Good evening and welcome to the February 5th open meeting of the Sharon School Committee, which is being conducted remotely, consistent with an act relative to extending certain COVID-19 measures adopted during the state of emergency signed into law on June 16, 2021, as amended and extended through March of 2025. These provisions allow public bodies to meet remotely as long as reasonable public access is afforded so the public can follow along with the deliberations of the meeting.

For this meeting, the school committee, meeting of the school committee, we are convening by Zoom. Members of the public have been provided with access information so they can follow the meeting remotely.

All votes will be conducted via roll call. The first thing on the agenda is community comments.

In the past, I have requested that people turn on their cameras.

The reason for this is because there's something goes on with the Sharon TV cameras where it doesn't focus on the person's screen when it's off. And so your face is not shown.

It's like one of our faces gets shown.

So that's why we would like you to turn on your screen.

So it's the focus is on you and what you're saying.

But we definitely need both your first and last name. And most people have that in their little name on their page.

I will now start with questions.

Mr. O'Brien, you have two minutes.

Adam, is Adam here?

Yep, I got the timer.

Thank you. Julie?

Yes. Can you, did you read our non-discrimination statement?

No, I did not. Would you mind reading it, please?

Can you find it? Please?

I don't have it right now.

Mr. O'Brien, please go. Happy National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

Talk about timely.

After our last meeting, I sent a letter to the White House and included a picture of the all-gender sign at College Elementary.

I implored President Trump to help parents in blue states that seem to have no intent on obeying his executive orders. I told him he should withhold federal funding just as they are doing for sanctuary cities. I will send him a letter every two weeks until the signs come down and I am assured the American flag will be the only flag on school grounds.

While he has issued two executive orders, including one ending indoctrination in grades K through 12, we as parents must stop the radical left's pushing of gender insanity and trying to defeminize our daughters.

Standing strong in your convictions and standing up for what is right and wrong defines one's character.

We must all stand up to combat this issue.

We can't sit quietly on the sidelines because the left will not stop trying to indoctrinate our children.

It is not only important for our well-being, but for the well-being of our kids, grandkids, and the nation. I learned that a person called James Newton, a keyboard warrior, took to Facebook to besmirch my name and the names of other parents. This person appears to be a middle school teacher.

Julie, we have a very clear policy around some of the personal attacks.

And I mean, it is not appropriate for a member of the public to target another individual by mentioning names. And it's certainly, Mr. O'Brien, not a part of the table and talk about Facebook.

If you want to talk about Facebook on Facebook, do that. You get your two minutes, and I respect those two minutes. Don't bring social media stuff to this table and certainly don't do it while mentioning other members of the public by name. Okay. I apologize.

That won't happen again.

Jay and everybody else, I will say that although you are free to criticize, as we know from the Supreme Judicial Court, any member of the school committee because we're public figures, please do not mention other people by name. I apologize.

Okay. Thank you. It won't happen again.

Okay.

So, oh, so I'll finish up.

As for the bathroom at Cottage, I have been to a McDonald's, Showcase Cinema's movie theater, South Station in Boston, several office buildings in Boston, and not in one of these adult locations have I found an all-gender-labeled restroom, only in an elementary school in Sharon and Cottage.

I've reached the conclusion this bathroom was installed during the time when schools were locked down while parents were distracted and, of course, not notified.

The fight against trans ideology against our children is on its last legs.

Parents, it's time to sweep the leg. They, them, are now, was, were. Thank you, and God bless. Okay.

Ms.

Conroy?

Hi, Julia.

Yeah, can I jump in just really quickly?

Yes.

Shana had asked, and so I just wanted to call out that on the bottom of our agenda, it does say, and I'm happy to read, sharing public schools does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity, homelessness, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation, and that is always printed on our agendas.

Thank you. Thank you, Adam.

Okay, Ms. Conroy?

Hello, my name is Katie Conroy.

My family and I, like many others in town, chose to move to the Sharon for the fantastic school system. Two years ago, I was thrilled to see that free full-day kindergarten was going to be offered in our town going forward. This past year, I was very discouraged to learn that free full-day kindergarten was rescinded indefinitely due to budget constraints.

