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the average percentage of expenditures for October is 33.33% and BD has spent 16.89% of that that does not include the encumbrances are there any questions questions for the budget no thank you thank you Miss Carlo she got some money give her a hand guys I would be very nice to the money lady number five is our barbecue Unified School District principal reports Mr Diaz president India members of the board at this point please help me welcome back Miss Enriquez Miss Enriquez you're up all right good evening president buendia governing board members superintendent Diaz I have submitted U my board report in writing I hope you've had the opportunity to read it we are still holding strong with our attendance at 90% um we do have a new November attendance challenge I did leak it on there so when you have an opportunity or if you already have um you will be aware that we are putting our students into a drawing this means they cannot H be um late they have to be there all of November and they'll be put into aw for a Turkey um for Thanksgiving um so thank you to miss Cornell miss sudam Mr Diaz and myself we are all donating turkeys so that we can give these to our students and families um I'm sorry you didn't know Ben but she is and you're cooking them too Ben um and also to the sunrise house who is also providing the fixings to go along with the church Tri so thank you Miss heart um I go ahead presid um also I want to congratulate uh the parents the staff and the admin at the primary um when we compare last year attendance report to this year's report every single grade level it's a lot higher than last year and um again they not only keeping 90% but it is keeping percent by grade level and by school um across all the months um it is my understanding for staff no compare no comparing the the report from this year to last year can you bring up the attendance eron please there you go um the grade uh the attendance is greater this year than last year in all grade levels and I want to extend um not only my appreciation to you your teacher and you stop but also the families because they have a much higher attendance this year than last year and also I want to extend my uh a shout out to kinder staff and second grade because they have maintained it for the entire year so congratulations thank you um I think that was all the highlights um Erin if you want to play the video my favorite food is pizza because it is cheesy and it smells good [Music] good morning road runners happy Halloween staff I hope everyone checked their boxes this morning there were all aliens placed in each of your boxes some of them have numbers on the back throughout the day we'll call a number if that number is yours you have two minutes to get to the front office for your prize you cannot send a student and we have our first number 12 you have 2 minutes to get to the front office draw at the top what is called a banner um a banner is a quick way for us to see where you're at so on the top of your banner you're going to write the problem number that you're [Music] on so just couple things okay when you guys go trip or treating tomorrow do you guys want to go to a house that's really dark or do you guys want to go to a house that has lights on good job okay another question do you guys want to eat candy that's clothed that nobody's mess with or do you guys want to eat candy that's already been open yes close good job you you don't want to eat open Candy if you see open Candy what should you do with it good job or tell your mom and dad right [Music] okay one more thing do you guys want to wear black clothes at night time or you want to wear like yellow red blue so people can see [Music] you you guys want to wear bright colors for you guys don't want to wear all black okay all right so who's excited to go trip and treating who wants a piece of candy for me today why are mommies good employees anybody nobody they get wrapped up in their word that was a good one I like that one okay last one how does a scarecrow drink his juice anybody no anybody no with a stra [Applause] any questions or comments for Miss Enriquez from the board Miss Anna I was just say good job I always enjoy watching the videos but um good job on attendance I think it's really important you can definitely see um the progress you guys been making over the years thank you thank you anything M uh thank you for your important it uh congratulations again on the student attendance and U everything's going really well and I think all the teachers and the staff helping out thank you yes congratulations and um um um I lost my thought Kudos on the uh challenge I think it's awesome it's great so otherwise thank you so much for the presentation and Report [Applause] president wendia members of the board I help me welcome Mr Cody and ask as many questions as you want as part of this presentation you better be ready all right uh good evening again um president buendia board members superintendent Mr Diaz um do I get one of those [Laughter] wrong one that's the that's accelerated we need uh campus in immediate there you go there you go all right so um again um I'll be going over this for Miss uh bay Lewis um so we are implementing our house system some celebrations and upcoming events um the big big um motivator that um Miss beay has shared with the staff the students and Community is that we have moved from a d school to a c school so I mean that I believe that deserves some recognition a a lot of hard work from our our staff and especially our students so that was a big huge motivator um of displaying progress um we have 10 n students that had perfect attendance for the month of October and um I'm sorry I got you guys help me uh ch ch cook cook districk I'm so sorry invite us to celebrate their student accomplishments um good job to the students who receive um two major upcoming events is on the 22nd of November we are having a um Dam TSH event um from 8 to 12 so if you guys are available um please join us and um newsletters will be coming out with um upcoming events for November um school highlights uh we did have a a big event during Halloween we did have a Halloween costume parade and it was awesome amazing I'm pretty sure you guys get to see the some of the pictures and highlights in the video and um they were it was an awesome awesome event thank you to The District staff who came to support the students and cheering them on and handing out candy um Miss Morales a big thank you for inviting the group of teachers from Germany that came to our campus spent the day um talked presented and interacted with our students and staff um we had a few student ambassadors who did a wonderful job answering question and um assisting our visitors um and then um teachers are learning new models of instruction teaching strategies while summarizing maps in agreeing and disagreeing statement cards um big thank you to our teachers who recognize our students for all their accomplishments um which will be seing below uh this month our counselor and behavior specialist focus on PBIS with gratitude they had many activities throughout the week for students to practice gratitude and give examples during our morning announcements uh School priorities uh priority number one uh Indian Oasis Intermediate School will increase math proficiency by 25% or higher by utilizing assessments and benchmarks to effectively increase instructional practices quarterly priority to um the intermediate campus will increase Ela also with 25% or higher um and priority three uh intermediate campus will increase their coaching with teachers to support effective instruction by 50% or higher using walkthrough data and um also um I just want to add that Miss Bay did turn in the uh intermediate board report and um she would just like to add that before the video is shown that we include this example of the tier instruction and C curriculum that we use at the immediate campus and right now we have our quarterly benchmarks which we do which we display growth and we are tracking our data consistently with our um District format of Assessments teachers at the imedia campus are taking DFAS uh weekly um which are aligned to the state standards and which you know we do implement strategies for reinforcement or um interventions to reinforce the standards uh the behavior report uh violation drugs number of events there's two I stretch goals uh districtwide and attendance in fourth grade um the highlights with 90% or higher attendance fourth grade uh an average about a little above 90 fifth grade also in the high 90s thank you to Mr hila sixth grade uh Miss Wooley has 95% so we are up there with our attendance some October highlight so there's a list of our events that we are looking forward to the next um upcoming one is the um indigenous day which is set for the 22nd from 8 to 12 uh student of the month breakfast spring pictures uh our spring parent teacher conference our amazing Shake again um the student of the month breakfast which is amazing and oh our sixth grade versus staff I believe that's the basketball game and then sixth grade promotion in May and video time around the video yes sir yeah thank you [Music] dreams and motioning high through theing [Music] look at 23 and and look at and7 so which is bigger number isger and 37 [Music] 247 and then it goes on yeah okay so then after that we need to do we got to put the on Circle so so yeah [Music] the now we need to findor is 24 [Music] turn to memories and this is when the future [Music] getor memories for [Music] [Applause] questions or comments from the board for the report Miss um I picked up one at the newsletter um today at Intermediate School I really like that newsletter and I appreciate that telling us all about what's happening and upcoming events and also picked that on Ruben's um yeah so that was good thank you for that thank you I'll let Miss P know Miss I want to congratulate you guys and your hard work um from moving from a d school to a c school that says a whole lot um it's exciting to see you can definitely see the passion that you guys have working with students and also the excitement that students have learning uh just by looking at your attendance rate it's amazing because every single one of your is over 90% which is great um one of the things that I like was the um the gratitude training that you had I think that's amazing I think it's um helpful for students to learn how to express their emotions and especially when they are dealing with trying times or just making sure that they're being grateful to other people so thank you I appreciate your efforts thank you thank you thank you Mr Cody I want to say I appreciate you for coming in tonight and being here I'm sure I'm sure you weren't I'm sure it wasn't your first choice to be like oh yeah but I want to say thank you thank you so much and again um I appreciate how much you do for the school for the students um if anything I I will say on behalf of the community your name kind of seems synonymous with like the the the campus for whatever Reon not for whatever reason because know you're a great teacher but thank you for being uh a great representative and a great teacher and and for doing what you do I appreciate oh thank you thank you thank you thank you m thank you thank you thank you let's get it out for me on please and representing the high school and middle [Applause] school hello board members president Bia superintendent Diaz and everyone who's still here um so our school highlights um we had our first quarter Awards assembly on October 11th um my favorite number two 10th grade reach 90% attendance so [Applause] and then our community day was a excuse me a success thanks to all the campuses for all your efforts and our donations we did receive from the communities we had two districts provide hot dogs and buns and we got water from two different locations so it was a great success thank you did you guys to take a look at the um board report am I the wrong place no you're in the right place that's fine she's ready for the video what's up she's ready for the video oh okay I thought [Music] what's that uh the the comfor [Music] don't know your PG also contains and X because you don't know yet how many is in Bank don't know so what are you guys working on getting ready for oh so that you so they they're ready to what to weave ladies in the middle [Music] good I [Music] one thing I do want to let you know about the video you saw the like slides with the covers if you will that is made by our CTE digital photo um digital communications class they are getting their um work experience by creating that and getting feedback from me so sweet questions or comments for the report from secretary just just one comment I was there for the community day and um everybody was um doing U nice thing for the students and then the one I like was um P you everybody was involved in that one and my my grandson was one of them there too and and that's good so the the kids will know what uh electricity is all about you know so but that was good even the little little ones were doing it m thank you yeah thank you we were grateful for them because we know that they had their event that day but they still came out for us so we did we're grateful anything Miss I just want to say thank you um looking at the attendance even though you didn't not every class made The Benchmark of 90% I think it's still an overall good rate of attendance um I do appreciate all your efforts so thank you thank you thank you [Applause] just wanted to say I wanted to shout you out for doing the the little bomb recognition you do for your teachers I think it's pretty cool so thank you thank you so much thank you thank you don't go any farther stay right there all right let's give it off for Mr Fox um good evening once again president buia board members superintendent Diaz Miss an are you leasing out that video production department at all extra credit all right um so we had a good month we're right there it should have been the first bullet but we saved the best of the last or at least I feel we save the best of last we were when we first saw our grade we were like points away from an F we were that we were very close we're now a solid C so we are absolutely over the moon at the AL at The altern Accelerated campus our teachers work very hard I would say tirelessly because they do answer text 8 9 10 11 12:00 at night our students we look at their uity logs they're knocking workout at 2:00 in the morning um we're just pleased as can be their production as compared to last year month to month is up um we have we're we're going to be up to eight cuz we're going to get another four done Mark Blaine my student of the month hasn't made the list yet he's still finishing we're going to have eight graduates just in December um we already have [Applause] four so we're very proud about that kid Peak was awesome you'll see a couple just a couple pictures in the video they're going to come back out and we're going to use the do it on the field this time because we found that our lighting although it's it's the yellow low uh light lighting that that that that Tucson and we use to keep kit Peak viable still messed it up so we only saw they said about maybe 75 80% of what we could have and we saw really really cool stuff so we're going to do it again we're going to do it every semester kit Peak loves to come down so we're just very very happy um about how this month went and the experiences some of our students had Aaron we are ready for that video please [Music] that's [Music] Takens this a little tricky because there's a botom it's now what happens is the H do the same what's the H to this line yeah it's going to move left and the cake up or down [Music] so I just want to add that we would have had more pictures on picture day of some of our other graduates because it was so neat to see them being prepped and pred by everyone that had the opportunity but they said no we don't want to be seen on video that brave man was willing to do so no any questions concerns yes ma'am anything Mella no no Mna just congratulations thank you on moving from DC also um I think it's amazing to have K peek at your campus also um I love the graduation photos I wish more of them took photos of that you can tell that your staff truly cares thank they do thank you I'm glad it shows through and this is just a brief synopsis of the numbers as opposed to last year so you can see that there I'm not going to say the a word enrollments a little lower than last year which is very good for us because the numbers are up so that means on average the students are being more productive on a daily basis president Mia yes sir um Mr Fox um are you able to share a little bit about what you've been working on related to attendance absolutely to related towards attendance okay um if you eron if you find our attendance it'll be a little easier for me to unfortunately explain okay so with only two three and two in the middle school you can see what one tough seventh grader who has a lot of issues has a lot of excused absences does um to our numbers the same goes with eighth grade sixth grade is to but we're very fortunate our two sixth graders are both mentally physically healthy they come to school very often what we're working on is we have some pretty heavy contracts out there to try to persuade our students to up their attendance um but that contract comes after a lot of the TLC a lot of the affirmation a lot of the positive the warm welcoming environment um the stumble fall down get back up let's do it again um but we are working on we have some contracts coming through as soon as the Desert Diamond um comes through with that that uh donations that we earned we're going to put together a PBIS store for um all kinds of all kinds of incentives not just attendance but you have to be in school in order to win those things um student of the month you're not a student of the month you could do 10 10,000 activities and if you do them all at home you're still not student the month you have to have 90% or more attendance so when you saw Mark here or all those students last month they are all it's attendance driven um we are giving very Frank and honest assessments to our oldest of students breaking down time frames explaining 61 A2 hours and how they're not going to finish by 22 so we don't want them to just waste their time so we have we have there's many many good online schools out there so we're trying to refer some of our hardest cases or the ones that is just not feasible so that they still have an out they still have a positive place to go and they always know they can come back to us I had one of my tocc Jessica poer students come back just today this time was to brag and it was awesome to see her um we're looking at a a modified schedule of six periods instead of seven so that each class is an hour a piece because that will be easier us to account for our attendance numbers because they have to be for a full day it's four hours so some of my guys work late at night they don't get to school until 10:30 because you know life doesn't permit and they're not getting four quality hours of instruction in so we're working on that as well which put a little bit of a burden on the teachers because they're going to start their day at 8 instead of 8:30 um but most of it it's just through positive reinforcement a can do attitude and just knowing that um when they come to us and they're already struggling with attendance um they get the contract right off the bat because we want to just impress upon the parents how important it is for them to come to school um anything else that I'm forgetting of that we've discussed um though you'll be coming back with a multi-tier system of support with attendance uh yeah yeah yeah absolutely that's it any other questions comments or concerns no not not a concern I think more so just a comment um I feel like again we've we've I've said as far as from the board as a board member standpoint understanding that the accelerated campus is very unique and so it's I'm not saying let Mr Fox off the hook on some of the things that the expectations are but expressly I hope that if there is any opportunity for the board and any way to support whatever it is that we can do and I'm sure I know that we genuinely try to do that reach campus but I feel like I know we've had some conversation about you know what because I do understand that the accelerated campus um doesn't fit the mold but it is it is something that I do know we as a board have supported um forever BS before us have supported um so I I just want to say I I understand what you're up against it's not falling upon us to be like well you're not doing what you're supposed to it is the so expressly important that I'm that I'm appreciative that you're including some some more in-depth events that include families or you know just to get them on the same page with you on what we need to do together not the school is responsible for getting your kid to school that's kind of not I think we need to get the community more involved and I know that we're pushing on that effort for them to be able to do that so I really appreciate that you're you're kind of branching out and doing more um but again I I just want to continue to express that I'm really thankful for you and your staff and everything that you guys do um that already is above and beyond um so I just wanted to express that and comment that I appreciate that and I and look forward to seeing how you what you think may or may not work and and whatnot and of course working with the superintendent to see those things absolutely much appreciate it thank you sir I appreciate you guys thank you very much oh and I look forward to being at the graduation so I'll be here I'm not going to the conference so I'll be and when we and when we that's great we we appreciate that when we planned this uh we didn't know we were going to have up to eight so one side of me is super excited because it's going to be standing room only because it's going to happen right here so I'm I'm pretty I'm pretty excited we weren't going to have a December because it's a it's a lot to put together and there is that expense that sometimes we don't have uh but once Mark we knew was finishing we knew we were doing it because we're not going to make that that man wait he's worked his butt off for 2 and 1/2 years to get to where he is so it just so happened that he set fire to a whole bunch of other kids M and we're up to eight and we're just again so excited and it's the 19th right December 19th M okay and we're we're getting we're waiting for the uh invites to come in and then we'll we'll push them out so you'll get them within a week sounds great thank you very much thank you sir thank you're good number five this evening is our bar barbecue re School District governing board member reports anything Miss I do not have anything I do want to apologize I have not been around lately I was thinking about the last time I've been here was probably September maybe July um just starting this job has been kind of busy but then and also having a lot of um family issues as far as like deaths in my family um but I am looking forward to attending and come more things I just see keeping this calendar open I'm trying to write down stuff that I can go to when I have free time thank you miss anything Mella report uh just that I already said um I attended the community days and U and I mean um the games and uh just uh at this time I just wanted to congratulate all our principals all our teachers what that making that great and it's that's really exciting you know I was excited to hear that about it you know so keep it up for the next grade thank you all right thank you and and again I just I want to express um on my behalf as far as board reports go I have been a lot more busy with work as well so I think it's it's important for us to keep informed and I'm grateful that the superintendent does keep us really informed on on a lot of um what's going on and of course we do try to keep our ear to the ground when it comes to anything going on in the community and and share that with the superintendent but I just want to continue as well to express um how thankful I am uh as a member of the community as a parent and as a board member to see what yall do and how y'all make it happen and make it work it's really truly um it's a blessing in I think it needs to be expressed that because without what you all do um our students and our communities would be far way worse off and just thankful for each and every one of you um and so I want to express as well that I try to make sure that I'm available and committing and and re um reviewing my schedule to see what I can and cannot be available for but I also work an hour away from sales so it's a little hard to to to do that uh and I work an hour that way as opposed to that way so anyway um nonetheless I'm grateful and thank you um and I'll try to put together a much more um detailed report as we move forward with that we'll move on to number seven which is our barue re of high school district superintendent report Mr Diaz President W members of the board uh members of my staff in the community for the month of October I want to give the following shout outs before I get into my report for the Department of operations um I am looking forward to the completion of the uh secondary roof project uh which is 90% And is expected to be completed by December 15th um and also a shout out on all of the work orders that have completed uh so far out of the 123 work orders uh submitted in the new platform it is two have been completed so thank you to our director of operations also um 38 uh members of the community uh 38 um air conditioners have been U installed at the primary 60 at intermediate 76 at secondary 43 um in teacher housing for a total of 270 17 units so it's a great investment that we are excited that in the next 20 years our students will benefit in staff from the new Air Conditioning um also we're looking forward to the beginning of the weather I ation project getting immediate and getting the other schools approved um through the sfb um from the Department of curriculum and instruction I want to express my appreciation to um our district coaches for putting all of that data together um including the classroom visits uh the lesson planning and the proficiency and um also supporting and and being available for co- planning professional development for some of our schools um also from the Des the superintendent I want to thank um our school district psychology psychologist um Dr hono alom special ed services and also the principles who have recommended the students and families that we have met um during the month of October related to Chronic absentismo [Music] support um in facilitating the meeting with students and herself uh with SF to provide what are some of the strengths um some of the areas of food that kids don't like and some of recommendations I want to thank um all of the 301 committee leads that have supported uh the last two months um to be able to provide um the plans and begin working um I want to than all of the principles for the collaboration for the first quarter data analysis um and I want to thank um uh chukut um district and um hean uh for hosting us uh during the month of October um in providing them with the updates for B unifier School District I also want to express my appreciation to hrdc that they also me with me during the month of uh October related to all of the Boz updates um and with an emphasis on the audit I want to thank uh also the department of transportation for the wheelchair busz that we now have um as part of our Fleet and also their commitment and support for the Halloween Community event um the social emotional learning Department um thank you for your support and also uh bring it up to the community um that they are coaches for parents available uh right now one of the theme is bullying and how to support the children um they have support that can be done by weekly um over the phone and it's ongoing support and they have free tools um so let's take advantage of that from the desk of our exceptional exceptional education um director um I also want to express and a shout out to Dr Marquez for meeting with a Sonoran Desert um with at the uov to discuss the transition service for students and having said let's look at and see some of our involvement through the superintendent video um that was also created by m t Sudan thank you for her support [Music] right now we're just learning about um the calculations of the acceleration with gravity mhm how do you do that well we have formulas for it but they're all on the computer but um these are all like calculations I don't have the answer yet on how fast it accelerated SOA egg that we're going to drop from whees uhhuh and now we're trying to do the formulas for velocity forgot what the last was we're just solving these equations formula [Applause] [Music] questions comments concerns complaints all welcome comments from the board for the superintendent report Miss Ella one question um all these projects that uh currently being working on what other projects is future any other projects um thank you missel um I'll be more than happy to share we do have one of the reports um that we provided a list of all the projects we have about 17 projects total um some of the projects include not only finishing the air conditioning but also finishing the the roofs the weatherization um we're going to move with the weatherization of the immediate we're waiting for the approval for the all the other schools um we also going to be uh one of the projects is a canopy and intermediate and I can share the list of all the additional projects for your information Mr Diaz oh sorry Miss Miss Anna did you have something um I was just going to ask about your experience Ina I know I asked one we kind of briefly went over it it is uh it is an experience um based on all of the workshops what I appreciated is the amount of workshops that they have available targeting our student population targeting the strategies for student population um there was one in particular that um I'm looking forward the one that is aligned with the goals the one that is aligned with the models of instruction which is the engagement uh continum that is one of the ones that we start in the conversation with the principles um it provides a spe from um of um what are the targeted behaviors by leaving the ownership on the students to self-reflect on the behavior and how to improve on the next levels of behavior um another one um I know we had the opportunity to visit anaka in Los Angeles well the the person that created a seven learning the author was there presenting so we had the opportunity to attend the conference as well and and and to to be more in depth um in in some of the areas that they're targeting um there were um many districts represented uh many districts serving student Native American students represented all the way from Alaska Hawaii uh the Northeast and Northern um uh uh the the Northwest but also the southwest and it was beautiful to see uh the representation um from all of the different um communities um we also had the opportunity to visit uh the welcome center from the aak Cente tribe um and the work that they have done to be able uh to advocate for them as well as to teach the community so I highly recommend it there's an opportunity uh for to continue participating in that conference um to put it on the agenda but also to visit um and learn from what the aak Caliente and Palm Springs tribe has accomplished it's it's inspiring thank you did I answer your question yes okay Mr Diaz have we gotten any kind of U and if we haven't may I request um information on vacancies and then also the effort that we're making to try recruit retain and get some support for our campuses as far as teachers or whatever it is whatever it Mayes Ben needed because I I haven't really asked but I wanted to also expressly talk about some of the well more or less vacancies and absences when it comes to staff and then how campuses are either shifting around or having to do what they need to do to make sure that classes are covered but expressly I wanted to ask what our vacancies are and then what efforts we're making since we're halfway through the school year for next school year and if there's any need to make sure we're addressing now as opposed to later that was all that was all you don't have to answer you can you can let us know I would but you can answer but I I think it'd be good and especially for our Retreat that we're going to plan to have some discussion and maybe look at some how are we going to address it um I highly encourage um I try to keep all of the vacancies as part of the weekly highight reports there's a section of vacancies so continue to keep that one um I I will continue to update it as we go through so you can see all of the different vacancies that we have but I'll be more than happy to bring it up um during the next board meeting as part of my uh superintendent report um but it it's that one I try to keep it as updated as possible on the weekly uh superintendent board report for the governing board um but I'll be more than happy to bring it back uh as well for the community um um transparency and information um in terms of the also how um the what the second request it was how um are we managing the absences at every school based on the teacher absences oh absolutely thank you sir what page do you put that on if you don't mind me asking on your report cuz there's a lot go was at the beginning let me go back and check my report say because I'm the one who looks at this a lot you do I see it um I do have that information available because I get it that's part of my um thank you and and again if it was there I wouldn't have asked I'm sorry but otherwise I will add it if I was in the that I did um all right if that's it for the superintendent report number eight is our barbury High School athletics travel getting Bard members this is just for information uh travel for BHS Athletics for the cross country it looks like and the basketball so just information items number nine is first reading of the barber UniFi School District policy Amendment um does anyone have any comments on this first reading that we want to make sure to address yes this I did bring up some concerns when I was speaking to the superintendent about um the requirements for staff to pay incidental charges um I know sometimes that is not feasible and also it puts um staff um in situations where they don't have the funding to do something like that so I would try to see if we something that we could do to assist with that because I don't think it's fair um when that situation happens um I did share with some with him um one of my friends who had on went on travel and got to his place and they charged his his in incidentals and he had no money for the entire time he was there so he was struggling we will look and I will uh seek some guidance also from our CFO um from what I understand is when some of a sta some of the staff members when there have a credit card or ATM um sometimes uh Resorts or hotels they put a hold of an x amount of money um as part of the incidental incidentals uh locking their only funding that they have available uh putting them in the predicament correct um okay I like I like I mean I understand that 100,000% I think it it sets a little bit of a discriminatory is if that's what the word we want to say on who gets to go and who doesn't because some people don't have that type of means and if this it's important for us to be able to be equal and fair on across the board then it kind of feels a little bit discriminatory to say don't ask to go anywhere if you can't pay or put down for your incidental charges and I agree again if they are going to charge or do have and we do provide some form of a case by case scenario where okay give some author it to the superintendent to approve such and such I think that that might be something to look at um I understand that we want to make sure that we're maintaining a level of financial responsibility but also just as Miss Steven said it doesn't it isn't always feasible for anyone to have either a credit card especially if you're from the nation and you're going to be participating many tribal members don't have credit cards they might have a debit card and there goes probably a hold on majority of what they had to use for travel or whatever they were going to do some of us are well better off and can do that and okay but I think that we need to be very expressly understanding of some of the situations that we're dealing with when it comes to tribal school tribal schools on tribal lands um and I don't want to say that we're also picking and choosing who can and can't go which what it sounds like from reading it and I get it like if we do if we do need to make sure that if there are incidental charges when we when we if we do approve such use that they're responsible for that but I don't think we should be saying don't ask to go if you can't do this which is what that says to me let me do some homework and bring and bring it back thank you anything Miss Ella okay um letter if is our vote to convenience session per ars3 I'm sorry AR s 38-4 31.03 813 without objection a motion to approve is there a second second second by Miss anamarie Stevens Mo okay we will convene our executive session and return once we have completed thank you and Mr Savala you let us know who would you need in the executive meeting yes okay e e e good to go okay okay we'll call our meeting uh back to order moving to letter G which is our vote to reconvene into regular board meeting motion to approve is there second second second by Miss anarie Stevens M okay we are now back in regular board meeting moving on to letter H is our action items number one is discussion imposs approval of student expulsion um Mr di anything you want to lead with or do you want us to just no go ahead president wendia um we do have uh for the public we do have a request for student to be considered for enrollment and after reviewing the documentation presented um I'll be more than happy to follow up on your recommendation okay with that said I I would like to move um yes the expulsion and provided direction to the superintendent to formulate a letter to the student I'll I'll kind of paraphrase but fill in if anything U my motion will be to um honor the expulsion honor the expulsion refer the directive to the superintendent to afford some direction guidance for readmission to be addressed at a later date in a timeline second second second by Miss anory Stevens all those in favor motion m m motion carries number two is our discussion and possible approval of the um re classification oh my gosh what did I say earlier approval of reclassification or hire of Middle High School principal um I want to start with this particularly Mr Diaz and then I I'll hand it over to you uh just for The public's information uh governing board did have and it was um an executive session to discuss the position uh particularly to to make sure that we were um on the same page at least on par with what information the board requested or questions that may have been asked regarding the position of the principal at uh bber K Middle High School U furthermore the board had previously agreed to an interim position for Miss Constance on which again has served as the interim principal for bber KB middle and high school uh which would be complete after December uh it was at the request of this board that we addressed this memo prior to anything else moving forward but I understand that there has been uh some movement on the side of the administration to prepare uh for the following recommendations which I'll go ahead and allow Mr Diaz to um State and if you don't mind um eron posting the memo you want me to pull it up yes please and to the recommendation it's this one right all the way to the bottom second page uh president Mia members of the board um I have provided with um with two recommendations for the governing board to consider option one is for the uh the office of the superintendent asking the B School District to approve Mis Conant on for the per permanent bab Kiri Middle High School principal effective January 1st 2024 um or option two to proceed with the interview process and bring the interview panel recommendations during the December 2024 regular board meeting for the permanent BM bab Middle High School principal did you say the recommendations he did oh he did he speaking so fast um I like to motion for option one um which is to approve Miss constant's onsay for the permanent barbecue Middle High School principal effective January 1st 2024 is there a second second second by Miss anamarie Stevens motion carries congratulations Miss on you have been such a great addition to the the administrative team and we look forward to seeing you be successful in a course you know thank you for everything moving on number three this evening is our second reading of the Arizona school boards Association policy advisory uh governing board again this is just um um advisories that are that we have submitted from espa right that need to be updated yes so this is just uh as laws change asba recommends these policy uh updates and make sure that we receed them so if there are no questions I like the motion to approve is there a second second second by Miss enry Stevens thank you number four this evening second reading of the barbecue REI School District policy revision AC uh um board members if you'll indulge I'd like to expressly read this uh revision um I know that as a school district I'm hopeful you all have been able to um as SC sorry as a Schoolboard I hope you all were able to review and take a look at and and generally if there were any questions of course they would have been brought forward but I want to firstly read the revised bosd policy AC for nonis discrimination equal opportunity and then um it would be my honor I think to to pass either motion and or Vote for This U revision so resolution of the barbecue sorry resolution of the governing board of barbecue reunified School District number 40 of Pima County Arizona revising BD policy AC non-discrimination equal opportunity whereas Bob Unified School District and its teacher staff and administrators govern their actions by embracing core values that emphasize student focused expectations a responsive learning climate communication transformative Innovation meaningful engagement and genuine celebration and whereas bacu reunified school district and his teachers staff and administrators strive to pursue a vision where students and others are loved encouraged and prepared to Take On The World by embracing the T Alum him or way of life and as consistent with the himu Bob K UniFi School District celebrates all individuals and all ways and walks of life now therefore the governing board of bar Unified School District number 40 of Pima County Arizona hereby adopts the following resolution it is it is resolved that governing board policy AC is advised to read the board consistent with appc applicable law and the donum himu is committed to a policy of non-discrimination discrimination in relation to disability race color religion religious beliefs sex sexual sexual or orientation gender identity or expression age or national origin this policy will prevail in all matters concerning staff members students the public educational programs and services and individuals with whom the board does business whereas barue reunified School District along with its teachers staff and administrators guides every action with a deep commitment to core values that nurture student focused care a warm and welcoming learning environment open communication transformative Innovation heartfelt engagement and joyful celebration and whereas bobu of High School District through the dedication of his teacher staff and administrators is inspired by a vision where every student and member of the community is cherished supported and encouraged to grow and Thrive rooted in the AUM himu or our way of life and whereas in keeping with our hdu Barb School District honors and celebrates the beauty and diversity of every individual and every path in life and whereas the bar Board of bar Unified School District sorry whereas the governing board of bar Unified School District number 40 opima County Arizona V vehemently supports and reaffirms this resolution now therefore be it resolve that BD governing board policy AC is hereby revised to read the board with respect and love in accordance with applic applicable law and the donam himu is wholeheartedly committed to a policy of inclusion and non-discrimination this policy Embraces all individuals regardless of disability race color religion religious beliefs sex sexual orientation gender identity or expression age or national origin this commitment will guide all decisions and actions regarding staff members students the public educational programs and services and all who interact with the board or its agents Don Alum Nation for time and Memorial has welcomed established and conducted itself in Grace acceptance and care for one another our schools as guest onam land and our board elected from communities of the nation have deep-seated route in the overall acknowledgement that our schools must adhere to in order to provide exceptional service to the student staff and all who conduct business with the school district this resolution further enhances the acknowledgement that that has stood since its Inception and we felt required emphasis that our schools welcome and support all LGB btq I a2s Plus members of the nation or general public and any who feel who have felt ostracized or unsafe for any reason within the boundaries of the school's jurisdiction campuses and classrooms this resolution again further reminds the community students teachers and organizations that attend or do business with with our schools that any actions to discriminate against any member of the community student or teacher in our schools is vly condemned and will fall within the appropriate chain of command and proper processes or procedures to be dealt with adopted at a governing at a meeting of the governing board on 2024 no November November 12 if approved today November 12th 2024 are there any questions if not I will love to motion to approve second second by Miss anarie Stevens mapo M motion carries thank you number five is discussion and possible approval of the barbecue Unified School District teacher pay for performance 301 plan um are there any questions from the board or is there a motion to approve I I'll move to approve the 301 pay for pment plan for intermediate campus second second by Miss anary Stevens mppo M new number six this evening is discussion of possible approval of the modular Solutions contract contract renew Mr Diaz president members of the board and members of the community the per the reason we are bringing back um this contract uh Baba K fire School District um follow the um the procedures in how um to secure a vendor um to update five of our modular um uh based on the work that they have completed um some of the work that still needed to get done to complete the project um has extended the the work uh over to this school year so bring we are bringing back um the this um memo uh for the Govern board to um consider extending um the contract for the school year so that they can now get paid uh since they have completed anything that was outstanding on the project are there any questions from the board or is there motion motion to approve motion by Miss anamarie Stevens second by Miss El gwood motion carries move on um next item is Du discussion and possible approval of ratification of the June 25th 2022 special board meeting in accordance with ARs 38- 43105 B per the attorney Arizona attorney general's office Mr Sabal thank you corrected by the going back amend the June 25th 2022 um items that the board approved apparently former super we were so they said the only way to go ahead and clear that violation is the board to come back andove and on the agenda performance fori super okay extra KY and Believe last reh okay um with that if there are no questions a motion to approve second by Miss El gwood was up okay motion carries next item is the discussion and possible approval of the recommendation to the barbecue rifi School District legal council to make an effort to recuperate funds um uh on overpayment claims uh a motion to approve that item as stated is there a second second Miss second by Miss anary Stevens next item on our agenda is the discussion and possible approval of selection for delegate and Alternate to attend the asba annual membership meeting uh and registration I'm not going are you going no oh oh okay what's the date that is the same date as the uh accelerated graduation of the eight students is it the same time as the annual conference um the way we have it it is at uh my understanding 5:00 on the calendar no no no I think you're talking about this or that graduation or the this meeting this meeting oh it doesn't say I can't remember when they do it I can't be there if you said not till 5 for the graduation H what time's the graduation I had on my calendar um at December they have the main I let me see at 4 o00 they us have an agenda no B the link honestly I've never seen yeah it's weird let it now [Music] the me membership meeting is from 3:30 to 5 o'clock that's when yeah it's on when you click on the events and you go to the annual meeting there's they have like an agenda for the day December on Thursday the 19th that meeting is from 3: to 5 30 3 to 5 3:30 to 5 and graduation starts at yes okay can you do it me no I have a board retreat from the 17th to the 20th a retreat uh Team retreat could it be table and discuss um you can register someone to attend meeting which it [Music] says Kathy oh is she okay so it's only syia or Ella syia or Ella I don't mind doing it virtually I can you just don't want to miss graduation don't want to I think if I can do it and if siia can be available for after four o'clock well it's only like 30 minutes then she might as well do the whole thing okay if Sylvia is there maybe we can just go ahead and have her do it she knows be oh it is virtual how weird for them to just make it virtual why is graduation at 4 don't people work because we have some time we can work on that so so um if you works at a different time um okay what time is it meeting again 3:30 to 5:00 3: to 5 yeah um let me work with Mr Fox to see if we can make some adjustments uh to make sure that we can uh participate in both events okay if we can do that then I don't mind being the but we have to make a decision right Ben well the closing day so we do have to do that now can we do a special [Laughter] meeting um it won't be long you can get a consensus yeah because if they're not available and they're not able to do it then it would just be like oh I'll I'll do it [Music] anyway just need an alternate but I know in the past we have started at 10:00 um me uh graduations for Accelerated so we can start from 10: to 1 1 I think usually from to 1 mhm and it's eight students so I'm I'm I'm possibly thinking that maybe from even from 11 to 1 okay okay but I work it out with him can a board member be assigned without them being here you want to be my alternate I'll do it if you'll just be the alternate to say you're the alternate I can't even be here I have what you have to be here be virtual virtual I mean like I'm have Retreat I can't be there at all no you don't have to be anywhere you just got to be I'll be on the meeting but we need alternate you're just alternate I could but the reality is I if something happens to you I cannot be there my boss schedule a retreat I can be there I'll be the delegate I'll motion to assign myself as the delegate and anamarie Stevens as the alternate for the December 19th um membership meeting say second second by Miss anamar stev next item is discussion and possible approval of changing regular board meeting dates from December to February um Ben you sent everybody the info huh did you okay well just for the sake of um those of us here because we're here and we told everybody we're going to I think I'm pretty sure you did Reuben didn't you tell everybody somebody did um there was a request from board member Hendrick um because she is attending uh a culture and language class through TCC which falls on each of our meeting dates from December from this date till February had request whether or not we might consider changing those dates um I want to ask you guys if we saw any dates to consider if not what does the board want to do because I'm always set on those dates as those are the days that we're meeting and I don't M do with anything with them so if we change them I'm going to have to see where where and what anything that but I wanted to at least have the discussion for her sake CU she did say she was willing to go with whatever the board was going to move forward to side um I think it's great but I also know board meetings are the second Tuesday of every month and we all know this so that's my I have some dates for you to consider December the 17th January the 14th and February the 25th January the 14th still the DAT uh February the 14th is the regular meeting day yeah it is the what January the 14th January the 14 is the regular meeting January the sorry and the 17th is the regular day no oh wait no the 10 so it will be January the 21st and February the 25th our students usually play [Music] um at Flagstaff that weekend before and then when December moved what did you say h what did you say for December is December the 17th January the 21st or and February the 25th oh bit time so the propos dates are December 17th January 21st and February 18th February 25th that's a long time to go between your meeting meetings or we can do the 11th no the 11th she cannot right so she can't it's either the fourth and the 18th again um it's um the admin myself and some of you may be at uh Prescott for for the tournament um because we will make it State the 25th is a quick turn around going oh that's true is it possible to host will have the Monday before our board meeting because we normally have it the second Tuesday of the month can we hold on a Monday not in February huh because it's it's that weekend that we are going to be M Miss um oh that's we're saying on the 10th instead of the 11th yeah that may work for me that works better because most of the time when for work I usually don't travel on Mondays but the rest of the time frame I'm usually traveling like you're talking about only February well all all of them all so February we looking then at February the 10th and then January 13th January 13th is not a holiday oh I think it is on the 10th when is Luther King the 20th or the 13th MLK oh I think that's the 20th so it will be the 13th board meeting and then December 9th the 9th Okay you Okay ell on those days the Monday before our next regular meeting oh like you guys can work anything I forgot so next month though you okay oh hell um if that's okay with you I'm okay okay okay then uh h the 9th the 9th December 9th okay with that I'll motion um to set our next regular board meetings as follows for December 2024 the 9th January 2025 the 13th and February 2025 the 10th is there a second second to approve second second by Miss anary Stevens you um letter I is our consent agenda without objection a motion to approve is there a second second by Miss illary gwood motion carries letter J's request for future agenda items Retreat okay what are you thinking when is the what is the date or what are you looking at we can do it here yes um fine Friday Saturday or Saturday Sunday you want two days I prefer two days because it's going to be also an on boarding um for the new board member we may need the two days okay um what days are you not available in January January after the meeting the organizational meeting cuz we we going to meet in January the 13 right yes so after that are you guys open um the 10th and 11th of January can we do a half day Friday and a full day Saturday look hold on or do you want the I maybe could do a full day Friday half day Friday in full day full day Friday and the Saturday but if we can do half that would be awesome but if not then that's fine or just Saturday no no no do the two days because I don't want to rush or slam anything together 10th and 11th oh she's checking you better be here for your swearing in ceremony too right I don't think so just as of today it's not in my calendar but there are we have scheduled something for the 9th the 9th yeah can we can Weir you for the no for the 9th through the oh 12th 17th 18th that's a holiday and my principles will be it's a three-day holiday oh okay it's a m Lu King on the 20th have day on Friday the 24th and Monday the 27th I can't do the 24th you can't do that 24th I have a what about the 25th Saturday the 25th and Monday the 27th how come you're skipping Sunday huh why you skipping Sunday to give you guys a day to recoup might as well meet who can me I was saying that Monday cuz she miss um Stephen mentioned that she came Monday that I want to capitalize on that day you can do Sunday I can do Sunday you can do Sunday yeah all right still have day Sunday do full day the 25th 25th and half day on the 27th I me on the 26th [Laughter] yeah stuck on Monday over there yeah can we set that then tentatively and and then go from there January 25th and 26th any future item you could take us somewhere you're going take us for a we can't what were you saying about swearing in when is that happening it's on January you have we have to do it the first meeting in January so it'll be on the 13th on the 13th and you and uh Jessica de are swearing in you're going to be here right yes I will be here I just got you just changed the meetings any future item agenda that you recommending no but I know we we had a little bit of discussion on the agenda for the retreat which I think would be good to kind of go over and then make sure the board is aware case there's anything else they want for that and I also noted um [Music] follow up on the absences and how they've been covered okay um also um vacancies um do some homework on credit card options for incidentals MH those are some of the future item agenda that you also requested and if not um I know president Mia and I meet once a month um the last month of the last month of every month so if you think of any future items agenda just communicate with President Mia okay okay y if that is it then um I'll motion to adjourn second second by Miss anarie Stevens Apple

tune in Via waca TV or join in person at the select boardroom comedy night need a night out join the Ashton Business Association on Friday November 15th for a comedy night featuring food drinks live music and laughter all proceeds go to the ABA scholarship fund and the Ashland emergency fund APS fall band and coral concerts on Thursday November 14th at 700 p.m. enjoy a night of music from the Ashlin high school and middle school bands performances will celebrate the legacy of JS Bach and you won't want to miss it author talk dry Tinder is coming up history Buffs mark your calendars for Sunday November 17th at 2 p.m. at the ashin Historical Society author Janice Thompson will discuss her historical novel dry Tinder which brings New Perspective to the Salem Witch Trials this event is free and open to the public Ashley and Thanksgiving Market will be held on Saturday November 23rd from 10:00 a.m.

