Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the March 5th, 2025 School Committee meeting.

This open meeting of the Sharon School Committee is being conducted remotely, consisted with an act relative to extending certain COVID-19 measures adopted during the state of emergency signed into law on June 16th, 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 this meeting.

For this meeting, we are convening by Zoom, and members of the public have been provided with access information.

All votes will be conducted during roll call.

And as I usually do, I encourage you to please turn your cameras on because otherwise you may not appear on screen, your name may not appear on screen.

And it would be very helpful to share in TV if you could do that.

We are going to start with public comments.

The public comments will be for two minutes each. And right before I call some names, I think Adam wanted to say something very quickly.

Adam Chapnick, MD, Thank you. I just wanted to apologize again. And just note for health reasons, I'm going to be again, camera off. But rest assured, I am here.

And thank you. Pamela Riteki.

Oh, sorry.

Hold on.

Trying to.

Okay.

Do you get it?

Okay.

Thank you.

Pamela Riteki, MD, Yes. Hi. So my name is Pam Riteki.

And I'd like to speak on behalf of the elementary Spanish team. The elementary Spanish program has been scrutinized more than any other academic program in Sharon.

The formatting of the program keeps changing.

And despite this, students continue to show growth in their Spanish language skills.

Within each Spanish lesson, students are building their foundation also in general literacy.

The elementary Spanish program addresses skills such as sentence structure, identification of story components, use of transition words, comprehension of words and context.

In addition, receptive language is developed before expressive language.

And these skills reflect more than merely memorizing a few words.

No one looks at a two-year-old child and thinks, oh, they can only say a few words. This might be a waste of time. Perhaps we should stop teaching them. Individual student output is not necessarily the basis for informal assessment of academic success.

Under Massachusetts General Law, Title 12, Chapter 69, Section 1D. World languages are considered a core subject, meaning world language has the same status as math, science and tech, history and social science, English and the arts. It also reads that the standards shall cover grades kindergarten through 12. Aside from the legal implications of removing elementary Spanish, we aren't simply discussing removing content from our curriculum.

We are discussing removing educators.

Why are we removing the human element of the quality of educators that we have been fortunate enough to retain? The talents of the elementary Spanish team are unique and one of those talents is being consistently devalued in connection with the removal of this program and yet still showing up to teach the children of Sharon. Please remember that the quality of the education in Sharon is a direct result of the quality of the educators.

Not simply the name of a program, but a price tag.

Thank you so much, Mr. Techie.

Katie Conroy.

Hello, my name is Katie Conroy. I believe our children have a fundamental right to free full-day kindergarten.

Our town superintendent and school committee all agreed with this fundamental right two years ago and then changed their minds the following year. Sharon is one of only 14 towns in Massachusetts who still charges for full-day kindergarten.

We are going in the wrong direction.

During the last school committee meeting, there was a public discussion item on the agenda to discuss free full-day kindergarten.

To say I am extremely disappointed in the school committee is an understatement.

This discussion was scheduled a week ago and pushed off until this past Monday.

On Monday, there was a longer discussion for Jeremy's motion to remove the agenda item for kindergarten than an actual conversation about free full-day kindergarten.

All seven school committee members spoke during Jeremy's motion, but only two school committee members spoke during the actual conversation about free full-day kindergarten at the end of the meeting. There was no discussion.

This was insulting to me as the person who requested this discussion and the town as a whole with how the school committee treats residents. I think that the school committee owes it to our community to actually have a discussion about free full-day kindergarten as they said they would.

One suggestion that Avi made after making it clear that the school committee has no accountability for their actions to the town and can do as they please is that if the town wants free full-day kindergarten, they can go to town meeting and ask for more money. This is an absurd suggestion considering that the town already gave the school committee the money to fund free full-day kindergarten and the school committee chose to not use the money as it was intended. Why would the town trust the school committee with additional funds at this point? If I give my five-year-old $25 for a specific toy that he has been eyeing and then he decides to spend that $25 on a day out somewhere with his friends, when he asks for another $25 for the toy he still wants, the answer is no. He chose to spend his money on something else and that is all the money our family budget had for the toy he wanted. There are consequences for our actions, something our children learn in kindergarten.

