2024/2025 School Committee Communications

 

Thank you to everyone—students, families, and staff—who took the time to participate in the School Start/End Time Survey. We truly appreciate your input. At last night’s School Committee meeting, we heard public comment from a number of community members and reviewed the results of the survey. You can view the full recording of the December 12, 2024 here.

 

For more detailed information, please take a look at the Start Times Survey Results presentation, as well as the accompanying memo detailing a proposal developed by the school principals: Administration’s Recommendations.

 

Our next School Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, December 19, 2024 at 7:30pm. At this meeting, we expect to vote on the proposed school start/end times for the 2025-2026 school year. We encourage you to review the meeting materials and reach out with any questions or feedback. You may send your comments to the Chair at alfredd@hsc.holliston.k12.ma.us.

 

Thank you for your continued engagement.

 

Sincerely,  

 

Holliston School Committee

 

The Holliston School Committee is hosting an open forum for any community members to come and ask questions about the different potential start times options or related concerns.  Questions may be asked live (in person or via Zoom – link to agenda is here) or may be submitted in advance to the Chair (alfredd@hsc.holliston.k12.ma.us).  The forum will be at 6pm on December 12th in the HHS Library. The HSC will subsequently present the results of the different recent surveys about start times.   

 

 

REMINDER: Please complete the survey linked below by midnight on Tuesday, December 10, 2024! Additionally, the Holliston School Committee meeting on Thursday, December 12 in the HHS Library will start at 6pm with an open forum for Q&A and comments from the community.

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Dear Holliston families,

 

The Holliston School Committee is interested in your perspective on the proposed schedule options.  Please provide your feedback through this 15 minute survey, linked below.  

 

Survey Link

 

Next year, Holliston Public Schools will be shifting from three bus runs to two.  Adams and HHS students will continue riding the bus together.  Miller and Placentino students will begin riding the bus together in 2025-2026 when the new school schedule takes effect. We are working to determine which schools will start first and what time each school will start.

 

Based on the teacher contract, beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, an additional 15 minutes will be added to the HHS, RAMS and Miller instructional days, and an additional 10 minutes to the Placentino instructional day. If we did not reduce from three bus runs/start times to two bus runs/start times and added the additional 10-15 instructional minutes to each school, Placentino would dismiss at approximately 3:40 p.m.

 

Based on input from the Fall 2024 School Start Time Committee and HPS administrators, ongoing community feedback and building on the work and recommendations of the 2017-2019 School Start Time Committee the following are three proposed schedules for the 2025-2026 school year and beyond.  These proposed schedules take into consideration feedback from elementary parents regarding the late Placentino start time, the gap between the Miller and Placentino school times and the importance of after school activities for all students.   

 

Thank you,

The Holliston School Committee 

Subject: School Start Times Update - Where we are and what is next

Dear HPS Community:

I wanted to send an update on the progress of changes to school start times.  These changes are required as part of the additional instructional time included in the new teacher contract and are also in response to continued parent feedback over the past 4 years.  As a reminder, in September, after passage of the override which provided funding to finalize the teacher contract and for additional buses, the HSC created an advisory committee to review and make recommendations on bussing and school start times.  This advisory committee was composed of 6 parents (with representation from all schools), 4 teachers (3 Miller and 1 HHS), 1 member of the Holliston Select Board, 3 HSC members, and 2 administrators (one of which was a recent principal of RAMS and was representing the principals).

This advisory committee met 5 times over the course of 5 weeks (the recordings of 4 of these meetings are on the HSC – Start Times section of the HPS website - https://www.holliston.k12.ma.us/about/school-committee) and voted 12-1-1 on a set of recommendations to the HSC on October 29^th (attached).  This recommendation was presented to the HSC last night (November 14^th) and the HSC had an initial discussion about the recommendations as well as pros and cons of alternative options.  We also received public comment from our elementary school principals about their concerns about a specific recommendation for school start time pairings and bus ridership.  I strongly encourage everyone to watch both the public comment (though HCAT did have a recording glitch which cut off some of it) as well as the HSC discussion.  The public comment section can be found at the following link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAQOBKodLOk) starting at minute 17 with the recommendation and then the HSC discussion at this link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfr7IkFi434) starting at minute 26.