at the high school uh in the High School auditorium uh for those of you with little kiddos we do have a babysitting available that's going to be U part of our Recreation department and um who are going to be running that so you know if you are worried about taking care of the kids and feeling like that might be uh an impediment to you going we've got you covered there um again oh wait oh Chuck and Lynn did you I tell you I should have just I should have just cut it short right there right Chuck and Len lids Do you know that you are oh not we're unmuted you're unmuted now okay you know just as a matter of of and this goes to an earlier discussion but uh I bet I don't know why you have we have Enterprise funds and I bet 90% of the people who are in the who are listening don't either can you explain why we what the what the purpose of that is Chuck how many warrant articles have we done since since we talked about enterpr you've been waiting this whole time for that one okay so the question is why do you have Enterprise funds um so entprise funds allow you to basically identify what the Massachusetts Department of Revenue calls specific business activities and so it allows you to tie certain revenues related specific or specifically related to those expenditures so you pay your property taxes um that goes to support anything and everything basically um well like I mentioned before things like the school department things like health insurance uh for employees police and fire it's really hard to tie one specific activity done by a department or one specific you know uh expense to that Revenue line so what an Enterprise fund allows you to do is it allows you to basically set a budget and says okay this is what it's going to take to run our our water department and these are the fees that we need to charge to run it and so you know that the fees that you're going to be paying when you pay your water bill are going to nothing else except to pay and support those water operation expenditures same thing with the sewer fund so it's a way it's an account it's a way of accounting that allows you to isolate certain business activities and ensure that the revenue that you have said is going to go for those activities actually goes and pays for those activities so it it provides for more transparency essentially doesn't it also restrict the the uh Town manager's ability to efficiently run the um town no not necessarily Chuck I mean I I My Philosophy is I love flexibility um so you know Enterprise funds to that um you know if you look at it only through that type of philosophical um lens if you will is uh yeah it would be countered to that but no Enterprise funds serve a very very good purpose I think um so before we had the water and sewer Enterprise fund we would have water and sewer charges but they would go into the general fund under local receipts so yeah the town manager at the time had a lot more flexibility as to you know hey I'm going to take you know 50% of your water bill and use it to support my Police Department um and that flexibility uh for a manager is certainly welcome but again I do I think just from a good government perspective you know it probably it's probably good to have those isolated activities where you can provide a little bit more transparency okay thank you m thanks I appreciate it so all right on that note um I think we're going to call it tonight again hope to see you next Tuesday and uh until then I hope you all have a great week and um gosh I don't know I was about to say stay warm but I don't know if it's going to stay cold um the way things are going but anyway thank you for coming thank you for being here online and in the audience thanks have a good night e

districtwide early release 27th of November and then the holiday recess on 28 and 29 of November and our next regular scheduled uh special meeting for the Board of Education will be Tuesday December 10th I'll take any questions out of the superintendent's office at this time any questions for the superintendent no Russell good okay thank you very much for that report Mr Bishop assistant superintendent report and I'll step up to the podium I I appreciate the opportunity to be able to speak with the board tonight to be able to share this information on behalf of the on behalf of the district but I would also say to to the community and to the students uh this is going to be a celebration of a lot of your hard work too uh the excellent work that you've done but also to our our caregiv our partners on on all you've done to be able to partner with us as well so I'm thrilled to be able to share with you all what we refer to as the uh District performance index and school performance index it's essentially the uh the report card that the state provides schools we received that just this past week and I wanted to be sure to be able to provide you with an update on the uh operations of our school so this is referred to as the Connecticut Next Generation accountability system for districts and schools it takes 12 different components to be able to put together a perspective on each individual School and then together all of a school district uh the state has worked really hard to be able to develop this system A system that understands that a student is more than a test score and a school or district is more than just the average of those scores it focuses on a broader set of indicators that will guard against narrowing the curriculum to just what's tested and it makes more local practitioners see their contributions reflected in the accountability system uh so we're really excited to be able to share the growth that we've seen over time with this it's important for you to be able to know the 12 indicators and here you can go through all 12 quickly here uh academic achievement is absolutely one of them uh but I'll tell you that academic growth uh that is one that is uh doubly value so one of the things that the state is doing a great job with is is valuing the fact that every kid whether they're at proficiency or not yet that they are continuing to be able to grow and gives uh gives credit for that uh additionally it looks at a assessment participation rate chronic absenteeism it's important to be able to have students in school postsecondary preparation and Readiness and then graduation on track in nth grade graduation for a four-year adjusted cohort and graduation for a six-year adjusted cohort and then the postsecondary entrance rate physical fitness and arts access so it's a very comprehensive if you look at this it's a very comprehensive report that provides a profile of an individual District you take a look at this there's a lot of data here and I'll try to be able to simplify it for you and I want you to pay attention to the colors the colors are green a lot of green across the board if you look at a number of the different elements there you'll see you'll see double digit growth that we see and we're incredibly proud of that that's incredibly hard work that our administrative team has has engaged in that's incredibly hard work that our our staff have engaged in that's hard work that our students have been a part of and our parents and Guardians as well we see tremendous growth in the area of chronic absenteeism particularly our high need students High need students are those who have an IEP low maybe low socioeconomic status or limited English proficiency or multilanguage learner uh so absenteeism was a great growth for us additionally we're very proud to be one of the districts with the highest growth in uh math uh math growth overall with an 8.2 and a 19.3 so these come together to be able to develop our uh school performance index on the very bottom there you'll see where we've trapped over time with the 75.3 the 74.7 and representing last year the 2324 school year can't comes out with an 81.6 so tremendous growth U over 10% growth um for us to be able to move from last year into this year I'll move on to the next with another colorful chart for you the chart showcases a comparison of Canton to what we refer to as demographic reference groups now the demographic reference group uh takes the size and the uh the relative means of an area district and groups them with similar others now the state has starts to move away from that but the state uh the Connecticut state finance project still does work with that to be able to find where districts are are matching with each other uh we had been uh up through last year in dur GRC uh and uh this last year we moved into drg durg B so what I want you to be able to see there is as you look uh dur B from 22 to 23 was 79.2 to 81.48% but if you look at us now at 81.6 we are outpacing the average of our demographic reference group in dur B we're outpacing the average in dur C we are outpacing our area average and far out pacing the state Mr Bishop could you just for the group because they can't see the small type who are the schools in dir B who are we competing against oh great question dirby includes Canton or I'm sorry a yes Canton Avon Brookfield chesher Fairfield Farmington Glastonberry Greenwich Guilford Monroe Oxford reading Regional District 5 regional district 15 Rocky Hill Simsbury South Windsor Trumble West Hartford and Woodbridge so a strong group that we are a part of there and thrilled to be able to see that we are outperforming the average there uh it's important to be able to know for us as well um we're in the middle we're ranking in the middle of the dir average for us but outrank uh outrank the overall dir B uh average compared to dur SE canton's p d Canton far out sees the dur and just for everyone to be able to know had we continued to be in that group Canton actually would have been the top scoring District by DPI in Dury had we remained in there so it it's great to be able to see that that growth for us looking at individual schools then Mr Bishop can I I'm sorry to interrupt you but why did we move from uh seated be what what's the criteria great great question with that um the Connecticut State School Finance project looks at area means so wealth within the area uh wealth per capita means within a district and they take similarly abled districts to be able to lump them together with those demographics to to make a determination so C had been in dur uh dur C and now had moved actually up to dur V thank you y thank you for the clarifying opportunity there so a couple things from from the school perspective with this Canton High School outpaces area school performance indexes the average area school performance index and it outpaces the average dur performance index so when we look at our area for high schools and our demographic reference group our high school is outpacing those average scores and middle school I'm so glad that you're here Ken Middle School improves 10.9 points they outpace the area average for middle schools for the school performance index they outpaced the dur average for school performance index and I'm incredibly proud to say that Canton Middle School is now the top scoring Middle School in the Farmington [Applause] B the story does not stop there Intermediate School improved 11.4 points showing greatr and at our foundation Cherry Brook primary school has been named a school of Distinction by the state of Connecticut as a school of great [Applause] growth and Canton we continue to work in each school to cultivate the growth of each and every student one student at a time we are proud of our growth from the past year we're grateful for Dr Grossman's leadership and the support of our Board of Education we're happy to celebrate this one mark in our journey and are excited about all the work that we know is still yet to come we know we will continue to work diligently in support of all of Canton students but we thank you for your support and look forward to celebrating the great things that are ahead for us here in C I'll take any questions out of my office questions for Mr Bishop any comments so I'll say on behalf of the board I think uh this illustrates that we are on the right track uh as a district in each one of our schools great leadership by the administration and our principles uh and at the end of the day um the town makes an investment in us with their budgets year after year and it's our job to provide a return on investment and I think this clearly shows that the budgets that we've had approved and the money that the town has provided to our school district has had an impact and I My Hope Is that as we go through the next few budget cycles that we continue with this kind of trajectory going forward because it's really uh those Investments are indicative of the progress that we're making and um as as a board of education I have to tell you how pleased we are with those grades and I know one year does not make a district but we're going to Revel in this year and we're going to be we're going to celebrate because we are firing off on all Cinders so thank you for that report and we're still hungry thank Youk [Applause] good so no no celebration no balloons no uh no no cookies we still have work to do okay all right let's uh let's move along all right uh student representative so glad you're here um I know Maggie I'm looking at you and I'm thinking about field hockey and how close we came but uh anyways who'd like to start with the student reports tonight I can start it off um I'll be reporting on CIS so I had the opportunity to interview two grade students about what's been happening at CIS and one told me that the school gathered for veterany assembly where her grandmother and other veterans from the community came in to speak and meet with students at the end of October on the 25th NHS members and volunteers came in help the Fright Night including trunk Retreat and a Haunted Hallway which the student said she loved they also held their character carve off where each student carved a desireable Lin in the image of a character she told me about a field trip that the fifth grade took to go see the wild robot and a trip that some graders took to go fishing on a boat there is also an upcoming field trip to the historical interactive Museum of serridge village for the fourth grade she said it's been a busy month but she's been having a lot of fun I spoke to another student as well who told me about how he's been learning about multiplication and participating in book clubs like reading Wonder s students have had the opportunity in their in their annual Mo collection giving students a chance to share their voice and castler vat sixth graders created R Goldberg machines and fifth graders engaged in their annual presentation from and C the student council ran a successful World Series food drive with the Yankees winning by five food items and all items were donated to the Kon food bank it's been a very exciting and busy month that's great good report Juliana you want to go yes um so I will be reporting on Cherry Brook so earlier this year uh the chair physical education teachers uh Miss Arma and and Mr Barnes worked together to prepare the fall field day which went super successful and helped build the school Community it also helped promote Fitness and healthy habits early in the year additionally on October 31st the kindergarteners took a little field trip their Halloween parade and they come they came and visit the middle school and the high school and they also visited uh Mills Pond this is great I know that high schoolers love seeing them um in addition um Miss Kelly Fel uh the canton's 2024 2025 teacher of the year um in addition to being canton's teacher of the year uh was also a semi finalist for the Connecticut teacher of the year and on Wednesday November 6th uh at the bual theater uh Miss bariel was ined by her family Dr Gman and Mr Emory and they were able to celebrate her achievements uh last week uh third grade visited the americ American Mar project project in Winstead uh students enjoyed a tour of a museum and had Hands-On activities that related to the museum in school and then finally as we kind of said uh yesterday chubra Primary School celebrate Veterans Day um it was a very special day at chra as students were able to honor the veterans and come together as a community to overall honor what they have sered thanks Juliana very good Lucas all right I'm going to be reporting on both the middle and high school so both of them to start some similarities uh both schools just had the end of quarter one and Heritage would be this week for both schools then for the high school most fall Sports have ended with girls volleyball actually making a historic run where they hosted a home game and they made the quarterfinals all fall sports teams that we have at Ken high school but did actually make the state tournament showing that we um pretty quality then football still has three remaining non-tournament games to play before they enter the tournament uh the play uh big rocket Candy Mountain was a huge success with very large attendance on all three showings and a huge thank you to miss Taylor who put it all together model un had a very successful weekend at Yukon and many of the students are looking forward to the uart and Yale events coming up in future hubs the Veterans Day celebration at the high school was um highlighted by four local veterans who share their experiences with the entire School their words were received by the student body and adults watching thank you to Maggie the president of Road Katha for helping organize that moving on to the middle school there was recently a Winding Trail fi trip which was a huge success with all students learing team building activities and enjoying their time and they also had their veterans veterans day assembly which is another huge success they recognized around 30 local veterans for their service fantastic very good any questions for our student reps I I have a question what's our um do we know what our spring play is yet or our musical do we know uh it's SpongeBob SpongeBob SpongeBob something look forward to okay thank you for that report besides Mr Bishop's highlight report and I didn't think we can get any better than that we now move over to Mr Moore and we're going to do a camp celebrates because we have a lot of ah sorry I'm sorry I was getting all excited for Jeff I'm looking at him there but I know you have you have news for too so let's go with the business the business management report I'm sorry okay well I will be brief okay um our overall forecast for the month ending October 31st is um U we're at an unfavorable uh forecast of 464,000 but that is um almost $100,000 better than the previous month general education forecasted to be um favorable 55,000 which is better than last month by 22,000 and special education forecasted although to be unfavorable 519,000 we are $775,000 better than the previous month some of the categories that contribute to that salaries and benefits which is slightly better this month than last month by 25,000 um purchase Services um also slightly better although still over budget um that is a special education related account um transportation and tuition um for special education out of District students um still over budget but better than last month one area of concern is facilities repairs and maintenance uh we are projected to be over budget at this point about 42,000 um we have had several large repairs hot water heater at um C High School um CIS and chry Brook both had sections of boilers that needed to be replaced as we um prepared to turn the heat on um those um are typically CIP items but had to come out of the operations budget this year um so those are um some areas of concern um but other than that um it's I'm happy to report um a a forecast that was better than last month that's great I I know you might have some questions on finance and I know Mr going to make a comment from from the finance Comm committee meeting so we're going I'll hold your questions for finance if you don't mind until we get to the uh finance committee reports and then we can dive in is that all right so that meet everybody's okay all right having said that then we'll turn to Mr Moore in Camp celebrates all right good evening everybody thank you for the opportunity to be here um I want to thank the uh audience that joined and came here most of you for can celebrates but I am glad that we went through many of those business items first because the accomplishments that they're they're detailing and the growth that they're talking about are both for you and because of you none of that happens without you so I'm so glad that you were able to be here for the first part of that meeting um and I give credit to the teachers the staff of Canton middle school and every student there uh that's contributed to all those wonderful things we've been able to highlight so far for K celebrates though I'm honored to have the opportunity to recognize some of the many accomplishments of Canton middle school students the last time I had the opportunity to come before you for cant celebrates was last April so in preparation for tonight I thought about some of the things that happened at the end of last year over the summer and at the start of this year so I'm lucky to celebrate some current CMS students but also I've got some freshmen here some current freshmen because they we got some accomplishments from the end of their 8ighth grade year so first some outstanding athletic accomplishments um as you know Canton middle school offers several Sports here at the school level but we also partner with the town of Canton to offer a full spectrum a wide array of sports and so uh baseball for example is organized by the town but many CMS students are are are members so let's see I think we've got enough space here I'll have the group come down and then we can talk about it members of the K junior baseball team join me up in this area let's get the baseball team down [Applause] here standing I'll have you up here for just a minute you got a minute in you all right all right so this is the Canton Jr baseball team from 2024 and this incredible group showed tenacity and sportsmanship throughout last season their coach John Cottingham here tonight noted that they always play for each other and that camaraderie paid off this summer when they won you know the state championship they beat summers in the Little League Junior Division and I'll note that they're the first Canton team to win a little league state championship in any division so congratulations to them on being St champion [Applause] not every member of the team is here with us tonight but I'll read the names of all who are on the team and if you're here when I call your name step forward and accept your certificate so Luc Stager Jaden [Applause] Diaz m morbo [Applause] Jack [Music] [Applause] Kemp Jack Kelly Cole coningham Kyle rossie Shay flarity and Michael River just [Applause] boys let's turn around come on up here so your parents can take a picture of you so turn around we'll do you first and then we'll have the board stand up again so parents you could whoever you want [Music] okay everybody got that coaches you want to get in there okay and why don't we have the boys maybe you could step back and then maybe the board can come ccle this is just [Music] not guys why don't we go to that Cor how long expect [Music] thank you guys congratulations conratulations [Applause] as they sit I need to shout outle also on the team I [Applause] and Jack Kennedy my CTS all out of and Jack Ken I owe a couple of Cs congratulations to the team all right continuing Athletics could I have the members of the girls outdoor track team from last season come on up same thing same format right here in this [Applause] space so I I talk about you for moment so uh again we have a team from the end of last year um so there's current e8th and ninth graders with us uh this was our outdoor track team from last year and I'm pleased to honor them tonight because of their incredible season in which their coaches highlighted their positivity their support for one another and the work that they put in to improve the season ended with the Woodbury Invitational which is a large Championship meet and there were some incredible individual performances and a strong team showing across the board this resulted in a pretty stunning upset for a team of our size they placed third they hit the podium they were the third place finish at the Woodbury Invitational and I can tell that with these great athletes these great people track program is po to be strong at both the middle and high school level for years to come so congratulations them on the third place all right same as before if you were here I'm going to recognize you with your certificate so an gay Valentina Palomo Ana Johnson Caleb burning Charlotte Davis is [Applause] here Charlotte Brown Ella heartley [Applause] Jil mallum Ella Sullivan Ava Celia Kira Nei Jessica kinsky Christina kinsky Sophia [Applause] devasi Ava [Music] [Applause] Carmen Haley [Applause] wetz and Riley mson [Applause] I get you all right order ladies why don't we go right over into that corner you'll take your picture and then the board will come on over [Music] okay Board of Education [Music] [Applause] everybody good all right so turning to a a smaller group and with some exceptional academic achievements uh I am wondering if we have here tonight do we have um so Jaden can I you back up here Jaden Diaz Michael up Ry Robinson here and Michaela Goodwin com I'll talk I'll talk slow I'll talk slow so these students I've invited here tonight because of an incredible academic achievement so each spring we take the smarter balance assessment and um the smarter balance assessment is one measure of students overall success in school of how they're doing and I always tell students that you are not this test this test does not define you however J however when You Face challenges in life how you meet those challenges that does Define that is a huge part of who you are and so um when the test comes out families get a report and it highlights their performance level and I think um it does a pretty poor job of highlighting their growth like Mr Bishop highlighted K Middle School showed some exceptional growth and the report that families get doesn't really highlight that growth metric so I dive into that data and I look at what students were expected to do from year to year so for example if you take a test in sixth grade it says an expected growth would be 100 points the students standing behind me made about 4 100% growth in excess of their expected growth so what was predicted from how they did one year they blew those targets out of the water so these are strong students and their dedication their commitment and the way they Rose to that challenge resulting them in exceeding their targets by 3 to 400% that is incredible it stands out amongst their peers and it deserves to be honored so with that being said congratulations on your academic achievement and your exceptional growth Jaden Diaz [Applause] Michael [Applause] deante and Riley Robinson we can do right up here you're come with quick picture opportunity we get let's do you three first so parents Guardians grandparents okay back [Music] we good job hey finally I'd like to end with the Arts um as you know Kon is an incredible music Community for as long as I can remember we've been recognized as one of the best communities for music education and I have a group of students here who recently wowed the audience at Yukon uh to the coral members who performed at the acba conference Jo me up here we're are coral students come on up [Applause] all right so the students here um sang recently at the acda conference that's the American coral Directors Association and they hosted their fall conference at Yukon a few weeks ago Mr Brian Jones our course director is a composer in residence for that organization uh an award-winning one at that he deserves to be recognized on his own accord and these students were members of the Premier choir that uh that went to that Middle School performance so they collaborated and learned an original composition they LED their fellow singers from across the state and in perform and they performed an original composition by Mr Jones an absolutely incredible experience they blw the uh the audience there and the uh fellow artists and residents out of the water they can tell that this is a strong music community and these are some exceptionally talented singers and I'm excited by their artistic accomplishment and the future for music and the Arts in Canton so I've got some recognition for their participation and excellence in the Arts let's see Archer Heath tan [Applause] Smith let's see Stella Corwin Laura [Applause] Petty Ella Goodwin [Applause] right also on there s Cal Riley mson Chloe Harrington I'll Olivia angle Adella Castillo and also here able to join tonight Hugo e congratulations [Applause] wonderful you're right here we'll get you a picture okay why come back a little [Music] bit thank you guys thank you Mr Moore thank you that is the highlight of our meetings when we have this opportunity to celebrate our our students and all their Great accomplishments so we're GNA move right into uh we're g to continue with Mr Moore yeah we're going to continue with Mr Moore who's going to give the board for those of you that weren't there but he's going to give a brief update of the continuous Improvement plan [Music] all right so um included in your packet I've uh previously distributed our full continuous Improvement plan and um essentially uh Mr Bishop was highlighting earlier the one growth that we have made at a school as a school and we are incredibly proud of that uh but also are very planful and very excited to keep taking steps to continue on that path um if I were to summarize the focus areas for Canton Middle School this year it is that we have reorganized some of the ways that our teams operate addressing culture climate attendance and operations we also uh are doing some heavy investing and heavy lifting in curriculum writing and standards alignment and we're using some uh introducing some common highle strategies across classrooms and across the school such as uh the writing of and use of learning targets so that's how I would summarize it to go into the action steps some priority ones that align to our district and board goals in the area of student growth and achievement um we are going to first of all of course Implement our turnaround plan we've bring a three-year plan that we will see through with Fidelity and the data share earlier shows that we are I like the way you said it we're on the right path so we will continue to commit to our turnaround work um and those key points that I mentioned are the priority areas for that first year we will uh conduct regular data team meetings uh we have some great data available to us through Investments that you have made in in uh in in technology and in assessments we will utilize that to make sure we're teaching students in a targeted and effective way we'll write those learning targets I told you about earlier and provide lessons to students helping them with their executive functioning the world is busy they have a lot on their plates and we're more dedicated than ever before and more purposeful than ever before in helping them stay on top of their work uh and uh and their lives so we'll support them in that way in the area of Partnerships and Community engagement you're going to hear from the PTO shortly we're going to continue our great partnership with them um many of the best things that we do are because the PTO allows us to say yes to those wonderful ideas we'll continue to strengthen the Canton Harford connection so all of our students and families are welcomed here and um partner literally with community members to pull off wonderful events like the wellness day which will be upcoming for financial sustainability we'll make sure to budget uh informed by projections uh being mindful of the updating of books and materials and utilize uh our grant funding to further our turnaround work so there's a lot of budget management there that goes into uh making wise purchases now and preparing us to be uh healthy and solvent moving forward um in the coming years our learning environment and belonging the action steps will be to incorporate resiliency of lessons into advisory we have a newly reformed School climate team that is getting in front of students with myself as one of the teachers um to provide resiliency lessons to students thinking about what's relevant to them and having those tough conversations around uh friendship and organization and balancing the their their workload so we're doing that on a regular basis we're embedding the CMS way and vision of a graduate into our lessons and all that we do and as I mentioned earlier some of those reorganized structures to proactively promote student engagement and raise their performance to continue to embrace Equity we will always Empower student voice Equity is having a space for all voices at the table and that includes our students so we continue to expand opportunities there in incorporate Equitable teaching practices into all that we do it's not a particular thing it's more of a lens that if we're being Equitable we're thinking about all of our practices including instruction and and access and opportunities so we're thinking about that at all times um and I mentioned our revised School climate team that has a member of the district Equity team serving on it so that that lens is on as we think about our school climate and finally all of this requires a a continued investment in our Workforce in our teachers in our staff in in all of us actually I count myself as someone who's learning and growing a lot this year but um as we take care of our teachers and our staff we will facilitate data team work making sense of all the data and numbers in front of us so that we can turn that into meaningful things for students we'll engage in the revised teacher evaluation process uh which we're really excited about which is making having teachers set meaningful goals for their own personal growth so it will have a greater impact on students will provide a lot of professional development your middle school teacher are working very hard um sitting in um um meetings that are more like learning sessions uh staff meetings that are becoming professional development so that we can improve in our Focus areas especially utilizing high quality learning targets and finally we will um help our Workforce the development will come in the area of ongoing curriculum writing and standards alignment there's a few areas where the state's recommended alignment of Standards has shifted in recent years and we need to stay current with that uh so that most heavily impacts our human ities Department uh but we're looking at our curriculum schoolwide so that we can make sure that what we're teaching is the right thing at the right time in the right order so that students can be getting what they need and be prepared for high school so those are a few of the key priority areas that we are implementing and will see through the work course this year to make sure that that trajectory that you heard about earlier continues at C Middle School I'm happy to take any questions so I will say you questions um the the ability for us to walk through the school after having this presentation and with the treatments and strategies being employed in in some of the classrooms was really valuable I know Kim mentioned it to me there's nothing like being able to sit through the uh sit in the classroom and see what's happening in the way that they're aligning our goals and strategies um and the things that they're doing consistently across the board is really uh pretty impressive so I I thought really walking through was really great so with that any questions for Mr Moore on what just went through and of course he'll be back here in the spring we'll have another opportunity again for a walk through and and to see how the progress that we've made from from Fall to uh to spring so questions I have one we we know how we were feeling with the walk through and the results and obviously the information that John shared tonight and the students we got to like really talk to the students and you see how engaged they were but how is the staff feeling like do they know about the the you know the growth that the school has made and how are they feeling about this continuous improv you know plan yeah I I don't I would I would want to speak for them so you you actually were able to meet and speak to some of the teachers during your walk through um from a instructional lens I think something that we've done this year is we're pointing in a common Direction so we know what we've literally defined what high quality instruction looks like a k Middle School which we've been doing but it's nice to have those efforts coales so I think we feel focused uh I think teachers are working extremely hard but it pays off when you go into classrooms and you can see all right we've been working on learning targets and this is the positive impact that it has on student engagement and student learning so to see those numbers and to be able to discuss those which yeah absolutely we know those we that's cause for celebration and I think it it motivates us to keep going with taking all the great things that we've been doing and further refining and further committing to them so that can be all students right all all students being well known and well taught so I think it we we're feeling very motivated by the steps that we've taken so far thank you yeah I have a question just a couple of quick comments uh first of all was a terrific morning uh spoke so highly about you your staff is doing and what the results are with the students that it seems to me that you've reorganized and organized your committees and your teams very purposefully uh and likely very effectively as well I'm will tell with that it certainly seemed like it's up to a great start I'm going to repeat what L said you talk about highly effective strategies you talk about a couple in particular um I visited a dozen classrooms and it was evidence uh exactly as described in 11 of those 12 classes in 12 uh that's pretty impressive to see that even in some of the rooms that that the uh learning outcomes and the couple things you mentioned there they're permanently attached to the to the board it's on people's minds right away um it was uh it seems like you're making the most out of the assistance from the state in your own initiative so great job appreciate that thank you good job have a quick question sure um congrats I seen the numbers I mean numbers don't lie but I was just curious as the principal of the school you reflect back what has been your most person like your personal thing that you're most proud of aside from just looking at numbers alone sure yeah the the numbers tell us tell a story so what's the story behind it right um well I think that my proud what I'm proud of is the alignment that we have I think that we we have an amazing team of teachers and we've always been we're blessed with amazing students and I think people have been working really hard and what happened when we started to align with the turnaround efforts and we what happened a year ago that wasn't happening two years ago was that self-reflective study so we met with purpose we self-reflected with purpose I heard more teacher voice and input on things like the priority areas that was written actually right here In This Very Room by the staff of C midle school so to lead people through that collecting of the voices and then tearing it down and saying but what's really going to move us forward to see that that conversation led to these outcomes right so we did this and to like lead through that as person satisfying full for me and and hopefully for the staff as well so I think that that work with purpose to gather the collective voices and make those decisions together like we commit to doing these things so because we think they will move us forward and didn't see that they did yeah very satisfying thank you very much Jeff thank you for the opportunity to brag about my awesome school well I'm going to give you another chance to brag about your your PTO yeah because you want to make the introduction to our so uh can midle school right so in a school that's only two years long uh right your your your your parent group is also only two grade levels of families and so I've always been humbled with a small But Mighty team of PTO members that again like so without an active PTO we could do what we need to for students but we can do more than what we need and we can do what we want we can do what we dream because we have a supportive PTO and so to tell you about some of those things I'm glad to introduce our PTO president Beth Kennedy Mrs Kennedy thank you for sitting so patiently through our meeting I don't I'm not sure I was sitting so patiently that's fair well I was watching like my entire target audience skate out the back door so hey this is what we see every meeting I'll chase them down some other time so my name is be Kennedy I am a member of the CMS PTO it's my second year um and my other uh member of the board is Courtney Vincent who is here tonight um we are um yeah like a parent Le volunteer organization that supports the school supports the kids educational experience we try to fill in the gaps and provide things that might not be available to them otherwise to really you know um broaden their educational experience in a positive way so we have we manage a $60,000 budget currently our primary source of funds is the lobster Loop which I don't know if any of you have participated in I will not be running in that ever but I do help volunteer um we sell flowers we do a mom sale in the fall which is amazing if you've never participated in that you shed the flowers are great so good we sell spirit wear we have restaurant fundraisers and we also get parent donations and then our uses of the funds um are in two major categories one I would say is like educational programs so we support things like U scholarships for the 8th grade DC trip for Kids U families who need it we also support programs that teachers request like there's a Connecticut Humane Society program that comes in and teaches the seventh grade science classes about Gene selection so that's a really that's a cool thing that we can offer and then teachers are also able to make individual requests to us maybe they need a printer maybe they want a speaker maybe they're looking for ping pong um equipment to have you know a positive Community Building event within the school so we're able to support those things um we budget substantially more than this but we spent about $2,500 on teacher requests last year and we budget about $5,000 to support DC scholarship trips um and then we also do what I would consider to be school community building projects so um things that support the the community within the school among the students between students and staff um so we support um the PBX program for example by um providing prizes for students and staff as part of you know the positive reinforcement we support the seventh grade and eighth grade moving up and promotion ceremonies we um things like ping pong tournament that I mentioned before we also help student council requests if there's a dance we help P the DJ you know little things like that that just kind of make it easier um so that's the general that's the general scoop of what we do I did want to um speak about um Mr Moore he does such a fantastic job he is always prepared and super enthusiastic at our meetings and as I'm going to mention in a moment we do have a problem with membership um last year and this year were really struggling to get parents to get involved and um Jeff's preparedness for the meetings and his thoughtfulness about what the school is looking for is so helpful to us and it keeps us informed especially because we have such low parent participation right now it helps us respond to the needs of all of the students because we don't have adequate representation from parents um representing the entire student body right now which is unfortunate but Jeff really fills in those gaps and I'm so appreciative of his hard work so thank you thank you yeah um so if I could just have a minute to like lecture um to any of the parents who are listening the PTO like I mentioned is an independent parent/guardian type volunteer organization um but more than just that it's like a critical in my opinion a critical opportunity to make a connection with the school staff with the teachers with other parents and really add a special Dynamic to your child's educational experience um I think from everything we know kids with parents who are involved in school statistically do better academically they have better behavioral issues they have better social relationships and parents who make the effort to be involved in school have a better understanding of what's happening in school what the teachers are facing and a better context for what their kids are talking about when they come home so I would just really encourage any parents who are listening please consider being involved in the PTO if you can't be a board member consider participating or volunteering for a particular event we have so many events throughout the year I was King up I think we have 20 or 30 different events that we do throughout the year there's a million different ways to participate it's a small amount of time I can tell you I am a single mom I have full-time job and I'm the president of PTO and I you know I'm at every board meeting it's not a huge it's not a huge investment of time um so just really understand that we need help to continue to provide these opportunities we are now a board of two and I think we have 20 or 25 members of the PTO I mean there are at least 200 families at the school that's a very very small participation rate so I would just really encourage people to consider just taking a little bit of time to try to reach out there are benefits to the school but there's also enormous benefits to your child and and to you um so that's it happy to take any questions how can the Board of Education better support or help you I don't know it's a good it's a good I really think I think it's helpful to have a dialogue like if we were able to have a DI dialog and perhaps the perhaps the way to do that would be for us to build better relationships with the pto's you know at Cherrybrook and the PTO at CIS I know they do a great job is there PTO actually same problems that you're experiencing there is no PTO at the high school which is indicative of you know a systemic issue with parent um involvement so maybe there's a way for your um pulit or your you know voice to be able to encourage parents like is there a way to educate parents about the value of participating um and to help people understand that it I think people feel like it's going to be such an overwhelming amount of time and everyone's struggling now right everyone's struggling with this hustle culture exhaustion you know trying to do all the things kids do a million things you're trying to reach all these places so one thing that we are doing is we're trying to pull our existing members and other parents to find out for example when meeting would be more accessible for people so currently we need you know like this a Wednesday morning once a month at 8: a.m.

to 1: p.m. the ashin farmers market will hold its Thanksgiving Market at Montenegro Square stock up on Fresh Produce baked goods and more before the season ends and don't forget the Ashen police and Marine Corps Reserve toy drive running now through December 11th drop off new unwrapped toys at the public safety building to help make the season bright for local kids thank you to our town manager Michael Herbert and town staff for providing this newsletter and thank you all for tuning in today my name is hi sufur with waa good night and go clockers [Music]

that's challenging for people you know who work so but how do you find a time in the evening to do it because you know like the kids who just were on the baseball team they were running back downstairs to go to basketball practice downstairs like there's just a million things that they're trying to do so um I think maybe having an open line of communication I'd love to talk to you more to the group more about how we can work together to try to improve that because I don't see a positive growth Arc you know and I think it's such a valuable it's such a valuable um resource for the school for the kid maybe we can help with the recruitment yeah that would be great good any questions Mr Kennedy just have a quick thought or two first of all thank you so much for what you do the PTO is a really vital to the success of a school and and it's a great way for as you said for parents to kids probably don't want you in school but it's a way to be there and talk the teachers and the principal and so forth and then and and the buying funds you ra is very impressive and the activities you're get involved is very impressive uh sometimes I think parents get PTO out after five or six years after sixth grade and and they don't want that again but if you appeal to them on would you sign up for one thing here's is his you know the promotion night the file sale whatever it is uh and that's all we're going to ask I can ask you to come to meetings or any of that stuff um you might have more success getting folks to yeah it's interesting I think we're struggling but one thing I would say in in this like postco world one of the things that's most valuable about participating in the PTO is that you do get access to the School volunteering in those events means you get to be in the school doing something and you see the way the school is functioning that is not available to people you know to like parents generally the school does not feel open anymore to parents um as a matter of practice so there's that and then I would also say I think the kids actually do really like it when their parents are there like my daughter's here she loves it when I'm at school doing something for the she like a mil she wants to come tell me things she wants me to bring her a snack whatever it is you know but I think they do appreciate it I do agree with you I do think as you get to like these older grades typically parents are there's a lot of things that are that are asked of our parents especially for younger kids like Elementary School age kids right like I always think about the end of the year I know if you all are familiar with this but the end of the year it's like you get like 47 different events you got to dress them in purple one day and then they have to be clowns and then they have to bring a book and it's just it's a lot um but I think what I would say is the middle school and high school age right I think kids generally tend to push us away but that's also like when they need us the most to be there you know and so holding that space finding a way this is a very sort of like separate like justifiable explainable way to be like I'm in the school it's not for you I'm in the school you know to do this event um I think it's a really it's a nice way to do it I think what we struggle with in terms of getting people to participate in events actually is awareness in some ways um because we have a hard time reaching out directly to individual you know to individual parents but that is I appreciate your your advice and that is something that we're pushing just trying to to get access to people like catch their air for just a minute to get them to come and do something yeah I always wonder why we don't have a PT like a high school we have random parents who will left to organize in the community but there's no formalized I think partly the booster club does quite a bit at the high school level so it's a matter of where do you want to be in there's only so many parents and so many kids play fors yeah any other questions thank you so much for your thank you for all you do we'll try to help great I appreciate it thanks very much than you okay all right so in in your packets um tonight we're having a conversation on a goal number two of our strategic plan which is Partnerships with the community um your kit looks like this so uh we made I think we made the revisions to goal number one that was suggested uh at the last meeting right yeah go yeah why don't you so why don't we uh go to board goal number two that's in your packet U this is Revis from the one that we emailed you last week the administrators met last week and we have we had a minor change so I I think we would go through it the same way that we did it last time with Hannah making any suggestions that anyone as we have an email from a board member mler who uh Mr Bishop will if you could pull up that email that will give a couple of the suggestions that she had so board goal number two the the goal is the same enhance communication Pathways for students staff and community in order to build responsive supportive and connections for all this relates a little bit to the PT conversation that you you just had but we have uh number letter A develop a communication plan which infuses the use of technology to engage families and stakeholders for the purpose of gathering input providing information and increasing transparency to support student learning I know board member Mohler had a suggestion M Mohler shared uh her recommendation to replace communication plan which infuses the use of Technology to communication plan that strategically uses technology and a rationale she gave rationale for that I believe she did she did okay so she said if you read that again JN replace um infuses the use of technology to uh strategically uses technology I think that makes sense yeah I do too does anybody else have any comments on letter A everybody good with letter A okay and remember we're not about how we're going to do this that's what the next 5 years is going to be the how um B this the input means feedback right you bet you bet is there other ways that you plan to get feedback other than just technology well it it's saying strategically uses technology so that will be one of the means that we use it it could be any type of feedback could be meeting with parents yeah that's like Focus B establish Pathways for family engagement in schools to provide resources support information to parents and Guardians this would align exactly with the PTO conversation out through that that that could be something that would be embedded in the school Improvement plan of how they can increase PTO membership have not for this one would you have input also in this one or no I I would think there totally would be inut in it yes meaning would you add establish Pathways for family engagement and input or I don't know what's that not sure if it it's applicable to this or not I it's talking about something different yeah we have been put an a which would definitely filter into all of them for sure this is engage Pathways and creates Pathways for parents to be involved more into the schools is a communication Pathways it could be but also provide them resources that they may need support that they may need and information so being more uh more communicative from a standpoint of providing information to uh families if you remember I had in there in the beginning to established family engagement centers but the administrative teams that Jord the ACT gave them the answer of establishing that that could be a result of be that we establish cers with the school that's way that we choose to go what is you want to know what his Pathways me yeah communication like you know or it's just open to Tri me might be volunteering in first grade but it might be going to parent conferences and another grade well I think that's what the indicators would be so when the principles if you remember they'll take the board goal number two and then they'll look at letter b and they'll say what are we going to do to establish those Pathways to the the schools so for example established Pathways for family engagement schools I think Kim you said something about what would you say you just said it you just said something that would give an example school May it might be like kindergarten first grade volunteering correct so another greatest conferen correct so the principles may have within their plan that the kindergarten parents come in twice a week or something to start a kindergart so that would be the me correct could be to establish a a PT at I'm not really sure that's the work for the next 5 years does that make sense it does yes and then the communication plan that we used to have a communication plan Mr Bishop actually found it we haven't had one in I think I wrote the last one yeah yeah so we have to rewrite the communication plan so that would be a um C everybody good with B Okay C create purposeful programming that builds a builds connection with students alumni faculty families in the community this one excites me CU I don't think we do enough program strikes using on phras what do you mean by that for example what goes in my head is what type of programming could we develop for alumni we don't tap our Alum we used do but we don't tap our alumni enough so what are some specific programming that we may be able to do for alumni what go ahead it's purposeful and necessary I mean you create program that builds connections with students my facult it's like an education you have have obje everything has have obje can't just do something you think so purpos less programing so you could just say create program take out purposeful want to take out purposeful sure that what y everybody good with see D increased opportunities for student mentoring internship and Service Learning straightforward we could do a better job not a better job we can increase opportunities for kids okay e opportunities for open dialogue between students staff and community members through forms disc discussion groups and informal gatherings I think board member mher had something on that she did and she she recommended right at the beginning shift from create to increase she said there a district we've created opportunities for open dialogue however as we reflect we know there's always room for I like that I like that we don't do a lot now can we add the word Partnerships to D where I don't know increase the opportunities for student mentoring internships Service Learning and Partnerships with whom um within within students within staff within Community I I don't see it but okay can't DN just be combined that they're increasing opportunities for student for the first part and to open dialog between student staff community members fors special form I think what the administrative team was trying to do is separate d& because they want to provide this is D is specifically for students for mentoring internships service learning to provide them opportunities to do that and that the Partnerships would be through the student mentoring the internship and the surface learning I I think it gets a little bit too big when we combine d and e e is we want to get feedback from people in increased opportunities to to get that feedback or maybe the create opportunities for open dialogue maybe it's create Partnerships and opportunities for open dialogue between say that again like an e add partnership there create Partnerships and opportunities for open dialogue between students staff and community members through forums discussion grps in informal Gathering so we have I'm just cre Partnerships and opportunities and increase opportunities that would work create Partnerships and increase opportunities that would totally work that's fine so you get that H create Partnerships and increase opportun yeah I think they are separate groups but when you put increas opportunity then increase opportunity and I could give more reasons of Partnerships but I don't think you need to no you you got it in there so he would re create Partnerships and increase opportunities really good with that so that that's A3 not a big one but there's a lot of work to do there over the next five years for sure and again remember that what's going to happen now is that when this plan is done and I Envision at the pace that we're going it's a good Pace we probably have a strategic plan that you'll vote on in maybe June May or June that the administrators when they do their continuous Improvement plans they'll be able to do right this and that every meeting you'll be able to open up our nice book and be able to say check things off what are we doing so everybody's good with uh goal number two or yeah board goal number two we'll we'll come back we'll make those changes and then we did give you and I think we just need to keep reminding you to go back and look at board goal number one um and we'll do the same thing um I don't I don't think we need to go through because we'll spend once we go through all of them we'll go through everything again board goal number one board goal the the five goals that we have the six goals that we have we we'll go through and then we'll highlight the changes that we made but I think it's important for every meeting for us to put in um each goal that we went over and then the ultimate thing that I was discussing with the administrators is after the board gets their draft plan done I think it'd be really important for a board member to come with me to the The Faculty a faculty meeting and and share this strategic plan out and to get their input not to go one by one but we would send them we would send them well I think what's really important is it's a board of education strategic plan you need to work through it yourselves and then present it to um it's right now with the community anybody can chime inut then go back to the staff when you all feel comfortable with it and then you can get some feedback and then I I think it be really important for the the chair Vice chair or somebody for the board of AD to go and meet with the staff support of Education strategic plan but I would think that' be sometime like I said at the pace we're going we'll probably hit the the staffs in April maybe um and we'll go from there everybody good with that okay thank you all we'll work on board goal number three in December question I raised last about citizenship and digital citizenship where does that call I I think we got to go through every single goal and then back to that question and really analyze it because I don't know if it fits in board goal number one yet or board go I know it doesn't fit in board role number two um the question is does it go any place else or do we have to get it in board role number one so I think y I think every single time you bring that one up if you don't mind there you go that's the whole purpose good job good job and I would encourage you that if you speak to anybody in the community that you show what we've done for board goal number one board goal number two and if they have any feedback that that's a good way to do it okay moving right along we're going to go to committee reports let's go back to finance because Anna gave an excellent report and there are some things in there that you may have a question on um there's some places that we uh we're under and we over so um anybody have any questions for and Russell maybe you want to just highlight today's Finance meeting a little bit you could give some points and then take questions please okay y we met this morning at 8:30 finance committee business we approved up finance committee meeting minutes from last month we went through some financials that Hann presented earlier today approved those uh we did have discussions about uh preschool rates that we're going to circle back on uh next month because there was some back very Val questions the building ground committee briefly touched on regarding the Oilers at CIS some other dishwasher issues and items that have popped out um the other item that we discussed Mr Bishop is going to be meeting with the new CAO regarding Cherry Brook uh what our plans are for addition Portables how we've got where we are and the next steps um Mr Gro Dr Gman discussed uh kindergarten projections for next year uh I think we're we getting some more information on that soon and um Anna pointed out U I thought I thought it was wory attention again that because some of these repairs because we didn't get really any dollars in CIP last year and there was some thought that there' be some bonding the fact of the matter is these repairs are coming out of uh operating which uh you know dings us on the uh on the Jed side uh which makes it uh kind of tough and you want to make any other further comments about um the finance thank you I don't want to leave you out board members any questions on the finances more to come and remind me we're only two months into true operating you know we had July and August and now July you know when we're truly into school in session so more to come on that okay along uh policy Mr shy we met before the meeting tonight um we asked the administration to come back with cell phone propos cell phone regulations 9- 12 at K to 8 the cell phone regulations are off and Away beginning of day to the end of the day that also was some some discussion tonight and a lengthy discussion back and forth with what the administration is tentatively proposing haven't made any final decisions yet uh we uh raised the issue of should we just consider no cell phones 9 through 12 as some schools have of locking them up in those couches and what Happ is in expense uh administration at this point is leaning towards uh your cell phone is goes in the cell phone hotel at the beginning of each class I think I mentioned that last time and you guys are looking at me awfully hard right now at the beginning of each class uh they don't come out till class is over um and then students would have access to them between classes at lunchtime question study hall is still up in the air a little bit um and this would be implemented if it's implemented in this fashion would be implemented uh starting at the second semester so that be time for Administration has discussed the cell phone is faculty with some students as well uh and looking for a solution that will improve learning in the classroom uh and not be looked at as Draconian unless we have to go that way down the road so what I imagine they will they will have a test period with some new regulations which they'll inform us of in uh December they in part what we had to St difficult questions uh and then implement the plan to start second semester and see where it goes if it works great it doesn't work go back to the drawing board and something new can start again uh in August which is a much better time to start anything that would be uh significant um question about uh chook isn't an issue there are I guess is the occasional student in chook that has a phone but it's very minor uh four to six are we we asked that we threw it the concept of just don't bring School period they not welcome on campus I don't know how anybody feels about that um there was some discussion of that uh and seven and8 is off in way we asked to get some feedback from the principles as to the yes that's the policy those are the regulations kids looking up there a constant battle doesn't seem to be what we ask for some more discussion on that John did I get that summarized reasonably well correct and then just the buos right and the we're reviewing the B laws as you know we looked at three of them today um I would find them some places one on setting the agenda one on minutes and one on for and we have the shipment of Goodwin suggested bylaws we made some changes to make them a little bit more along the lines of what we want you got and we'll be uh uh giving them all to when we get done sometime in the next couple of months if you to look at ask questions about before it's not a ton it's not like the policy book where it was page after page after page it's 15 20 pages and most of the pages are just half a page so not not anywhere near the drawer of last year so I'm going to go to questions you have a question Kim you want to you want to chat for a minute yeah I mean I can send an email with my thoughts or I can be brief um I only would be I just had a couple comments when I was at the policy meeting and you know these people are doing a great job for here early long night I don't want to hear anymore but uh you mentioned watches in the policy meeting but not right now that was a question but are we are we voting on what the high school staff is presenting to the policy meeting or no is this a board policy that we're adopting or is this a Pon High School only policy that they're adopt we adopted a policy last year and we reviewed that policy at the last meeting and we're comfortable with it and it sets down with General guidelines and then we ask the principles to propose regulations to enforce it so we're going to vote on those we can usually don't regulations if we vote on the regulations for example and we get to June and Drew and R decide it just didn't work well they couldn't change them until we met again to revote the regulations and I don't think we want to tie their hands they certainly listened to us pretty hard uh it would be a vote if it if it was for example if we wanted to go to a cell phone free campus that's a board vote if we keep if we keep it the way it is then they're providing us with information on how they're going to enforce the policy well I think because it's just two members of the policy commit committee and that's a limited number compared to our other committees we usually have more representation you know I I heard what was said at the the meeting tonight and my concerns are um if anybody knows me personally I'm very anti- technology I really am however this isn't about me it's not it's not what I think it's about what's best for kids and what what our constituents are saying in the community and I've listened to both I've listened to 50% saying you know keep it off and away and 50% say no cell phones but I like to live in reality and the real reality is we are we are asking students to do something immediately and and I although I agree phone should be off in away and if I had if it was up to me I would take them would have never implemented we wouldn't be giving kids phones until college but I two things I question one have we ever tried in good faith to do off and away at the high school and I asked that because I know that it's not been off and Away there are classes where students can use them there's some they can use for listening music some can do playlists some can do that and I think it sends mixed signals to to students it's like you're looking at young children be the same way it's a behavior issue and to me it's like about behavior modification more so than about technology even though that's the issue I think if we haven't tried off and Away to Fidelity for at least a short period of time I would think that would be where you would start but I'm not you know the high school friend schools to deal with this and I think this this is very complicated I think it's complicated for teachers I think it's complicated for students and complicated for parents because we're battling this at home every single day if you have a student with a phone or an iPad or any technology is a real issue across the country um we the other thing is they mentioned in the policy tonight that they would start in January and roll and you know do it then I'm wondering if they try off in a way explain to the students the serious of the issue and let them practice self-regulation with kids you have to give them an opportunity to explain it give an and then if that doesn't work then in August go to the plan that was my thinking you know the new schooler go to the plan they presented and then the other thing is if we're going to ask students to be off and away or you know I think our culture in our country this is not a Canon issue but everywhere we perpetuate the the screen addiction these students have high blueit their grading portal their emails from the school their school schedule school apps grade grade level apps uh if they're playing sports the they perpetuate having an Instagram account for related to their sports team um all those things are on their cell phones if we want children to stop using technology and we have to stop piping in all of the stuff that perpetuates the useage of it so that's just more of a global issue but I think they go to together I think I don't think we're trying to get them to stop using technology we're looking we're looking to pause so that they can be more um focused in the classroom try to stop technology no but to limit if we're asking them to not use these things when the Tool I think there's tools on their phone that they use during the school day and so it's like we put the cart before the horse or right the parameters the guidelines and that's just a cultural issue we're all struggling think like just like a cherry book years ago they put thr books in with no you know with no plan because the state's moving faster than we could keep up with with the State Testing it's kind just reminds me of that again that you know I question if it's been ever done to Fidel that's it that's all so what I would say is that they're going to come back the CHS uh principles will will be back come to that meeting let's let's hear we're not anything so well at least this way the members of I would say question I forgot in I not I forgot to ask it about the school Community coaches to clubs and all communicate constantly through social media so I asked that question the first meeting of what do we need the cell phones for if they have their Chromebooks and I believe Mr Bishop said there is nothing that they would need their cell phones for the Chromebooks Sur f suffices for all of that so I think B sports like after school using instram I don't know how they Instagram I guess we have to look into that more and what those requirements are but I believe they can get on all of that on their we would not be taking away from there sure Erica um to condense my thought um I do respect Kim's position but I will say um I have heard from either students the disruption of of selfing classes especially when they're not want to feel like they're outing like their peer like doing something or being disruptive they just want to go go with the flow so it does disrupt the learning we also say I have two um of my daughters that are in private school and high schools and I've seen the benefits of checking phones in the classroom one of the added benefits of students which I know it's an added cost is a charging portal we all know that teers don't often charge their phones so they're off the dead so the benefit of checking the phone when you go to the classroom is the folks getting charged Fe to and they grabb their phone on the way out um it's been really effective for for both I have a freshman and a junior in two separate schools and it works great so that's speak great feedback thank you ER I just wanted to you know I was at policy and sat through that and I the the main thought that I wanted to share was that I it's it's hard it's hard to come up with a policy with two people working on it and um and we had some people come for public comment and um that largely had children at Cherrybrook and I I think making a policy for kindergarteners is extremely different from what would be appropriate for a senior in high school and you know by and large Cherry but parents are for you know obviously for no devices at all and um it's just a different reality for high schoolers and so I think that's good point something that we need to be c yeah we got I'm sorry go ahead guys yeah um I would just say about the sports issue and like Communication in terms of that I know a lot of students use remind or group me and those are absolutely only on your phone and I know most students don't really use Instagram or communication through Sports it's mostly like a game Day post and like sharing that I telling people to come to games that's not so much the issue for communication it's more that I get my communication with my coaches through group me and remind and they more so use email to communicate to parents as like a weekly thing like these are our matches these are our practices but with weather things those change really fast and that's like the only way we can get communication I would also add I know you mentioned like we could use our Chromebooks to get access to like Instagram or stuff like that we can't do that Spotify too I know a lot of students say like they like to listen to music but school school Chromebooks block Spotify or apple music anything like that um and currently I'm taking a BHS course I'm taking AP Psychology and a lot of our stuff is honestly blocked by our school computers so in school I often use my phone in study halls so I can watch videos that are blocked by our school computers the videos aren't inappropriate it's just our school computers often block just random stuff I mean if psychology is talking about the brain I don't know if it's something like that and it gets blocked but I often have to use my phone to do my curriculum online I know this is a long but it would would have been helpful and it would be helpful to have you meeting yeah it's said 5:00 if you stomach that December 10th that be great I as well take PHS class I take K economics and many of the videos that I need to watch every week are also blocked so I if either having to allocate time at home um which then makes my time that I have in school it makes it uh like there's no use to it because I'm just sitting there and I usually go on my other workout done outside of school and at that time I'm just using honestly it's it's wasted talking my friends I mean it's a nice break in the day but it's not actually what that time supposed to use for which is that AP economics class so I do think phones are are useful because I mean those are days when my phone is dead that that I'm using that I talk to my friends and stuff but when it's not I do use it to watch those videos that are required for that class and as well just a general observation that I have I mean I'm in many like accelera classes and i' I've realized that in classes where students really truly care about their learning and are focused already phones are more of a tool than a distraction like for example in my AP Chemistry Class A lot of the time we will end up be helping we'll help mad out uh with maybe setting up a lab or or like say you finish your work early you're going to help set up a ladder clean up an old ladder wash some dishes for her maybe and that all counts towards science National honest Society hours and we always use our she allows us to take her phone out quickly just write in a little note that's say this this I know um some students uses use their Bon or agendas and I understand that obviously the goal is to create a policy that's going to work schoolwide and help students focus more in every single class but I just think it's a it's a necessary point to make that in classes where students truly do care about their learning and are there to learn they're they're ready phones are not a distraction they're War thank you John same thing I said to uh julan and Magie be good to hear from you what we heard from on the board through emails and public comment was overwhelmingly from parents with very young children uh what Drew and what Mr depo and M Kidwell have heard from are parents of you guys and it's a different message right so we need to hear both messages to look at what what those what ours are blocking if they're blocking educational things they actually need to do St I would love the opportunity to be able to speak into that very very briefly Mrs T your point about do students have access to the things that they need during the during the school day during the academic school day absolutely I think n brought up a really good point about remind being one of the um the recommended resources that we have for that so for the school workor that they have absolutely for VHS I'm glad that we brought that up I think one of the things that we have struggled with in uh with Mr Fury moving um he is the point person for VHS and so whenever something like that pops up he has been the mechanism to be able to support it so I'm glad that you're sharing that but I would love love for you to be able to talk with high school administration about that because we're we actively work to be able to make sure that those things um have access to that and there's there's rationale for why there there is protection out there for for uh some of the operations with that but I would really ask you to be able to talk with high school administration to be able to help you with that and then moving forward I know Mr depa was posted for that uh position as the VHS coordinator to be able to help with those types of things to make sure that you have access to so I think I think hearing all this inut and taking what Erica said uh to heart that this is a big deal and it's U maybe bigger than just the policy committee maybe what we need is so everybody because the way that the committee works and Kim got cut today um you get public comment but it's really the committee that to work on this maybe we should have a special meeting the board so the board can everybody can add their input rather than just in a a public comment type setting so let me discuss this further with superintendent see and and Mr Bishop on what's the best way to approach this going forward I know we talked about maybe a special meeting but I think we're all in agreement we don't want cell phone disruption we all agree on that it's just what is the most so I think I'll open this up more to the board to get bigger input Erica to your point so let let me talk with uh Dr Gman and Mr Bishop and we'll go from there okay all right and then uh curriculum so curriculum yes we met in October and um there were two main things um we discussed we did a text book review for the AP environmental science um class that was due for a updated textbook um that was approved and and then we did also had a presentation by uh Mr Amry Mrs woods and Mrs Watson they they uh presented to us and did a great job reviewing for Kim and I we were there The Benchmark Advance program for Cherry Brook grades K through3 uh it's a program it's an advanced Core curriculum that meets the needs of the areas where we are a little bit weaker in those grades and um they've done some very thorough work gone to see in other schools and um at some point when we do uh when we have them here to our board meeting they're going to elaborate on it for the larger board Kim anything you want to ask no it's pretty much the program to replace Columbia readers and Writers Workshop which is what the state recommended we look for alternative programming so this is what's what is proved by the state and is the rec core reading and writing well you know the Hispanic awareness biologic awareness all the components that were missing from Columbia initially yeah so they've done what sounds like the staff has vetted it worked very hard done a lot of time energy to get to this point so will it be a big cost to change it I can jump in on that um the answer is yes there's a cost that comes with all of these things um and I think that this is something that's good to be able to share with the uh um State Legislature as well to be able to advocate for things um we do have a a small grant that is uh out there for us to be able to um support the initial m and we're thrilled to be able to have a publisher to partner with who working very creatively with us to limit the impact of that uh that cost immediately for us and be able to to truncate that over five years yeah with the state asking us to change it would be helpful for their financial support it would be helpful to have more I would anything else uh just our next meetings uh like Dr BR said November 27th a.m okay anything on anything on technology um um well we're meeting tomorrow um that's the technology strategic planning yeah okay tomorrow's so um I can report back next month on that okay thank you very much yeah and then communication yes um we met on October 28th um we discussed four key points uh one was the student at the center video um that was released at that point had 176 views it was also distributed as a district communication and featured in each of the school's newsletters can also be found on the website the valley Prest newsletter deadline was the beginning of this month the print release date is set for November 15th the newsletter will also be available digitally on the website as well as distributed by each School in their newsletter to reach and engage more of our school member School community members um number three we uh discussed school specific updates that are included in the newsletter so we have we featured something for each School so for Cherry Brook the science reading curriculum for um Canton Intermediate School Learning environment belonging Middle School's information on Commissioners Network um Kon high school early college and credit options and then the all the new staff district will also be focused um and then for feedback and engagement there has been positive feedback received that the schools are effectively engaging with communication strategies um we also wanted to share an email for those Within District that want to voice their opinion or share feedback as it relates to communication and how we can communicate more effectively and that email address is Communications at canas schools.org oh great uh next meeting is Monday November 25th meetings are always the last Monday of the month at thank you very much any questions on Communications I'm excited to see the uh newsletter come out that should be great it last Monday of the month a virtual I'm sorry virtual or in person virtual 1 p.m.

