SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: All right.

Welcome to the December 17th, 2025 meeting of the Sharon School Committee.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: This meeting will be conducted remotely over Zoom. Attendance by board members will be remote. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Remote attendance shall count towards the quorum. The meeting will be broadcast live SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: recorded by Sharon TV. If you elect to enable your webcam, your image and background, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: maybe broadcast with or without sound. As always, we'll begin with public comments.

I need a member SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: of the school committee to keep time. We ask folks to limit their comments to two minutes SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: and keep it within the purview of the school committee.

Other than that, I'm ready to kick SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: it off. Is there anybody that's willing to keep time for me here on the committee? No, Adam normally, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Adam's here. I see his hand. I do suspect that there will be, I see some educators on here, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: obviously free to speak about anything.

I do suspect there'll be some conversation based on SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: some emails we saw about East Elementary.

I do just want to say to folks that I'm very aware SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: of a meeting between the superintendent and the co-presidents of the STA regarding the matter. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I was briefed by both our superintendent and the head of facilities, who's also on this call.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: After that meeting, I also did have conversation by email with the co-presidents of the STA.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: And I'm in the process of arranging a meeting between the STA leadership and the school committee SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: leadership.

This is an issue that is very important to the district, very important to the school SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: committee and clearly very important for our educators. So I just wanted to say that before SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: opening a public comment. And without further ado, I will take Rachel Diamond. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thank you. I would like to say that this comment and any others from East staff members tonight are SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: related to the agenda item 3A, your budget. I am reading a letter on behalf of kindergarten teacher SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Jacqueline Haddigan. And I would like to ask if I may either read this letter in full or have SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: permission for other attendees to cede their time to me if they wish. So I may read her whole letter. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: We can hear the whole letter. That's fine. Thank you. No problem. Dear Dr. Botello and Sharon school SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: committee members, my name is Jacqueline Haddigan, and I have been an educator in Sharon since 2014.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I'm currently a kindergarten teacher at East Elementary School. I have been holding on to the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: hope that the district would make the right decision and put the health and safety of their youngest SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: learners first without me having to intervene. But that has not been the case for more than a year.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: On Saturday, December 14th, 2024, I received a phone call from Dr. Reynolds, and he informed me that SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: a pipe burst in my classroom.

The classroom was flooded, and we would have to relocate my SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: kindergarten classroom to the library. Additionally, he shared that we would not be able to return to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the classroom until repairs were done, and it was cleaned up. On that day, one to two inches of water SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: with a black substance filled the classroom and cubby room. It ruined and saturated almost every piece SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: of furniture and rug that was on the floor and left a disgusting pungent odor that filled the room.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: In addition, the water was so hot, and there was so much steam in the room that it left significant SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: damage to the materials hanging on the walls of the classroom and in the hall. The custodians did SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: their best to dry our classroom and deal with the muck, but most items had to be thrown away, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: and tiles were popping off the ground in multiple places. On Sunday, December 15th, 2024, Dr. Reynolds, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Dave Simpson, my husband, and I worked vigorously to set up a temporary classroom in the East Library.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: It took hours to sort through what was left of my beautiful classroom. Everything was moved, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: trashed, and or displaced.

Over a decade of items that I personally bought, acquired, or created were SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: all ruined and gone. We moved the items that were left to the library to create and mimic SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: a kindergarten classroom in a space that was simply not a classroom at all. We remained in the library SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: for the week leading up to December break, and were told that someone from E&E would be in to fix SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: it over vacation.

On January 2nd, 2025, I came back from break, and all of my belongings were in my SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: classroom.

There was still a strong, pungent smell in the classroom.

There were also pieces of the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: heater still taken off, with a toy bucket of mine catching water as it slowly dripped out. There were SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: remnants of the black sludge and water damage all around. I had to personally clean and wipe down many SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: items before the kids came into school that day. Later that week, the temperature in the room was SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: extremely cold again, documented at 55 degrees during school hours, even though the radiator was SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: repaired, and we were cleared to be back in our classroom.