The vast majority of cities and towns in Massachusetts offer free full-day kindergarten.

As Sharon is a highly regarded school system in the state, it is shameful that we are not providing our youngest learners with the same opportunity as most of their peers across the state. We should be investing in our youngest learners, not penalizing them for mistakes and misunderstandings made two years ago. Free full-day kindergarten was fought for, supported by our town, and promised to our residents going forward two years ago. Free full-day kindergarten should still be a priority to provide the best start for our children and to attract young families to move to our great town. I understand that there are budget constraints, but I do think it is imperative that our school system budget be reviewed to see what creative solutions can be made to deliver on the promises that were made to Sharon residents.

Since it is only the beginning of February, I am looking forward to seeing what creative solutions the school committee will come up with to offer free full-day kindergarten to our children beginning in September.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Patty Goulding, hold on one second.

I'm trying to get you. Did I get you?

Yes, thank you. Okay, thank you. My name is Patty Goulding.

I'm an IA at Cottage.

I have a bachelor's degree.

I've held different roles in education for over 18 years. I've spent more than 10 years in the financial services industry, and I've raised four children.

I am one of 11 dedicated pair of professionals at Cottage Street School, where there are currently three open IA positions.

I personally support 20 children on IEPs. I work in nine different classrooms.

My schedule is jam-packed.

In addition to academics, I support students at lunch, specials, and recess.

I know the math curriculum as well as the teachers.

I am learning the newly adopted CKLA curriculum on my own time.

I support all students who require help, not just the students I'm assigned to.

I have connections with many students because I've been a dependable presence in their classrooms year after year.

I have an extremely strong relationship with teachers. They rely on me to carry out lesson plans, consult with me about students, and my presence in the classroom allows them to conduct both group and individualized instruction without interruption.

In the halls, I support students that are upset, that can't open a locker, that are having problems with a peer, that need the nurse, that need a band-aid, that need help with zippers, shoes, boots, gloves, and a whole host of other things. I get a one-half-hour unpaid lunch break, which I very rarely get to on time because I can't just walk away from a student in the middle of learning.

Myself and all IAs do this and much, much more every single day, but two minutes is not nearly enough time to fill you in.

IAs are incredibly important, and I honestly couldn't imagine what our education system would be without the support the IAs provide.

We do this on a salary far below a living wage.

We make substantially less than teachers, yet we pay a higher percentage of our health insurance, and I know I personally would never have taken this job when I was younger because there's no parental leave.

Sharon needs to start treating their IAs with respect they deserve, and then and only then will they be able to attract and retain the dedicated professional instructional assistance that can support the learning of all students.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Golding.

Hala Mustafa?

Oh.

Sorry, Hala.

Did you?

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Okay.

Thanks, Judy.

Hi, everyone.

I'm Hala Mustafa.

I'm speaking today about the ongoing pattern of ignoring minorities and immigrants in decision-making, whether it was the unjust calendar vote at the last school committee meeting or the proposed change to the policy JIH.

Too often, our voices are overlooked and our concerns are either misunderstood or dismissed entirely.

It seems that until an immigrant parent has a seat at the school committee.

The proposed change for the JIH policy put vulnerable students, particularly immigrants, minorities, and students with disabilities at a greater risk by weakening parental protections during law enforcement questioning.

The current SPS policy ensures that all students under age 18 have a parent present during law enforcement questions, but the proposed change allows 14 to 17-year-old students to waive this right or to be questioned alone if parents are unreachable.

This ignores well-established legal and psychological research showing that minors lack the maturity to navigate law enforcement interactions alone and are more susceptible to coercion.

Massachusetts case law and federal rulings reinforce the need for stronger safeguards, not weaker ones. Historically, Sharon has pride itself on protecting student rights.

Yet, this change favors law enforcement convenience over the students' best interests.

School committee and administration must ask themselves, why are they prioritizing legal and police perspectives over the voices of families, child advocates, and civil rights experts?

If this policy disproportionately harms marginalized communities, it's not just a policy change.

