The meeting began with the normal Call to Order, Agenda Review, and Flag Salute.
The first Community Comments portion of the meeting included a comment from a community member regarding vandalism on their property and assumed it was the same party(ies) who vandalized a mural at the school. They also made comments regarding the Pride Center’s closing.
The Consent Agenda included the approval of a warrant, contracts, and minutes from the Special Joint, Facilities, and Regular Board meetings.
The Reports to the Board portion of the meeting included:
– Superintendent Report – Regarding “Lifting Student Learning,” Discussed MTSD Professional Learning Plan and Act 173 section 2121.3 Needs Based Professional Learning which requires the development of a system appropriate needs-based professional learning for all professional staff, including administrators and other staff involved in student instruction. Also provided feedback on the current VT AOE vision of education, mentioning a recent Boston Globe article regarding declining test scores in New England and especially VT where the Secretary admitted that they have failed to support VT schools. Compared and contrasted VT AOE with Massachusetts with VT resulting in “unfunded and unsupported mandates that have left districts to their own devices to interpret and implement while also burying them in compliance reporting.” VT AOE released first of two required reports on Special Education identifying strengths, challenges, and opportunities in the delivery of services to students with disabilities. Statewide enrolment is declining, but students on IEPs are growing along with students with multiple disabilities is increasing. In Milton, nearly 82% of students with IEPs spend 80% or more of their day in regular education settings compared to 67% nationally. In VT, over 5% of students with IEPs are placed in separate schools, which is more than double the national average of 2.4%.
– Committee Reports –
o Policy Committee – Nine policies coming to next meeting for first reads with minor changes in the normal rotation of policy review.
o Finance Committe – This information comes from the Finance Committee meeting that met right before this meeting which discussed the many unanswered questions that make it difficult to determine where to budget money for FY27. Based on projected increase expenses, a level service budget is expected to cost $2.46 million more, which would account for a 6.24% increase with no other increases to anything. Mostly due to increased healthcare costs. Loss of expected Federal funds will account for a loss of 4.66 FTEs worth of funding that appears will need to be made up or reduce staff. Expected to lose all Title II and IV funds and 25% of Title I funds. Medicaid funding is unclear. A slide of interest in the Finance Committee broke down Milton’s true $13,761 Cost per Pupil:
– Salaries: $8,303
– Healthcare: $2,262
– Transportation: $896
– Maintenance/Custodial: $855
– Debt/District Insurance: $477
– Education Programming Expenses: $160
– Student Report – New Student board member Saj Saunders and returning board member Ava Naylor. Mentioned numerous things including Annual Day of Service, Class of ’26 college application seminars that occurred, college fair at St. Michael’s College, FAFSA forms night for student aid. Teacher advisor enrichment trainings including ALICE armed intruder training, HHB (Hazing, Harassment, and Bullying) training, Seniors Vs Staff frisbee ultimate competition coming up along with homecoming dance and food drives.
– Employees of the Month – Special Educators Amber Fenton, Courtney Pelkey, and Lisa Ransom.
– Principal Report Principal Report for MMS (more details in the LCATV video) like all principal presentations they are formatted to discuss work completed towards the goals of:
1) Student Achievement and Success – To foster curious and passionate learners through opportunities that further their academic knowledge and skills and meet the challenges of a changing world.
2) Social-Emotional Health and Well-being – To prioritize the health and well-being of all members of the learning organization through programming that promotes care for the heart, mind, and body.
3) Family & Student Engagement – To cultivate engaged citizens inspired to meet the demands of a changing society through an awareness of self, others, and the world around them in the local and global context.
The Presentations portion of the meeting included:
– Principal Reports – MMS – Group of students and teachers came and discussed their lessons and learning in interviewing and writing biographies.
– Professional Development Plan – Superintendent presented a summary of all the pieces that go into developing the Job-embedded professional learning that is required by the VT Education Quality Standards that are determined through a Comprehensive Needs Assessment.
The Discussion portion of the meeting included:
– Board Corner – Discussing how often to have board articles in the school newsletter. Possibly every other month and assigned board members to months.
– VT School Board Association (VSBA) conference discussion about signing up for various parts requiring advance sign-up.
– Final Discussion of Action Items had no items to discuss.
The second Community Comments portion of the meeting included a comment from a teacher regarding professional development.
The Action Items portion of the meeting included no action items.
The Board Comments portion of the meeting included one board member who condemned the vandalism to the community member’s property and the school’s mural and suggested a student design contest for creating a new idea that represents Milton or Vermont to replace the vandalized mural. Another board member indicated that the original design of the mural was about unity, but lost that when content was added. Another board member wanted to plug the school musical “Rock of Ages that will be at the High School Friday November 14th and Saturday November 15th. A student board member believed the vandalized mural was student led. Another board member believes the students should choose what the mural is without community input.
An Executive Session concluded the night.