On February 28th, 2025, E&E was in our SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: classroom working to make further repairs to the radiator while the kids were in the classroom SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: trying to learn. The worker told me that they are just piecing together things so it will work and SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: get us through the winter. He said that the whole unit needed to be replaced, but they would look to do SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: that over the summer. As I packed up the classroom at the end of the 2024-2025 school year, I was told to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: leave everything off the heater as they needed to do repairs on it over the summer. Upon my return in SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the fall, everything was exactly how I left it, and it was clear that it was untouched.

Our custodians SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: confirmed that they cleaned what they could, but that there was no one from E&E that had been in to make SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the necessary repairs to the unit. Fast forward to December 5th, 2025, our first freezing cold day of the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: school year. The students, two instructional assistants and I, were in the classroom.

The kids were doing SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: yoga on the floor as a movement break. All of a sudden, steam and hot water poured out of the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: radiator simultaneously.

It was blasting onto the floor and rapidly moving across the classroom.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: We immediately started evacuating the kids to a nearby classroom, and then two or three teachers and SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Dr. Reynolds ran back in, and we were rushing to pull back rugs and shove furniture and rugs into the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: hall and neighboring rooms in hopes of preserving them. Dave Simpson shot off the radiator and started SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: to clean and clear the water that was in there. It was that same black watery substance that was on SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the floors just a year ago. We all worked quickly to set up a space for the kids to function in, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: and that happens to be the art room next door. We were there for the remainder of the day.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Dr. Reynolds met with Tim, the Sharon Public Schools plumber, who said he would be in on Saturday SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the following day to replace the needed parts and fix the unit. On Monday, when I returned to school, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the heat was on, and I was told that we were all set to be in our classroom and everything was fixed SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: and up and running. My instructional assistant and I moved everything back into the classroom that SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: morning so the children could be in their comfortable and familiar space. On Tuesday, December 9, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: 2025, the kids were on the rug doing phonics with me and another instructional assistant in the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: classroom. They were all facing me as I was facing them and looking out to the rest of the classroom.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I looked over and saw what I thought was a lot of steam pouring out of the top of the radiator again.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I immediately evacuated the children into a neighboring classroom. Assuming that it was steam, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I went back into the classroom to try and preserve the items from potential water damage again.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Upon my arrival back to the room, there was a lot of black smoke coming out of the radiator and a SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: strong plastic burning smell, and I knew in an instant that it was not steam but the start of a fire SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: which our custodian later confirmed was sparking and arcing. I ran to the neighboring classroom to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: tell a teacher to call Dr. Reynolds as we pulled the fire alarm. Everyone in the school had to be SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: evacuated and went outside to wait for the Sharon Fire Department to come and assess the situation.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Since the latest incident, we have been out of our room. We set up in another temporary classroom SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: in a spare room at East. I have not been told a timeline other than within three to five days, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: parts should be in from E&E. The impact of these events continue to have on student learning and SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: emotional well-being are significant.

How many more emergency repairs do we need to have before SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: we act on replacing the unit as a whole? How much longer are we going to be reactive versus getting SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: to the root cause and simply fixing the issue in the first place? These events continue to happen SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: with five and six-year-old children present. They are wondering and questioning so many things about SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: their classroom and their belongings.

They are curious and worried about their own houses and if SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: this could happen there too. Most importantly, they're worried about their safety in our room SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: and asking me if it will be safe to go back there this time or do I think that this radiator is going SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: to break on us too while we are in our new temporary space. They shouldn't have these big wonders and SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: worries at five and six years old. Not about school anyway. Never in my decade plus of being in Sharon SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: have I ever considered or felt compelled to share any matter publicly until these issues.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: It is my daily responsibility to ensure the safety of our town's youngest learners and every day since SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: December 14th, 2024, I have wondered if I would be able to do that due to the state of this heating unit.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: These unprecedented events have become the norm in my classroom and we cannot keep putting these SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: vulnerable children at risk by patching and glazing this over. The answer is a simple one. Fix it the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: right way by the right professionals so we can safely move back into our kindergarten room once and for all.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thank you for taking the time to listen to this. I look forward to hearing from you and I'm eager to hear SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: a plan for the future. Jacqueline Hadigan, kindergarten teacher, East Elementary School.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thank you. Abigail Gay.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Good evening. My name is Abigail Gay. I am the kindergarten teacher adjacent to Jacqueline SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Hadigan's classroom in East Elementary and the following is an abbreviated version SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: of the letter that I sent to the school committee on December 15th. Dear Dr. Botello and members of SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the Sharon School Committee, I am writing to raise awareness of the significant health and safety SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: concerns at East Elementary School. I have been a member of the East Elementary kindergarten team SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: since 2022. During my four years of service at East, I have witnessed multiple health and safety SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: concerns that are putting students and staff at risk. The most recent of these concerns are the burst SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: pipe and electrical fire that occurred in the heating unit of one of the kindergarten classrooms.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: These two issues occurred within a week of each other and the electrical fire resulted in a whole SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: school evacuation.