Since the fee discussion in the budget is still ongoing tonight, it is the perfect opportunity for the entire school committee to actually have a discussion about free full-day kindergarten as they plan to at the last two meetings.

If the fee cannot be completely removed for this year, there should be a discussion on a reduction for the full-day kindergarten fee along with the other fees being discussed.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Conroy.

Ms. Fogoda.

Hi, thanks. I'm going to apologize.

I'm at my daughter's skating tryouts right now, but I did want to just take a minute and speak from the cuff. Last time I kind of got zapped by trying to say too much. As I said before, I sympathize and I understand the challenge in trying to put together this budget.

It's not the first time this has come up. I've watched this go on now for over 10 years, very closely.

And each year plus has come up almost each year.

I think there've been since Dr. Patello arrived, I think there might be two or three years where it hasn't been such a focal point. But as somebody else mentioned earlier, this program, this academic program seems to be more scrutinized than any other program that we have. It hasn't been given a fair chance.

And it has been shown to have benefits.

I think if there's a problem with the program, it's been that it hasn't been demonstrated perhaps to the school committee or to the public, the benefits that have been involved with the program.

That I think is the flaw, not that the program is flawed.

The benefits to children of foreign language at a young age cannot be replaced later on. So I've heard discussions about our word language options later on in school.

It's not the same.

The brain development that is impacted, the exposure and the impact and the influence at a young age cannot be replaced.

I want to plead with the committee that while you're making difficult decisions, and I get it, that you preserve this program in some form so that we can build on it later on in better times.

If you decimate it now, I'm confident we will never see anything like this in Sharon for a very, very, very long time. Thank you.

Thank you, Valerie.

Hold on.

Sorry.

Zena Frost.

Hi. I was just thinking creatively about how we could bridge the gap between the losses here, given our financial crisis. And I was thinking about grants. So I posted on Sharon What's Up and Everything, Sharon, asking if there was anyone among us who had experienced grant writing and could basically let me know whether or not grants were allowable.

It was in that stream of communications that I learned two things.

I learned that we did not apply for a grant relevant to ELA curriculum, which could have been to the tune of $200,000.

And I also learned that someone with grant writing experience who has been awarded about $400 million throughout her career had offered the district to write grants, but her offer wasn't accepted.

So I just want to, one, encourage the district to be really creative about, you know, finding other sources for funding, but also accept these amazing offers that could really help us through this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Zia. Nat. Georgian Lewis.

Thank you. I just want to start by validating that this is not to the slight against humans or at the expense of picking one staff or subject over another.

I want to speak to phys ed and phys ed being cut and how detrimental that is to student wellness.

Phys ed is considered a crucial part of a well-rounded education.

It's not just physical fitness. It promotes the development of social, emotional, and cognitive skills through active learning.

There are DESE frameworks for it. There are not for FLESS.

They provide pathways.

They're designed to provide pathways that enhance student mental, emotional, and physical health while recognizing the critical role of school climate and outcomes.

Standards include decision-making, problem-solving, self-management, goal-setting, social awareness, relationship, communication, and there's four more I'm going to skip.

Physical ed equals cognitive achievement, mental and emotional health, and physical fitness to many of the speakers' points. We're all on the same page. Cognitive functions related to attention, memory, and memory facilitate learning, and these functions in single sessions as well as long-term participation and physical activity are directly linked and correlated to cognitive performance and brain health.

Although we can talk about the social benefits of FLESS and that kids enjoy it, and I don't think anybody's debating that. I'm certainly not debating how wonderful our teachers are and our educators are and how committed they are. Unfortunately, only 20% of elementary schools in the U.S. offer this service at this grade level. So data supporting acquisition of foreign language fees is easier for young people. I don't think anyone's going to debate that. However, in these times, we have to make decisions that are best for all kids. I would also contemplate put out there that FLESS does not service all kids equitably.

Special ed students, specifically those with learning specific learning disabilities like dyslexia and dysgraphia, cannot access services like FLESS. It is actually contraindicated as they're struggling to decode a primary language, and then we force them to try to do a second language, and that goes directly against their treatment.

And lastly, thank you for your extra seconds.

Special education and student social emotional health have never been discussed at school committee when we talk about reductions.

