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Brookline School Board 8/26/2026

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if we can. It was on tell me when we
did.
>> Awesome. Um, so I'd like to call to
order this meeting of the Brookline
School Board August 26, 2026.
Um, the first thing on our agenda our
agenda adjustments and we actually have
two. The first is to add to the agenda
discussion and deliberation about adding
a liaison to the select board. Um, may I
get a motion that the agenda be adjusted
to add that?
>> So, move.
>> Uh, all in favor?
>> Thank you. And then the second agenda
adjustment is
>> second.
>> Uh, Heather seconded.
>> Yeah. Yep. Um the second agenda
adjustment would be computer
>> a deliberation
a discussion and deliberation to
reschedule our October board meeting
because there is a conflict with one of
our schools open houses September. Just
kidding. September. Yeah. So we would
like to just talk about a date for that.
May I get a motion to adjust the agenda
to add that? I'll
>> make a motion
>> and a second. Thank you. All in favor?
Appreciate it.
All right. So, moving forward. Um, so
the consent agenda. So, this is a
reminder that the, um, the board has
provided the superintendent
authorization to hire, accept
resignations, and terminate staff until
the September board meeting. Um, Gina,
do you have anything you want to add
pertaining to the consent agenda?
>> Nope. The consent agenda is posted.
>> So, okay. So, it is posted. May I get a
motion to approve the consent agenda as
it appears in our documents? Um, may I
get a second?
>> Awesome. All in favor?
>> Excellent.
Moving right along. So, approval of
minutes. Um, this is seeking approval of
minutes for the Brookline School Board
from June 10th, 2026.
Um,
members absent were myself and member
Perry. Uh, the following amendment was
offered. Page six, line 35 to insert a
comma followed by it followed following
taking it.
May I get a motion to accept as amended?
>> Thank you.
>> I will make a motion to accept as
amended.
>> Excellent. And a second. Thank you. All
in favor? Uh, all abstained?
Thank you.
Um the next is to ex to um approve the
Brookline School Board public hearing
the specialed trust fund from June 10th,
2026. Um again members absent uh Manion
and Perry. May I get a motion to accept
the minutes as presented?
>> So move
All abstain. Appreciate it. All right.
And with that, I will turn it over to
our principles for their principal
report.
>> Okay. Good evening. Um, for our
principal report, uh, our enrollment in
Brooklyn is 548. At RMS, we have 310
families. And at CSA, we are at 238.
Um, so our starting enrollment
is um, you know, pretty consistent to
where it was. It's a little bit lower
than last year, like by off by six to
start the year. Um, however, we did gain
two students to RMS, so we're getting
both today.
>> Yep.
>> Um, today we welcomed our new families
to our school at both RMS and CSDA. So,
we had new family orientation.
>> So, that was great. We had a nice visit
and we got to tour the building with the
families and answer any questions they
have and get the students acclimated to
where their classes are.
Then the next day, um, all schools
around the United States will recognize
Constitution Day.
And then Mr. Miller has his open house
on the 23rd. And I believe I heard, was
that right? Open house.
>> Yeah. Yeah, that's accurate.
the 23rd of our open house.
>> Yeah. Um we're looking to possibly
>> you put the school board me was the 30th
on it.
>> No, no, we're we're composition.
>> So that's our principal report. And then
uh for Brookline um we are we are
staffed um and we are in really great
shape at RMS. We have one power educator
on there because you know we have a
contractor so we're looking to
uh hire for
our own and then CSDA same thing three
power educators so but we're in probably
better shape than we ever have than
other years which is great.
>> Awesome.
>> Are you are you getting applicants for
those roles? You how is how has that
been looking in terms of a pool an
applicant pool or has it been slow?
>> Do you mind if I take this one? Um so
yes so the applicant pool has been
stronger than in past years. It may not
look like we have as many um as fewer
contract powers as we wish we had but we
had an an increase of needs for power
educators. So we've actually hired quite
a few um in proportion to the needs that
we had arise over the course of this
past year. Does that make sense? So we
ended last year with six contracted
power educators. Right now we actually
you'll see on the next attachment that
we actually have five contracted power
educators. It's it's four at CSDA and
one at at RMS. However, um one of those
we anticipate not being a need anymore
by Halloween. Okay.
>> And then we are still actively hiring
for the rest. So, and we did have an
increase of needs for PAR educators. So,
those were hired for. So, it
proportionately we are stronger than we
were and we are still actively hiring
and the pool has been better than
history than historically.
>> May I ask do do you know off topand how
many over above last year needed? Was it
like minimum? M minimum two. It could
have been three.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah.
>> So, and then the next attachment is our
staffing list. It shows all the
returning staff. It shows if there were
any changes with uh grade placement
or position. And then any new staff are
underlined in bold and orange. So,
>> and I just want to note um if we can add
to this staff list, Jamie Boyce is a
reading specialist at CSDA. I just want
to make sure that she's included on this
for she is
>> update. Jamie Boyce I don't see her.
>> She's under CSD. I I see her. She's
under CSD under Lisa Lindsay.
>> Oh, under a specialist position. Thank
you so much. I was looking under special
education. I appreciate that.
>> She's special education.
>> Yeah. So, she she actually works um
solely with special education. So, she
could be under special education staff.
I apologize. That's why I saw that. No,
I I appreciate you making sure that she
was on the list.
>> And then our next board meeting, we'll
give a update about
>> um things that happened over the summer,
our goals for the year um and anything
else.
>> Okay. Um I want to take a quick minute
to thank Dan for um opening up RMMS to
the library uh last week for the some
students to come in. They had a story
time there which was very well attended.
Um and I think a lot of the students
were students that were incoming
kindergarteners as well. So, that was a
really lovely Sorry. Yes, microphone.
That was a lovely opportunity, I think,
for our students who are not who are new
to this building to be able to come in,
meet the principal, get a little tour.
They got to go to the playground. We
dodged some hornets. That was fun. Um,
but yeah, so thank you, Dan, for making
that and um taking time out of your
summer to open up the school for for
students, and I know Chaz, you had new
students coming in today as well. So, I
I think I know the families appreciate
it when they're able to make those
connections. So, thank you.
>> That's fine.
Um for CSDA um we just uh completed uh
our hiring of a sixth grade teacher
which was great. So um uh we are all set
and ready to start the year which is
very nice. Um and uh I want to special
special shout out uh to um uh Belt Tates
in uh Brookline here. We uh this summer
uh it's been a long time coming uh but
uh the teachers lounge had not really
been touched in a very very long time.
Um and so uh we decided to make it into
a little zen uh for them. So uh Bill
Tates uh donated uh $100 uh for the
paint. So um was very thankful for that.
Um and then PTO donated uh $135 for a
new workt. And then a group of other
people, a large group of other people,
myself included, uh added some other
things to it and made it really
beautiful. Um I have pictures, but I can
probably show them next time uh to you
guys, but um staff was very appreciative
for that space. We renamed it. It's not
the teachers lounge. It's now the wolf
den. Um and uh so they'll be able to uh
to go in the wolf den and have a a few
moments of uh calm and then uh go back
out because their pack needs them. So
do that. Um,
>> are there any other needs for that or is
that all set?
>> No, we're all set. Uh, you know, a
little description. We have um uh I got
a uh little one of those little
fountains, tabletop fountains in there.
Um, we got some things that go on the
wall that match kind of the wonderful
woodsy area that we're in. It's very
rustic in there. And then there's um the
little uh what do you call those? Light
up candles, the battery ones. Tea
lights. Yeah. Yeah. So, those are around
the table and there's some on the wall.
Also, it looks really nice when you dim
there. And we got a new
>> duty of turning those lights on and off.
>> Well, you know, and I I I know, right? I
I'm trusting responsible people, you
know, they're they're going to do it.
But it it looks really nice in there.
People have been impressed, but uh they
deserve it. They work really hard. So,
>> Well, thank you to everybody who who
contributed and donated to the space. It
sounds wonderful.
>> Yeah, it's really good. It was really
good. Um so, uh the other big thing we
did uh was was uh the uh car poolool.
So, I I had come in last year and it was
it was something that's that's been on
my radar for a little bit. Um, but first
year I try not to come in and change too
too much, but uh what I did notice is
throughout the year, and I checked it
sporadically, sometimes there were cars
there, sometimes there weren't, but on
Townsen Hill Road,
um there was a lot of backup.
>> Um especially in the afternoon, it was
probably more so in the afternoon. Um,
but it was because when we come up for
carpool and go around the roundabout and
come down, there's just not enough room
on campus. There was room for about I'd
say 20 cars maybe tops coming down. The
rest of them spilled off onto Towns and
Road. And from when I asked last year,
it was well, this has been this way for
years. We'll try to figure out something
for it. Um, the other sticky part was
right here in the mornings when the
buses came around. Um, and then carpool
was going at the same time. Um, it was
still safe, but I I think it could have
gone efficiently. And if there's ever a
way to pull buses away from carpool
traffic, that's always a a good thing to
try to do. So, um, I ended up making,
uh, the decision after talking with, uh,
Megan Frick from, uh, the Brooklyn Fire
Department, uh, talking with Gina that,
um, if we could use the back access
road, uh, to swing carpool all the way
around and that would keep a nice round
flow, uh, going all around the building,
it would also completely take out any
kind of standing traffic on the front of
campus. So, um, first thing I did was I
drove it out and used my car plus a
little bit more and figured out if we
had standing traffic and let's say I'll
explain to this standing point here
where kids get off in a second, but if
we had traffic back up here in the
afternoon like it does, how much traffic
backs up to about midportable
and then from about here and there's
about 40 41 cars and I clocked that we
probably had maybe 30 cars that come out
here. 30 32 cars that come out there at
any given day. So, this fits it very
nicely to have it back here and there's
no conflicts with standing traffic.
Megan Friet talked about we got to stay
clear of these gates. There's one here
and one here. There can't be any
standing traffic there because even
though the gates are wide, if we had
standing traffic, for instance, through
one of these gates, um a firetruck would
have a tough time getting through.
Whereas here, this is very wide. Um, you
can actually have standing traffic and a
truck could get through. So, um, and if
the traffic, standing traffic ends here,
then it's single lane right through
here. They could easily get through
either side. And then there's the pumps
here. So, that wouldn't wouldn't be an
issue at all. So, everything right
through here standing wise is absolutely
fine. It's plowed in the winter. I
noticed last winter because we did some
recesses out there when it got really
icy. they actually plow it really wide
uh throughout the uh throughout the
winter. So, that was another good thing.
So, the standing traffic was one thing
that fit this pattern. Now, coming in
here, um and I'm going to mark this off
really um uh obviously here. And there's
going to be probably three or four cars
at a time that can either load or unload
here. And then the kids are going to
walk right into um either the side door
right here that comes out that they use
for recesses or the gym door. Um the gym
door we'll use before winter and that'll
take them right to the uh front lobby
area.
And when it when it's inclement weather,
we'll use that door here because we have
mats down and things like that so that
they don't track anything into the gym.
Um and then they can go and they both
come out the same spot. I'm always in uh
the front. I greet the kids in the
morning. So, in the front lobby area
where they come into um I'm always there
and then we'll have a person stationed
at this door and a person stationed down
here. Previously, we would have um uh a
person stationed right here as kids got
dropped off. So, we're just going to add
one more person to this area here. Uh
which will be fine. So, the kids are
just going to walk right up and go
through there. Um, like I told the the
families today as I talked about it that
um everything I put in place comes out
perfect. So I'm not worried that any
revisions whatsoever. Um, but I told
them to to bear with us a little bit.
Um, I think this is a better um, setup
than what we had. Whether it stays like
this or we end up tweaking it based on
what we see and what kind of comes out
of it is one thing, but the goal of
making this front part more efficient
and especially safer on Towns and Hill
Road. Um, this achieves those goals. The
logistical items I think we're going to
work out just a little bit um in that
back area, but they do have plenty of
room just to drive right through here
and then they exit the same same way
they did before. So, questions.
>> Okay. So, first as the parent who times
yourself coming from armor mess to here
and is typically the last car in the
driveway or the first car on Townsen
Hill. Thank you. Um, have you given any
thought for the first couple weeks that
you're doing this particularly in the
afternoon of having somebody out there
to just keep an eye on the flow? because
I will say
>> as the car that usually sits there and
does a lot of observation, people fly
out of the parking lot and I and I don't
want to like call our staff out or
anybody who's at the building, but they
fly through that parking lot. Um, so I I
have a little concern with people coming
up making a left, especially as people
are coming out. I think there's going to
be some congestion there and I would be
interested to make sure we have eyes on
that the first couple weeks and just
until we we get the one we're going to
want and if nobody has looked at this
you're going to want eyes out there
anyways to redirect traffic but just
kind of knowing how that traffic flows
during the year as somebody's watched I
think it's a point to keep an eye on and
then the same thing with the loop coming
coming out from the front of the the
building and then anybody or buses or
anybody that needs to make that left
just
>> um do you have a plan to have eyes out
there or or I know you've only you're
usually in the building so you might not
know how kind of crazy that gets.
>> Yeah. No, I appreciate that because Dan
just made a note. Um uh I those are some
of the things that I'm going to ask some
people about and this is why kind of
vetting it now so that if you guys have
seen things uh parents this morning gave
me some good suggestions too. Okay. Uh
as they put it together um getting eyes
at different points. I think this point,
this whole kind of point here, I would
love to have somebody take a look at how
this just flows. I think pe people will
naturally slow down before the dirt, but
this is a pretty long stretch without a
speed bump. So, I love that idea and I
made her know that. I think positioning
somebody right around here or so just to
be that person to be like, "We're
slowing down." I obviously put it up
here to please drive slowly on campus,
but um uh I'm not sure, you know,
obviously people are going to read that,
but how much their foot goes down able
speed bumps, too.
>> Yeah, I have them here.
>> That's right. You do.
>> So, I can easily loan them for like
>> we have enough that I think we could
place a couple. That would be great.
That would help.
>> I I just just I've observed people
exiting exiting and coming in like they
>> people sometimes go a little faster than
we should on campus. So, I think
anything we can do to kind of just keep
an eye on curb that I think would be
great. And then my only other question
is concerning the access road in the
back of the the dirt. Um,
what's the anticipation of us wearing
that down to the point of we have issues
with tread and dirt and and tearing up
the property that's not paved. What do
we have any kind of
>> I mean I know we're going to try it. I
love the idea because I hate sitting on
that road. But I hate to like there's
some drop offs there on town, you know,
that make me nervous and I'm like, so I
I appreciate this, but
>> have we given any thought to what we can
do to that access road to improve it or
to build it and bake it into a plan over
the next couple years to make sure that
we don't destroy it?
>> Yeah, both great suggestions and I know
and Gina, I'll have you weigh on this
definitely. Um, I have looked at that a
lot. It actually it's it's in really
good shape right now, but I grew up in
Vermont and we didn't have our road
paved for a while. uh you know and so
you know I mean I I remember those
roads. I do know speed is a factor. If
people are going slower on there, it's
going to wear a lot slower and that
traffic is going to inch along which is
good. So I don't think we'll see like
washboards or anything. But I think what
we might see is depending on how and
this we're going to have to just keep a
lookout how much it rains, how much it
erodess, are there some bumps on there
that we never really noticed before
because nobody's ever really driven
that. But now that people are there, if
it's on a spot where maybe a firet truck
would go by, but we don't notice it with
the car. Um, with this, I'm going to be
hyper sensitive with going out there at
least once a week just to see how it's
going.
>> And things like that. Even I'm I'm
usually positioned with dismissal, but
>> we've got plenty of people there. That's
the one I'm pretty concerned about. Um,
so I'll definitely go out multiple times
to check in, but Gina and I talked about
that as well.
>> Yeah, we spoke about that. And certainly
um you're going to be hearing our
capital improvement plan discussion and
all of these changes were made post
capital improvement plan. Um but that is
something that we'll monitor and if we
need to move into um paving it then that
will be part of the plan. I also wanted
to address your first point. So I have
reached out to some community members
specifically um the chief of police to
share the concern about new traffic
patterns and ensuring the safety of of
everyone involved. And so I have
requested police presence as we open
school and everyone gets back into the
swing of things and learning a new
pattern. So hopefully between all of
those we can
>> um ensure a safe start.
>> The other thing we're going to add to is
in September. So usually we have uh
traffic safety month in April,
>> but as the district we decided to move
it up to the front of the into the
beginning of the year because
>> it's good to set those expectations
earlier.
>> Sure. So um in September they'll be you
know to your point about the speeding
we'll be able to target that behaving
and such.