These are merely the most recent and extreme examples of some of the health and SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: safety concerns at East. Multiple classrooms have been impacted by burst pipes and the leaky roof. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: The temperatures in all the classrooms vary widely. Recently, many educators, including myself, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: arrived at school to find their rooms as cold as 51 degrees Fahrenheit.

The heat in the gym is so SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: inconsistent that students have started wearing coats to PE. Meanwhile, in June of September, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I have experienced classrooms becoming so warm that students and staff walk around in a stupor, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: barely able to complete their day's activities.

In addition, the modular additions at East remain SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: attached and open to the school, despite being deemed uninhabitable several years ago because of mold.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: The school committee website states that its members are committed to ensuring that every child, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: parent, and staff member has the best possible learning environment.

The conditions at East SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Elementary are far from the best possible learning environment.

Instead, they range from barely SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: functioning to clearly dangerous.

I call upon Dr. Botello and the members of the school committee to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: come to East, tour the building, and spend time in the classrooms.

I can only hope that what you see and SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: experience for yourselves will spur you to action to fix the egregious conditions that East students and SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: staff are dealing with on a daily basis.

Thank you. Perfect timing.

Thank you. Jessica Weiner.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thank you. First and foremost, I want to thank the teacher that pulled the fire alarm at East Elementary, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the custodian that stopped the fire, the school administration for getting all the kids out safely in SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the Sharon fire department for their quick response. There is a problem at East Elementary with the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: heating system. I'm a parent of two students there. One classroom flooded somewhere 50 degrees, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: and there was a fire. I'm not qualified to determine what is wrong and how to fix it, but as a parent and SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: a taxpayer, I'm qualified to say it's unsafe and unacceptable to expect our students and teachers to be in this SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: environment.

Please look into these issues immediately.

Put the real fix into place and not just a band-aid.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thank you for listening.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thank you. Charlotte Hogan.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Hi. Thank you for letting me speak. My name is Charlotte Hogan. I want to address the issue regarding the lack SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: of tissues at our schools. I know this is sort of off topic from East, but it's sort of becoming SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: like a tissue gate. For at least the past three years, by mid-December, Ms. Keenan and the front office SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: begin asking the PTSO for tissues. Obviously, if they're running out a third of the way through the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: school year, it's definitely a problem.

The PTSO supports teachers, staff, and student-run groups and SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: raises funds for supplemental educational materials and expenses.

Our organization relies solely on SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: parent donations and fundraising, all of which goes directly back to the school to provide items and SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: experiences not provided by SPS operational budget, like scholarships, grants, educational speakers.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: In fact, we actually run all of our grant requests by Ellen to make sure that they're going to comply with SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: your budget in the future. So parents are donating money to the PTSO and we don't believe that we should SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: be buying tissues with the money that they're giving us for extra events and programs that we plan and SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: organize.

The mission of the PTSO is not to supplement operational costs that come from SPS, as everybody knows.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Today, I went to Costco myself and I bought several cases of tissues. Another board member gave me some SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: money to supplement what I paid. Like everyone, I pay additional fees for sports, transportation, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: or parking at Sharon High. So it's a huge problem every year for the past three years. By December, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: we're always asked for this. This is my last year volunteering for Sharon Schools. My youngest is SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: graduating, so I'm not going to be here next year to run to Costco, send out emails asking parents to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: donate for tissues.

