now that we have this information and all this data, you know, we’d like to have data driven decisions. Let’s work through whatever issue or problem or objective that we’re working on at that time. Um, so I, you know, obviously, um, superintendent and finance, uh, members are, are all key parts of that

1:59:39 forming relationships with, with the school committee. Great. Thank you. You’re welcome. Hi, welcome. Thanks for being here. Thank you. Uh, so my question is, um, for the past two years, the school committee has voted to bring forth the general override, uh, to the town in response to their unmet budget needs. Um, this year the school committee is preparing a budget with a projected deficit. Can you please share your thoughts on areas you would recommend addressing cutting and the financial, you know, just challenge of the, um, schools and town in general? Yes, I, so I understand, you know, the school is working with the town and putting together three different budgets. Um, you know, I don’t, I’m not privy to all that information, but I think that’s, it’s important, right,

2:00:25 to have that, that level of detail to help understand what each of those budgets means, you know, and, and specifically the implications. Um, so I know a lot of people are, are talking about the two and a half, uh, override. I still think it’s pre it. I don’t have a position on that. I think it’s premature. I need to understand the data a little bit better before I had a, what I would consider a reasonable, um, you know, uh, solution or recommendation around that. Um, so, you know, to me it’s important to understand what the implications are. So I know some of the budgets may have some very significant, more than $2 million implications, right. To, to the, the school committee and the, the school’s budget. Um, again, I, I, I, I need to know what those line details are as

2:01:10 to actually how you add up to that. It does sound like the staff would be involved. Um, you know, I, I don’t understand where all the staff are. I didn’t dive that deeply into all the data that that’s available. Um, I’m a firm believer, you know, I have some background in, in education, uh, in the public school system of Philadelphia firm believer that victory happens in the classroom. So I, I’d like to think that that’s, you know, kind of the last place that you really want to impact the least amount as possible, right? It, it’s, it’s, it’s around, um, you know, the mission of this organization, the school committee, is to, you know, foster learning in students. And so that’s where you have to have a priority mechanism when you’re budgeting, right? If you don’t have all the funds that are available to you to do what you’d like to do, there has to be some prioritization me mechanism in place.

2:01:56 And hopefully it’s one that’s taking those kind of things into account, those principles into account. All the cuts are go, you know, some, you know, none of them will be good, right? But some, hopefully will have less impact than others. And I think that’s the framework that you have to think about as you’re discussing a budget. Great. Thank you, sir. You’re welcome.

2:02:17 Um, sorry, I’m next. Uh, are you committed to becoming involved on a longer term for the June election Nomination papers would be due in a matter of two to three months, understanding circumstances change and involve. Is your expectation today that you, um, would seek election to regular term? Yes. Yeah, definitely. Um, you know, if appointed, I would definitely seek election. You know, I’m notwithstanding something, you know, very unexpected. Uh, I’m retiring in five weeks. Uh, so I, I’m looking forward to kind of taking that time, energy, and passion and applying it to the school, the school committee, and the students in this town. Thank you. Congratulations on your upcoming Thank You environment. Thank you. I Envy you.

2:03:01 Next question is from Jen Shaffner. Hi. Over here. Um, how do you plan to collaborate with other school committee members, the superintendent and the district staff? So really how you guys collaboration skills? Yeah, I think my natural style is, you know, trying to be collaborative, uh, trying to, uh, you know, understand the perspective where people are coming from. You know, I, I, I’ve been around long enough to, you know, understand that there’s never just one side, sometimes not even two sides to a story or an issue. So I think it’s important to understand that and to, uh, seek out what those other perspectives might be, and trying to be open to understanding what those, what those might be. Um, and then I, you know, I said this a couple times, but I, you know, anecdotal information can be helpful, but if, you know, I don’t think that’s,

2:03:48 you don’t wanna be making significant decisions based on just anecdotal information, if there is, you know, information that might be, you know, uh, more appropriate. Right? Um, so I think it’s important to, um, understand where people are coming from and why. Um, you know, I think the why is a very big component of this. Um, there’s all kinds of things that we’d like to do. Um, but the best way, I think one of the ways you make the decision on which one you do, if you can’t do the smallest understanding, what’s the value that this particular one brings? What’s versus the value of this one? And that’s, you know, how you, you, uh, you wanna work on relationships so that you can have those kind of conversations in an open manner. Thank you. Welcome. Thank you. During The first half of the school year, it’s been difficult

2:04:33 for the school committee to accomplish its goals due to a large number of unusual events within the district. One major issue, the district has requested to reduce our upcoming budget by a significant amount that will lead to a major reduction of staff and staff offerings and student offerings. Do you have any thoughts on how you can help address this major budget reduction?

2:05:00 I think, uh, a big part of that will be communicating what, what, you know, is appropriate. And I understand, like, I think a lot of town members sometimes don’t understand that everything cannot be commuted, uh, communicated right. PR privacy concerns. There might, you know, things go into executive session for good reason, and those things just can’t be, that information can’t be shared. But I think with the town, I think it’s important to help people understand, um, what the implications are around the different budgets that are being put together in a very straightforward and easy to understand manner. Um, and then it, you know, and then it will be up to the town to help us decide how they would like to proceed with that. Uh, but again, I think it has to be on, um, these are the core things that we need to do, right, as educators, and there’s a certain amount of money

2:05:46 that that’s involved with that. Um, and then there may be some things that if you ask us to stay within a certain budget that we cannot do, and just understand the implications to our students, uh, if we go that route. So I think it’s really helping the town because it’s a town decision, right? So I think it’s, it’s helping the town as best as possible, understand, um, what can and can’t be done, and the implications associated with those decisions. Thank you. Thanks for coming. Uh, so a letter to the editor was written today from a contingent of constituents Mm-Hmm. Uh, noting a real or perceived lack of transparency on the committee with your knowledge and understanding of our schools today. Um, you mentioned executive sessions,

2:06:31 so understanding confidentiality, NDAs we might be held to, and the legalities there if appointed to the school committee, what concrete specific examples or steps would you take to begin to rebuild trust with the community

2:06:45 That now that’s the 64,000? I’m dating my stuff. I’m sorry. That’s a difficult question. Um, but I was watching the, in prepping for, for today, I was watching, I believe it was the January 18th school committee meeting, and I believe it was the chair who mentioned like, potential town forums. And I hope I’m paraphrasing properly here, but I think that’s a, a potential thing, right? Um, we don’t want, I don’t want all our communication around the schools coming through the papers. Uh, you know, I, I think they, they’re a very valuable asset. Um, but, um, you know, as you kind of whisper down the lane, you know, or maybe there’s not an understanding of all the, the information that’s available. And so, I like the idea of potentially the, the school committee perhaps taking advantage of a forum to, to kind of directly communicate with folks in the town,