And I'm just asking you. I'm going to go over.

Got to keep it moving.

Okay.

Tobin Asklar, please go.

Hi. I'm Tobin Asklar. My wife and I have three kids in the Sharon Public Schools.

I want to thank Dr. Patello for his email reassuring all students are safe and belong in Sharon Public Schools, despite executive orders attempting to target some of our most marginalized students.

I want to draw attention to Governor Healy and Attorney General Campbell's guidance affirming equal access to education in Massachusetts, released on February 27th, and also posted on the Massachusetts Association of School Committees website.

The release says, and I quote, this joint guidance reaffirms that these recent federal actions do not prohibit diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in admissions and access to higher education or other educational settings.

It also includes steps that K-12 schools can take to set their students up for success.

Schools and higher education institutions can continue to take affirmative steps within the law to create and maintain a positive school climate where all students feel safe, supported, respected, and ready to learn. This includes reviewing current practices to ensure they comply with all applicable anti-discrimination, anti-bullying, and civil rights laws.

Mass Education Secretary Patrick Toiler goes on to say, this country has long fought for all students to have equal access to a public education.

Today's joint guidance reaffirms that Massachusetts will continue to acknowledge and address historical and persistent gaps in student access and achievement, including Black and Brown students, students with disabilities, low-income students, LGBTQ plus students, and other marginalized student populations.

The release continues practices and programming that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility provide important educational and social benefits for students.

They foster learning environments that provide all students an equal opportunity to learn and better prepare students to work in our diverse country and participate in our multicultural or multiracial democracy.

They are essential to promoting fair treatment and eliminating stigmatization, unquote.

I encourage everyone to read the Governor and AG's newest guidance and also September 2024 guidance on schools' legal obligations to prevent and address hate and bias incidents.

Thank you. Thank you, Tobin.

And next up, we have Casey McLaughlin.

Did you get it?

Hi, can you hear me?

Yeah. Okay. So I just wanted to first say that I'm grateful that we get to battle it out on social media, and I commend the SC members who did speak out and engage with the community.

It's really important for both transparency and the democratic process.

As for the budget, I believe that the full day kindergarten is the easiest cut to make. We've all coughed up the three grand for multiple children, and it's nice but not necessary.

Next is the FLES program.

There are great arguments on both sides, and it sucks to lose those teachers, but $290,000 for our littles to learn Spanish when the program has had so many challenges is just not worth it. I don't want athletic fees to go up while also cutting PE. I agree with Georgianne.

We have way too many fat and unhealthy kids, and they need PE. We need to cut administrators before teachers, and I'd also like more transparency going forward. That's been a common theme. It wasn't clear to me how much we're getting reimbursed from the state for the migrant education we've been subsidizing, or even a real cost breakdown for the METCO program.

It really sounds like we need DOGE, and I'm not going to get into the bathroom argument, but I do stand with Jay O'Brien 100% and think that the way he's been dragged through the mud is shameful.

You may not like reality, but any signage flags or any kind of propaganda promoting a divisive ideology that even presents in any way as indoctrination or propaganda will absolutely be reported.

There is a portal now, a parent portal set up by the Department of Education, and you better believe that any school not in compliance with federal mandates will lose funding, and we certainly don't want that to happen.

Thank you.

Thank you, Casey.

Next is Jay O'Brien.

So let me get this straight.

People think it's okay to listen to the governor, but not to obey a president's executive orders. As Casey alluded to, the Department of Education launched a new website, n-d-e-i.ed.gov.

This website is committed to ensuring that all students have access to a meaningful learning environment free of divisive ideologies and indoctrination.

The website is meant to find out which schools are not following President Trump's executive order on eliminating indoctrination in grades K through 12. So far, myself along with 17 or 18 others have already filled out the form. This site is an outlet for students, parents, teachers, and the broader community to report issues addressed, including the all-gender bathroom signs at elementary schools.

Now, I'd like to clear up some misinformation regarding this issue, and if you don't have kids in the elementary school system, I don't want to hear from you on this. Number one, it's been said that some girls are menstruating.