So I'm really hoping that this year while you're reviewing the budget, you maybe SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: double your tissue budget. I know this is ridiculous and it sounds ridiculous that I'm even asking for SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: this. However, it seems to be a huge problem every year that is not being addressed.

And what I would SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: like to really say at the end of this all is to please make the lives of your staff and students easier SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: and more sanitary by just making sure that they have these tissue boxes that last the entire year.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thanks for listening. Thank you.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Hi, Thomas.

Real quick.

I know Nolan is part of the same topic as yours, right?

Is Arna? SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Yes. Yes. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Yes. Okay. So there's one person after you. I'm going to take them now. And actually, I received your SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: email.

And before I saw your second email, I did think having a larger spot with the student rep, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: or in this case, I can take the three of you together at the end of this segment here. And I think you put SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: together a very thorough set of thoughts for this committee.

And I appreciated your offer to take SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: questions from this committee. So I'm going to take Ms. Crosby, and then I'm going to come back to the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: three of you to end public comment. And I appreciate you all being here and the effort you put in to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the email that you sent us. All right. So Ms. Crosby. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: That's good. Thank you.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thanks.

To follow up on what Charlotte just shared, I know I pointed out a couple years ago to this SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: committee that your supplies and materials budget had been cut to a very ridiculously low level.

And SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Dr. Botello at the time insisted quite publicly that no, it was just right sized. I think what you SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: are seeing between the requests for basic supplies a third of the way through the year, as well as SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: repairs that clearly aren't being made, is a complete and continued failure by Dr. Botello and Ellen.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: And again, warrants, as I said at my prior comments, strong consideration from this committee that he be SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: fired for cause. At this point, you all are, all of you really should be fired for cause, all of you being SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the school committee, but that's not possible, but it is possible to fire the person who's failing to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: assess needs properly.

You just had your capital outlay presentation.

It's not like what happened at SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the kindergarten wasn't known when you had your capital outlay presentation.

Why was that funding not SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: on your capital outlay presentation?

Crazy question.

You know who's responsible for putting that together?

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Dr. Botello and Ellen.

So again, I would like to point out that complete failure on their part, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: complete failure on your part. Please do your job. Please fire him for cause. Thank you. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: All right.

So that, that is the end of public comment.

As far as the hands that are raised, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I see Thomas, Arna and Nolan, I'm going to unmute all three of you. And again, I appreciate the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: communication you sent us. So we'll keep it as brief as we can, but we're not running the clock. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thomas Arna and Nolan, I'll speak first.

My name is Thomas and I'm a senior at Sharon High School this SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: year. And we are here today to talk about a petition to adjust the club and activity fees for the high SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: school and middle school. First of all, I'd like to thank all of the members of the school committee for SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: being receptive to hearing our petition.

And I would also like to thank all the members of the community, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: which includes students, parents, as well as faculty who have supported our efforts over the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: past few weeks. I would like to give a brief overview of our petition and our goals first.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: And then I'll ask Arna and Nolan to first give some insight into the student perspective on these fees, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: as well as some data that we have collected over the past few weeks.

And then we ask if you have any SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: questions, we can answer those questions at the end. So as you noted earlier, yesterday evening we sent SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: a copy of our petition and our proposed motion to the school committee.

And earlier today we sent a copy SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: of the signatures that we've collected, which includes 245 physical signatures and 203 electronic signatures.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: In the petition, we asked that the club fees be changed from the current tiered system to a flat rate SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: of $50 per student per year, which would cover unlimited participation in clubs for that year.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: This would essentially get rid of the tier system for clubs entirely, which we believe is a net benefit.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Arna will speak more about that on the student side and Nolan will speak more about that financially.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Arna will speak more about that in the future. We also ask that in the future, when the school committee implements SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: changes like these to fees, that reasonable notice be provided to parents and students.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Because even though these school committee meetings are recorded and they are open to the public, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the reality is that many parents just don't have the time to listen in on these meetings or look at the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: recordings after the fact. The vast majority of parents that we have spoken to, as well as many of SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Sharon High School students, mostly the underclassmen, were unaware that these club fees even existed until SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: very recently.