>> Correct.
>> Chaz what's your communication plan to
parents so that they are aware of this
change.
>> Yeah so uh we sent it out with our most
recent update. Um I also sent which two
days ago I think two days ago. Uh so we
sent it out with that uh talked with
parents in person today so new parents
got it with the tours. Um, and then I
scheduled for Monday um, uh, another
thing just specifically to go out about
carpool to say this is the new map. Take
a look at this. And then the first few
days of school, I'm going to position
people and I'm probably going to be also
doing this as being out there during for
these spots just to make sure. And I
bought signs so that there'll be signage
right here where people will know you go
there and then other signs right down
around here so that people know you just
go straight and come around.
>> On Monday, I might recommend that you
you also make it a phone call to tell
them to check because somebody may miss
email. That's a good idea.
>> So if you leave a phone message and let
them know the details are in their
inbox.
>> It's a good idea.
>> Got it. Oh, sorry. So I just had one
thought um that well first do you have
I'm curious have you considered going in
the other direction to flow with like
the natural pattern of traffic.
I had thought about that. The tricky
part gets to where we would kind of come
in and go out. And to me, when I thought
about it visually, um, having kids be
able to kind of come in the back and go
in there is a little bit easier than
them being dropped off in another way.
And it this this way makes it so that
these gates are not impacted at all. And
then I have the easy entrance right into
the top part of the building. Okay.
That's why I chose that side.
>> I just have concerns about traffic
accidents where they're crossing Yep.
>> to go in and out like that's um
>> coming here. You're talking about
>> Yeah. And like people also pulling out
of their parking spots into traffic
coming when everyone else is going out,
you know, everyone's coming in. And so
that was just like a thought of,
>> you know, you've got distracted parents,
what, you know, and there's a lot of
people going around and it's that side
of where the parking lot is, that is
like the natural exit. And now you've
got people crossing
and coming out, you know. So it just
>> Yeah, I think we're definitely going to
be evaluating as we do it, but as he
mentioned,
>> at the maximum capacity of cars that he
saw on campus in Townsen Hill Road, they
should be in the back of the building.
So
>> if they all come at once.
>> No, no, but maximum number he's seen
over the course of the year.
>> So if they all come at once, there's
still flow because carpool is before the
buses arrive. So um trust me, I have
studied uh carpool at Hall's Primary
with their project proposal more than I
would ever hope to study carpool and
fitting cars on campus. And so I um this
is there's no perfect solution.
>> No, there's not.
>> But I think that this has a really great
chance for success.
>> I think it's great.
>> You know, Jazz is absolutely
>> um
>> going to monitor it and have eyes out
there and we have cameras too
>> to be able to identify where the end of
the line is and you know if we need
additional support in a in a location.
>> as someone whose daughter rides her bike
to school up towns and hill, it's
fantastic. I love not having a bunch of
cars sitting on that road. So like I
think it's great, but um you know I
think it's it's wonderful to get them
off that road. It's it's a miracle there
hasn't been 100 accidents on that
street. So
>> is I and and I think Lyn like you're
against natural flow is like where I'm
like my concern is right where people
are coming out. So
>> if we find that it does get too
congested is there is there an entrance
>> on the opposite side? I mean, kids are
obviously going to have to walk further,
>> but so be it if that's the if that's
going to create more of a safety issue.
>> Is do we have the ability to flip it if
we need to and just put them in at the
far end of the school?
>> Yeah, there just so you there there's
some accessibility issues on that side,
>> just so you know. I mean, and so there
may be some tweaks or things that we'd
have to do that. Um, so accessibility is
better, but it doesn't mean it's
impossible, but just understand there's
more dirt and steps and uneven
>> terrain. Thank you.
>> Could kids come out the front door?
>> Could they go? Could Could kids come out
the front door? I mean, would they come
in the front door?
>> Well, and you mean and have drop off at
the end of that concrete.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> Why not?
>> The end of
>> Yeah. So, Chaz presented quite a few
options. Yeah. And we like definitely
weighed the pros and cons of all of
them. So, I think we're going to just
based on conversations with um emergency
responders, this one makes the most
sense.
>> Nothing's
>> I'm not trying to I think it's great.
I'm not We'll we'll we'll try it and
we're certainly going to assess.
>> Sure.
>> Um and take a look. So
>> it's great.
>> I think it's wonderful idea.
>> Sweetness.
>> Um I just have two quick questions. So
one, you said the buses come after
because that's my big concern is like if
you've got buses and cars trying to get
So buses come after car pool. So that
should be okay. Second of all, and I see
this at RMMS as somebody who frequently
has meetings um that sometimes run into
the end of school, you might want to
section off like maybe those front
parking spots and actually label them
visitor parking because what happens at
RMMS is you'll park and then everyone
pulls in for park and you are stuck
there multip
>> and then everyone gets super mad and
they're like why can't I leave? And so
you either we know you either park in
the upper parking lot or you park but we
know that. So, you might want to talk
about that a little bit too because if
people have been used to parking in that
lower lot for like like say they have an
IP meeting that's running late or
they're and now all of a sudden they're
not going to be able to get out. You
might want to
>> It should though if I'm It might I just
You might want to keep that on your
radar.
>> Yeah, there shouldn't be. And in fact, I
can't have anybody backed by the dirt.
>> Yeah, because um there can't be standing
traffic through that gate in regards.
>> So, um it the traffic that's why I
measured it out with my car to make sure
I just wasn't switching one for another.
right? That this is a much longer
distance than from here to about here.
So,
>> and it may very well be. I just
>> So, they'll stop right about there,
which is good. So, it really does this
model frees up that whole front park.
>> They may not be stopped there, but if
people are, to All T Allison's point,
driving through the parking lot while
other people are trying to leave. I just
that I just wanted to put that on your
radar that sometimes that can cause a
little bit of a cur flow kurbuffle.
>> Absolutely. So just just be
>> there never curve waffles in carpool.
>> Yeah, there never. I'm usually the one
causing the curve waffles, so I think I
can speak to this. But um I think yeah,
just that's something I've noticed here
especially is that like um and then also
like we've got that oneway exit here,
right? So like um you know sometimes
people are creeping out the wrong way to
come back or coming in. So you just yeah
just something to keep an eye on or have
a flow of. Um I think my concerns about
the dirt road are similar. So I think
just keep an eye on that. And then I
would say also just as we're getting
ready to go into budget season, if you
are anticipating that you'll need more
portable speed bumps, please put that in
the budget so that we can make sure that
we're help we can appropriately plan for
it because you know just finances are
tight for everybody. We want to make
sure you guys get what you need for
safety. Um the last thought I had is
would it be possible for us to talk with
the town perhaps about borrowing one of
their signs to just announce new traffic
pattern and have the town because like
given that is that a state highway right
there is Towns and Hill. Is that a
state? No, that's a town. Okay. um with
police presence there that should
certainly help but I wonder if that
could help too just like new traffic
could just like fly you know like we
would use like town meeting or whatever
like new traffic pattern just for like
the first couple of days that could be
an option.
>> Yeah, I can definitely look into because
um just looking into ways that I can um
the other thing which is a bigger
picture thing but having people coming
out of Massachusetts onto that road
coming down
>> um and and having really great signage.
>> Yeah. even on the Massachusetts side
that says you're coming into something.
So, that's going to be something that's
on my radar now that we've got this
fixed.
>> I'd like to figure out let's
>> school zone
>> talk about
>> Yeah, it that might and those can be
sometimes more um effective ways to just
at least for the first part, especially
for people coming from Massachusetts
because I drive that way to work
sometimes and yeah, sometimes it's hard
when you're on the hill and people
aren't looking and um just having like
the reader signs might help at least
just initially I think a little bit
>> if we can get Yeah.
>> Great. Thank you for your feedback.
>> Oh, sorry.
>> Okay. Um, a lot of conversations.
>> They have we have that um the digital
speed sign, right? But it's at the end
of Towns and Hill. So, I just wonder
maybe if that's another thing where we
could move it maybe on the more on the
Massachusetts side of the school
property just so people coming down or
on the whatever. You guys will figure it
out. But, um, I just always thought that
was a little strange that it was all the
way down there. Um, the other thing is
just to go back to the PAR educator for
one second. I saw on the list that we
had four hired. So I thought that was
really great progress. I don't know if
any other year we've been able to hire
four. Um so that reduces the the number
of of contracted paras. So I thought
that was really a great win. Um already
seeing I think the the Bessa contract
paying off. Um, and the other thing I
just wanted to say is, um, it's
Principal Miller's first year here, and
so I just wanted to say thank you.
I just wanted to say thank you. It's
your first year. Um, you said you didn't
make a lot of changes, which was funny
because when I was thinking about saying
something, I thought, you know, people
always tell you don't make a lot of
changes in the first year. Um, but the
changes that you've made, I think are so
thoughtful and in line with the culture
and the um the forward movement that we
want with the school. Um, so I just have
to say thank you. And Dan, your tenure
here is long, so I won't I won't bring
out any numbers of how what what number
school year this is of yours, but is it
11? I think
>> 12. Okay. I was Okay. Well, thank you.
Thank you for a dozen.
Don't clap yet.
>> Oh, wait. There's more.
>> Yeah, I got myself.
>> Are we ready to move on to data
dashboard?
>> Yeah. Are we good? Okay. So, um I'd like
to move on to the data dashboard.
Something that we had been discussing
for the past year, well, I've been
discussing and working on with our
director of technology is a data
dashboard. something that um various
board members have discussed over um the
past 11 years and um one of the exciting
things that we had planned was putting
one together to roll out for this school
year and so John Bush is our director of
technology he's starting year two um and
he is absolutely a data guy and so we
are lucky to have him and he's built uh
a a data dashboard for us that was um
something that was brought forward by
petition warrant article for both co-op
and hollis and while those were um
advisory in nature only it was something
we already had planned moving forward um
so what we've been doing as an admin
team is really figuring out what data
should we have what data is accessible
what data do we want to share what data
tells our story there's a whole lot more
data for co-op um than there are for
elementary schools but we still have
data to show and um you know we never
intend to hide it but what is what's the
best way to to show it and to share it
so um we have brought this to the halls
board and the co-op board and now it's
coming to you um August was data data
dashboard beta mode um sharing for for
our boards and so um soon this will
become public but we wanted to take a
moment for John to kind of walk you
through it so John
>> great thank you for having me um so as
Gina said This is still a little bit of
a beta. Um, and I think I tweak this
several times a week with Gina and I
meet and um, it's always going through
little bits of adjustments. Um, and as
she said, it's always tricky uh, to
start one of these because you need to
have data that's easily obtained and
then digestible. Uh, and and then it's
all about how you present it. So, uh,
this is what we have so far. uh it's uh
I think intended to be a a living
document in the sense that uh six months
from now we might decide hey there's
something else that should be on this
data dashboard. So it's a starting
point. Um and so uh this is what we
have. It starts um with a welcome screen
and basically just walks through what
all the pages uh are about. that talks
very very briefly about what you would
find on each page uh with links uh when
appropriate to where the data is
collected typically through the DOE. So
if you've ever tried to look at the DOE
for any sort of data I don't know if
it's difficult by design or by accident
uh but it's really hard to navigate and
if you're trying to look for you know a
specific district or a specific school
it's extremely hard uh to navigate. So I
do have links uh so people can get the
the bigger picture if they want. Um but
down the lefth hand side uh are the
pages that we currently have uh up. The
first one is state testing.
So this gives a little bit of overview
about how our districts uh and schools
perform in state testing. Uh we did go
back a few years so that we can start to
see a trend. Uh and then the intention
is every year it would just add and at
some point things will trail off um
because you can have definitely too much
and there's data overload. Uh the top
part of the screen talks about historic
district data. So Brooklyn uh grades 3,
four, five, six. This is state testing
on percent proficiency. The left chart
is about math. The right chart is about
ELA. Um and so you can see the percent
proficiency from 2023 on uh to 2025. The
data here is typically released by the
state late fall, early winter. Uh and so
it's uh we're still waiting for the
public uh display of the data from the
2026 administration.
Scrolling down gives a uh different look
at the data kind of in perspective of
other districts in the area. So, we
picked a handful of districts um
geographically close to us,
socioeconomically close to us. Um and
so, math, ELA, and science are displayed
here. I know it's small and far away
from you over there on the screen, but
on a computer, it's it's much clearer.
Um you can pick a year and you can pick
a grade. And when you do that, the data
refreshes. Hollis and Brookline and
co-op uh when applicable are
highlighted. Uh and the state is also
highlighted. So Hollis and Brookline are
in blue. Uh the state data is in gray
and it ranks from one all the way down
to uh 19 for these. If we pick a grade
like grade five,
science data is collected in grade five.
So the science data populates as well.
So we can see where we are uh kind of
overall.
Okay.
>> You can also go back a few years on this
as well.
>> That's great. The next page is
enrollment data.
So this takes a look at
how we are doing enrollment wise by
year. So 2425
uh is the last year we've reported. can
also oop sorry uh
2526
uh is the last year uh we'll be updating
this uh at the start of the school year
but we can see Brookline is on the left
Hollis is in the middle co-op is on the
right our grades span across the bottom
and we can see what the enrollment was
uh by grade level
we can also scroll down the page uh and
take a look at what the enrollment was
uh by school. So if we're interested in
RMMS, going back to the 2223 school
year, 326, 329, 309, 301. That just
brings us from year to year to year.
Again, this would just grow as we
collect more data.
These two pages are really applicable to
all three uh districts. Uh and um the
the remaining pages which I'll go
through very quickly are more focused on
the co-op. Uh like Gina said there
there's a little bit more data there to
take a look at. But we have athletics
data where if people are interested in
looking by sport um you know if we want
to look at girls soccer for instance uh
both HBHS and HBMS participants uh by
school year. So we can see what the
trend is there. We can also take a look
at percent of students that actually uh
participate in athletics. Uh and so we
also track total team participants
versus unique student participants
because students tend to do more than
one sport. So they get counted uh
multiple times. Uh we have a page
currently uh for co-curricular related
uh um courses uh at the middle school
and high school. So this is really
chorus and band. We can take a look at
uh uh participants in those activities
and very similar to athletics kind of
the percentage of students overall that
are taking uh those types of courses.
And then our final page is graduation
data. So we can take a look at what's
the HBHS graduation rate and I also have
the state graduation rate underneath
that. So we can take a look at that
comparison as well.
>> So that's where we are right now. Uh and
uh one of the questions that we've been
asked and I'm maybe it's a question
you've been thinking about is where uh
are we going to put this on our website?
Uh and so the thought right now is that
the SAU page there's an R district uh
dropdown. We're thinking right in here
for the data dashboard. It matches
pretty much every single school um that
has an R school tab and right in here as
well.
>> Um so quick question on the state
testing one. Is it possible to get uh
the bar graph like is that because
that's like a lot of numbers and they're
all very similar colors even though ours
is highlighted and they're not. Is it
possible to get like bar graphs like
there are with like there is with the
enrollment debt or even just like a like
an additional visual because I don't
know when I'm looking at it this feels
much easier for me to read than the
first than the state testing does.
>> Does that make sense?
>> Can you repeat it one more time?
Okay. So, kind of just like this how
these are like um color coded and
they're they're visually like it's
easier to kind of track whereas like
with when you look at the state testing
right now like those are all very
similar colors to me they're very
difficult like it's harder to read. So
if I'm kind of like looking through it
and not me personally I read everything.
Ask Dan. Um, but like my policy
committee book I read all the time. But,
um, this one I if I'm scanning through
it, it's a lot harder to read. So, I'm
wondering if there's a way to make it a
little more visually
>> Yep. So, it kind of depends on what it
is that you're looking for visually. And
this is why it we've been talking about
it for a year. Yeah.
>> Because depending on who you are, you
want to see it a different way, right?
>> And um,
>> and and that's part of the challenge.
So, right here, this is simply percent
proficient
>> as a bar graph. I don't know that you're
gonna have a bunch of bars
that maybe you want to compare by year.
Are you looking for a bar? So, typically
in the annual report,
>> I used to and and now DOT does this um
we report out um grade in comparison to
the state. And so then that limits the
scope because there's so much data that
it can become cumbersome and very much
unreadable and not digestible for
anybody when you put it all in there. So
this is looking at years over time.
