All right.

Welcome to the June 18th, 2025 meeting of the Sharon School Committee here at the Sharon High School Auditorium.

I'm going to start by taking a quick attendance.

Members of the committee that are sitting here, just answer please. Present or here.

I'll start with my vice chair, Dan Newman.

Present.

Julie Rowe.

Present.

George Ann Lewis.

Present.

Jeremy Kaye.

Present.

Alan Metenko.

Here.

All right. And I am Avi Shemtov.

So there are six members of the school committee here present tonight.

Without further ado, as is our custom, we'll begin with public comment.

If there are any members of the public that wish to speak and are able to get to the microphone over there, please do.

We'll ask that people keep their comments to two minutes.

I will keep time since I don't see Adam Shane here.

If there's anybody here that is unable to get to the microphone but does wish to speak, please let us know and we will accommodate that.

Are there any public comments? Please state your name and address.

I'm not giving my address because it's open meeting law. You're not entitled to it. Judy Crosby. So a couple things.

On your agenda tonight, you have a vote relating to Sharon TV.

So I just wanted to remind two of the members, Avi and Alan, that as Sharon TV board members, they have to recuse themselves.

And your vice chair or someone else should run that part of the meeting.

I wanted to strongly encourage you to do hybrid for open forum.

It should be fully doable.

You don't allow people to speak during any other part of your meeting. Open a Zoom for your open forum.

I appreciate your meeting in person.

I like it. But other people would like the ability to speak by Zoom.

Lastly, I'd like to remind the committee and the superintendent that in December of 2021, you signed a settlement agreement that required in 1E, the committee will engage in training in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, anti-bias, and anti-racism at least two times annually through the use of a trainer, either A, retained from outside the Sharon public schools or the town of Sharon, or B, retained through a recommendation from the town of Sharon's diversity, equity, and inclusion committee at the discretion of the committee.

Such training shall be conducted in at least the 21-22 school year and the 10 school years following.

It is my understanding.

Oh, and it goes on to say you can have more than two if you'd like.

It's my understanding you had exactly zero during the 24-25 school year, which means you're in violation of this agreement.

I'd like to ask you, and Avi, you're staring at me like you have no idea what I'm talking about, but you were on the school committee when this thing was signed.

So was Julie.

So was Adam.

And Dr. Botello was the superintendent.

You need to do better.

You need to follow your legal obligations.

All right, that's two minutes. Thank you very much for that. Is there anyone else from the public who would like to speak?

All right, please state your name.

You've got it. Thank you. Lauren Grasso, 26 Knob Hill Street.

Stop over sometime.

So I am coming from the town's DEI's Juneteenth celebration, and my request is that next year you don't hold a meeting the same day as that town event because it was full of students who would love to know that that is something that you believe in and that it's something that you would attend. So I don't know if the schedule is set for next year, but the town tends to celebrate as in the last several years, the day before Juneteenth, and it would be nice to see some representation from the schools.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any other members of the public wish to speak?

Hello.

My name is Sejal Menon. I wanted to speak about the snacks being offered specifically into the elementary schools.

While we know the snacks at the schools are approved by the state and federal guidelines, as parents and adults, we do know that offering snacks like Doritos, ice cream, and Cheetos is not in the best interest of a five- and six-year-old on a daily basis.

They're not old enough to make those decisions.

And while, yes, we can email the school and say, please don't give this to my child, it's a conflicting message for five, six, seven-year-olds, and often met with tears in the morning going to the bus stop.

And that was the way that many of us parents who had kindergarteners started off the school year.

I urge you to look at the list and provide healthier alternatives.

Snacks is fine to be sold, but maybe we can look at popcorn or other alternatives.

And also reconsider offering ice cream on a daily basis in elementary schools.

I'm Emily Cephalo.

Hi, I am here in full support of everything that Sejal meant and just stated.

I don't think our children are old enough to be able to make the distinction between what is a healthy and unhealthy snack at age five years old. As much as we tell them and deliver good messages while they're in our households, it's a completely different story when they're faced with that decision without mom and dad watching them.