So even though we obviously believe that this lack of transparency is unintentional, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: it still is unfair to many members of our community.

So overall, we are also just asking for SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: improved transparency when it comes to these fees. That is all from me. So once again, I'll ask Arna to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: speak about the student perspective on these fees. Thank you.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Hello everyone.

My name is Arna. I am a senior at Sharon High School.

I mean, obviously, but I am SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: part of many, many clubs and I'm here to share the student perspective on club fees. So club culture is SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: massive at Sharon High School. It's one of the core pillars of our community at the school that we have.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I know so many students that participate in at least one and the majority of students participate in SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: more than one club, probably multiple clubs. And it's a very important aspect of our culture because SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: it's a way that lowers our stress. Sharon High School can sometimes be a very stressful environment, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: very high stakes for a bunch of the students. So having these clubs be accessible is really important SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: in order to maintain a positive community. However, we really believe that these club fees are going to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: hinder the participation in clubs. Just some statistics that we've gathered.

For one of the clubs that we've SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: talked about, SMST, a club with 50 members, we did a form asking how club fees would affect their SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: participation.

Around 78.6% of SMST members said that club fees might cause them to reconsider participating in SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the club. So that's majority of the club would either have to drop out of the club or, you know, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: consider their participation.

The High School Talent, the school newspaper, conducted a poll with over 150 SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: students regarding whether they would be more or less likely to participate in school clubs with a new SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: fee structure.

96.9% of the students said that this structure would prevent them from actively joining SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: clubs. If this fee structure continues, the district will still not receive the necessary funding because SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: students would simply stop participating.

Additionally, this creates a pay to participate system where SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: students are penalized for wanting to pursue extracurricular activities.

Regardless of the financial SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: support the school may provide for those students in need, it does not diminish the fact that the school SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: is charging kids for club participation.

I really think club participation in our school is one of the more SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: unique aspects that we bring to the community and that we bring to the schools even surrounding us.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: We have so many accomplishments from so many different types of clubs. I myself am a deck of SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: president. We've sent so many people to internationals.

I know Nolan, he's the captain of the mock trial, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: and we sent our team to states, top public school in the state. There's so many accomplishments, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: and it's because these students are allowed to flourish in these clubs and able to participate and be a SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: part of as many clubs as they want to be. But if we do install these fees, especially the $100 for tier ones, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: we're going to see a massive drop in the amount of students that are participating in these clubs, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: ruining the club culture that the vibrant club culture that Sharon's Sharon High School had. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: So I we do believe that this this current tier system is very detrimental to the way students SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: will view clubs at Sharon High School. The new system, $50 flat fee, Nolan's going to talk a little bit SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: more about the numbers behind why we think that will work. It's going to be more inclusive to all SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: types of students. A $50 flat fee to join unlimited clubs is fair to both the school committee, but it's SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: also fair to students.

It won't really hinder how many clubs they join, but rather will promote club SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: club participation.

Just paying one $50 flat fee will encourage students to join as many clubs as they SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: want to, boosting our club culture. I'm going to pass it off to Nolan now, and he's going to talk a SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: little bit more about the numbers. Thank you, Arna and Thomas, so much. I think they did a fabulous SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: job explaining so far. And thank you, Mr. Shemtov and the rest of the school committee for allowing us SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the opportunity to speak as students.

This is a very important issue to us, and we appreciate that SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: we're given the opportunity to express our voices and have a say in, or at least the opportunity to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: speak in our town's politics. And so I'm going to talk a little bit about the numbers regarding this.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Of course, we acknowledge that we can't get rid of fees entirely because of funding issues, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: and we understand that the state did not provide as much funding for the school district and the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: school as we anticipated.

And so obviously there's an option between raising taxes SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: or implementing these new fees, and that came to a vote where they chose the fees. However, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: assuming only half of the SHS students participate in clubs, which is a low estimate because there are SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: so many students that participate in clubs right now, these $50 flat rate fees would raise over $33,000, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: exceeding the school committee's estimate, which was only $25,000. I just want to mention that SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: these estimates are a drop in the bucket compared to the district budget, where these fees of around SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: $25,000 is only 0.04% of the annual operating budget of around $55 million.