Okay. But if you want a bar graph,
you're really looking at a singular
year. Um another thing that we were
looking at is does it help to provide
context by um also sharing um the the um
parent optio out rates because this is
representative of a fraction of the
whole. And so maybe that's another data
point that would be helpful
>> just as as as information. And so we're
Certainly taking feedback from all the
boards to figure out what what would
help you and could we share this data
another way one in our um hidden beta
site. So we have this one and then like
secret secret ones where we're also
looking at tracking cohort data. So for
the class of 2028, what have they been
doing over time? For the class of, you
know, 2035, what have they is there
growth? Because in any one year,
>> does it matter so much what fourth grade
does or does it matter how third grade
grew into fourth grade? Like are we are
they growing? And so that's a little bit
trickier to display, but I think it's
really important data. Um
>> is it understandable? So, so your
feedback is very much um welcome and
we're contemplating and redesigning and
relooking at it and every time I talk
about it, John wants to probably
>> I just I even I even just wonder for me
like if just looking at this if we could
highlight our districts in like a
different color cuz to me they're just
very similar. So what if they were like
green that would help me I think so
that's my is just like visually looking
at it. So like when I'm looking at the
highlights because you that makes total
sense what you're saying about like you
don't want to overload it but like the
state and gray like they're all gray and
white and blue. So, if there was maybe a
little more contrast, I feel like it
would be easier for me to at least
pinpoint the pertinent data. Um, and to
your point, Gene, I actually do think
that the opt out rates might be very
helpful because I think when we're
looking at it, um, it can be easy to
lose sight of the fact that this is not
everybody in the school. So, I think
that that might actually be helpful to
at least or note that there are opt out.
>> And that's actually what I think
probably the most recent uh, piece we've
added to this chart. Uh, and again, it's
really hard to see from where you are
and you're really far away. Uh this
middle column is percent proficient.
This second column or third column is
actually percent participation.
>> I forgot you already added that.
>> Yeah. Okay. I was looking
>> for feedback from another board. Uh and
we added it in. But of course then we're
balancing
>> when we add that in. That's a lot more
to look at visually. And so there's, as
Gina said, there's always this give and
take between what's just too much
visually versus not enough. And then you
just start adding more and more and more
and more and then it just gets too
cumbersome and we kind of defeat
>> let's skip the back and maybe make it
green.
>> Would be easier for me to read.
>> I don't know.
>> I think this is awesome. I really do.
It's a great way to get the data right
to the public. The questions always come
up at town meeting and sometimes there's
misleading information that's handed out
and and I think having a place where the
public can go and just see it right for
themselves I think is wonderful. So I
think this is great uh dead on good
idea. Um real quick question just
because I can't see it. Is there a
definition of what proficient is?
>> Yeah. So
>> I just can't see it. I'm sure
>> it says proficient is level threes and
fours on the state test.
>> How do we define that? like I just don't
>> uh when you get your results back from
the state you are given a level of one
two three or four three and four is
considered proficient
>> is it on there though is what I'm asking
>> yes so up actually up at the top
>> I think I added
>> even with my glass
>> I added within the past probably three
hours uh percent proficient is percent
of students receiving three or four
>> um and just to further clarify that as
he mentioned like parent see the student
takes it the parent gets it the the
result they can access it that night
right Um and so we as a school can see
how individual students perform. Um
however over the summer there are two
rounds that I have to review our entire
district data and identify any concerns
or anomalies that I need to identify for
them to review. Like I said that's two
rounds of that. Um and then it come
there's an embargo data file that I get
in October and then that's the final
chance to identify and that's by cohort
by um boys girls um you know special ed
population all the different groups um
and so that's the last time that first
time I get to see all of that including
state level data and then once that
cycle is complete then it becomes public
data so although families are like no I
know how they did in 2026 six, you know
how individual students do, but you
don't know how they do in comparison to
the state. And that marker of the three
or the four isn't determined um until
they look at everything. So, it it's
sort of a little bit of a moving target
and it's adjusted annually. So,
>> that's about the full description we can
put
>> and we can't release embargo data,
>> right? Yeah.
>> And also are there links to like the
actual data on like is there notations
just so
it comes from
>> if somebody was interested like let's
say specific state data they can click
on the NOE uh DOE uh site and they get
brought to the New Hampshire statewide
assessment system. They can go back many
many years
>> but it's a jungle.
>> It's really hard to navigate.
And we were intentionally trying to find
data that was um that was accessible
because you can find for um for
enrollment data. We're looking at what
we report in the be it's called
beginning of year data. Any day
throughout the year the enrollment can
change. You have moveins, move outs,
etc. Uh but by maintaining a consistent
point at which we're collecting that
data, there's a known point. it's a
available in the state and that's what
we're using. So it's not just a you know
moving target for that.
>> That's awesome. I I like the cohort
cohort though idea because I think that
this can be when you both started
talking about that. I feel like it can
be a little
I don't think you realize like you could
be looking at third grade and see that
the next year they went down but where
do they start from? Right? So following
an actual grade or an actual class is
more helpful to see whether it's the
class is progressing or you know or not.
>> um I have two quick questions and first
I want to say thank you because I know
the type of work that went into building
this so deeply appreciate it. Um,
when this needs to be updated with
current data, is that a manual update
that we have to make sure that we're
doing or are we able to automate this?
>> Sure. So, that's a great question
because as the person that's in charge
of the dashboard, that's my number one
concern, right? There's a lot of great
ideas, but if it becomes really
cumbersome to keep up to date, that's my
concern.
>> Things fall by the wayside, right? So,
um, the answer is both yes and no. uh on
the back end of this I have automated uh
a lot of it so that the data set is
really big and really wide and so that
if Gina says hey we actually now want to
include
>> you know I don't know more districts
that we take a look at or we want to
break it down by certain demographics or
something like that it's already in
there to be able to manipulate
>> to get it in there um I wait for or I
will wait uh for the state to publish
the data if it comes from the state and
then it's uh
>> as few clicks as possible for me to grab
it, put it where it needs to be and then
I've written a lot of formulas and and
and scripts in the background that will
take that and move it to where it needs
to go. So yes, there is manual um
>> but it's it's at a minimum.
>> Perfect. And then my other question is I
would love to be able to give you
feedback on this but I can't see it.
Would it be possible for us, I know it's
not public, would it be possible for you
to share it with us, uh, individual
board members, so we can take a a
better, closer look around and maybe
give you some more valuable feedback
than just seeing it from afar.
>> So, we are launching it on Wednesday,
>> no later than
>> Yeah, no later than Wednesday.
>> Next Wednesday. Next Wednesday.
>> So,
>> so, but we're, like I said, it's
evolving. we already know we're going to
be building additional things, but it's
e and that's the other thing. It's
easier to add more data than to have
something there and then take it away,
right? Because then it seems like we're
hiding something when really maybe it
was just it was cumbersome. It didn't
display great or the data no longer
exists, etc.
>> Um, so we have what what we have here
that is visible in the beta site is what
we feel we are absolutely going to be
sharing. Um, and so we're not thinking
that we're all of a sudden not going to
have state data or or enrollment data or
things like that. Sure. How we can
present it. Well, I think that's more
what more like I'm not necessarily I
don't want to pull apart I don't want to
pull apart the data but just from a you
know it from here okay you have charts
you've got some bar chart it looks great
but I some of the some of the more
minutia details of are some of the
explanations that like I I wouldn't mind
having an opportunity to just kind of
read through it and just from somebody
who hasn't seen it and you guys have
been really close to it would would I
don't want to like QA almost just kind
of give us an opportunity to give you
some extra feedback like Lynn was saying
like Are there links there? Yes, they
are. Is there what does three form mean?
Like maybe there are some questions that
we may have after we're able to actually
put closer eyes on it that maybe we
haven't thought of that might be
valuable for a parent who isn't or a
community member who isn't up on school
terminology or something like that to
maybe just say, "Hey, it might be
helpful to clarify X, Y, or Z." And and
I mean to your point, yes, if it's going
to be live, we can do that then. But I
just didn't
John and I are are meeting about this
again tomorrow
>> uh in preparation of the of the launch
date. So why don't we talk about it? Um
what what my hesitation is that the
other boards didn't have the direct
link. Um so we'll talk about how we
maybe share it with um all 17 board
members and give a window of opportunity
for pre-launch
>> um feedback that would you know and just
understand that some feedback oh
obviously there's a typo. Great. We'll
fix that. Uh but some might there might
be a reason why we don't incorporate it
or um it might just take longer and
maybe that you know evolves over time.
>> Um is your plan to once you do post it
send out like a parent squareear for
everybody?
>> Already prepped.
>> Already prepped. Okay.
>> Good to know.
>> Thank you very much.
>> Great job.
>> Just one one question. Sorry. Um the
framework for this dashboard is focused
on um enrollment data and like student
data. I just want to understand kind of
if we are thinking or talking in the
community and someone says, "Oh, I'd
really love to know this data." Or
sometimes um you know there are
presentations where there is lots of
financial data tied to student outcome
data. And so I just want to make sure
that this is um just kind of student
enrollment type data.
>> Uh it's essentially performance student
performance data. However, we have toyed
around with what about um
um something that the the state collects
is we have to report out on um our
students or excuse me our teacher level
of education. So, how many teachers have
a master's degree? How many teachers
have you know course work beyond that?
Is that something that's that's valued?
Um we also talked about reporting out on
per pupil expenditure in comparison to
other districts. That is on the main
page already. Um, but do we want to
include it here? So, we're looking at
what is what's data just to have data
versus what's helpful and maybe not
easily findable and would be valued by
the by the community. In addition to the
parent square because that is limited to
parents, it's also posted publicly, but
if you're not looking for it, you're not
going to get it. Um, we're also putting
page pops on the website. So, it's like
there there it is and with a tutorial on
how to find it.
>> is there did we talk about a way to put
a link on the town page to the
>> to to anything?
>> So that would be up to the town.
>> Okay. Maybe our school maybe our select
board liaison will uh
>> yeah I' I've reached out to the town
several times on this and has Lynn and
we have not been successful in being
able to link the SAU
website and the town website.
>> There's no school information on the
town.
>> Yeah. and and we've requested it and
we've hit brick walls with that. So,
>> but we can keep trying.
>> We will keep trying.
>> Persevere.
>> So, for sure, but yes, that
>> Yeah. Okay.
>> Uh, anything else in the data dashboard?
>> Well, thank you very much. This is a lot
of work. I know.
>> Um, at this point, it is 6:55 p.m. I am
going to open um the floor for public
input. do not believe we have any
members of the community here
specifically for public input, but if
you're here for that, I will invite you
for it at this time. Um otherwise, I'll
start the clock.
Okay. Um I do if the board is agreeable,
we have a member of the Brooklyn Finance
Committee here and a member of the
Brooklyn Select Board here because they
wanted to be hear the um the capital
improvement plan. And I would like to
invite them if they would like to come
up um and sit a little closer. That way
if they have questions about it, they
they are free to ask. Is the board
agreeable to inviting them to allow them
to engage and ask questions kind of as
part of our group? Okay. If you guys
would like to, you're you're welcome. We
have a seat over here and a seat at the
end of the table here. Um if not, you're
free to stay there while we do capital
improvement. Um but we we appreciate the
the um the town's collaboration with our
school. So Kate Brendan, thank you very
much for joining us.
>> All right, so with that, I will move on.
Sorry.
>> Sorry. Um, just to clarify, we are both
members of the finance committee.
There's no select board members here.
>> I apologize. I thought you were coming
as behalf of the select board.
>> I I've been off the select board for
>> my apologies. I am kidding. So we have
two members of our finance finance
committee here, right? And
>> I apologize. Are you human?
>> Brandon De and Kate Elkins. And for the
record,
>> this makes a quorum of the finance
committee, but we were not we've not
noticed that we're having a meeting. So,
we're both here as individual members of
the finance committee. We cannot make
decisions on behalf of the finance.
>> Understood. But we would like you, you
are both welcome if you have questions
as we go through this. Um, I, you know,
invite you to just ask at will because
you you are part of our uh process. So,
we we do welcome you.
>> We will not ask you to make any
decisions. No, no, no decisions.
>> But I will ask you to allow Lance to
present for
>> Lance, come on up.
>> Yep. Um,
>> your turn.
>> Bren, if you want to come sit over here
next to Dan, you can. Yeah.
>> And then Kate, if you move closer, feel
free. Okay.
>> So, we have Lance Spinmore here, our
direct director of facilities. I was
gonna say technology. I think that's not
his.
>> Please don't. No, thank you.
Oh man.
Okay, perfect. Can you hear me?
All right,
thank you all. Um,
I don't know if Brendan was here. Hi,
Brendan. I didn't see you behind me. Um,
so
I was asked to come two months ago. I
didn't attend the meeting, so I
apologize
and I apologize in advance because I was
told last week I'm a slow talker. Um, so
thought that was funny. Um, it's not.
Uh, so
I present uh to all the boards a it's
it's a facilities update capital
improvement plan uh overview. So, I'll
try to be as brief as I can, as quick as
I can. Um, of course, if you want to
interrupt, feel free ask any questions
you like. Um, so when we're talking
about uh Brookline school facilities,
um, and this whole presentation as a
whole, uh, my objectives are to inform
you all of uh the update updates with
facilities and also the longer term
capital improvement plan. Um and when we
talk about the capital improvement plan
in and in in general it's um questions
you usually get are how do we come up
with the methodology and the areas of
impact
and areas that need improvement and how
do we you know come up with those and uh
where do we get our input from? Um and
that input comes from building
administration, uh district maintenance
personnel, our facility staff. Um
obviously as the superintendent, other
administrators and also outside sources
um you know it could be the town, it
could be uh vendor uh whatnot um input,
public input. Um and also we use a tool
uh internal to the SAU. It's called the
facility audit tool. Um, that's a
spreadsheet that goes over multiple
facets of a building, a building
infrastructure, whether that be HVAC,
plumbing, electrical, uh, you name it.
Um, and we go through and we assign
numbers to each of um, the uh, criteria,
each uh, item on the facilities audit
tool. Um, so that's a that's kind of a
tool that we've used to um
record keep um our updates and our
capital improvement plan going forward.
Um, so attention areas, I like to hit
the attention areas through each school,
each district. Um,
Brooklyn is very easy for me to uh
include attention areas because there's
a lot.
So, it's very broad. That's it wasn't my
intention to be very broad um while also
being specific. Um but as you can see,
HVAC is very um near and dear to my
heart and RMS uh because we have a
system that's uh very unique. Um we have
residential boilers that encompass the
whole heating infrastructure here. Um,
to you, Dan, there's eight eight
boilers. Yes, there's eight boilers
total. Um,
so seeing that change into something
similar to what we've done in other
buildings across the district, across
the SAU is uh something that we're
striving for. Um, also this building,
RMS in general, it's an old building.
Uh, it's been around for a long time.
We've done a lot of renovations here.
Um, so
it's it's it's aging. Um, I don't know
if I'll say it a lot this meeting, but
aging, end of life is a constant um
theme here. Um, and also building a
grounds paving uh has been a concern
over the last few years.
Uh CSDA is
kind of opposite spectrum, but the thing
with CSDA is it's a 26 year old 27 year
old building now. Um so a lot of that
original equipment in that inside that
building um is approaching that end of
life aging infrastructure. So uh same
thing over there. We replaced the
boilers last year, which is a great
improvement to the building um and the
the heating in general, but there are
other units uh other ventilation units
uh in CSDA that are original. So again,
you know, you're talking 25 plus years.
Um, and a lot of the times
I get questions about aging, end of
life, and
I usually try to say try to say the same
thing because that's my philosophy is
you you don't need to replace it. Um,
it's not a mandatory thing, but
and I hate saying it, if it goes
tomorrow, it goes tomorrow. Um, or if it
goes in 10 years, it goes in 10 years.
So, um,
knock on wood. Um,
I hate saying things because my life
here just seems like a jinx every time I
say something. Um,
and then we have portables over there as
well, which uh are not 25 years old, but
uh they're getting up there and
depending on how you feel about
portables, uh, mixed bag. Um, let's talk
about the capital improvement plan in
general. Um
again
this plan
in my in my previous career we talk
about quotes how quotes are gold. You
can't change them. Um this capital
improvement plan is the opposite. It
changes a lot as different needs arise
and
whether something doesn't need replaced
or does need to be replaced. So, I like
to tell everyone it's a constant flowing
uh plan that changes. Um, and a lot of
the numbers on this plan uh are rough
ballparks.
Uh, but I I'm going to tap myself on the
back and say I've gotten really good at
estimating uh in my career. So, uh the
Brooklyn capital improvement plan is a
little different from our other capital
improvement plans because we do um we do
have other uh criteria which I didn't
include here because it didn't fit. You
know, it's probably really small. Um
I don't know if I can make it bigger.