So I agree with everything Sejal said and would hope that you please reconsider the decision to especially offer the ice cream on a daily basis.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, seeing no further public comments, I will be moving the meeting to correspondence and our secretary, Alan Metenko, but first just want to note that Adam Shane has arrived.

And Adam, I'll just call your name and you can tell us that you're present. Adam Shane?

Present.

Thank you. And several minutes late. Perfect.

Thank you. All right, Alan Metenko for correspondence.

Okay.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Okay. Okay.

I'll move this closer.

Sorry. So the school committee has received nine pieces of correspondence between June 11th, 2025 and June 18th, 2025. Excuse me.

Since we're reaching the end of the year here in total, the school committee has logged 459 pieces of correspondence between June 28th, 2024 and June 18th, 2025.

Within the June 11th, 2025. Within the June 11th period I mentioned before, we received several letters that encourage the school committee to ensure that whether their meetings are in person or remote, that they continue to provide remote public participation.

A parent wrote to request additional information regarding the agenda item concerning snacks and scheduled for tonight's meeting.

We received feedback on the Sharon High School graduation with a suggestion to reduce the number of non-student speakers at the event.

A parent at Sharon High School wrote to express concerns regarding the student parking arrangements for 2025-2026.

A community member asked the school committee to ensure that their meeting minutes are produced and publicized in a timely manner. A parent wrote to express their appreciation to Kevin O'Rourke and the staff at Sharon Middle School who chaperoned the 8th grade Washington, D.C. trip. And we received information regarding legislation at the state level concerning screen time, technology, and privacy in early and K-12 education.

And that concludes correspondence.

Thank you, Alan. And now I will send it over to Superintendent Dr. Botello for Superintendent Updates and Retiree Recognition.

I should note that there is no student committee representative present.

There's no switch. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Oh, there's no switch. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Oh, there's no switch. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Oh, there's no switch. Oh, there's no switch. Oh, there's no switch. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Oh, there we go. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Oh, there we go. Oh, there we go. All right, thank you.

So we're wrapping up. Last day is Friday, June 20th.

We're really hoping that our students and staff have a great and restful and enjoyable vacation with their family and friends.

We have staff then returning at the end of the summer on August 25th and students returning on August 27th.

Some general reminders about things that go on in the summer.

Elementary class placements will be sent out the first week of August. Middle school and high school will release the week before school begins. If your student is leaving the Sharon Public Schools, please remember to contact the school to complete the withdrawal process, which allows us for making sure that we're placing kids in classes in an even way. School hours can vary during the summer, but please check the school's websites.

As far as central office administration, our hours are from 8 to 3.30 and Fridays are half day. So we recommend making a phone call and appointment to address any needs. Some summer, what's going on in summer. We have extended school year for students who are necessitating that, and we look forward to having those kiddos for five weeks in the summer. The department has some educational and student reporting.

We'll be finishing up our financials, closing out FY26 and opening FY20, closing FY25 and opening FY26.

Lots of really key projects go on with our maintenance staff during the summer.

We appreciate that. Also summer technology and software work. We'll also be updating documents like handbooks and such over the summer for approval in the beginning of the year. We have a summer admin retreat on July 21st and 22nd, and we'll also be continuing the hiring process and preparing for new higher orientation right the week before we start.

We have some great people to recognize as they are retiring this year.

We have Lori Hattney, who is a Heights Elementary School teacher.

Barbara Munden, a Sharon High School wellness teacher.

Julia O'Connell, a physical therapist.

Mr. Ripley over at the middle school.

Phyllis Gorman, an instructional assistant at the middle school.

Kathleen McGrath, a school assistant at the middle school.

Janice Green in central office, who was our accounts payable manager, who kept us organized.

Is retired from central administration and Barbara Coyne, the business manager at community ed. Someone mentioned previously in the correspondence.

Yeah, we really want to thank Mr. O'Rourke and his staff for taking the kids to D.C. There's so many of these trips that no longer existed in various other middle schools, but our staff and principal fight for them. And our parents obviously enjoy the opportunity for their kids. And the kids were awesome, as usual, in D.C.