Additionally, I wanted to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: mention that the Acton-Boxborough model, which this was implemented from, has fees which are substantially SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: less than the $100 imposed recommended fee. And so, and even those fees there, they're not work, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: they are working to secure financial funds, but they're decreasing club participation.

And SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: additionally, I just want to talk about the pay to participate structure that Thomas mentioned, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: where regardless of any financial support that will be given to students that can't afford or have SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: financial reasons that prevent them from being able to afford to participate in clubs, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: these students are made to feel like they're penalized for trying to join a club, which has SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: been noted as an extension of the academic environment.

And these clubs really help people SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: learn and they grow. And there's a lot of academic clubs, there's a lot of cultural clubs where people SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: feel a sense of like pride. And there's like the Black Student Union, Asian Student Union, all of these SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: different cultural unions, which makes people feel connected to their culture. And proposing a fee on SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: that is basically diminishing the culture as a whole and saying that you're not allowed to be with SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: people just like you and enjoy and be able to express yourselves unless you're paying to the school.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: And we don't believe that if these fees continue, we believe that so many people, especially non-competitive SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: clubs will stop showing up, which will decrease clubs as a whole. And we believe that this fee, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: this fee structure continues, that less students will participate in clubs, and the 25,000 estimate will not SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: be reached at all because people start quitting the clubs. And we'd be happy to answer any questions SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: that you may have or any questions regarding our petition or the email. And on the three of us, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: we'd like to thank you again for giving us the opportunity to speak. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Of course.

Before I take questions, I just want to say, Thomas, Arna, and Nolan, that was probably in SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: my five, four plus years here on School Committee, the best presentation I've seen. No disrespect to our SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: administration.

Thank you for the incredibly thorough work. I think, speaking for myself, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the email that you sent us was very thought out. I think you laid out your points very clearly, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: but also really took all stakeholders into consideration.

And so no matter how it shakes SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: out, I think you've done incredible work here. And this is really how it should work. I think just the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: work you just did here in the last 10 minutes speaks volumes about our district.

And I'm proud SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: of the work that you guys just did. Julie Rowe, I see your hand.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Hi. I just, I want to say to Nolan, when I met you the day that we were setting up for the financial SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: fair and you guys came up to me from that moment till right now, you did like this, you know, it's SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: textbook.

You guys did a terrific job of explaining the problem, offering a solution, getting support.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I think I just have one question, but first, let me just fulsomely praise you some more.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I wish we had a lot of work like this because it's very thorough and I appreciate it. So the only SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: question I have is, did you consider where, whether a $50 fee for like a tier three club, that's just SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: like, I think, I think baking might be a tier three club. I think my daughter's in it. Like, did anyone SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: say whether or not they thought that was fair? Or can, can you tell me more about that? Oh, yeah. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I can. Sorry, Abby.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Yeah. I guess I can take that one. That is a great question and we actually didn't have, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: we were explaining to some tier members of tier three clubs, they were questioning that as well. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: But we have to think about the overall fairness of the tier system. Well, at first glance, it seems like SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: tier one clubs, since they have more commitment, it wouldn't make sense for them to pay more. But SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: ultimately, tier one clubs are already making so many payments.

I am the president of DECA. It's a SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: tier one club. We already pay 120, regardless of club fees, to even compete. So adding an additional SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: hundred dollars on top of that, it just seems unfair compared to tier three clubs where you have to, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: like, we understand that while there is less of a time commitment, it's still a club, they still have to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: get a teacher, they still have to meet in the school. We think a $50 flat rate for any type of club, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: tier one, tier two, tier three, creates a fair system for everybody, rather than placing a lot of weight SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: on tier one and tier two clubs.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: And also, if you don't mind, when we first sent out this proposal to a lot of student leaders, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: there were a few leaders of tier three clubs who reached out to me. And the conclusion that we came to is that SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the vast majority of students don't only participate in tier three clubs. A lot of students participate in, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: for example, like a tier three club and a tier two club, or a tier two club and multiple tier three clubs, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: for example.