It is an injustice and racism.

There is no legal requirement forcing shadow of students' protections.

Hala, finish up, please.

You're over time.

Okay. And if the memorandum of understanding with the police is in conflict, then the memorandum, not the student rights, should be reconsidered.

I urge school committee to reject this change and uphold the protections to all students, regardless of their big grounds.

Thank you, Julie.

Thank you.

Evgenia Vassaletz.

Ms. Vassaletz, did you get...

I unmute myself.

I wrote it down so you're not going to listen to my second language.

We diverse town with students from different cultures, and all of us celebrate a variety of holidays.

And if we will accommodate every holiday, our school year will extend into July.

Ten days ago, I started petition considering federal holidays only calendar for sharing public school next year and received 310 signatures.

I did send a report to you. I'm asking, please think about federal holidays only for 2025, 2026.

Let students to, you know, celebrate the holidays they choose.

Give them excuse absence.

And this proposition doesn't devalue any cultural or religious holiday.

It promotes unity and shows respect for our diverse community.

Thank you very much.

Thank you so much. Mr.

Carmody.

Hello.

Got it.

Can you hear me?

Yeah.

Hi. Thank you, Julie.

I would like to provide input prior to the discussion and vote on the proposed changes to the school calendar.

My overarching input is to ensure the school district prioritizes quality education and effective use of time during the school year to develop, to deliver the strong curriculum.

But balance this with a sensitivity to individual families, religious beliefs, and holiday celebrations.

Families should be able to keep their child out of school as an excused absence to observe a religious holiday that is meaningful to them. I believe it's appropriate to observe federal holidays as the primary construct for our school calendar, as these are most widely observed and unifying across America.

I've seen an increase in the number of communities and corporate organizations providing federal holidays and two to three personal choice allowance days for individuals.

This would be including for teachers and school administrators to use as they deem most appropriate for their own family needs.

A form of this could be adopted by the Sharon Public Schools. With an understanding, teachers will not be administering any tests or set deadlines for work submitted on any significant religious holiday throughout the year.

Finally, I deem it's important for the school calendar to end by mid-June at the latest in any given year.

Temperatures start to rise significantly.

I have to think about that now.

Making it uncomfortable work and learning environments.

Many camp education and enrichment and travel study abroad programs start by mid-June.

Many community members have extended families overseas and use summer break to spend time visiting and caring for loved ones who are far from home.

And finally, older children in our community often seek summer employment opportunities that commence in mid-June.

Please do not extend the school calendar beyond the current 180 days.

Look for ways to more effectively use the time available throughout the year and fully evaluate the potential to include two to three family choice days for excused absences.

Thank you so much.

Oh, wow. That was bang on, Phil.

Thank you.

Erin Silver.

Ms. Silver.

Hello, everyone.

Thank you for allowing me time to talk tonight.

I am Erin Silver.

I'm a middle school science teacher, and I'm reading a letter on behalf of one of our Sharon Middle School Bridges Program teachers, Stephanie Feeney. Dear Sharon School Committee, I'm writing to you to advocate for our instructional assistants.

IAs do the majority of the hands-on work with our students every day, providing personalized support, assisting with classroom management, and helping ensure that students are receiving the attention and guidance that they need to thrive in all areas of their school day. This includes academically, behaviorally, socially, and emotionally.

IAs have a deep understanding of students' needs, strengths, and challenges.

The schools simply could not function effectively without their support.

However, despite the important role they play, IAs continue to be undercompensated for their hard work.

Many of them are paid at a level that does not reflect the value that they bring to the educational experience, nor do they have the access to benefits that adequately support their well-being.

Given the demands of their work, it is only fair that they receive a higher pay and better insurance benefits.

I strongly encourage the school committee to prioritize increasing the pay and benefits for our instructional assistants.

Thank you for taking time.

Thanks, Ms. Silver.

Ikra Javid, and I'm sorry if I didn't say your name correctly.

That's okay. You did say it correctly.

So my name is Ikra Javid, and I wanted to comment on two issues today.

First, I wanted to comment on the GIH policy.