We also have end of the year events. This is an event at Cottage.

And another event at Cottage.

And then we also had an event right up here on the stage. We had an unfortunate situation of a student fainting during the graduation.

And we, with Ms. Keenan and others involved, put together a graduation for here.

Right here we had all the class officers dressed up in their robes, as well as a bunch of other students.

She had about 12 family members here. We probably had about 35 staff.

This was after school a couple days ago here. And there were some small speeches and recognitions.

And she, you know, I'm sure initially she was happy to have this, but wasn't sure what it would feel like. But her parents and herself, this is Mesa Jabber, really seemed to enjoy the opportunity.

And people really, really felt it was important to give her a really celebratory event, considering the circumstances.

So it was a lot of fun and a good way to, you know, to really celebrate her. And that's it for my updates.

Thank you for those updates.

Are there any questions at the table on the updates?

Seeing none, we will move to our first discussion item, which is a food service, snacks discussion, and possible vote. I think we have a presentation here from our Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations, Alan Whittemore.

Good evening.

With respect to food service, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts does support the Universal Free School Meals Program through the annual state budget process.

With the reimbursement rates for the Massachusetts Universal School Meals programs are outlined annually by DESE. The district also receives reimbursements through the National, through the Federal National Nutrition Programs, Assistant Programs, which is an income eligibility program. The goals of this program are to ensure that our kids are fed, healthy, and ready to learn, and play and grow. And recognizes the importance of food security for all students.

The Universal Free School Meals Program covers the cost of one lunch and one breakfast for each student.

School cafeterias may also choose to offer a la carte items or snacks for an additional fee. Students must also pay for any second lunches or breakfasts that they receive on the same day. All collected fees and non-program food profits and reimbursements are considered revenue for the food service revolving account.

The revolving account covers the costs for food, excuse me, for the entire food service program.

This includes salaries, benefits, supplies, food costs, and other costs associated with the program.

The food service program, it is important to know, is not supported by the local budget. It is 100% self-sustaining.

In the spring of 2023, DESE conducted a Resource Management Comprehensive Review for Fiscal 22. This audit found that the district was not generating adequate revenue from non-program offerings.

Non-program offerings includes adult meals, catering, second student meals, and student a la carte and snack offerings.

At that time, in order to be in compliance with the minimum revenue required from the sale of non-program foods, the district would have been required to generate an additional $53,000.

So what we have done since the spring of 2023, we have hired a district chef. Chef Irving came on board and has really done a wonderful job in our district.

We have also hired two additional kitchen managers, one at the high school and one at Sharon Middle School, who are our trained chefs.

We have added additional meal offerings for staff through breakfast and lunch.

We have added an online ordering platform for staff.

We have resumed the sale of snacks at the elementary level. This had been paused following the pandemic due to staffing concerns.

We have also begun to rebuild catering opportunities.

The plan for food service for the 25-26 school year includes discontinuing the sale of snacks at the elementary schools.

Although profitable, we generated $15,256.75

in the six months that has been implemented.

The director of school nutrition, Molly VanCott, is cognizant of the concerns that have been raised by the community and school committee.

Additionally, we will be adding orange leaf frozen treats to the snack offerings at Sharon High School and Sharon Middle School.

And we will continue to explore additional options at Sharon Middle School and the high school with respect to snacks and additional menu items. We plan to maintain the current snack and a la carte pricing from the 24-25 school year with the addition, with the exception of the addition of the orange leaf frozen treat offering.

We also plan to increase the price of adult lunches from $4.75

to $6.50.

We plan to open the staff lunch program to other town departments.

We are going to be expanding breakfast service for staff to include additional time in the mornings as well as offerings.

We will be launching the town table catering.

These services that will be offered include catering for classroom and school celebrations, faculty functions, PTO events, and athletic banquets.

We also will be launching Eagle Kudos, which is thank a teacher and staff member.

And this will be an opportunity for families, teachers, excuse me, for families and other folks to go online and purchase lunches or appreciation boxes for teachers and staff.