and and just so everyone else communication has always so communication was a committee one point so it's more of a working group but it is open for anybody to attend anybody that of I'm going to uh plan is to make this more advisory and not a formal committee so they don't have to really post an agenda so everybody can attend and give whatever input they'd like and then is still report back to the board there'll be more advisory than anything else okay all right thank you very much for those reports in your kit you have a calendar of events um the superintendent also gave you a couple dates to think about the N coming up um any questions on the calendar of events are coming up for October uh November and December post those on your bulleting boards okay um all right so um we're going to move towards recommended uh actions uh we're going to move that the camp board of education remove the October 88 2024 minutes from the consent agenda um there's a little bit of a change that has to go in there uh relative to attendance that somehow uh ge was left off we're going to fix that but it has to because it's amended we're going to vote to do that so if I have a motion to move you can't Board of Education move the October 8 20124 minutes from the can from the consent agenda motion thank you Kim Second Joe any discussion on that any concerns all those in favor I unanimous that's 80 okay the second is is that the same or is 70 sorry 7 okay so now we're going to we're going to move to approve that the cam Board of Education approved the amended minutes of October 8 2024 to reflect the board member Jordan tant was president at that meeting motion Kim thank you second Jordan any discussion everybody understanding all those in favor I I seven okay 70 okay all right um motion that camp board of education now approve the consent agenda is provided motion thank you Jordan thank you Erica for a second yeah uh any questions consent agenda we're good on uh everybody's listed all those in favor I opposed okay all right in your kid uh you have the uh the Board of Education um school calendar for the 2526 school year sen your kit this is a first reading we'll come back at it um and I think uh you any comments on this so just want to comment briefly about the calendar for 2526 as Mr Tang said this first read some highlights August we will again uh bring our seniors in a day earlier like we did this year it was successful so you can see the star on August 27th the seniors will come in on August 27th with the rest of the population starting on October 28th so we'll do programming just like we did um this year with our seniors with graduation being for our seniors on June 12th and but they will end their 182 day their 182nd day is June 11th so they'll be out on the 11th but they'll come back for a Friday graduation because according to the contract teachers contract they have 182 days and then our rest of the student population K through 11 will start on the 28th and their final day would be June 12th if we don't have any emergency closing days the rest of the calendar is relatively the the same calendar that you approved for uh this year with us aligning with the 182 uh days of of school that is according to the teachers contract and then the first three days um which we agreed with in the bargaining group is professional development for the the teachers the first three days any questions yes September 19th can I just be a is that a typo that little arrow should go to a slash is it's actually not a half day where everybody leaves it's a professional development day you see that Friday September 19th he would match the bullet points that are listed for it should be like slash not an not an arrow the til the little yeah and and then my next question comment is um I've heard some concerns in the community about the Cherry Brook CIS conference days being different than the middle school and high school so I guess the question is have you had well they haven't had it this hasn't happened so until that's happened I'd be concerned about voting on this calendar because I'd like to know successful it was for parents students teachers at those schools to have it be different and I've heard you know parents work schedules they're having to take off six days versus three why would parents have to take off six days well I've heard because if you have a child let's just say you have a child what middle school high school right now and they need any super Vision there those kids are home half day so this week there's three half days for those kids and then if you have children in the other school you are taking those three days I guess December what aren evenings students so you're you're saying that a parent that may have a chair BR parent that they would need supervision for their seventh and eighth grader also is anybody understanding what happens when well no I'm hearing what you're saying so if let me go back as I said last year it was very deliberate by the administration um for this year for confence because teachers actually requested at the elementary at the elementary level and at the high school level that it was in between so it was late for the high school because their quarter ended and then the trimester for the elementary schools doesn't end till that December time frame so what was happening is the elementary conf were happening too early to provide feedback of where kids were in the high school it was happening in the middle school was happening too late for the feedback so that was a deliberate change that the teachers were recommending and administration was recommending I've also had POS are you supposed to be all I was going to say is like I'm sure there's pros and cons everything so i' just like to know after what a his feedback is and what the feedback is for the school yeah so I reached out yeah I reached out today to the administrators to see and yesterday to see CU I had one parent give me call that was just confused on she actually thought her kids had half days um this today but she thought her kids had six half days but it was just Jered Brook um and I asked the the principls if they received any feedback from any parent regarding and up until now they haven't received received any feedback relative to the to the schedule the conference in themselves we we wouldn't know that till um December 2nd third and fourth we wouldn't vote on this to the 10 so we will definitely have feedback of how it went those out for sure I did have on some positive feedback to share even though I do recall doing this I got mixed up and thought that the had half day I speak to the staff um at CIS and they said they've had a few parents um say that they liked that it was separate because they have kids in both schools and it makes it easier to kind of focus on those um conferences and then December focus on the conferences for the other students so they did have some positive feedback that so we're moving this with a with a small modification for the September 19th yeah first reading K's absolutely right that we have to uh change the Tilda and that we'll come back to kin's point we come back with feedback at our next meeting to see if we heard anything um from the teachers or parents what they um thought on that and um I've not heard um but I would encourage anybody in the community that it is a child care issue relative to the middle school children or high school children watching their younger children at at Cherry Brook in Intermediate School during that the summer time that that's a realistic concern that we brought up as a administrative team it's not probably the other way around where we need to watch the middle school kids but you're 100% right that the older kids may have been watching the younger kids no I wasn't saying they're watching I was saying it's total of six half days but depends where your children fall it might be six for some families y okay so let let's take a motion to uh move this uh the 2025 26 Public Schools district calendar with a modification on the 19th as a first reading first reading motion thank you Kim Joe thank you Joe any further discussion on the calendar all those in favor I oppos okay so we move that along now I'll take a motion um in your in your packet you have the 2025 Board of Education meeting dates we skip the tri board minutes and the approval of the financials for October 31st sorry it's we did did thank you well no that's part of the consent agenda okay so is the approval of the financials also okay sorry I just want thank you sorry no that's a good question um so now we're going to go to the 2025 Board of Education meeting dates which you have on the other side of the calendar it also lists the uh the policy curriculum and uh Finance subcommittee meetings is this we're adopting or is this a per meeting this would be would be adop we're adopting so we're adopting before we handed these out in the summer this is just to make that starting in December December or January that our meetings would not have to be special meetings because our on the ADV of the attorney to approve it at a November meeting so here we are approving it at a November meeting okay so can I get a motion to approve the 2025 Board of Education subcommittee and meeting dates and welcome dates thank you did you have a question you sorry okay first Jordan second from Felicia any further questions all those in favor I okay I'm going to table U I'm going to table the revision to policy 421 4021 prohibition of sex discrimination including sex bias harassment I'm also going to table uh the approval of revision to policy 530 prohibition of sex discrimination including sex biased harassment students I'll bring that back to the board um going to check you have some legal uh questions to uh just little toy so we're going to table that okay all right with that I'm going to move Board of Education enter into session at uh 8:37 uh p.m.

uh inviting the superintendent and the assistant superintendent uh to be here for the purposes of a districtwide school safety update which we're required to do annually so this will be your update you guys are all set thank you for attending tonight can I have a motion thank you Kim thank you you John a second all those in favor all thank you for coming tonight appreciate it okay we're going to we're going to move over here this isn't going to be it's a quick update on safety okay we'll be back I said

I'll have take a motion to adopt the agenda I move to adopt the agenda as presented I'll second we have a first and a second all in favor I I I motion passes 5 that takes us to our Pledge of Allegiance which will be led by Vivian saint Al to to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all all right that takes us to 4.1 approval of regular board meeting minutes for October 9th 2024 I move to approve the governing board regular board meeting from October 9th 2024 as presented I'll second I have a first and a second all in favor I I I motion passes five that passes 5 4.2 approval of minutes for executive session I move to approve the board meetings from the executive session on October the 9th 2024 as presented I have a first in second all in favor I I allain four all right that takes the 5.1 superintendent report celebrations and recognitions thank you Mr President uh members of the board uh we have a lot of things going on this month uh Erica Erica Delgado who's in charge of Transportation uh recently was selected by her peers to be vice president of the Transportation Administration or administrators excuse me of Arizona executive board uh so she's been very active in that organization and a chance to represent us High School Lots going on in Fine Arts uh the orchestra got Excellence excellent for with recognition at the fall Orchestra Festival um the choir went to Flagstaff and got an excellence in the coral um Festival the marching band uh was at aboda States uh concert Festival achieving a historic overall 12th Place finish they also placed fifth in general uh effect uh in CTE the C CHS media uh were at the Arizona Scholastic press Association fall conference and they came home with 18 different Awards uh including uh uh seven awards for the 2024 yearbook including second overall in yearbook Excellence host has got a blood drive going on that boosted donation or excuse me blood donations by 170% which is uh equating out to about 138 lives that are saved the clay Crushers uh were the champions of the Trap and ski fall conference we want to thank uh um marketing and Mandy pascow and John scrogum for they released a recent video on CTE which is very well done and it kind of celebrates uh everything we do um we also want to uh I'm going to skip over one because I know Dr fountain's talking a couple of these uh senior Alexis vakola competed in division two girl State and for second year row finishing third badman team was at uh uh at State also and four different Runners uh representing Iran in the cross country State race uh Esports continues to grow uh they did real well at the uh largest High School Esports exhibition tournament Series in the state the Sundown Voyager they swept uh in every first place category um they're also they'll present next month they're also doing a lot of things both at the middle school level as well as the elementary level so he's doing a really good job with Esports overall CCS was wed uh School of Distinction so back in 21 they were participating in exemplary practices for on a national cohort level for non-traditional schools or alternative schools and they recently completed the uh the three years of the development professional development collaboration and in October uh Dr gouby went down the National Conference was in Tucson and they were recognized along with other uh alternative schools uh around the country so that was very exciting uh the middle schools got wrestling uh first place in the recent tournament um softball defeated both ala Ironwood and ala Legacy in our 3 and0 uh Alexis Elliott was selected to receive the SRP to TouchDown for teachers classroom Grant um it's a $500 Grant will benefit the classroom with Hands-On materials to improve lessons in student engagement uh CHS Trunk or Treat um was a resounding success I know Mr horn is in the audience we want to thank her for all the hard work she did we probably had about 4,000 people that attended it uh and so it was just an amazing event uh done to replace uh ones that uh one that was in Queen Creek that had been uh killed so to speak and no longer there uh so it was a chance for our community to come together the drama kids were able to do a haunted house at the same time so combination of a couple different things that was outstanding Harmon they had their trunk or treat event with over 250 kids there uh Veterans Day assembly on November 8th they got a Turkey Trot coming up um so a lot of things going going on there uh Simington they're going to talk here in a few minutes but they've also uh had us um a celebration for Veterans Day uh they also had staff students kickball game uh raay craze fundraiser they had Red Ribbon Week and had uh a number of the different agencies in the county come to uh talk to the kids student council family uh uh dance um Ellsworth has uh some more engaging and Community Building events uh again stem night trunk Retreat great success raising funds for the sixth grade uh stem Camp uh annual costum parade uh at the school uh Veterans Day assembly um and so again good things going on CTA another trunk Retreat so we probably had trunk Retreats across the entire um uh District I know Ranch had them also um and they also had their Veterans Day assembly uh the band and Orchestra groups performed the sixth graders sang the annual uh God Bless America uh our HR department has um a a wellness program that's going on with 119 employees that are participating in the first annual 75-day holiday challenge to see how much uh exercise and can get between Halloween and January 5th and then just uh uh also football state will be at Yuma uh they were the 16th ranked team uh Yuma Catholic is number one they play their Friday night and then a real quick update coming out of the election just so you're aware of what's going on we had uh two individuals that had successfully filed for uh uh for the positions we had three positions and two filed uh we did not have an election as a result because we didn't have enough people for the positions uh and then uh Mr Sheldon Scott Sheldon who is an assistant principal up the high school uh previously um he is moving up to Colorado um and so as his daughter is having their second uh grandchild and so he's not quite sure when he's going to move but so he's stepping down before he ever stepped up so we do have it is uh there's several uh school districts across the county that do not have uh have not filled positions so the Jill brousard the county school superintendent advertises them they close this um Friday uh at this point for the two positions remaining it appears we have two people that have submitted applications at least two there may be more than two I've talked to two people and then I've had a couple others express interest but they have not to see me so I believe we'll be okay if uh what happens in the situation is if you have more than the number of slots so we have two positions that are open then there will be a committee and there will be interviews uh Mr brousard has already uh scheduled those interviews if we need them for next I believe Tuesday it's 18th I'm not sure if the 18's Tuesday or not if you only have two for two then she will just appoint and we if they're appointed then we will go ahead and do I think in both cases because I believe if she interviews we'll be able to have them we will anticipate doing a swearing in uh at the before the December board meeting and so we will have a seated a full seated board uh it appears at this point in time uh come January if something changes I'll let you know but but that's kind of where we're at with that and that's just a few changes that have taken place in the last couple weeks so I just want to make sure you're aware of that with that that's all I have for my report thank you for recognition uh time of the month to go ahead and celebrate a lot of different groups uh this month we have a lot of different groups we do the celebration based on if it's a maybe a day that recognizes a group employees or a week or a month um but we want to start off first with uh special recognition obviously Monday was a special day and a way for us to say thank you for what you've done for our our country and thank you for what you do for us and that's with veterans our veterans so we' like to do is call up uh the veterans that we have and we have a little uh certificate and a little challenge coin for them so I'll go ahead and read them off if they could come up if they're here we have Mr Don angle who is in the Army and from Simington [Applause] Elementary Angela Arrington who's in the Air Force with Simington Elementary [Applause] Ria brown with the Marines Ellsworth [Applause] Elementary Victor Butler was with the Marines and he's a substitute for [Applause] us Tony Econo who's uh in the Navy was in the Navy and with at Colmes Middle [Applause] School Chandra Chandra field with navy Harmon Elementary all right Terry hessle Air Force Simington Elementary Carl Hill the Navy Colmes High School Michael Holberg with the Army comes High School Grant kukuk Navy and Army National Guard Ellsworth Elementary Elizabeth mcdeal Air Force Colmes Middle School John mondak with the Navy transportation department John Quinn with the Navy transportation department [Applause] hervana Scott with the Navy food Nutrition department Janelle steenbergen with Coast Guard Colmes High [Applause] School Jack strubel with the Air Force substitute Teresa wit the Army simonon Elementary [Applause] David Willoughby with the Army and the Air Force Coles middle school and Sterling Woodard with Marines in the Army at Colmes Middle [Applause] School get a quick picture again we just thank you for your service and thank you for all you've done [Applause] the next group of employees we uh want to recognize uh on November 14th it is National Community Education day uh these are the individuals that take care of uh the Little Tikes before and after school during the day um and we appreciate the do I'll call them up and then I'll say a few words so uh Isabella Marshall child care specialist Ellsworth [Applause] Elementary Amanda bird uh child care assistant Ellsworth [Applause] Elementary Katherine narez child care assistant elth Elementary Ariel Felix early childcare assistant Ranch Elementary [Applause] Zoe drop childcare assistant Ranch Elementary Cheryl Campton Early Childhood child care specialist Ranch [Applause] Elementary Samantha mortson Kinder prep assistant Ranch Elementary Brooke alexand Alexander Kinder prep assistant Ellsworth Elementary [Applause] and these are the special people quite frankly that start the experience for your children in a positive way with everything they do every single day it's what makes kids want to come to school starting at a very young age and so we appreciate all that they're doing for all of the young kids thank you very [Applause] much on November 20th is educational support staff day so this is all those people that do all the jobs uh through throughout the district so what we've asked is to have representatives from the various departments uh around the district uh just to represent all of our employees uh we have uh close to uh 300 employees that would fall into this category so this is just a representation of what they do so I'll call them up and then say a few words uh Becca Luma from the technology department Colmes High School Emma safy at business department District office Kyle young technology department district [Applause] office uh Kimberly Elliott Transportation Erica Rodriguez secretary Harmon [Applause] Elementary Beth mcneel a pair professional at comes Middle School Stephanie St George rep professional at Ranch Elementary Victoria Garcia CA cafeteria helper at Harmon and Simington Martha meod at Food Service at Colmes High School David Willoughby security guard at Coles Middle School Bianca Laguna cafeteria at comes traditional and comes Center for [Applause] Success Cade bohim lunch a at comes Traditional Academy that Sam Sam zooya security guard comes high school and Nicole horley crossing guard pair profession professional at Ellsworth [Applause] Elementary again what you can see is lots of different jobs across the district that are all designed to help your children out uh many cases jobs that are quietly done without people noticing them uh but they do an amazing job and they all make connections in a positive way with the students in our district so we just want to thank them so very much for everything they do on the 22nd of November is National substitutes day I think we actually have the day off that day so that's probably good for the substitutes um but we'll call them up and then talk for a moment let's see Dale wheeler from col Center for [Applause] Success apologize with the last name Jody St zakowski from simonon elementary Deborah Foster Elementary Jack strubel from elth [Applause] elementary Steph Erikson from Colmes Middle School John olivaria from Ranch Elementary Adriana hnz from Colmes traditional and the and the tough job with uh substitutes if you don't know it's that 5:00 in the morning call to come do a job you're not sure what the class is going to be like you're not sure what where schools are going to be and they show up every day with a smile on their face they make a difference when our employees are out and can't be there they make sure that your students still get an opportunity to Quality education so truly from the bottom of our heart we thank you for everything you do for our kids [Applause] and from November 11th through the 15th is National School psychology awareness week so we want to recognize our school psychologist uh Malia uler from Colmes High School Jesse a royos from comes high school and comes Center for [Applause] Success Alicia frner from comes middle school and comes Traditional Academy and I apologize for butchering the name Alexis Brown at Harmon and Ranch Leticia Valdez at [Applause] Ellsworth Glenda Patterson at Simington Elementary and Philip Devon at the [Applause] preschool again this is another group of people that you many of you may not see and they're behind the scenes uh but they're a team that goes ahead and works with the kids if we have students that are identified with a disability they're the ones that do the testing to see whether the kids qualify or not so they're constantly working with our kids and making sure that uh the kids are getting all the services they need out of special education so thank you guys for everything you do and I'll invite Mrs Lopez up for Simington [Applause] I think we're good now thank you good evening Dr Wyman president Ray members of the board and the comes Community thank you for welcoming Katherine Sue simonon Elementary to share the wonderful things happening at our school and thank you for allowing me this opportunity for my first year as a principal here um I will be presenting but I also Al have four of my students here I have Vivian stay who is my student council um president and then I have three of my student council Representatives who are also going to speak about the things that are happening in our school here at Katherine Sue simonon Elementary we're fortunate to have not just an amazing staff incredible students and involved families but we also have a really positive and amazing community that supports us it's really a blessing our student council is very active they plan a lot of activities on campus and um they support our stallions through activities and fundraisers and we're very blessed to have a very active PTO that supports us and our supports our students so at this time I just kind of wanted to walk you through some of the things that we've had here at at um SCS this year we started off the year with our PTO doing a fantastic chalk The Walk activity that greeted our students when they came on campus the very first day of school um they included a boohoo breakfast which is the first time I've ever seen it done which is a lot of fun they had donuts and coffee and snacks in our Teachers Lounge and so for our parents who were bringing kindergarteners they could drop their kindergarten off and they could either go to celebrate or cry it out so it was it was a lot of fun to see that um we've had a family steam night we had the Arizona Science Center on site and they did a bunch of different rotations and activities um in addition to that we had our ra craze fundraiser and we had a raay craze kickball game we split it into two groups we had our K3 students that um participated and then we had our fourth through six it was kind of a rainy day that day and we've actually had to reschedule our fourth through sixth grade because it started pouring on us about 10 minutes into the game we were lucky enough that we had Dr Fountain join us and he played some kickball in the rain and he's going to come back and do the rematch with our fourth through sixth graders um in the coming weeks um the panau County Health Department actually worked with our school counselors and brought out Red Ribbon activities they had eight different rotations that the students walked through and got to rotate through and we also had a door decorating contest that some of our district Personnel were kind enough to come and judge for us um we've also had a family Fright Night dance which was sponsored by our student council and our PTO helped out with that and we had a really exciting and fun Halloween parade where all of our students and our staff dressed up and paraded through and we invited our community to join us for that and um I was lucky enough that I dressed up as Cruella this week and if you notice by the picture a whole bunch of our staff decided to be dations and even though I chased them all day I never caught one I tried I tried really hard so at this time what I really would like to do is I'd like to start by offering Vivan Saint to please come up and she's going to share um just some of the things that she really enjoys about being a student at [Applause] simonon good good evening everyone I'm so excited to talk about why I love being a part of student council for me it's all about the opportunity to help create activities to make school more fun while also helping students learn and grow I really enjoy being part of a team that works together to bring new ideas to life from planning events to putting them into action one of my favorite Parts is teamwork we collaborate share ideas and help each other out to make sure every event goes smoothly it's amazing to see something come together that we've all worked hard on it's Al it's also really rewarding to be a role model for others as members of the student council were expected to be respectful responsible and and to set a good example for our peers I take that responsibility seriously and it feels good to know I can influence others in positive ways I also love the creative side of planning whether it's making decorations coming up with new themes or brainstorming fun activities it's exciting to see how our ideas can make events even more memorable for the whole school it's a great feeling to know that the work we do can bring people together make them smile and create lasting memories being a student council isn't just about organizing events it's about making a difference in our school community and that's why I enjoy it so much thank [Applause] you um I skipped one of our activities and I apologize for that our our biggest one we actually on Friday had a huge Veterans Day event we had over 40 veterans actually on site on our campus to be honored by our students we had a color guard there we had their families there they were all presented with a certificate and it was really heartwarming and really amazing to see the community and the kids and the veterans come together so now I'm going to invite Ora Russell up to share some things that she loves about being at [Applause] simed good afternoon everyone I want to take a moment to share a powerful experience I had during the red ribon rotations it was an eye opening opportunity to see the world through the how alcohol and marijuana affect our perception how ination when I took probations I didn't fully understand just how these substances can Al the way we see and experience world as I hold the goggles that simulated the effects of alcohol marijuana I quickly realized how much harder it was to keep my balance and focus simple test like walking in a straight line or even seeing clear became challenging the dizziness and Distortion were real to maintain control always heard about the dangers of drugs but exp experiencing it may truly understand how much impair they impair not just our ability to function but very by our very perception of reality it gave you a new level of respect for how important it is to stay clearhead especially making decisions that could affect my health and safety this experience was a remind of is to think twice before we choose to engage with subance that can Cloud on judgment and perception the red ribb rotations open my eyes to the reality of how these AFF us and I hope it for all of us to stay saful and Healy choices thank you Aura at this time I'm going to ask Lac to come up and [Applause] speak hello everyone I just wanted to take a moment to share how much I enjoyed our Halloween dance and the Veterans Day celebration both events were so much fun and meaningful and I'm really glad I got to be a part of them for Halloween I I had an amazing time helping to make the ghosts and bats and pumpkins decorating the school was a lot of fun and see seeing everyone come together really made the dance special it was so awesome to see everyone enjoy the decorations and getting into the Halloween spirit then for Veterans Day I really appreciated the chance to be involved in decorating for our program making the decorations was a great way to honor those who served and I was proud to help create a space that reflected our respect and gratitude on one day one of my favorite Parts was reading the veterans poem it felt meaningful to to me and I hope it touched others too thank you everyone who helped make these event so memorable I can't wait for the next one and last but not least her sister [Applause] alibar hi everyone I just wanted to quickly sh how much fun the race C kickball game was it was a great time and I love seeing everyone come together to play and cheer each other on it was a fun time and I love seeing mean way to show our school spear also decorating the doors for Red Ribbon Week such a blast it was awesome getting creative and working with others to make our school look even more fastive while spreading a positive message about staying drug free I really enjoyed being part of it and also and I hope you all Lov the decorations as much as I did thanks for making it so special and then my class also won fourth through sixth grade they won a pizza party so that's pretty exciting um last but not least again those are our veterans that were up on the screen I'd like to once again thank the amazing staff students parents and Community for making simonon a great place to be every day um I'd also like to extend my sincere appreciation to our District administration school board for their unwavering support because when we ask them to come out and join us to judge jores or play kickball they join us and that's amazing so at this time I'd like to move into my blue Apple Awards for our site I believe so um today we recognize Christa England one of our kindergarten teachers for her exceptional contributions and unwavering dedication to our students and school Community early in the year Miss Mrs England approached me and offered to provide Core Curriculum instruction to all our kindergarten students to make certain that we were providing consistency while ensuring that we were still me meeting all of the students needs effectively the countless hours that she spent preparing lessons supporting each student and encouraging them to grow just shows how much she cares about our kids in addition we're grateful to the support and guidance that Christa has shown to her colleagues especially during some challenging times her willingness to lend a helping hand share her insights and offer encouragement has made a difference in our school Community she helps make our team stronger and her dedication to fostering a supportive environment is deeply appreciated I know by myself personally we are fortunate to work alongside someone who cares so deeply not just about our students but about the staff as well and um I want to thank her for her hard work her dedication and for her commitment to Simington so today we honor you [Applause] our next Blue Apper award I would like to take a moment to recognize and celebrate the many contributions of our school nurse Lily Ramirez come on up day in and day out she provides wavering compare care and compassion for our students ensuring their health their safety and well-being she doesn't just um tend to energy our injuries and manage health concerns she provides comfort and um reassurance to our students and she's always there when we need her she knows almost every student by name she's been there for a while and she's built really strong relationships with their families as well the role as school nurse goes far beyond simply treating scrapes and bruises though she supports our office staff by answering phones and speaking to parents when needed she helps out with duties she walks kids where they need to go when they need some support um and she always does so with a smile and a positive attitude so thank you Lily for your dedication your kindness and for all the ways you go above and beyond to keep simonon healthy and safe we're just the gift that keeps giving we have another one and then we have a volunteer um I would like I feel really honored to honor one of Simon's amazing professionals this evening as a vital part of our school Community Lori ostrich brings patience understanding and and a genuine love to helping students succeed come on up Lori Lori plays Lori plays a key role in providing the individualized support and intention that helps students Thrive creating an environment where each child feels value and valued and capable she works tirelessly to build strong relationships with our students and many times when I ask a student who their trusted adult is on our campus Lor's name is the name that comes up it's always Miss Lori and and um she's there for them when they have a rough day or a rough moment whether assisting in the classroom offering one-on-one guidance or helping with lunch or crossing guard duties or wherever we need her Lori's always there to make a difference um the dedication empathy and consistency she's brought to simonon over the years because she's been with us for quite a while she knows every kid every family they know her um has made a lasting impact on both the students and staff alike so thank you Lori for the countless ways you contribute to simonon we're very lucky to have [Applause] you one more um tonight we are also here to celebrate someone truly exceptional in our school Community for our volunteer of the month um our dedicated PTO president Mackie spear she has gone above and beyond pouring time energy and love into making our school a better place for all of us for students staff Community everyone it's because of her unwavering commitment that we've been able to hold so many amazing events on our campus and successful fundraisers and each one brings our community closer together and supports our kids in countless ways her hard work behind the scenes often goes unrecognized but we're here to say thank you today thank you for your creativity your leadership and your passion for our school you make everything you touch a little brighter and for that we're so grateful so it is an honor to present Maggie with the blue Apple award in recognition of her outstanding dedication it's just a small token of our deep appreciation at simonon and it's a reminder of the last ing impact that you are making we could not ask for a more inspiring leader or friend for our school [Applause] thank you once again everyone for your support thank you all right student of the month it's always exciting when we get to recognize our students for student of the month this month as we look at the portrait of a graduate we're looking at the trait of adaptability and you'll hear from these testimonies some amazing stories of our students who exhibit this what I'd like to do is as I call the student forward if they come and stand next to me I'd like to read the the descriptor and then when uh they're done we'll cross the room have a picture taken handshakes and a metal donated by the Foundation Homes United unified okay first first comes High School Freddy Orana I'm hoping Freddy and his family are watching on YouTube because uh this is a very special nomination I am proud to nominate Freddy for student of the month in recognition of his outstanding critical thinking skills Freddy has shown remarkable thoughtfulness in planning his future initially interested in joining the military he took time to meet with representatives from the different branches and sought advice from others already serving after weighing carefully the pros and cons Freddy made the informed decision to join the Marines in addition to his future planning Freddy has demonstrated perseverance in his academic work for a while he was a b bit behind in credits and had several online courses to complete through dedication and focus he has successfully finished these courses catching up on all of his requirements the staff loves seeing the responsible young adult Freddy is becoming and his ability to make a U make a positive impact and thank you for your future service ready thank you our next student is from com Center for Success Josiah sarino Josiah has a great story as well adaptability is a remarkable ability to navigate unexpected challenges and embrace change with Grace Josiah exemplifies this quality making him a deserving recipient of this award he seamlessly balances the demands of school with the complexities of life outside the classroom recently he embarked on a new job demonstrating his commitment to growth and responsibility each day he dedicates time to his studies utilizing weekends to stay on track way to go Josiah your determination and resilience inspires us all let's see if Gwen is in the audience Gwen Weinberg all right [Applause] here Gwen welcome this is what some of the teachers at Colmes Middle School have to say about Gwen and her adaptability Wen shows adaptability in Social Studies by being one of the first to ask questions when she needs help and working with her peers when they have questions immediately after she gets work done while also being able to help her peers that may be struggling she takes the time on difficult assignments to thoroughly ensure they are done correctly another teacher remarks Gwen is a remarkable student wonderful student who's always willing to learn and is never afraid to ask questions she is always eager to bring her art to me and ask what she can do to make her her art better and cater to specifics of a project I know I can place her anywhere in the classroom and she will Thrive even help out classmates around her s to succeed when has so much to offer her classmates and is never afraid to not know something making her a strong capable and adaptable student [Applause] congratulations from comes traditional annaise are you here tonight oh great [Applause] anaise is being nominated for character trait of adaptability when our plans need to be changed during the day at school she does the new thing with a smile and a can do attitude she tries to find the positive in new changes and I love this part she rolls with it she is an important part of our culture and community in the class room and is well respected throughout CTA [Applause] congratulations from elworth Scarlet [Applause] Ferguson hi Scarlet how are you this is what Ellsworth has to say about congratulations we are thrilled to recognize Scarlet Ferguson as our student of the month for demonstrating exceptional adaptability this honor celebrates Scarlet's remarkable ability to navigate new situations and changes with ease and a positive attitude throughout this month Scarlet has shown tremendous resilience in adjusting to new routines and activities whether it's diving into different subjects collaborating with various classmates or embracing classroom changes she has consistently approached each situation with flexibility and an open mind Scarlet's willingness to try new things Embrace challenges and remain positive as an inspiring example sets an inspiring example for her peers we are incredibly proud of scarlet for being such a quick learner thoughtful Problem Solver and supportive classmate congratulations good job from Harmon Elementary Malcolm [Applause] Thompson Malcolm is an exceptional student with remarkable ability to adapt to a con constantly evolving environment he consistently supports his classmates when necessary responds attentively to his teachers requests and is a reliable leader in the classroom especially during Swift changes I take great pride in his dedication and the success he has achieved during the first quarter and part of the second quarter keep working hard Malcolm I'm so proud of you way to go from Ranch Elementary Zetterberg [Applause] Rainey Zetterberg has been chosen as the portrait of a graduate for adaptability because he is always thinking outside the box and digging deeper into everything we learn in every subject he goes beyond just finding the answers as always curious to understand the why and the how whether tackling a challenging math problem or exploring a story's meaning zeter looks for things from different angles asks thoughtful questions and encourages classmates to do the same his curiosity and determination make him stand out as a great adapter keep up the great work let's have a hand for Zer goodbye and our last student of the month for adaptability is from simonon Jameson [Applause] Smith this is exciting because the entire Kindergarten team wants to take a moment to share how impressed they are with Jameson and his remarkable adaptability in the classroom Jameson consistently Embraces new activities and changes with positive attitude whether working with different classmates or trying out new tasks Jameson shows flexibility and enthusiasm that enrich our learning uh learning environment as well as our classroom Community it's wonderful to see how he navigates challenges with resilience and curiosity we are all very proud of the progress he is making way to go [Applause] Jameson come on back Jameson we've got something for you and a picture let's have one more hand for all of our students of the month we will take a short break you can take some quick pictures and then we'll start up the meeting in about five minutes the rest of the meeting so thank you for coming you do not have to stay if you do not want to e e e back to our meeting do we have any public comments today nope you're right thank you anything from the governing board I have something yes so I had the honor of going to the land lab this weekend um and I saw the um the pens that were built I guess Alliance and Home Depot um donated all the wood and Ace Hardware donated all the hardware um looks really nice and four pigs have now been moved in and I have pictures of the little piglets but yeah they're super cute so anyway yep that was fun awesome anything else all right well we appreciate the donations and yeah that was awesome are they be ready for Thanksgiving no fair March okay any public comments no we didn't have any public comments all right that takes us to the consent agenda do we have any questions on the consent agenda if we do I'll take those or I'll take a motion to take it in whole or part since there's no questions I'd like to move that the board approve the consent agenda as presented a second all right I have a first and a second all in favor I all right I motion passes 5 that takes us to number1 yes this is just bringing a couple three more individuals back uh that are able to do evaluations uh during the school year uh they had to go a couple of them had to go through training and the training uh just was just completed and uh Dr Middleton coming down from Washington provided his information uh so we recommend approval for them to do uh evaluations as presented okay so these are in addition to the ones we've right that we just didn't do the others uh these with the others because they weren't uh they hadn't gone through the trainings okay a motion to approve the 2425 jmes Unified School District qualified evaluators as presented I'll second all right I have a first and a second all in favor I I I motion passes 5 O 8.2 discussion and consideration of approval for proposed fiveyear District calendar yes what I did with this this is bringing back this the the information from last month uh so I'm not going to go through all the data I brought the all five years for the board I know there's some discussion for example do you want to go three years versus 5 years I thought it was easier just to bring the fiveyear calendars address any specific concerns and then if for example uh the decision was not to do 5 years but rather do three years then just in the motion you would do a motion for a three-year calendar instead of fiveyear calendar if you made some other adjustment to the calendars then the same the same topic but I think it was easier just to bring them all and then have the discussion and figure out as opposed to bringing the 6,668 options that you could have available to yourself over five years um so I'm more than happy to answer any questions about the calendars if you need a specific calendar uh brought up to look at uh Craig can can bring up a specific calendar if if you uh need that U I have a question I just like for clarification on the first 2526 calendar so maybe if we can bring that one up and then I'm looking at December of 2 on the in the middle box in the green it kind of explains what the colors are and on the 18th it says wish I had reading glasses with me 7 to 12 and if school end of semester early release and then on the 19th K to 12 end of semester early release should it be 7 to 12 and K to six no what happens no what happens is uh because of final exams we go ahead and do 7 to 12 do final exams the first day on the of the the first two days of that week on the third day the last day of the semester we just have an early release C through 12 for everybody okay so that's correct way it is just want to be sure that's the only question I had I I had a quick question so I saw that you did the surveys um and you asked if they would want to end prior to Memorial Day yes um for future I would suggest you also ask about starting in July because for me i' would rather go past the Memorial Day and start like the 1 of August because that's a choice you know and if they see that that's a choice maybe their answers would be different yeah okay we can look that I'm just even if we do a five we we okay this fiveyear it doesn't mean that we can't go back right and and and change something if we see that so I mean I don't think we're locked into the whole five years no no you're not the reason we bring the five years more than anything else I mean in the old days I'm dating myself but in the old days uh catching when your summer vacation was was a little bit different nowadays the vacations you plan out a whole lot further along than you used to so we try to give families a chance to plan but we had any number of changes on the last fiveyear cycle could also be changes at the state level or something coming down from the feds so yeah we can you're not locked into it but this at least gives our families a chance to take a look at and plan and then we will make the adjustment if something comes up and we need to make adjustment well and I like that that you're asking the community it's just that I don't know if they understand you know the difference yeah no I appreciate that we'll make sure we we do that um my personal opinion is that I'd like to approve a three-year calendar instead of five I just think looking out to years four and five is you know really trying very tough to anticipate what future surveys might say or what the state or the feds might require so that would be my opinion to approve a the first three years of the calendar I have to agree with you Bob because I think too you're also going to have a whole different board School Board yeah so I think that um I I I would I would agree with you about the three years okay any other question or discussion all right I'll take a motion okay so I would like to uh move that we approve the first three years a three-year District calendar of 2025 26 through was it 27 as presented I'll second I have a first and a second all in favor I I motion passes 5 um 8.3 discussion and consideration of approval for the changes to policy recommendations from AC asba policy advisory 801- through 807 yes these are just coming back again uh they were changes uh to our policy manual that are based on um uh changes in in statute from the last legislative session this past spring uh so they are pretty much being uh driven by whatever laws were passed at the legislature uh although it's not in here this is policy change please note in 801 through 807 there was a change in the IGM regulation in addition to uh the policy you will get a memo from me tomorrow morning with the change we are not accepting asb's recommendation because we had done some work previously that changed the I img-r and I shared it with you before and when we looked at their their recommendations we had everything they had in it but a few more things and so we thought it was just easier to keep that IMG img-r as the one that we had done uh instead of using theirs but other than that I would I would go ahead and say uh approve as presented unless there are specific questions any questions all right I'll take a motion I move to approve the changes to policy as recommended by asba and policy advisory 801 through 807 I'll second I have a first and a second all in favor I I I motion passes by V that takes us to 8.4 discussion consideration of approval for asba bylaw recommendations these are just recommendations coming out of asba to uh to their bylaws um based on any number of issues that have happened in asba where I'll say the last year um the only thing I'll remind the board of is the board has to vote collectively as a whole either to accept the changes or not accept the changes and then based on your uh your vote if it's to accept the changes then uh Mr Winger will go ahead and and submit your your vote um to ASB online so that's the way the process works but it's not a situation we asked for clarifications it's not a situation where you can come in and say we want to accept change number one but not change number two but then we want to do three for 10 but then we don't want to do 11 through 12 it's it's an all or nothing um so uh it's up to you and then based on your vote one way or the other we will go ahead and submit it to asba online so we just take a each of us gives our own vote on whether we take it or no it's one Collective vote from the group that says yes we're willing to accept these changes to the bylaws or no we're not and then we will record that at asba you know online okay let me get this straight we we have to accept all of these laws but we don't all have to be in agreement no no this would be like any other other action if it's 32 then that is approv okay I just I I was confused there for a second okay good okay any questions all right I'll take a motion I move to approve the changes to the asba bylaws as presented oh second I have first and second I still struggle we have to approve their does sense but we're members all right I have first second all in favor I I I opposed good all right 41 all right 8.5 discussion and consideration of approval of 2025 support staff salary wage increase so as a result of uh the minimum wage increase uh proposition that was passed in 2016 in Arizona the move to the minimum wage was to go to uh $12 an hour by 2020 which's also in that in that um proposition was that each year annually the minimum wage would increase by the cost of living uh for this upcoming year starting January 1st uh that increase would be 2.7% which should be a 35c change so you're going to see $147 cents is a new minimum wage in the state of Arizona so what we've been doing is looking at at different possibilities of for for what we could do uh given the budgetary issues that we have um we're trying to balance out the budgetary issues but at the same time we know that to the neighbors neighboring school districts to the west of us are on overrides and are paying better than we are so how do we balance that piece out the other piece that we took a look at was um the way the salary schedule works is um uh Row one row a and row b if you're not careful when you jump the second uh row to the increase um people will if I'm already in the district and this is my first year and I'm on B row depending on how we give the raise if we're not careful someone coming in next year will be at the same level I will or jump me so we were trying to take in consideration what would happen so that our employees would not employees that have been working with us would not get jumped over by new employees coming in we cannot control if some employee comes in with multiple years of experience they're obviously going to jump over people but if people come in with a base level the same as everybody else we would want that to happen so what our proposal is is a two-part proposal we will go ahead and start the minimum wage at 1470 which is what we have to do and we will increase each cell 35 Cent uh by 35 cents so we'll keep the structure of the salary schedule the way it is been presented then in order to help the employees we would recommend that the employees actually all get a 40 Cent increase so even though the salary schedule is increasing at one amount the employees would get a 40 Cent uh increase and from our calculations that will stop anybody that comes in at the base level from jumping a current employee usually would happen in rows a through about D um and so we think between the combination of those two we protect our employees we also start to bite in very little we understand it very little into the neighboring school districts but it's a start to get into the neighboring school districts you can see that that increase Al loone is going to be over $78,000 including benefits for just the first six months so if we go into next year then we would anticipate $157,000 increase just for that normally what has happened is we've tried to mirror the increase with the staff when we come back to you guys in the budget in the spring and so that's the other consideration we're trying to figure out is is what's going to be that increase uh we would anticipate increasing to the budget next year will be just 2% given the the uh situation in the state of Arizona right now relative to inflation and the budget um and so we think this can then be handled the same increase in the spring for the rest of the uh rest of the staff I'm not going to guarantee it and I'm not making any promises but we believe based on all of our analysis we would be okay there so we think this proposal takes care of two or three or four different issues um as a reminder because of these increases in in uh mid year next uh spring we don't come back with another increase for support staff because this is the increase they get and it's going to be good till next January we would anticipate uh potentially a similar type of increase in January but we'll have to see how how everything goes um and so we would uh recommend the increase uh as presented so that you understand the next agenda item will be actually the salary schedule so if you make a different um uh motion than what I recommend not a problem but then we'll have to make that same different motion on the salary schedule so we can go back and fix them tomorrow so again we had to project what you might do and so just know these next two salary uh or next two agenda items are tied and then what you'll get in December is we'll bring to you on the consent agenda every single support staff employee and what their new increase will be and that will be in the consent agenda on on the December board meeting so you have three different things going on at the same time and I just want to explain it to make sure everybody understood so I'm open for any uh questions or comments I have two questions number one did the Queen Creek override pass it did yeah the continuation did okay uh number two um if we have have a new employee with in in a salary range that's at the uh minimum wage 1470 an existing