2:07:31 whether it’s a town meeting or it’s a, a section in, in the papers, right? That, you know, comes from the school committee around, you know, here’s what’s happening from our perspective, right? Um, and I, you know, I think, you know, transparency is key, but there’s times when you have to say, this is all that we can be said. You know, I know this may frustrate you, but there’s, there’s good reasons why we can’t share more information around that, perhaps in the future if it’s appropriate. But right now, th this is what we ha this is what we can communicate. And I think as there’s trust built and continues to be built up with any committee, that that becomes an easier sell, right? Um, you know, right. If you lack, if there’s a lack of trust, it becomes much more difficult to, to, I think, to do those things. But I, I, you know, from what I’ve seen, I think, you know,

2:08:17 again, just trying to direct more direct communication, uh, I think between the committees and or the committee and the towns folks might be a, you know, one, uh, viable option or perhaps a, a dedicated section that’s not, you know, curated by anybody else that’s written by the school committee presented to the, the readers of the mag of the, uh, newspapers. Might be a good idea too. Thank you. But I’m anxious. I wish I had better answers, but that’s, I think, would be a very key thing for me to help with the committee. And I’m sure the committee, you know, they, they, they want to do these things and what I can do to help, uh, I’d love to participate. Thank you. And enjoy your last five weeks. Thank you. Thank you for basing your answer, by the way, on fact that you heard from one of our meetings, we’re actually, we actually just, I penciled in the date

2:09:02 with the superintendent today for the next forum we’ll be announcing. So thank you for paying attention to that. Um, we are entering collective bargaining with all of our unions. While these discussions will be challenging, giving the towns extreme financial shortfalls, it is very important to maintain a respectful relationship with all parties throughout the process. Please tell me how you specifically will help the process to avoid becoming contentious. Yeah. So, uh, I, I work for the Commonwealth. Uh, right now I’m in the executive office of technology and, uh, security services. Uh, probably 90% of our organization is our union members. Um, so, uh, and what I’m trying to say is, I, I just have a lot of experience. I’ve worked for the, the state for 10 years.

2:09:49 I have a lot of experience working with folks, uh, who are in a collective bargaining agreement. Um, I, I know there’s a lot of stereo unfortunate stereotypes. I don’t buy into any of that. Uh, you know, it’s, you know, there’s a, a contract, right? That’s what a collective bargaining agreement is. Uh, I know it can be contentious, uh, especially at times, and I understand this, this year. It expires, I believe in June. Um, but I, I think it’s, uh, I’ve not, I’ve not been involved in specific, uh, negotiations with any of the, the collective bargaining units right now in the state. I did a little bit when I was working in the town of Bedford with the finance committee. Um, but I, I think it’s just coming to the table, uh, understanding each, uh, side’s, um, key points. Um, and then hopefully, um, you know, working on,

2:10:38 you know, coming to a, a, a good position that both parties are comfortable with, and then managing to that contract through its life term, through its contract. Thank you very much for volunteering and being here tonight to answer all of our questions. We appreciate it. No, Thank you. Thanks All. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you very much.

2:11:04 Okay. So, um, that concludes our interviews. And, um, why don’t I Die, Patrick, if you wouldn’t mind giving us an overview. We’ve been through this experience a year ago, but let’s just refresh our memories how we did it last year. Okay. So, so the way we do it is, um, and I’m sure you’ll wanna have some deliberations first, uh, but when it comes to the vote, it’s, it’s, um, I guess you call it a roll call vote. Each person, uh, will be called by name. And then you’ll give the name of the candidate that you wish to choose. Um, a candidate has to receive at least five votes,

2:11:49 a majority in order to obtain the seat. If we do a round of voting, if no one achieves the five votes, uh, what happens is the lowest vote getter it or more than one, it, uh, is stricken from the list. And then we do another round of voting. All right? And if there’s still not five, who’s ever the lowest vote getter gets scratched off the list, and we do another round until we reach five. So essentially ranks choice. What’s that? So essentially ranks choice. Yeah. Yeah, Yeah. Um, Erin, if we can just follow the same pattern, so as people take notes, we’re good to go in their order. Oh, right. Um, I’m sorry. I’m not understanding

2:12:36 The same pattern. We went in for the last nine rounds of questioning. If we can just go, if we can just vote in the same order. Typically in the past, we’ve always our vote, like the appointing the, the, um, the, the, the board with the vacancy votes first. That’s how we’ve always done it. So, So the order on the sheet, my sheet is in order of seniority. Oh, okay. With the chair of each committee being the last of their group. So that’s, that’s how this is set up. Okay. So it’d be the most junior member, I think that’s you first, and this group, and you and this group. And we go through chair of each group.

2:13:22 Who votes last in that group. So I, I have missed a Yep. You already helped me. No, I’m asking pronouncing your name, right? O ota. Yeah. We had that conversation. Ms. Schaffner, Ms. Taylor, Ms. Fox, then Mr. Murray, Ms. Singer, Mr. Grader, Mr. Nye, Ms. Newton. So that’s the protocol that we’ve followed. That’s Pretty much, well, do we have to do it that way? Is there a reason not to? I guess, I mean, I think it consistency. I’d be curious how, I think the consideration, too, was to have the school committee vote, you know, vote first, so that the, ‘cause you’re closer to the, you’re Closer to the Closer to the decision.

2:14:09 And, and it gives us a chance to hear, hear the vote Like A couple years ago. I’m not gonna go first. So let me do it differently then. I don’t wanna go first. First, I’ll just, well, I’m first on the list. Well, First, um, I need a motion to place all the names into, um, nomination. So moved. Second. Not that order. Okay. All in favor? Our vote board vote separately. I’ll ask for a motion, um, to, to present all names into nomination. So, moved second. All all in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Four to zero.

2:14:48 Okay. Um,

2:14:55 Is there a will to have discussion, or would people prefer, I mean, we can have discuss, Discuss. Can we talk amongst ourselves for a few minutes or not? Yeah, yeah. Well, you’re in an open meeting, so, right. No, no. I, I get that it’s amongst ourselves. All amongst our We’re on camera. Yes. Yes. I’d have some questions that I’d like to Mm-Hmm. Ask some of the chairs because, um, caught between two people that I like, so I guess I’ll just vote then. It’s Sometimes it’s better. And, and you can make comments, I suppose. Madam Chair. Yeah. When you’re giving, I mean, when you’re giving your vote. Right? Ask your questions if you have questions, Brian. It’s okay. Absolute. Oh Yeah. No. Any, any Clarification? Brian, did you second it? Yeah. No, I did. Allison did Alison, thank you. Ask whatever you want.

2:15:42 No, I’m good. Okay. I’ll, it’s, it was emailed. I choose, um, Sarah Magazine. Sorry. Oh, wait, now what? I’ll call you a name and then we’ll, then you get to say, alright. Yeah. Um, Uh, I, I’m, I’m really impressed with the, the depth of the candidates that we have before us. And, um, I found that that was, um, it was really great to see so many people come out. Um, my thinking on it around this is, um, particularly where we are, um, as a district and in the, in the calendar year, um,

2:16:29 I’m kind of looking for people that are bringing in, walking in with some subject matter expertise and from their professional background that’s relevant around education and collective bargaining experience. And, um, and, uh, you know, experience working with public districts, um, uh, and advising around, um, administration, education. That’s just kind of where generally my thoughts are, um, around what I think would be at this time. Helpful. I would agree with that. Um, I think experience, given where we are and with some of our questions, I think almost all of our questions kind of pointed towards Right.