I'm talking about elementary school-age girls. Number two, this bathroom has not been used by any child in three years. The sign is there merely to confuse young minds. Number three, no airline has the words all-gender on any of their bathroom signs. They merely depict a man and a woman. Number four, executive orders are meant to be enforced, or the federal government can and should withhold funds, just as President Trump has stated he will do with other states. For a school system that is already over budget, you might want to think this one through. Even Governor Healy said that the state stands to lose federal funding.

Replace the signs, as I have politely asked, and do not put up the flags in June. The American people overwhelmingly voted for this. Patello's email on Friday was offensive, suggesting I was being discriminatory.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

President Trump ran on this. He campaigned on this. You can't win the argument and know that you're out of step with public opinion, so you bullied Patello into saying- Good. Mr. O'Brien, I'm sorry. I've got to keep time tonight.

And that was two minutes.

Alexandria Belcher.

Hello.

I'm here to talk about my son, Matthew, and what's been going on with Matthew.

I'm here to bring an urgent matter to light.

Matthew is my son.

He's six years old. He hasn't been in school for a month now. Sharon Public Schools, specifically the cottage school, lost my son. And he's at home.

No services, nothing like that.

DCF, at this point, has found the cottage school negligent and guilty of child endangerment.

And, you know, he was lost.

Kevin Madden said he opened a latch to the gate from cottage school.

And when I went to go see the gate, the fence was actually broken in two places, and the gate itself has no latch to it. At this point, there's no resolve.

The DSE, the D-E-S-E is now investigating the entire district based on what I have brought to their attention and other parents' complaints as well. You guys are violating my child's civil rights of a disabled person.

And these are the next, I have about 10 other ways that you guys have failed my son. The first one is failure to provide consistent 101 aid support.

Matthew's IEP requires a 101 paraprofessional yet. Nearly for five weeks, he had been without one. Failure to follow his behavioral IEP plan. Staff did not properly implement the BIP, leading to increased behavioral challenges and limits to access to his education.

Failure to provide a safe learning environment.

The school's negligence led to Matthew's being lost while under their care, what DCF found them, again, responsible for. Failure to provide compensatory services.

Matthew has been out of school for a month. And prior to that, based on his IEP, his report cards, he's failing and he's very capable of being in an integrated classroom.

Failure to repair the fence in a timely manner.

Finish your sentence, please.

Yep. Failure to repair the fence in a timely manner.

And all I'm asking from the committee is to help bring some light to this. My son cannot be out of school anymore than he already is. He's regressing and he needs help. And it starts with this. Okay. Thank you so much, Ms. Belcher.

Yeah.

Okay.

Next is Ms.

Murray.

Did you get it?

Okay.

Hi, my name is Heather Murray and I have been an instructional assistant at the high school for the past nine years. I have been a silent representative on the IA negotiations and wanted to provide the community with an update of how things are going. On February 6th and 7th, the IA negotiations team requested that the school committee provide three pieces of important information to aid in our negotiations.

However, on 2-27, they sent only one piece of information minutes before the session started.

Therefore, the school committee essentially came to the meeting unprepared and forced us to bargain without that critical information.

When the information was given, it was both incomplete and inaccurate.

Does that sound right and just? I don't think so. This is akin to what the association has had to bargain with for years and it is time the community knows what's been going on. This is just another example of the school committee spending the town's money by not negotiating productively with the instructional assistants.

We came prepared and presented the school committee with two possible counteroffers.

They rejected them both, offering us only a minuscule change of dropping step three on the pay scale in year three of the contract.

Additionally, as we stayed late into the night, we were told that nothing could be agreed to because a school committee member had already left the meeting.

We cleared our schedules and gave up family time with our loved ones, showed up, and expected to negotiate until we settled.

Why was that expectation not reciprocated or adhered to by the school committee?

There was no hard stop identified at the beginning of the session and yet he just left. Does that seem right or just? No.

The district is frivolously spending money to bring in temporary subcontracted IAs to work in unfilled IA positions.

Do our most vulnerable learners deserve temporary hires?

No. Please finish your sentence.

I urge the citizens of this town to demand the school committee and the town officials to do better to fully fund our schools so we can settle a fair contract and to put an end to this nonsense.

Okay.

Thank you, Ms. Murray.