employee doing the same job would get 1475 that extra five cents from 35 to yes if somebody if if somebody was there and now I yeah I won't say it's 1475 because I don't know the math but yes that was the intention was to make that there was a differentiation so nobody would either come in equal or jump okay okay now the only exception to that is and this is hard for employees at times to understand if I have someone coming in with prior's experience and we give prior experience and I've done this for five years you're going to jump over an employee who hasn't done it even if they've been this for one but but like for like but like for like then we will keep our employees ahead of a new employee coming in which is what our intent was so this would be by five all things being equal 5 cents hour so I have go ahead do you have your question is that yes I have yes thank you okay um so the proposition 206 says that they have to do do a 2.7% for the cost of living for this year yes okay but how much did they give our certified this year two no no the the the the oh yeah yeah no yeah no that there it's it's so our certified don't need the cost of living raise but everybody else right no and and actually just so you know the the other part lot sense but the other part to this this cost the living is based on CPI consumer price index that cost of living is not on CPI it's on GDP gross domestic product and there's a significant difference between the two so this is part of the problem is our raise of 2% to the district to cover all the costs including this is not as great as the raise that's being done here this is a much higher percentage raise than we will get so no we're losing ground on a daily basis when we make these changes relative to the budget we be in the they're gonna be making more than our certified this is crazy y yeah no it's it's it's it's a struggle it's a big and and if you've seen that the traditionally I mean the gap between GDP and CPI is significant it's not small so it is what it is okay any other questions all right I'll take a motion I move to approve the proposed support staff salary wage increase beginning December 26th 2024 as presented I'll second I have a first a second all in favor I I I motion passes by vote that takes us to 8.6 discussion and consideration of approval to changes of the 2425 salary schedules so what you'll see in the salary schedules one Comm onent the reason we're going to to J to December 26 and not January 1st is because of the way panal County does their their weekly pay schedule it's not from Friday Monday to Friday it's from Wednesday to Thursday or Thursday to Wednesday excuse me so we have to start in December in order to hit the pay cycle right uh what this will show you the support salary schedule the top one is just the 35 cents within every cell uh the other two the extra Duty stien schedule and the extra Duty stien schedule for AIA events those there a couple spots I highlighted them in yellow where where the person receives minimum wage for those particular jobs and in that particular case uh the minimum wage uh is 1470 so we just had to change it to 1470 to be in compliance so that's why you have three salary schedules uh there okay any questions all right I'll take a motion I move to approve changes to the 2024 2025 salary schedule as presented second I have a first and a second all in favor I I I any opposed all right motion passes 5 okay that takes to 8.7 discussion and consideration of approval of the FY 2024 annual financial reporting revision Mr President members of the board Dr Wyman remaining audience members the meeting the moment you've been waiting for agenda 8.7 is to come and ask you for approval of a revised 2024 annual financial report we identified a problem with the auxiliary operation and Student Activity account rollup from our secondary subsystem into the main system and we realized we did not capture all of the transactions for revenue and expenditures on the AFR there was also a beginning balance problem with a state project fund that the state no longer recognizes so we had to fix that as well the changes um are reflected on page five for the state project and revenue expenditures Corrections for auxiliary and Student Activities were on page six the adjustments also then roll up into the summary page we uh discussed this with the Auditors when they were here so that they were aware and they are working to include these Corrections within our financial reporting we have also disclosed this and made ad aware ad sorry aware that we are going to need to file a revised AFR so that everybody is um on board with getting this taken care of are there any questions about what we had to change or about the AFR with your approval I will get your signatures before executive session please all is it worth I forgot my Snickers all right if there no no questions I'll take a motion I move to approve the 2023 24 annual financial report revision as presented second I have a first and a second all in favor I I I thank you motion passes 5 okay 9.1 discussion information on student achievement report November okay good evening uh Mr President Dr weinman um colleagues I am going to step in for Miss Murphy this evening and talk to you about professional learning um and she is not feeling well I know she's watching right now so Christine I hope I don't forget anything and if I do you can tell me tomorrow so we will get started um with that let's see maybe we will get started with that turn it on that's helpful okay so professional learning um this year has been focused around that reboot of the PLC and so starting back in in July that has been our Focus so um one of the things that we wanted to highlight tonight that we haven't spoken about quite yet is the mentor program and the Combs induction program so the Combs induction program um services our first and second year teachers and um recently they were able to attend a virtual training session in October with Miss Murphy where they focused on behavior management specifically around power struggles with students and so the teachers were able to engage in some scenarios gather a bunch of resources and work with one another in those virtual breakout rooms to discuss some of the concerns that they were having and some tools that they could use use in the classroom so um the teachers left from that professional learning um rating at a 3.73 out of the four on the scale saying they felt really comfortable with the information that was presented and that they felt very positive about bringing it back to their schools and their learning environments and utilizing those strategies with their students that they had practiced throughout this um first quarter and into the second quarter here Miss Murphy has been visiting all of our first and second year classrooms so um the ones she hasn't been able to quite visit yet she has um done some extra check-ins with mentors to see how the student uh the teachers are doing at this point in the school year they are um reporting um very significant success with the MTI Mentor program and um feel that they have a lot of support with their teammates with their mentors um and their campuses all being there to support them in their first few years here with us in terms of our mentors all of our first year teachers have a mentor um and so they work side by side with their mentee to complete some different tasks throughout um the course of the school year so far and to provide feedback um Miss Murphy definitely wanted to emphasize that the mentors are going above and beyond um all of the requirements of the program and really um taking time outside of of that to meet with their mentees and making sure they have everything that they need to be successful um and has been really impressed with how the program has been going so far um all of their documents that are being turned in really highlight the successes that those mentor and mentee relationships have been forming and the year two mentors are also doing those same things um with their mentees and again feeling very supported there with above and beyond any of the expectations of the program so far the next professional development for our um new employees is a wellness support um so that will be happening in January um it be a virtual session that will collaborate between Miss Murphy and Miss y Thompson um to work with teachers on kind of getting them started with that second semester with the Positive intent the endurance that it takes to kind of finish out the year as we get into some of those tough times um in the testing season that will be coming upon them so um that is what is coming up with our Mentor um program also on October 7th we held our district professional learning day and so the staff are broken up into different grade bands and content areas um to support their collaboration throughout that session and throughout the day some of the sessions that we held um we held a session around mastering proficiency scales um that was really focused on looking at standards and determining what students need um in that first next then finally mentality in terms of determining proficiency so what do they need first what comes next what comes then what comes finally um that was a 3.8 overall on the survey um out of a fourpoint scale again we also held a session around assessment and checking for understanding um in that session we focused on going Beyond just a quiz or a test to um measure student learning and student outcomes and really talked about different ways to formatively assess students um along that path of proficiency there were also sessions around using data there were a couple of different ones that were held um there were several around the DreamBox program that we have for um reading Park and reading plus as well as for Ma and we also introduced a data protocol to um staff members that don't utilize dream box regularly to help them analyze data um in in their realm so we worked with them on that and both of those were the 3.81 out of the fourpoint scale again um based on survey results and then at the end of the day we held some strategic planning um and learning for assessment sessions and those really allowed everybody to integrate um their planning and all the things they talked about previously in the day into their current units of study um that they are working on they were able to work in across uh grade level teams um and across uh different campuses and that was a 3.86 out of that fourpoint scale as well additionally on the 7th we held a work based learning session for our CTE teachers um they were able to explore um different things for both the middle and the high school staff they were able to see the relevance at all levels through the um introduction that they experienced and how they can bring different ideas um with work-based learning to their programs our student services staff um also experienced several trainings based on their role groups so psychological first aid was something that our counselors and social workers as well as our school psychologists participated in um they uh said in their feedback that it was appreciated that they had an all day session to collaborate together there was a neurodiversity affirming goal writing session that our slps um and support staff uh worked through in order to help support um our students with um special needs specifically in areas of autism and our assessment and integration of primitive reflexes for our otpt folks um was able to support their students on taking um some of those skills that they're learning and creating more Independence in their daily activities um and all of those sessions were also very highly rated on that fourpoint scale uh the qualitative data on the 7th so some of the feedback from the proficiency scale session um you can see there overall the teachers felt like they um appreciated being able to work and that it was a positive experience they appreciated being able to work together the CTE um folks had some positive feedback again about their workbase session and our student services also uh provided us with some qualitative data about about their sessions appreciating that it was customized to their specific needs and their specific roles groups and where we're headed with professional learning so at the beginning of the year we started in July again with that review of plc's doing some breakout work on campuses uh this last October we worked on proficiency scales um checks for understanding assessment and planning for Learning and assessment our next uh professional learning districtwide comes up next week November 20th we'll be focused on engagement strategies specifically cognitive and behavioral engagement strategies so we have noticed across the district it's come up in many conversations the need to um discuss student engagement um in lessons that we see in the classroom so this session will kind of start that discussion for us the staff will get to experience throughout the session at least three different strategies themselves they'll get to collaborate around an additional nine um strategies uh before they leave so they will walk away from that session with 12 new strategies that they can Implement into their classrooms right away and then we are following that up in January with a um solution tree guest facilitator to speak again about engagement so he will start with us uh in the CPAC as a keynote um getting everybody off into the day and then we will break up into breakout sessions he will lead one breakout session and our staff will lead the other two um and those breakout sessions we will continue the work that he is speaking on around engagement and cognitive engagement strategies uh we will we will have another continuation of our October session around proficiency scales and planning for the use of those um and so between those three sessions that will take us through the day for our staff um Miss Murphy is very excited to continue to provide the teachers um learning and planning time and to support the goal of moving forward to increasing our proficiency um while our students are also being provided those engaging opportunities to learn what questions you have around professional development that I can try to answer in her absence no promises all right sounds great I will hand it off to Dr Fountain then for the next piece all right thank you this is one of my my favorite nights because we get to get into the data a little bit I was going to jokingly say that I intentionally put a mathematical error in here for Bob to find but I knew if I did that he'd find three and then I'd just feel silly so I didn't do it on purpose if it's in there Bob I'm sorry um but our ad uh School letter grades are officially out um so I'm going to share some some information and some data about that we have some great celebrations for our district uh that we'll get to talk about tonight so um on this slide you can see these are the a through F scales they are relatively similar but for some reason we can't agree on keeping them all the same because that would just be far too easy so you can see that for example the alt schools the a range is 83 to 100 at the high school it's an 82 to 100 at the k8s it's 84 to 100 there you go 80e at is finest but but those are the scales for each of our uh components lots of data on this um slide here looking at our k38 scores what I provided for you um are the raw scores there in each of those bands as as well as the change from year to year so if we take a look at the top here uh just a reminder proficiency makes up 30% of the overall score you can see the proficiency scores across the top there for coms Middle School coms traditional Ellsworth Harmon Ranch and simonon that has been a key area of focus for us um that we recognize our students do well in the second column that growth that 50% there um but we need to continue to work on our proficiency so that really speaks to those more Rous skills in the classroom um and that's something that we're working toward so you can see a little bit of a of a back and forth on the proficiency scores but some solid work there on the growth scores overall um the second excuse me the third category that we get points on relates to El proficiency and growth um that's is 10 points total or 10% of the overall score um many of those went up a couple of those went down um CTA has too low of an endc count there's not enough students there to Garner score so that does not factor into their overall letter grade um but we can make some shifts there our acceleration and Readiness scores everybody scored the perfect 10 on that which is great um then you get into the total bonus points that relates to some of those chronic apps T pieces um the state science test um so it's kind of hard to have a year-to-year comparison there I did give you whether or not that score was up or down but it could be up because one thing grew and another thing fell and it was up overall um but then you can see our total scores along that bottom and the overall plus and minus so um couple of areas that that we are working toward um you are going to notice that uh for example cta's overall score is down um that asteris there is related to how that that score was calculated in essence not having those El scores in there actually negatively impacts them um because they they go back and forth they're kind of on that cusp of having enough students to count so it's a little bit of a on that decrease but it is down a little bit um you can see that Ellsworth had the largest growth in the district at plus 13.8 points from year to year um so kudos to them um we did have some a downward Trend at Harmon new leadership at the start of the year that's not uncommon to see um but I know that she's been working diligently on that already and then you can see some positive scores there for both Ranch and simonon couple of notes there the reason that I have the Dual ases on both of those I were to go back a couple of slides see who was paying attention what does it take to get an A 84 points where was simonon at 83.6 s so we were 33 points um away from that next letter grade which would have push them to an A so they did a lot of great work they are right on that cusp very very close um you're going to see a similar point there on Ellsworth of the 71.5 four remember the scale it's a 72 to move from that to a b so they were 46 points from a b so a couple of schools are really really close to moving over to that next Benchmark um but if you look at the very bottom there you're going to see our prior letter grades to current letter grades and there are definitely a couple of celebrations to have there first of all it's the first time in the last three years we do not have a dchool so there are no D schools definitely a woo woo and for the first time in the seven years that they've been using this grading scale we have multiple a schools so also a a um so kind of where we're at now so comes Traditional Academy and Ranch were both a-rated schools this year uh comes High School Simonton and com Center for Success were all B schools um for com Center for Success that was the first time that they received a letter grade um so they did a really nice job coming out of the gate setting that bar High uh CES Middle School Harmon and Ellsworth are all at Seas again with at least Ellsworth being right on that precipice of moving to a b I was hoping to highlight for you tonight um Ranch receiving an a letter grade they last received an a seven years ago um I had invited Dr peoples to join us tonight to share a little bit about the work that was happening at Ranch and she's homesick so apparently everybody is sick right now so be careful um but she shared some some good thoughts on behalf of herself and uh principal Cru so sue you're probably not listening because you're having a great time but uh congratulations to sue as well um and and part of what they talked about was just teachers and staff demonstrating a powerful commitment to fostering a growth mindset and in creating an environment where students and Educators can Thrive um Dr peoples talked a lot about their staff's openness to feedback and their willingness to really take on those challenges and reflect on how they can improve their practices um that supportive and reflective culture was really a key aspect both for their A+ award last year and their a letter grade moving into this year um she talked a little bit about the the families and the collab between teachers and the community and fueling some of that by peer observations and shared planning time and really ultimately it coming down to the unwavering dedication of their team uh to these growth centered values has really been the difference so a huge congratulations to the ranch staff the ranch teachers the administrative team the coaching team uh kudos to them for that a raing so nice job [Applause] Ranch um so little bit of details on the School score here um as the state loves to do they tend to change things on us from year to year so what you're going to see here is a proficiency and a growth score um that's a little bit different than last year because they calculated it differently last year so it's not really an Apples to Apples comparison but it gives you a sense of things overall um how they're moving from year to year um one of the big areas of focus that we have been working with the high school on is that College and Career Readiness that self-reported score uh the last couple years we've been sitting right around 15 points um we have some strategies in place this year that we think will help buoy and boost that um to move that further um as well as a focus on some of those proficiency scores like we've mentioned at other sites they're doing a nice job with their grad rate um that 10 out of 10 is what we want to see there um they did get some points um on the grad rate Improvement that's a little bit of a wonky one you're going to see the minus5 there it's one year removed um so it's an interesting data point because it's actually kind of something in the rearview mirror but it's how the state calculates it so it adds to a fun complexity there but um if you look again at that CCR and the availability of five additional points put them at about the 80 Point range so they're they're a couple of points off from moving into that a rating and that's our goal for next year uh com Center for Success again no year-to-year comparison per se we did have some points last year for them but no letter grade um so I gave you a little bit of the comparison there um a lot of L of it is really focused on that College and Career ready indices or index um so that's a piece that Dr gouby has been working on opening up some of those opportunities for her students um we have been working with the Arizona Department of Education on looking at alt schools so we've actually made a proposal to them one of the big things that comes into play for the CCRI points is the um abore 16 um that's an interesting piece because the abore 16 includes World languages and most of the alt schools incl RS don't have World languages so those are CCRI points that aren't really available to us um unless we find a way to bring World languages into the online environment which is a tricky thing to do um so we're working with ad to put together a proposal that would break that into two separate scores um so that we can recognize the fact that if the intention is to ask if our students are College and Career ready um for at least one of our instate institutions Northern Arizona University that does not require a World Language yes they are college ready they are graduating with all of the on a board of regions requirements um but we run into some wonkiness both at the high school and Home Center for success with there's a little bit of a Wayne in students taking World languages so it's just an interesting data point in there but overall they scored an 81.4 four so they're right on that cusp of actually being at the a range lots of data on this slide but it's always I always like to give a little bit of comparison to see where we're at um with some of our surrounding districts so obviously we have combs there in the Middle with an overall District rating of B um I've put the closest proximity districts there U to the left and right so you can see Apache Junction is a b Happy Valley is a c American Leadership Academy is an a Ben Franklin b coolage b Florence B um on the her side there you can see of course Higley Gilbert Mesa and Queen Creek um those are districts that are much different than ours but it's still good to know how they're performing um if you are not familiar the way that they come up with the district letter grade it is very much like a GPA like a great point average so I put an additional slide in here just to give a little bit more context to what that looks like between our district and some of our neighboring districts so our GPA would be a 2.88 if you like to calculate GPA if we bumped those two schools that are very close to moving up a letter grade that would actually be a 3.125 so it's definitely being competitive with our surrounding districts um you can see Apache Junction Happy Valley ala Ironwood Ben Franklin um Legacy is interesting because they report theirs separately but the two closest schools Legacy QC and Legacy Santan you could combine those and make them a 2.5 but I left them separate for you um outperforming Maricopa outperforming ulage and Florence and again very competitive with our neighboring districts one area uh element that I want to note um again if you look at most closely at the surrounding districts um aache Junction only has one a school we have two um Florence has no a schools and One D school um I believe coolage has no a schools um and Ben Franklin's only a school is their high school so when you look at what we're offering compared to the surrounding Community we're very competitive with the work that we're doing we're not satisfied with where we're at we feel like we can still continue to grow but we feel like we've come a long way um this slide just kind of puts that into context to look at The District's growth over time um you'll notice in the middle we've got 2021 as the uh Pluto of the planets if you will the the dwarf planet that's because 2021 was the ever so fun covid year where everything was just a pee everybody got a pass so I didn't bother to put that oh sorry to put that in there um but you can see over the years that we are consistently and steadily growing over time and improving the work that we're doing in our schools in our district and I want to pause there to to really kind of give a nod to the folks that like to hide in the back of the room because these are really the people that are doing The Lion Share of the work with that our site leaders and the teams they work with so going them a round of applause and then we're going to celebrate one more [Applause] site so on that note we're gonna gonna close this presentation with celebrating one of our sites and asked shanana schner to come up and share that the work that they're doing at CTA because this year was their sixth consecutive year as in a-rated [Applause] school well good evening Mr President members of the the board Dr Wyman and the 45 minutes you guys are giving me to speak tonight oh no you're be way past my you're welcome thank you thank you so Dr found asked us to me to speak just a little bit about kind of some things we're doing at CTA um and it's been a great experience these last four years to kind of look at what we are doing and some things that we can do to kind of change up what we're currently practicing so some of the things that I feel um as we reflect on what's going really well our school is the stability we have teachers that have been there for five or more years um and that has been a true Testament to knowing our kids knowing our families my kindergarten teachers know the sixth graders my sixth grade teachers know all the incoming kids like it's just a really good feel for them to get to know the whole school and create that culture of welcoming to all of our families so I feel like that's a huge thing it also retain a lot of our families even though we have a lot of competition around us we still spend a lot of time making sure that we um take the time to appreciate our families have those good conversations with them to retain those families with us and keep that stable um the other thing that we talk about is that that understanding of who our student population is when I first came in four years ago um it was a fun interesting time and there was some resistance to some change um they fell on their Laurels a lot that you know we've always been this a school we've always been well performing and so we really had a lot of good conversations about that's great and although we say we're an a we still say that's not the only thing right the a isn't everything it's a piece of who we are but what else can we do and so we had a lot of great conversations to talk about what are our realistic strengths and what are the areas that we need to really improve on um and so the more we all got to know each other as those first year principles and everybody wants to like chew you up and spit you out um change was difficult but it was important for us to talk about the reason why we had to make some of our changes and and some of the discussions that we had to have um so those teams really embraced that driving discussion of how can we make changes and it was really great to hear them talk about how you know what we really have since that Pluto year we really have thank you Dr Fountain we really have kind of gone back a little bit we've taken a step back and we really need to step that back up again and and really prove that we can um be that challenging school to other districts around us because we do have that competition so that was important for them to have that discussion um the other thing that um kind of went into our letter grade that we had some discussion about with the Dr fountain's team was about our students that receive Support Services right we always say they're general led students first and they receive special ed service support and how are we making sure to include them make them feel part of our school community that they can too achieve things at the level that they can best achieve them um so that's been a huge support for us on our campus to make sure that our kids are thriving in that area we still have a very small population of them and we know that but one of the things that we've had some discussions about is how our community has really changed at CTA you know everybody always says CTA you have all the parents that want to come to your school you have everybody they're just also super supportive and involved no they're not um we're starting to draw in a div diverse population of kids at our school um we have some kids that are struggling we have kids that are not that you know ready to learn when they come to school parents who don't want to participate but they are a small um percentage but they're still affecting some of the things that we need to do to continue to change and so one of the things that we've looked at for ours is We are continuing to always talk and we don't always agree um but what are we doing to continue to drive the instruction and to make sure that our students come first and the learning has to happen um and what are you doing to change and reflect on what you're doing as a teaching strategy because many of us right as teachers we were lectures and I still have 35 minutes by the way um we lecture and so we really want our kids to know that it's not just that how can we get to our kids in different ways um so that's important for us to really keep talking through that and challenging our our teaching strategies because most of them have been there for so long they want to continue to teach in the same way um but we also recognize that we make huge growth but we have a huge gap in proficiency so although our kids are making a lot of growth every year we have a lot of work to do when it comes to showing that our kid kids can meet proficiency so that's our big Focus to continue that because they do realize the cusp that they're on on that 84 points and they re recognize that we can do better and our kids can actually perform higher than that because if they're showing that much growth why aren't they showing proficiency than the next year so what do we need to do differently to Target that and we're still having those honest conversations because it's difficult for them to to wrap their head around changing that style so that's what we're doing we're super proud of it we know welcome to the team sir to the a te um but we're super excited about it and the the staff are really proud that they've worked that hard because they're the ones that did it the kids did it the teachers did it um we get recognition but it it was all on them so that's what we've done so thank you again for letting us share with you what we do at our [Applause] school all right um it's wonderful to get to hear about some of that work and I wish that we could bring all those teachers and kiddos up here at the same time to recognize their efforts but you know I want to say the thing that I think I'm most proud of is that when this data comes out every person sitting in that audience our our colleagues and student services curriculum and instruction team our site principles our instructional coaches um they grabbed on to it and the first question was what's next like what are we doing next and so they're really motivated to continue to do what's good for kids um and to continue moving the district forward because that's what we believe in so whether it was you know Ellsworth with their 14 points of growth Santa's first statement was what's next here's what we're doing now um I remember when I met with with Harmon and you know they they had a little slide in their score I didn't even have to open the conversation because Cheryl already knew exactly what was there and what she was doing about it I mean it started two months before that so that's really the work that these people do um that that sometimes is not recognized and I want to give them credit for that um and definitely a celebration for us as a district so where we're headed uh that continued comprehensive data review PLC uh PL supports and opportunities we're going to continue to focus those PLC team to address our needs um additional supports for CMS and Harmon as we try to move our goal is to move all of our C schools up we want to be all as and bees that's where we think we can be um and some strategic planning for other sites knowing which areas we want to attack where some of those deficiencies may exist are critical to the overall success of the district so that was a ton of information and not quite 45 minutes so we have time that's what I here um but questions what questions might you have or comments from the board so in the spirit of what's next and continuing to celebrate because of the growth what's the correlation between proficiency and the growth because proficiency seems to be the great I mean if you increase by 10 points that puts everybody on like a high b and a that that changes the whole dynamic of this district and what we look like to others what what do we see is the way to make that Improvement in proficiency so the big Target for proficiency is really that work that we've done around those rigorous standards um and the unpacking of Standards helping our teachers really know what that looks like um one of the big pushes that's happened in all of our campuses and this is one of those pieces that when you work on it and you hear it happening on campuses you get super excited the conversations that our schools have really shifted to minimizing talking about what happened in the past and talking about what has to happen now so we really have put a heavy emphasis on I need you to teach the grade level standards and we we've all heard it it's an age-old thing in education yeah but my third graders don't know second grade if you spend your third grade year teaching second grade we will never be successful I need you to teach third grade we will scaffold and we will support but that's really the critical element for proficiency and then we move into that as well with our subgroups and looking at the same thing for our special populations what does that mean for our El students what does that mean for our special education students that means that whether they're in a resource classroom or an e support classroom they in an embedded classroom they're in a CO talk classroom we are working to teach those kids at grade level skills and fill in gaps not filling gaps and then if we get to it grade level skills that's really the difference on the proficiency piece as you can see I mean that that growth score is indicative of when we get kids we do a lot with them we have to start moving that basine a little bit higher so that the ceiling is higher and that's when you'll see that proficiency begin to shift maybe that was a longer answer than you wanted but didn't give me an action an actionable answer but that's okay sometimes it's in theory it's have to move forward and it'll come together but seems like that is how does proficiency connect what do we actually know what that is and are we working on things that would that would increase again because that's the area of most opportunity that that would that would I mean we might as well have balloons next week and streamers and the band and everything if we were to increase 10 10 points within the profen score I mean right let's get the let's do it you know subs for everybody right so if maybe I'll answer a slight different way but that proficiency pieces is that skills it's it's improving our skills moving them to a higher level um and that's the work that these folks have been doing and really focused on within their classrooms that's the work of our PLC teams and again I think the foundational piece that we've really come to recognize it's just I think it's just different with today's Educators is that that that intimate knowledge of the standards really understanding what Proficiency in a standard looks like is a critical component um and we spent a lot of time on that because many teachers are just not coming out with that skill set they know pedagogy they know instructional approaches but to really be able to understand the floor and seiling of a standard is a different Beast any other questions you find any math Bob yes I'm sure it's there somewhere all right thank you all right that takes us to 9.2 discussion information on the course cataloges this one is super quick super brief no 45 minutes on this one um so it is that time of year again for our course cataloges um there are very very very minimal changes happening to those um so you can see that those are listed on there primarily at CHS and principal lus is here so correct me if I miss anything um we're still we're updating some language related to dual enrollment uh just for some clarity there um and adding some level two courses here and there um but by and large the menu of offerings is staying the same same thing at our Middle School um we're looking at the opportunity to potentially bring in like some level two coding um if the student interest is there so we're going to build that into the course guide um just so that we have that as an option for our students to to build some stronger Pathways um that aligns to some of our CTE needs um com Center for success is continuing to use Edgenuity there's no major changes in the Ed Edgenuity course catalog um so we'll put those all forward so we're here tonight just to give you that initial information if you have any questions or feedback that you want us to bring back um we'll bring you those updated versions next month all right thank you 9.3 discussion information on the fy22 annual expend expenditure budget revision number one she's back Mr President members of the board in June we reviewed the various statutory budget deadlines discussion item 9.3 is merely a reminder that in accordance with Arizona state law an annual and adopted expenditure budget that exceeds the ad determined General budget limit or unrestricted capital budget limit by 1% or more must be revised by December 15th of the physical year the most common reason for such a revision is the difference in between what we adopted as our ADM in the budget and what ad is showing based on our regular submissions a budge 25 is what it's commonly called or a budget 25 report is issued by ad usually in late October sometimes it can arrive late November um each year of our physical year telling us whether we are required to have an amendment at this time we are not we have not received any notification ations with that being said districts can revise their annual expenditure budget throughout the year as needed um with a final one being uh mandated before May 15th currently I am reviewing the revised AFR that you just approved our supported ADM the minimum wage impact the adopted expenditures versus what the new projections are just to make sure that we are in line and that a revision is not necessary if it's determined that it is prudent to bring you that financial information we will bring you an updated um revision or I should say a revised expenditure budget in the next month or so are there any questions okay thank you all right 9.4 discussion information on District marketing plan excited so we're just going to go over um briefly what our marketing plan is for our strategies are for this year and then what we've done through July and some things we have moving forward so um our overall brand strategy and this hasn't changed year-over-year is just kind of a a funnel if you want to think of it that way is our brand awareness so just general awareness of jom's Unified School District brand elevation association with us as a district of choice intentional interaction with jcoms to achieve a goal so this starts when we them actually enrolled into the school and then retention so our components of the strategy when we're looking at the different things we're doing whether it's earned media organic platforms digital ads or email campaigns um we use something in marketing called research planning implementation and evaluation so this is a system that we have in place to make sure that what we're doing is actually feeding into our funnel that makes sense so we do have a new or a CRM system existing in monday.com um and so this is just kind of a quick screenshot of what some of those things look like so we get requests from everything from social posts to um help with designing things um from um help with the website just a variety of things and so this is kind of a general screenshot of that so from 21 to 22 is when we first started measuring how many requests they were coming in so they only had 47 I'm guessing this was just over a few months from 22 to 23 we had 147 requests from 2023 to 2024 we had 302 and so far this year we've had 210 requests come in this does not include our crisis or mass communications so then we have our earned media so we have a really great relationship with our local media and with a lot of our business partners here so this is just an example of a couple of them so we have Erica Delgado which Greg had mentioned before we have Dr Wyman's article that runs in the Queen Creek Sun Times we've also had some of our business partners mentioning us on LinkedIn and other platforms which we're getting quite a few views on and then the comes High School yearbook uh was a really great and popular article as well so you'll see a lot of these out in the community as well something new that we did this week with the help of our wonderful principles for this year is that we're doing a school feature week on our social media so the princi will give us an update of what's going on at their school they'll give us um pictures videos so we're able to make reals engage with uh the different communities and it's been super popular so one of our most popular ones was ranch with their story book pumpkins and so we asked the community which was your favorite pumpkins which was really popular we've also had Coles high school and then Ellsworth and then we did a really popular re which is our first one at the comes Middle School we did take the opportunity to update our Facebook advertising along with our Google advertising this year so you're going to see a lot of our advertising around a community so we're really advertising as a community of schools and so this is just a few of the examples of what those ads will look like and then where we're funneling these to is directly to the school's website and then to our enrollment we also do email campaigns those could be for the CPAC and then we're also doing early Kinder preschool retargeting um so we'll have more information for you on those probably in April and March on what those numbers look like so this is just an example of some of the ads that we're running so the First Column is the name of the school and then we have our results reach and our Impressions and so really what we're looking at on this um is just one week of data and these are all geofence within the communities so for Ranch Elementary we're able to really get down to those zip codes and those individual communities that would feed into Ranch we a little bit broader for com Center for success and com's Traditional Academy but we're really hyperfocused on those areas and so far we've been doing really good with our ads and we're outperforming last year's ads by about 2% this next one is our Google advertising so part of all Google advertising does include things like SEO so when you Google um best kindergarten near me uh greatest school near me all those different things we have those running in the background and then those are also tied to the ads so the ads can show up at the very top where it will show sponsored and then it also can show on the sidebar as you're going down and looking at um different options so we do do better on our Google advertising than our Facebook and most most people when they're looking for schools for the first time and we're looking at past data are going into Google so we do spend a little bit more money on our Google than our Facebook and Instagram ads and these ads are fairly new but so far our click-through rate is very very good and we're very happy with it so we'll continue to monitor these we do do what's called AB testing so we will test several ads at a time and the ad that does better is the one that we kind of pour into our funnel so how do we know if all this is working so each of our ads has what's called um can like a little pixel on the background and it'll tell us how many people are not only clicking on the ad but where they're going and so right now they're going to our homepage and enroll now which is exactly where we want them so our homepage although we have 138,000 hits that does include people going internally from joms if we take that out it's about % of that and then the um High School followed up by the our district calendar which we were discussing and the comb Center for Performing Arts do we have any questions on that one yes so we are currently on a system called Blackboard they were purchased by final site so we are being we are moving graciously to the new Final site website this is a screenshot of a the theme that we have chosen this transition is set to go live on January 6 so this is a huge undertaking on the marketing and also the IT team as well and when we get closer to it we'll be more than happy to share some live uh screenshots but we're in the process of building this all behind the scenes right now so again January 6 is our Target date we are also um rolling out a new enrollment uh CRM which will be on Final site our current enrollment CRM is on monday.com it was not built in his enrollment site and they're no longer supporting a lot of the Automation and things that we're looking to do as well as dashboards and information that we need to get so the goal to moving to this enrollment site would be January 6th as well so that we would be doing the enrollment and the website at the same time and they're both housed on um the same platform so the purpose of this is just to streamline our enrollment um not only internally but externally for parents too so we'll be working with the different admins and registers to really streamline this we'll also have enhanced reporting so the reporting is really on a dashboard right when you log on so we'll have more information and then it's really automated in the back end which will make all of our lives a lot easier so questions uh one comment and then a question the comment is I'm glad to see we're doing a lot of this because for years this is what I've been saying we need to get the word out to the community it's it's fine if we know it internally but we need to get it out and get get other people excited about wanting to come to our school so I'm I'm very happy to see what's going on that's my comment my question is um from a budgetary point of view how much more are we spending this year than we did last year so we are not spending more um I can get you our budget can work with Julie I know what the numbers are but I can get that to you so our digital budget is tight um but we are it's allowed us to be super specific and really kind of Geo fencing in those neighborhoods and those families that we need to where we go a little bit broader with that would be a Home Center for Success where we can capture students from all over the state um but we're on track with budget okay just curious thank you yes we I do watch it any other questions all right thank you thank you I did not take 45 minutes all right 9.55 discussion and information on the Grand County University personalized admission program we'll bring this to you next month what this is is uh if you remember we have the agreement with Helios uh and ASU that kids they look at the kids transcript after their junior year in the summer and if they're on target to be College ready uh all three of the major schools in the state um they get a letter saying they're they're uh suggested that they enroll that they apply because they would be on target um some of the state schools and Grand Canyon don't have the best of relationships and so therefore they were not invited to the table uh but they want to be at the table so they're running basically the same program but it's just through Grand Canyon so they reached out usest to see if we wanted to do the same program because we're doing with Helios so we'll continue Helios this is just uh Grand Canyons uh same program they do an opt-in versus an opt out like the others um but it's the same program so I'll bring it to you for for uh approval of the agreement with them next year and then uh next month excuse me and then then we'll start uh we'll start working with them in January been a little bit delayed because of when Grand Canyon came to us um but it'll really be targeted for next year all right 9.6 any questions or about enrollment numbers um what I looked at the enrollment numbers for the district for November it seems to be pretty consistent with October and with September and with a there's not a lot of fluctuation no now we're losing kids and gaining kids but overall the fluctuation is not that good overall yeah so I guess that's good news that we're not losing overall yeah but thank you for putting that together it's been very helpful for appreciate looking at that every month all right 9.7 discussion information regarding the governing self board evaluation I I will just do 97 and 98 together these are just on the agenda for next uh month uh you'll have a discussion information regarding uh your self- evaluation there's a uh link within the uh uh the evaluation instrument within this uh document so please take a look at it and pull it out uh and rate yourself I believe we we have um December 2nd is a a deadline to give to uh Miss Wanger so we can just put it together for you guys for the board for the board meeting it'll be a discussion item because that's uh the way the board uh works on their evaluation at the same time a 9.8 my evaluation and my performance pay will also be on there that'll be an executive session um and so that's got a link to the to the to the instrument also that you can do um and again if you get it to miss Winger by the second then we will go ahead and compile that so you have that information when we get to the next board meeting what's anticipated in December just so you're aware is that we would anticipate that we would start the meeting early 5:15 or 5:30 uh at that time we would do a swearing in of the new board members we hope we'll have that we also have some recognition for the outgoing board members that we'd like to do then we'll have the meeting and then at the end of the meeting will be the executive session for performance pay and and evaluation uh just so we can coordinate it uh to work on there's not necessarily at this point a huge agenda but we'll wait and see if anything comes up over the course of the next month I like that not a huge agenda we're trying for that is there any way that you can email those to us yes I have much easier to use Google will email you okay thank you awesome okay that takes us to 10.0 executive session to discuss 10.1 to um executive session to discuss information regarding District school safety plan we need we need to make a motion for that yeah okay I move that we move into executive session for the purpose of discussion and consideration of the district school safety plan second all right you guys can wait around for 45 minutes you like that but if not you want us to sign we need to take a vote hold on I have a first and second all in favor I I I