2:17:16 Which is great. I think it’s fair to be honest, when we’re interviewing candidates about the state of the state. Um, I think having that experience, first of all, I, I wanna say I agree also about the depth of candidates that we had. Um, I’m always impressed with the people that are willing to put their name, uh, in the hat, knowing what that’s like and the stress around that. And I would strongly suggest, um, that you guys, you know, invest in potentially, you know, moving forward in, in June. I know not everybody’s interested, um, because I think you’ll find that experience, um, is even more opening and more eye-opening and welcoming. Um, but I do feel that experience is critical given where we are and given the importance of the things that need to happen this year, whether it’s collective bargaining or budgeting experience, um, that

2:18:03 to me is paramount.

2:18:07 Anybody Else? Madam Chair? What I, what I’d also add is, just to add to that, is that we’re, we’ve got a very short, kind of critical runway right now, you know, and, uh, you know, given the urgency of the, the agenda items on, on the school committee’s plate, you know, that’s, that heavily influenced my, my decision. So,

2:18:29 Okay. So when we make our vote, do we say why we selected that person? Or just You absolutely can do that. You can do that. Yep. Okay. But you don’t have to. Last year we did. I don’t know if we’re all placing everything on past experiences or Not, but we did I find it helpful? Some do, some don’t. Yeah. So, um, okay. So it sounds like, um, we’re ready to proceed to a vote, which we can facilitate Okay. Through our town administrator. So I’ll call your name and give the name of the candidate to choose Mr. Oda. I selected, uh, Sarah Magazine for one point that I liked was the fact that she really was come in here, like, I can do a lot of things.

2:19:16 She came in here because she said I have to, there’s a lot of things going on. She’s invested in the community. She’s a PTO president. I’ve worked with her when I was at Glover, so I know her personally. And she is very dedicated to the students and the staff. And that’s something I greatly appreciate. And the fact that she came in to this request with her eyes open, it’s not like she doesn’t think this is gonna be easy. It’s, it’s gonna be challenging. And I got that feeling. She understands that. She even said that when you asked the question, are you looking to continue? I said, I don’t know. I don’t. She’s gonna have to see how the, the next few months go. And I think that’s a wise choice. Okay. Ms. Schaffner. Um, so I am very conflicted.

2:20:02 Um, I agree with ev a lot of what you said, Ryan. Um, I also was very impressed with Mr. Williams. Um, he had a very, um, confident but relaxed way about him in his answering of the questions. Um, and committed to running for election, which to me, um, is very important. Uh, ‘cause it does show a commitment to the position and to wanting to grow into the position. Um, he was one of two candidates, the other being Sarah Magazine, who talked about students and student achievement. And those are the two candidates I heard talk about that. And for me, that is the most important thing is our students. Um, so for that reason, uh, my initial vote is L Williams.

2:20:48 Williams. Okay. Ms. Taylor. Um, my vote is for Tom Mathers. Uh, again, going off of, um, just experience and what we need, what I feel we need on our, um, board, obviously having worked with him before, uh, and understanding what he can bring to the table. Okay. Ms. Fox? Hi. Um, my vote was for, is for Sarah Magazine. Um, I feel she has a skillset that could be very helpful. Communications is something we continually have heard for years and years from the community. Um, I think it, it, I think that that is vital for people being aware of what is going on in our district,

2:21:33 how it’s going on, and also for being able to work together in a way that doesn’t feel confrontational. Um, I think that skill, you know, we have a lot of hard decisions that are ahead of us, and I think that skill will be invaluable. On top of that, you know, she really has shown over a several year period to be deeply committed and involved in our schools and to really understand what we’re funding, what the impact is on our students, not just on a ledger, but what that shows up in our buildings and the delivery of education. So for that reason, I’m voting for Sarah Magazine. Okay. Um, Mr. Murray, As everybody says, it’s a great slate. And I was torn between two. Uh, but my vote is for Mr. Williams.

2:22:20 Mr. Williams. Okay. Ms. Singer? Yes. Thank you. So, Uh, I’m gonna say that I came in, you know, just one of everyone was very qualified, had a lot of different things. And some of the things that, um, you know, I was considering was, uh, you know, how do you, uh, look at all the qualifications on a board and bring in people that all have, you know, different backgrounds, different things that help to balance that board and add to that expertise. And so, uh, you know, for me, with everyone interviewing with Mr. Williams, I saw in obviously looking through the resume as well. You know, there’s experience as a finance committee. So understanding the financial aspect of it, so the, the ledger side, and then also, you know, uh, working

2:23:06 as a high school teacher, working at the college level, working on higher education, you know, experience with the MSBA and working in building projects. And, you know, the things, some of the things that jumped out to me was, um, you know, someone who, for myself, you know, worked in the building facilities committee with the schools many years ago is, you know, his work and focus on, um, you know, doing work specifically on do buildings conditions, you know, how do they impact students. Um, that definitely stood out to me. And, uh, just the ability, obviously to know the finances and having the teacher background as well to add that balance. So that was where, um, I landed for tonight to try to provide the best support for the town. Thanks.

2:23:52 From Williams, correct? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Grader. Uh, given his current relationship, uh, sorry. Given his current knowledge, his real time engagement and relationships that he has, uh, and also his past negotiating experience, um, you know, make, I think Tom Mathers, uh, the most timely person to help the, the school committee at this point. And I think his focus on students is, and devotion to students is a given. So, uh, I vote for Tom. Okay. Mr. Nye, uh, Tom Mathers did a great job last year. Thanks. Okay, Ms. Newan? Oh, um, I wanna say that I’m super grateful to Tom Mathers for

2:24:40 his stepping forward last year. Um, and, and, and helping us through that time period. And also willingness to come back and do it again for us. And, um, also, Sarah Magazine for all the hours that she’s put in, and I know, uh, volunteered for campaigning for Overrides and very involved in our schools, the PTOs. And, um, that’s, I mean, that’s what makes our district special. And we run on people stepping up when they’re called. And, um, I, I, I really appreciate that. I’m very torn. Um, so as I look though, however, at the subject matter experience professionally, that, um, I, uh, the two candidates stood out with me for, in terms

2:25:26 of like their professional expertise around, um, higher education and, um, and negotiating within and long term term experience negotiating collective bargaining. Um, uh, there were two that stood out to me, but for the reasons that, um, Alexa articulated well, um, I, I too will, um, vote for, um, Al Williams. Can I ask a question? ‘cause that may change my vote in the next round. Um, actually, again, I’m gonna chair, well, Let’s see. I don’t, I’m, I’m gonna keep, maybe I step behind. We don’t have a consensus. Yeah, no. Okay. We don’t. So with, um, Mr. Williams’s first or current job, this was a question for me as we went through, um, at the Commonwealth and his position at the Commonwealth,

2:26:13 is there an ethics stipulation about him holding a seat at this level? That, that’s my concern, is there’s some levels of state government that you’re employed in that you can’t hold. So as long as that’s not an issue, then I, I’m Okay. So Most usually, and I’m not, the Ethics Commission deals with financial matters, financial interests. So if there was a situation before the board uhhuh that, that involved a transaction or even a, a decision that affected that organization, he would have to recuse. Okay. Okay. But I’m not the Ethics Commission Okay. For the next Five weeks. Um, Yeah, no, that’s why I’m like, you know, if this was five weeks from now, this wouldn’t even be a thought in my mind.