I now have, I'm so sorry, I don't know how to say your name, Bob F.O. F.O. Smith Tobio.

I'm so sorry if I said that wrong.

Yeah, no problem.

It's Bob F. Smith Tobio.

Thank you. Yeah, I guess I wanted to say a couple of things.

I feel like I want to reply to Jay's point about the bathroom signage and I want to just, I know it's an emotional issue and a political issue, but I think we just need to keep in mind that these are our children we're talking about. And if a sign on a bathroom that you say is not being used frequently is making even one kid feel safe, I think that's something that we should get behind.

And I don't care what the sign says, but I think we need to make sure that if kids are feeling unsafe, we address it. And if that sign made even one kid feel safe, I think it's the type of thing I'd like to see our town follow up and support.

I understand there's laws changing all the time, but in the meantime, I think we should just always put the children first, especially the kids who are vulnerable.

And I guess that's it. I'll give you the time back. Thank you very much. Thank you so much.

Okay.

And next, Sarah Kiara Mita.

Is that close?

Close.

Kara Mita. Thank you. Thank you again for the opportunity to speak tonight.

I have two kids at East Elementary.

One will be entering second grade next year. And I'm here again just to express my concerns with the proposal of eliminating teachers at East and the resulting increase in class size. Again, appreciate the difficult decisions and understand that that.

Some trade-offs need to be made.

But just with elementary-aged kids at home, we can see firsthand the benefit of having better relationships with our teachers and the close that the smaller class size offer. Obviously, there's numerous benefits to this. Individualized education, stronger relationships between the students and the teachers, which we can see more engaged learning, improved academic performance, and also community development.

So the list actually goes on of the benefits with smaller class size, which I'm sure all of you know.

But it's been mentioned, it's worth amplifying that with the larger class size, you really lose that individualized attention that each student receive.

And that has impacts on students really along the continuum of academic abilities and needs. So again, urge reconsideration of this. And then finally, I would be remiss if not to also offer my appreciation for the message that Dr. Patello issued in support of fostering a safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environment for all of our students.

That's free from discrimination and bigotry.

We owe it to our students to really provide them with a safe learning environment and hopefully that they feel the support from this community.

So again, thank you for that message.

And hopefully we can continue to foster that inclusive environment in our community.

Thanks.

Thank you very much.

And now, Miss Judy Crosby.

Thanks.

I would like to start by sharing the last two thoughts that Georgianne was cut off. They are that special education and students' social and emotional health needs must be considered when discussing reductions in workforce and cutting content areas. Special education and social emotional learning have never been discussed by this school committee in relation to the budget.

And she asks that this changes, and I echo that. Along the same lines, while people are praising Dr. Patello for his extraordinarily belated, strong-armed message to the community saying, you know, what should have been said on January 21st, I'd like to note that both Dr. Patello and Dr. Jocelyn are not living up to what that message says. They were supposed to meet with Matthew's mother today to come up with a plan to return him to school.

And they canceled because they said they were not prepared.

Now, I get that it's hard to chew gum and walk at the same time, but I expect a superintendent who has paid $216,000 and an assistant superintendent who's paid $160,000 to get their acts together and prioritize getting this little boy back to school with a safe and appropriate learning environment.

There's no excuse.

This last-minute stuff, I mean, you know, the IA is talking about asking for information and not getting it. I've had that experience.

I filed a public records request with Dr. Jocelyn.

It took him 38 business days to get me the most basic financial information on the district, which, by the way, is completely illegal.

And when he did finally send it, he included a letter, and it was also incomplete, saying that his job was too hard and he couldn't possibly meet the legal requirements associated with it. Y'all need to do better.

Dr. Patello, you need to do better. Jocelyn, you need to do better. And this school committee really needs to fix itself.

Thank you.

Ms.

Judy Weider.

Hi, thanks for letting me speak.

Oh, so much about FLESS and all these other programs.

And I have to say, like, I know that the job you have in front of you right now is really, really tough. I do have a child who was actually part of FLESS and I think was one of the first kids who got to go through it. And I wish that I could say that it looks like the data shows we have to keep it. But right now, seeing the other things we have to bounce against it, like we might lose a teacher that teaches very popular arts programs at the high school or a teacher that teaches science programs at the high school.