And we're really excited to be able to launch those in the fall.

The food service snack and a la carte offerings consist of items including water, whole grain rice crispy treats, reduced fat whole grain cookies, juice, milk, whole grain reduced fat baked chips.

So although our chips do have, you know, the Lay's or the familiar brands on the packaging, they are specifically made for school districts and have a reduced fat, reduced calories as well as whole grain ingredients.

We offer reduced fat ice cream, yogurt parfaits that are made in house, whole grain PB and J pockets, polar beverages, reduced sugar fruit snacks, and then a variety of other items including the ability to buy just an additional chicken sandwich at lunch and reduced fat whole grain, Nutri-grain bars. At the bottom of the right hand side of the page is the orange leaf frozen dairy treat, which is new to $25.26.

That price is $4.00.

It is the most expensive item that we will be offering, but it is an expensive item for us to purchase through a vendor.

So the request from administration of the school committee is to approve the current snack prices and a la carte prices for the Sharon Middle School and High School only, with the addition of the pricing for the new offering of the orange leaf frozen treat.

Thank you, Ellen.

Are there any questions about the snack presentation and possible vote here from the table?

Georgianne, I saw your hand first. It's not necessarily about the snacks, but I'm intrigued by the talent table catering and eagle kudos. I know we're not voting on that, but can you share a little more details like what that'll look like or any expected revenue?

So we do hope to increase our revenue stream by having the talent catering.

In many other districts, they have a food service program that does offer catering.

In past years since COVID, we have had significant staffing constraints.

So this will be an opportunity for PTOs that are having staff appreciation or athletic banquets to actually purchase all of the food and beverages and snack items for these events through our food service department.

We will be, we are actually, Molly and Chef Irving are in the process of putting together a comprehensive menu that we will be distributing to the community as well as to all of our PTOs and booster clubs. Thanks.

I look forward to seeing, hopefully you share. Yeah, it will, as soon as everything is ready for distribution, I will be bringing it to the school committee so you will all be getting it in your packets.

But we're very excited to be able to have the talent with our chefs as well as with input from members of the community and the committee to be able to really, you know, launch this. So very excited.

Thanks.

Julie, I saw your hand. Oh, that was my question. Okay, same question. Adam?

Just a follow up on that. Can you just speak a little bit more to what's an appreciation box, kind of what's in that? So an appreciation box really is going to be something that's going to be seasonal.

So I can envision through conversations that I had with Molly about this is, you know, the teacher would get a gift box, if you will, and it would have in it for the fall, it would have, you know, K-cups or, you know, apple cider packets.

It would have seasonal, you know, in the fall, spice cookies and, you know, things like that. Maybe, you know, a thing of, you know, lip balm or, you know, hand lotion or something along those lines. But just things, you know, chocolate, things that, you know, you really want to be able to tailor to, you know, and show appreciation to your child's teachers. We'll be able to offer it really personalized, if you will, with multiple offerings, you know, as we launch it and see what works and doesn't work. And as we progress into the winter, you know, the boxes will pretty much have the winter theme with hot chocolate, you know, gingerbread cookies, things of that nature.

So I love maybe.

Do you know, like, I know that there is a limit in terms of kind of monetary value of gifts that you can provide to teachers.

Does this count against that for individual parents and do we need to track that? So individual parents can gift a teacher $25.

So parents would need to, you know, monitor what they are providing to their child's classroom teacher annually.

Okay.

And this would count against that?

Yep.

And also, you know, staff people are very good about, you know, tracking what they are receiving in terms of, you know, a monetary value for a specific gift. Okay.

And what we'll be doing is we'll be reminding staff. Staff participate on a regular basis in the state ethics training as well as conflict of interest.

So as we launch these snack boxes and the opportunities for families and PTOs to purchase meals and snack boxes for teachers and the gratitude boxes, we will be sending out a reminder notice to teachers.

Okay.

Thank you. You're welcome.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Dan. Thanks.

I like the forward thinking.

I like the responsiveness to the state. I've seen tremendous progress in the food program over the past year. So I want to recognize that. It seems like that's going to continue next year. It's exciting.