2:26:59 Yeah. Um, is Mr. Williams here to, if he, oh, sorry. I, sorry. I couldn’t see you there. Um, if, if you don’t mind answering, um, the, you the ethics and or potential conflicts, and if you’ve had any guidance on that. Done. I’m sorry. So I’ve done some other things, uh, like teaching. Um, so I’m familiar with the, you know, the ethics form that I would need to fill out. Okay. Right. Assuming this position, um, I, I don’t foresee any problem, but I would have that cleared, you know, formally with the Ethics Commission and the in the Commonwealth. Okay. And you’d previously served in volunteer roles, right? Yes. On the, yeah. Finance committee. Finance committee. On, on the finance committee in another town during a, okay.

2:27:46 So where are we? Uh, is your vote vinyl? Is your vote final, or, Well, we’ve already voted, so we have to go around a second round. Yes, we vote. This is the final vote. She was through, she was asking for the next round. For the next round as we, so, Okay. So we have, we have 1, 2, 3 candidates that received zero, one candidate that received two, one with three and one with four. If I were just to eliminate the candidates with zero, we’re just kind of in the same spot. So, unless there’s an objection, what I would suggest is, um, we would also, I hate doing this. I don’t like those, but we, the, the next lowest candidate would be Sarah Magazine.

2:28:32 Right. And we would Right. Go to Tom Mathers and Al Williams on the next round. No, no. So if, so Magazine, if I did appear, we would do another vote. And the only only names that would be absent are the, the ones who received no vote. Right? Sorry. Right. We could do it that way. That was kind of the advertised way. So then we would have Sarah, Tom, and Al has three candidates, which are the three everybody voted for. So I thought it was the candidate. Oh, okay. You wanna stay consistent to That was the ground rule. We’ll stay that ‘cause. Okay. So on this round we’re down to three candidates. And everybody’s clear on the three candidates. Right. So Mr.

2:29:19 Hoda, well, I go with Mr. Williams then. Okay. Ms. Schaffner. Mr. Williams. Okay. Ms. Taylor. Mr. Mathers. Okay. Ms. Fox. Mr. Williams. Okay. Mr. Murray. Mr. Williams. Ms. Singer. Mr. Williams. Okay. Mr. Grader. Mr. Mathers. Mr. Nye, Mr. Mathers, Ms. Newton, Ms. Williams, I mean, sorry. Mr. Williams. Mr. Williams. Okay. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6. Mr. Williams receives six. Mr. Mathis receives three. Mr. Williams is the selectee. Congratulations.

2:30:14 Thanks. I didn’t,

2:30:20 it sounded like I dodged a bullet. Is that what he said? Thank you.

2:30:27 So, so you need to, to get our meeting then? Yep. That’d be great. Adjourn. And then I have a a, I have a, a thing I’ll send him tomorrow. That Perfect. That has all those steps. Okay. There’s multiple steps. Thank you. So next step for the School committee to Adjourn. Yeah, she’s gonna, so I’m gonna adjourn us. Uh, 9 46.

2:30:50 You are logged in still. So your automatic Alexa is automatically the co-host. Okay. Thank you so much. I don’t want that pressure. There you go. Maybe you won’t. Please, please put your name in, in May. Please. Do we adjourned? Yep. Taking my bag with you on a meeting. Sarah, can you get your meeting back? I didn’t. Yeah, the cohost. It ended. Yeah, it ended automatically. Which is funny ‘cause I’ve been kicked out. Like it wasn’t, I wasn’t on yours. I’ve kicked out. I was. Yeah. It wasn’t you. So we have to just log. Yeah. I didn’t have control of that meeting for like, the last hour and a half, but everybody else Got So You on the microphone back,

2:31:37 are you gonna move back to your speed? Yes. Children Go back to your seats.

2:31:43 So Alexa’s the host. Yeah. You’re great. Yeah, I just said bye. But I’m, so I Signs gets sworn in. Start a meeting so I can, I can put it back up. But Alexa was the host when I left, but we’re not using her pull laptop anymore. Oh. Oh. That’s why it ended. Yeah. Did we adjourn? Yes, she did. We adjourned. Yeah. I just wanna thank Frank for all of your help tonight. I know, thank you. Thank you So much. Get team. Thank you. Well, I got hand over host to you first, but Yeah. Do you have a device up and running that is not working? Alexa, do you have Or is that yours? We’re gonna, I think we’re gonna transfer host over so then Sarah can go home. Yeah. ‘cause I’m waiting to log in. ‘cause I’m gonna put my laptop back there.

2:32:28 Yeah, I think she’s, is that this is our only video camera? No, no, we just,

2:32:37 Yeah, we can. Okay. And, um, but, you know, would we want to, um, set a a, a date out far out, not our typical, but, um, so people can start to hear about it and we can solicit interest in people participating on that charter study.

2:33:03 Um, and I guess, I mean, I, my thought is thank you. We would wanna pick a date further out than, you know, our typical deadline. Like two, like a week or two, maybe something more like, especially since we’re still waiting on the presentation, but just getting it out there and having that set up. So If I may Yeah, of course. So in my discussions with the Collins Center who are gonna present, but, um, we’ll reschedule that. Um, and the path that the, the board’s already discussing of doing a select board appointed committee, um, rather than a petition that that process is, is by design two years. This is the faster process by having the select board appointed committee

2:33:50 and the committee forms does its work, presents back. And so my and Mike Ward will get into the details as to what those steps are. So, uh, the suggestion here is, uh, I’m already receiving interest from people. People are already contacting me, like, yeah, when this happens, I want on it. So, so the suggestion is, um, have us post for people to submit their, their requests like you do for any board of committee, your interest in serving on the committee. What, what you’ll learn from Mike Ward and the Collin Center. Some of the work that this board will, will need to do as part of that process is to make a decision as to what the size of the committee should be. He will say between nine and 13, 11 is probably the typical,

2:34:39 but somewhere in that, that range. Um, he’ll also brief you on who should you look for to make up the members of the committee? What’s the, the, you know, the different perspectives and such. I’m not gonna place his presentation, but, so the thought is opening up the net, having folks be able to submit their interests, uh, just like they do for boards and committees and, and have it a longer timeframe. It’s not two weeks or four weeks, whatever timeframe, uh, to, to garner that. Then we will reschedule the presentation during that period. So everybody will learn much more about how the process should work. It’s, it’ll be, um, informational for the public to understand what the process is.