Like, we have to be able to maintain so these kids can actually get into college. So I'm a little bit worried about, like, how do we manage that? And I would rather give up something that is really a nice to have and keep the things that are really required.

Additionally, I would like to thank Tobin and Bob and Sarah for what they have said.

And I would also like to read very briefly from a letter that was issued by DESE on February 7th and then updated on February 11th of this year that reminds everyone that the work that we're doing is firmly grounded in MGL Chapter 76 Section 5, which prohibits discrimination in public schools based on race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation, and the Massachusetts Constitution Article 106, 14, there we go, 114, sorry, reading Roman numerals, of which prohibits discrimination based on disability.

Massachusetts schools remain responsible for providing a safe and supportive learning environment for all students, and this responsibility under state law is not impacted by recent executive orders at the federal level. I would also like to note executive orders are not in fact laws, no matter how much some folks wish that they would be. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Wader.

We have two more people, so I won't accept anybody after the two more people.

So, Lori Davis.

Hi. So, I would like to thank some of the speakers that came before me too and piggyback off their statements.

Bob, Sarah, Tobin, and Judy, I really want to thank what you had to say tonight.

I also want to thank Dr. Patello for his letter that he sent out last week.

I would like to remind everyone yet again that executive orders are not laws.

And as of February 21st of this year, a federal district court in the District of Maryland has blocked President Trump's enforcing a majority of executive orders that are related or eliminating DEI, specifically stating that it violated constitutional law that we see grounded in both the Civil Rights Amendment that was passed in 1964, as well as the 14th Amendment, which was guaranteeing life, liberty, and or property through due process of law, law, and the Civil Rights Amendment, obviously protecting any form of discrimination, protecting against any form of discrimination based on ableism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, as well as racism.

I think it's really important that we remember the tenets of what education is for. I think it's really important for us to remember who we are here for, which are for students, all students, regardless of where they are identifying or where their ethnic background is or what their first language is or where what special needs they have.

Our students need to come first.

And I look forward to future challenges against these executive orders.

I suggest we go back and remember from our elementary days, Schoolhouse Rock told us exactly how a bill becomes a law and an executive order is not it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Okay.

And our final speaker, this public commenter is Wendy McArthur.

Hi. I just wanted to comment that there's a lot of talk from the community, the school committee, as well as the superintendent about getting rid of jobs that they do not understand.

On Monday, there was a conversation about possibly putting on the back hold or maybe the high school librarian, the middle school librarian who is a doctor who has done amazing work, all of our great elementary school libraries.

And the SC was saying, oh, how fun it is that kids love going to the library to get books. Isn't it great? They get to bring books home and read it with our families.

Well, yes, you know, students absolutely love coming to the library. They get to check out books, they get to take them home. But it's so much more than that. In today's world where misinformation spreads rapidly, even on these meetings, where fake news, harmful social media trends, online bullying, and plagiarism are ever threats, library time is not just a luxury.

It is a necessity.

This is where students learn how to navigate the digital landscape safely and responsibly.

It's called media literacy.

They are not just a one-time experience or a single-year curriculum.

Digital literacy is an ongoing process building upon itself year after year. Without it, our students are left vulnerable to the dangers of an online world they are immersed in daily. By investing in our library programs, we are equipping students with the tools they need to become critical thinkers, responsible digital citizens, and informed consumers of media. It isn't just about fostering a love for reading, which is amazing.

It's also about preparing students for the realities of our world.

So next time you consider removing anybody from the school, any teacher, any curriculum from the school, take the time to learn what they actually do, please. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Wendy.

And thanks to all of our speakers.

We're trying to move this along because we want to make sure we have thorough discussions this evening.

So I'm going to, oh, Avi. Yeah, Julie, if you don't mind, can I just clarify one thing just for my fellow committee members about the IE negotiation?

So I do just want the rest of the committee to know, since you all know that I sit on the negotiation team and the person who spoke earlier did say he, I think it would be pretty clear and obvious that I was the person who left that meeting. I just want everyone on the committee to know that that's a mediation session.

The state mediator had told us in advance of scheduling that session that actually only our council had to be present.