Additionally, as was discussed at the meeting, the elementary school principals as well as central office administrators are going to work over the next 1.5 weeks on a detailed logistical proposl to start Miller and Placentino together.  This work will also include input from our RAMS and HS principals on all impacts to instructional time, after school activities, including sports, theatre, clubs and high school jobs, if the start time of those schools was moved later. Putting Placentino and Miller on the same start time had previously not been feasible.  However, as Dr. Slaney details, it became feasible due to the additional instructional time in the contract, lessons learned about pick-up and drop-off during COVID, and other factors.  The principals and Mr. Buday and Dr. Jordan had been discussing this idea since the passage of the override; however, it was only after additional discussions since the advisory group held its final meeting was this option really became seen as potentially feasibly.  Please keep in mind, however, that this remains just one of a few options that the HSC will be considering.

The administrators will be making a detailed presentation to the HSC at a public special meeting on Tuesday, November 26^th at 5:30 PM in the HHS Library.  After this presentation, the HSC discussed holding a Q&A webinar in December (with the ability to submit questions in advance and during the webinar) that would be recorded and sent out to the community as well as a potential survey.  This webinar and any survey would cover multiple different potential options and discuss the pros and cons of each to ensure the community fully understands the impacts of each option. More details on these next steps will be forthcoming.  I want to highlight, however, that there is a tight timeline as this decision, per the new contract, must be announced by January 1^st.

I want to recognize the fact that no solution will be perfect.  The HSC, however, is committed to working towards a solution that is in the best interests of the students and instructional time while also ensuring the impact on teachers and staff is included in the overall deliberations.  I also want to thank all of the members of the advisory committee for their time and commitment. 

As always, please feel free to reach out with your thoughts, questions, or concerns.

Sincerely,

Daniel Alfred,

Chair, Holliston School Committee

School Bus Start Times Committee Recommendation

School Committee Video (part 1)

School Committee Video (part 2)

 

Holliston School Committee Newsletter  October 2024  Hello everyone! It is hard to believe that we are already approaching the end of October. We on the Holliston School Committee (HSC) wanted to share a few highlights of the many efforts going on at our schools so far this school year and update the community on some other big initiatives.    Robert Adams Middle School: 2024 National Blue Ribbon School Award We congratulate the Robert Adams Middle School for the distinct honor of earning the 2024 National Blue Ribbon School Award. RAMS is one of only nine schools in the state of Massachusetts, and the only MA middle school, to receive this honor.  This award is based on school achievement that is reviewed by the US Department of Education over two years.   Miller/Placentino Playgrounds We are thrilled to report that the Miller and Placentino playgrounds have been upgraded and improved. This work was completed at the start of this school year and has provided students with great play spaces for recess.     High School Schedule  At the October 10 School Committee meeting, HHS Principal David List discussed the efforts of  the High School Scheduling Committee which is considering various options to move from the current block schedule to a traditional high school schedule. Mr. List provided a further update of the ongoing work at the October 24th HSC meeting. This work continues and we look forward to reviewing the final proposal from the Committee in the coming weeks.   School Bus/Start Times Committee The School Bus/Start Times Committee, consisting of parents, teachers, school committee members, a member of the Holliston Select Board, and administrators, has met four times so far. They are addressing complex challenges to figure out the best way to incorporate the additional time on learning (15 extra minutes at Miller/RAMS/HHS and 10 min at Placentino) as agreed upon in the 2024-2027 teachers’ contract that was ratified by both a majority of the teachers and unanimously by the HSC and funded by the September 10th override. The override included $200,000 of additional money to fund additional buses which will be required to achieve the schedule change. This is a complex task with many different considerations and we encourage the community to view the recordings of these meetings to better understand the many factors that will influence the final recommendation.  While we await the final recommendation from the Committee, we remain committed to honoring the commitments made as part of the override which address issues with the start times and gap between Miller and Placentino start times that have continued to be raised by parents.  October 8 Meeting Video October 17 Meeting Video October 22 Meeting Video   HSC Meetings You can watch our meetings in real time or afterward. If you’re planning to speak publicly at a meeting but can’t make it live, you’re welcome to join the Zoom by clicking the link in the posted agenda for that meeting. Our meetings are also broadcast live on HCAT, (for a much higher quality viewing experience than joining via Zoom!) You can also visit HCAT or HCAT’s YouTube channel to watch older School Committee meetings to catch up on what you may have missed.   Here is the rest of our meeting schedule for the year. All meetings are Thursdays at 7:00 pm, in the High School Library   November 14, 2024 December 12, 2024 January 9, 2025 January 23, 2025 February 13, 2025 February 27, 2025 March 13, 2025 March 27, 2025 April 3, 2025 April 17, 2025 May 1, 2025 May 15, 2025 May 29, 2025 June 12, 2025   As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions!   Dan Alfred, Chair: alfredd@hsc.holliston.k12.ma.us Dawn Neborsky, Vice-Chair: neborskyd@hsc.holliston.k12.ma.us Hilary Bresnahan: bresnahanh@hsc.holliston.k12.ma.us Sarah Fitzgerald: fitzgeralds@hsc.holliston.k12.ma.us Cynthia Listewnik: listewnikc@hsc.holliston.k12.ma.us Francis Ogura: oguraf@hsc.holliston.k12.ma.us Joseph Paru: paruj@hsc.holliston.k12.ma.us