So either way, like even if this change wasn't made, they would still be paying that fee. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: So in the long run, we expect this fee to not have that much of an impact on tier three clubs.

And if SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: anything, the detrimental effect of that might be counteracted by, for example, if a student joins a SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: tier two club, they might be incentivized to explore other clubs, like to kind of make up for that $50 SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: payment, for example.

And in addition, because this proposal would essentially eliminate the tier SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: system, there would be not necessarily like a ranking per se of how much of a commitment each club is.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Because with the tier system, the issue that we see with the tier system is that it places some clubs, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: you're artificially placing some clubs into a high commitment bucket and then some into a low SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: commitment bucket. And part of the issue with that is that it's hard for administration to assess SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: a particular club and say, how much dedication does this club need? How much funding does it need? SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: And how much resources is it taking from the school?

And so overall, we just feel like it is SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: more fair. And after discussing with a lot of student leaders, we came to the conclusion that it's more SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: fair to charge a flat fee for unlimited participation rather than breaking it down by tier.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thank you. That's a great answer.

And thanks again, you guys were amazing.

Maybe you can come SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: back next year and let us know. If we if we change anything, you can come back and give us an update. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thank you. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Alan. I wanted to just say three quick things.

First of all, I thought, thank you for the presentation, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: but the thought the letter that you wrote was as good as any professional letter I read in the last SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: year. And no kudos to the work that you put into this to this work. I want to thank you also for the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: comment Thomas you just made about the evaluation of the club structure and the valuation piece, because I SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: think that's an important consideration in light of what no one was saying about wanting folks to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: not feel like they're having to pay for cultural connection. So I think that's a really important SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: thing for us to to think about. And the third is just that, you know, I know a number of us on the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: committee, if not all of us over the last year have tried in different ways to make sure that we're SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: accessible to students at the high school particularly.

And so just want to, you know, use the opportunity to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: have you here and having had you do such a great job to say that, you know, ideas that you have of SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: how we can continue to be engaged most effectively with students and families is something we certainly SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: also would welcome your feedback on. So thank you very much. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: George Ann.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: You're muted, Georgia. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Sorry, I hit the wrong button.

Thanks, Arnie and Thomas and Nolan.

I know I responded to your email.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I just echo a lot of my peer sentiments.

You all are SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: incredible advocates.

What you guys did takes a lot of commitment and resolve.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I really recognize how important this is to you guys. And I'm glad that you took a stand and you put SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: all this time in and you did so in a very professional and thoughtful way. And Thomas, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I really loved what you just said about using the club fee to kind of encourage kids to check out SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: other things that maybe they wouldn't have for making things more accessible.

If you guys don't SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: know, I work at Stoughton High School, so all of this stuff really hits home with me. If I had it my way SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: and I'm speaking on my own behalf, you wouldn't pay club fees at all. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: I want everything to be accessible for you guys. You shouldn't have to earn or we shouldn't have to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: be having these conversations.

So I'm going to do my best to try to find out. And I see I'll be SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: sticking his thumb up. I think a lot of us feel that way. This is all about you. We do this for you SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: guys. And I really can't tell you enough. Please show up more. Please let us know more how you feel.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: And I'm really proud to be sitting here as a school committee member and seeing you guys get your SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: chance to shine. I'm sorry that it's for something like this. Thanks for your time.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thanks. Yeah, I voted against the club fees, so you have my support. Dan Newman.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thanks. It's an interesting proposal and I appreciate students from organizing and doing SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the research and bringing it to us. Others have remarked that instituting fees at all were not SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: the first choice of this committee and it was really a function of the financial reality last SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: year. But that certainly doesn't mean that we can't investigate other fee models and there may SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: be a better way of doing it. So I think it's fair to say that both options have pros and cons to them. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: The students today have done a great job of identifying some of those for us. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: In terms of next steps, Dr. Patel and Ms. Keenan, would it be possible to speak with the students SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: and evaluate the proposal that they've brought us and maybe we could have some kind of a follow-up at SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: a logical time about whether you recommend reconsidering the fee structure with some of these SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: pros and cons? Would that be a logical next step? Absolutely.