2:35:24 It’ll be informational for this board on how best to put a committee together, what size, what kind of representation and, and how best to go forward. So it’ll be very valuable for everybody when we do that. So Yeah. I’m interested to see with his experience, what the size of these committees he’s found is. He would recommend, um, and, uh, like the makeup in terms of backgrounds and, um, So, so if we’re targeting February 28th, which is our next scheduled, regularly scheduled meeting For the presentation. For the presentation, I mean, one suggested is to go another month out from that. My, but the, the, the file point on this is if

2:36:10 the goal of this process is to have a chart, a draft charter, it has to go to town meeting, right? Right. So the goal would be can we do this in time for next year’s town meeting? If so, we gotta get going. Yeah. Because it’s a lot of work. Um, it’s doable in a year, but it’s gonna be crunch. It’s gonna be like, let’s, we gotta move and, and, and, and go through the paces to hit that timeline. Yep. Otherwise makes sense. It’ll go another year. Mm-Hmm. Okay. Yep. Um, and so March, so a deadline in March 27th? Yeah, March 26th. I’m on March 22nd to send ‘em in

2:36:56 and then vote on it the 27th. Okay. That’s a good runway. Yep. Yeah. And then that’s on our regular meeting, so that, yep. Okay. That’s great.

2:37:08 Okay. So we will, um, we’ll put some information together for the website. Okay. And then we’ll put the word out, solicit interest. Perfect. Deadline March 22nd. Okay. Well done. Okay. Next on our agenda, um, is our, uh, wonderful, um, Camie, Elli, sorry about the last name. Elli. Anelli Anelli. Okay. And thank you so much for your patience through that. Please. Um, yeah. Come forward and, um, welcome Camie. Yeah, no, thank you. Hi, Camie. Thank You. We have your letter of application

2:37:54 and you’ve really been such an asset and, and, and really loyal to your, to, to the town and, and, um, and your service. And thank you. So, um, I guess I just wanted to give you an opportunity to speak to your application. Sure. Um, again, being with the town for the last six years, it’s been very enjoyable. I’ve been in the same office this whole time, and I’ve kind of been working toward this. So I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve the people of Marblehead in this capacity. So I, I might add, she’s been the acting treasure collector, I think three times now. This Is, This isn’t gonna be new to her.

2:38:42 Yeah, no. Um, and, and I’ll add in, in, in the course of that whole time of doing the Treasure Collector Schools training, getting the CER work into the certification. So on top of, um, very short staffed right now, we’re down to two people and it’s a busy window Right. With people coming in, and she’s just sucked it up and did the job despite all those challenges. So it’s well earned in my opinion. Cammy, we’ve heard a lot about you over the, over the past six years. We really have. And especially during the, you know, the tougher periods where you just have to stand firm and really, you know, haul, haul a lot of, uh, you know, do a lot of stuff. So, thank you.

2:39:29 Thank you. Any questions or comments from members of the board?

2:39:38 I just had one. Um, is there any certification that is outstanding that you’ll need to work on or? Uh, I have been working on my certification both on the treasure collector side. Mm-Hmm. It’s, it’s a dual path in this town, um, through the Mass Collector Treasures Association. So that’s ongoing. It takes about three years per So. Okay. Three years. Wow. Great. Yeah. But, yeah. Okay. Well, I appreciate your dedication. All right. Thank to the county Mar. Um, I would ask for a motion to appoint Camie Anelli treasure collector with the term to expire in June, 2024. So, moved Second. All in favor? Oh, all in favor, right? Yeah. Bill vote. Yeah.

2:40:26 Congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you very much. I appreciate, see, we, we have a photography here. Do you want to get in front of the spirit? Yes. Yes. You’re the real deal now. No more acting. Yeah. Come on. Come on over. Actually, take a picture. Yes. With the boy. Absolutely. Oh, yes. Get Alicia too. Supporting family too. Yeah. We, She probably wants the family more. Yeah. The family more. Who’s in this? Uh, I’ll take, let’s get the family. Yeah. You’re in the so much time together. Keeps growing. There you go.

2:41:18 Two, three. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much.

2:41:31 I’m sure that’s gonna end up on a wall somewhere. Yeah. That’s excellent. Yeah, it really is.

2:41:43 We’ll be pulling it out. A retirement party in 30 years. Yeah. Thank you, Kami. Okay, next we have warrant articles for 2024 annual town meeting. Um, I’m gonna, uh, that, if you don’t mind, um, speaking to this. Sure. So at this step of the process, it’s, um, reviewing the, uh, select board sponsored articles for the warrant. There are other articles to be put on the warrant. The board will vote later on in the process as far as setting the warrant, uh, of all the others.

2:42:28 So these are the ones that are labeled as select board sponsored. Um, you will, on all these, You’ll make the vote now as to sponsoring them, but independently you’ll make a vote later in the process as to whether all of these go on the warrant or not. So there’s sort of two bites at that Apple, but this is you defining what your sponsors are. And then you’ll vote again on setting the warrant, uh, on the articles. Um, the top part of the document lists basically all the standard articles that are on the warrant every year that are required for particular reasons. So articles in numerical order, just, it’s a process

2:43:16 for town meeting reports of town officers and committees. So that’s, anybody stand up given reports that’s required by town meeting, assuming liability, again, that’s for the town. Uh, I think dealing with, um, I think that’s the con conservation, um, and land responsibilities lease of town property. If we were having any new lease agreements for town property, I’m, I’m not seeing any at this time. Uh, contracts in excessive three years. So that’s, uh, town meeting, given this board the authorization to enter into contracts up to 10 years, um, where the, the state law requires it to be three unless you have legislative approval to exceed that. And that’s, this gives you that authority for 30

2:44:04 BI believe it is projects, um, department revolving funds that’s setting, uh, the amount of funds from other sources to transfer into the budget to cover particular things like the cemetery fund and, and, and youth services and those kind of funds. Uh, purchase of equipment and several departments. So that’s capital lease purchase, that’s a capital, capital improvements for public buildings, walls and fences, storm drainage, construction. Uh, those are all the different categories of capital. So it’s just putting that on the warrant so we can do our capital planning. Um, the next several are, uh, the reclassification and pay schedule for administrative, uh, same for traffic supervisors, same

2:44:50 for seasonal and temporary personnel. So that’s the non-union, basically pay, pay raises. Mm-Hmm. Um, it, it changes the salary scales based the typically by some percentage, um, compensation of town officers. Basically that’s the town clerk’s salary since it’s, uh, a full-time position that’s elected. So you set that salary or town meeting sets that salary, uh, Essex, north Shore Agricultural Technical School. So that’s just an assessment to the school. Um, and then here we have two, two union contracts that expired June 30th. If we come to an agreement in time for town meeting, we would put, um, those agreements, uh, on the warrant for approval at town meeting.