I saw that part of the plan is to promote adult meals.

I think that means staff meals along with the fee increase for those meals. I just wanted to ask, first of all, it doesn't look like we're voting on that today. Is that something in the future? And second, what is the impetus behind the proposed fee increase and specifically the amount of it? I understand that offering staff lunches, one of the draws of that is that the lunches are cheaper than what they could get elsewhere, on convenience and other things. So is that to bring it in line with other districts?

Is it based on the cost of the meals, whereas they weren't generating profit before, now they would be? Could you talk about that a little bit? Sure.

And are we voting on that today? So staff meals and catering fall outside of the scope of it being a student fee. So that is excluded from the vote.

When we went back and looked at everything that you get in an adult meal at lunchtime, for instance, you're getting the entree, you're getting the side dishes, you have the opportunity to choose the vegetables, the fruits, all of those things, components of the meal, as well as a beverage.

So you are getting the milk or the bottle of water.

So when we looked at that and compared it to the cost of providing those items, as well as what we are providing for staff lunches, we are providing staff with the opportunity to purchase Boar's Head Deli sandwiches, either on wraps or very specifically made for them. We also have specials, including homemade French onion soup in the winter months, as well as additional entrees, Chef Irving's Meat Loaf, things like that, that are complete meals. So looking at the cost of those meals, to make those meals, as well as what people would be paying if they were to, you know, either pack a lunch and bring it from home that includes all of those components, or purchase it from an area restaurant, you know, or have Grubhub delivered to the school. This definitely is still much more cost effective.

Okay, thank you.

All right.

I share Dan's sentiment that, you know, we continue to see improvement from our food service department, and I think that's terrific.

Obviously, this committee has shown that we support our food service department.

I think some of these ideas here are pretty innovative, and I'd love, I certainly support and appreciate our administration, including at the food service department level hearing committee members like Dan, public members like we heard speak tonight, in eliminating the elementary snacks. So I think those are my only thoughts.

I would entertain a motion to approve the two fees that were, or the fee, the one fee that we're being asked to discuss or to approve tonight.

So moved.

Second.

All right.

George Ann. Yes.

Jeremy.

Yes.

Adam.

Yes.

Julie.

Yes.

And I'm a yes. Motion carries seven. Oh, thank you very much for your help. I know Ms. Whittemore has to get going. So we'll excuse her. I don't know if that made that more or less awkward.

I was trying to make it less, but it feels like it might have made it more. All right.

Next up, we have our superintendent mid-cycle evaluation review.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thanks. I'm back in the fall.

I presented the goals and focus indicators to be focused on for the next two years in this two years in this two-year cycle, and now we're at the mid-cycle update.

You received and it will be shared in the packet a document that updated you on progress towards my three goals as well as reflections upon the focus indicators that were selected.

I also shared a feedback form with members.

I appreciate the four members who have returned those and asked that the other members please complete those.

The written feedback is really, really helpful to reflect upon and use as we go into next year.

And then next year I'll be continuing to work on those goals and those different indicators and we'll come back in the spring to do a more formal presentation of those as well as a more formal end of the cycle summit of evaluation.

So just a reminder, those goals included a goal on district and school culture, on innovative student-centered learning, and K-5 literacy.

And then the focus indicators that were selected were around curriculum instruction, data-informed decision-making, fiscal systems, communication, as well as commitment to high standards.

If there are any questions or comments, I'm hoping otherwise, you know, again, the written feedback is really, really helpful. Thanks, Dr. Portillo. I know I've seen a few members who CC'd me in sending their feedback forms.

I know there are some still outstanding.

Are there any questions about this matter here at the table? SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Adam? Adam?

Yeah, thank you, Dr. Portillo.

And I appreciated kind of reading through it. Can you speak into the microphone?

Yeah, this is better?

Not better?

Better?

Yeah.

Okay, sorry.

So thank you, Dr. Portillo. I appreciate you sending that information around. I just had a couple of questions about the kind of documentation that you sent, really just related to how we're capturing data and how that can be shared back with the school committee.