September 13th, 2024   Dear Families,    The Holliston School Committee is Seeking Volunteers!   Over the next few months, the Holliston School Committee will be developing a plan to adjust busing and the start and end times of the school day for the 2025-26 school year.  This change is being driven by a combination of continued parent feedback as well as in response to the increased learning time outlined in the 2024-2027 teachers' contract. With the passage of the override this week, funding for this contract is now in place and the contract is officially official.  As outlined in the MOA, the student day for Miller, Adams, and the High School will increase by 15 minutes and Placentino will increase by 10 minutes. Additionally, the district will shift from three start times down to two.    In order to ensure a broad array of voices and more opportunities for input from all stakeholders, we are taking a different approach than the changes that occurred in 2019.  Instead of creating a subcommittee of the School Committee, the School Committee will be forming a separate Advisory Committee that will include representatives from school administration, teachers/staff, parents/guardians, and school committee members; it will report back to the full School Committee.  This advisory committee, working under the guidance of the administration’s experts, will work to ensure that potential issues with prospective plans are raised up as early as possible. Ultimately, once a final proposed plan (or set of different alternative plans) is reached, the Holliston School Committee will seek broader community feedback and engagement before voting on a final solution.  Per the new contract, this final decision must be made by January 1st, 2025 so as to give parents, guardians, teachers, and staff time to plan for any changes in schedules.    The Committee was officially created by the HSC last night, and is similar to the Tuition Free Full Day Kindergarten committee that was created a number of years ago.  It is a formal advisory group, sworn in by the town clerk, with publicly posted meetings and subject to Open Meeting Law. We believe that this will further increase the transparency of the process.   We are looking to try and get parent/guardian representatives (one, possibly two) from each school and hope you will consider participating.  If you are interested, please fill out the form linked here if you are interested in joining this advisory committee Given the short timeframe, we are setting a Friday, September 20th deadline for submissions with decisions finalized at our September 26th School Committee meeting. Teacher/Staff volunteers will be sought separately. For your planning purposes, the first meeting of this committee will be on October 1st, 2024 at 4:30PM.  Please expect meetings to occur weekly for 4-6 weeks, likely on Tuesdays at 4:30PM for 1-2 hours. While we are not making attendance at all of them mandatory, we certainly prefer volunteers who can make most of the meetings and tried to find a time that we hoped would work best for both staff and parents/guardians.   Thank you in advance for your consideration.   Sincerely,   The Holliston School Committee

It is the policy of the Holliston Public Schools not to discriminate on the basis of race, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, color, homelessness, sexual orientation, age or disability in its educational programs, services, activities, or employment practices.