I do not support changing the policy because the 14 to 18-year-old age range is a very vulnerable population.

They don't understand the complexities of our society in law enforcement, and I cannot imagine someone that age being questioned by law enforcement without a parent being present.

I'm a physician, and in my practice, I see a lot of young adults.

So these are, you know, people who have college degrees.

They have jobs.

They're very competent. And almost all of the time when they're seeing me, they come in with a parent.

And that's because they don't feel comfortable seeing me and just being alone in that situation.

They don't know how to handle some information.

So they feel more comfortable when their parent is there, and they can provide more information and understand what's going on. So how can we expect children who are much younger than that to interact with police or other law personnel without any parents?

So I urge everyone on the school committee not to change the current policy because it's protecting our vulnerable children.

The other issue I want to comment on is the school calendar.

So as you all know, we had a discussion last year to acknowledge and add other religious or cultural holidays, and the result of that was very disappointing because some holidays were only given half days off, which does not really make any sense.

I'm not really sure what the purpose of a half day is because if I'm sending my child to school or keeping them home, it doesn't matter if it's a half day or full day. I count it as a day off.

And I'm not sure if, you know, we're given the half day, if it means the children are only allowed to celebrate their holiday for that half day. So they just go to school and then forget about their holiday for the rest of the day.

So I, you know, want to urge the school committee members to consider the diverse population of Sharon and treat everyone equally and not give preference to certain religions or cultures.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ben Feinberg.

Thank you, Julie.

And go birds.

Go birds.

I just want to comment briefly on the calendar as well. You know, the job of government bodies in setting up their structures, which includes calendars, is to do what's best for their function.

And the function of the school is obviously to educate the kids. Having all sorts of different holidays on the school calendar doesn't serve that purpose.

It doesn't serve the purpose of accommodating particular kids. It doesn't serve the purpose of fostering education.

What it does is promote the individual holidays that are posted on there.

And it values some over others by giving them a full day over a half day or a half day over no day. And to be honest, that's kind of inappropriate.

The appropriate place to allow for accommodation of religious practice of students and staff is in attendance policies.

Now, I get that there will be days potentially where there isn't sufficient staffing to hold a day because of religious accommodation.

And that's fine.

And the school administration needs to identify those days. And those days should appear on the calendar as such.

But to be honest, other religious holidays should not be on the calendar in any way, shape or form.

There shouldn't be a Rosh Hashanah on there if the schools have enough staff to run on there.

There shouldn't be Eid on there if the schools have enough staff to run on there. The choices of individuals to observe and practice their religion is an individual choice.

And people shouldn't be pushed into that or have that promoted to them by government bodies.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Lori Davis.

Hold on. Sorry.

Did you get it?

Hold on. Oh, there you go.

Okay, great.

So I'm speaking tonight in favor of curriculum coordinators with the talk of the budget going around.

And there's been a lot of conversation around what a curriculum coordinator does as opposed to a department head.

So I'm here to speak about the differences.

And I have firsthand knowledge of that as I was a department head in my last district. So I want to be very clear about what the curriculum coordinators bring that a department head cannot. So at my last district, I was department head and I was required to run a small department of seven people, teach two classes on a block schedule, which was 84 minute periods, develop curriculum, attend building meetings and conduct observations, which held no real power since I was in the same bargaining unit as teachers.

The job was unmanageable as I would be failing either the oversight of the department or in the job of teaching.

And since I've come to Sharon, I observed the work curriculum coordinators do here, and I found them to be nothing short of amazing.

They are experts, experts in their fields, providing classroom observations, which are especially useful now that we are down a vice principal at the high school.

They provide knowledge of the standards and latest pedagogy and writing curriculum for both the middle and high school. Without them, the departments would be lost.

And I mean no disrespect to the work that Dr. Joycelyn does, but to take the curriculum coordinators out of the role, you would be putting the burden of oversight on Dr. Jocelyn for running the whole curriculum of this entire district, K through 12, and to be knowledgeable about this curriculum, which is specialized for each discipline.

A department head would not have the same power or control over alignment from the middle school to high school, something that we are constantly evaluating and improving on.