And so as we think about areas where kind of there's a goal to improve by 50 percent or something of that nature, I would just love to see the baseline data.

That's one thing. And the second is there was a heavy emphasis on kind of the common assessments, which I think is great.

But I would also love just to see what those look like so that we understand at the table kind of just what a common assessment entails and see how it's used. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Great. Thanks.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: All right. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Alan? I apologize for the one I might put this on. Okay.

I just want to say on my own behalf, I know there's been some concern about moving to a two-year review cycle. As somebody who took, I think, a substantial amount of time and thought and care into the comments I left, Dr. Patel, I don't feel like I was limited in my ability to provide both positive and constructive feedback.

So I just want to endorse the process that we agreed to. I think it was a good decision.

All right.

I'm going to take the next items out of order a little bit, just again, because I am going to be recusing myself, as I have in the past, from any conversations around Sharon TV's contract.

And I think it'll be easier, Dan, if I take a few things out of order here and then hand the meeting over to you to bring us to executive session. I'll step outside of the room. Alan, obviously, you can do as you please.

But just so you know, in the past, in addition to recusing myself from those matters, I've removed myself from the discussion altogether.

I've actually never seen the Sharon TV contract, either as a board member of Sharon TV or this board.

And I personally believe that that's the right process for me. So I will take the next item as draft school committee meeting calendar.

If we can put that up.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thank you.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: All right.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: All right. I know myself and Dan have reviewed this.

Dan was incredibly helpful in thoroughly reviewing this and pointing out a few things that have since been changed. Some conflicts around some community holidays.

Let's take a look real quick at the June dates. Because, as was mentioned earlier, this is a conflict here tonight.

And if we can avoid that next year, personally, I would endorse doing that. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I don't know what's happening. It's all right. Sorry, Jane. I know taking that over, I should have had the discussion with you. The problem is I'm trying to get a laptop.

Well here, I mean, we can pull it up or at least.

I mean, we can just change the one and two again in the bottom.

Can you scroll to the one?

I can tell you the June dates.

Yeah, that would be fine.

Yep, I'm pulling mine up as well.

So just to read them off, we would have an August 20th meeting, September 3rd, September 17th, October 15th, October 29th, November 12th, December 3rd, December 17th, January 7th, January 21st, February 4th, February 25th, March 4th, March 18th, April 15th, April 29th, May 13th, May 27th, June 10th, and then a possible additional meeting on June 24th.

So glad to see that we avoid that date, that conflict with Juneteenth next year. Does anybody at the table have any questions or concerns with any of those dates? Adam, I see your hand. Yeah, just not a concern, but a question.

In the last few years, we've needed to add an additional budget-related meeting in March. Yep.

Is it worth scheduling that now, or do we prefer kind of as needed to schedule on the fly? I think that's a question that's, I think that's a relevant question for us to discuss really quickly here.

Does anybody have a thought or preference that they'd like to offer? Julie?

I think that's a really good idea.

I do think we were also going to ask to move priorities.

So maybe we should move priorities first and then see if we need another meeting, because maybe this year we can do it all without another meeting.

What do you think of that? I think we can work either way. We can play it by year or we can schedule something now and then cancel it if we don't need it. I don't know if it's easier for people to get that on the calendar. Dr. Patel, you had a thought?

Yeah, my suggestion would be to hold off, because there's a good chance we might need it, if we need it, we might need it in February versus March. So I think we probably will be more likely to know, you know, whether we need one, whether we need two, whether we need zero, and when they fall based upon the process.

Sounds good.

Okay, next up, establishing a new revolving fund tuition account discussion and a possible vote.

So this was something that we discussed very briefly during our last meeting as part of another item. This is the revolving account which would allow us to take any out of district tuitions.

I'm saying that poorly.

Take any tuitions that we're charging students in specific situations and put into a revolving account.

Right, Dr. Patel? Correct.

Do we have any presentation on this or any explanation that we can provide more that's a little bit clearer than my explanation there? No.

I mean, part of the, one of our policies allows for occasional students who are on a caregiver affidavit whose parents are not residing here to come to school in Sharon.