Make it a little bigger though. But um I
mean I could see that but I got pretty
good vision. Um
RMS we we try to include
the most we could include. Uh and again
in my previous experience here it's been
fiveyear outlook. We're trying to
uh have a greater outlook
even though that's very difficult. Uh so
you will see things that are far out
that
we're trying to capture the best we can
with that timeline.
Um which I know that's the intention to
have a greater outlook and so we are
going to try to accommodate the best
accommodate that the best we can. Um but
yeah uh
what I didn't include in here uh is a
slide on the uh Brookline school
facilities committee which
we formed I don't know a while ago um
and we're tackling a lot of these these
issues in that committee and how we can
further proceed to
uh I'm not going to call it dilemma but
uh our issues with the the building here
and how we want to proceed
giving all our restraints I will say
and I can see I don't know
so don't be scared by the slide Um,
everyone always
I I did this slide
uh my first presentation years ago with
Kelly Seely. Um,
and my understanding was always we try
to we try to make it as even and as less
scary as possible. Um,
so as you can see for fiscal 27, our
total is 61,000.
That's fiscal current fiscal year. Um,
because of our restraints that's that's
what we have. Um, next year we're
shooting for 1.75
and so on. Um, and again
I tried to do a 10 year outlook but we
did nine. Um, oh well. Uh, so
scary numbers but
if anyone has a billion dollars I'm all
ears.
And that is my brief capital improvement
plan presentation.
fire away.
>> Thank you, Lance. So, I just want to
comment that um
you know, we're we've started budget
rounds. We're already move past round
two internally and obviously
the capital improvement plan is um is
something that is a significant dollar
portion of all of our budgets. And the
question is and this is the question the
facilities committee is tackling um to
continue as is not really um
sustainable. We had the fire last year
in the boiler room like we having eight
residential boilers is not
really acceptable for a school building
of this size. The question is does this
school building continue to meet the
needs of a school of this size? Um
because our you know the next
appropriate step is to look at creating
a centralized boiler plant with one or
with two sorry um appropriately sized
boilers to run the entire school so that
we don't have multiple heating systems
um running off of various boilers at any
one time. Um leaving our school with
wings that are cold on any given time
moving classrooms etc. So how do we
tackle that? And that's just step one,
right? There's so many components of
this building that would need um
significant upgrades to continue as a
school building. We also are aware of
the needs of the town and the needs of
the town facilities is also significant.
Um and so the conversations that we
started having in our facilities meeting
is is there a way to collaborate and
have a joint effort moving forward for
the greater good of Brooklyn? Do we
continue to run like parallel solo
paths? Um do we think outside of the box
or do we just think this is the
building, let's renovate, let's move
forward. Um and obviously those all have
significant budget implications. So how
do how do we support each other? And so
that's where it's and how do we do so
with the tax cap? you know, so there's
just a lot of um big questions we have
to determine before we can really be
very specific about what are we doing
with that 10-year outlook.
>> I didn't say any of that, but that was I
I would have said it that way.
>> That was excellent. Thank you.
>> So, any questions?
>> I just I feel like there
>> I feel like we need there's not a lot of
information. I mean, it seems like
there's a lot of information here, but I
don't feel like I'm getting an
understanding of what our specific needs
are. Even just looking at this, like
it's I I don't but I don't even know
what to ask because I I don't even know
what information I I'm going to need to
sit on this, I think, because I just I I
feel like there's more that needs to be
said here that was not covered in this
presentation um that we need to be aware
of if we're going to be making decisions
going forward.
>> What decision are we making right now?
No, not right now, but we're starting
getting ready to start budgeting what in
a couple of months, right? And so I I
think, you know, with just kind of
things that are coming down the road, I
want to make sure I'm informed and I
don't know. I just I feel like is that
okay if I sit on it and then can I email
you? Like is that okay? Okay. I just
want to make sure that I understand
before I decide
this is our first time going to be
looking at this.
>> We're not asking for a decision right
now. If you had questions, you can ask
them, but certainly he's always
available. Um, but I wanted to share
with you that the purpose of the
facility committee is to really go deep
and dive into these so that the
committee can make a recommendation back
to the board, which you can do whatever
you want with at that time, but then you
get really the
>> um more of the wellthoughtout
recommendation of this is what we think
makes most sense for us. But like I
said, the committee is kind of grappling
with gosh, there's there are a lot of
needs in the town
>> and um they're are they competing? Are
they complimentary? Uh,
>> yeah. And that'll all make sense. And I
I'm not I don't want to make any
decisions tonight. I think I also just
like I mean though as as much as we try
not to be scared by slide number nine,
that was a pretty those were a lot of
numbers.
>> It was a little it is a little
terrifying. So I just I think I just
need to I'm just trying to like kind of
also make sure though that I'm asking
the appropriate questions so that I can
fully understand so that because if
these are all very important needs,
which I mean looking at the state of the
buildings, it seems like they are. We
just want to make sure, you know, to
Junior to your point that we are
operating as a team with the town given
what we're all facing since it's all
coming from the same people who live
here.
>> It's a free advertisement for the school
Brookline school facilities committee.
If you want your head to spin, you
should stop by in a meeting.
>> I would not like my head to spin.
>> Well, no, BECAUSE WE TALK ABOUT
>> IT IS but we talk about a lot of
different things and we go
>> and there's pie in the sky kind of
conversation.
>> Is there actual pie though? That's the
question. I think you'd get more people
if you brought pie to the meetings.
Yeah.
>> I think Gina makes a good point though
because I'm on that committee as well
and I think the biggest thing is
>> there's so many competing interests with
the town.
>> What the needs of the town are you and
what the needs of the school are. So I
think there yeah there's a lot more
discussion
>> or amount was kind of a boogeyman like
where is like what is this equal and so
I do find it helpful that you've broken
out um you know you have it broken out
by year but like identifying all the
different projects uh that potentially
ideally we would need to do. So I do
find that helpful. I understand that I
mean there we're not trying to make any
decisions thankfully tonight, but I I
thought it was kind of helpful just to
see some type of numbers um as to like
kind of what this would look like, you
know, big picture.
>> I forgot you had a copy of this.
>> Yeah, it's in the it's in the board
packet so they can see it closer up.
>> We tried to be as specific as possible
but also kind of broad um because again
I don't want to make it overwhelming
obviously. Um but
there is a lot to be done unfortunately.
>> You you had a slide that had the three
kind of three priorities. Um
>> is that
>> those aren't the highest priorities or
or order by priority? That's just okay.
So, I'm I'm wondering if we have the um
the asset management tool and then we
have the capital improvement plan, do
those work together so that we know um
on the asset management plan, the boiler
is a thousand years old. Um and then
that moves over to the capital
improvement plan. It is there a way that
those things should talk?
>> Yeah, they do. Yeah.
>> And then the So then
>> I guess how would we if we wanted to
evaluate our three top priorities at
both schools? Could we look at the asset
management tool and our CIP and then
come up with three big buckets um
>> of needs.
>> So that's based on the years, right? So
if you go to the
>> Can you move to the slide? Next slide.
Yeah. So, so based on the facility audit
tool that sort of tells you where that
might become a problem and you know some
of it the reason we've gotten to where
we are is because in my 11 years in
central office it's like can't afford
that. Let's move to the next year. Can't
afford that. Let's move. Um and so a lot
of things have moved to the next year.
Uh and then or you know we we tried for
the CSDA boiler before and it didn't
pass and then you know a year and a half
ago it did pass. So we were finally able
to like move forward from there. So
things build up. Uh but the the order at
which if you see them in 28 versus 29
we're saying that the facility audit
tool is calling that um
like the the area for attention.
Uh but but some of these are quite
expensive and
you and they're not necessarily while we
can break them up into years, they're
not necessarily um or shouldn't
necessarily be considered an isolation
because if the moment we uh decide and
let's say the community supports it that
we need to invest $2 million to redo the
boilers here, then we're committing
ourselves to continue to do additional
work. And it's also a tough ask to say,
"Hey, every year we're just gonna ask
for a few million dollars.
>> That's not that's not reasonable." And
how do you package them and and make it
manageable and and um and so so my big
thing is before we even embark on that
journey, we have to everyone here um the
board, administration, the facilities
committee, finance committee, etc. agree
that that that pathway makes sense.
>> Yeah. 100%. I think what I would find
super useful is really looking at the
facilities tool and the capital
improvement plan, trying to bucket um
into those like is it HVAC, is it
general building, is it, you know,
grounds and then seeing what projects
are under those and the years. Okay. And
then really I would hope that that would
help inform at least my
uh future outlook of how we either want
to renovate um you know and and keep
these buildings in the use that they are
or look at other options. Um coming from
a construction family once you start
once you start tearing down walls you
find a thousand problems. Um and so
sometimes renovation is great, sometimes
new building is great. Um but just I
think to make to your point Gina that
highlevel
strategic direction of where what is the
right path? Is it working with what we
have or thinking creatively?
>> I think the facility audit tool
was born because somebody knew I was
coming here in the future. I've only
been here six years and they knew I
needed to do 17 different projects in a
short amount of time in the summer
window. And anything that goes wrong
any day during the summer could impact
the opening of school.
>> Yeah, we're really pushing our middle
school to open on Monday.
>> Everything's going to be great.
>> It's gonna happen. We're We're gonna be
good.
>> I I do have a question. Oh, sorry,
Brendon. Um,
why is this current or yeah, this
current fiscal year so low as a great
question. I love that question. That's
the best question I've received.
>> So, we have a tax cap and in fiscal year
27, we had a teacher contract and then
we also had um the default budget was
the approved budget. So items that
potentially So the the budget we really
started off with bare bones as you can
be because we knew we had the teacher
contract and the support staff contract
I should say. Um and then
anything that did last through the
through the budget um I then had to pull
over $400,000 out. So So that's what we
were left with a floor machine and a
couple other things.
>> Okay. Okay.
>> Our new items were way more than that
obviously.
>> Yeah. And then I I agree with Tracy. I
think if there was even just another
column that had those buckets of HVAC
grounds and buildings, that would be
really helpful to see where each one
lies. And
uh
I I don't want to say how I feel about
these numbers, but it's it is really
jarring and I I don't know that
the town has an appetite for it right
now. And so
I don't have a solution, but I just I
think voicing that isn't we all know
that. I don't think I'm saying anything
new. So, this is this is really
difficult for me to see because I know
that we need these
basic amenities to to make our schools
run. I just
>> don't know.
>> It's a lot.
>> Yes. And I think I don't know if Brendan
wanted to add, but So go ahead. No,
>> go ahead.
>> Uh we were talking earlier about how to
try to manage this and I'm looking at
the the way the town manages uh capital
improvements which is it goes to a the
departments bring it into the capital
improvements committee which is a a
smaller group and the capital
improvements committee comes back with
um
priorities. So they look at all the
things that the different departments
come in and they list the there's
several of them but the top ones are
urgent got to be done right now. uh
necessary is needed to maintain the
basic levels uh desirable to help
improve the levels
deferable
and then there's a couple in progress
ones but that might help if you look at
these what are the critical things the
urgent things that if it breaks tomorrow
you can't open the school and what are
the urgent so on
the other observation I would make is
I'm wondering if it would be helpful as
a not a thought exercise but as a
sharing with the public the way you were
talking earlier that as part of the
budget process going into this year
every year we we as a resident I come in
and I this is what this year's needs are
if we saw this is what five years needs
are and this is what we're asking for
this year because they are urgent
>> they are necessary
>> so So I I agree. I think it would be
helpful to see groupings. I think it
would be helpful to see urgent can do
without right. I I think having that
understanding would be better. Kate, I
agree with you. I don't know that there
those numbers are jarring and I don't
think there is an appetite in town at
the moment given how generous the
community was, particularly last year
with our budget and our contracts. it it
I think it's going to be heavy. I I know
we're getting into budget season and I
know there has been some and I apologize
because I'm not an expert on how we
handle all of our funds. Um but like I
know our contingency fund is now we
cannot hold one anymore and we have to
we we cannot hold money for case of
emergency. So my wondering and maybe I'm
preemptively asking this maybe it's
already been thought about but if we
know we have you know two five teny year
needs potentially coming up uh one thing
I would urge the facilities committee
andor an education for us on is how do
we create a fund that we can ask the
town to add to in smaller amounts over
time to get to these urgent in year
three right potential needs where we can
hold the money and we can contribute
slowly over time. And I and I believe
this was brought up at our deliberative
session from one of one of our community
members of why are why are we asking for
the full amount now? Why are we not
trying to build up and why not why are
we not trying to do our due diligence?
And I would like us to to find a way if
that is possible through these through
looking at this in more depth of of a
way to start saving to then be able to
apply later. And I we I don't know that
we've
>> we do we have a maintenance trust.
>> Um last year we didn't move any money
into the maintenance trust because we
have a tax cap and the amount of money
that we had was budget and um contracts.
So uh we were really limited in scope
last year. Um
>> but
uh and so there are two ways to think
about that. And then if you look back to
the year before, sorry I'm kind of all
over the place. It's okay. We had a
maintenance trust warrant article.
Typically, we look to fund that with a
fund balance. We were looking to have a
negative fund balance. So, on the floor
at deliberative, a motion was made to
switch the funding source to by to
taxation.
>> Um, and that passed, but the amount for
the to go into the maintenance trust was
reduced. By doing so, that was great
because we were able to get the money in
the maintenance trust, but it was less
than. And so um one of the RMS roof
project had to be deferred because we
didn't have enough money to do it. So we
do have a maintenance trust and we have
been using it regularly. Last year was
the first year I think in 10 years we
didn't put that forward. Um one thing to
consider as we're no longer able to um
to retain funds and as the retain fund
balance and those would be more
emergency use available if we needed it.
>> Um and we don't have that. What we could
do is um have
ha make a request for the maintenance
trust to be funded by fund balance. We
typically run a very tight budget every
year, but if we had a fund balance and
potentially um look at requesting maybe
more than we would have requested
um in the event that we had funds at the
end of the year and be very transparent
and state that the this is what we're
looking to spend from the maintenance
trust this year. The additional dollars
would be utilized to build up the
balance for some of these larger ticket
items long term. So, we use it two ways.
One way for annual needs, which is what
we've been doing, in addition to
um saving if we had a fund balance.
So, right. So, I understand the
maintenance I understand the maintenance
trust. I'm thinking
more specific. Maybe maybe you can
earmark within the trust that you can
only pull out for
a million dollars for the boilers in 28
or 29, whatever we're looking for,
right? Like I was thinking more of like
project specific funds
>> that we can that we can build up that
>> can only be used for
>> Yep. So we we say that we um would like
to move X number of dollars into the
maintenance trust. These are the things
we need to purchase. We then have to
hold a public hearing and the board has
to identify specifically in June and
vote on it what it is that that we can
actually spend it on. And to my
knowledge, we've never changed it. We
maybe have requested less than maybe
what we shared in March just based on
the actual funds available.
>> Um, but Hollis is currently doing this.
Co-op just finished this for a big
ticket item like an elevator. That's a
huge cost. And so we know that the
elevator is end of life. For example,
um, our high school elevator is being
redone September 12th. Um, and what we
did was every year for five years, we
earmarked $68,000 to go into the trust
so that we could gather enough in year
five to be able to repair the elevator
because we knew it was a larger ticket
item. Okay.
>> So, yeah, we did say this is elevator
funds and we just sat left it there.
>> Where did the 68,000 come from? Was it
surplus?
But we asked for, let's say, 300,000 to
go into the maintenance trust. This is
for co-op. um you know every year and
then within the 300,000 there were a
bunch of different items.
>> So it was a warn yeah and 68,000 of it
was specifically for the elevator then
maybe we had you know new flooring and
the middle school you know all all the
same the same process that we do it's
just um the scope is larger.
I just want to say I think this is
really great and a productive
conversation. I think there'll be more
to come. I think um while the community
was uh generous or you know they did
pass the the contracts um the budget did
not pass and so I think that goes to
show um
I don't know it goes to show many things
but um this situation where we are in
right now it does feel a lot like we've
kicked the can down on the road like
everyone likes to say and now we're kind
of in that like our pants are on fire.
But I really do want to say and I hope
we take a breath, take a step back,
engage with the town because of course
we know that they have we have needs
there for a library, a town hall, a
this, a that. Um, and just to be better
partners because the schools are part of
the community, obviously we use them for
voting. Um so that there can be a
strength in numbers um and a real
cohesiveness so we can I don't know we I
think we can get I we can do more
together.
>> Yep. I would agree.