good evening everyone we'll start the meeting about five minutes but it just to remind anyone that wants to make a call to the public please fill in one of these blue cards that you find in the foyer and hand them to me um that's if you want to do a call to the public you must have completed one of these fors before the meeting starts thank you and we'll start the meeting about 5 minutes e e e ready oh all right can you keep it up yeah what I'll do right okay I'm not allow not allowed to sh the might say the meeting that type stuff all right okay you keep it up for me and then bring it in perfect thank you okay everyone good evening and welcome it is Wednesday November 13th at 6:30 I call this meeting to order uh Lisa is not here tonight so you'll have me do the roll calls and things like that okay remember Lopez presid here pres sorry member no present member Anderson vice president C present and of course I'm here we now move on N 1C The Pledge and of asked principal to actually lead us in the pledge I believe he's Uber in this direction there he is is to the flag of United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you we now move on to adoption of the agenda so moved second remember lupz I member no I member Anderson vice president krae Hi and I say I so passed now move on to item two superintendent's report Dr lopman thank you president Downey though results are preliminary the outlook on proposition 488 is promising with final results pending official canvasing still by panal County however we are grateful to everyone who helped took time to vote and spoke with their neighbors about supporting our growing District we look forward to moving ahead with school construction at the K8 level and adding classrooms at the high school level the community support underscores the belief in musd and building a future together congratulations also to Wade Watson our director of curriculum and instruction who was recently published in the learning professional his article breathing new life into District initiatives 10 strategies for sustainable transformation reflects his extensive 20-year journey in public education from teaching in the classroom to Leading as a district administrator Wade's insights reflect his dedication to our teachers and practical Strat strategies to meet the evolving needs of our students his work exemplifies the commitment to Excellence and we're proud to see his contributions recognized on a national stage I think so sure marope Unified School District honored 57 staff members who served in the military or are family members of active and retired servicemen and women at our annual Veterans Day breakfast Maricopa high school students made the event memorable the acapella group DVC delivered a poignant rendition of the national anthem and the Air Force r RC Cadets led us through a touching Miss missing man table ceremony as always the event was an important demonstration of patriotism and gratitude good attendance is is essential to success so tonight we are celebrating three schools whose extra efforts have paid off each school will receive a certificate and a 200 and $250 that we hope will support the strategies that work best to promote good attendance so principles when I call your school please come to the dis and receive your certificate from president Downey best first quarter attendance Pim Elementary School [Applause] runner up best first quarter attendance Santa Rosa Elementary School [Applause] and I can see he's on deck most improved student attendance Maricopa Wells Middle [Applause] School nice job and then finally each year the Arizona Department of Education assigns letter grades to schools based on growth and proficiency and English language language arts Math and Science among other uh metrics tonight is all about celebrating excellence in our district and we have some shining stars who've worked tirelessly over the past year to achieve one of the highest honors in the state New to the A club this year congratulations go to Santa Cruz Elementary school [Applause] please please come forward with your team to receive your banner that you've worked so hard to receive and we'd love a photo with you um those of you who made it out tonight so come on up here birth spe [Music] [Applause] look [Applause] okay Mr Downey that's my report thank you we now move on to item three governing board members report member Lopez thank you I don't have anything to report this meeting member no thank you president Downey uh just a couple things to report it's so great to have so many of our students and am in the audience so thank you for being here and we look forward to celebrating you um I was able to attend the Veterans Day Parade on Saturday and that was amazing it's great to see all of our community out supporting our veterans and celebrating um their service to our community and our country and um if you haven't been out to the Maricopa veterans parade I uh highly recommend it and they do it every year and it's the Saturday before Veterans Day um and then I was able to attend the desert Sunrise the final desert Sunrise home football game on Friday night and it was a very exciting game and um they were in it till the very end and it was fun to watch them I know they've had a lot of injuries this season but they fought hard and um there's a lot of community out there at Desert sunrise and it was great to be a part of that and then I was also able to attend the musical performance by the fourth graders at Pima that our Music Teacher put on and then they showcase the artwork and that's just um another example of the programming that Dr lman and her cabinet have um made a priority within this District that our students have music and they have art and they have lots of different um wonderful additions to their daily math and reading and science and social studies and it was great that the uh staff could allow the parents to come and participate and see um them perform it was really really cute that's all I have thank you president thank you president Downey um so I usually don't get Friday nights off because I work a second job but I did have a Friday night off so I was able to um attend the Santa Cruz Fall Festival the first half of the desert Sunrise football game and the second half of the Maricopa High School football game wanted to get it all in um I do miss going to the football games and I typically work every Friday night um I was also able to attend um the MHS volleyball U Regional playoff game uh exciting to the very end um and kudos to all of our fall athletes another amazing season especially to our girl volleyball team at both schools and to our state swimmers um so congratulations and good luck to all of our winter sport athletes um I was also able to attend with be awesome during red R Ribbon Week at Maricopa High School um out there for all the lunches and seeing the kids coming up and learning about the drug prevention alcohol prevention um and signing the pledges not to do it and that was exciting I think there's a lot of great kids out there um that just need that support so that was really good to be out there a part of that and I was able to attend our district uh Veterans Day breakfast um and I had the honor of giving the speech on behalf of the governing board and I didn't mess it up so that was really good and lastly you yeah in conjunction with what Dr lman said thank you all for getting out there and voting um and to the committee for all of their hard work with the bond um we didn't get all of those yes votes because you didn't get out there and do anything everybody worked very very hard on it and uh I'm excited for the growth that we're experiencing and to be able to build more schools and and more educational spaces at the high school and we couldn't do that without your help so thank you that's all thank you um I agree with what's been said by everyone um I know it's not official yet but I want to recognize member member Lopez's uh election it's your first official election to the board so welcome officially to the board through the official action um I think the last two position are there's still two between the candidates but Mr Owens I think is also pretty secure and probably will get reacted onto the board again so um I would look forward to working working with you both and the other third person whoever that's going to be uh next year so welcome I also want to make a comment about the bond um I recognize the bond if you like just about pass it hopefully it's pass I think it will pass although again we're not 100% there I want to just say um I personally undertake to ensure that we do set up that Community Committee and I know there's a big issue about not only the amount of money the fact that the community has to pay for it but also a little bit about how it's used we want to make sure that it's used productively and on what the bond said it was going to be spent on so I think it's important that we form that committee that there's community members that the funds are dispersed are requested actually on a needed basis and not on a proactive basis so that we're paying for stuff too early and of course that the funds as I said before specifically spent on the items that are on the board I believe in the previous Bond there was issues about that it was part of the issue we had at getting this Bond place so I think it's my role on this this governing board's role to ensure that we approve the bonds not too early and also obviously not too late but in a timely manner and to the level that we need and as I say focus on that there's been spent on what the bond was actually designated for um and that's all I wanted spent in a prudent manner and that's that's me we now move on to item four 4 a spotlight recognition Miss Terry good evening and thank you all for being here tonight the Maricopa Unified School District is excited to honor Spotlight recipients across three categories community members musd employees and students before we begin I'd like to thank our sponsors at Freddy's Steak Burgers and Frozen Custard Culver's Frozen Custard and Butter Burgers and auction Circle for helping make tonight special for our honores our first honores are community members who can contribute time and support to make a difference in the lives of the students and families we serve congratulations community members as I call your name please come forward to receive your certificate and give a quick fist bump to members of the governing board in Dr lman then make your way to room 123 for a group photo 123 is right over here Open Door congratulations to Marissa Lopez parent volunteer at Butterfield Elementary School William Vashon volunteer at Maricopa elementary school Lucas Simon Community volunteer at Pima Elementary School Becky walinski volunteer from Saddleback Elementary School Sydney t has volunteer from Santa Cruz Elementary School cherylyn Johnston PTO president and volunteer from Santa Rosa Elementary School Alexis Arisa volunteer from Desert Wind Middle School Suzanne carasco parent supporter from Maricopa Wells Middle School Victor Moreno photographer and social media specialist desert Sunrise High School Chris and Heather left witch parent volunteers from Maricopa High School Liz sherro Community partner from Maricopa Virtual Academy congratulations again to these outstanding Spotlight community members next we're proud to honor our Spotlight employees of the month these staff members are phenomenal individuals who go above and beyond expectations to meet the needs of our kids and support their school communities congratulations Spotlight employees as I call your name please come forward to receive your certificate and give a quick fist bump to members of the governing board in Dr lman then make your way to room 123 for a group photo congratulations to Felicia Walker registar at Butterfield Elementary School Alexandria flowers third grade teacher at Maricopa elementary school Laura Denton kindergarten teacher at Pim Elementary School Patty gutieres ESS PA professional at Saddleback Elementary School James Pena nurse from Santa Cruz Elementary School royen suana resource teacher at Santa Rosa Elementary School Stacy biskowski math teacher at Desert Wind Middle School Scott Pike custodian at Maricopa Wells Middle School Lany DEA cor science teacher desert Sunrise High School razil deina Garcia ESS algebra teacher Maricopa High [Applause] School manand Singh history teacher Ram Academy Dominique Gomez attendance clerk at Maricopa Virtual [Applause] Academy Gabriela Jer Child Nutrition Field Supervisor from Child Nutrition congratulations again to these outstanding Spotlight employees and finally we are thrilled to honor our Spotlight students of the month School principls select these remarkable individuals based on their outstanding commitment to their education their school and their Community these students set the bar high and are recognized for efforts in academic achievement demonstrating Great Character helping others and being great ambassadors for their school congratulations Spotlight students as I call your name please come forward to receive your certificate and give a quick fist bump to members of the governing board and Dr lman and then make your way to room 123 for a group photo and the lady in the pink shirt waving over there that's where room 123 is congratulations to Enrique Pacho first grader Butterfield Elementary School lilianne Howard third grader Maricopa elementary school yasen El Cosby third grade student from Pima Elementary School AA Gomez first grader from Saddleback Elementary School Keith Williams Jr kindergartener at Santa Cruz Elementary School Madison krampton fourth grader Santa Rosa Elementary [Applause] School Delaney margam eighth grader desert wi Middle [Applause] School Braden Todd eighth grader marac Copa Wells Middle School [Applause] Brooklyn de Jesu senior at Desert Sunrise High School Julian Martinez ivth freshman at Maricopa High School Ariana suurus eighth grader Maricopa Virtual Academy Wyatt sandal senior Ram Academy congratulations again to these outstanding Spotlight students parents we have one more recognition before you meet your kiddos in room 123 in partnership with the Maricopa Rotary Club we'd like to honor a deserving group of students rotary honors young people who are developing their leadership skills and making a difference in their communities rotary students as I call your name please come forward and Mrs Ramirez and Miss coutre will present you with a special certificate and in addition you you do and in addition you'll receive a $50 gift card on behalf of the Rotary a special thank you goes to John and Mary lose Smith Education Foundation for their sponsorship that helps make tonight special for our honores congratulations to Ella Walter eighth grader Maricopa Wells Middle [Music] School Rachel Unverferth eighth grader Desert Wind Middle School [Applause] cyan cash sophomore Maricopa High School Nicholas Dy Jr desert Sunrise High School [Applause] Kyrie poock freshman Maricopa Virtual Academy and finally Wyatt Sandoval senior at the ram Academy [Applause] parents you can meet your kiddos in room 123 we are going to take a five minute break to allow everyone who is here for recognitions and classrooms or for recognitions to make their exit and then we'll begin the business portion of our meeting than e you e for e e e okay we res resume the meeting um we now move on to item five information item specifically 5A classroom spot Spotlight desert Sunrise High School Mr [Applause] fugo excellent I need to adjust this I am a little taller I guess not really but all right we'll go aad and get started here uh good evening uh president Downey board members Dr Lan I'm excited to share one of the engaging strategies we being implemented at Desert Sunrise high school called building thinking classrooms whoops all right are sure this aligns with our strategic plan goal one every student graduates maximize tier one instruction and C customized supports and interventions building thinking classroom covers all aspects of portrait of a graduate preparing students for post-secondary Education building thinking classrooms emphasizes the importance of creating an environment where students are actively engaged in their learning process to promote critical thinking collaboration and problem solving within the classrooms Dr ldal outlines practical approaches to shift the traditional teaching methods to more Dynamic and interactive practices teachers have already noticed an increase in student achievement through exit tickets common formative assessments and summative exams within this model teachers act as a facilitator of learning and students take ownership of their learning our Focus to increase student engagement and student outcomes Within within our math department as a department in conjunction with our administrative team we looked at different research-based math instructional strategies and wanted to explore building thinking classrooms we started with a book study and our academic coach attended a training and she brought back the information and trained our math department we piloted the concept in a few math classrooms this year we have implemented building thinking classrooms schoolwide and have seen an increase in student engagement throughout our walkthroughs all right what you're about to see is a video um is a math teacher uh where students are participating to solve multi-step linear equations as discussed earlier the teacher acts as a facilitator and asks students critical thinking questions to check their understanding and students working collaboratively to solve the equations learning goal for today was students will be able to analyze and solve 10 multi-step equations with 70% or above accuracy so what you're going to do is on page 69 in your notes you are doing what's called a gallery walk all right you and a partner are going to walk around to each problem you have two minutes to complete it all right once you get back to the problem that you started at you are going to present that problem you're going to get two minutes to you know write it and then present it I will be walking around and providing assistance as needed while y'all are working on the problem you can write on the board as you're doing it in your notes and then when you come back at the end everybody's going to present so you'll have two opportunities to get it the notes but you're going to be walking around and engaging with your teammates and working together to solve this problem all right I'm GNA yes any help needed yeah we help problem okay I think we only got one com yeah that's right perfect and what' you get then there you go it looks like y'all are good thank you all right time everybody clean the boards clean the boards and then let's rotate rotate to your right so number 10 you're going to go to number one and we're rotating around the room hello my name is Victoria Malone I am the college mathematics teacher here at Desert sunrise and also the department chair of the math department I am so Overjoyed to be a part of the desert Sunrise team and especially in the math department because we have the building thinking classrooms model I had previously worked in a district that was using this model in professional development so when the time came for me to transition to Miracle for UniFi I was so ecstatic to know that I would be equipped it with the tools and resources and materials needed to support my con students collaboratively awesome so as you saw in the video Miss Malone who is also here tonight thank you for coming um yes please give her a round of applause um as you saw in the video uh she walked around and asked students various questions and had students present how they solved the problem and answered questions that they might have had in the beginning of the lesson um students also could understand the process that they what they went through to achieve Mastery so in addition to this at the end of the lesson Miss Malone also provided an opportunity through an exit ticket for students to show their understanding of the concept independently um to highlight a few things from students um I couldn't capture all of them but I have a few here highlighted um students reported out understanding the why the why behind why we're doing these math problems you know it's much more than just hey this is a standard that we need to cover so understanding the why and how it pertains to them and what they're actually doing and how it builds um more interactive you know know um we all possibly could reflect back in our day when we were in math class it's kind of set and get well this is not that uh so more interactive um teachers also have reported out um transformed their approach to teaching math um also uh problem solving and collaboration among students uh students taking ownership of their learning um and we have also seen noticeable Improvement for their achievement Mastery of the standards some of the next steps are to Monitor and evaluate through exit tickets and also benchmark assessments students will also start tracking their progress through data binders where they can reflect and track their Mastery of standards in addition we'll be bringing in some additional targeted professional development and at this time I thank you everybody um president Downey board members and Dr lman for this opportunity to present to you tonight any questions Mr Verdugo I don't have any questions um except one where can I buy one of those fancy sweaters I want one definitely I I we'll we'll uh we'll talk I'll get you guys the information okay came out really really good and now that it's finally cooler outside we're able to you know rock them so yeah I love it um awesome great presentation um I've you know had an opportunity to walk through the school a couple of times and really see some of this in action it is really awesome and I appreciate you sharing this and uh are we expanding this then to all the classes then yes so behind the scenes work right now we have uh we're piloting it in our science classes okay um and we have a teacher of the year that was voted teacher of the year U Miss Markham here in the crowd tonight I'll highlight that she's actually um was recognized um for implementing building thinking classrooms within science and so she's doing a phenomenal job and just just a tip of the iceberg of what we're trying to take building thinking classrooms so very proud of our staff and what we're doing so thank you well thank you for sharing absolutely all right thank you thank you y oh sorry I just I think they're gon to make a comment can I just make a comment Mr go I can make it anyway um two things sorry no just two things yes sir I just want to rec Iz that what I heard was this was organic from bottom up it was a teacher that came into the organization and brought this idea I'm going to say to you but I'm sure it wasn't just you it was your organization and you listened to it and adopted it um so I want to recognize that and the the confidence that you must have in your ability and your teach the confidence you have in your teachers and staff to actually take an idea and take a risk absolutely and I'm truly blessed to have a phenomenal team and teaching staff everything classified you name it so desert Sunrise I'm very proud of of our whole team so yes thank you the second thing I want to say is on my soap box which is the reason why I view the reason why we have these types of spot lights is actually so that all the principles can hear what other principles are doing what people like yourself is doing and I just ch always challenge those other principles to not be embarrassed to take these ideas and I will say to them take these ideas and make them better Implement them faster and implement them better in your organizations if an idea that will work for you and your organization take it run with it and I'm sure Dr lman team will support you as the board will support you so I just say across the board please take risk because that's how we grow definitely thankk you appreciate it any other questions or comments before I walk away again no it's all right I just try to always be the hand that the other members no you're good I don't want to be disrespectful so no no you're doing good thank you you have a job through the the [Laughter] [Applause] year um we don't have any call to the public so we don't do um item six we now move on to item seven consent agenda motion to approve second propos okay member Lopez I member new I vice president CR I I think I actually have to call member Anderson yeah not present and um I say I so that's so passed thank you and we now move on to item eight action items specifically it a discussion and possible approval of the Personnel schedule Mr baget thank you president Downey members of the governing board and Dr lman you have the Personnel schedule in front of you tonight it's been a while since we've met so but take any of your questions you have at this Bo hi Mr Becket I have a question you're welcome and more of a concern um on item number 42 we are asking to reclassify the district receptionist to the district receptionist and substitute coordinator I my understanding is that position is already doing the substitute coordinating which that I don't have an issue with when looking at the job duties though and the responsibilities they are listed doing some of the onard in for newly hires um I really I don't mind changing this to include just the district receptionist and substitute coordinator what I have a concern with is when we start to put HR in a position that is not in the HR I mean I know they're under your HR department but they're not working in the HR they're not trained as HR they're trained to be a district receptionist and nor do I want a newly hired person coming in for onboarding and filling out paperwork and then be interrupted because the phone's ringing or somebody's walking in that's not good for either side for the newly hired employee nor for the person walking in because the district receptionist job is to make sure that everyone is greeted um and the phones are answered so I have a concern with that and I don't want to hold up the entire HR agenda for that one so I would be happy to motion um and we can have more discussion but just to motion that we approve the HR agenda and table without without including uh number 42 but that is just a motion and we can still have discussion until we get a second so that's my concern thank you any other comments I just want to make a comment um I I I view the board as setting high level priorities as establish and high level policies and looking off to the overall high level budget um I see the role as super tendent and her team to identify the need for policies to develop reg develop regulation and to manage the day-to-day activities I think it is appropriate for the board members to make comments on issues to do some research and to give input and sometimes that's at the operational level however um I firmly believe there's separate roles and separate responsibilities to me this issue under consideration that the motion that's been proposed is into the day-to-day running off the the um the district it's an operational issue so to me it falls under the superintendent permit to make a decision and as such I will not be voting to approve the motion for to remove item set 42 any other comments just to clarify the motion is to approve the h our agenda except for item 42 which we can then vote separately on yeah and I don't oh we could vote separately on we can vote separately on 42 after we approve the HR if if my motion is carried I don't see why we can't just do it all at once I mean it's not an action item it's not a separate action item the action item is the the Personnel schedule and we either approve the Personnel schedule or not I have a question for Mr Becket thank you yes can you explain to me um what the rationale and thinking behind this expanded um job Duty was and and what went into making that decision thank you me I appreciate the opportunity um this is an opening we have present in the district was an opportunity for us to take a look at the position and fairly assess what they're doing and compare that with other receptionists uh currently the school receptionists are class SL exactly the same as our district receptionist and substitute coordinator uh yes very very different roles again uh they are responsible these District level positions responsible for lonning with ESI our substitute coordinator they handle payroll uh there are some HR level things that uh the district receptionist helps with but they're primarily clerical in nature again the priority is always going to be first impressions for people walking in the door answering the phone those those are the primary responsibilities there are times in which other tasks can be done again as a as a member of my department I've asked that reception to take some of those roles on those I'm highly respectful of member crae and her concerns again I don't think it's it's placing the district at risk or employees at risk to have that receptionist do some of these tasks uh to alleviate some of the workload of other staff members back the HR Suite again I will do whatever the board asks us to do if you need more information I'd be happy to provide that information look no thank you I have a followup and thank you for that explanation so what I understand you saying so let me know if I'm wrong is that the this expanded role you've expanded it so that they can assist with some of these things like calling references but that there still are people within there are other HR employees that do that as well so it wouldn't be their primary like they aren't primarily responsible for those duties that is correct and really the the receptionist would be primarily working with substitutes one of their responsibility is to verify I9 report um credentials for these employees for ESI if we don't do it and those employees are driveling to Scottdale in order to get that on boarding taken care of it's an opportunity for us to kind of expedite the hiring process on ESI but uh I I'm not aware we're doing reference checks that is not their responsibility those things are typic done by supervisors or my staff back in the HR Suite uh once again the the level of tasks that are being done at the front desk are I wouldn't say menial that would be know debasing to to the role but it is a minor uh assistance for the department so so just to follow up thank you you see this these expanded duties as just a way of um allowing this position to help facilitate some things um within the district to make substitute hiring um more efficient and effective that is part of the role yes okay again the the district receptionist has downtime just being honest the flow of telephone calls and people walking in the door there is some Ted dead time that they have an opportunity to help us out just trying to maximize the the work time that they have with us Mr Becket if there are they strictly just doing the HR duties for the substitutes teaching or are they to do are are you expecting them to do this for all all types of employees thank you member kre there are times that we ask um the receptionist maybe to do uh an ID card or something like that something very very simple uh that doesn't pull them away from their primary responsibilities there she's she or he is not locked down to that desk in the front there are times that they will come back in the HR Suite but again their primary focus is that front Des answering phone calls welcoming people in directing people to the right departments in the district level but yes I'm just affirming yes they would be doing other tasks and is there um because the district receptionist is out in the open is would there be um these tasks would they need to have some privacy maybe for information not overheard or not shared yeah there will be sense of information coming across their desk but again you know the setup of that that's we we have privacy glass there the the screen is obviously blocked from side views it has that that screen device on it that that blocks so again I'm not going to say that there hasn't been sensitive information up there but it is not accessible to the public and why now why now asking for this because when we started the beginning of the school year with the um positions that we reclassified and uh positions that we added um including HR why now coming to us and I guess I guess that when we have new positions if we can get that information ahead of time of why the need is why are you asking for this not just the job description but kind of an explanation of why why this is coming to us now because this wasn't presented to us when we approved the budget when we started the school year so why is this coming now it's probably a great question and I I would just say that this is an opportunity anytime we have openings it's an opportunity for us to take a look at positions and to see if we're doing the right thing once again I think fairly looking at that position as compared to our other reception positions there was a vast difference between the responsibilities and expectations this was an opportunity for us to to correct that and again if if we need to wait till July 1st of next year to make this happen we'll wait but again we think the timing is now we are struggling to find qualified candidates we went through about 50 different candidates try to find somebody who's qualified for the role we want to get somebody in there who's going to stay and we feel like this is a positive step in ensuring that we not only get a quality candidate hope get somebody who who's going to be able to do the task we're asking to do Mr Becket so um given the nature of discovering this being a little a little bit more than just a regular receptionist um is there plans to look at all of our schools to see if there's extra duties that our receptionists are doing at our school sites as well we're we're and thank you member K we're in a process right now of evaluating salaries starting salaries for all of our employee groups certified and classified and there is we're developing a short list of those employee groups that potentially could be looking at salary adjustments uh for the next school year but again uh we we I believe we're open to listening to sites telling us you know this this is an expanded role these people are doing much more than what we anticipated they be doing and if we need to look at a reclassification I'm open to that oh I'm happy to hear that um I just you know you know part of our our strategic plan is we want to have gold standards and I just for me I just feel that our HR department should just be our HR department um and the those sensitive that sensitive information that yes it is behind the glass people typically can't hear but for me that's not the gold standard so um that's why I made the motion that I made do we have a second for the motion I'll make a motion that we approve the Personnel schedule as written um remember Lopez I member no I member Anderson vice president cout nay and I say I so the motion passes thank you Mr thank you and I move on to item nine sorry yeah item it B sorry it it B approval to adjourn to Executive session the government board may vote to convene in in an executive session pursuant to ARS 15843 to consider possible expulsion of a student for the student year 2024 to 2025 sorry what is that oh okay yeah let me correct that for exposion of the student um from this year forward um there's actually an ID number here that says 2024 so I thought it was a year but the the student's name isn't on the paperwork I motion that we go into executive session second okay member lupz I member new I member C sorry Anderson vice president I and I say I we're now into executive session 727 you can hang around if you want but we might be a while more reading more reading and speaking

[Music] a [Music] a [Music] a [Music] no no probably [Music] how people Shack has before it should be fine hello everyone hello I am Jordan I am Aiden and welcome to uh week six of the ihcn uh 2425 regular season ENT today the bluff and cyber Tigers will be facing off against Hobart High School Davis yeah yeah I my bad Ben Davis yeah JV will be going against Ben Davis I would assume hobar is for Varsity yeah Hobart is for Varsity so some of our uh JV members tonight is Adriana also known as Galaxy cat we also have Kaden also known as megaphone 671 we also have Ash who is known as ashy pool 01 and we also have Robbie also known as Robert Jurg 56 we have Scott also known as Electro one and Corbin also known as Onyx Vib 28 all right and how the scoring works is that each person eliminated is one point first person to Four Points wins and we'll just see how this goes mhm uh so something different for this year is that we are now competing in a best of three format so basically what that means is there are no ties anymore as was possible last year and I'm actually a big fan of that cuz I didn't like getting on a tie it's much more cut and dry you know like this team won this team lost it's not maybe this team is better than the other but we're out of time you know yeahoo okay um and this should make for more satisfying matches all right so check it out the the match is going on right over there yep so I'm excited about this and I see they're playing hero so hero is a really good character for me to play against I usually play as him actually more often and it looks like they're sending out H oh uh are they going are they oh oh okay and they're going again and Kaden will be going up first playing as Kirby so he appears to be using his up special and his Dash attack it's really good hero wasting his turn um the thing about hero is he is a lot of RNG you're going to you're going to be seeing okay so let's explain this first Hero's down be is called the command selection and when he uses his command selection it allows him to select a command it's it basically has like 20 different commands that he can possibly select and I'll be explaining them as we go through yeah because it's kind of hard to remember them all now Kirby is known for using his down smash which is basically just sends him down flying to the ground in like whatever shape he uses and a lot of Kirby players use that so that could be a major downfall of this matchup it could be him like reading what he's going to do and whatnot so two projectiles have been used Kaboom which is just a giant a giant projectile that explodes after a certain amount of time or when it hits an enemy um psyche up Powers up his next move crackle slash is just a really strong ice attack all right down throw with psyche up so that's a really good down ooh he almost hit him with that forward smash but he does hit him with the flame slash which is basically just crackle slash but with a fiery effect instead of a nice one the two kind of cancel each other out all right a dash attack getting up some good damage but the hero also get some damage as well this looking pretty this looking pretty crazy for snooze Kaden's talking to himself in the little face cam which is pretty cool I tend to do that myself actually yeah he he might be hyping himself up oh dang Heroes really giving Kirby the Juke he was for tilting all over the place oh and heroes forward smash sends Kirby out will Kirby take a stock before his character dies before he like it it's looking like it's looking like it those Dash attacks are pretty good psyche up again so he better watch out yep and this hero should better watch out for this Kirby yeah oh and a psyched up Dash attack oh that's not that's never good down be just a little too early oh powering up his side be oh he almost fell off the ledge in a in an icicle I guess it's like the the opposite of a blaze of glory Kirby now does have a okay recovery when it comes to this game but he also has about five to six jumps MH so that could be useful in helping him getting off of the like getting away from the ledge yeah oh oh oh that's a great hit from the hero dang Kaden does not look too pleased but hey good round one good round one good round one this hero is showing to be a Worthy compe oh yeah I'm I'm very excited for where this match is going to go uh but like I said before hero is a lot of RNG so what could potentially happen is he just gets gets lucky and gets a critical hit so so that didn't happen this round but Hero's smash attacks have a have a kind of low chance to be a critical hit which basically increases how much damage and knockback they do um it's all the smash attacks up smash forward Smash down smash all of them yeah and back smash which is basically forward smash yeah is yeah all right so it looks like our next player is going to be Scott yep he's playing pyro mythra so I'm very excited for how this is going to go we used to have a pyro mythra on our JV team in uh courtesy of Izzy uh but now she's on Varsity so we'll probably get to see her later oh yeah for sure yeah so pyro mythra versus hero I'm excited to see how this match will turn out all right so are they going to TA no oh bounce okay that basic reflects projectiles and yeah yeah pyus side be is a projectile so yeah can't use her side be now I want to be careful when it comes to that yeah lots of Dashing around the um board I don't know why they're using the roll so much cuz yeah cuz a certain thing with rolls is they can become stale when used too much and it lowers their invincibility and also makes them slower like hero is nowhere near him stop stop rolling you're making it worse oh looks like you psych up there we go that's pretty good oh oh almost killing the hero oh down smash oh will he get a stock it's looking like it mhm I feel like this oh wow I just realized he's got pyup and one thing pyup also does is it does extra damage on Shields leading to really easy Shield breaks and if your Shield breaks in this game it's basic your opponent basically gets a free hit they get to do what they cuz you're dazed oh not punishing off of the off of daing hero over there though he instead rolls away all right all right changing the changing the pyra all right mhm for those of you who don't know pyra and Mithra are two of the same are two characters in one body I guess I don't know you could switch between them anytime you want pyra is more for like heavy damage dealing while oh oh that's Klang so basically Okay so clang basically turns hero into a metal statue and he can't do anything so what you should do when hero cangs is run up to him wait a little bit and start holding forward smash so that way when he gets out of it he can't hold shield in time now it is all about timing though and if you don't get that time off like the Split Second he's done he could punish you and you could probably get a lot of percentage off but yeah all right but it would that's not a bad idea mhm kind of an interesting name for this other school mad Jax I wish I knew the lore behind that who is Jax and why is he so mad exactly he might need to he might need to take a chill pill like is he angry or insane oh wa o oh she's going for oh wow all right oh and a Dash attack wow all right and this oh but hero does lose a stock so good job to oh kamakazi that is exactly what it sounds like that's detrimental right there it's exploding yourself that's that gives us a good Edge right there yeah clap for Scott he got that kill heck yeah good job good job Scott good job Scott you forced him to kamakazi you're doing amazing so now he can't use that anymore well I mean he could but it wouldn't do anything yeah if it if the kamakazi ends the match then obviously your opponent wins yeah unless you're unless you're in like a thre person deal yeah in which case the game would still go on oh hitting him with the side special oh and the up special knocking him over to the right side I'm excited for what's going to happen here H shielding shielding that's good oh oh and a down air Hero's Aerials aren't really that good oh yeah we we've been so caught up in this match we haven't talked about how MP works so all of Hero's special attacks use a certain amount of MP and he can only have 100 at a time so yeah you might be seeing there home thinking this character is extremely broken but the thing about hero is he can't always use his magic he actually has to use his sword and like physical attacks like grabs and and forward smashes and Aerials and stuff in order to build up his MP which basically gives which basically Nerfs hero and why he isn't used more in competitive play but let me wow what a play fives all around in a fist bump too wow good job what a play that is so good to see I'm very happy about that good job Scott good job Scott I tip my hat to you but I don't have a hat same same and now we got the match down here oh yeah oh yeah it's like it's like right down there I see it I see it mhm all right so so we're both on our second players and at this point we're only losing by one stock as opposed to three so Scott has definitely helped out our numbers quite a bit and considering how well that hero played I'm pretty sure that might have been their best member so it might be smooth sailing from here all right now let's let's take a word to um list off one of our sponsors huge shout out to our local internet provider Adams Wells internet Telecom and TV they are directly responsible for our Esports players to be able to compete because of their incredibly fast and reliable fiber internet service if you are in the market for Internet TV or phone service check out adamswells.com and that that's ads wells.com yeah so thank you to Adams Wells your support helps out this program more than you know I'm I'm I feel very confident I know like Esports ain't cheap and you help us so thank you so much Adam Wells I just wanted to be oh oh while I'm being genuine oh Scott lost a stock and the opponent's pick SEO what is going on so here's the thing oh no that's oh oh no Scott doesn't look too happy about that dang look at him oh no that oh that's that's rough that's rough buddy that is rough but the match must continue is so while Mithra side be does look really good to use as a recovery move it unfortunately puts you in a freef fall so you got to make sure you grab that ledge with that oh yeah cuz if you don't if you don't you're character dies for sure for sure and we do not want that next up is going to be Robbie he I believe plays Rob maybe no oh encinar that's who it is I forgot imagine that Robbie Rob that would have been so cool that would have been awesome Robbie plays Robbie's going to rob you just kidding he ain't going to rob no one he might rob our opponents of their STS that'd be pretty cool you know that'd be awesome all right incinerar um okay I'm very excited to see this matchup I've never seen it before um I like both costumes so sephar Roth has a uh a costume where he has his shirt on and a costume where he shirts off with his shirt off as seen here yeah I usually go for the shirt off variants personally but that's just me all right now I believe incinerar does have a pretty good grab attack if I remember he has one of the strongest back throws in the game probably also beating Nest but just barely though like it's really good ooh nice hit nice hit nice punish oh shoot o oh oh side to the nice recovery that's good that was scary okay he's definitely learned a thing or two so what you just saw o was that Robbie absorbed a hit from Seth broth and now he's glowing with fire on him so what that basically means is his next move is powered up it's kind of like hero pyup in a way oh but it looks like he lost it yes you can lose it if you um oh shoot oo you can lose it if you either die or get hit too many times it's quite it's quite detrimental if you lose it so this SEO is currently taking out quite a few members look at that and now incinerar has purple orbs around him almost breaking nice punish nice punish good punish right there yeah but those purple those purple orbs um basically what they do is they fly around you and you can have up to five at a time oh nice Spike nice Spike oh sorry I'm just trying to find words you're fine I'm not even saying a tongue twister why am I legit trying struggling to find words anyways when those orbs are around you you have a limited amount of time before the orbs go in for the attack and they hurt you so it's basically like a time bomb strap to you oh upy on stage almost killing ooh oh oh that's not how you should punish a shield dude you should for Tilt The Shield but you should up the sepo on stage when he's in that specific St good job taking that stock good job taking that stock you're doing amazing oh shoot so far he is robbing them of their St oh no oh oh I thought he had a chance to recover maybe he did maybe maybe he would have if he teched it I'm not sure all right all right that's a grab and a forward smash oh there you go punishing him for that that's really good all right so incin so seph's trying to keep his distance use some projectiles which incinerar doesn't have yeah but seph Ro does also seem to be going in for the hits a lot oh wow there's a for smash yeah SEO really has an advantage with that long sword of his it means incin can't really get in and punish him for it you know unless he counters but that can only do so much cuz he does take damage when he does counter oh an up smash nice up smash yeah seph's sword is super long it's gives him gives him the range it gives him the range which is very scary how good he's doing all right using his neutral special Robbie trying to counter it but it didn't actually confirm all right trying to use his up be on stage which I don't know if that's a good idea cuz it's a lot of hey good good job Rob good job you took a stock yeah that looked painful though I know zro put his sword in through his forehead and out his foot o that oh he skewered that in C that is a shame and now we're on to our last player and our opponents are on their second so let's see if Adriana I'm assuming I might yeah it could be Adriana I mean oh y Adriana the team captain is stepping up she's like I believe I believe she plays Lucario she does she does she plays it really well and she's played it for a very long time if you watched us last year you would you would know how much she played that Lucario oh my gosh and I believe Lucario does have a really good counter it's sort of good you know like it teleports Lucario across the stage so they can come in for another hit but sometimes Lucario teleports like in a bad position so instead of hitting the opponent they have to recover and get back on stage which ultimately defeats the point of the counter yeah but let's just see how good this counter will do against the SE separo and that's assuming she uses it she may not she may use like her AOS spheres you know to to keep uh Sethro at Bay you know oh yeah for sure cuz oras Spears take less time than uh than seph's neutral special to charge up so she can fire them in really quickly oh yeah for sure so seph has to jump off the stage because he lost a stock and we need things to be fair if you lost your stock it's gone you can't get it back by the next round sorry not sorry Downer yes oh let's go I called it he's he's he's uh predictable all right all right so they both taunted and they do that to basically say hey we're ready let's do this it's like fist bump Perfect all right grabbing that's good zro countered the wrong way he's using his his own he's using the uh purple orbs quite a b kind of it's kind of a a similar situation here about the range yeah that cuz Lucario is in like close up and that long sword of SEO can really deal some damage yeah and I've also noticed like how how sepharad sword is on platforms cuz platforms are pretty wide but uh seph's sword up smashed like pretty much covers the entirety wow extending all the way behind him kind of like ne's up smash but with like way more range oh he missed the grab oh oh and he pared that okay so basically a Parry is just a perfect Shield if you let go of the shield button right before something hits your character will Parry it and you won't take any Shield damage and you can really easily punish right after the Parry when if you're the person parrying with like a grab or something especially if you parry like like um I don't know you can Parry a grab like a forward smash or something that would be easy to Parry yeah but something like a projectile would be kind of hard okay Dash attack Adrian's on her last stock and she has uh eight to take but I believe in her she can take eight stocks before losing one she's got this oh yeah for sure for sure besides this seat's probably the best player they have oh yeah for sure it definitely seems like it yeah it definitely does counter there ooh counter dashed right into the counter quite scary oh for smash oh next game she going to recover good try try good try wi are we able to do interviews are we able to do interviews yet like we might we might um if it's oh jeez in did you see that zro start walking in the fire you can't do that that would hurt that would hurt yeah walking in fire is dangerous you can't do that I mean come on ah good job good job good job [Music] good hard it's quite hard to master it's quite hard to master but thank you to Ben Davis for joining us um thank you for the uh bluon JV team for competing we they all did good all around I believe that um someday they have great potential to become even better than what they are you're making it sound like they're going away they're not no they're back they have a they have a chance if they win the next two games they win and I find it highly highly unlikely that Scott's going to self-destruct this round you know oh yeah for sure but then again as a nest player I do know how detrimental self-destructs can be so now we are done with game one we are on to game two we'll just see how this goes okay I'm really excited to see how this goes it looks like we have a Bowser versus a Terry a Terry a Terry he's so Terry fying all right a dash attack good nice nice nice hit nice hit nice first hit trying to go for side B respected as the nest player Oh down to into Power dunk wow all right oh and it appears our player is Ash today that's nice y oh wow punching him right in the face yeah grab that guy he punch he punched you in the face you got to throw him to the curb you know oh and a for kicked you in the face it looks like ash is in the moment right now he in the locked in yeah percentages are very even and despite how he looks Terry is actually kind of a heavyweight too if fact he's heavier than Ridley that's wild I know I cannot believe it Ridley is really skinny though yeah Terry's probably got those Rock lead training weights oh no now he's got go meter and basically what go meter does is if you do correct what oh sorry we got an intruder in the room a mouse came in the room real big one really big one it's a reference you can't get mad at that okay really are you okay would you rather me call you little okay skinny mouse came in the room oh Ash took the first stock Ash took the first stock um anyways uh Terry when he has that goal meter you could do very specific inputs to do really freaking powerful moves really powerful moves oh okay okay and we'll be a and we might see those later we might see Ash take um his first St oh he foot nice grab takes him over there that's good didn't punish him cuz Terry didn't Tech but I don't think that matters like Terry oh come on oh but he gets back close oh man Ash got shocked there put his hand to his mouth and everything oh oo I'm shocked too look at that you can't see it but my hand is to my mouth too golly okay Terry using the only projectile he has Power Wave nice pretty oh dang that down tilt is really being annoying it's really quick ni Parry that was a good Parry yeah down tilt into Power dunk wow oh and a forward smash too kicked him right in the nostrils oh but Bowser does grab the ledge and doesn't punish that forward smash one thing I haven't seen Bowser do too much is use his fire breath you know yeah it's a way it's a good way to pack on damage quite a bit oh there it is oh I spoke it into existence but Terry punishes the fire breath oh and a and a forward smash along too he punishes the down be as well actually yeah it's a down a down til and the power dunk he just loves those down tilts man I can just tell he picked up this character used the down til he's like I love this character oh yeah for sure but there tend to be moves like that I mean it was me for me it was ness's PK Fire I'm like I love this oh yeah oh yeah there's certain moves that certain people do that can just win you the game yeah oh and that was a nice grab the Terry okay now he punishes the down be as well oh so one thing I nice try one thing Ash tended to do a lot was jump high above ter and then come down really quickly but that's that's pretty I wouldn't recommend it is because it's kind of like the same situation with like a Kirby they go pretty high in the air and then they just do their down Smash and it takes him a while to get back on his feet and back in the action you know for sure and it just led to crazy punishes every single time um anyways so next up is Adriana again next up is Adriana again so let's see maybe she can take more stocks I wonder what the thought process is here I don't really know the Terry versus Lucario matchup so yeah it could it could I could see it going either way mhm now they are down one stock so that does give Adriana the slight Edge yeah so that's pretty good but we are but the whole team is down two stock so let's hope Adriana can clear it up you know but yeah Adriana does feel very confident against Terry so maybe that's that's pretty good that's pretty good that's pretty good I'm excited and as you saw down there Terry's special moves don't have to just be pressed with the special button you can actually you can actually use uh specific control sticks control stick movements and the a button which is pretty cool oh yeah oh yeah and they're off and and they're off and Terry taking First Blood down til into down til into Power dunk wow Shield seemed to be good and Adriana trying to counter but Terry doesn't budge oh man she hasn't even got a single hit in oh There She Goes the side the side gets the hit in all right oh and a forward smash so one thing we have yet to mention about Lucario is the more damage Lucario takes the higher the uh the higher the higher her damage output is I guess yeah a four smash when oh dud oh wow nice stock taken yeah nice punish from Terry let's see if Adriana can punish him just the same anyways um when a when uh golly when when Lucario is at high enough damage no depending on how high Lucario's damage taken is that's how much damage she'll do I guess the more damage she takes the more damage she deals yeah and it's not just damage stocks can also be effective if she's at one stock but her opponent's at three the aura will also activate there oh a forward smash that's pretty good A Dash attack oh but Terry grabs in a forward smash oh he's using the down air Terry spike is nasty absolutely nasty I bet oh oh she went super high in the air have been that might have been a might have been a little mistake oh all right that's good all right she gets back on using forward smashes oh Terry just punished that oh scary oh Scary Terry no why Scary Terry hey that's okay I believe she can take two stocks from him yeah I believe I believe she can she's got this oh yeah oh dang but Terry's percentage is getting pretty high and he'll almost need to use his go moves oh yeah for sure I'm nervous about it though okay Lucario hasn't really countered any of his attacks she tried at the start but just hasn't been pulling it out that I think what she's if and this is a guess I think she's forgetting she has a coun yeah that could be a good reason oh fully charged oros Spears come on hit him hit the guy oh oh no oh no come on I think he I think he tried for a buster wolf oh shoot oh oh that was close neutral special oh and he Shields it oh o nice nice that was aom in causing a be like just kidding those are like cut scenes they aren't all right the power dunk leading Adriana over to the left she's got to get back oh I think she was trying to get on the platform but landed right in front that that counter is her signature move yeah so that explains why she doesn't do it all the time you know she's like saving it for a good moment yeah for sure wow that is well that was a good job good job to Adriana for that she was really close to getting that Terry down the um all of his stocks gone but let's just see if the next person coming up can take that last stock yeah pretty excited for this pretty excited to see how it unfolds for sure for sure and they're bring it back in cerar two more cyber Tigers to go yep and it looks like it's going to be Robbie oh boy Robbie can you rob him of some stalks let's hope he can rob this Terry from his last stock and then move on to the second round mhm I'm pretty dang excited about it or at least to their second player sorry mhm that's fair I believe in Robbie I think we I think he's got this for sure I think this is going to be a really good match cuz you got two characters that where good things happen when they're close ranked oh there you go incin War flexing on the side oh yeah for sure for heck yeah that's probably what I do you know Flex these guns you can't see it but my guns are absolutely massive oh yeah I'm going to put them away you know and oh wow incin taking first incin First Blood good job the platform sparing Terry spary Terry all right oh that's pretty good too uh not really doing anything about it like he hit him into the air but didn't follow him into the air to hit him he just kind of stayed on the ground and didn't get true off just Qui all right and there's Rising tackle and again Robbie trying to counter it but Terry's mixing up his timing oh oh oh there we go nice recovery nice recovery yeah Terry's one Terry um he actually has five special attacks While most characters have four you know like oh yeah most characters have four up smash wait up special neutral special down special and side special Terry actually has five cuz instead of just having a side special that turns around depending on the side you push he has a forwards facing special and a backwards facing special move which is pretty weird when you play him yeah but it also leads to plenty of mixups cuz his back special move is really good I just noticed incin keeps flexing after every single every single one of those I'm pretty sure oh and there he goes he just turns bicep to the to the carry has his go oh and he does it in the wrong direction which way should he go oh he didn't pun he didn't punish chry for going above the stage you know that would be a good opportunity to use like a down Smasher sign to hit his feet oh trying to get him oh ooh that's good that's good Terry was going to go for a buster wolf Terry was going to go for a buster wolf oh boy right what's he going to do oh neutral special Terry tries to go in from above and it sort of works like Robbie got knocked back oh oh and a Dash attack Terry's Dash attack is extremely powerful I think oh oh on the platform clap for yourself good job you did it you did it Robbie good job good job robbing him of that last stock oh bro fist that camera dude bro oh yeah you deserve it oh yes Megan in the chat says hi hello Megan hello Megan we're happy to have you here all right I wonder who their second player is going to be I'm excited for it I'm excited for who their next player can be um their actual character right there like on their smash icon is Lucina so maybe they'll bring out Lucina you know which would be uh dare I say a good counter pick for an incinerar considering her sword is like a very kind of a disjointed hitbox kind of with the way that seph frro does it's just not as long but it's also not as slow she can pull out those moves really quickly unless she like uses her special attacks a lot oh yeah for sure or maybe they'll bring out Nest you know I'm I'm pretty happy now time for a sponsor So today we're going to be shouting out the person on my arm and that logo is for auction it so do you have a favorite nonprofit that could use an awesome fundraising idea well auction it is an online and in-person auction platform that can help your nonprofit host a very good dare I say perfect Charity Auction find out more at auction.io that's auction it no spaces cuz it's a website.