2:45:36 Um, so those are, those are pretty standard. Um, the, um,

2:45:45 the next four are, um, ones that are being proposed for this year. The first one we talked about create a community development and planning department. I call it the, the Becky Karin Act. Um, so, ‘cause we’re, as you know, she’s retiring soon. So this is, this is the plan to, to backfill those, those roles. Uh, the next one labeled as Appointment of Board of Assessors. And it should have also slash um, I, I’m not quite sure what the title, but the assessor become a part of the finance department. So this, this is a particular interest in that, as you may recall from the previous, the state

2:46:30 of the town meeting, the, um, the public comment, um, which went on in regard to, you know, the, uh, assessments, bills and those things where, where this board us collectively where, where, where the fingers were pointing. But we were explaining that the board of assessors is an independently elected board and the assessor works independently from us re reporting to that board. Um, there is an act under mass general law that allows municipalities or town meetings to pass that would change the relationship that would allow, uh, going from an elected board

2:47:15 of assessors to an appointed board of assessors, which the DOR says is the best practice that they advocate. Um, and then the other component of that would be rather than the, the, the assessor department sort of being an island by itself, that it would be part of the finance department. So the assessor would report through the CFO, which in my experience is more typical of the municipalities, the several municipalities I’ve been in. Um, and that creates one comprehensive financial team. ‘cause as I’ve said here in Marblehead, the assessor’s department is responsible for 81 million of the, about 107 million that we have yet they operate

2:48:02 as a totally independent island. And in, in the assessor’s office. That means all of the systems, the databases, the processes, the staffing, everything is outside our bubble. Um, so, so DOR, um, best practice states by through the sac that it, it brings the assessors in as part of the whole financial, uh, finance department team. Um, that’ll, that’ll allow us to do a lot more coordination, collaboration on our information systems, our processes and, and those type of things. So that’s what’s being proposed here, um, or will be proposed under that, that article.

2:48:50 Um, next, oh, I’m sorry. Yeah, it’s right there. Assessor report to CFO, I’m sorry. Um, those are sort of tied together. And then the, the next one is to amend the bylaw for the capital Planning Committee membership. So that was, was, that was asked for from members of this board. So there is a, uh, capital planning committee. Somehow it’s long dormant. Um, uh, and what it does is it reviews, uh, capital projects that meet a certain threshold. So it’s 1% of the, of the, uh, total budget. So basically it would be capital projects about a million dollars or more. So it wouldn’t, it wouldn’t necessarily get involved in

2:49:37 purchase of vehicles and smaller equipment. It’s, it’s for the review of the larger capital, uh, projects. Um, currently the membership is made up of five residents that cannot be on any border committee. Um, you know, all the restrictions, they can’t be an employee, they can’t be anything of that sort. It is, my understanding wasn’t here that it sort of went dormant over the years because there was just such a disconnect between, you know, citizens who, who may not necessarily be part of the, their ongoing process, sort of setting their, their decision as to what ought to be done for capital. And the reality of the, the financial challenges.

2:50:24 And, and, and, and, and the goals that that folks, you know, the professional staff are dealing with was being proposed on this one as sort of a hybrid that it would consist the committee, we would just change the membership. All the, the threshold criteria would stay the same. Uh, it would do a report for town meeting as it as it did in the past, but the membership would be three residents appointed by the board for a three year term. Um, and the other members would be professional staff and sort of in the draft version, it would be the town administrator, the chief financial officer, the superintendent of schools, uh, DPW director. And I’m kind of kicking back and forth on, on either, um, if we have a superintendent

2:51:13 of buildings or some role like that. So basically it’s the professional, oh, I’m sorry, the finance committee chair also. So the idea being you have the professional staff who are immersed in the capital needs of the town. You have the resident appointees that give you that external input. And you have the financial folks too, that have the perspective of, of the finances. And that’s the membership. That’s what’s being proposed. Just wanna add, uh, through the chair. Sorry, uh, just a question in regards to that with, um, I know, you know, we’re moving, uh, Becky’s department in the concept of the development and planning Yep.

2:51:59 Department. But to include that as part, you know, I, it seems like that might be looped in, I know in a lot of towns up that has been the process to, you know, to include that. Yeah. I mean, I know we obviously have a school, uh, you know, our biggest capital projects obviously with the superintendent. We’ve, uh, school with the, you know, town administrator. We’re covering all of our departments. Obviously finance and the finance committee ‘cause the financial implications. And I, you know, I think obviously keeping the resident component is really important and I think the individuals that worked on that committee, you know, did work really, uh, diligently on that previously. Yeah. And I think it’s important obviously to then look at the financial impacts of how do we lead this into creating a comprehensive five year outlook that then we can bring to town meeting continue to update.

2:52:46 But I just wanted to add about the planning component, because obviously that falls into sometimes that above the 1%. Yeah. So I was trying to remember which, which one of those positions I would, I, I had in there and that that was Okay. That was one I was kind of kicking around a couple different options. Yeah. Okay. I just, yeah, I mean, looking at this, that seemed to be, uh, the theme that stuck out Mm-Hmm. From just the composition of other talents and stuff. Yeah, Yeah. Yeah. Madam Chair for me. Understood. Um, yeah, I mean, I think this is the, you know, a a tried and true way to restructure a committee and lend it, uh, you know, momentum, uh, uh, you know, legitimacy really around kind mm-Hmm. You’ve got to get that, those sources of information from the active professionals. And I think in the past we had this notion

2:53:33 that we needed more independence and we needed more. Uh, but it, it’s a model that kind of withers on the vine, you know? ‘cause we also restructured the Fair Housing Committee along the same lines, right? They were a very large committee kind of unwieldy, and they weren’t really connected to the, you know, to the operating issues that would give them kind of a, a, a perspective on what is, you know, what is implementable or not. So I think this is, you know, this is gonna be, uh, I think a very good move to reenergize the, you know, the, the planning. And I think just to add that through the chair for the revitalization act, I think, um, you know, and you’re the resident expert in this, but, uh, CIA here, but I think at that enables us to more proactively look at what is our, you know, what is our five year capital goal? What is our 10 year capital goal?

2:54:19 And then what are options for financing that, you know, stabilization funds and stuff like that. They, with that act, it did allow it, you know, municipalities to create individual accounts and things like that, that had not existed historically. And so I think this is another step in that direction to proactively, you know, address our capital needs and allow, you know, the everyone to know what’s coming up. Yeah. I mean, I, I would also argue that there have been, there is a, there is kind of a more of an ad hoc, more professionally based process for capital planning. It’s not absent. Yeah. But it’s resided in, you know, in, in Becky Kern. And also I think through our, you know, our kind of more maintenance type, uh, articles that we have in, you know, in the warrant that have kind of defacto been a spreadsheet wishlist of priorities from all the departments that,

2:55:06 that’s worked reasonably well. So it hasn’t been a complete thing, but I, but I think you’re right. I mean, I think in terms of looking at even further, you know, sometimes that that hasn’t been as, uh, how to put it more formally documented and we, and we really should do it. No, I think just the revamp of like what municipalities could do after 2016 was great because it started to realize that these are needs that we have and here are more mechanisms for us to, you know, create stabilization reserves, those types of things that allow us to do more strategic planning. So, And as I’ve been briefing all of you on, you know, some of the issues with our facilities, um, we can’t ignore them. And this is, this is the group to, to focus. So a lot of the capital, you know, right now

2:55:51 that we’re dealing with is the small and the urgent. Right? Right. It’s vehicles and equipment and we need to put focus on the really big ones that have, you know, financial implications into really put together a strategy to address those. Mm-Hmm. So as Mary Alley Building is telling us that I’ll have some more information in my update, um, we can no longer ignore, uh, the condition of that building. It, it, it’s having a, it’s starting to have a profound impact on our ability to keep the doors open. Yeah. ‘cause we’re gonna be, it’s gonna be death by a thousand cuts is, is really what we’re doing right now. We’re just putting Bandaid or a thousand showers. Well, exactly. Because that’s what’s breaking right now, you Know, and, uh, so no, I, I,

2:56:36 I think this is a wonderful idea.