 

September 12th, 2024   Residents of Holliston:    The Holliston School Committee (HSC) would like to thank the entire Holliston community, including older adults, parents with young children, parents of school-aged children, current students and new voters, for its strong showing of support for the override this past Tuesday.  The passage of this override finalized the funding of the successor contract with the HFT Educators Unit A. With this passage, we now have a 3 year contract with our largest bargaining unit.   The HSC would also like to thank and recognize the hard work and dedication of many other individuals and groups that helped make the election possible.  Specifically, we would like to thank our Town Clerk, Elizabeth Greendale, and her staff (both employees and election volunteers) for the countless hours they put in between the state primary election last week and this week’s special town election.  We would like to also thank the Town Administrator, Travis Ahern, and his office for the work that they put in helping ensure the community received information about the special town election.  Further, we would like to thank the Select Board and Finance Committee for the important roles that they both played in this election.  And finally, we want to thank the teachers, paraprofessionals, staff and administrators of the Holliston Public Schools for the work that they do every day educating the children of our town.  We especially appreciate the patience that the teachers had with the uncertainty and public debate surrounding the future of their contract.   While we are very grateful for the support and excited about the outcome, we recognize that much work remains to be done.  At our meeting tonight, we began that work and look forward to communicating the progress we are making to the community in the months ahead.     Sincerely, The Holliston School Committee

It is the policy of the Holliston Public Schools not to discriminate on the basis of race, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, color, homelessness, sexual orientation, age or disability in its educational programs, services, activities, or employment practices.

 

 

Dear Holliston Community Members:

 

Thank you to everyone who showed up and helped support the Schools at the Special Town Meeting on June 20^th. Attached is the presentation given as part of the Town Meeting.

 

The next (and final) step in the process is an election to be held on September 10^th, 7AM-8PM in the High School Gym. We realize that the community still has many questions about both the contract with the Teachers’ Union as well as our budget request in general.  In an effort to increase Community engagement through this process, we will be hosting a series of information sessions to provide opportunities for discussions with the community.

 

Please find below the list of ten (10) different information sessions that the Holliston School Committee (HSC) will be hosting over the next two (2) months, including two (2) at the Senior Center, related to our request for an override to settle our educator contract, increase our instructional time, change school start times, and process to potentially change the Middle School and/or High School bell schedules.  We have attempted to mix dates, times, locations, and virtual meetings to hopefully allow for anyone who wishes to attend to be able to. While all sessions are scheduled for an hour, time can be extended if necessary, location permitting.  Should you not find a session that meets your schedule, you are more than welcome to reach out to any member of the HSC and arrange a time to speak with them (https://www.holliston.k12.ma.us/about/school-committee).

 

We are also looking at hosting a larger, full committee, information session / forum in the week preceding the election/vote on September 10^th. More information about this session will be forthcoming as we get closer to the start of the next school year.

 

Thank you for your interest in this important matter.

 

Best,

 

Daniel Alfred

Chair, Holliston School Committee

 

 

Information Sessions:

Saturday, July 13^th - 9-10am - Coffee Haven

Tuesday July 16^th – 2-3pm – Senior Center

Thursday, July 18^th - 6:30-7:30pm – zoom

Tuesday, July 23^rd - 6:30-7:30pm - Holliston Public Library

Saturday, August 3^rd - 9-10am - zoom

Tuesday, August 13^th - 6:30-7:30pm - Holliston Public Library

Wednesday, August 14^th, 11am-12pm – Senior Center

Saturday, August 24^th - 9-10am - Coffee Haven

Thursday, August 29^th - 9-10am - zoom

Saturday, September 7th - 9-10am - Coffee Haven

 

 

The Holliston School Committee

Daniel Alfred, Chair

Dawn Neborsky, Vice Chair

Hilary Bresnahan

Sarah Fitzgerald

Cynthia Listewnik

Francis Ogura

Joseph Paru

 

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It is the policy of the Holliston Public Schools not to discriminate on the basis of race, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, color, homelessness, sexual orientation, age or disability in its educational programs, services, activities, or employment practices.

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Holliston Public Schools

370 Hollis Street

Holliston, MA 01746

508-429-0654