ratification public meeting in our regular meeting for Wednesday November 13th 2024 we'll start off by opening up with our ratification public meeting Dr Brown yes I am going to um read the agreement between MTA and the board so create a tiered Mentor ECA system as as follows a mentor leader for 1,000 Mentor level one mentoring a teacher with over 5 years of experience but new to the corporation $250 Mentor level two mentoring a teacher with less than five years um a new to the corporation for a $500 stien and Mentor level three mentoring teacher going through Bloom board or a transition to teaching program for a stien of $750 also creating Dramatics evening programs for the junior high sixth grade two positions for $100 7th grade two positions for $100 eighth grade two positions for $100 adding Elementary Unified sports two positions at $518 removing the high ability coordinator from the scale because it's going to be paid through a grant adding the E coordinator one position for $650 adding a high school assistant swim coach for the boys and girls team um adding $234 to their entire pool for $ 4,832 is the total for their assistance dual credit $518 per person not per class compensation which is in appendix a we're addressing compression for years 1 through 20 as presented by our Administration with an average increase to the base of 3.3% and you can see the attached compression plan teachers with 21 plus years will get the average increase of $1,811 added to their base which is the average of all the increases and you again you can see that attached in the compression plan additionally all teachers will receive a $1,500 stien on top of those base increases for adding language to put deadlines into Lane change notifications so the first deadline is the first teacher day in August and the second deadline is the first teacher day in January for them to change lanes updating appendix A1 with the following note at the bottom A1 is used in instances where there are no teachers already employed with comparable experience in education SI day donation adding language um to allow unused sick days to be donated to the sick sick Bank upon retirement Insurance appendix B insurance premium holiday language will be added that explains how a premium holiday will be implemented in the event the school corporation's health insurance provider declares an insurance premium holiday in addition the school corporation has picked up the 2% premium increase in their health care costs so asking the board to approve um those changes okay thank you Dr Brown is there any public comment on the master teacher contract okay seeing none we'll move on to the vote entertain a motion to approve the collective bargain agreement with the Madison Teachers Association make a motion we approve 24103 with a motion do I have a second I'll second with a motion in the second is there any discussion see no discussion on signify by saying I I I any opposed motion passes okay at this point in time we will adjourn the ratification public meeting and call to order our regular meeting before we start I'd like to have a moment of silence in memory of former MCS board member Deborah dorton who recently passed away thank you I ask each of you to join me in the Pledge of Allegiance if you would please I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you okay we have a couple of special recognitions tonight uh the person will be a seetal certification which is a certified education technology leader and if I have a representative from seed here could you step forward okay I'm a little shorter so um hi my name is Cassie Goin I'm a board member at the Indiana CTO Council which is the Indiana um Wing or branch of the um National Organization called Ken um which is the Consortium for school networking and Ken's purpose and our purpose in Indiana here is really to uh support Chief technology officers directors of technology and one of the ways that we've been doing that as an Indiana Board is um supporting and um providing professional development learning um to our Indiana Tech directors and CTO and one way we're acknowledging that and able to recognize them is through them taking the seetal examination and passing it and we like to come and talk a little bit about what that looks like I'll pass it off to Nick for him develop to develop that a little bit more um but we are super proud to honor Josh today with this certification thank you for your time tonight um the cedal certification has only been earned by a few Tech directors in the state and I'm a education technology director in Columbus Indiana uh also working with the board and state organization um and we just come from a lot of backgrounds so I was a science teacher 10 years ago um and Josh has different backgrounds than me and so does Cassie and education technology is just a little different from everything else so this organization kind of helps ensure that uh we have qualified leaders in these spots and Jos has exemplified that uh he has dedicated himself he has many more years experience than I do um but has continued to learn and grow as an individual um and we're proud to announce that he has earned his cetl certifications I believe it's the first in Madison so help me congratulate him and of course you know we're technology directors but we're giving out paper weights for awards um he does get a catification but congratulations thank you for having [Applause] us thank you [Applause] now if I could have Jacob Bay our school safety director to step to the podium please hello and uh thank you for the opportunity this is uh very exciting for me um as a director of safety uh but it wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for the the school board and Dr Brown um youve showed that you put safety as a priority and we're able to put the best practices in place for safety uh so uh starting last year we're able to have an SRO and never building uh this year we amped that up and are covering uh extracurricular activities uh just wherever our kids and students and their families are where we want to be present and and be there for them uh so I'm going to um re read a little bit about an incident that recently occurred with uh Travis Conover one of our school resource officers um this is the call for service um log that's from our uh central dispatch um that happened that day so uh kind of setting it up it was October uh 10th Travis Conover um was working in extracurricular event for us um that particular day our soccer sectionals was approximately 4:10 p.m.

e e e good evening everybody and welcome it is November 13th 2024 and we start each school committee meeting reading our mission statement the Ashland Public School strives to be a model District that creates a culture of inclusivity for our diverse students and staff who feel safe and supported are empowered with the academic and social emotional skills to pursue their chosen path and embrace their roles as positive contributors to local and Global communities this meeting is being recorded by w ACA cable TV our agenda this evening includes call to order public participation reports and presentations we have the AMS Middle School band we have an update from Miss La Chappelle we have mcast presentations Mr Kyra approval of the 2025 2026 school calendar warn approval superintendent report assistant superintendent report the action items and discussion updates include first read of policies JG IFR athletic concussion regulations ad vision and mission statement ecfa face coverings our second read includes and approval of policies includes AC non-discrimination policy including harassment and retaliation ACR non-discrimination policy including harassment and retaliation approval of gifts and donations reports of school committee members and then I will move to enter into executive session under mgl chapter 30A section 21 A2 to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with non-union Personnel superintendent Jim Adams or to conduct a collective bargaining with the intent of not returning to public session and then we will adjourn so is everybody okay with the order of events and are you here Tina yes Paul uh I just recommend moving the calendar out of reports and presentations and into the action em updates okay otherwise yes that make sense to everybody yeah Mark uh here and yes Marcy I see you thanks awesome okay we will start with our student well first I'm going to ask if there's anybody here from the public who would like to leave comment don't see anyone on zoom and I don't see anyone in the audience so it is your turn the AMS Middle School band welcome thank you very much so I should yeah please that'd be great U so uh we were just uh first of all thank you for having us here and uh I would like to thank you so students for volunteering to come out tonight and parents uh uh for making that happen because we have a concert uh tomorrow night as well at the high school and so we're going to take this opportunity to give you a little brief uh uh look into uh the parts of the concert so one of the things that makes the band very challenging but also fun is that there's a lot of different parts going on in the band at the same time so we put a lot of emphasis on music literacy being able to read your part because if you can't do that when you come into band trying to about 20 different parts going on at once in your typical band piece so um with that said we only have a few parts here tonight so it's not going to sound anything like it like it's going to sound tomorrow night with the full band uh but you get a little chance to hear some of the parts uh individually and uh if you come out tomorrow night to the high school you can you can hear the full bands it's going to be uh our annual concert with the high school bands and the eighth grade band is going to be playing with the high schol for the finale at the end of the concert chance for them to sort of get a preview playing with the high schools Mr M so uh at this time before we play we're going to have the seventh graders come up and play a short piece and then the eighth graders will play a little short excerpt as well but maybe the seventh graders could come over introduce thems and uh maybe say a quick word about why they join that would be awesome and while you're making your way up here I might have forgotten to say that this meeting is being recorded by wcaa cable TV um and um I'm with your permission some people might like to videotape you as well if that's okay yeah awesome all right welcome so you guys guys want to come up here and just introduce yourself and maybe say you go first just introduce yourself say hello so exciting thank you hello awesome I'm iose awesome thank you uh eclipses so they're going to play a short excerpt for you from uh the piece called eclipses which was actually picked out for for this concert by another member of the band really requested so it's at the right level so we ordered for the van it's kind of a a high energy piece here by seanin and so these instruments here bassoon and trombone are are playing most of the Baseline so you're not going to hear really a melody on this particular one you're going to hear a little except of the Baseline near the end of the piece you guys ready I'll come on right oh yeah it's a where we starting 55 all right there I'll count you [Music] right thank you before they sit down for good they're going to play for you uh also a little excer from In the Hall of the Mountain King which was composed by Edvard Reed and this is one of his most famous pieces in the modern era I think you probably recognize it it's been used in a lot of TV shows and movies as well such as most recently trolls I believe awesome in the Theo know where you're starting [Laughter] [Music] ready take two take two don't worry about it it's all good sounds good sounds great [Music] right woohoo fabulous job I should say that Ben just started onon what a few months ago right amazing that was so good beginning of the summer nice job so now we have some play for you a little short piece as well you guys want to introduce yourself first come on up who's first my and I because my great grandmother actually play the and like it's a fun instrument because you're not always playing the main awesome thank you samello hi mainly joined band just because I wanted to pursue music I always thought it would be interested pick the horn because it sounded funny love it thank you all right so uh so uh we just uh observed veteran thing on Monday so for this concert we're doing a a a tribute to the Armed Forces uh Armed Forces on parade and it has all the service songs except for Coast Guard and space force unfortunately so uh we're going to start uh so we're we're not going to play for you the whole thing I think we're doing the Air Force Air Force theme correct all right I did that g one two [Music] [Applause] well thank you for listening to us and hopefully uh you you're all invited to the concert uh tomorrow night at the high school and uh we're going to have another concert too in March that's going to feature some local composers and uh maybe some student composers as well well thank you so much I can guarantee that will be the best part of this entire meeting sorry Miss Lashelle yeah yeah thank you guys that was awesome and G yeah so good thanks parents for bringing them out thanks everybody have a good night have a good night see you pal so so uh I just wanted to preface the the conversation that Miss L Chapelle is going to have tonight uh is as with other principles when students have come to perform I basically just wanted all principles to give an outline as to what's happening in the schools obviously this is Aaron's first year uh as principal of the middle school it's not I want to just you know contextually there are lot lots of moving parts right now at the middle school and tonight's not the night for us to go into detail as to what's happening with regard to you know scheduling uh World Language other other issues that that may impact budgetary concerns uh as we move forward so with that being said I did want eron to just share with you uh how things have been going for her for the first few months since July 1 uh and uh give an overview so thanks you thank you for having me um I didn't know if they were be on so I was start by thanking Mr jumped at the opportunity when I said student performer so looking forward to the concert tomorrow um it's been a definitely a big transition from assistant principal to principal um but I am so supported by an awesome team um of other building leaders as well as Jim and Mike U so the transition's been going well I think I don't want to say I'm settling in because every day is a new A new challenge but um it it's been a really positive uh change for me personally in in the transition and the difference the provides you know every so often we need that in our lives I think to challenge ourselves so it's it's for sure doing that um I will say I've been overwhelmingly impressed with the level of Engagement in classrooms of the Middle School um it's it's really it's obviously very different than the high school but especially seeing you know sixth graders and their excitement for Learning and those aha moments um and the high level of Engagement 67 has been really really posi to basis um safety has been a big Focus for us this year um districtwide but the Middle School um we've had a couple other things at the start of the year that have caused us to really focus on safety not only safety in the building but making safe choices online and messaging and things like that so we've had a couple class meetings where we've talked about um Building Safety our safety plans as well as uh how to be appropriate online on social media things um we had class meetings on Wednesday where we reinforced our Alice protocols and then we rolled up a say something Anonymous reporting app with the grade six seven and eight and did a training on that um really really well received by students they they've done an awesome job of asking questions and bringing up concerns when they have them about peers and um I'm really proud of of the way our students are stepping out to look out for each other um I started the year putting parents of middle school as well as the staff that my entry plan really this this year focuses on mainly observing so I told them then I'm gon to see things I'm going to hear things I'm G to count meaning looking at data and then my goal is the end of January beginning of February to put together a very small report which I'm sure I will come here to present on kind of findings um of what I think is going really well at the middle school um and then areas that I think we can look to improve over the coming years um so I I I ask a lot of questions on a daily basis and I am so lucky that the staff has been willing to openly share so I've had amazing conversations with I can pretty much say every staff member at this point with the kind of their feelings on things that they really enjoy about the middle school things they want to see stay things that they are open to changing and their ideas for that change people have definitely felt I I feel at least comfortable coming to me and saying this is what we think this is what we hear this is why this has been done so it's been really positive for me to feel welcomed immediately by the staff and um that they have that Comfort level to to talk to me um I I said in the beginning of my first year I I wasn't going to come in with any major changes and as Jim alluded to um one thing that we do know we are looking at is is a schedule change for next year so I'm not going to get into details on that right now but I'll give you kind of where we're at with things just in very General overview um I I do have a good number of years of experience with scheduling from the high school um doing the master schedule for seven years and then was really lucky to be a part of the Desy scheduling cohort last year to evaluate schedules from an equity lens um so did some really really great work with with them and immediately when I started in July 1 looked at the schedule from that lens of saying where are areas that I think we can improve and make changes um and what are things that work well well um so I started the year again asking a lot of questions but then did put out a survey optional voluntary to the entire faculty and staff of the middle school and I think got really solid feedback of what they really really care about and want to keep and got a lot of honest feedback of things that they're open to for change so I think when we think of schedule we often think of things like times and blocks and that is something we're looking at but I think looking at some of our data I'm starting to throw out things of do we need to look at curric ulum and and options and changes and so those are things that I plan to come and talk about in the coming months with you you all um but really The Faculty I felt like anyone who took the survey was very authentic and honest in their feedback of what they really care about keeping and what they're open to when we look at saying we're going to change something what those changes might look like and giving some good suggestions um the biggest challenge I would say this year has really been um a staffing change in in needs um we still have some open positions at the middle school we have an open school psychologist position our other school psychologist is new this year she is absolutely fantastic um so we have we have a plan in place working with Britney Hawkins and director and the student services to use um an outside um company to help do some of the testing and then Kelly Roy our school adjustment counselor is helping with the counseling piece but that is definitely a ho that we're struggling to still fill we have an open special education teacher position right now which again we've been able to work to get emergency licenses and piece things together to cover and satisfy requirements but again a person that we're missing um and then World Language has been a real challenge to find qualified candidates that are licensed um and to keep them um and find them to be a good fit for our building so those are ongoing challenges that we're working on dayto day to make sure our students have the best experiences possible um and the highest level of Engagement and learning that that we can put out there positives definitely um I feel the positivity in the building every day I think the culture and morale I don't know what it previously was like but I feel really good about where it's at right now um we're adding a lot of fun to Middle School which was a big request of parents when I met with them this summer so we're doing a spirit day every Friday we've been planned for the rest of the year um and teams and grades have really jumped on fun things as well so grade level spirit and grade level fun and games and events um even the staff jumping into wanting to do some fun staff things um like staff secret secret underground spirit days that the kids don't know about which is going to be funny um breakfasts and again I really just reinforcing I think with the faculty and staff that I'm here as part of their team and to listen and to feel comfortable coming with you know questions concerns comments and that might door is open so it's been a a good transition it's been a lot but it's been good so thank you does anybody any questions for Aaron I'm just curious about the psychologist thank you um you just about the psychologist and and sort of what the case load is for a psychologist and is that is that a person who's available to kids who just want to talk or is that only a part of like I support for students and IEPs I'm just trying to get a sense of how sign the impact is of only having one set of two uh there's definitely impact um School psychologists do the testing for students on IEPs and student on IEP counseling um Sarah has done a fantastic job at working her schedule to meet as much of her case load as she can and Kelly Roy like I said we have a we have a plan in place so student services are being met um but it's definitely being felt with regard to testing and I think the unknown is um if anyone reest evaluations and things like that so Sarah knows her day-to-day management of case loads and can kind of schedule out re-evaluations and things like that um but when things come up that are new uh it's definitely something that she's she's fitting in which is where we're using partly using um uh contracted service to help with offset that testing need yeah and and that so that those folks are involved exclusive with the IEP process they not so that's so school counselors are three school counselors and then Kelly Roy our school adjustment counselor would be day-to-day access for any student who needs support yes yep that's my thought yep typically and I agree so but Kelly this year we've had to transition into some of the special education so she has a because of it y normally that's not the case right big team effort at the middle school great good to hear good I think we're good Erin thank you so much welcome to your new job oh thank you thank you we're so happy to have you it's good to see out the traffic when we come first good morning yes thank you okay next up is the mcast presentation Dr Kyra get it up there this is the accountability data presentation from last there you go okay yeah so thank you so much I'm glad we're able to present this today I know that we hoping to this at the last meeting but we are are now on film and and ready to go so my hope my hope today is to um give you just really an an overview of some mcast and some accountability data uh to to just let you know where we've been where we're going look at the landscape of our assessments um and then just sort of show you some trends that we've observed um there are trends that we want to show from across the state as well as how the ash Public Schools is comparing against the state uh and then take a little bit of time to highlight some areas of Celebration as well as talk about some areas that we need to make sure that we are working to improve and to continue to improve um as we you know always want to make sure that we are giving our students the best opportunity to succeed and the achievement scores are one way that we can measure that growth first and foremost I think it's important to talk about you know who we are who are we teaching who are the students that are in front of us uh because we are looking at the data from 20 the spring of 2024 I think it's important that we're actually talking about the students who were assessed so the data that's in front of you right now is actually um the the enrollment data for students in the 23 24 school year um I'm not going to go through the entire data point that's in front of you but I think it's important to know that these These are the students that that we have in front of us obviously we have a large El population um particularly at the war Elementary School 11.1% of our students um are English Learners and I think it's also important to note that you know our students who have first language not English know 35.8% of the population Mendes so so Mike is is that the student or is that the the the household that's the household okay the first language is not English yeah so it's not necessarily representative of that they haven't had English from the get-go but it's it's more like the the the entirety of the family that first language is is not English in in hous okay yeah and then obviously you see our our percentage of students with disabilities um you know I want to explain that the idea of the ashon preschool looks obviously High that's because we are an integrated preschool and that's the purpose of our preschool population so you see that as 35.5% comparative to the other the other schools but that should be much higher obviously and can I just ask a couple questions this just um looking at the progression of percent El right so we we preschool shows 23.7% then you get down to the high school 4.5% um is that a a representation of the progression of students that when they sort of I say test out a VL support and that occurs over time or is this an indication of the changing population yeah it's a representative of both of those things actually so um it's great to see that we we're moving from you know War Elementary at 11.1 down to 4.5 at high school and that is sometimes representative of the fact that students are now formerly known as English Learners because they are testing out uh but it also is just generally representative of the population of students but both of those things combined I think you might see a little different next year when we look at this data because we are higher at some of the upper levels than we are at some of the lower levels it has changed um but yeah Mark bring up a good point is really both of those factors would could create that discrepancy and then just looking at the the percentage of students with disabilities starting to understand the point you made about the preschool it does strike me as a little odd that like their lower elementary and our high school have similar numbers and then the two other schools in the middle age group are there and I'm like is there something there or is it just by Quirk so so we have to determine if there's something there you know one of the hardest parts about uh special education is determining that we are ensuring that students are getting what they need but also to ensure that we are not um over qualifying students and that we are looking at the systems that we have to put in place to ensure students are getting what they need before we go to the route of special education uh and that's something that we're really dedicating ourselves to particularly at the at the elementary level um I I I'd like to think that one of the reasons right now that our war numbers are a little lower is because we have been a really good job um looking at data and putting data teams in place there and that's where we have started that process uh I think that you know the work that that Pete and Kate had started and now that Erica is following along with with Pete over at Warren have helped to identify early struggling Learners and providing them with the interventions and supports that are needed to ensure that they are not ending up qualifying for Education plans uh so I think that that could be part of that reason um so we have to you know watch the trends and see if if you know the implementation of some of our mtss resources and and and looking at data in a a more detailed vein will will help to keep this trend alive here that's the goal and and and the students with disabilities those are you're using that phrasing there's ones that are receiving some form of special education services correct so so this any any student who is on an IEP is a student with disability so uh if if they are receiving speech and language support they are accounted for in in this in this percentage number thank you thank you so here's the assessment Lance I think this is important to talk about because we want to see where we are so in 2019 obviously there was a full mcast test Administration but then things changed in 2020 we did not take the mcast and then in 2021 we had the half of of a test and then back in 2022 was the reimplementation of mcast uh I just think it's important to see that this that things have things have changed slightly over time since 2019 and when we look accountability data we are still being compared to our preo data which is 2019 so when you look at the accountability numbers we're still in many areas as a state and as a district trying to get back to where we were and those are some of the things I'm going to talk about later on in the presentation um but it's just it's just a to me this is a good slide to show that this is this is a trend now that we have to get back to 2019 where they had the old full test Administration and then we slowly got back there now other things that we've implemented here in Ashland in particular to get more data about our students is now we do have the K to8 Universal assessment for I ready inds we are doing those things which we were not doing in 2019 for for our entire School District uh we have Universal literacy screeners that came into play in 2023 to Ure that we're trying to find uh any students who are struggling we showing a potential for dyslexia we have all those things in place now um we've developed data team meetings we've partnered with S3 to help us look at the whole child particularly at the Warren school and hopefully that work will continue on to the MZ and then we now we have a system too that I've showed you many times that open architect system and that is controlling or helping us to look at data in a in a really more rigorous way we have we have a system in place now where we can look at student data over time and um we have all of our assessment results in that in that one dashboard system to be able to make sure we have consistent use of it across the district so what are we seeing you know these are the trends uh massachus these are the Massachusetts Trends so in general um there was an average decline for all students particular in ela across the state as you can see in 23 2023 45% of the students in the State uh were meeting or exceeds and that dropped by 3% in the state um and then in 2024 there was no there was really no relative change in math it was about 42% meets and exceeds uh that was really no change from 23 uh and there was a slight Improvement actually in the state in science which was interesting um about 1% more students matter exceeded um based on their achievement score in science but one thing we do know is that across the state there's still significant ground that needs to be made up to our preo testing uh there there know learning loss is something that we've talked about it's a it's a topic that folks get a little bit antsy about but it's real did happen there there was there was a time in place for students the gaps were created and we've noticed that and we real it and we still have a lot of work to do to get to where we were preco hey Mike I don't know if you know the answer to this or anybody's has the answer to it but obviously when you when you have a standardized test and you take it this year you take the same you know I went back fifth grade last year and this year they're different tests they're meant to be the same level if you will but inherently there is some differences and so even with the same group of kids they might they might perform slightly different do we have any gauge to what the state would consider similar scores you know what I mean so like I said they're different and question a and question B could be thought to be the same level but you give them to the same group of students and they won't necessarily perform 100% the same right so uh whenever you have a test that isn't the exact same test uh comparing it to the other one there has to be some margin uh yeah I'm I'm not really sure how to answer that I I I think that not only is it a different test but it's also a different cohort of students as well that you're looking at each year right um I don't know if I'm answering your question Paul I'm not sure if I'm understanding part of it is like hey if if it goes from 45 to 44% meaning you know you draw you know at some level you don't draw a big conclusion about small differences because yes it's different cohort but it's also even if you took the same test you went back in time said okay I'm gonna give you this one and this one they're not going to score the exact same score on those two tests sure yeah I think the reason I'm showing this particular information is to say that across the state though there was there was an average dip right for for the entire state so if we're seeing potentially some dips in Ashland it follows the same model of what we saw overall in Massachusetts he's preparing us for what's next apparently not IND in a way us problem everybody if if we see some struggles or we see our our numbers go down that is on par with what happened across the state of Massachusetts in 2024 that's why I think it's important to show this right and I think your point is Paul like and it's a good one but however you correct I don't know what what the terms are the margin of error or the um the VAR right they they statistically are thinking about those things I'm sure it's not that they don't consider it when they score but at the same time you just can't you can't prepare for every single thing like maybe they make one question a little harder the next year and one a little easier and that's supposed to balance out but that's probably going to happen from year to year yeah no and and and I wasn't I wasn't comingling the two things one is getting the state data and seeing the trends over the entire cohort of the state is valuable and understanding how we did and that kind of normalizes it for that test right um but when you compare years right it's not it's really hard because it's not the same test and the test is the variable there as well not just right and that's like where the human imperfection comes in they have people saying that question in 2024 is is equal in difficulty to the same one that they asked the next year but abich did you have something you wanted to share my understanding is they what they do is they scale it so it's it's kind of like a vurve system in that they if they see that a question question a last year got 50% got it right 50% got it wrong and this year it's 60% and 40% they'll do their best to scale it so that they'll take they'll take a question that other people got wrong and and kind of weigh it out so I mean that makes sense the real variable there is not whether the test is actually more difficult or easier I mean while that does play a factor it's it's more actually the cohort so I think think the real the real actual thing that would further demonstrate the data is seeing if this cohort did better last year than they did and now it's a decrease or something like that like comparing this year to last year for the same group of students awesome that's helpful thank you so what I what I wanted to do to now is just to sort of show you subject by subject how we are comparing um to the state so particular in ela if you notice that you know our numbers in meeting exceeds we did drop um 3% from the previous year um and you can see that you know over time in 2019 you can see where our numbers were we we are we are on a downward spiral right now um we had a slight increase from 22 to 23 and then we dropped a little bit in 2024 in terms of our overall average U overall meeting exceeds numbers the percentage but we do remain 14% above the state average so we've consistently been about that if you can look at this these you know this line graph to see that we are about the same way we've been throughout in comparison to the state but there's some work to be done know seeing that we are 3% dip from the previous year is something that we need to look really need to look at um what I do like seeing is that our SGP while it didn't grow it remained about the same so any over a 50% SGP it means our students are growing the way they are expected to so 50% growth is the goal all the time that means we're getting about that full years of growth for a student um again our average scaled score was 503 um it was one point lower than the previous year but again we're above the state average by eight points uh in the LA and this this is our entire cohort of students I'll get into some more details about grade levels in schools as we move further on the present in map again we also saw a slight dip from the previous year 1% but we remain 18% over the state average 60% of our students are meeing exceeding in math um with an average scaled score of 506 which is a drop from last year is 507 but again it's it's 11 points higher than the state average our SGP went down slightly um by 2.2 points but again we are over the state average by 8.6 points but still I think seeing the fact that our our SGP is well over 50 gives me hope that our students are performing well in terms of our average growth Mike what what has been the um the score for high school graduation I mean I know got a whole thing changing there but but you know where we're seeing like 506 here in math is is there a certain number that was what people had to hit to graduate yeah so in terms of uh graduation you have to be partially meeting um the mcast requirements so that number can change based on year-to year um I I can take a look at when we get when we get into the the high school math data I might be able to glean what what the what the difference was in terms of the score between uh partially meets and needs Improvement was I don't know what the cut off necessarily was but there's a very low percentage of students in national public schools are not meeting um we we we're not one of those towns right now who were having a large number of students that we were afraid were not going to make that uh graduation requirement in terms of science no change from the previous year in terms of meets and exceeds and we remain 60% above above the state average but we but our scale score did go down by two points 4 there is no SGP in science so that's why there's no data there uh because we're only taking it every few years they don't they do not measure SGP for our for our students in the area of science there's a interesting bump up in 23 to 24 like there's a a bigger spread between the um State average and our scores as I'm reading it is there anything that we figured so if like I'm looking at the the line chart on the left hand side right yep there's a we're closer 23 to 24 yeah it is I don't know how big that number is um but is there anything we pointed to or think is the that has result in that positive change there yeah so as I said in the in the in that first slide um the state went up the state did go up slight Improvement in science so it went from 43% meets the St to 44% I I I don't know what accounts for that I'm not sure well I'm looking like we we I think we as a district right we went 23 where the green where the green and the state is the the state it shows up it's blue on my screen but that's right right he's talking about the bump from two years from 22 to years ago2 that that huge bump like did we identify what might have contributed to that I don't know I don't know what yeah do I thought you talking no no 22 23 we did have a significant increase yeah and then we've leveled off since then so so Mark the cut off just for mcast 10th grade I looked up was 486 for for the CD the comp comp comp C determination yeah thanks thank you Jim now looking at it by school so at Mendes um looking at Ela first so we we dropped down in terms of our students meeting an exceed in the LA um but we increased in math so it's interesting data to look at um we went down by 4% and we're only 6% above the state average in terms of the students that are meets and exceeds in in our average scill score went from 500 to 497 uh average SGP also is under 50 which is which is an issue uh something that we need to look at and we need to understand why and I can I'm going to break it down a little bit further into the actual grade levels to see where we are seeing the most struggle U but it is something that that certainly brings a level of concern to our to our attention and things that we're we're talking about um at the districtwide level during our curriculum meetings curriculum leadership meetings as well as at the school level to dig into that to dig deeper into that data in terms of math uh it was an increase like I said 55% of our students are meeting exceeding and that is a 2% increase from the previous year and we're still 133% above the state our scaled score stayed the same and our SGP was a slight increase so in math right now I'm feeling very positive things are going well at the elementary level and it's interesting because we've we've talked a lot about over the course of the last few years um of looking at a different math program U but I think we've we've gotten really good at teaching using the program that we are using utilizing and we've also added some some great resources as well um so we're feeling confident in the area of math right now particularly at the 3 to five level uh but in the area of ela it's something that we have to make sure that we are taking a good hard look at breaking it down by grade okay now you know you can see that grade three um we were 7% down from the previous year uh we we were at we were at 60% meets needs and now we're only at 53% again I want to continue to say we are still well above the state average but we need to be improving each year as a district and when I see that our average skill score in grade three went from a 502 to a 498 that's something that we have to talk about um there's no SGP in grade three obviously because it's the first time student are taking the test grade four there was real no there was no change um except in SGP our SGP dropped by 5.4 points um this and it actually is an area where we dropped below the state average so grade four Ela in terms of the growth that students made is something that we have to take a hard look at um it's it's still the same in terms of students meeting and exceeding is that number didn't change but we're not at that 50% SG GP and we really need to be uh in terms of grade five we also saw a dip right we went from a 500 average skilled score in 23 to a 496 average skill score our SGP is just under 50 but in in 2023 it was over 50 so we are we are indeed seeing right now a dip in grade three four and five in terms of bla uh when we took a deep dive into the data of the Cy it's really about writing our writing our writing scores are where we struggled our essay writing in particular our in our narrative writing so what have we already decide to do we have implemented already this year um some professional development some professional learning strictly in the area of writing I'm really proud of the work that our brand new literacy coach at Mendes has already implemented she has um held two if not three uh professional workshops shs uh for our staff looking at writing and looking at um narrative writing in particular uh we are we are talking about small group writing and what we're what we're doing in our small groups to make sure we are implementing uh small group instruction and um the teachers are taking to it and and and she is going to hopefully at some point come to the school committee to present some of the work we're they're doing I been meeting with our literacy coaches on Friday um to learn more about exactly how they're implementing you know these writing processes um but Suzanne has made it her task right away uh because we looked at this data in the summer and we said these is this is what our goal needs to be um also you know folktales folktales M hands up I don't know if that was in yeah my hand sorry I was just can I ask a quick question of course sure um sorry I don't know how to lower my hand now so um just a question following up on abash Shack's comment about following the cohorts since grade five is one of the areas that dipped are you are you going to have this writing skill in the sixth grade too because the grade five port's now at the middle school or what's the idea there so I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves Mary with that but yes there is there is certainly some um we are certainly talking about um some some potential changes uh for the way we are teaching um Ela at the middle school and uh I don't want to give any any no that's fine I was just I was just curious like about because I thought it was a really good point like if you follow the the classes which I'm sure you do because there's so much data we um we are highly uh we are looking at some some potential changes specifically as we look at the schedule at the middle school and one of the major focuses is going to be writing okay I don't want to that politically correct well done can I ask a quick question tou on an important point they're both smiling I don't know if you can see what's going on over here but I can't see you guys but I'll I'll go it's something they're working on okay I don't want to go quick question about the the writing piece and it says like the idea development so is is are the the areas that you're able to pinpoint where students are are struggling or where they need where we need to see more growth I guess I should say is it around like the Senate structure piece is it around the mechanics and like the punctuation and spelling and that type of stuff or is it a combo thereof it's mostly about about developing their ideas and being able to take their ideas and write a coherence piece of thre okay cerent coherent asset yeah so one of the things that Suzanne has done is she has implemented a a graphic organizer for sentence and paragraph structure that type of stuff everybody is utilizing and and she has done one of her first pieces of professional learning for the staff was to introduce this new graphic organizer um we are also working on that at the kada2 level as well particularly our SEC our first and second grade team has developed rubrics and for writing development knowing that this is this is an issue across the board obviously it doesn't just start at MES right so we are looking at um creating better rubrics that can help us to uh understand where our students weaknesses are in writing but but knowing that it's about idea development we're taking a look at these graphic organizers and introducing these so students can now know I can develop this on my own when I go and and have to create an essay for mcast okay yeah they're more interested you in that development versus the the the grammatical errors I wasn't sure exactly which pieces they're not focused on that when they're looking at the grading aspect of it it's what's the development of the idea do you have evidence to to support that idea Etc and and I think with abash and then Marcy bringing it up I do think it's probably important to make sure understanding what we're looking at here when we say grade three and how that it's about our instruction and delivery to the students and how uh and it's not about following it's not those students compared to last year it's comparing this group and how we delivered and and and how they absorbed and performed uh it's so so it's different than following students with this information but we do have the information both from thecast scores and also I ready and all our other assessments for tracking students gr that's why SGP become such an important thing to look at as well because the SGP is really about the cohort right how how your students perform formed over time that's why I always I personally think that is the most important data point that we have and that's why I look at this data and I'm concerned that we are not at 50% as or at 50 for SGP in grade four and grade five am I right remember Mike that I mean we feels like as long as I've been on the school committee and we've looked at data like this you know Mendes has largely hovered around the 50% threshold MH in both math and Ela so I mean that I know you're probably going to go to it next but the the math data that's that that's There's real positivity there right sure it's huge I mean you're you're you're getting the kind of growth that we really were only getting at the middle school before and you know obviously the ELA data you get dig into it and what you already have and Implement a plan to to correct for that but you know there is there's some real positive stuff here too and um you know I think we've always like I said seems like mes was always the one that didn't perform as well on the mcast one tool right just one tool but historically that's the accurate that's an accurate statement that that has been M this has been the school where we have seen the lowest the lowest um achievement scores and and growth as well right right yeah but then we look at math which is a great segue Mark and I I was just t for and and I'm thrilled in particularly with looking at this grade four data if you look at grade four 62% of our students are meeting or exceeding and that is 6% higher than the previous year uh but not to get too positive about things because I I I want to make sure that we're we're hitting everything every every data point SGP went down in grade four so we have to determine what happened there you know only dropped 2.2 points but it still it still went down we're well over 50 but I I want I want to dig deep a little bit so we need to need to you know take this and see who are the students that did not perform you know or or move up in their SGP um although although SGP is one of those ones where you want to say hey is there something there to it but slight fluctuations when you're you know like if you had a great year we had a great it's like okay so so but you know you'd always want to build on that but going from 60 to 59.7 you know there may not be there's probably going to be some fluctuation there that's that's okay but when there's twoo difference was there something to look at and address right which is what we have look it won always be yes there must be something right absolutely and in grade five um we we sort of S held strong I you know we had you know a slight dip in our average scill score but our SGP improved we're at 60 and our 53% of students are meeting exceeding I think we do have a lot to celebrate in terms of you know what we've done what we've accomplished in math particularly at at the MZ school um the the the the the areas where we continue to struggle uh our word problems right that that's something that we've been working on for a long time as well and I think that um as we look into writing and we improve our writing we also can look at how we are EXP explaining our mathematical problems as well so those those are hopefully areas that we can improve upon at the mes other areas for improvement um decimals are always an issue uh that's something that has been consistent um and we've also continually struggled a little bit um with things like quadrilaterals um and you know numerical expression so these are these are typical problems that we that we have found uh and and we need to make sure that we're continuing to change our instructional practices around those all I can say is that list makes me ask that question about am I smarter than a fifth grader quad I don't even remember what some of these things are you know and you you're going to find some themes too that that that we are struggling in the same areas that that we struggled around this the state struggled as well and to to talk to you a little bit about how we chose these areas for improvement these are areas where we saw a significant dip in in how we performed the year before or in some cases we may have been actually below the state average and that's why we said these are the these are the main areas for improvement um looking at the middle school can I fre I'm go back yeah just for one second I'm just struggling to reconcile something in my head and and I'm sure it makes perfect sense so when you look at I'm looking at like grade four math grade five math right so grade four we had 62% of our kids were meteor exceeding at a 57.1% SGP in grade five you have 53% right smaller number in terms of those who are meting or exceeding but we had 60% growth even better growth Y and so it's sort of like how do we have better growth but fewer kids meeting or exceeding because some of our students um may have been a low partially meet but they may have almost reached that threshold of meats so they showed a great deal of growth but they never they never changed from partially Meats to to meets so they you know they may have just barely made it and now they're right on the cusp of meeting so that allows for that that increase in the there could be growth within you could go from meets exceeds that number didn't number wouldn't change but you know what you know back to the grade four you look at that green line or that blue line however it looks on your screen it's continuing to rise from 2019 we are we are absolutely On The Rise there in terms of you know our students who are meeting and exceeding so that's that's probably my favorite graph to look at in this of course in this whole presentation yeah you can see that in the data too um it goes from 30% um in in fourth grade at um partially meeting to 39 um and then it goes from 50 in fourth grade to 43 so that just that shift leads to more people actually growing and saying going from the not meaning expectations to a partially meeting expectations while still there's a set amount of people not reaching that threshold you have better eyes than I do we're also not smarter than a 10th grader right 11th grader 11 or 10th grader so look looking at the middle school um again Ela a slight dip from the previous year 58% U but our SGP went up uh in ela and then in math again a dip in our students meeting are exceeding we're still over the 61 you know at the 61% uh but our SGP went down as well so we so it's interesting that in math at the Mendes we're really happy uh but we're looking at the numbers at the middle school and that's where we have to take a closer look at what's going on and and just to follow up on something Mark said I mean I think just questioning the how the SGP and percentage of Medan exceeding relate to each other U if you look at Ela for middle school for example we went up 2.5 but went down a percent and and so when we always talk about uh closing gaps do we look at the data to ensure that that growth isn't just our students that were you know in the upper part of you know and we that we that were closing the gaps and not making essentially larger gaps because we really uh helped those exceed higher but we didn't you know do this you know get the same results so even if that Gap is the same we want to want to close that Gap not make them larger so I think those kind of correlations can yeah digging into that can say hey are we are we doing what we want to do as far as closing those gaps because that might indicate a little bit more of a spread right that hey we got we got that but we didn't get people crossing this particular line now it could have been growth within the bottom part of that we could have closed gaps because it could have been on bottom too and and the data shows it right there Paul because you can see that you know in 2023 12% of the population wasn't meeting but 13% the population wasn't meeting in the LA in in 2024 so that that that increased by one um so that is an area that we have to work on right why why are we seeing an increasing the amount of students who are not meeting that chart shows also emphasize the point you were making before Mike about if you look at 2019 versus 2024 like the growth and the meats all look decent but look back to where 2019 was we're not there yet that's right we have a lot of work to do to catch up to get to get to those pre-co numbers so there's an 11% increase in both or like an 11 Point increase in both uh meeting and exceeding and the average sdp from between the Mendes and then it jumps up to the middle school so do you think that could be like a a curriculum issue or what's what do you see that discrepancy being caused by these are these are the conversations that we you have to have out sh so I it it it could be a curriculum issue it could be a cohort issue and it could be um uh the fact that we are trending the same way the state trended this year but you're bringing up the exact questions that we're talking about during our our curriculum leadership team meetings and we are right now in a cycle where we have not taken a real hard look at our middle school math curriculum in a long time um and we we need to take a look at exactly what we're using uh so you're you're a step ahead of the game my friend that's something that we're going to be taking a good look at this year we H we have to identify the problem so we know what what problem we're fixing so by grade level um Ela by grade you can see that across the board um you know 56% of our students in grade six met are exceeded we went down a little bit in grade seven we went down by 1 percentage point in grade eight our average scaled score went down in grade seven by 3 points but in grade six and in grade 10 it went up uh and our SGP um increased across all of the grade levels so you know we're we're we're doing relatively well in in ela um at the at the middle school level uh where we see some improvement again writing narrative writing writing it was the same it was the same as as the mindes data in terms of where our struggles were um one of the common themes similar to uh finding about folktales at the at the mindz school where we struggled was poetry at the middle school level so a lot of the questions that were related to poems our students struggled with so we've got we've had to have those conversations at the middle school level what are we doing to ensure our students are understanding different passages understand the elements of poetry so so Mike I I know we're looking to get these numbers back up at the macro level but if you look at grade six and grade seven our curve relative to the state curve we tanked a lot more uh during covid than the state did y have we identified those areas and made the adjustments in their those areas in particular that uh because obviously you know particularly the grade seven right uh those those curves aren't even close to being so we we obviously went down quite a little bit for some number of reasons and and did we go back and understand that to make sure we're we we're we're adding those Focus supports not only based on hey but this past year but going back to ensure we we're closing that whatever gaps obviously occurred there relative to the state right we we obviously well underperformed relative to the State as far as yeah we can we can certainly go back and look at that 20 you know 21 data and see where we struggled the most and that's something that I can I can do we have that we have that information I I can't say because it could be lingering right it could be hey we never really recovered from because obviously something was very a Miss I can't speak to that right now because it was you know quite a few years ago but I can tell you that I know with confidence that one of the areas that we struggled with that was also our writing it's consistently been writing I don't know what the other you know in detail with the other areas were but it was definitely writing it has been throughout this is interesting to go back and look at MES the our curve you know more closely approximates and if anything we did better in that uh I guess it be 21 year um as compared to the point Paul's making about we had a right both in ela and math from I'm sorry 19 to um so I don't in some ways you could you could if that was a Statewide kind of thing you could say Well it hit kids in middle school harder right but and there's some some showing of That in math but Ela is different yeah we really do do yeah do you guys also have any any data on whether the areas that you did um like earmark for improvement are have actually been improving like say um you marked essay writing down say in sixth grade let's say we got 50% in saay rating do you know if that went up to say a 70% no the re the reason that those were were listed as particular areas need of improvement is because we we either dipped or below the state okay so you know majority of the time it was either on par with where we've been and we fell below the state or we actually showed a decline in that particular area so my math math again same thing right you talked about that large dip from 2019 to 2021 we had a slight increase in 22 and what we're still seeing a steady decline in every area except in grade eight grade eight continues to be on the rise so we were 67% uh meets needs but back to that why are we going down in our SGP we we've got to figure out you know the correlation there U but overall um in you know math in at the middle school level is something that we have to take a good hard look at particularly grade seven right we have a 7% decrease um in our students meeting and exceeding and the SGP went down by 1.8 points um why areas of improvement again solving