>> Um so kind of this I think has helped
clever. I think it would absolutely be
helpful for budget planning and for me
specifically to order by priority if we
can do that in some way shape or form. I
just I do think and I think that would
help the community understand priority.
Like I know at least for myself as a
community member the other question I
actually have for you Lauren is are
there things that need to be considered
in terms of accessibility that either we
were okay to be grandfathered in but now
we're not like things like that because
I do think that also because that might
bump something from a non-priority to a
priority if we're going to have to
address it
>> for accessibility. So I don't know if
you have that answer off the top of your
head but that is that something that we
need to be
>> we've done a lot of that work already in
the past three years. We're not at risk
of being
>> so you're not at risk of higher numbers
like this to deal with accessibility
accessibility
>> as it still exists. Um there's still a
few more tweaks that have to be made but
we largely tackled this the past three
years less.
>> Three to four.
>> Is there a time limit on when those
tweaks have to be made or are we are we
>> just as
>> as facilities and such need it. It's not
it's not like these main areas of
>> Okay. I I mean I think for me too just
knowing whether or not that is an issue
would be helpful in those conversations
>> No. And as we have those conversations,
we'll we'll let Lens bring those
forward, but we've been working um a
great deal on this and we started in in
in our in RMS and CSDI with that
project.
>> Okay, great. Thank you.
>> Can I just ask what what year was the
school built? What what year was the
building?
>> This one right here,
>> 19. So, it's had four phases. 191 is
>> was the earliest building from
>> Milford Street, part of Milford Street
down to preschooling. And then from the
North Street exit to the old exit, that
was 1967. And then the main lobby area
to the gym was 1987. And then the first
grade hallway was 1992.
And then they added the kindergarten
classrooms in 2001.
>> So that wing that's the newest wing is
down by the kindergarten.
>> The newest wing. And then this whole
lower level,
>> the lower level,
>> right? Okay.
>> I remember that better than I remember.
So the eight residential boilers were
done like as the wings were put on put
on different different boilers.
>> And each boiler has its own little hub
as we call it room.
>> And with each boiler or each wing
there's a different type of unit
ventilator or
>> venting system or heating system. So
>> it's all like if you want to try to
figure out which um kind of machinery or
equipment to use, this is a great place
to come.
>> We have everything. We've got
>> sample.
It's a sampling. It's a sampling.
>> We often have people come in. I say I
asked them one question. I said, "Have
you ever seen anything like this?" They
nope.
>> So, it's fun.
>> It's Well, I think too I think to the
point to a lot of this up these things
is it's just a natural life cycle,
right? And we've, you know, I mean, it
we've done we have done a lot of
maintenance to a lot of these units and
things and and it's not just kicking the
can down the road. is just o over 75
years things tend to come to a head all
at once sometimes right and like there
is some king in the can down the road
but also like a natural life cycle of
eight boilers I mean just coming from
residential construction right like all
those homes that were built in 2000 are
now coming up on needing a roof and
needing a boiler and needing a hot water
system you know like all those things
are coming all at once and it's not like
they were not maintained it's just the
natural life cycle of eight boilers
>> and we'll have more time to talk about
But I think the biggest issue
>> to Lance's point maybe earlier was HVAC
because the issue with this building is
we've got like the unstation for
example, right? And those are really
aged.
>> It's to the point we we have equipment
that no longer exists to purchase,
>> right?
>> And we're going to have to figure out
the HVAC so we can have a uniform system
throughout the building. Otherwise,
>> they're
>> they're not built anymore. They don't
make them anymore. So the cost of that
repair is
>> is expensive.
>> So expensive.
>> Triple the time of what the unit would
cost probably because
>> you have to retrofit. You have to
retrofit everything
>> to make it work. Big work. So
>> but it's not just that. It's like the
siding and all that like all those
things over time.
>> Well, you know, you can go ahead and fix
the roof if you want, but um
>> Dan is banned from the roof. We fixed it
so he would stay off the roof.
>> Did you guys see the roof by the way?
>> It looked very I heard about it. They
did a great job.
>> They did 170 squares and 70 ft of
trimming.
>> So within 5 days,
>> five days.
>> One one quick thing to ask, and I don't
know if this would be the school board
or the administrative side. Are there
grants from um the Department of
Education that
>> if there are any grants, we apply for
them and we're never eligible.
>> We keep trying.
>> Say we're never eligible. What does that
mean? Sorry, just
>> Okay, so um for example, some of the
items that aren't necessarily like
boilers or whatever, but some of the
safety things you'll see that um our
fencing needs to be replaced, etc. So,
every year we apply when it's available,
if and when it's available for um for
the safety grants, and you know, Dan and
Patrick West, Prince of the Middle
School are co- um
>> safety chairs. safety chairs. And um so
what they did for me was they applied
for every single school for a grant for
whatever needs those schools had for
safety type of like access to the
building, fencing, that type of thing.
Um and so
priority was assigned to schools who
number one hadn't received the grant in
prior years, and which we had, and
number two those with a lower
socioeconomic status than ours. So we
were immediately bumped to the bottom of
the list.
But we have gotten the grant before you
said
>> we have and those are typically limited
to 80 or $100,000 and that's how we've
been able to update like our fob system
or school guard glass or the entrance to
CSDA. So those those types of projects
which which have been great um so
uh maybe five years ago we reapplied for
building aid and it's a very long
tedious process. Um you know we
We out of the 21 projects that came in
so we applied for RMS CSDA middle school
and high school and out of the 21
projects that came that's ranked number
one I don't envision us to get bumped to
number one anytime soon and so I didn't
apply and so the department of education
reached out to me and said might I ask
you why you didn't apply and I said well
it takes a lot of time a lot of manh
hours to complete this process year
after year and for the past four years
we've been ranked the the bottom four
projects
and there's no funding source. So, it
doesn't know I don't know that that's
the best use of our time right now. And
the response was I can see your
perspective.
So, it's just uh you know, are there
grants or or you know funds available
from the state? Not anytime soon.
>> Yeah. But we keep trying.
>> They miss they miss reading your
application.
>> I know. They just love your application.
>> We're worried about you.
>> One more quick thing. Um the dashboard
is is awesome and that's going to be
public. Um this is such an important
conversation and when things have failed
in the past, the feedback that I've
gotten from constituents is that we
didn't socialize these things enough,
right? We didn't talk to the community
enough. We didn't market it, you know,
for lack of a better word. And so with
the dashboard being public, we are
showing that transparency.
Is there and I'm sure we have some of
this on the website, but is there a way
to do to apply that same kind of lens to
to this so that people can really see
that like when we say the boiler is on
fire, like it really is on fire.
>> No, I appreciate that and I think that's
a really valid point. Um I will share
um that everybody wants to see the data
differently. So Hollis specifically has
by warrant created a capital expenditure
advisory committee and they look at town
stuff, they look at co-op stuff and they
look at Hollis stuff and so we've had to
redo all the things that we do for co-op
and Hollis and format it the way that
they want. So we have our format, we
have their format and the co-op they
then want us to multiply 55% because
it's 55% aortion to Hollis. So then it
becomes a completely I'm going to be
blank or blunt uh unusable document to
me because I don't look at these numbers
and calculate 55%. If a project's
$100,000 it's $100,000.
I am not as worried about 45 to Brooklyn
taxpayers 55 to holl. So that number is
meaningless to me and I and I keep
voicing my opinion. If I publish the
55,000, it's going to seem like I'm not
being transparent with the fact that it
actually costs a h 100red,000. Um, so
these types of back and forth who and
then in Brooklyn with with impact fees,
you know, the town is looking for it in
a different way. So I would love to show
these. I I just feel like we need a
consistent way so that we are not
quadrupling our efforts to present
information that might be confusing and
and counter to the intent of making it
more transparent. Um I don't know what
that looks like. I 100% agree with you,
but we're just not there yet because
we're being pulled in so many
directions.
>> Yeah. and and perhaps we can, you know,
look at it in a in a I don't know, a
working session or a committee or
something like that just to maybe take
that off of your off of your plate
because I really do think that the
marketing of of our our budget this
year, the explanation
um why we are asking for what we're
asking, why we're not asking, I think
starting now, I would
be totally in favor of starting some
sort of
project where we think about that
because this is great information. This
goes into the budget, right? Like all of
these considerations go into the budget,
the data stuff. We see a lot of
community members, you know, apply the
the data outcomes to the budget. If if
there is some way where we present the
story um that this is the budget, this
is you know these are all of the things
that are needs, these are all of the
things that are wants, blah blah blah,
whatever it is. Starting now and going
into then deliberative session and
voting. Um hopefully people will just be
more aware that
>> no one's swimming in a pool of money
like Scrooge McD.
>> So I I 100% agree with this. Like I
Tracy, I I think it's really important
that people see because while we can
talk about it here, we know that not
everybody has time to sit down and watch
or participate in all of our meetings.
So with the data dashboard and if we are
going to be pushing it out I think once
I think maybe
and and I'm happy to help as well if
there if there's some way once we have
the groupings and we have the criticals
and the urgencies and that if there's a
way to at least just start
communicating even at a 30,000 foot view
that like hey aging systems
approximate costs maybe a little blurb
as to what's what Because I guarantee
you have I guarantee you a lot of people
in town might don't realize that we have
residential boilers even though we say
it a whole lot, right? And what does
that actually mean when you're talking
about a school building and why is it
important that we call out the fact that
the residential boilers there? There is
some education that we need to do. Um
maybe the data dashboard isn't the right
place for it. Maybe we need a capital
improvement dashboard for Brookline that
because and I understand the effort. I I
understand we're pulled in a thousand
directions, but maybe maybe there is a
committee here that we can form to be
able to put that together and take it
off of uh administrators plate. Maybe
that's something that we we do need to
explore because couldn't agree more how
important that is and and it really is
just education
on why and the what and why.
>> Let me give you an exact date. So, the
roof was
supposed to be done
FY20,
>> Um, I believe that. No, no, sorry.
FY21 is now done.
>> It got to the point where the roofers
had to replace 28 pieces of plywood. So,
what that means is it was well beyond
its years.
>> Mhm. and we had to go to the plywood to
replace, which you should never have to.
So, when you pull off a roof, very
rarely should you have to replace the
you shouldn't have to replace that many
sheets. That's a third of what was done
or a fourth of what was done. So, that
just shows that we were kicking the can.
Kicking the can. So, that's just an
example. So, if we're ever going to
share how urgent this is, that was an
urgent thing because it cost us way more
money than it should have because we had
everything.
>> Here's an example,
>> right? because FY21 was actually
September 2020, right?
>> So it's six years.
>> So that's just an example like if we're
going to share like that would be a
prime example of
>> correct
>> what happens when you know so same thing
with the siding. We don't replace the
siding. You're now replacing
>> the plywood
>> and it's getting into the classrooms
>> and now you've got an infestation. I
mean it's easy to I'm happy to talk
about that but
>> correct examples and I think we've got
some good examples right and I and I'm
sure we have more than just the roof
>> but I think that's also why it's really
important well
>> yes you have said the roof like all of
us have heard it a thousand times I
think if if there's another mechanism
again I think this goes back to what we
talked about last year about trying to
communicate with our community and not
just our school families but the town as
the community and people who don't have
children in the schools are not as
dialed in. We need to find ways to
educate and to inform so that
when we have to make these decisions or
we bring, you know, requests forward,
there's a there's a there's a better
understanding and we're not just
shooting off the hip saying we want a
roof, right? I mean, I honestly feel
like we could do it with a video, but I
would be happy to do more of a in-person
tour of it.
>> And I know I'm just I haven't talked to
Gina or Dodd or Lauren about this, but
like I think that's the better route
because you have to see in person and
then a lot of people aren't going to
even watch the video. So, open it up.
Say we opened up to the public. Here's
what it looks like. This is what it
>> so they can see it in person, right?
>> Rather than a video or what have you
because
>> So, I I just think that's the route to
go because like I said, we talk about
it. Gina's talked about it. Andy talked
about it.
>> So transparent. They had pictures.
>> It was kicked down the line. So
>> I and and I and I don't disagree. I know
I I we'll probably get some agreement
when we went on our boiler tour after
the fire. Like it was eye opening, I
think, for all of us. While we know
there's residential boilers, we know
they're old. It's another thing to
actually put eyes on them, right? And so
I think I think there's some opportunity
here for us to really put our heads
together and figure out
how
once we get our priority list y
>> to really start drilling in.
>> Yeah. Can I just propose or I don't know
um could we do some sort of joint task
force and call it building Brookline
2045 or whatever and really look at what
that would look like based on all of the
information that we have about
population and blah blah blah. You know,
um what are the town facilities, right?
We know it's obviously the the town hall
right now, but there are other there are
other buildings in in town. Um what is
the school? Just a way to look at it
holistically because
although I think we as taxpayers look at
it as this is the portion of taxes that
go to the town, this is the portion of
taxes that go to the school, it's still
a bucket of your all it's all your
taxes, right? So, you know, how how do
we make that a uh a more cohesive
plan to present to people? I think
>> all right. So, part of this work is I
think facilities committee. I think that
conversation was started the last month.
Um and I think that that involves other
people agreeing to it, not just us. Um
but in terms of all the feedback, I
think it's really helpful. Why don't you
give us a little bit of time?
>> Can I just say one thing?
>> After all the feedback I've heard, um,
>> I'm pretty honest here. Um,
>> go for it.
>> You know, the Brookline capital
improvement plan over the years because
I didn't want to mention any of this
because I owe it to the town and now I'm
gonna have to do it. Um, every year we
give them a brief synopsis of each
project. Um, and now it's 33 and that's
going to take me forever. Uh, so yes, we
give we I give a brief description. Andy
always asks me to give a brief
description. uh because the town asked
for that and the town also asked for you
know you probably can't see it but um
>> the priority list
>> project rationale you know rating and
I've always made everything necessary
because I'm not going to sit there and
say it's urgent because it's urgent to
me you know so I can work on that
obviously but I just want to point out
um priority level we always I always sit
here and make different priorities and
try to make it as descriptive as I can
to each you know each indiv individual
project. So, you know, each one has a
different one. And I just noticed I've
never used eight uh because it's public
demand for facility or expenditure. And
I've never put that in because
I know how um it's related to me based
off of um public feedback and voting.
So, um I just thought that was funny.
>> Anything else? Any
questions?
>> Okay. Um, thank you very much.
>> I I am well beyond the time of public
input, so I'm going to go ahead at 7:49
here and close public input for the
record.
All right. FY25 audit update.
Okay. Um,
so every year we get the audit report.
It's like a year after the fact and we
post it. I just wanted to make sure that
it was shared, that it was a clean
audit, everything was fine, the report
is there. It's been posted for a month
or so. Thank you, Lance. I'm sorry.
>> Um, and so that's just really for
information, informationformational
purposes. Uh, I do want to share that
our FY26
audit was complete the first week of
August. Um, typically they are on the
auditors are on site for five or six
days uh doing the fieldwork and um
responding over the course of the next
week or so with additional information.
This year um the auditors were finished
midday like lunchtime on the Thursday.
So three and a half days and um they
were complete. They had very little
feedback in terms of just um you know
accounting adjustments and those were
shared on on Friday morning. So it was
the cleanest, quickest audit that we've
had um in my time and I want to um give
all the thanks in the world to the
business office staff for all the
incredible work that they've done and
the efficiencies and processes that they
have in place. So um despite the
transition in personnel over there um
that was that was really great. So
>> yeah,
>> question about the um audit. Do you find
it's helpful in any way once you get the
full report to look at the financial
statements or read the No. Okay. No, not
the I mean so like I was just going to
say so they left and we have some back
and forth a couple of adjustments so I
know where we stand. Um and then in 11
months we could read about it, you know.
>> Right. Right. So to me that's so far
away. Whereas the work that they do when
they're on site and the the questions
that they ask um and then the requests
that they make for for like fun movement
that's where I find it to be u most
helpful to understand
>> because I was reading through it and um
it said one one section said that our
you our budget or our our expenditures
are fairly stable, right? like we know
it's like a 60/40 split here this and
that blah blah blah.
>> So I'm just wondering as we are building
the budget
>> or thinking about anything in terms of
finance is it helpful to look at uh to
look at that as something just an an
additional piece of information when we
are looking at budgets and the financial
management of the school. Um, if you
have any of that prelim data from this
year. Um, I just I I guess I'm just
trying to say like we have these great
financial
reports. It's, you know, if you are
evaluating a company to buy, you would,
you know, you would want this
information, right? And there's ways to
evaluate if a company is a good company
to buy. So, I'd love to evaluate and see
if Brookline is a good school to buy.
>> I would buy a school district with newer
facilities. No.