To list the jobs that these coordinators do would take longer than the two minutes that you will have given me to speak.

However, to say that a district will pay the price in test scores and in rigor and in alignment cannot be understated.

If your sole purpose is to save money, cutting these vital jobs without understanding the premises of them will only later create problems that will require more money and time to fix.

They are trained experts.

If we lose them, this district will suffer and we will no longer be able to remain at the top of the state's performing districts.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Sorry.

Matt Fenlon.

Thanks, Madam Chair.

Last month, the school committee voted once again to charge parents over $3,600 for full day kindergarten.

This continues to make Sharon an extreme outlier in Massachusetts as nearly 95% of districts fund full day kindergarten.

Since last month, at least 80 families have reached out to the school committee requesting the school committee reconsider by reducing the fee for next year and identifying a path for full funding thereafter.

The majority of school committee members have agreed kindergarten should be fully funded, so that is a good start. However, there is still time for the school committee to take action before submitting a final budget next month.

Kindergarten is essential for a child's education and should not be treated as a user fee. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Fenlon.

Lauren Grasso.

Two minutes.

Did it not work? I'm sorry.

I'm good.

Good evening. At a time when our students need protection more than ever, lowering the age at which they are questioned by law enforcement places our most vulnerable students at even greater risk.

Students between the ages of 14 and 18 are still very much minors and should always have a guardian present for any questioning conducted by anyone other than our trusted school staff.

I also want to address an example shared by a member of the school committee on Facebook. But before I get into that, I feel it's important to note that using social media to discuss such critical matters concerning our district is inappropriate.

If the committee wishes to engage with the public, conversations should be allowed to take place here in a formal public forum, not on social media.

Returning to the example posted on Facebook about a student overdosing on school property.

I don't believe that allowing law enforcement to question students would have any positive impact on the situation raised.

In fact, I believe that in an incident of this nature, Narcan would be administered regardless of questioning, as most overdoses are opioid-related and Narcan causes no harm if opioids are not present in the system.

I expect the members of the school committee to use our policies to ensure the safety and rights of our students rather than stripping them of those rights. Thank you.

Thanks, Ms. Grasso.

Ms. Crosby.

Hold on. I'm sorry.

Okay.

Did you get it, Judy? Yeah, I did. Thank you. So first, I thought I'd help you out by reminding you and strongly encouraging every school committee member to go and actually crack open your policy book and look at policy AC, which is your general non-discrimination policy, Julie. Look at policy ACA, which is your non-discrimination policy on the basis of sex, gender, gender identity, sexuality, orientation.

And look at policy ACE, which is your non-discrimination on the basis of disability.

Don't just look at them. Please actually dig in. Give it your attention and read them. Because watching the school committee is quite painful.

Recently, without any opportunity for public comment, you listened to your administration tell you that they were going to remove the listing for foundation courses from your program of studies. Don't worry. They're still going to provide the courses.

But just those SPED kids take them.

Literal quote.

Go back and watch your meeting.

That is shameful.

And none of you said, hey, that's a weird thing to say. By the way, also not true.

If you had talked to your SPED administrator as well as CPAC, you would have known better.

But you were in such a rush to approve this thing that you let an administrator come to the table, disparage SPED kids, and then said, well, you know, we have other SPED programs that aren't listed in the program of studies. So it makes sense to do away with these.

What is the matter with you?

Do you not understand how othering and disgusting that is?

Do you not understand what it means to a parent whose child has been recommended for a foundations class? To open their program of studies and not see it there.

Okay?

Do better.

Read your policies.

When someone asks the chair of this school committee to read the non-discrimination statement that's on your agenda, do better.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Crosby.

George Ann Lewis.

Hi, good evening. Thank you.

So I'm just going to tackle piggyback.

I'm not going to get into some big lectures. I just want to voice that.

I'm very concerned about the way this district is moving. We're moving further and further away from being student-centered.