I was not scheduled to be at that meeting for a personal conflict.

I was able to reorganize my schedule and be there. I had let the mediator know that I personally had a hard stop, although we did not set a hard stop for that. And they were very clear that a deal could still be done without my presence and actually asked if somebody wanted to ask me a question was I reach over by phone, which I was. So it was no disrespect intended to anybody that I left. And again, the state mediator had been clear that our presence wasn't required in the first place, but I was present for something like two and a half hours.

And I was glad to be present because I think that's important work, but I don't want anyone on the committee wondering if I chose to leave or left for any reason other than I had a pre-scheduled coaching engagement.

So just want folks to know that. Thank you. Thank you, Avi. And Shauna, can you do the correspondence, please?

Sure can. Give me a second.

Oh, where did I put it?

Sorry, one second. I opened it. All right.

The school committee has received 34 pieces of correspondence between February 26, 2025 at 9am and March 5th, 2025 at 9am. A large amount of correspondence continues to provide impact and feed input and feedback into the FY26 budget development process.

Themes from these letters included concerns about potential cuts at the elementary schools and the impact that the cuts may have on the one-class sizes. The need to maintain low class sizes in the early years of education is seen as vitally important to student success.

Support to maintain a robust specials music, art, PE library offering at the elementary school level. There was a variety of feedback concerning the FLESS program at the elementary schools.

Several community members supported maintaining the FLESS program, either in its current structure or the structure proposed by Dr. Patelow in his budget presentation.

The FLESS teachers invited members of the school committee to visit their classrooms to obtain a better understanding of the program and its benefits.

Parents who wrote to express their concerns regarding the potential cuts of staff positions at Sharon High School. There was a focus on the cuts that may impact offerings within the sciences or the AP classes and an emphasis in our ability to continue to provide diverse offerings, including the arts for our students.

Suggestions were made to consider alternative cuts, particularly those that would not impact frontline teachers and classrooms.

These suggested including not replacing retirees, reducing administrative costs such as DEI, participating in school choice, and charging for space rentals, etc.

There was concern across the community regarding the proposed reduction of staff at the Sharon Middle School.

And its impact on class size, how teachers would be able to have one-on-one interactions with the students, and how this change may affect math instruction.

We received information from educators that explained constraints of split teams, particularly related to scheduling, which results in limited common planning time, access to school counselors, and potential challenges of special education support.

We received several letters to support the importance of an instrumental music program at elementary schools. A parent wrote to express their concern regarding the cost of full-day kindergarten program. We received an email from an educator that provided a comprehensive comparison of the curriculum coordinator versus department head model, and a separate email that also outlined the course selection process in relationship to the budget process and need to reduce educators at Sharon High School.

We received support for the proposal to introduce the physical education waiver process at Sharon High School this year, whereby students could have alternatives to meeting the PE requirement in grades 11 and 12. So, community members expressed concerns about the possible increase of fees, particularly athletic fees, and encouraged the school committee to consider the impact of said increased fees on students, and to ensure that scholarship opportunities be significant enough to allow access to the athletic programs for students.

Sorry.

There was a suggestion to consider a tiered approach to athletic fees. Finally, a concern was raised about possibly charging a fee for clubs or activities that are solely organized to support worthy causes, such as shelters, medical research, etc., via fundraising.

In many cases, the clubs at SHS are also supported via PTSO grants.

We received the March edition of the SHS Library newsletter.

We received a request to ensure consistency in asking meeting attendees to ensure that their cameras are turned on during the meeting.

We received a letter that asked for a breakdown of the costs of the $600,000 from the revolving account that supports full-day kindergarten.

A parent wrote to express their concerns that the district is not complying with federal mandates and encouraged the district to remove all DEI positions, not allowing the flying of the trans flag during Pride Month in June, removing a particular bathroom sign at Cottage, and to request that the district respect the Department of Education's final mission.

There was some community, there was some feedback on the community-wide message sent out by Dr. Botello, which re-emphasized the district's focus on supporting the needs of all students, particularly the LGBTQ plus community.

A few community members expressed their dissatisfaction with the memo, and we heard from one community member who did not receive the communication in a timely fashion.