And that allows us to charge tuition.

And so we discussed a specific one of those in executive session to respect the confidentiality of the student involved.

And this would allow us to accept that tuition and put it into an account.

Okay.

And so the select board had had this on their agenda.

I asked them to remove that until we could have this conversation.

I don't, go ahead, Jojen.

Avi, can you just explain for the public what, why it's important to have the revolving fund? Sure.

While we're thinking that way? Yep.

So I think one of the main purposes is that the way that we do things in Sharon from a finance perspective is with the exception of some very specific funds that are meant to cover some very specific things, our revenues all go into one pool. And then as Julie mentioned, priorities, priorities then change, then divvies out based on the allocations.

In this case, tuition is being charged to try to offset at least some of the costs incurred by the district, by allowing, you know, specific students in specific situations into the district.

Not part, I think it's important for people to understand, not part of a program.

So this is not like, you know, this is not school choice.

This is not some specific programs. This is cases where there's a caretaker affidavit, a student for a very specific set of reasons under our legal authority.

We're voting as a committee in executive session to choose to allow a student to come in. As is our right, we're choosing to charge a fee to offset some of our costs.

This would allow the district to take that cost in directly, therefore using it for the purpose.

Thanks.

Thank you. If there's no other question, oh, go ahead, Dan. Just one comment that our policies around tuition in these circumstances were revised last year to align with the state law, and state law allows school districts to do this and to charge tuition in specific circumstances where criteria are met. So this, in my opinion, is not unusual to Sharon.

It's a function of what state law allows us to do, and our policies are consistent with the policies of other districts around this practice.

Thank you. I think that's a really helpful clarification.

So if there's no other questions, I would entertain a motion to approve.

So moved.

Second.

Alan?

Yes.

Dan?

Yes.

Julie?

Yes.

Georgian?

Yes.

Jeremy?

Yes.

Adam?

Yes.

And I'm a yes. Motion carries 7-0. Decision items, and again, I'm not ignoring that discussion item. I'm just taking, I'm just saving that for last. So decision items, I would entertain a motion to approve the minutes of June 11th, 2025. So moved.

Second.

Alan?

I abstain.

Dan?

Yes.

Julie?

Yes.

Georgian?

Yes.

Jeremy?

Abstain.

Adam?

Yes.

And I'm a yes. Motion carries 5-0. I would entertain a motion to correct the previously approved minutes. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: So moved. Second.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Alan? SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Yes. Dan?

Yes.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Dan? Yes.

Julie?

Yes.

Georgian?

Abstain.

Jeremy?

Abstain.

Adam?

Yes.

And I'm a yes. Motion carries 5-0. Again, I know I'm making this awkward because of the recusal here, but I did, before I leave the room, want to make an announcement here as part of the announcements and updates.

I wanted to tell Jane Martin, given that this is our last meeting here together, how much she is appreciated here by this district.

Speaking for myself, I will tell you that having served as chair for part of four years, and for the better part of two and a half years, it's not a job that I ever could have done if you weren't sitting in the seat that you did. People in the public know when they hear us talk about you, they know how much you mean to this district, but they don't have a true understanding of the depth of understanding you have of what it takes to do this.

And it wasn't a small feat to onboard a new superintendent and a new school committee chair within a short time and help us all get to, I think, a solid place here as a district.

A lot of that is really due to the hard work that you put in and the expertise that you give graciously to this district.

So I have a cake here that we can enjoy an executive session.

And I also have this proclamation from the Statehouse for you, just clearly explaining the gratitude that Sharon has for you. So that is for you here, Jane. We appreciate you very much.

Certainly, Dan, it's your prerogative to take more announcements and updates now or wait until after your item.

I'm going to excuse myself. And if someone can come in the hallway and find me after you've moved us to executive session. All right.

Thank you, Zian. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I'll do the same.

And I just want to second the recognition of all Jane's hard work. There's so much that just goes on behind the scenes and especially with the subcommittee work that goes on. Jane is often the one sometimes after hours setting up those meetings, agenda planning those meetings and all the policy work we did last year. Every single one of those policies, Jane was pivotal in getting those prepared and approved.