real world problems it was the same thing at the Mendes in the same thing at the middle school solving real world problems is an issue uh and we've got to make sure that we're we're looking at how we are um assessing the students regularly to see if they're growing during the school year and how are we in instructing the students in those areas um and and Mike just uh this is the only place where we're tracking growth obviously right so when we see hey we didn't get a good growth here we're we're looking at our other data points and other assessment tools that also give you the idea idea of a Year's growth and you know if if this particular data point because it's only it's mcast so it's one of the data points if there might be an anomaly hey the SGP only says this but these other two assessments that we're using don't show that it went down 2% you know they didn't show the dip then we can you know uh you know take this for just one of one of n number of data points right for for the most part our I already data is is matching okay um it's you know there are obviously some there are some discrepancies but more often than not we are we are seeing that gives us confidence in this too so have multiple data points to talk so ashon high school um Ela and math uh we saw a slight dip in ela we saw a slight dip in math scgp uh went down in math significantly um for the previous year but you know I I think it's important to note though we still well above the state average in the LA and math um areas for improvement in the two essay writing again and um again we we just picked out this particular one of math because this one was was well below and it's uh calculating the measure of the central angle of a circle given the radius of the circle and the length of the arc intercepted by the angle we picked that one out really to show snow no just Kidd that that was that was a piece that that we struggled with and we just picked that one out U as as a as an area that really wanted to show you how how much we're digging into this to say this is this is one of those questions that we need to make sure and this is where the open Architects really make this something that is practical to be able to dig and get that thing those those information readily as opposed to before it be a vared manual and and intensive task right now looking at science um because it's just in grade five grade eight and at and at the high school either nine or 10 when they take it uh wanted to just show you in general um how we're doing we had a 1% increase in grade five there's no SGP in grade five obviously because the first year there's no SGP at all in science um we did have a slight decrease at Ashton high school going from 69 to 68% average scaled score went down by two but in general our science scores have remained on Trend um this across the board what's the what's the deal with the graph for the high school or or why did 22 suck well we don't have we don't have two years of data yeah there some missing data okay yeah is that just what wasn't wasn't in the system yeah we didn't have it in the system okay so then there's also that accountability data piece um and just just to say that is that one data point a true data point or or should we look at that I mean that they would be the first data point that's below a state average yeah that's that's a that's a skewed system youe in the system we weren't below this data average yeah uh in terms of the accountability data overall classification we get an overall classification based on all of this combined accountability data and we are not in need of an intervention or assistance as a district um we have made substantial progress toward our targets that the state has set for us we met the target um for our recovery path for all students in the LA so recovery path is essentially are we moving towards where we were in 2019 we haven't we haven't gotten there yet but that's like a recovery the recovery path so the recovery path is based on are you still making um progress towards meeting where you were in 2019 so we did meet the target data for that at ashon high school um our non- high school students though declined by 8% in ela so that's something that we are a little bit concerned about obviously it's not a huge percentage point but there's a slight decline in our students who aren't in high school um our SGP uh for all students was high we were 50% or greater in our SGP in all areas and um we did meet our Target for chronic absenteeism obviously that was one of our superintendent district goals so we did meet that goal and uh all students exceed the target for progress toward attaining English language proficiency we we we are proud of that as well there's there's obviously a lot more accountability data that we can look at uh I did link it into the slide presentation if you want to take a look at it uh there's lots of things that we can talk about but I know this is more of a 10,000 foot view of the data so I wanted to just bring on a couple important takeaways is a top classification sort of the the sort of best if you will of of meaning we're not requiring assistance there's not like a exemplary or oh there are exemp there there are districts that are that that are you know considered exemplary districts and districts that are given honors so there is there are classifications to work towards yes um and then the reason for the classification um is we've made substantial progress we haven't met or something like that or it there are there are still targets that we have not met yeah and there are targets that we have met but we're making we're making progress towards all those targets so there weren't any Targets where we you know declined significantly do districts have access to each other's results like for instance like if an exemplary District like is it worth looking at how they are addressing writing for instance since that's a districtwide problem here yeah so I they have the dart data it's all accessible in the state we can go on and we can see what districts you know have done fantastic in in writing and I can certainly make some calls and talk about what they have done I do I do feel real confident with the steps that we've already made um especially in writing because we we got on it this summer and we said this is something that we need to make sure that we're actively uh trying to make changes for so we're addressing it right away but but I think that is important for us to you know reach out to other districts and to see what they're doing awesome thank you and this is just you know quick overall things where the celebrations where areas are concerned nothing that I didn't already really talk about when but just to sort of summarize things right right it's important to note we are outperforming the state in all areas we should be we we we need to be that's we hold ourselves to a a higher standard and we want to be a moral District but so we should be outperforming the state but it's important to note that we are we are outperforming the state in all areas um we had we had great SGP improvements you know 2% in grade six in ela 3.4% in grade seven but there was some decreases right in our meats that ex seeds grade three 7% decrease in grade three average SGP dropped by 5.4% in grade four and our 8% decrease in Meats exceed in grade five so we know that there are some areas of improvement necessary specifically in grades three four and five in the LA again you can see the celebrations from math we talked about those as well um we've got we've got some things that we that we need to work on so what are we going to do okay we're having in-depth reviews during our data team meetings so we have had data team meetings in place at the Warren school um now we need to make sure we're putting data team meetings together at the at the middle at the mindes school at the middle school level um mindes has started that data team meeting process they are taking in depth look at the data um and they are using some of the protocols that have been put in place at Warren so obviously Miss Alman was a part of that process she's been a member of the cohort that's working with the S3 team they're taking some of those uh processes and procedures and putting them in place at Mendes to have those difficult conversations and now what are we doing also for our intervention strategies we've talked already about we're hitting the ground running with with the writing we we've noticed that that is a problem so we're we're implementing some significant changes there we have to improve our intervention processes we' we've got to take a good hard look at what we are doing when we discover that students are struggling um we we have to have a better system in place for identifying struggling Learners and that's why we need to do a better job of looking like Paul you said looking at our early data from I ready you know because it is a good indicator of where our students will end up so we've got to make sure we're utilizing that data during our data team meetings to say here's a student right now who's falling in the red what are we doing for them to make sure they're getting what they need when they need it so there interventions are happening uh we have to do a better job utilizing our open Architects to be able to say here's where all the data lives let's get in there and take a look and uh we are still actively developing with them a process so we can have student interventions within those dashboards so people can see this is what has been done and this these These are the improvements that we have seen based on those specific interventions and I and I you know think that we need to take a good hard look and examine our current practices um specifically in in elementary literacy obviously we we've done a lot of work in that area um we're proud of the things that we have put in place particularly at the Early Elementary level um those students have not necessarily reached Mendes yet um from those different things that we put in place the kids that have had a couple years of hegerty the kids that have had the foundations they have not necessarily gone up to get tested yet I'm really interested to see what happens with our students who go from third to Fourth this year because they had they they were not the ones that have had two full two three full years years of it but they've had a couple so we talked about this in the summer I'm really interested to see what happens next year with our third and fourth graders um but we've we've got to take a good hard look at at at how we're teaching writing in particular and um where our where our growth if our you know if we continue to see a a decrease in in the in the meats and exceeds and the growth we may have to talk about ultimately making some changes is it um unrealistic to sort of have as a a say a goal and I don't mean that from a formal adoption of a goal but but sort of a an effort to see 60% SGP you know across math and math and Ela for of all levels I don't think that's an unfair goal that that that I I think 60% SGP in math and Ela across all grade levels is a is a goal that we should aspire far I mean that's it's a legitimate goal I mean 50% means we're doing a good job but 60% means we're we're really doing wonderful we're doing a great job yeah just you I know this came up at in some conversation we've had in the past I don't remember how long ago when we talked about 60% remember you talking about J in particular at the time Middle School was just knocking out of the park with 60% numbers and and you know the idea being that you know you build a set of 60s on top of each other from grade four to grade 11 or whatever it is you know you you're getting kids an extra year plus right in because you're each year you're starting at a sort of higher point on average right I mean kids are still going to be all over the map but um but that leaves them more prepared for what's next I I mean I just wanted to chime in a little bit when we start looking at all of our num numbers and and even coming out of Co Etc I think the one thing we haven't even mentioned tonight is the demographic has changed dramatically over this course of time right so I think about Mendes and in particular uh our our English Learners coming in you know there were like 24% in 2020 2021 it Rose to 31% in in two years so as those students are learning English and learning to take the test uh that's significant in how they're performing right so I think as we start to disaggregate the data we do have to step back and say okay where are these students and what is that you talk about growth Mark right that's where that growth of that 60% that's where we've got a Target and to your point Paul earlier it's okay look at these kids here how are they growing and then what's that look like continue 6 60 on the sgb gets to be pretty difficult yeah because you know you you continue to grow at that rate rate and now okay I'm supposed to be treat you as curriculum but you know it may not be a sustainable thing we used to look at the percentage above State average right I mean that was always a calculation that folks were looking at was okay are we 10 or 15 percentage points on average above the state average and and that would relate to growth but again I was explained earlier too that growth doesn't necessarily mean I may be above the state average year one and year two my growth may not be 60% it might just be the onee growth of 50% which is what is expected right it's that's the but the the point I'm making is the overall increase is what we should be looking at I think the other thing that I want to make sure I point out is when we when we looked at this this was the the entire District not broken down by demograph we've done that in our in our meetings in in our data team meetings and in our curriculum leadership me meetings we know where our weaknesses lie and it is it is in our our population of of high need students right that's where we need to improve our instructional practices and that's why we really need to look at our interventions and what we're doing to ensure that kids are getting what they need um when we disaggregate the data we we we see that the students that are falling below the meets and exceeds category are our students who are receiving English language support and our students that are receiving um special education support that that's that's what the data is showing us so we've got to do a better job for those particular students and you know I I have great faith in the work that Britney and Christie are doing because they are working really hard to work with our our teachers to meet the needs of those students but it's not just them we've got a make sure that everybody is getting there and that we're we're getting to the root of what the issue is and we have to change some of the way we're we're instructing on a regular basis not just during our pull out time not just during our El time or our specific time for those those students it's it's what are we doing in our tier one support for all of these kids so you know that's that's the root of it right and as you're kind of diving into the interventions is it I'm assuming I mean you guys work really well as a team but I'm assuming it's like with the diving into those interventions or not just looking at the tier one it's like pulling christe and pulling Britney and having those conversations because there's so much I would imagine that kind of across that like you said not just having it be those the the pull out or the targeted you know uh pieces but the full picture all together I'll use Christy as an example and and I've written it four times already tonight that she's got to be the next person in um and partly because before she came aboard we didn't have the structured curriculum for our our English language acquisition students right we we just didn't have it she is she started implementing it last year at Warren in Mendes so it's there is something now that we have that is standardized that is really helping our students um and that was a big push on her end uh so I think having her come and talk about that will be really critical for you to understand that we will be moving these students um along uh at a at a pretty high rate so and she is she's attending the DAT team meetings so Christie is going to these data team meetings and she's discussing the data with you know the regular education teachers as well as the uh elel staff sorry no goe I was just going to say looking at the data there's a lot of data there I think context is is the most important thing like you mentioned that um um and so and you also mentioned that we have in our graphs the state uh which in some ways is is is is like this macro thing that we're looking at from a somewhat of a distance because we're not using it as a bar we're using it as a shape maybe to see if we're shaped the same way I wonder whether um how easy it would be to pull because we want to give some context that's meaningful that doesn't take an hour to present but uh we do do it for a lot of other things I don't know if there's um curricularly similar districts that we would be able to graph and even that it might even be a hey this is one that might usually be a little higher than us but we want to we want to track and here's one that you know just I know they might be different districts than we use for all the other Financial stuff yeah so we have that data it's the dart data right on the Desi website and you know the districts that are similar to ours but when you start pulling those districts we can argue they're really not similar to AR defining similar correct but that's but that's how the state looks at it like similar um High similar e similar budgets similar like deim I I always like look at denam and Burlington no they're on our list from the state right but are they really similar districts right and we but we also have the ability to do that through open Architects so we can ask them to get the data from the districts that we choose and they put it on a dashboard for us I would rather you choose similar districts which we've done we have it we have that we have the ability to do that yeah because to me that would be that would be good if you're like hey here the you know not 10 of them but like there's three or four districts that we track and we we we think we're similar to or aspire to or or or things like that so so so an example right for 2024 these are the districts the state says they most similar to us Chelmsford Danvers Easton Foxboro Marblehead Marshfield North Andover seon stonum and tuesy those are the most similar according to the state based on our elll uh low-income you know standards that's and that's what they're looking at in total enrollment like so yeah it is interesting and that's changed over the years yeah right because it used to be Burlington used be D him um so right and we're changing correct our demographic is changing therefore how they're viewing us against the state is changing as well so yeah so um I think my last question is you know have you guys taking a look back at either the Strategic plan or the the the sort of the measurements you know the indicators of of accomplishing the different aspects of the Strategic plan or even this year's goals um to see whether there's anything that is suggested by the data either a building level grade level or districtwide that would be worth you know what let's let's look at this I think it's mostly around like the way we measure things it's not like new goals right but whether there's you know something in there saying like okay we've now identified Che Point Mike subgroups that we're not doing a great job with and you know is there that needs to be added in as a specific action or what have you to address things that the test CHS that we that we hadn't identified before uh not necessarily because I think I think we have have it identified already that the the the place that we need to make our biggest number of improvement are for our subgroups and we have identified that and we've also identified the fact that we need to improve our our intervention processes so I I think that this this data didn't necessarily show us anything that we didn't already know and that we haven't already identified in the Strategic plan um and just to go back a a moment too we we do have the comparable data for a number of other districts that Jim and I have already chosen um that we feel like are more comparable to us and of those 22 schools that we've or districts that we've chosen we're we're like smack dab in the middle in terms of our our achievement ratings for 2024 um so I you know obviously we're not going to elongate this presentation anymore but if this is something that you want to look at I I can certainly put something together about that too so Mark to your point I I I want to highlight from the Strategic plan the two components of the equity component right Max maximize the academic growth of every student uh and provide more Equitable access to all levels of curriculum and activities to provide more students with growth opportunities so those are things that we're focused on right from an academic standpoint that falls into the Strategic plan from an equity standpoint yeah I think what I was I didn't think that that would be that level but it was more like um if there was some indicator of success I forget what terminology we used around that that would say you know increase X by 3% yeah I we correct we haven't and and I don't know if there's something there or not no I think it's but and it's I'm not looking to yep go back and redo goals or no it would be the indic success yeah I just feel like I want to make to this point I look just just a quick little check here in terms of SGP and and Ela of the 22 districts that we feel are the most similar to us we we rank third in SGP in 2024 Ina for grades 3 through eight so when we think about where we we felt like we're struggling clearly the other those districts those districts may have been as and that that provides us the context some context to say we need to address this but the sky isn't falling we didn't we're not you know we're not we're not the Unicorn here that's struggling uh uniquely right right right right and the purpose of this meeting is that for us to understand that you are in fact looking at all those different you know angles different ways of of viewing this and and getting to the bottom of what we can control yeah and and having having a graph that kind of maybe shows that shows where we are there and then you know the next page can say hey what's our per pupil spending and relative to those same districts right and you know we'll see you know to compare those two you know that just kind of to what we're doing with with the resource we have and it kind of highlights that right yep excellent so Mike Mike offer to either do a 20 minute presentation or an hour presentation and we told go with the 20 minute there'll be a lot of questions some questions 20 minutes so you know I just try to give you the I just want them to know cuz they weren't a part of the original conversation that that there's like four times as much you could be talking it could be a three hour presentation if you know there's there's a lot to unpack there you only had about 11 slides so that lasted an hour when it was only supposed to be 20 minutes yeah no this is helpful I mean obviously you guys have your um you know finger on the pulse of what needs to be looked at and it's already part of um you know the plan of what you're doing so it's helpful um to share this so thank you yes thank you appreciate I actually got a question I'm I'm not trying to beat a dead horse on this topic here but um with the passing of the the new referendum this year um removing it as a graduation requirement do you still plan to place as much of a focus on mcast or how does your approach change is what I'm kind of asking that's coming up in a moment good foreshadowing okay the superintendent report there you go excellent thank you okay first we get to the calendar no we're going we moved that below below thank you I didn't cross it off on my list thank you Wars please uh between October 24th 2024 and November 13 2024 I Paul Kendall authorized by my signat payables the amount of 9,488 198 this includes general fund expenses of $469,500 revolving expenses of 43,6 $161.2 in Grant expenses of $ 28,1 7212 excellent thank you Paul now you can answer AB well I'll get there right okay um yeah just a few things one obviously uh last week um number of us attended the masc masss conference uh it was well attended uh overall across the state uh Chris and I did presentation on the first day on Wednesday um basically how to navigate the financial cliff caused from all the federal funds uh it was pretty well attended um and uh you know thank you for Chris for putting together a lot of of the work in into it to give us the data um secondly we are in the process of revamping our website as you I think I've mentioned previously our vendor that we currently have has been sold uh so we're in the process of of working through uh what our new website will look like like and you know stay tuned to that the goal is to roll it out July 1 uh as our contract ends with the current vendor on June 30th uh today Mike and I and as along with a number of other folks I had the good pleasure of of heading over to Holliston High School uh where our um unified basketball team was awarded the MIAA uh 2024 uh Team sportsmanship award uh it was awesome it was great so we got to watch them play it was actually all the tri valley teams were there it was it was it was just an awesome uh event and congratulations to our team for winning uh the sportsmanship Awards awesome they were actually nominated by another team right they were nominated by another team for their um that's awesome their sport it was great so now let's get to ballot question number two um mcass uh in the graduation requirement so my notes is I was writing them uh previously was you know there's still this Fallout right U we don't know what's going to happen still uh I Shar with the community and with the committee um the department of Ed's guidance on um on question two uh which takes effect on December 5th uh and what does that really mean for the students of Ashland and um and across the Commonwealth was currently the the students in the graduating class of 2025 do not need uh the passing um threshold on the mcap has to receive uh a diploma or what they they call the competency determination for your um for your diploma it's going to revert back to local control at at this point what I would caution folks is to not get too um carried away with this yet uh partly because uh we will have to look at our policy uh included in uh the school committee policies there are policies I was um at meeting yesterday Tim pavar who was the superintendent of Westwood who was at bica originally in their policy it actually States specifically that the students must pass the mcass so the mcast is not going away it's still going to be used for accountability to so to answer your question uh abash I hopefully our teachers have never emphasized that this is the most important thing to do is to pass the mcast because I I do not ever want that being the the message that we're sending at least from a teaching and an administrative standpoint it was important because there was a requirement to pass to get your diploma that being said the state there's still no opt out of the mcast folks are still going to be required to take the mcast it still will um Mike you know will still be presenting information on the mcast because it is a uh a data point uh and it is still going to be used for an accountability standpoint at the department of Ed at this point in time again caution to the wind there is possible legislative um actions that could come down the road as to what a diploma might look like even at the state level so one of the things that's being U bented around and Mark maybe you've heard a little bit in your circles but is are we looking at the mass core right as the a a common determinant for all districts to have uh for a diploma or we truly going to to go back and revert to local control in determining what that looks like um and then we can determine as a school district uh and school committee what that assessment is there going to be an assessment in addition to uh the classes that you're required to take um so so to your question hopefully we're not putting tremendous emphasis on it to begin with uh it's it's just a tool that the sophomores had to have um in order to get their their diploma we don't have that anymore there's also a little bit bit of concern and question mark with regard to our and ttin you and I were in that setting together uh at the conference on our special education students and how many of our special education students previous years have not in or current year have not passed the mcass that otherwise would have received a diploma had they met all of the other requirements uh for the schools um that we've set within our policy um I think we've identified one in in our system system um so what does that look like um and again I'm going to defer to our attorneys and to determine what is the best approach of action um coming out of the conference it was hey December 5th comes rolls around December six you reenroll those students you give them a diploma I was very surprised to hear that to be honest right right but that's what was said if I did not misinterpret no you you heard yeah that's exactly what she said who's that offen yeah so yeah MH so sorry yeah but but that was um that's a conversation that needs to happen um at all levels uh so so here we are it's still up in the air uh I think you've got the on record the center president and the governor uh who were um vocal against the mcast ballot um so we'll see if it goes anywhere within the legislator slative actions have you had any contact with the Senator's office I have not um but uh I plan to in the next day or two for a couple of reasons so Y in conversations that I um you know where state representatives were involved before the ballot initiative passed even those that were in favor of and clearly this wasn't like the whole house or anything but just you know kind of interest groups that there was very much a feeling that even if it passed um that it's as it move as things as the legislature starts back up in January that that there would be definitive you know Direction they're gonna be working on some kind of either a replacement or standard yeah that so so I would anticipate hearing something more definitive as the legislature comes back to session in January but what that is I don't know right and it puts districts in a bind though right depending upon how long it takes to if they decide to pass something um so right we'll see it's not the first time the state's left off a bind no not the first time nor will it be the last oh my that's where we are you set i'm set we would be in this did you have anything else Mike or was that your your show for tonight that's that was you've heard enough from me if you have something feel free to share well we had our py day on on the on the 5th um so we we went over our Alice protocols and procedures we talked about um getting ready to have a upcoming safety drill in the schools um the next month or so okay uh so teachers took some time to do that we had some building based learning and we also um had a presentation on special education law uh from an attorney which is really important information for all of our staff to understand unfortunately we have had a collaborative effort with ashack uh tremendous effort from uh Tracy terzano uh who worked with an organization from Easter Seals to try to get some um folks who live with disabilities to come in and talk to our staff about uh their life in in their struggles and the importance of uh inclusion inclusive practices uh but there was a transportation mishap and um they were not able to get to us to have actually have us listen so we're you know Tracy's efforts were tremendous and I want to thank her for the collaboration and uh we were it was unfortunate that it didn't work out but we hope that we can work something out in the future uh to have that program for our staff great thank you okay um let's do the calendar sure uh so each year I come before you to start getting the calendar ready for the next school year uh as you know we had a roundabout last year um over and over with the calendar uh so I've got two options I want to share uh for the 25 26 school year I will pull them up uh on the screen um this is the first option that um that takes into account and it does recognize the the um the religious observances that we've discussed here in the past uh what you'll notice about this calendar there are two key points uh one is uh that winter vacation uh goes through January 2nd again uh with the last day of school uh being set for uh June 18th uh should there be a snow day uh obviously that would uh move us into the following week the 22nd 23rd so the last day would actually be the 26th if you had five snow days um we have averaged just frame of reference in my 11 years one snow day per year uh so um that's option one and then we can come back to this option two uh is really just the removal of the the January 2nd so coming back after um the 1 and then so that obviously moves the last day to the 17th so it provides a snow day uh opportunity on the 18th um and we would go into the following week with the 25th actually being uh if we had five snow days um on the calendar so those are really the two um the two options that I've looked at now again I've as I've always done I've run this by um the union to make sure ensure we've had all our professional development days our early release days accounted for ETC and Kristen and I actually talked today um and everything's been accounted for um from a contractual standpoint it's really what's the what's the preference of the board uh in terms of the calendar that we can then share out to the community um I know we might might have reconsidered our calendar a little bit this year um you know with that January 2nd in the the time frame um starting on the 20th but uh this goes to the 23rd which is a half day um and then from there we have the break so thoughts questions concerns I don't think anybody's going to come in on the second if we if we have I don't either but that being said I I think we might even have trouble Staffing I don't I I will be honest I me talking to Kristen um she was she said to me she said Jim I I'd prefer to have the second as a school day because it provides us an additional opportunity at the end of the year to get out a day earlier right I get it um it's impactful if we have one one snow day that's right and because of juneth it's just the way it falls again that's the that's the the struggle here right it's on a Friday um so but but if I recall our current calendar one of the reasons we made a decision to add was because of we were concerned about that of absentee as in day right and so but we heard some later feedback that after that the second would be a good day to come back again I think it's six and one half dozen the other if we end up getting a snow day no very few people are going to come in on that Monday the 22nd too so correct it's you know I think but that that's probably a less impactful day to miss than than it might be right I I don't know I I think it's a Frid it's a Friday before I mean it's a Friday it's a Friday coming back from a holiday with only one day so no I H I don't think you're missing anym one the other to beon that's exactly what it is and and I don't even have any personal skin in this game obviously but I you know I I would want to use my vote on what I thought was going to be right for at least the majority of the district which I'm having a hard time getting to the bottom of I've had many families sort of thank us for giving us that extra time and I've also had a group of teachers sharing with me that they would much have preferred to be back in school so they could utilize the time at the end of the year so um all I can really do is just put that out there as the different kinds of feedback that I got but I still am not clear on what most people want I I think coming back on the second makes the second makes that middle of the to your point a useless day right where coming back on the Monday you can actually start to build momentum again and and it's and well I'm coming back on that oh oh meet me coming back from the holiday on the Monday I thought you might if there was a the last day I think the fact that it's on a Friday makes this conversation a little trickier the other thing it's different between this year and next year is this year we have two days we have Thursday Friday second and third right correct that that's right that was I think the harder for me I was not in favor of of having basically full two week break when we had two days we could have been here Tuesday Thursday Friday but I think where you're talking about one day it's the third and it's a Friday it's well no no no I'm talking about this year it's the third was the DAT that was the question mark that Paul brought up even after I think the idea of coming that second feels like by definition a wasted day and I think there will be a lot of people who would be like yeah you know what I can take a vacation like after Christmas and get a full week here right um yeah I think to me i' probably in favor of not being open on the second this time around well I am looking for a vote are you so motion make sure motion would be option one option one yeah so I will move to approve um the option shown as option one for the 2025 26 Calendar and for clarity say that that would be the one where we are not open on January 2nd I'll second that and then I just want to just continue the discussion for one more minute in case Marcy wants to add anything I don't want to forget that you're there Marcy and if you have any feedback on do you have anything that you want to share about whether coming back on the second is a good idea or a bad idea well if I remember the conversation correctly part of the reason we didn't have people come back is because the absenteeism rate on the second is like the highest of the year so I am in favor of the motion okay to go with option one all right so any more discussion on the motion nope okay all in favor hi we have to Marcy I yes Tina I Paul I Mark I I right thank you so we'll publish that this week okay all right um policies these are first reads the next few the athletic concussion regulations JJ IFR y I think I need glasses would you like mine um so I I did share the policies with you this is the first read uh tonight uh the the nurses have asked that we make sure we get it on tonight's um agenda and December 13th's AG agenda uh this really relates to adjustments that they've made uh in the concussion policy you've got the redline version as well uh you can see there were significant changes um and it's really about procedure as well as um you know pulling out specific tests like the impact testing was was something that was very specific in terms of the test they used for concussions uh they've sort of streamlined that to say a I forget the term without pulling it up um um they got they got rid of branding they got rid of branding basically yeah so um we had the nurse come in or one of the nurses come in to discuss the policy changes um and um they're comfortable with it they are currently using our old policy just so you know in terms of of treating students um we had a number of concussions uh in the fall uh for athletics uh but they're you know again they're just making sure that they are fine in um proper protocols so and and uh just to to reiterate with something we talked about in our uh policy subcommittee meeting uh when we talked about the urgency of these changes and whether it's has any substantive impact as to what uh the care or or anything we're doing for students the only change that this would make from a substantive perspective is current policy has a non-industry standard more conservative uh back to-play model so you're out for longer with the current policy than is in the you know current best practices so there's no harm to the students right now so there's not an impet toy if there was if if it was say the other way around uh then I would probably say hey let's let's vote to not do the two read and get it in there but there's not an urgency for this uh from that perspective there all the professionals are still able to do um the right thing for the for the a student athletes just want make sure I understand say Paul so that to the extent that there's a change reflected in the getting back into the sport scenario there there has been a change in sort of what's best recommended medical practice I don't know if it's a change but it's our policy has them staying out longer than the current best practice would uh would would say so current best practice defined by uh a couple places um so I have them listed in the actual clean copy the department of Ed yeah uh the MIAA uh as well as um doctors and they they've been in collaboration with that and so Jim went back and and linked all the references to all the all the things in there so but uh but I asked that specific question like hey we do all this work you know are we still able are are the professionals there still able to do what they believe they need to do for for our student athletes and the answer was yes this was the only substantive change in what they're going to do um be able to do once we adopt the policy is get them back in Action uh you know based on different best practices as opposed to uh you know a fixed time timeline that's in the current policy anybody have any issues or questions it's just a first read so we're not voting but you have some time to um come back with feedback the next time sound good MH okay um a division and mission statement we have to add it yeah the second one um they were talking about division and Mission uh we just we obviously it was not updated since 2011 yeah uh and we've certainly voted here already to pass New Vision admission um so all I've done is U as you can see the redline version here uh here's the actual New Vision and Mission uh but we added a line because we felt it was appropriate uh that the school committee will will review and publish the vision and mission statement on an annual basis uh therefore we will be publishing it obviously on the website or wherever we have it um um and our conversations around this were should we either update the policy as here or remove the policy right um because we've already actually voted right we've approved it we just need to get the other one out of our policy manual and replace this but we've also added the line about making sure that it it's on review is it really a policy we don't know right it's just a statement of what we believe the policy is that we will look at the polic the policy is it here means we are we we are formally writing we need to do this and we will have this that's right so that's the the value of it other than that I I question you know like why do we have a mission statement or vision statement in a policy that's not policy but if it it you know kind of like a circular logic of having it there and having that last statement commits us to doing it so right so we're I I don't I didn't have a strong opinion either way um so again first read yeah first read we don't have to take any action face coverings was just you know where the continued relevance of it so the face coverings we put into play during covid um and uh again you know just looking for this one to be removed from from our policy handbook hopefully never to be seen again right so yeah this is long um right long time coming to get even into policy awesome um second read which means we've already had a chance to introduce and discuss these a little bit um the non-discrimination policy including harassment and retaliation so we had looked at this this is actually our third time I believe looking at it because the the first time we didn't vote and we added um Mike in uh into a section based on our our attorney's um recommendation at the bottom where it says inquiries concerning uh directed the um Dr Michael kyus is in super that was the only change that we had added from the the last time but we couldn't vote on it because I didn't have that language so this one is ready to be voted on so we can get it into play who's got the motion well any no any discussion so um okay so we're just looking at AC right now correct correct yep I I'll make a motion to approve policy AC nism policy including harassment and retaliation has presented I'll second all in favor I roll call so Marcy Marcy I Tina I Paul I Mark I I okay and the next are the regulations um that go along with it for the staff ACR non-discrimination policy including harassment and retaliation so the recommendation uh from our uh legal team was this can be removed uh because it's being picked up in AC that and that's what we had talked about last time but it was significant if people wanted to read it to make sure that um but everything in here is has been incorporated into AC we have to vote on removals yeah I would think so sending yeah we're getting rid of it so the motion is to resend so I'll move to resend policy e-r non-discrimination policy including harassment retaliation great second thank you Marcy all in favor Marcy I Tina hi Paul hi Mark hi I and then on the consent agenda do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda do we have gifts and donations we okay y they we in there uh move to approve the consent agenda second all in favor Marcy I Tina I Paul I Mark I I and we're near the end reports of school committee members I'll start with you abash uh so nothing really much going on uh student bodywise like significantly um I know Mr Kyra I don't know if you want to comment on the recent make a wish trip um I would love to however I'm going to let the chair discuss I was going to pass that along to you but okay because they're sick of hearing from me not thank you for deferring but I'm a broken record I will be as quick as possible um I had the absolute privilege of attending the make a wish trip the annual trip to the Give Kids the World Village in Orlando with 35 34 amazing students and um I was a firsttime attendee and I I will say that it was one of the the greatest things I've ever been around as an educator in my 25 years in education to watch our students interact with the families and the children who are tended uh Give Kids the World Village um to watch the empathy and um care of our students was truly impressive um especially for me to be able to see these students who I've watched grow since they were five years old to become just incredible young adults uh it was it was really powerful experience for me as a person but also as a as a professional and I'm just so very proud of our students uh Mrs Shields who organizes the trip deserves a just tremendous amount of of Praise um I admire the work that she does and um it really was a a remarkable experience to have so just our kids that went on it represented Ashland in their families in the in the greatest possible way we have much to to be proud of those those 34 kids really really showed um the Ashland the ashin way in and and everything they did it was it was a remarkable remarkable experience thank you yeah thank you uh that that's all for me um there's not really much going on right now it's been quiet awesome Chris did you want to share about the conference at all thank you for doing that oh yeah NOP uh no I thought the conference uh was great it was my first experience attending that particular conference um hope to go back in the future um I thought our presentation was was uh like Jim mentioned well attended so no that's that's really all I had but it was a great experience all around awesome thank you Tina oh my update is about the conference as well too um I was there for a coup two of the days um and I thought the the sessions that I attended were informative and um interesting my favorite the my favorite one that that I was able to be a part of was actually the keynote on Thursday morning um where um they it was Timothy Shriver who um is part of the the bigger picture candidate when Unice Shriver was his mom um he presented his project called the dignity index and it's something especially in the climate that we're currently living in that has I've been mulling over in my brain since since the conversation I've talked to multiple people about it and I think it's an excellent framework for how we engage with other people um the whole concept is being mindful of the dignity with which we View and speak to other people in terms of making sure that we treat others with Humanity um and being mindful of how much contempt is in our words and our actions and how we treat other people and so you know the goal is not to you know kind of put down your swords when you disagree with people and just find a happy medium that's not the goal of the dignity project or the dignity index rather the goal is to um to work towards recognizing people's humanity and not othering people all of the time um it doesn't mean you have to agree it doesn't mean you have to like them it doesn't mean you have to come to any consensus um but recognizing other people is is humans um it was it was incredibly powerful and I think the the the visuals I I I literally gathered a couple of the things that were on the table to bring them home and share them with some people I think it's a really powerful uh kind of framework to to help guide and engage conversations and and I'm hoping that you'll be able to share it with Jen Cutler too I think it's it that's a it's a it's a great um yep it was just it was very powerful for me especially given where we were last week yeah this here's the prop yeah so the dignity index so it's you know it kind of goes through you know kind of building skills for dignify disagreement where it talks about being curious and not Furious you know regulate then debate you know like if you're not ready to have a respectful conversation then maybe take a moment right um and it goes through all of these different things I won't do all of them but it was really powerful it was a really cool exercise I think that he he took the audience through and I've since checked out their website and their their social media pages and they they do a good job in terms of helping you um pinpoint or or recognize and a lot of this is about awareness right especially self self- awareness but um when contempt is in people's words and actions and and how it how it I don't want to say excuse a conversation but how it leads to a lack of conversation right um and it's just really interesting so I'd encourage you all to check it out um I think it was a very uh it like I said was my favorite part of the um the conference and I think it was a really powerful yeah you can have your card back I have a few of them at home you put it away um it was really power I found it to be really powerful thank yeah sorry to have missed that one yeah I will be a broken record that was that was an amazing thing and and you know I'll paraphrase what he said is you know it it also didn't say that you can never use contempt or anything like that but he said you it's about being mindful basically about and and it labels it and gives you the ability to to rate where you are and and he said um you know if you use contempt to press your point you're automatically creating an enemy of your point right so you're not doing yourself a service when you do that so it's about understanding when you're doing that so it it it was Pro it was the best uh right and into that point he that you're that's AB such a good point because it's not the goal is to not never have contempt sometimes that's just we're there right the goal is to balance it out so that there's more dignity in your conversations than there ever is contempt and in your relationships really it's not just about one conversations at a time and so that's and that's really because it's hard it's hard well and sometimes sometimes you it's actually pointful to do it right it you know he he made a point because there somebody was challenging in the back and he's like this isn't the you know be nice movement this isn't the you know compromized movement isn't any of that it's it's it's more about mindfulness and understanding where you are and and and to make sure you're doing it with intention to get the results you want right um and uh and I think that's the most powerful thing and you know hopefully most of the people got the idea that it's really an internal thing right it's not about judging other people it's not that that's not the intent of it isn't an intent to go say Mark you were you were a two on this what the heck it's it's actually more about I live in the TW you're more it's more about yourself so it would I I agree it was it was phenomenal um but uh I also one of the other interesting ones I did stay on Friday later than normal is there was a session that was uh had undaunted K12 uh msba uh eversource and everything about about some funding uh and uh msba is actually introducing a new program uh for uh for heat pumps as well so that's that's an interesting um industry one and there's also some other new programs uh that were being announced by uh Mass Save and and things like that so there are some interesting things there uh and that kind of brings me into hot off the presses we we've talked about in the past uh the inflation reduction Act and the changes the recent changes to that that allow tax exempt entities to actually file for um uh the incentive rebates for uh sustainability projects and this morning we actually filed for the town of Ashland so I say the town of ashon because we have both projects that were were found to be eligible uh to the tune of uh the overall is going to be uh 3,177 236 of which um the uh the Mendes project was uh a little over 2.3 million of that and Public Safety a little over 800,000 so until we get the check it is it is what it is but that was submitted uh today so that's uh if that comes to FR and that's a that's a big number that's a that' be a huge win for for the town so have any idea how long it takes to hear on this stuff okay so the the line is that it takes 45 business days from the filing deadline when we did the extension our extension went through the 15th of November oddly enough uh 45 business days from the 15th of of November is January 23rd so uh it might be a little wild well yeah well well we'll see what happens we'll see what happens I it's still there I'd love to think that he's got other things that he's you know going to look at that rather than on day one WR something that right that you know to check but hopefully we get it before that that's that's just the expectation so as long as they meet the they they beat the expectation by a few days you know there there wouldn't be a chance that it wouldn't go through okay I think so that I won't go out on anything better better than that so yeah right I got to follow I I was going to um would fully Echo Tina and Paul's comments about um the Keo presentation on that Thursday morning thought that was the highlight of the program for what I was able to attend um I did think the moderated discussion on Friday morning um led by John Keller from WBZ about sort of you know where do we go from here in terms of um potential changes in in education was was interesting you know obviously there's a lot of we'll see in that but it was interesting conversation um the one thing I was going to just back on the the um first program what I thought was interesting in there is actually talked about the Utah um school boards Association had adopted this dignity index and I think it's among the membership like the equivalent of the masc As I understood it but they started only at five and so what they're basically saying is we're not even accepting one through four and so sort of their bottom starting point would be the other side has the right to be here and right to be heard it's their country too kind of thing it's the sample statement um I just thought that was an interesting thing I think it you know from a from our board perspective um and we've talked at different times about you know are there any expectations that we want to kind of codify into policy I think we did that a few years ago to some extent and maybe it's an interesting conversation for a later date as to you what we want to be in place is sort of a quasi school committee bylaw or standard of expectations um but other than that I don't think I have anything at this point I think last site Council was before our last meeting so that's all I've got thanks Mike said it best you guys have heard me say it before uh the only part that I want to repeat is to shout out the students and the um the chaperon who put so much work into this and the students were amazing and I can't tell you how many adults on campus whether they were parents of wish children or employees of Give Kids the World approached us to um just talk about how mature and compassionate and hardworking our students were some people took my address because they wanted to contact the district and I think we should just all be very proud of the way they represented us out there so just a reminder Town meetings next week so be there be square Marc Marcy I'm sorry I'm looking for Marcy forget me but I have anything yeah Marcy and Mark both had students on the trip as well and and it was really great getting to know them so yes I got pictures ke on a plane next to Mike lying down yeah a random one from ke and Lori when it was Friday maybe yep Friday Saturday so y anyway and Jillian was in my group we all had small group so it was it was a nice opportunity to get to know your children and a lot of all the rest of the students that that came with us for me it's just um really the best way that keeps me connected to kids and I just really um treasure that time so all right um we I'm going to move to go into executive session Marcy just so you know I think I let you know but I'm going to be sending someone's going to be sending you a link okay you got your link and that's where we'll meet up in a few minutes so I move to enter into executive session under ml chapter 30A section 218 to to conduct strategy sessions and preparation for negotiations with non-union Personnel superintendent Jim Adams or to conduct a collective bargaining with the intent of not returning to public session so this is a roll call vote Marcy oh do we have a second second Marcy hi yes Tina hi Paul hi Mark hi hi for me as well see you there good night everybody good night for