Um I so what I find to be helpful more
so than going back to the actual audit
is
the new items are the new items but when
we look at the actual budget the
spreadsheet we always present proposed
um existing year which is the budgeted
amount which doesn't necessarily um
convert to expenditures because we're in
the middle of that year and then the
prior two years. So, we're looking for
stability and and anything with a
significant plus or minus, we want to
know why and ex explain that um and
understand that. And that's part of the
reason why we started the new item
spreadsheet so we can pull those items
out and bring them to everyone's
attention to see why we're straying from
kind of, you know, maintaining level
funding in those in those items or in
those uh line items, I should say. If
that makes sense.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I just I love a financial
Well, I don't think you have a lot of
friends in that category.
No, it's it's um it's a it's a lot of
numbers. So, good for you. Um all right,
so summer staff summer updates and
staffing and facilities. So, you heard
the big excitement. The Milford Street
roof was finally finished. Um great work
that has been done uh for the bathroom
at RMS finally. That was another one of
those items that had been kind of kicked
down the line for year after year. Um,
>> can we cover what we did?
>> You want to talk about it?
>> Yeah, I had planned out for the next
meeting, but um, our phones and PA
systems have been updated um, so that
we're
uh, more uniform across the district um,
and compatible. Um,
the boys bathrooms coming along great.
should be done before school starts. But
um they basically took out the custodial
wet um wet mop set or
the name right now. But
>> utility sink.
>> The utility sink. Yeah, we'll call it
that. It has a slop sink. Sink area. The
slop sink. And they and by doing that
they were able to enlarge the boys'
bathroom so it's ad accessible and it
looks great. So they have it tiled right
now. It's painted. Now they're just
putting in the fixtures, the urinals and
toilets and and stalls. Milford Street
Group recovered. We have a new kitchen
serving counter. So that was a nice new
upgrade in our kitchen. Um we painted
the health office, the main office,
couple classrooms.
Um I did that. And then soap dispensers.
We replace all the soaps, the sensors
around the building and sanitizers.
Um, and then today some landscaping
around the building. So,
>> awesome. Awesome.
>> If a branch falls in your car, I'm
sorry.
>> I think did we Dan, did we do um Sorry.
Did we do anything with the parking lot?
Have we talked about like we were going
to like try to Did that happen?
>> Yes. I don't know if we now we're
getting quotes. Um, we did get a quote.
>> Okay. Um it's to the point where that
quote we would probably have to phase it
because of the cost of it and then
>> I know Lance has some other um
>> Can I just ch
>> Um yes that's all true but really what's
preventing us from moving into the
phases because we did we said break it
up into as many phases as you can so we
can
>> both put it in the budget and see what
we can approve because you um authorized
the expenditure of some money to start
that project. Um what we're doing is
we're waiting for our final fund balance
number to see what we can actually sign
off on. And so obviously school's
starting um but the paving company
understands that when we are going to
request a section it'll be done um
during a school break. So we will have
the um um the POS are written.
>> It's just the amount. We're not sure of
the amount yet. And that might change
it. So, like if you arrive too early for
carpool,
>> you're going to have to park and then
you have to sponsor a parking spot.
>> Don't even start sponsor this parking
spot. It will help.
>> I'll buy my own parking spot for our new
>> That's fine. You show me which parking
spot I can buy and I will buy my own
parking spot.
>> And you can have a brick.
>> And I can have a brick. And if I if I
pay for it though, can I walk to the end
of the driveway? No, just kidding. I'm
not going to walk to the end of the
drive.
>> People don't follow my example. Do Don't
do what I do.
>> No, but we appreciate the support.
>> Not what I do. Yes. Do what I say, not
what I do. Exactly.
>> No. So, we'll we'll be moving forward
with that. It might depending on um the
paving company's availability. Um we're
using the same paving company for
Hughes. They have major covert issues
that are um fairly drivable. So, we're
waiting for final numbers so we can
authorize that project. And it has a
higher priority than RMS because believe
it or not, it looks it's in much worse
shape.
>> But that would be a summer project.
>> Huge. No. If we were to do something, it
would be a summer project.
>> Not necessarily.
>> No, yours might be.
>> That's great. Thank you.
>> And floor machine, right?
>> What?
>> No, that's that's here.
>> You got I haven't seen it yet, but it's
coming.
>> I didn't get a floor machine.
>> That's next year.
>> Next year.
>> Next year. Um yeah. Uh so we had summer
school uh at our building which went
swimming. So um that went really well.
Uh we didn't have a lot of things happen
over the summer. Uh, one of the bigger
things we did have is the path um was
created to go down to our soccer field.
So, we're going to be able to use that.
I know, right?
>> The kids were super excited.
>> Oh my gosh. So excited.
>> So grateful.
>> Um, and so that's going to be game
changing with our recesses, especially
with uh the kids who play football, boys
and girls, uh, who play football and
soccer. Uh, so we're going to be able to
go down to that area to play things like
field day. Um, it'll also kind of take
some of the energy off of our playground
and put it in another spot.
>> Put it into a different roped in
section.
>> So, yes, it was Yeah. parsing it out.
Um, so that was uh that was the big
thing um that got done. Uh, we did
repaint um our office uh this summer um
which is nice. It's a nice sage color.
Not green. Sage.
>> I don't know if it's sage.
>> Very calming. Um Celery.
>> It's like
>> moss.
>> Sage. I would say sage.
>> I would disagree.
>> It's a nice green.
>> It's a sage green. It goes very well
with the floors. Uh looks very nice, I
think. Um and just kind of looking
forward. What I noticed last year is
that our school is very much used by the
community. So, I think it's important
that we keep up this very clean, crisp
appearance for people who come into our
building. We show that pride.
Uh the very first thing um I talked with
Lance and he's been wonderfully
receptive.
>> I don't know if you know, but in our
gym,
>> if you've ever looked up, there was a
ball up on the ceiling.
>> Do you know what that ball was? Does
anybody here on the board know what that
ball was?
>> Do you want to take a guess?
>> How long had it been up there?
>> Speaker. Forever. Probably.
>> Probably since before I moved here,
though. I don't know.
>> Speaker. Anybody else want to take a
guess?
>> You mean the disco ball that's up there?
>> The disco ball that was up there? Yeah,
it was a winner. It was a speaker. I
never would have guessed that. If you
look on the top of it, it's got like a
like a subwoofer piece to it. I never
would have guessed that. Nobody ever
knew, but they took it down.
>> So multiunctional.
>> It's multiunctional. So, um, I'm going
to have this fun little thing with the
staff. Hopefully, none of the staff were
watching because I want to do something
fun and see if people can guess exactly
what that thing was because there were
rumors it was from aliens and all kinds
of fun things. So, but uh, cleaning up
areas was the point. cleaning up areas,
looking at the scoreboard that I had
Lance come out and check out the
scoreboard that doesn't work but kind of
does work and you know making sure we
kind of clean up that space in the gym
too as well. So, we've got some things
in the future we want to do, but those
were the main things that we were
looking at over the summer.
>> I also just want to again thank Dan for
inviting alumni back to put their
handprints up on the wall. I think that
that was um I did see that there were
quite a few families that actually came
in I believe to do that. Um, so that was
um, great. Thank you, Dan, for kind of
again taking time out of the summer. I
know it can be hectic, but I saw lots of
families kind of coming in and putting
their fingerprints on. The kids were
excited, the parents were excited. So
that um, again, yeah,
>> you're a lot of Thank you. There's a lot
of families or parents that went here,
so they came and college students. So,
it was great.
>> Yeah, it was good.
>> And today we had our first kindergarter
put the first apple on the wall cuz
we're doing apples for kindergarten.
>> That's exciting.
>> It's cute.
>> Very good.
>> One fist. Very good.
>> Other fist put them together. Apples.
Looks perfect, too.
>> Cool.
>> Great.
>> Can I just say one thing before we leave
this topic? Um, we have such a wonderful
community full of the most giving I
think and also very bright. We have um
people that work in all sorts of fields
um you know from
self-starters, entrepreneurs, industry,
corporate America, whatever have you.
The point I'm trying to make is is that
if there's a need, say, for like a
scoreboard to be fixed or something like
that, is it possible for us to ask the
community to
recommend someone or someone to
volunteer? Is that It depends on what it
is.
>> Just because there's liability issues
involved in some.
>> Yeah. um volunteer like if there's a
scoreboard fixer uper um it does work uh
the question is the control right
communicating with the board
>> but I just think like you were telling
me today he was we were giving he was
giving us a private tour because we
missed the real tour but you were
talking about your list and I actually
that was one of the things I was
thinking is he said that you had to
repaint some lines right out in the out
um on the the mat or out on the
playground and like that is something to
your point that I think like the
community could come together like
whether it's PTO or even separate just
you know we could help out with that. So
yeah, things like that. Maybe we could
have like almost like a community
school. Yeah, like a community or like a
school project list and it would be
things that like to your point you
wouldn't have to worry about like
liability, but people could come out and
say, "Okay, we gota we got to paint um
we got to paint the asphalt and the
playground. We have to fill in mulch or
we have to do I think I think that
people would step up."
>> Yeah, I Yeah. Or I mean I think in high
school they have to do service projects
or whatever. I'm not trying to like
conscript people into doing these
things, but it's true.
>> Um
scouts, you know.
>> Yeah, like the work that they did with
like the Boy Scouts did the shelter and
everything like that. Um yeah, just a
thought.
>> Thanks.
>> Anything else? That's it.
>> All right. Uh board goals for this year.
um want to have discussion about where
people's heads are at and thoughts are
for our our goal or goals for the year.
>> We need to make some money.
>> Any ideas? Any ideas, Heather? And what
money we would like?
>> Um so I'll kind of open it up for if
anybody has any
>> anything they want to bring forward what
their initial thoughts are maybe for
this year of a focus. Um, and I just
want to clearly identify the FY28
meaning as we're building the budget
where what are some areas of focus that
you would like us to consider.
>> Last year we focused a lot on contracts.
>> Yes.
>> I think I just off the top of my head in
terms of budget um I think I would like
to kind of just again keep an eye on
what are things that are either about to
die or like ranking if there's like one
or two things that really need to be
tackled priority wise. I would like to
see that. Um, I know that that could be
uh dependent on the person as to what's
a priority, but I think that would be
helpful just for me. And then I think in
terms of I would um, as many people on
the board have also already said
tonight, just increasing communication.
Again, we're always working on that with
like the community so that we're not all
having to communicate in that like three
weeks in February where we're trying to
like get people ready for deliberative I
think anything we can do to kind of
educate people on the facility needs on
the educational and what like as we go
throughout the year that would be a goal
I think for me. And the only thing I
would add in is is that obviously we're
kind of kicking off the new year. Um I'd
like to hear from all of you, right,
administration? I'd like to hear from
our principles a little bit more like
what are your priorities for this year?
Like what's important to you? Because I
think um that's that's guidance we need
from you.
>> So that we're going to share about that
at the next one.
>> I thought I heard that. Okay.
>> Um I I'm going to second the um the
budget and the communication. I think
If we have a a communication
plan or a standard or something, it
would help make disseminating
information about the budget um a little
bit smoother and more broadcast and um
the the data like it we're being very
transparent and I'm loving that and it's
just kind of that like okay we're
transparent now you have to go look at
it and see how transparent we're being
so go here. Um,
you know, I I think I would also just
wonder about um
anything that we have like by building
community with the town. I think there
was the you know offer for a a select
board liaison. Uh I think that is
extremely important
>> um with everything going on in the town
and with everything that we're looking
at. Um
So, so I think um in terms of priority
and building a budget, and this may be
unpopular, but I'm going to say it
anyways because it's where I'm currently
sitting and how I'm feeling. Um, but I
would really like our goal, and this
kind of ties into the capital
improvement plan and working with the
select board. Um, I'd really like a a
longer term plan and I
the community was very gracious last
year and and I think from what I'm
hearing is people are concerned with the
amount of projects between the town and
the schools and I would like us to take
a year to breathe and keep our budget
conservative
um so that we can really truly assess
what we need, not have guesstimate on
numbers, work towards some of those
bigger projects, and put put stronger
plans in place in terms of better
financial planning. Um, and and that may
be on an unpopular on the board, and I
and I hate saying it because I fully
support all of our schools and what we
do,
but all of the pot of the money comes
from the same place. Um, so I I would
like I love the idea of some kind of a a
task force. It's why I want to bring
forward asking about being a slight
board leaison to to start really opening
up some of those lines of communication,
but while doing so instead of just
forging ahead and pushing forward and
and always hitting our 8% tax cap, I'd
really like to to see us more be more
conservative this year. And that that's
where I sit. I I think it's probably
we're probably going to need some
conversations on that one. Um but I'm
just going to
>> expand on that a little. So I I feel
like every year we hit our 8% and we
always hit our 8% because we can hit 8%.
>> We we don't I just I just want to
because that's definitely not the case.
>> Okay. I I feel like there but there is a
I think there is a bit of a perception
on that and I think with just I think
everybody's feeling taxes going up left
and right and I just want to if we're
going to have any big asks. I actually
would wonder if there are things that we
can defer so that we can stay closer to
a smaller percent at least this year
after the last couple of years where
we've gone up kind of significantly. Um
I
>> does that help kind of
yeah I think I'm just on the opposite
opposite end fitting that we're at the
opposite ends of the table. Um yeah, I I
think you know definitely take some time
to breathe to look at how we work
through this next year. Nothing gets
done in a you know move at a glacial
place pace please. Um
but I really do feel as though
I feel and I will speak for how I feel
about my role is that under the three
kind of guiding principles we have in
terms of sup uh super superintendent um
advis or uh uh evaluation um the budget
and what was the other thing policy
>> policy
>> policy yes Um,
I I really feel like I look at the
budget in terms of what is the best for
the school, what is the best for the
community, what is the best for the
kids, and I I feel sometimes
I feel sometimes that that's a that I I
feel that there's tension definitely,
right? And I live here. I'm a taxpayer.
I cry when I open the bills. Um, but I
think we really I I I put my hat on with
if the school system isn't topnotch,
then we're going to be in trouble
>> and
we won't be able to sell our homes. You
know, we don't we don't have any
anything else here
that attracts people.
>> Can I just say something? I was just
gonna say I think we might I I'm just
agreeing with both of you, but I think
we're kind of in terms of board goals, I
do think we're getting maybe just a
little ahead of ourselves only because
we don't really know yet what the goals
are and what's immediate and what isn't.
And so I think first we need to
establish and define that and then
determine where we feel comfortable and
where we need to make investment or we
don't. Well, it and thank you because I
think that maybe articulates a little
bit better. I I was not com I'm not
comfortable with what I saw out of the
SIP tonight. I I'm not just
transparently
that feel like there's so much more that
we need to know so that as
you are as you identify things that we
can support them fully especially with
all of the questions that come up of at
what point do you stop repairing and
rebuild and things things of that nature
and I just want to this year really
drill into those things so that we're
making smart, very smart financial
decisions. And if that means we need to
glacier pace for a year, I would be more
comfortable with that. Personally, from
where I sit, it's part of our
responsibility in our three pillars,
includes the community as a whole, not
not just our students, but everybody,
right? And of course, the students are
at the very top of that list. Um, but I
>> I want to understand better, right?
>> And I want us to be smart financially
we all don't like opening our bill,
right? So, I just
>> The only other thing I would say is I
know when we looked at those numbers,
everyone's like a gasp, but I've only
been on the board for a year and a half
and so I don't know what this book might
be for, but I have to imagine this
looked kind of similar. I mean, this
school you just said is 50 years old.
So, I mean, these are these are
estimates. Um, I mean, right. Am I
right?
>> It's almost it's almost 70.
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> So, my point is is that
>> school doesn't start yet.
>> I don't think it's okay.
>> I guess my point is I think that if if
you if we kind of like went back in time
five years, I don't think you would have
seen different numbers. I think you
would have seen very similar numbers. I
think that again they've just been we've
been get very creative like so I agree
that they kind of look scary right now
because they're out here but again five
years ago I think that they really would
have been very close and we just have to
I think what somebody said like we just
have to take it all in and know that we
have to figure out what is most urgent
and we will find that out and we will
have to determine what we do with that.
So this I find this really helpful. Um
so what I'm hearing is we really want to
dive into facilities and and develop a
like a deep dive and develop a kind of a
plate of attack.
>> Um but also um we're all feeling as
taxpayers burdened and so keeping that
in mind. So really this year we don't
have contracts. Um, so we're not looking
for huge expansion on the budget in any
area other than potentially like let's
let's really do our due diligence with
the facilities and everything else bare
bones and that helps me as we um, you
know, go from round one and round two
into when it becomes public to you.