To Ms. Crosby's point, to others' points about the 14 to 18-year-old proposed change, the calendar not being federal. I just want to speak out and say I am a proponent of following a federal calendar, keeping the policy for 14 to 18-year-olds the way it is. And probably also as equally important, if not more, is we need to take care of all of our staff.

We need to maintain our staffing ratios, our integrity.

Special education numbers are way out of whack. And we do not take care of our instructional aids.

And this stuff needs to change if we want to be not just high-performing, but student-centered.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lewis.

Linda Tchvakova.

Thank you, Julie.

Do you hear me?

Yes.

Thank you, Madam Chairman.

All right.

I didn't write anything down. I just wanted to talk to you, even though it just gets two minutes. For those of you who don't know me, I am both parent here. I have child in every single school, elementary, middle, and high. And I'm also a teacher in eighth grade, science teacher.

I am here to talk about the calendar, mostly as a parent, but also as a teacher.

I would prefer from both of my positions for it to be a federal days-only calendar.

I don't want to repeat all the reasons that were said, but I want to just give some examples and maybe some perspective.

When Rotary Alliance Club, a few years ago, did a big survey of how many nationalities are in town, it was more than 80.

80 nationalities, different religions.

We are a super diverse town.

And by trying to offer everybody a day or half a day, we just cannot do it. We have a huge Russian population.

We are not offering Orthodox Christmas.

We are not offering Three Kings Day. My Polish and Eastern European friends out there, we are not offering Dingus or Easter Monday after Easter.

We just cannot accommodate.

And it's not ideal to have a federal-only calendar, but it's the most fair, I think, we can have to not to have some families feel that they are overlooked and excluded.

For example, my family feels this way with the calendar.

I also, as a teacher, would like to say that half day means I have 20-plus minutes with each class in middle school.

That means I can teach for 15 minutes per class on that day.

So you can see that's probably not much I can teach on that day.

So those days are not useful and effective in school. So I would urge you to re-look at again and look at the petition that Evgenia sent you that over 300 people just in 10 days said, of course, I want federal days-only calendar.

I think it would be the most fair as a parent and as a teacher.

Very much.

Thanks, Linda.

Wendy MacArthur.

There you go. First of all, I just want to start off by saying, you know, I am so deeply disappointed by this administration that they have failed to acknowledge or address the impact of recent comments made by both the government officials and the members of our town, particularly on our most marginalized students.

These students already face significant challenges, and the rhetoric being used only exasperates their struggles, creating an environment that feels like a lot of people. It's increasingly hostile and unwelcoming.

I want to express my gratitude to Shana tonight for taking the time to clearly articulate the committee's position.

Thank you, Shana, for putting that out there that this is what the committee is standing for.

I wish the administration would do the same. However, if the commitment is truly sincere, then the committee must also recognize that the proposed policy change lowering the age requirement from 18 to 14 will have a direct and disproportionate effect on these very students.

As a district, we have a commitment to a mission that states, quote, from the website, we strive to provide educational community that nurtures each student on their unique journey, unique journey, to be lifelong learners and caring and engaged citizens of our world. If we truly uphold this mission, we must consider not just the intent of our policies, but their real world consequences.

A nurturing educational community does not ignore the voices of our most vulnerable students, nor does it enact policies that might further marginalize them.

I urge the committee and the administration to take a step back, listen to those most effective, and ensure that any change made to reflect our collective responsibility to create a truly supportive and educational environment for all. And then I also want to say I 100% support all of our IA instructional assistants.

They're amazing.

Thanks, Wendy. That was bang on.

HEMA.

Did you get it?

You got it?

Oh.

You all set?

Sorry.

Sorry. Am I up?

You're on. Yeah. Okay, great. Thank you so much.

Sorry, I'm doing a kid pickup at the same time.

I didn't come prepared with comments today, but I just wanted to address the issue of lowering the age to 14.

You know, in this moment and culture of repression and anti-immigrant sentiment, you know, there are some significant concerns that are raised to really create a culture of intimidation in our schools at this time. You know, as a former immigration practitioner, we see so many examples of cases, even in Massachusetts, where law enforcement and immigration are mingled.