I think, yeah, Thomas, Arna and Nolan, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: you did a great job of really getting some deep student perspective on this and your proposal is SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: very reasonable and logical.

In addition, I know that Ms. Keenan has been talking to kids SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: about this as we've been preparing to start to collect.

One thing I shared with a couple of SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: school committee members about a month ago, we have had some positive offsets this year, including SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: some administration positions that were not filled at the beginning of the year that would allow us to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: cover this gap for this year. So there is a option to kind of really analyze this more and even delay SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: if desired, while taking into account the proposal put forth by our students as well as the overall SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: impacts of fees in general.

We did, again, we very specifically only did a $25,000 SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: projection for this year because it was going to be the first year and that's SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: a smaller amount and something that this year I know we are prepared to offset and we could also SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: kind of discuss whether or not we wanted to change course to the future. That's obviously the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: school committee's prerogative.

I want to know that you have some flexibility, especially this year. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Great.

All right.

Thank you guys again for this presentation and this conversation and your SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: willingness to put in all this work. Thank you to the school committee for your questions and your SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: comments.

I'll throw it to Alan Matenko for correspondence.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Thank you, Avi. Good evening. So for correspondence, the committee received 19 pieces between SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: December 3rd and December 17th at 9 a.m. on both occasions.

The Dean of Academic Affairs at the high SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: school shared a year in review from the high school counseling department, which highlighted key SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: achievements of the department students at the high school. As you've heard from the public comment, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: we received letters from elementary staff members at East concerning the evacuation on 12-9 and other SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: facility related issues regarding the school.

And those have been followed up on in writing by the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: chair and the superintendent.

And as you heard already as well, even better, although the written SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: document was the students who just presented shared their written proposal for the club fees. And that's SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: course one. Thanks, Alan.

We do have a student rep with us tonight.

Oh, I see her. Let's see. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Hi. Hey, how are you? I'm good.

How are you? Terrific.

Okay.

My name is Lassie Alom.

I'm a senior at SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Sharon High School and a member of the Student Advisory Committee. And I'm the student representative SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: for today's meeting. So there's always a great deal of excitement at SHS as winter break approaches.

And this SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: year is no different. This week, Sharon Student Council organized a festive December Spirit Week to SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: celebrate the season with enthusiastic winter themes. Monday was whiteout.

Tuesday was too cozy SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Tuesday. Today was ski day. Thursday will be Nike Tech versus quarter zip. And Friday will be dressed SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: up as your favorite holiday character.

The Student Council Holiday Candy Cane fundraiser continues SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: through this week to support our local Gift for Kids program and brings joy with candy delivery by SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Student Council Snowmen and the Grinch. Eagles Giving Spirit shines brighter at this time of year as many SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: clubs are hosting bake sales and drives to collect clothing, food, books, and pet supplies to help SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: various groups. The Radio Club is also hosting an open mic night fundraiser this week to support a SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: local food pantry. Lots of community engagement as the Red Cross Club visited Care One to play board games SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: with and give manicures to residents.

Key Club also visited Care One with snacks for card making, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: collected children's books that will be wrapped and displayed at the Sharon Public Library this week. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: for kids to take as surprise gifts and collected ornaments to donate. Students are grateful for the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: opportunities for clubs and advisors create through supporting these endeavors.

The senior class just SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: completed voting for class superlatives and everyone is excited to see what the senior class comes up. SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Some superlative spoilers are that we are voting for High School Sweethearts, Most Contagious Laugh, Future SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: President, etc. The junior class hosted a free movie night on December 5th for the community, SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: where participants of all ages viewed the Polar Express. Sharon High School seniors had the SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: opportunity to watch The Yellow Dress, a one-woman show brought by the Deanne's Educational Theater SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: to educate students about domestic violence. This was a great opportunity for our students to learn SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: about this very important safety topic, so thank you to Sharon Huggs who sponsored the event through a SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Mass Cultural Council grant. Winter sports kicked off with lots of after-school activity and enthusiasm.