2:56:41 I had, I should have asked you this before. Um, it just occurred to me and I’ve been absent, but are, um, are we, where were we with, did we leave with the Affordable Housing group with the Smart Growth overlay districts?

2:56:57 Is that wrapped up into the MBT communities, like the Village Plaza and the Millers Plaza? Like there was discussion on that about just going forward with the overlay district. And I, I should have asked you this earlier, but it’s just occurring to me while we we’re talking About Becky. Yeah. I pinged Becky to get a refresh. I, I, I don’t know. I’d have to, we add, I’d better have Becky Yeah. We could Add a refresh. Yeah. Like at our next meeting if Okay. Yeah. Um, okay. I, um, so any questions around these items? Um, these articles, items? Yeah, go ahead. No question. Yeah. So again, we’re voting to place this on as the sponsors.

2:57:44 We’re not voting To put actually put in the warrant just yet. Yes. Gotcha. This is just putting your names on these items. Thank you for asking. Mm-Hmm. Okay. Yep. Yep. Great. All right. Thanks. Okay. So, um, I’ll ask for a motion to sponsor the following articles to be placed on the warrant for 2024 annual town meeting, create community development and planning department appointment of board of assessors assessor report to CFO amending the bylaw for the Capital Planning Committee membership. So moved Second. All in favor? Okay. And then you have the standard articles at the Top. Oh, sorry. Yep. Um, uh, I, um, we need a motion

2:58:29 to sponsor the following articles in place on the warrant for 2024 annual town meeting as listed in our packet As presented. Yes. So moved Second. All in favor. I’m gonna just recuse myself just because I do have a union member and a close family member. So just to be safe, I’d Rather Right. I’d rather recuse myself. Okay. Um, we are, we have, um, oh, sorry, I skipped over on the agenda. We had approval of minutes, but we’re not, um, we’re gonna postpone those. We don’t have those. Yep. Um, warn article and, um, we have a reserve fund request from Chief King as laid out in the letter. Um, you wanna any highlights for

2:59:16 Us? Yep. So, um, so you want me to step up? Yeah, so go ahead. Good Evening. Honorable Select board. Is that Mike phone on? Yes, through the chair. Um, the chief came to see me, he had a retirement and he has two positions he needs to fill. He likes to use a center. He didn’t know if he was gonna get that evaluation assessment center, but he can. Um, we did not budget for it ‘cause he was unsure of the timing. Mm-Hmm. But now that he needs it, he needs those funds and so I suggested he go for reserve fund transfer this year. So, so this vote is the select board given authorization for him to go to the finance committee, which is 144,000. That’s in, in the reserve fund. That’s in the budget.

3:00:01 And then the fin com decide whether it’ll support or not. And what’s the amount for, for this $12,520? Yep. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank You. Perfect. Um, we need a motion to authorize the police chief to appear before the finance committee to request the transfer of the sum of $12,520 from the Reserve Fund in accordance with chapter 40, section six of Mass General Loss. So moved. Second. All in favor?

3:00:34 Um, okay. Next we have a letter and a request from the Corinthian Yacht Club, um, for the, um, temporary temporary closure of Corinthian Lane seven to four. Um, I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. Um, I’ll ask for a motion to approve the request from Timothy Dietrich Corinthian Yacht Club for temporary closure of Corinthian lien on Saturday August 10th, 2024 from seven to four 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM to fac to facilitate two events, subject to approval from police and fire, and police details as needed. So moved. Second. All in favor Present. A. And they’ve, they’ve approved this police and Fire. Oh, thank you. Okay.

3:01:21 Um, we are, I am postponing the request on the revolving fund, and that brings us to item nine is the Abbott Library Foundation.

3:01:33 Um, so this is for, you know, one of our 5K walk, five Ks in town. So I, uh, need a motion to approve the request from Tanya Walker Abbot Public Library Foundation to hold a 5K walk on Saturday, June 15th, 2024, starting at 9:00 AM at the Vets Middle School, and finishing at Abbott Library. Approval is subject to receipt of the required certificate of insurance naming the town is additionally insured with end approval from the Marble police, fire, and schools and police details. As determined, no permanent markings are allowed on the streets and all temporary markings shall be removed at the conclusion of the event. So moved. Second. All in favor, a Sunday liquor license, um, from request from Marblehead Arts Association.

3:02:19 This is, um, as the application as well. So, um, this will be a polled vote. And I first need a motion to approve this request from Casi Kindle for two one day liquor licenses for Saturday, February 10th, 2024 from five to 10:00 PM and Sunday February 11th, 2024 from 12 to 5:00 PM at the King Hooper Mansion, eight Hooper Street, subject to the following conditions, delivery of and receipt by the licensing authority of the required fee of $50 each delivery of, and receipt of by the licensing authority of proof that the alcohol will be purchased from an authorized source, proof that the applicant could receive proper delivery, provide proper storage and disposal of all alcoholic beverages purchased. All in accordance with the requirements of general laws.

3:03:04 Chapter 1 38, alcohol will be purchased from CAP’S importing, and if you could help us with the cold voice. So moved. Oh, sorry. Second. Okay. Ms. Singer, Hanging on. Mr. Murray. In favor, Mr. Grader? In favor, Mr. Nye In favor, Ms. Nun In favor? Okay. Temp Emanuel. It’s also requesting a one day liquor license. Um, we need a motion to approve the request from Jamie Meyers Temple Emanuel for a one day liquor license on Wednesday, April 10th, 2024 from 6:30 PM to 11:00 PM at Temple Emanuel at 3 93 Atlantic Avenue, subject to our usual following conditions. Delivery of a receipt by the licensing authority of the required fee of $50 each delivery of and receipt by the licensing authority of proof that the alcohol will be purchased from an authorized source.