And I just want to say, I think this is a serious issue. And I just want to say, I think this is a serious issue and it does not keep us safer. It creates a culture of intimidation in our schools for vulnerable youth.

And I'm really strongly hoping the school committee will make the right choice and keep the policy as is and keep our kids and our communities protected.

Thank you. Thanks.

Thanks.

Drive safely.

I'm going back to my school pickup, my kid pickup.

Bye.

Drive safely.

All right.

And I'm now going to call Ed Aissa.

And I apologize if I said your name wrong.

Oh, hi. Hi, everyone.

Sorry. I'm going to be quick. I wanted to question a question to the vote that happened during the last meeting and to the members who voted to add the second day of Rosh Hashanah.

How what was the reason behind that vote?

We went from an extremely exclusive calendar last year to an old federal calendar, only for federal calendar.

And then again, to slightly less exclusive calendar.

And then during the prior meetings, multiple.

And you mentioned that we're going to look at the data and we're going to decide about the school calendar.

And I thought, OK, so we seem like the decision was made. Let's look at the data of attendance.

And based on this, we'll decide on the school calendar. However, during the last meeting, the data did not support adding the secondary of Rosh Hashanah.

The teacher's clear request was to not to extend the school calendar into further days into June.

However, school committee members voted, definitely certain members, to go ahead with that proposal.

There is an obvious bias. And I wish I would ask the school committee members to show integrity in the decision making and voting.

Because obviously what you claim that you're going to do, that's what you vote for. Mr. Shemtov, Mr. Mutenko, you claim before, too, that you represent every student in our schools, which obviously, I mean, the voting last meeting does not show that. If you walk to any of our schools, you will realize how diverse our schools are.

We have people from everywhere.

And having a very exclusive calendar, what we have right now, excluding vast majority of the students in our town.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

And are we done?

Is that everyone?

Did everyone?

Okay, great.

I would like to thank everyone for showing up and sharing your thoughts about these important things.

And I was listening to everybody.

Great.

So the next item on the agenda is the discussion of the calendar.

So I would like to, Avi, would you like me to bounce this to you as the chair of the calendar committee?

Or do you want me to start it off?

Do we have the three versions of the calendar ready to put up on the screen at any point? Or I know everyone has had an opportunity to see them.

I, I, the three, what three versions are you, the three that you. Sorry, the three that the FDA.

I can grab, I didn't, they're in your folder.

So I can read them that way.

I can read them.

I can read them. So the, what happened was.

Hold on. If we're going to, I just didn't know.

I didn't know I would leave this discussion, but I have no problem doing that. I was just going to say, I'm just, I'm not set up. I just wasn't set up to share the screen.

But I think the, the summary real quick for where we are is last meeting, we voted two versions of a calendar to submit to the sharing teachers union. And again, just for any, any folks watching who aren't aware, the agreement between the sharing teachers association and this district is that if this committee passes a calendar that starts before Labor Day, or in order for us to start before Labor Day, we require an agreement with the STA on that calendar.

If the STA does not agree, or we, or we choose to start post Labor Day, that, that's, that's a different option.

So we can, in short, have a calendar, either a, that starts before Labor Day, and we can agree with the STA on, or we can start post Labor Day.

Last year, I think I speak for the, for a real majority of this town that's starting post Labor Day.

And certainly in the way that we went about handling that calendar created a lot of heartache.

So at this moment, the sharing teachers association, which is not normally the way that the process works, but was kind enough to send us three versions of the calendars that they believe fit their membership survey information.

So we all have three versions of a calendar.

They are somewhat, I mean, they're, they're, at least one version is pretty different than the other two.

They do all incorporate some days that the STA was honest with us, their membership very much values, like the, the day at the end of holiday break next year, the day before Thanksgiving, et cetera.

And so if we, my belief or my view is that tonight we should vote all three of those calendars and any one of them that passes with four votes from this committee, I believe, my opinion is we should then send back to the STA. And any calendar that this committee can pass.

If that's one, then that becomes the calendar.

If that is more than one, then the STA will vote and ratify one of those calendars and we'll, we'll move on from there.

We would then just have to vote it again.