So thank you so much. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: The next. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Can I? Yes.

Of course.

If we're going to be here, I have to say. Yeah, I walked in with Jane in her role.

And Jane is a truly unique individual who has the temperament, the grace, the expertise.

And she also loves and so committed to the kids of Sharon, the families of Sharon, the staff, and to really supporting me and the rest of the entire staff, but especially the central office crew.

She is not replaceable.

We know that. And you say that's kind of cliche. But anyone who knows Jane, I've heard just random folks who have interacted with her saying the exact same thing. So we'll miss her deeply. She promises that she'll be in touch and maybe do a project here and there.

But she is awesome.

And again, I'm just so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with her for the last four years and appreciate her deeply.

While we're singing your praises, I would like to add another verse.

Many people may not be aware that you were a member of the Easton School Committee for 10 years, I believe.

And you have served as an immense resource in all kinds of ways. So I know you've helped me on a lot of things. It's been a pleasure to work with you always.

And I'll miss you. I just want to add one thing.

As the newest addition, I know I make you crazy, but you're very helpful and very reliable.

You respond really quickly.

And it's been very helpful helping me settle in with the warrants and stuff. So I appreciate you. I wish I got to work with you more so I could make you crazy longer. Thank you.

And I won't repeat what's been said, but thank you, Jane.

All right.

Thanks, everyone.

What I understand is our last item today is the renewal of the agreement with Sharon TV. We have a proposal which I think is coming from the administration.

Is that right? That's correct.

To renew the contract between the schools and Sharon TV who are being so good as to film us tonight and broadcast us out to the town so they can participate in these meetings. But they do, of course, so much more around town and in our schools.

So the contract was distributed with members of the committee.

I had an opportunity to review it as others did, I believe. It is a contract that I understand is for a period of 10 years.

And it would basically permit use of the premises by Sharon TV at no cost.

But from what I read from the administration's proposal, the schools see the value that Sharon TV provides as so much of a benefit to our schools that it would be far in excess of whatever rent we might charge someone else to share the space, their sharing of equipment, their services, in addition to special events and meetings.

So I think the feeling from the administration, based on what I've read, is that the arrangement is mutually beneficial and there's a recommendation to renew. Is there anything you'd like to add? Yeah.

I think the amount of involvement Sharon TV has in broadcasting events is definitely exemplary.

I think the other incredible benefit is our kids get to work with Sharon TV folks and get hands-on authentic experience.

That's something we're trying to build more and more in our system, but it's so much easier when you actually have a professional organization right there on campus that our kids basically have complete reign to work with the professionals at Sharon TV who are awesome.

And they embrace not only what they do as far as putting on their own productions, but also involving the kids in the production.

So I think that part itself is invaluable.

So, you know, we initially did a three-year agreement just to test out the waters.

It's going even better than we expected.

And so we'd like to kind of extend to a 10-year agreement to continue it for a long time. And before I open to discussion, would it be fair to say that the terms of the longer term, the renewal agreement are essentially the same as the existing terms? Yes.

Okay.

Yes, they are. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thank you. And now we can have discussion.

Are there any questions or comments?

I had one comment.

I know this came up in Waltham recently where, oh, I know this came up in Waltham recently where public access television got into a conflict with a group of voters around whether or not government meetings that were being played were public domain and whether they could be shared outside of the public access channel.

And I just wanted to see if we could add a provision that government meetings, that would be select boards, school committee, et cetera, would be public domain so they could be used by whomever how they wanted.

It's a legal gray area. I think that the law is probably going to come down on the side of the voters in Waltham.

But I was wondering if there was a way to clarify that as part of this agreement.

I don't know if I believe there's nothing technical that would prevent us from doing that.

So we will we'll do will if we could approve based upon that provision being put into the contract.

That would be great. That would be great. As long as it was assuming the rest of the committee agrees to that as well.

Is there any additional discussion?

I have a question about that proposal.

Dr. Patello, could you speak a bit about how this draft contract was created?