3:03:50 Proof that the applicant can receive proper delivery, proper, provide proper storage and disposal of all alcoholic beverages purchased, all in accordance with the requirements of general law. Chapter 1 38. Alcohol will be purchased from Beachmont Liquors. So Moved. Second. Mr. Murray. In favor, Mr. Grader? In favor, Mr. Nye In favor, Ms. Singer? In favor, Ms. Nun In favor. Next on our agenda and us Mr. Keyser, to speak to the old townhouse painting project? Yeah. So, um, not all the painting was able to get done before the season changed. So we’re gonna do some additional painting to be done, uh, in the spring weather. So we need to extend the contract date to allow for that to happen. Okay. Um, so we need a motion to amend the contract

3:04:38 for old townhouse exterior painting project John Scorza and Company of Bev Peabody Mass by extending the contract to May 30th, 2024. And authorize the chair to sign the contract on behalf of the board. So Moved. Second. All in favor? Okay. Uh, this is around our recycling grants, which we renew. Um, So yes. So on this one, um, in order for the town to continue to apply for and receive grants from the DEP, we must have a recycling product purchasing policy. So we, we reviewed it and we’ve made some updates to it to make it more current. So we’re asking the board to, um, approve this updated version, um,

3:05:25 and it’ll allow us to put it in the applications to DEP and continue the grant money coming in.

3:05:34 Okay. So we just need a motion to adopt the recycled product purchasing policy. So move a second. All in favor?

3:05:48 And, uh, the YMCA at a 5K, um, letter here. We would need a motion to approve the request from Carol Meyer of the YMCA in North Shore to hold the head of the Hill 5K Road race on Sunday, September 15th, 2024 at 9:00 AM Subject to approval from police and fire, police details and receipt of the required certificate of insurance. No permanent markings are allowed on the street and all temporary markings shall be removed at the conclusion of the event. The event shall will start and end at the Lynch and honorly YMCA. So Moved. Second. All in favor? Great. Okay. And, um, now that brings us to a request from the Historical Commission to use old townhouse.

3:06:34 So, um, we, uh, for a presentation,

3:06:41 So This came in, wrote this already. Uh, I’m not sure, but this came in and so given Oh, we just acknowledged it or something? Yeah. Okay. Sorry. Well, Right, you see the, the Hannah model? Yes. That was last meeting. This Is to save Glover’s Farmhouse. We had to cancel the last day. Oh, that’s why I’m like, I thought we did. It was all little too quick. Okay. So this came in. But, so for, due to the timing, ‘cause our next meeting’s at the end of the month, so we added to the agenda to, right. Yeah. It’ll be interesting. That’s an interesting presentation. Okay. That’s why I remembered it. We’ve done it. Um, so we need a motion to approve the request from Pam Peterson Marblehead Historical Commission to use Old townhouse on Sunday, March 10th, 2024 from 1230 to 4:30 PM for a lecture subject to the usual rules and regulations, fees,

3:07:27 and receipt of the required certificate of insurance, meaning the town of Marblehead is an additionally insured and to waive the rental fee for this event. So moved. Second. All in favor?

3:07:40 And then that will bring us to public comment.

3:07:49 Um, and uh, thank you, sir. If there’s anybody online, there’s not. Oh, okay. No, I’m seeing people online. There are, but nobody has their hand. Oh, okay. If you wanna speak for public comment, just please raise your hand and, um, we can recognize you and if like to speak in public comment please. Um, it’s all us. Come to the microphone, I guess there, and, um, state your name for the record. I Think we’re Good. Okay, great. Um, town Administrator update. So, uh, thank you. Um, speaking of capital planning and, and buildings, um, uh, we need to do some more plumbing maintenance on Mary Alley. Uh, the last time we tried, we got our floors washed.

3:08:37 Uh, unfortunately, um, but we have to go back and do some more work. So, uh, we’re scheduling it for Friday, February 23rd. It’s gonna require us to shut the building down for the day. It’s a Friday, so it’s a shortened day. Um, we, we message with the, the department heads. Um, we check to make sure there’s no, you know, deadlines for, for significant things. Um, so, so we’re gonna, um, and we’ll put it out there that we’re gonna close the building for that Friday, uh, the 23rd. Um, for the, and the way it works for the, the union members, the collective bargaining, it’s just they get, they get a day off, um, unless there’s a task. So, so some union members are involved in the project.

3:09:23 They, they obviously have to work, so they, they, the bill’s closed, so they get the time off without having to make it up for the administrative people. I, I put them on remote work status. So they, they do the work that they, that’s necessary to be done, but they have to do it remote. But we wanna get timely notice out there, uh, to do that. So this, and the reason the building has to be closed is they’re, they have to shut the water supply off. Um, hopefully it stays off this time, uh, in order to do the plumbing work. And if, if, if there’s no running water in the building, we can’t have it open for the employees or the public. Um, so, um, that’s part of the capital efforts we’re doing. The other update is, um, um,

3:10:11 we have our cable TV contracts are coming up for renegotiation, and that’s typically done by the TV commission, which it looks like the, the, the, the committee, the cable TV advisory committee is a committee of one, uh, Mr. Peck. And so he’s, he sent in a message, um, asking for us to solicit, um, um, volunteers to, to join the committee. So we’d like to add that to, you know, the request for advertising and appointment to, to this committee. It’s very timely because, um, you know, they, I’ll be involved in it, but it’s typically the committee that would negotiate the new cable TV contracts.

3:10:57 When’s the contract up? Uh, doesn’t, doesn’t matter. You can tell me tomorrow. Um, expires January, 2025. Okay. And there is, I’ve done these. Oh yeah. Um, there, there’s a, a lead time. It, it, it’s a whole process that’s defined under the Cable TV Act that we have to follow. So, um, they’re looking for five members, um, to be on the committee in Addition to Mr. Ecker five Total. I don’t know. I think it’s a five member committee. It’s a five member committee and he’s, I think if you member, so we need at least four. Four, Yeah. Yep. He just stayed on as the liaison once the contracts were settled five years ago. ‘cause just a bit as a five member committee. Yep. I might take a bit.

3:11:43 Do you think to, there’s some lead time in terms of solicitation? Yeah, Yeah. No, it’s, um, Yeah, I think we should pick a date to, I think we should just go ahead with it. Um, so somebody wanna propose a date? Well, we already have the 27th for the other thing. Wanna do the eighth and the 13th? We’ll see what we get. We can always extend it for you. Can eighth of, uh, March. March. March. Yeah. If we don’t, you know, if we don’t get A line Yeah, that’s a full month and then we can always extend it. I like that. So request them by the eighth and then we’ll, uh, On our meeting on the 13th, eighth, we can possibly appoint or interview and a point. If we don’t get any, we can just push it back. But it’s, we start at, and that’s a small committee too.

3:12:28 I mean, that’s a small community. Even If we got too long, they all talk. Yeah, it’d be three.

3:12:35 I’ve done this before, so for that. Um, okay. So that brings us to select board announcements. Um, just briefly, um, regarding the, um, task force against discrimination. Um, Kyle and I had spoken, um, you know, uh, the posting didn’t get on the website. Um, there was a delay in getting that on the website. And given the, um, just the, the, what we had on our agenda for tonight, um, we, she, she made a good point. We recommending that we post, um, or sorry, um, extend the deadline, uh, until February 16th and then we could pause, then we could interview on the 28th. Mm-Hmm

3:13:22 Mm-Hmm. At our next meeting. Okay. Does everybody, That makes sense time with that? Yeah. Mm-Hmm. Sounds good. Okay. Mm-Hmm. Any other announcements?

3:13:36 Nope. All set. Okay. Motion to return. So all at once. Second. And all in favor. Thank you.