If, if people don't object to voting all three of them, because again, I think this community feels very passionately and strongly and not necessarily all on the same page about these calendars.

So I think we owe it to this community to give all three of these calendars that the STA has sent to us an honest shake.

And again, if we're unable to pass any of them, then we're going to have to be discussing different options and how we proceed.

But again, the STA took the time and the energy to create these three versions.

Jane has, has looked them. We would have to vote them just, and I say Jane, Peter also has looked at them. We would have to, I think, vote them contingent on an administrative review or view by administration just to make sure they meet all the needs from like a half day perspective, PD perspective, et cetera.

So that, that's what I'd like to do here is put all, give all three calendars an honest, fair shake to vote.

Any calendar that gets four votes, send over to the STA and move forward.

All right.

All right.

Well, that sounds all right to me. So I will then bring forward calendar one.

Calendar one has early release days for all of the religious observance days.

And somebody had asked during the comments about why there was a half day. And the reason that there was a half day on certain holidays was so that families could skip school without missing like a whole bunch of important information.

And that was the purpose.

It didn't have anything to do with the time of day of worship or anything like that. It was really just to make it easier on families.

We do have to have 11 or 12.

I forget the exact number of the half days throughout the year.

So what we, what we would do in calendar one is kind of schedule those early release days on days like Rosh Hashanah day one, Rosh Hashanah day two, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Eid al-Fitr, Good Friday, and Eid al-Adha.

And the vacation would include Wednesday of Thanksgiving.

It would include a winter break that starts on December 24th and goes through January 2nd.

And it would start before Labor Day on August 27th.

So if I hear a motion, we can take, would anyone like me to repeat any of that? Are you looking at it?

Okay.

All right. So I will accept a motion to approve calendar one.

So I think, I think I might have it set up to be able to put on the screen.

I think we have to be able to look at this, especially just for the public to be able to see it.

All right.

I know how passionate the community is about this. And I just want to make sure everybody has an option to see this. So let me try to. Good idea.

All right. Jeremy, did you want to say something while Avi is doing this?

I just thought we should put it on the screen.

Okay. If we can.

All right.

So this is calendar one.

Do you have the other sheet where it kind of lists everything out?

Like the second page of that?

Yeah.

It's turned to the side. Okay. Never mind.

But it lists everything out right here.

So again, it shows that the first day would be August 27th. The last day, the 180th day, I should say, would be June 11th.

The 185th day would be June 18th.

And it shows what days would be off.

So this is the calendar that has no school on Indigenous Peoples Day, Veterans Day, MLK Day, and Memorial Day. And then it has half days on days like Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Day 1, Day 2, Diwali, Eid, both Eids, Good Friday.

So this is calendar one.

Avi, I have it up turned through my way up. Is that helpful if I share it and you can walk through it? That would be super helpful.

All right. So let me stop sharing.

Oh, let me come back to the Zoom screen here.

So you're talking to somebody that uses Teams most of the time, but Jesper, let me give one second.

There we go. Thank you. You all see my screen like that?

Mm-hmm.

It's awesome.

Okay. So, Avi, I'm not giving up the 40.

You can certainly go through it, but I just thought I could share it so people can see it. Yeah, it's fine. You're on the calendar subcommittee too.

I think the important thing here is just that everybody in the community see exactly what the version is that we're looking at.

So I guess, Julie, if you want to call for a motion or I can.

Avi, just one thing to make clear. They're just, they don't list it, but just that Wednesday before Thanksgiving and January 2nd are no school days on that as well.

Right.

Shauna, did you want to say something?

Yes, please. Is it possible to see the actual calendar?

I'm just very visual and I think it's just helpful.

My version has the normal way.

Allen's has that one sideways.

It's in the drive.

No, no, no. I know. I just think it's, I think it's visually, visual appeal.

Hold on. I can do this, Shauna. Hold on one second.

Sorry.

No, no. Not a problem.

Not a problem.

Oh, look at that, Allen. You're so good.

Of all those yellow days is a lot.

Jeremy?

Yeah, I agree with Shauna.

That seems very disruptive.