>> So, thank you. Yeah, I I think too it's
also just this was very helpful to have
like facilities because I this is my
third year going into my third year and
I know the facilities committee was just
started what last year or the year
before that a year ago. Yeah. So I mean
we're really just kind of starting a
deep dive. So I definitely this year
would like to continue to build on that
and I would like to make it like kind of
a more tra like a kind of a tradition in
this way that we are able to kind of
review maybe at the beginning and end of
each year like what have we done? What
have we because I do think the more um
that you know watching like what was
going on in Holly. I think it was
helpful for me as a board member here to
be like all right yeah I think we really
need to have like a deep dive and kind
of do have a better overall picture of
our facilities which we're now getting.
So I appreciate that and I would
definitely like to continue building on
that over the course of this year so
that we can just really start to fold it
in budgets.
It seems to make sense that you know
you're talking about the select board
liaison and everything and just not just
the select board but to maybe try and
get the like a couple community members
involved and talk maybe some people that
are at the town hall like there's a lot
of the library like it would be great if
we could work together as you know I'd
be happy to be on a committee to talk
about town planning you know I know we
have a town planner but like to really
like dive into what that looks like and
we've talked about this in a facilities
meeting, you know, and um because
ultimately I think that's what this is
all going to come down to is, you know,
right now a boiler is a band-aid, you
know, or the roof is a band-aid or, you
know, the town hall situation is a
band-aid, you know, and there's a lot of
band-aids going on.
>> Um, and I hear I hear the tax bill
conversation. I'd like to point out and
I think it's an important conversation
to have. In New Hampshire, we have the
lowest t one of the lowest tax burdens
in the entire country. So, it feels like
a lot of money, but we're not paying
income tax and we're not paying sales
tax. And so, while it feels like a lot
of money, which it is, we're seeing it
all at once, right? And so, instead of
6% out of each check or whatever, and
we're not getting any funding or not
any, that's not the correct thing. We're
getting little funding from the state.
And the burden goes on as we're a small
town it with no very little business.
The burden goes on to the property
owners, right? And so it is a problem
for sure because we have a higher burden
here in Brooklyn than than some other
towns that are larger and have a larger
base and have businesses and things like
that for sure. But it doesn't it doesn't
make the need go away just because it's
>> the money is there. We have
>> we move people here all the time for the
schools. The schools are what we bring
to our residents. Like that's it. You
know, they I mean, we don't have a
senior center, and that was a discussion
in the facilities committee, right? We
don't we don't have I mean, our library
is amazing, but they're going to need
parking. They're going to need, you
know, there's a lot of things that we
don't have here in town. We don't have
trash pickup. We don't have these
things. You know, these are things that
all we have is the schools. And it's not
all. We have amazing trail systems, so
that's also there. But it's not a lot of
people moving here just for the trails,
you know,
>> and so
by prioritizing our schools, we are
prioritizing our citizens because we're
we're protecting their investment in the
town, right? We're protecting and by
that I mean we're protecting their home
values. We're protecting their resale
ability. If our schools go under,
our town is in really bad shape. And so,
we're protecting our citizens by
protecting the schools. And I think it's
a really important point to make. And I
know that um it costs a lot. I mean, as
we're all citizens here and we all pay
our tax bills, you know, but it
ultimately
it's I'd hate to cut our nose off spider
face, right? So, it's just something
that I want to bring up as it's a really
important conversation, but it'd be
great to create a committee for the town
as a whole, whether we include some
citizens from the town, if we, you know,
a couple of us on the school board.
>> Well, I can volunteer somebody from the
library whether he wants to do it or
not. I'll send him to meetings. You let
me know when they are and I'll
>> All these things need to be addressed.
You know, even the police, the fire and
all, you know, they all are part of the
whole planning, right? And I it doesn't
exist. And I feel like that we're all
trying to do our own thing individually
and if we came together it would really
make a big difference. And we presented
to the town as a whole community as one
this is the plan for the next 20 years.
I think it would make it a lot easier to
ask for
>> right
>> $2 million you know and say this is but
here's the goals and here we're all
working together instead of all doing
our own thing.
>> Here's step one. Here's step two. Here's
step three.
>> Exactly. Right. telling you building
Brooklyn 2024.
>> I like it. I think we should do it.
>> Well,
I would love to dismiss my principles.
Yes.
>> Oh, yeah.
>> Principles.
>> I have to dismiss my principles.
>> How about your assistance?
>> Well, I have to stay. But
>> you have to do policy.
>> Byebye. Thank you. Thank you.
>> Have a wonderful opening day. I actually
have to stay but
>> okay chance have a wonderful opening day
>> have a wonderful opening day
>> thank you
>> so much
to select board
>> um yeah no committee updates just came
>> nothing's
>> what nothing okay so we're going to skip
over um all right so we do not have any
committee updates at the moment so
leaison to the select board so I asked
to add this to the agenda item
>> because
Like we've kind of said, I'm very
interested in us not working in a silo
with everything else that's going on in
town. Um,
personally, I would like to start
attending SLE board meetings on behalf
of the school board to be able to get
information back and forth and attend
some of their budget um, conversations
and and make sure that they're aware of
what we are facing and then I can bring
back what they are.
and maybe that starts the conversations
of a task force because I really like
that idea for the town quite frankly.
Um, so I'm interested, but I wanted to
see if anybody else was or if if there
was an appetite if you guys are
comfortable if I do that or if somebody
else would like to. Um, thoughts?
>> No, feel free. I'm happy to join if
needed, but yeah.
>> Yeah, I think it's a great idea. I would
not like to be the liazison because I do
not have any time but I do think that
that would actually go a long way
towards what we just were discussing in
terms of us all kind of being more on
the same page for sure.
>> Yeah. And I think if there's ever a time
where you know you can't do it so one of
us could just fill in you know I think
>> I think that would be very very
valuable.
>> I I know they meet a lot more often than
we do and I I'm I'll speak with Brian
about what is the most impactful in
terms of is it once a month? Is it for
for somebody from our board to show up?
So, I'll I'll work with him on that and
and I'll let you guys know and go from
there.
>> Um, would it be helpful just also to
know who is interested? So, if you can't
go, you can reach out or like would that
be helpful to know?
>> Yeah. Or I can just email Lynn Tracy
and Heather.
>> Really? I'll just kind of email and say
who's free on this date. We'll just do
it that way. Not Johanna
request.
>> Fair enough. Um so with that then I will
start deliberations with um a motion to
allow uh myself or a design to attend
select board meetings on behalf of the
school board. So can I get a motion to
that effect?
>> And a second.
>> Thank you. All in favor?
>> All of us.
>> Excellent. Okay. Um so with that we then
can move to policy.
>> So
>> that's you dot.
>> Yay.
Moving right along.
>> Moving right along. Okay. Um, the policy
committee met on August 11th and we are
recommending the following beb
agenda preparation and dissemination.
You're seeing this for the third time
and we recommend third and adopt with
there are no new changes.
Um I can't remember if you guys go one
at a time or if I'm gonna
>> I think you you do them all and then we
briefly
>> do them all and then let me talk.
presenting for a first read with just
minor changes and hoping to adopt um are
EBCA.
The only changes here uh in are in the
bottom of the first paragraph and it is
um to clarify the definition of what we
mean and expand um the definition of
property that came um in the spring
review with uh this recommendation from
the schoolboard association. This is
just a recommended policy. It's not
required, but because it already matches
what we do by law anyways. um in the
case of an emergency, we thought that it
is um prudent to have a policy in place
that says what we do with crisis plans.
Um JLCD,
administering medicine to students,
there was a typo
um on the second page and then just
making sure that we had a connection to
policy JLCE. If you remember, we
approved this back in the spring and
those two policies are connected and so
it's just really just making some
grammar changes on that one. Um, and
presenting for our first read is KF.
This is the policy on school facilities
and fields policy. This will probably be
with us for three reads. Um we took our
first read through it and um there was
some questions about um going across
state lines. The attorney's busy getting
all the discipline updates and stuff out
to school districts for opening of
school. Um but we also will share at the
next policy meeting the policy from
co-op which is much clearer to
understand than this policy but we're
just bringing it forward for a first
read and move to second. um AC,
non-discrimination, equal opportunity.
This comes out every couple of years for
you to look at. There's not a lot we can
change. It's mandated kind of by federal
um law and there are just some u minor
changes that
expanded the section F complaint and
reporting procedures and just made it um
much more delineated and um expanded
some of the definitions.
So we're recommending that for first
read and go to second and adopt
hopefully.
Um similar with um DAFF it's
administration of federal grant funds.
This comes to you every couple of years
for approval. We need it um whenever we
apply for grant money. Uh there are some
changes in here mainly in the areas of
um the amount of money that's needed to
follow the procurement um regulation.
There's also um a change in um when you
need to have a a cont a contract
analysis. They upped that just to meet
um inflation times. And then there's
changes in how we um
disposition
process or the change of use process.
There's some change in that language. So
although there are some um numerous
changes throughout the policy, we don't
have a lot of say as to whether we
accept them or not. It's part of the the
law.
And then finally, um JCL, that's the
internet, um school district internet
access for students. Um the committee
looked at that. We were not making any
changes, but um the committee still felt
like they wanted to bring that forward
to let you know. um and we'll mark it as
reviewed and you'll be seeing a more
detailed AI policy that we'll be working
on throughout the fall and will be
coming to you soon and that will
incorporate some of what's in here. So
that's why there wasn't any sense to
change this. This is basically saying
school uses technology. It's expected
that your children will use technology
when they're in school that we take
every measure that we can to make sure
that they're protected. Um, and so there
was no changes that needed to be made.
>> Doc, can I just ask you a question about
that one in particular? Will there also
be a policy on using AI um for
administration or or staff or teachers
or any uh use of AI in the classroom?
Are are we
>> I think it'll be a it'll be a
comprehensive policy. Um we are also
planning a PD day in November um where
we're going to do some education and
training with all of our staff. They um
will have access to an a AI kind of um
locker room that has a lot of um
resources that they can use. It's not
being used with students yet. Gemini is
turned off um for students, but it is on
for um staff.
>> Yeah. Okay. I just there's um you know
with with the mistakes and
hallucinations it can make and if we um
if we overindex on it and over rely on
it to help teach the students. I'm I'm
just concerned about that that they'll
learn. You know
>> I I think that the the approach that
we're taking is that it's it's here.
It's not something we can ignore and we
want to make sure that um all of our
educators at least have a a baseline
knowledge of what it is and how to use
it.
>> Absolutely.
>> But this the reason we chose this
speaker was because of his knowledge
around how to let people know how to use
it efficiently but also effectively and
to um use it so that it's a tool and not
a crutch.
>> Yeah. So I knowing the AI policy was
coming I I actually um reached out to
Gina to ask if it would be possible for
us as a board to get some training or to
attend that training
>> attending um so that
>> we are all coming from the use of AI and
in from a variety of um
>> purviews and use and I think it would be
really good if we're going to be
reviewing an AI policy for schools
>> that we need to understand from a school
perspective. ive uh appropriate not
appropriate how our teachers are being
trained so that as we um support a
policy that goes into place we have a we
have a shared common understanding of
what our our school community is using
it and and the ways in which they are
being is saying it's good here it's not
good in this used or whatever. So, um,
you guys will send out information on
training for us and if we are not able
to attend, is there a way we can either
get materials or see can we can we kind
of think through what that might look
like? If if I'm assuming it's going to
be during the school day, so if we're
not able to attend,
>> um, is there a way then for us to
>> get access to materials or the content
so that we can be better informed when
we sit down to look at the policy?
>> We can reach out and if not, there might
be a way that we can do an alternative
type training.
>> Yeah. I want to say too, thank you to
Lynn for bringing this up and our policy
committee um who really advocated for
this because I think it's very important
um that like yeah, we all are kind of on
the same page of like how the school is
planning to use it. I know like I
personally won't use AI for anything. So
I'm like a dinosaur. Um so like but that
was part of the and that was part of the
reason that Lynn thought attorney would
be helpful and I think we all agreed
that yeah it would be really helpful for
all of us to just kind of know and I
think at that point um we would possibly
be able to ask and or see what the
district's intention is in terms of
rights. So that could be helpful for us
also. Um so yeah, anything that if we're
not able to make it that would be great
even just to or to see if like would it
be worth like maybe doing like a
presentation at like an SAU governing
board? We're all of us are there since
we're all going to have to kind of face
>> Um but I think those are great
questions. Would it be possible do also
like with questions like that to email
them to you maybe and then they can be
passed on to would that be
>> okay because I think AI is a big
question
>> and we know that there's already a um a
large continu u continuum of use already
um some people who will never use it and
don't want to use it up to people that
are you know expert users and are using
it teachers and and leaders that are
using it a
My daughter got a scam on her phone
today and she sent it to me because she
was freaking out because it said she had
to show up at court.
>> Me too.
>> And so I took a picture of it. She took
a picture of it and sent to me and she's
freaking out because she's in South
Carolina. And so I just threw that
through scout because that's what mine's
called. And he was like, "No,
>> that's that's a scam. You're good."
>> This was like this was one of the most
realistic ones because it actually had
an officer's name and a badge number and
>> court and court date. That's what it was
like. It gave you all the signs. It said
this is this is
>> a New Hampshire. It came on my New
Hampshire phone.
>> Mine said Fred. So
>> Oh, I let it name itself.
>> I did too. And he named itself Fred.
>> He did.
>> And I'm like,
>> I won't even look at it because if any
of my professors are like, "Was this AI?
I don't want to. I just want to
graduate."
>> Yeah. All right.
>> We refuse to use it. So,
>> um, what other do we have any other
questions about the the
>> Do we need to discuss the posies?
I I had a question about the um the
agenda one and just a a semantic
question probably um because I know we
wanted to approve and adopt it. Oh,
thank you.
>> Um I still need these glasses. Gosh,
getting old. Um
could you expound a little bit on uh it
says uh superintendent uh or or board
chair determines that an item is not
appropriate for placement. Um I
understand the restriction due to you
know legal but do you have a uh a sense
of what you feel is not appropriate? So
there are some items that cannot be
legally on the agenda, cannot be spoken
about in a public meeting. We have been
asked in the past to place some of those
items on the agenda. So it is my job to
protect the district from liability. And
so if I'm asked to do that, I I need to
make sure that the policy allows me to
say like no, it's not appropriate for an
agenda.
>> No, no, I I totally get that. But from a
person who might want to suggest items
if there are things that are like if I s
if I give you three things
>> and you know you say like oh well this
isn't like just
>> it could be personnel issues it could be
something that identifies a student or a
specific teacher. Those would be kind of
examples of what that would be.
>> Yeah. I mean I I think the second part
of that sentence makes
>> Can you tell me where the sentence is?
>> Oh sure. It's the second paragraph.
One, two, three.
>> We talked about the section on our
policy meeting and there No, go ahead.
Go ahead. No, it's good.
>> Unless the um unless either the
superintendent or board determines that
an item is not appropriate. Yeah,
>> it it's not appropriate for placement.
So, that's just it feels very
open-ended. Um I get you know the
restriction due to legal. Um
but yeah just I mean just some
guidelines about what is
>> so some other be boards have like said
um I will only talk about this if it
comes to me in September but just the
flow of the work it's not like the
budget can't come in in September
because it's not ready. So, and so we've
experienced some kind of push back
saying, "No, but but this is when I want
it." And so, the board chair is usually
like, "No, this is this is the flow."
in co-op, for example, there are reasons
why some things have to be handled when
they are. So, a new course is presented
in certain months and only certain
months because then it goes to the
program of studies and once that is
reviewed, the following month, it's a
approved
because students then have to do course
selection um and then you have to build
the schedule like you can't move that or
um really the entire flow of the high
school stops and so there have been like
those are things that um just are not
appropriate. It's not like that they're
wrong, they're not illegal, it's just
we're going to do that but that has to
happen in this month. So it's really
just um kind of understood
>> is it more of a a timing issue? I I
>> Could I
>> but not solely. Could I just speak up
here for one second because we did talk
about this in the policy meeting
>> and I she brings a valid point and
actually I'm glad you brought this up
>> at the time the question that I had in
the policy meeting and actually should
have been brought up here and I it did
blank my mind was I think a good good
point to bring here says unless either
the superintendent or the board chair
determines its and where I think that
can present a challenge right now you
guys you two work together wonderfully
you're great, right? If one or the other
becomes adversarial, right? And not
saying you are not going to be in this
position for 40 years and you're not
going to be in this hopefully in this
position for 40 years, right? So,
>> you are party
>> in the event that that those two
positions become adversarial with each
other,
>> they could block items from becoming
important items from becoming a topic.