The Black Student Union at Sharon High School reached out to thank school committee members who attended their assembly on Thursday, February 27, 2025. A community member wrote to share a list of resources and suggestions to help the district support the Muslim students.

Finally, we received a follow-up email from the Sharon Pluralism Network that provided a recap of the meeting and shared resources and planned next steps. Okay, thank you, Shauna.

And now it is time for our student representative.

So, Brendan, I'm going to unmute you. Great.

Thank you, Julie.

I just want to start off by saying, you know, thank you to everyone who's coming here. You know, 140 participants, and I think it's really important to have these sort of meetings in such polarized and divisive times.

So thank you.

And second, I have the update for this week.

Eagles continue to do amazing things.

For Quiz Bowl, two students were selected for the SCDC Quiz Bowl. And this is because advisors looked at their test scores, performance at districts, and a Quiz Bowl-style Kahoot.

Our members are paired up with another school to compete in the Quiz Bowl tournament.

And our team took Sharon all the way to finals.

They conducted themselves with poise and control in a fast-moving competition.

But unfortunately, only the top team is eligible for ICDC.

Anyways, congratulations to Ari Grossman and Josh Binder.

DECA was another huge success for Sharon this past weekend at States.

In individual roleplay, the following students had great success.

Henry Chen in third place, Safitha Srinivasan in fourth place, Zoe Guo in fifth place, Shrika Balapomala in second place, and Caitlin Oh in fifth place.

The Eagles soared in the first-year members division with Anesha Sharma in first place, Anya Yaralagada in fourth place.

And in team roleplay, the following students did very well. Omar Kanachankodi and Soham Kulkarni in third place, Newshahir and Andrew Vo in seventh place, Yeshika Korada and Namida Nayudu in seventh place.

And in written events, Neil Duda, Willem Guo and Neil Shah are in fifth place, while Mehir Kolkarni and Arush Raj earned third place.

And special shout-outs to our other finalists who also placed in the top 12 of their respective event. Ethan Sparacino, Grace Chen, Sophie Hu, Arna Kant and Emma Liu, Kovum Supal, Dahlia Ellsworth, and Sasha Nirenberg.

Speech and Debate participated in three tournaments this past weekend, two virtual events during which Andrew Xing advanced to final rounds, and at Shrewsbury High School, the speech team brought home some big awards. Marcus Myers and Naseeba Lukulova each placed in the top five for two different speech events, and Ashur Amjad advanced to semifinals in his event.

Speech and Debate continues to march towards states at the end of the month.

The mock trial team competed on Sunday at the Mass Bar Mock Trial State Tournament at Clark University, facing off against the other 27 regional winners across Massachusetts.

The team emerged victorious after two trials that tested both their plaintiff and defense cases.

These wins have placed the team in the Elite Eight level of competition and given them the honor of competing at the John Moakley Courthouse in Boston next Thursday.

They haven't made it this far in four years. Please be sure to wish the Legal Eagles some luck. Congratulations to the History Bowl team for semifinaling at the New England District Tournament in situate.

They're qualified for nationals in DC. Kudos to the participants.

Our math team Eagles head off to playoffs as well. Currently, Rohith Raghavan is the highest scoring senior and Luka Pilano is the highest scoring for freshmen.

Go Eagles!

Music in our Schools Month is an annual celebration in March that highlights the importance of music education in schools.

It aims to raise awareness about the positive impact music has on students' academic and personal development.

Our music students will be participating in social media, trivia, and daily announcements.

Additionally, next Friday, Sharon High will be hosting 300 music students from 30 schools during the day for joint practices and performances for the Senior Semse Music Festival.

Additionally, the Triumph Music's Honor Society will be hosting Musicianship Week from March 24th to March 28th. And please stay tuned for a packed music event month of April, including Battle of the Bands.

Student Council held an amazing blood drive last Friday.

And thank you to Chairman Julie Rowe, to parents and community members who donated, and to our student donors, many of whom donated for the first time. Student Council is planning an upcoming Spirit Week, organizing the Spring Pep Rally, and leading policy discussions to educate our peers about important topics such as the school budget.

And for Theatre, although our theatre team did not advance to the Massachusetts Theatre Guild Festival competition, their performance was nothing less than stellar amidst some serious competition.