And this is probably where she's coming
from too is like well it is very
open-ended and in this situation right
now as we operate it's fine. However,
future proofing, right, where one or the
other could potentially block what would
be a normal
um agenda item that well, you know,
Alison, I'm not I'm saying Allison board
chair doesn't want to talk about because
>> it makes them look bad or superintendent
makes them look bad and well, it's a
procedural thing and I just don't want
to talk about it this month and now it
gets pushed off, right? And so I think
it would be I personally and I'm open to
discuss I think it would be both not
either one.
>> I believe that is isn't that what we
agreed on in the meeting? I thought we
had agreed on both.
>> No, we had had the discussion and then
there was I remember that you know so so
okay so I think I had originally said we
both needed to agree and then Gina came
back and said however I she has more of
the legal understanding and the
responsibility
>> to protect
>> the district. Right. So, so hang on. So,
I think maybe what is missing here
because my in my intention when I
brought this forward was there were
multiple policies that were conflicting
as to who made the agenda and how to
request items, right? And I wanted to
make this more efficient. I also wanted
a mechanism in place at the
responsibility of the board chair that
if the board and I'm not worried about
your team doing this so don't mind me on
this one but if somebody on our board or
a future board requests an agenda item
that cannot be placed for legal
procedural reasons um
we need to explain to you why right so
Lynn if you suggest something say I want
to talk about the schedule at the
September meeting, I would be required
and I and this and it's not in here, but
I would be required to tell you why it
cannot be placed and then keep a running
log that gets passed from board chair to
board chair in the board chair Google
Drive so that we have that record right
of requested items and then declined
items. And I just to make sure that
everybody felt that any board member
felt like they were being heard. And I
because that was one of the things that
I heard too is that sometimes items were
requested, they were ignored, they were
overlooked, whatever. And so I was
trying to make it more efficient where
board requested items came up through
the chair, district request items came
through the superintendent and then in
the middle we make the agenda,
>> but then there's a legal review
essentially, right? And so maybe this
isn't worded exactly how it needs to be,
but I also my intention also was
>> to hold the chair responsible to respond
in the event that something's not being
placed with why to also help board
members like Tracy's question like what
is an example of why something wouldn't
be placed on there. Well, this is a
legal matter that might you know put the
district at risk. We we can't talk about
it. But can I propose that if you were
the chair member and she told you it's
illegal to talk about it, wouldn't you
agree?
>> Um, I would ask her why and I would I
would I would need that understanding as
to why,
>> but wouldn't you agree in order to ban
it from or ban is not the right word,
remove it from the agenda. Right? So
like if she was presenting something as
it's a legal concern, correct? you would
have no reason to disagree and so
therefore you would both agree to remove
it. True.
>> So then it should be both and not
either.
>> I think from what I recall from that
discussion in policy I believe we had
opted to keep it vague, right? Because
we wanted to try and leave it
>> we wanted to try and kind of give a
little bit of leeway like to keep it as
vague as possible because we also didn't
want to veer too deeply into and it was
a very robust conversation if I recall.
We didn't kind of want to veer too
deeply into like over. So this it may be
that it may be that what we do tonight
is maybe approve it and then push it
back in September because we can do that
as well. We can approve it. It's up for
a third read if we approve it and then
immediately
>> just move it to a fourth read.
>> We can also just move it to fourth read.
Um but I I do remember there was a
reason. Do you recall what the reason
was specifically? Why? Because we did
ask about having it as both. I remember.
Do you remember why we didn't agree to
that? It was the I think the it's the
the pull of trying to say that both have
a say into it, but ultimately the
superintendent is the one that's going
to have to make the the final call if
it's a legal or procedural.
>> So So if we do both, so talking about
adversarial, right? If say we're
adversarial and she says, "Well, from
this legal perspective, we can't put
this on the agenda." Well, I don't care.
You you you have to put it there.
That's that
>> legal legal will be done. That's the
problem with with both because
>> no matter who sits in this chair, we do
not have the legal expertise
>> to always be in alignment with the
superintendent.
>> So maybe the better way to do it would
be the superintendent has
say for legal matters specifically.
Correct. Because anything else like
procedural or policy things like that
are not necessarily leg because
absolutely I have no idea about
legality. Right. So like maybe anything
outside of legal because she or they or
whoever is in leadership at that time,
right, would have the best purview of
what is legally.
>> Why don't we just send this back to
fourth read?
>> But I think we brought that here because
we had this discussion like we should
talk to the board about it.
>> Yeah. Right. I guess but like I don't
know
>> it's late. I know.
>> No, it's just it's not necessarily
productive to like wordsmith in a
meeting like this. I think everyone
should kind of share feedback with the
committee to discuss it. I'm telling you
that um my experience
>> um I would request that it stay as is
>> because um people are not always as
reasonable as one might hope them to be
>> and to protect the district I would
encourage you to keep the language as
>> Okay. um if we come across a problem
then um the the the means around that
would be my evaluation that I'm not
hearing you know agenda preparation etc
or um things don't get done you know
because we're adversarial and the board
chair is blocking things that need to
move forward and I think we look at it
from from I don't know that we're going
to get there like a one versus one but
it's when it's they both have to be in
agreement that I see um greater risk
>> however this the board chair has the
right
to block things from the agenda. So,
>> I mean, we both could could go I mean,
hopefully it's never like that, but
let's be real. People you you never know
who's sitting in the chairs.
>> There's community members that are very
adversarial and and do run for
positions. And so, that that's my point,
right? And it's
>> it like I'm not I'm not I think you guys
are all wonderful,
>> right? Like I think you guys do a great
job.
>> No, but it's future proofing.
>> Yeah. Like that's which is what I was
trying to do when I was pulling all of
these documents forward.
>> It sounds like it's going to go back to
Rea. Maybe it should just say the
superintendent, you know.
>> So, how about this? How about we send it
back to a fourth read and if people
could put in an email to both Lyn and
myself um just the two of us though, so
that we're not in a quorum. Could you
guys send us the feedback that you guys
want in writing so that at the next
policy meeting Lyn and I can pull it up
and I think that I mean Lyn I feel like
that might be the most helpful. I I also
and I I'll email you, but I would like
to add in something about if if a board
member requests something and it is not
put on the agenda that the the chair is
required to explain why to that board
member. I think that's an important
piece because I know things have been
requested and declined. Sometimes we
don't give the best of explanations and
I would like that as a future proof,
right? because it keeps us all honest
that I'm not, you know, just dictating
or or a chair is not just dictating an
agenda and ignoring the rest of their
fellow board members. I want to make
sure that there is a there is
communication even if it needs to be
forced through a policy where you could
then hold where then future boards could
hold a chair accountable and things like
that. So, I just was kind of thinking
from that nature too of like maybe
boards that don't always work so well
together and like how do we future proof
and protect
>> the the the whole and
>> Yeah. So, so yeah. So, I
>> just want to make sure voices are heard.
>> Yeah. And I think that's fair. So, I
would say at this point we're going to
send it back for a fourth read. Um board
members, please send your written just
because we will not remember. So, please
send written feedback, comments, things
that you want to see changed to Lyn,
both Lynn and myself if you'd like to
include Don on it. that could probably
be helpful so that she is aware and can
kind of run it past from the
administration point of view and then
we'll just we'll bring it back um next
month for a fourth read if that works
for everybody. Does that sound good?
>> Awesome. Okay.
>> So then are we are we going policy by
policy or just what
>> I think something you guys have
something to anything else on another
policy? Yeah. On the one that um the
BSD, the community use of school
facilities. Um
>> KF
>> KF.
>> Oh, sorry. B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B
B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B
B B B B B B Oh, is it K? Sorry.
>> Yeah, because I think Brooklyn school.
>> Yes. Yeah.
>> Um,
do there's a lot of of great framework
around um
the mechanism and I'm wondering if
if we have anything in here about who we
grant
uh or what kinds of events we would
allow.
um you know I know we wouldn't allow
anything illegal but um you know what if
it's a political group what if it's um
you know I don't there there are
thousands of examples right that might
not be appropriate for a group to meet
in a public school building um and I
just wasn't sure if that was
>> so this one we sent to the lawyers I
think partially to ask that question
that was my
>> to her yet
we can certainly yeah certainly add that
in. But I think that was one of the
things that um we brought up and Lynn
certainly correct me if I don't remember
correctly, but I believe we brought that
up the last one was that we definitely
wanted the lawyer to review this because
we knew that there were requests already
in play and requests that had happened
in the past. So we can definitely add
that. Um
>> we're also going to look at the co-op
policy.
>> Yes. And we're going to look Yeah. So I
think we're definitely um this one is
more just like we wanted to put it out
there so that we could absolutely get
like that type of feedback from you
guys. Um, and then also double check it
with legal to make sure that we're
really dotting eyes, crossing tees
because I think the question to that
then comes down to is the school being
used as a school or as a community
center because I think that's going to
and and that's probably not a question
any of us can answer, right? That would
be a lawyer question.
>> No, I mean I think use it um for both.
Um, but what I appreciate as
superintendent about the co-op policy,
it's very specific about different types
of groups and categories of use. And it
it just spells it out. It's a little bit
more black and white and I think it's
cleaner.
>> Yeah. Like our campus, we can't have um
we can't have political uh candidates
come and do any type of thing. you know,
they they could a politician could come,
but they can't do it in the in the sense
of like, you know, fundraising or
campaigning or things like that. Um, so
those are the types of things that I'm
that I'm just thinking about, you know.
>> And so those are the types of things
that I um deny. Doesn't necessarily have
to be in policy. Could be in policy. I'm
more specific about what does it look
like if um there's a group of
Um, I'm trying to like Brooklyn students
who are in an like an activity and they
want to utilize our facility. Does that
look different from um a for-profit
group of students participating in a
travel league something something using
our you know what I mean? So if you if
you pay to participate and people are
getting money then um are we just making
our facilities open and available? are
we charging for services and you know
what does that fee structure look like
>> yeah and so specifically we also wanted
the lawyer to review because we know um
that there are with us being a border
town so to speak um that we wanted to
definitely make sure that if we did have
crossstate people requesting you so
that's one of the things we've asked the
lawyer to specifically review um to make
sure that we're just we're being
>> or beyond the town
>> Yeah. or beyond the town. Yeah.
>> Like a taxpayer versus a non-t taxpayer
use of facilities. Yeah.
>> Uh and then the other question I I just
had was on the medication uh JLCD
um in the EpiPen section F. Um there's a
new medication that um is a no spray.
And so I just don't know if any of that
needs to be added in here because it
says like um the auto like auto injector
and um it references I think it just
references like auto injector.
>> Yeah. When was the no spray approved? Do
you know?
>> Uh it must have been with I mean must
have been within the last year because
we just got it.
>> You just did it in the spring.
>> Yeah, we just did it in January. So I'm
wondering Lauren, do you because it's
she's talking about section F.
>> Yeah, I'm looking
>> auto.
>> But I believe the nose spray would be
covered under auto injector
>> because auto injector is that I guess
Lauren the question is does that cover
like a syringe or is that just anything
that a student is giving to themselves?
>> No, I mean auto injector means like a
injection.
>> And this is like a not like an afrin.
>> Yeah. But you still have to squeeze it
in order to make it. Yeah. Yeah. So you
still
>> But you don't have to stick yourself.
>> No, but you're still self injecting it
into your body.
>> No. It's So according to um very quick
look um the auto injector cannot refer
to a spray.
>> Okay. So does that So Lauren, this was
one that you you worked on. Do you need
to review this and add that or do does
that because this is I think you worked
with the nurses and legal. This is
specific to
>> the nephron which I know can come right
now in a in a nasal form. So
>> um is
>> which which read was this first read?
>> This is yeah because it was only let me
get some grammar change some language
and oh
>> does that count as a metered been
adopted since January.
>> Does does that count as a metered dose
inhaler?
>> No
>> cuz it's nasal is you're inhaling it. I
I'm just asking
>> this is just preliminary. I'm just
looking. I mean we we it's only a one
dose thing,
>> right? So it's metered.
>> We could add self administer but then
you'd have to do it again.
>> We have self administered meter dose
inhaler.
>> Oh yeah. At the top F is it's so it's
not and no spray would be different than
that.
>> Typically like you wouldn't call a spray
an inhaler.
>> So could we just strike auto injectors
and inhalers and say methodology and
just put administration self
administration of
>> epinephrine? Yeah, that's great.
>> Um that's what I would say for that.
want to push to a second read.
>> Second.
>> Yeah,
>> second read. And then
>> that would be cleaner because then I
could just get exact definitions of what
those are
>> and then do you need to run that by the
nursing staff, Lauren?
>> I I'll let them know, but I don't think
what it is, what we throw in there. But
yeah, I think we just take out the
methodology and put all self-
administration.
>> Yay, new meds. Thanks for bringing that
up, Tracy. I did not know that we had
>> I'm glad they have no I think spray is
>> That's smart. Yeah, for people that have
been through it, they don't really want
to be injected yet. So,
>> yeah, mind the injection.
>> All right. Well,
>> is there is there anything else
regarding the policies that were brought
forward tonight?
>> Um, I just want if there's no other
questions, I do just want to offer a
quick overview, especially on the ones
that are federal. Um, Lynn and I are
requesting that everybody please at
least give them a scan while we can't
change them. We do want to make sure
there was a lot of information that got
added. So we just like scan it so that
you guys are aware that we're all aware.
Um I think that was a big that was the
big one. Um the AI one we tabled the
school internet just so again some of
these we've reviewed but um I would just
absolutely encourage anybody that if
you're reading through them and you're
noticing things to just let us know. Our
I think our next policy meeting is like
September 14th.
It's like the second third week of
September. So um the sooner you get us
the information the easier it is for us
to pull it. Um, but overall I think
we've got some bigger ones I think
coming up as well, like the AI one and a
couple that. So, just keep in
>> I'm I might ask Allison to send out an
email just letting you guys know when
those come down so you can take a look
at them. Lyn, is there anything else I
forgot to add? No,
>> that's great.
>> Okay. I'm also just going to take a
minute and tell you guys from the SEC
policy or SAU policy. I've been watching
too many rush videos this weekend. Um,
please take a look at that because our
policy SAU policy meeting is September
10th and that will be the last
opportunity that we have to amend the
policy for spec prior. We have to adopt
the form in October because we can't run
an evaluation without a form and the
evaluation has to start in December. So,
please, please, please review and if you
have any questions, concerns, anything,
please send me an email so I can pass it
on to the SAU committee. I did send out
a lovely long email that I don't think
anybody read. Please read that um
because it does have some important
information, but yeah, please just
definitely if you want to take a look at
the SAU policies just so that we can
make sure that we have all the
information and can make all the
appropriate changes by September 10th,
that would be fantastic for both Dot and
I so we don't have to email you again.
Any any other thoughts, questions about
that?
>> All right. So then with that I do need a
recommendation to approve I do need a
motion to approve the recommendations of
the Brookline policy committee as per
the memorandum provided as part of the
agenda packet with the amendments
>> made this evening um and discussed
tonight.
>> I will make a motion.
>> May I get a second? Excellent. All
approved.
Um and then who would like That's it,
right? The who would like to do the
honors?
>> Do we have any member interest?
>> No.
>> Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. No, there were no
member interest um items submitted.
>> Really quick, new What is new member
interest? What is that?
>> Member interest. Remember I I in I
>> added this section last year is just if
if board members have something that
they want to share out. It's kind of
just a threem minute quick hey I'm
interested in this they can share their
thoughts. Tracy kicked it off for us
last year. Um and then based on what is
shared if that's something then that we
want to move to a a bigger discussion um
we can then put it on the following
agenda. So, it's kind of a way if if a
board member has an interest that they
want to raise to us as a group because
we can't do it like offline. We can't do
that offline. You can raise the interest
talk you get a three-minute kind of open
form. It's not a discussion. It's just
hey, I'm interested in this. Here's why
blah blah blah. And then if there's an
appetite, we can add it to the agenda
for further discussion at the next
meeting.
>> And the process should be to send that
to send the topic to you for Okay.
>> Yep. Absolutely. Um, any other questions
before we go? Heather, you're usually
great at closing out our meetings. We
don't have a nonpublic tonight. Want to
make the motion to adjurnn?
>> I make I will make the motion to
adjurnn.
>> I don't have to roll call that. Do I?
>> Can I get a second? All in favor?
>> It is 8:57.