[Music] good evening and welcome to the Greenfield Public Schools school committee meeting for Wednesday November 13 2020 2024 6 o'clock pm. this meeting is being recorded by gctv if any other persons present are doing the same you must notify the chairperson at this time I don't see any um secretary genive will you please call the role yes member Goodwin here member Childs here member seon here chair Johnson mad here Vice chair Martini I'm here online she's on Zoom I don't see her yes I'm here great thank you secretary Den I'm here mayor dorer okay so all present except for mayor dorer we have a quorum great we have a quorum meeting call to order at 601 p.m um so I want to just say up front there's um new language in our agenda that was put in at the request of the town clerk it says no discussion or comments will be entertained unless requested upon by the chairperson of the board or committee I request all of your comments I want to hear from everybody who came to talk to us tonight uh public comment will proceed the way our normal policy is which is each person gets a two-minute turn uh and so um we'll start with the people to um we'll start with the people in the room and then we will move to the folks on Zoom Susan Farber do you want to we're doing two minutes I'm sorry we're doing two two minutes yeah our policy says 2 minutes at the last meeting we all right we' we have been doing three minutes uh but we found out that our policy said two minutes so we decided last meeting we would continue with the precedent of three minutes and then start again at this meeting following our policy two minutes okay thank thank you thank you I'll speak very quickly if it's two minutes I have been closely following the public discussion at city meetings and on social media about safety in Greenfield schools unfortunately most of what is said is one opinion versus another opinion it's not about evidence that demonstrates what makes schools safe I would like to commend the school committee of a few years ago for doing their homework and doing an extensive study of all the evidence and then making a decision based on this evidence that SRO would not offer an effective way to make schools safe I would also like to commend the majority of the current schools committee to support that decision I will also ask those who were shaming the school committee for this vote by saying the school committee doesn't care about the safety of the students because they voted to not do the same study they already did maybe those shaming didn't bother to look through the extensive study the school committee did likewise I'll be happy to supply all the evidence that supports what I'm about to say 80% of School shooters were bullied in their schools armed police in schools where school shootings have taken place have not lowered the number of injuries or fatalities all students feel safe in school with is virtually no bullying because they are taught how to be active bystanders when bullying occurs in person or online and the bullying stops they are taught to do this by teachers and trained counselors students feel safe in schools where they are taught conflict resolution skills and I won't go through all of them here now they are taught to do this by teachers and trained counselors in advisory programs each year each adult adult is trusted and accessible and and when conflicts occur all the adults in the building are trained to sit down with the students who it's two minutes thank you sorryy hello hi welcome jesa 88 Deerfield Street Greenfield um I want to um say thank you to the superintendent for responding to um the email um in reference to the uh response that we got from uh des and the state auditor's office regarding um the unreimbursed expenses it sounds like Greenfield is already doing everything that it can um in terms of looking for funding but the second part um of what was important in that response is that these expenses that Greenfield has absorbed for many years are in fact State mandated expenses that the state is supposed to be paying and that they haven't funded an any line item at the state level since 2001 um some of those expenses are now part of um the student Opportunity Act or the special education circuit breaker but um we've been absorbing these expenses for years and it has affected our ability to effectively compete against charter schools and other school districts for funding and that's important um which uh brings me to the other um part of my public comment um amoris pelum uh Regional school committee last night joined us in uh the advocacy to look at a school choice and Charter School uh Public Funding and we have had um success in reaching out to some legislators to set up meetings with their constituents on this specific issue but it is slow goinging um we are hoping to have one member of the Greenfield school committee uh join us in a zoom meeting with Senator cumerford on uh November 25th so I if someone might be able to get back to me on that that'd be great thank you thank you Skyler and then John hi there thanks for having this meeting I'm Skyler uh Lambert and I live on High Street in Greenfield um I'm here to speak in opposition uh for placing an an SRO in the Greenfield Public School System uh recently the communities that Care Coalition administered Health student health surveys to 8th 10th and 12th uh graders in Franklin County in the north Quin region and I really think that the surveys reveal some key findings for this discussion um primarily the re the CCC report shows that in the categories of bullying and substance abuse black students fell into the lowest range as defined by the US Department of Education meaning they're at higher risk of being bullied and are more predisposed to substance abuse uh it's also notable that latinx students also fell into the lowest range for substance abuse um furthermore only 51% of students agreed with the statement students in my school treat each other with respect and only 46% of eighth graders agreed but the most troubling data is in relation to empathy only 41% of students agreed with the statement at this school students talk about the importance of understanding their own feelings and the feelings of others 45 % agreed with the statement at this school students work on listening to others uh to understand what they are trying to say that's less than half of students um the answer here is clear helping students engage in active listening and engage with their own emotions are key to solving some of these problems and creating a culture of respect these Solutions don't require law enforcement but rather folks in the helping field social workers counselors Human Services Workers let's open our hearts and Minds to Alternative Community Serv Serv safety practices grounded in human well-being and anti-racist principles it would behoove the Greenfield school committee to investigate practices that reveal root causes and address cycles of harm and Punishment thank you johnan good good evening uh John McGee Green Street um I am a proud GPS parent and as such I wanted to say thank you to the school committee um for all your hard work thanks to the school staff and administration also um I would like to comment on the debate about putting police back in the schools um I have studied police for years and knowing everything that we know today it makes no sense to me to put police officers back in our schools um it is magical thinking to assume that one cop across a handful of schools is going to make all of our boogey men go away and the sad truth is that we are all vulnerable there's no shortcut around the hard work of building safe and caring learning environments um I'm proud our school committee chose in 2020 to do what they can to opt out of the school to prison pipeline um I'm also proud that we elected folks who are serious about making our schools more inclusive and welcoming and taking care of kids even when they make mistakes uh let's invest in training school Personnel in those skills uh my understanding is that um uh superintendent patod and her predecessors have not yet taken significant steps in the direction of restorative practices but uh I'm eager to hear the update tonight I hope that we're making progress um I encourage you miss patau to work with the school committee to implement a restorative justice program to resolve conflicts peacefully and stop cycles of harm um I also hope that we can improve Communications uh between the school district in families it sounds to me like from the complaints that I have heard um when there's a lack of good information it creates space where rumors can Thrive and trust is lost okay so anyway thank you all and carry on Susan and then Andrea thank you my name is Susan work AFC I live on Forest Avenue as a former teacher Al be at one who worked in that profession many years ago I can honestly say that the amount of time that I was trained trained in age appropriate and culturally appropriate discipline for my students was minimal I taught High School in East Harlem and the upper west side of New York as this was a period of major school overcrowding I taught in Auditorium balconies and cafeterias while another class was sharing this space rarely did I have a classroom students often came to school with knives in their pockets and occasionally guns I was never taught how to deal with disruptive students or even how to ask a student to give me their weapon while I do not assume that the Greenfield Public Schools are in the same category as the conditions of the New York Public Schools when I taught I am uncertain that teachers are given much more training and discipline than I was I know that when teachers do not have the tools to discipline students for normal student to student or student teacher infractions and there is an SRO on the premises there is a tendency for teachers to ask the SRO to provide the discipline and that often leads to the beginning of the school to prison pipeline I would like to suggest the greenfields public schools invest in a significant effort to train all teachers and administrators an age appropriate and culturally appropriate discipline and that this training be rigorous and thoughtful after this training has been instituted and the results of it fully evaluated then it would be worthwhile for the school committee to review the safety situation of the Greenfield Public Schools and determine if an SRO is appropriate my guess is it won't be thank you Andrea and then Stella hi um I'm Andrea Michael I live on James Street uh Greenfield um I am a parent of a sixth grader who is at Greenfield schools um and both my children went to elementary school here um and both of my nephews graduated from Greenfield High School so while I'm not an expert in SRO I'm not really an expert in safety and I don't have a lot of Statistics to read I have been around our schools a fair amount and I I've talked to a lot of the kids who are in our schools and I have not heard a lot of concerns about safety except during the pandemic um my son who's in sixth grade I asked him do you feel safe at school he said yes um he's not he's a kid who probably would feel safe so I'm sure that there are kids who don't but um I he said he would be scared if there was an officer at school um and he really was confused as to why anybody would think there would be and a need for that and I I frankly am also I don't I in in my profession which is product management we um spend our time like my expertise is find out what are the problems talk to the people who have the problems figure out the best Solutions and think about how you can best spend your Capital to solve those problems and I'm not really seeing that in this discussion as to is there a problem what's the best solution it seems like people are just jumping to a conclusion about what the best solution should be based on I really don't know what so I'm I I I I know we did a lot of studies in the past I think those were good and we should just refer to those and stick with what we decided a while ago St hi everyone I am not here to talk about an Sr but I have something to say anyway um I'm Stella Verlander I live on 18 Pawn Street um so I recently just got off a meeting with some Massachusetts climate groups and this was brought to my attention and I really think that this would be um very important to implement into our schools so I just want to put it on your radar so the Massachusetts clean Energy Center is launching a green School Works uh program which is set to decarbonize K through2 school buildings this prioritizes title one schools um like our which so this would apply to our district um and there's over $50 million in funding I it may be like way over that but the numbers got kind of mixed on the website um I believe that this would be most impactful in cases of solar and charging ports for electric school buses um I know that the city has looked into electric school buses however charging ports looked like it would have been an obstacle so I believe that this would be important to um use for charging port money um the money for this program is non-competitive and the applications for this open in January um I think that this is very important I work with many climate resilient uh groups especially focused on education and this is a rare opportunity that I think we should definitely take advantage of as soon as possible um I think this is something that would be most applicable to the schools that are higher in energy uh usage like the Middle School Newton uh four corners and Federal Street uh our high school is uh pretty good about energy usage but also I feel like solar panels would definitely be um useful but I just wanted to put that on your radar uh thank you Chief I come in peace I'm also not here to discuss the SRO um what I am here to discuss is um thanks to the superintendent and the assistant superintendent for um a ton of hard work that they've been doing recently um I thought you guys should be aware of the fact that communication between the police department in the school department is probably as strong as it's ever been uh a lot of initiatives are underway all thanks to the superintendent um we've met several times now we've had great conversations every initiative underway is keeping the student and faculty safety in mind so um a couple things just took place today I'm not going to get into the what we're doing in terms of securing the schools for obvious reasons but uh they're really good steps um I I I do still support an SRO but again I'm not here to talk about that that's just my side of it but again I appreciate it Karen for all your Works Steven um and I see no reason why it won't continue so I think at this point in time with the communication going on between us uh the schools are probably as safe as can be right now so just wanted to pass that on thank you hi I'm Rebecca Moretti I live on shadic street I have a four-year-old at AEL and an eight-year-old at FSS and I'm really confused as to why everybody's angry all I keep hearing is people are mad and Facebook has apparently blown up I'm not on Facebook on purpose so I don't hear all of that but I'm still getting rumors that don't seem to be substantiated in any actual fact um as far as I can tell all of our schools seem to be safe and I appreciate that FSF has a focus on being friendly safe and successful and my child keeps coming home with little green waves and she's excited to go to school she loves School my little one can't wait to get there and she can't wait to come home what I would like is more communication so that I have any idea as to why people get mad and I want real information not rumors I don't know what the solution to that is but I would like some sort of letter that comes home to to the parents in a way that I can access it without being a Facebook parent I get the newspaper so I get the op EDS which have also been very angry but again there's no actual facts in those those are just opinions and I want to know what's actually happening so that I can be angry or not based on what's actually happening thank you hi Molly Merritt uh solar way um I'm a Greenfield parent and I plan to send my child to the public schools I strongly oppose uh the idea of police presence at GPS in 2020 the school Community came out decisively against school resource officers after hearing testimony from many students especially students of color about the threats harassment and intimidation they faced National statistics show that the presence of sro's has been linked to increased arrests of students for non-criminal Behavior as students are often referred to law enforcement for typical behavior and small infractions the school to prison pipeline is particularly devastating for students with disabilities and students of color um we may have problems that need to be addressed in our schools but instead of trying to solve these problems with methods that are proven to be harmful we have an opportunity to think about what might create a school culture where students can resol resolve conflict before it comes to a Breaking Point restorative justice programs such as the highly successful and effective Palante program of Holy Oak give students the tools to bridge differences solve interpersonal problems and create safe scho School environments uh one police officer in the school will not create a needed culture shift it's tempting to have a simplistic solution to a complex problem we but we need to do the work of creating districtwide conflict resolution and transformative Justice programming materials already exist that we could adopt please work to build a robust restorative justice program at GPS I am not alone in saying that having such a program would make me excited and proud to have a child in our district hi oh uh yes so I'm here about the SRO issue and I would like to express my opinion in that I am very much against an SRO in the schools I Echo what everyone has said before me in particular what John said about embracing and supporting children even when they make mistakes and as Molly also pointed out just before me um police intervention is proven to impact um and harm students of color in particular and putting them on a road to involvement with the criminal justice system and um finding solutions that are holistic and get at the deep root of the problems seems to me something that makes a lot more sense so and also thank you so much for all your hard work and for some those of you who were on the committee in 2020 for making that really um Mindful and thoughtful decision so thank you oh I'm from Greenfield good evening Doug selwin uh Forest Avenue um want to Echo what what people have said uh to this point and won't repeat it and again Paul uh jablon my turn today I think laid out a pretty clear plan for some things we could do what I want to suggest tonight is that now that ballot question to has passed and that we are no longer um required to do a forced March of our children to um high stakes testing at the uh end of the year we have the opportunity to refocus what we offer our young people in schools we can focus more on what engages them what matters to them what gives them a sense of hope and possibility and connection we can pay more attention to helping them to learn about taking care of themselves and each other to learn to listen to think critically and calmly about the ideas of other and to care for the community we can help teachers to become more skilled and practiced at working with children beyond their subject areas which means more consistent paid professional development we can help our schools pay enough so that the core of Educators can afford to stay and develop a culture and community that welcomes all the children we can bring in more social workers and counselors and folks who can help the community learn to develop the supportive Community we would like to see it's an opportunity we have and I hope I know we're doing some of that now but I think we have room to do more and I think that will address the safety concerns that we all share the other thing I want to say is what Stella said earlier the CL the climate resilience program is something that I really hope we can join with thank you and thank you for all your work is there anyone else where am I now good evening hi uh my name is Andrew paman I'm on Cleveland Street um thanks for the time to share my perspective on the school resource officer um all of us here are lucky to live in Greenfield a safe town and a safe region um and we all want Greenfield Public Schools to be places where students feel safe supported and empowered to grow uh schools should nurture the whole child academically socially and emotionally in recent years many districts across the country including Greenfield have turned to sro's to maintain safety on campus but the question we must ask ourselves is our SRO truly helping our students or are they reinforcing harmful systems that disproportionately affect um our most vulnerable populations school resource officers often do the opposite of what we might hope by creating a culture of fear and Punishment rather than understanding and healing research has shown that the presence of SRO can disproportionately harm students with disabilities students of color and poor students increase criminalization of minor infractions and escalate conflicts I have two children in our school system both have ADHD one has autism this means they don't process information in a way that an authority figure might expect they can be impulsive and often need more time to understand understand what is being asked of them and more time to respond if a police officer is present statistically this makes School less safe for my kids and for many kids just like them there is hardly a shred of evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of SRO in fact much of the research concludes they are highly ineffective at making schools safer they are simply the illusion of safety despite the community's best intention therefore instead of policing our students we should invest in restorative justice practices because there is ample evidence that it works restorative justice builds empathy accountability and conflict resolution skills helping students heal and grow from their mistakes skills that will help them throughout their lives it Fosters supportive it Fosters a supportive environment that prioritizes social and emotional health over punishment ensuring every child has the opportunity to thrive let's choose healing over harm and transform our schools into spaces of care not criminalization thanks thank you if we down with public comment in the room we'll move on to the zoom um if you wish to speak um from Zoom please enter it in the chat I will start with the first person who requested to speak that's Patty p a y O'Neal with two L's on Glenbrook Drive hi um uh I also wanted to comment on the SRO issue um I did uh attend the uh Public Safety um presentation with the like um pres where the sro's presented uh their experiences and uh also the meet and greet and I thought the sro's um who had been working as SRO and the ones who were wanting to all seemed like very caring um people um they spoke about um supportive roles building relationships with the students um befriending them checking in and and mentoring and and just kind of showing up um which I thought was really great and surprising um however I'm still not sure why um these kinds of supportive roles couldn't be um provided in a nested in like a community institution rather than a police institution where um there is a lot of uh there's just been a lot of traumatic experiences for people um it's it's not an institution that has the best track record of accountability um I would be worried about like like maybe these SRO would be um nice to when you know really top tier thoughtful engaging people um but what if uh SRO who came after didn't weren't of the same caliber I've I looked through Reddit about this topic and it seems like it can be a mixed bag sometimes like you have these really good people who could be like these um SRO that I met um but there have also been that's time Patty okay well I just hope that we can um support the community to fill these roles and like someone else mentioned it sounded pretty good thank you thank you next is Melissa Webb on Grove Street hi Melissa web Grove Street I'm on my phone so I don't know if video okay it just unmuted um I was just calling because I know we're also discussing budgets and going to pto's and we also have the fifth graders coming back into the elementary schools I know one of our focuses has been to increase more um music art and gym time and I just hope that we can really keep on that path to have um you know a one full-time person for art a one full-time person for music and a one full-time person for gym and all three three of the elementary schools and that possibly we could talk about bringing back those programs into a on a reg regular basis thank you thank you next is Charity if you can say your first and last name in your town hi I'm charity o Conor um Lynden Avenue in Greenfield um I am a licensed school counselor and also the parent of a newborn who will be in the green Public Schools eventually um and I just mostly wanted to to affirm and appreciate the school committee for engaging with the topic of SRO so thoughtfully and in particular for standing by their 2020 decision to remove the SRO position um like so many before me I agree and understand the evidence that points to really immeasurable harm that happens when SRO are in our schools um but I also feel a sense of frustration about like just sort of the cyc nature of this debate it we spend so much time focused on SRO in particular we've the school committee has done such a wonderful job reviewing the evidence and making a decision I would love to see us move forward using our imagination collectively about what safety could really look like beyond that topic um I think there's so much that folks have named around restorative justice transform of justice that could really lead us in a Direction that's far more productive and supportive of our students and our community um and I really want to sort of reiterate the idea that we should be listening and taking our cues from the students themselves what would make them feel safe um what are they noticing in school that's working that's not working um I'm really curious about how we can continue to get their input about this topic um so yeah I just I want to reiterate how harmful I think sro's are and thank the school committee and encourage all of us to come together to figure out what safety looks like beyond the sort of carceral complex that we've been discussing so much thank you thank you Crystal Cleaver hey sorry just trying to find the mute button um hi I'm Crystal Cleaver uh 45 Russell Street you guys heard from me last meeting so I won't take a ton of time um but I just um do want to say uh a few more words I I talked last uh month about my son and about my concerns about having us aose in the school um I stand by that but I I also just wanted to mention that after the meeting last month hold on I'm on the phone sorry um the family that spoke about their child being assaulted at the high school was um in the lobby and I um you know we are in a particularly sort of like us them time in history I think and I felt really um moved by what they said and how abandoned they felt by our school system when their child was hurt and I am a social worker in in the community and so I went out and I spoke with them and offered my number and said that I could try and help connect them to any kind of supports or services that they needed I don't know if that was offered off by the school system or not but they didn't feel like it was offered by the school system they felt like they didn't they weren't heard they weren't responded to and so although I am on the opposite side of the issue of that family I do think that we need to um think about uh how we're responding when violence happens in our schools and make sure that families um because that child was hurt but that whole family was hurt um that whole family walked away traumatized and um you know I wasn't I'm not in the school system I don't know how it was handled I know how that family felt like it was handled and I know that when you're in a moment of trauma sometimes you're you know your thinking brain goes offline and so maybe they were offered supports but they weren't able to take it in in that time and so um I'm hoping that that incident gets looked at um I'm hoping that there's a review of that incident and that we think about how things could have gone better for that child and that family um because I think that incident is part of the reason we're having this conversation I don't know that a school resource officer could have changed the outcome for that family but I think that there are a lot of other things that could have happened in one second buddy um that could have happened for that family to walk away feeling safer and better about their their child being in the Greenfield Public Schools so thank you thank you Ella um hi Ella Condon Precinct 8 in Greenfield Ella can you spell your last name please for the minutes uh c n d n thank you um I want to thank the committee for their 2020 decision of pulling the SRO and for holding that line recently but I also wanted to Echo um Charity's comments that I think we need to move Beyond this conversation and really start looking at alternatives to an SRO and how we can better support our students when they are in times of emotional distress thank you thank you Maddox there can you hear me okay yes and you're madx sprangle s p r n g l yes you got it um I don't live in Greenfield but I am a mental health provider in the Greenfield Community um just want to thank you for making this space accessible to folks to join in the conversation um my training and experience has taught me that safety is something that's created in collectively practiced commitments to behaviors of care acceptance and skills for managing emotions and this is something that's created by staff by parents by students and by all of us in the community so the idea that safety could be provided by one individual through the threat of punishment or Force it's it's misguided and it's dangerous um and it's also a missed opportunity so instead of spending dollars towards an SRO salary the money could fund Collective skill building volunteer opportunities and that would offer safer and a better social return um Greenfield schools have an opportunity here to invest in foundational skill building where an ethic of care is the priority and I just want to Echo uh what charity said about including students in these conversations they are bright thoughtful people who also can really reflect and mirror back the treatment that they are being shown by the adults in their lives and also what Molly said about local school districts like the Palante program in hoolio who have experiened doing this work thank you so much thank you Andrew Vernon good evening everyone Andre Vernon Sun Square um two things uh one SRO I do nothing against Sr um I don't believe we need them in our school district but I am confident that something more needs to be done in our school district uh given some incidents that have happened against my son uh two I am fairly confident it's on the agenda uh so speak to it um I think it would be good for the school committee to consider I believe that the business manager position is through a vendor um rather than an actual School District employee I would like to have the school committee consider making that position a true Greenfield Public School employee rather than a rather than an outside mend not that that individual in position doing anything wrong or inappropriate um but just that in my opinion should be an actual employee thank you thank you um Eve you have two minutes to share public comment if you wish that be great um I'm in my car on the phone I'm Eve banov b o d OV and I'm a resident on Shadow Street in Greenfield I'm just going to try to summarize my letter because I'm a wordy person but I will say this um I speak to as a parent a former uh parent of a former Greenfield Public School System uh long and respected careers as a social worker and as a child and family therapist I listened carefully to the public safety commission and to the SOS who are great uh when they spoke on October 23rd um and I listened care to what they said and how they are effective in their jobs all the skills they have and all of the ways they understand and work with kids do not require a gun so I want the spring the Greenfield Public School System to give training to social workers or guidance counselors or teachers or vice principles the same level of training that the monu SRO guys have because um that's what we need we need transformative Justice and we need good social workers because that's what we do I've been a social worker for over 30 years and once a gun is involved it's a different conversation and instead of getting cooperation you get compliance and you get an escalation of threat and that's the worst thing you want to do to a kid who's disregulated um I will also say that uh I've in my career I've I've interacted with law enforcement in a number of different ways uh from being on the northwest District Attorney's high-risk team to running an abuse intervention uh program um for working with clients with pretty significant disregulation and the single most effective way to address violence or the threats of violence is to engage to find out what people's concerns are to find out what their needs are to help them feel seen and respected that's time okay thank you is there anyone else on Zoom who wishes to speak I see the mayor's joined us for the minutes welcome mayor all right thank you for the public comment we'll move on to recognition of Angela morsy welcome Miss morisy um Angela morrisy is the building monitor at Federal Federal Street Elementary School and was recently awarded the communities that Care Coalition Mike Fritz Community Builder award and Anga was nominated by the Federal Street PTO and her nomination highlighted her positive effect and uplifting Spirit as her greatest strengths as a positive role model for our students Angela's dedication compassion and commitment to inclusion and Equity have had a profound impact on the students at Federal Street Elementary we are certainly grateful for all of our hard work and dedication to Greenfield Public schools and want to congratulate and honor her tonight congratulations thank you yay Angela thank you okay um I guess I'll just use this moment while I have everyone's attention to just say how proud I am of the work that I see our Federal Street Community doing for our kids every day um looking around just this room I see several of our PTO members here our principal Kelly halin is here tonight um and I just in this time where everybody seems so at odds with each other and so concerned about what we're doing for our students I want to say that what I see every single day in our school is people doing every possible thing they can to work together to up LIF these kids and to make them feel safe um not just in our school but beyond to know that we're really here for them um in any way that they need us so for everybody listening please just keep your hopes up and don't think that nothing is being done because there are a lot of people working really really hard for our kids thank you we'll go to Kenzie next we welcome McKenzie pollen who is a senior at Greenfield High School and she is here tonight as well to be honored today McKenzie had a letter of intent ceremony at the high school where she has made her commitment and accepted an athletic scholarship to fut to further her academic and athletic career at maram College this commitment has allowed McKenzie to fulfill her dream of playing Division One softball and Coach Kay and I did a lot of history uh lessons today and we think you're the first softball player to go division one um ghs family friends and administrators joined McKenzie at her National letter of intent Signing Day to celebrate her hard work and achievements this achievement however did not come without sacrifice she has done hard work and much dedication to the sport of softball McKenzie has given up on many adolescent experiences to pursue this dream and we want to recognize that while challenging the reward for her is the Fulfillment of this dream the greenwave nation is very proud of her and excited for Mar Marram College to welcome her into their Community next year congratulations [Applause] I just want to say thank you so much it's an honor to be here tonight and I want to thank Miss patod for making today so special thank [Applause] you Shane Tumi will you come up I had the pleasure this week three ghs seniors were nominated for the Franklin County superintendence award adiana kluf Jake rardin and Shane toi this award recognizes one senior from each Franklin County school who not only excels academically but gives back to school and community and builds a positive culture I had the pleasure of interviewing all students and had to make the very difficult decision as to who this year's award winner would be I asked all three candidates the same questions and my last question to all of them was I've read your resume I've reviewed your transcript I read your guidance counselor's recommendation I've asked you interview questions about your school experience but what is it that all of that doesn't say about you that you wanted to share and it was Shane's response to the this that really address the characteristics of what this award represents Shane said to me quote a lot of folks thinks think it has been an effortless Breeze for me but that is not inherently true and implies a disconnect with the people around me the truth is I very much care about the world about this school and the people that have been in it with me some of them since a I have met some of the most interesting people in Greenfield during my school experience and I'm really grateful for Greenfield Public Schools and all of this my ultimate goal leave the world better than I found it and I learned that here it was those words that said to me congratulations to Shane Tumi on being the award winner we look forward to celebrating with you at the tech school on December 5th congratulations [Applause] feels very weird sitting at this table as opposed to over there I just want to address that um I want to say thank you to miss Paton for carrying out the interviews um I have as I said I've been in Greenfield Public Schools my entire life since a um it is no secret as I've seen sitting over there um Greenfield Public Schools we have our issues we have our challenges but despite all that I am still incredibly proud to say that I have spent my academic career at Greenfield and will get to finish it off at Greenfield High School I'm grateful for the people I've met the teachers who have coached me along the way and for the opportunities that have been provided so thank you [Applause] all okay so you're going right from being honored to giving a report we'll now hear the report of student Representatives to the committee all right putting on the new hat um so we're going to begin as we always do with student council um on October 11th the student council sent 18 students to the WC fall conference in minog where they got the chance to meet with regional student leaders from other schools and attended a variety of workshops likewise on October 26th the officers of the ghs student council attended officer shop at Worcester Technical High School this conference is Statewide and was intended to provide current and aspiring student council officers with networking opportunities as well as skills and ideas to return to their home councils as of the writing of this report the student council was finalizing preparations for our November bonding which will be a lockin at ghs only members who meet set participation and engagement requirements will would be able to attend and we will be doing a variety of uh activities games and workshops since then we have carried out this event and it was a huge success um we give kudos to everybody who showed up and stayed up all night for 12 hours and we had a really great time we're also currently planning for the upcoming Spirit weeks penny wars and our November preper Alle which will occur the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and for Key Club Key Club recently participated in the stonely Burnham trunk retreat with over 150 local children attending and completed another ghs campus cleanup we are planning for our annual Turkey Trot in November and our donation and participation in the Festival of the trees and Salvation Army initiatives um one quick Edition it's not on here but we do have some athletic recognitions we want to go over so first off JHS Jr Dylan brevik is the school's loone qualifier for this weekend's state cross country meet at Devon so congratulations to Dylan um elderen ketun Janan I'm very sorry for mispronouncing the last name uh made all states for girl soccer she is one of 27 girls in all of Western Mass to be recognized so both of those are incredible achievements and we applaud them both drama club drama club has continued to meet and welcome new members as we prepare for additions in mid November we are very excited to start rehearsals for our play the somewhat true tale of Robin Hood after Thanksgiving break French Club is preparing for our coffee house event on Thursday December 5th um during the first week of December discounted $5 tickets will be on sale at ghs lunches and tickets at the door will be $10 additionally that this year's T-shirt design will be made by French Club senior Mac Clark libr Club hosted the fifth annual comic conon last Wednesday over 50 people were in attendance for fun sessions including live action role playing basic comic structuring and spooky stage makeup there were also there were some incredible entries to the cosplay contest and everyone had a great time we thank the Greenfield Public Library for co-sponsoring this event um next up is a book to movie event on Friday December 6th at 5:30 p.m we will be watching Miss parag's Home for Peculiar Children which is about an abandoned orphanage for children with special powers the event is open to the public and copies of the book will be available to borrow at the ghs and GPL libraries Spectrum Spectrum Club has been compiling a list of new activities we would like to try out this year there is particular interest in exploring the lgbtq plus history of designs creating our own and distributing them in school members of the club have made positive connections with the Greenfield Public Library and this month we will be solidifying some ideas about future collaborations the school's trivia club team has been prepping for our December 7th uh televised show vers Suffield high school and we are adding a third St study session after school for the month of November the students are working hard and we're making significant progress in various areas of study and last but not least on the students of Color Club the students have created a thoughtful lesson that addresses the impact of slurs and stereotyping and provides tools on how to address them for middle and high school audiences they will begin to share this lesson to eighth grade advisories in December and they've been working closely with Administration and their me and their Mentor from communities that care that covers our report if you have any questions we would be happy to answer questions not seeing any thank you both so much we'll move on to reports of the administration Andy are you here yes I am great forward to a report okay so you have your monthly report as of the 12th of November regarding local budget and the revolving accounts and the capital accounts uh just uh so I don't want anyone to be alarmed because as we've always done in the past and even uh when we haven't been here the practice is always we're charging things to the local budget first and then as grants get approved we end up moving the expenses out of the local budget to the appropriate grants and then I also no cause for alarm regarding the a of District tuition line that's showing over 2 million in deficit because our budget was built using $2.4 million of circuit breaker and the special education 240 Grant so uh that is gives us actually we are looking at about for the sped tuition as of right now about a $70,000 quote unquote contingency based on what we had originally budgeted for um I can take any questions you might have regarding any of this if you so choose questions for Andy not seeing any Andy thank you so much no problem um next item is um we prior guidance from school committee with regard to format of reports and determination by Committee of next steps um there's been some interest in uh asking Andy to provide not just uh numerical reports but also narrative reports um Andy was very open to doing this for us however in the past had received guidance from the school committee that um that was not that we explicitly telling him not to do that so um we have a little research project to find out whether that's a policy or a vote that was taken um uh and so on so that's yes please Andy so yeah it was the two times we were here previously in Greenfield uh we as I've said and i' you know we we do provide a it's like a one-page cover sheet quite honestly memo with the highlights uh in a narrative form of what it is that I I report verbally and highlighting the you know how we're tracking on other funding sources regarding what it is that we use to build the budget on um it's a very simple simple narrative but the two times previously uh there were committee members that told me that and honestly I looked through the school committee policy specifically in the finance section of the policy manual and I couldn't find anything which leads me to believe that it was a vote at one time uh because I know I had a when I proposed a suggested change I think our first time here uh it was I believe member Holland at the time said that no this is a format and a agreed upon Pro procedure voted on by the school committee as to how it is that the reports were to be provided then uh second time again Superintendent at the time uh superintendent youber told us the same thing uh that you know the format is the what was voted on and then now this time uh when Dr debard started she asked because she's familiar with our narrative that we were uh provide uh asked why it wasn't done and again we it was reinforced and reiterated that it was past practice and uh we all the research shows if I can't find it in a policy manual doesn't mean that's in another section but uh it was I believe voted on as a voted practice that this is the format of the reports that the school committee wanted so I guess one next step um I mean if we made that vote in the past we're capable of making a new vote about something else so I guess um I guess I would ask that maybe we take a month and kind of look into it and I can perhaps come with a motion for the next meeting to uh um to request the narrative again does any any discussion or thoughts about that not seeing any look got a thumbs up okay right I have a question please uh so so this relates in part to training that um I just attended at the mass Association of school committees conference last week um in regards to I attended many useful workshops there but one of the most um interesting was about what should be in your budget document which I realized is a separate question um from our um monthly budget reports sure how we receive that more incremental kind of information um but the uh information provided was uh about the association of school business officials meritorious budget award and the process of obtaining it and what your budget document might look like if you were um trying to attain a a high level of um accessibility and Clarity in your budget document and I asked the question during this Workshop uh from two of the uh business directors who were presenting as to whether they used this type of document which did include things like narratives Graphics things that made the information very accessible in their um incremental budget presentations to their School committees and they both said yes so um this is something that now that the budget and finance subcommittee has um gotten well underway in our recent projects including the uh new annual budget development calendar and the process we are currently undergoing of uh conducting Outreach for uh stakeholder input into the next year's operating budget um I have been thinking that examining how budget information is presented and exploring U alternative ways of doing that would be uh upcoming next project or topic for budget and finance so I just wanted to put that out there in case the committee would like to delegate that research to the budget and finance subcommittee and uh we would be happy to take it up and come back with information and options okay um I open to a motion to delegate the research of um options for the presentation of financial reports to the um budget and finance subcommittee to make recommendations so moved seconded uh Susan did you get that no I have uh Elizabeth made it and Stacy seconded Glenn said it I I did my chairing duties um all right great any discussion um so we'll do the all votes tonight by a roll call um secretary Den hold on one second okay and the votes are by roll call because we have some members participating by Zoom MH um secretary Den I'm a yes Vice chair Martini yes chair Johnson mad yes mayor dorer yes member Goodwin yes member seon yes member Childs yes it's unanimous thank you we'll move on to the report from the assistant superintendent of teaching and learning good evening so you have in your folder tonight um my report it starts with uh I attended the Northwestern District Attorney's annual safe and healthy School Summit and had the pleasure of participating in the safe School climate and culture panel at this year's Summit organized by the Northwest District Attorney's Office the summit's theme was empowering belonging connection and learning highight and it highlighted the important importance of fostering inclusive and supportive School environments as part of the event Educators Community leaders and Advocates gathered at Greenfield Community College to discuss strategies for creating safe and welcoming schools where all students can Thrive and I had my first opportunity to include a couple pictures so um also excited to announce uh Greenfield Public Schools reading initiative with the Springfield Thunderbirds um this is the first kind of Public Announcement around this but there's more in the weeks and month to come the Greenfield Public Greenfield Public School students will have an opportunity to attend a Springfield Thunderbirds hockey game for free all they need to do is read for 20 minutes a day 20 times from Thanksgiving through January 6th we're working with the Thunderbirds to kick off this initiative at at the turkey trots on November 27th and hope that the Thunderbirds mascot Boomer um can join us in visiting Greenfield and all of our schools the goal is to encourage all of our students to find enjoyment in Reading improving literacy skills is a major District priority and this partnership will allow us to incentivize students for reading all students who complete the reading form will receive a free ticket and there will be an opportunity for families and caregivers to purchase purchase tickets to attend the game in early 2025 um secretary Den last month did ask around a grants update so I did list out the first section our grants that we've applied for and received um and then the second part of the list are are grants that we've submitted applications for and are waiting to hear whether or not they'll be awarded I did not include entitlement grants like um Title One and idea on this but um these are grants that we have pursued and received or are in the process of pursuing and in terms of professional development we had on Tuesday November 5th we had a full day of professional learning across the district most Educators participated in professional development focused on lesson internalization from our partners at teaching lab in addition to the teaching lab training we also had staff participate in Crisis Prevention Institute Training many Unit C members particip participated in strength-based instruction training in which they built off prior learning from August and our prek staff continued their training on growing a culture of care and respect with Partners from Greenfield Community College Beyond those trainings we also had training and activities on com combating chronic absenteeism or Nan's course selection process navian college application process best practices with with Imagine Learning reports and data inclusive practices and least restrictive environment and then open side training focused on empowering students and providing opportunities for Equitable discussion in the classroom thank you superintendent good evening um just a reminder for everyone that our desie district site revieww will begin Monday the 18th they will be here all next week um desie hires the American Institute for research um to be on site and to collect all of the data and then they filter all of the data and we'll hopefully get a uh full district report about four months after their site so hopefully in early spring we will get that they are going to be on site they're going to do interviews with various teachers students um counselors um central office staff Etc they're also hosting numerous virtual interview sessions with other stakeholders um such as the mayor and school committee they are um also participating in a parent caregiver virtual session um but that is requiring a pre-registration so I have that in my parent update and I will send it again again out tomorrow in my parent update we have had many families uh register so that's very exciting they said at our meeting yesterday I believe 17 families had already and they said that was pretty high for a lot of the site reviews so if you haven't registered yet and you're interested the link will be again in my parent update tomorrow so please do pre-register to be part of that I included a Green River update I had a few emails um sent to me over the week um as you know the city took over Green River as of September 1st but we had um had numerous items still stored in Green River so we were working diligently to try to get um the remainder of the materials out of there we had declared those materials in September a surplus at our school committee meeting and if you look back at that there were a lot of notes about uh many of those materials were there that were just either broken or irrepairable um some had mildew on them and could not be reused we hired a general contractor a local one we gave uh small business in town um the ability to come and help us dispose of that and they will recycle all of the metals so I know people had concerns that that wasn't happening but it is um we have one more classroom though that we have stuff that we will be using so our maintenance department has to get that uh distributed to all of our elementary schools because we are obviously planning for redistricting and adding fifth grade to our elementary so we did need some of the materials there we also had um Boy Scouts and juk and a few other uh Community organizations who did actually acquire some of the um Surplus items so they have been uh going to people who could use them so just wanted to keep people updated on that because I know um there was a lot of activity there with the dumpsters and people were trying to figure out what was going on but we were trying to do our due diligence and get it cleared for the city I also included a restorative practices update um it has been the topic of conversation obviously and much of the conversation around the SRO and what the schools could also be doing um it is something that I am uh committed to though we had tried to start it at the high school many years ago when I was the principal there and we're on a good track getting many of our staff trained and uh we were hosting circles at our faculty meetings we were teaching our kids how to host circles we were doing advisories with restorative work um and then covid hit and you know we're tired of hearing covid and then postco and all the things that it's ruined but um it is actually an investment and I'm I'm happy to hear that people understand that in a lot of the conversation because um many people think you can just become restorative that if we just say we are and we we want to do it it'll just happen but it really does take thoughtful um planning and purposeful planning and having stakeholders at the table with the planning and that incl includes community members that includes parents that includes students so you know we have um worked with the collaborative in the past Stephen and I met with the collaborative yesterday um we also have worked with frog we went to the communities that Care Coalition they had a restorative practice Symposium last week that I was a part of with two of our Greenfield High School counselors who are restorative practice trained we brought our nurse leader with us and really just working to figure out this planning year and so our director of Behavior Services is going to be charged with uh forming a committee getting interested students faculty staff and other stakeholders such as parents or community members who really want to take place um having a voice at the table and um planning with us and how we can thoughtfully roll this out it will require professional development time it will require an investment of budgetary funds and it will require the the continual practice and implementation so um this is not something that we are not paying attention to but it obviously is going to take a lot of um time and effort to get this done in a way that it is sustainable and I think that's the important part that we all are worried about is that we don't want it to be a oneandone PD we don't want it to be something we say we do but aren't embedded in our work so um we will keep you updated as these things unfold and I will certainly um put out there when folks can become part of that committee we have some staffing updates um we are excited to welcome Ian Edwards as our new director of Technology um he is slated to start with us on Monday November 18th so um you can look for him he's going to be jumping right in on Monday with the IT department um we uh also have begun interviews um for those of you that know our Newton Elementary School principal resigned effective November 27th um for personal reasons so we have posted and we have already begun the interview process we have um staff Administration other Elementary principles as well as parents on the committee and we've been doing virtual interviews so we hope to have that position filled uh quickly um in the interim though I did put out a message to Newton families and I did not see the recorder today but I've been told there is a story uh Mr Sullivan Elaine Mount our assistant director of pupil Services um will also be on site to help out as well as myself if needed so I don't want families to feel that there is not going to be Administration available because we will make sure there is we also um have been taking into account um that the need for full-time adjustment counselors and registered Behavior technicians is evident in our schools kids are traumatized we're still coping with the effects of covid we're still coping with kids who who um need help in how to deal with their emotions and how to deal with behaviors and how to be in a public school setting so we've added a full-time counselor and an RBT at Newton Elementary to try to help with some of those situations as always though we're still looking to fill some positions so we have some instructional assistant custodial and food service positions posted um we're also always looking for substitutes and volunteers so if you'd like to come help us out um please please just call my office and we will walk you through the easy peasy process so that you can maybe come spend lunch in recess with our kiddos last I just like to update um We are continuing with our district learning walkthroughs um you know ultimately students experiences and what they get in need in terms of education is our top priority and in order to do that we have to be in classrooms we have to see what's happening um instructionally with our students and we have to be taking stock as to what needs to be in place so that teachers can do their job and students can learn we conducted our second um official walkthrough with the teaching lab the professional development partner that we've been working through and each building principal is working this week with their instructional leadership team in their own buildings to analyze building based data and um also analyze uh information that was received at the professional development and we'll be working on that of faculty meetings to come um Stephen and I though also are um committed to being in buildings more so we hope teachers are feeling that and seeing us because we want to make sure that they know we're there to support them and that we're there to help them um with anything that they may need and we also enjoy being in your classrooms and seeing students joy in their classroom as well thank you thank you any questions for the super endent or the assistant superintendent please yeah this is more of a comment than a question um but I just wanted to thank both of you for all of the information that you included in your reports and being very responsive to the inquiries that we make but also to what you're hearing come from the community I think that the more like this represents so much work there is so much work being put in by not only our administrators but our building staff as well and and our everyone who's involved with the Enterprise of educating students which is a lot of people I think that the more that we can be out loud and proud about this work the better it's going to be um I think that having this information in hand does help to dispel any rumors that might be out there about what what is or is not occurring um and so I think this is work we can be proud of and we should be really loud with that Pride thank you sp and the piece I did leave out though that I should have added we are also in the midst of redistricting so we did site visits today um at the lien Woods Community Center and the oak courts Community Center and I've messaged out those families that are affected by the redistricting um and while it's um just about 70 or so students that are affected by this I don't want those families to think that we are not committed to making sure that they're making the best possible educational decisions for their kids so um it may not be always in the reports we put out there because it doesn't affect the whole Greenfield Public School Community but we have not lost sight of that as well thank you other questions or comments um Kate or the mayor just want to make sure I I can't see you so okay not seeing any no thanks okay I'd like to thank you both for all you do as well um let's see move on to the consent agenda are there any items on the consent agenda which members would like to consider separately yes member genive I was curious about the 2025 2026 ghs program of studies is that only available to us digitally it's not in the package okay lot of I assumed that it would be a lot of paper so um all right I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing anything nope got it great any other questions or items so we'll we'll vote on the entire consent agenda I'd like to hear a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented so moved is there a second seconded uh motion from Member seon the second for member Childs um any discussion secretary genive when you're ready to call the um the vote denz Vice chair Martini yes chair Johnson mad yes mayor dorer yes member Goodwin yes member seon yes member child's yes passes unanimously thank you very much we'll move on to school committee reports first is the role of the chair um I wanted to address um some questions have come up about um our role in approving warrants and also um public discussion at these meetings about particular invoices I'd like to start by just acknowledging I I don't know everything about this job that I'm in and I still have a lot to learn um one thing I'm trying to balance is items which are kind of in our role as a school committee and items that are in the superintendent's world and um obviously it's in our role to approve these warrants we're asked to sign them um at the same time discussion of like a particular invoice um I feel like if we authorize a a budget and authorize spunding Within in a realm that unless the particular invoice is way outside of what we've authorized the superintendent to to spend then it's uh it's not really needed to be discussed at a full committee meeting I'm not sure about that I have more to explore and learn but that's my current take on it so I guess what I would like to suggest as at least a temporary uh plan is is that um if members have questions about a particular invoice please pick up the phone and call the superintendent call the business manager they're available to answer your questions about every single invoice in that packet if they after that if there's something you still have a question about or seems like a problem seems inappropriate doesn't seem like something we authorizes superintendent to to spend bring it to me I'll put it on the agenda as that particular invoice we can discuss it in the public session in the meantime I will reach out to mask um Tracy Novak I guess has has made herself available um to just check in because maybe there's something I'm missing or um that I need to learn about what our role is um with that um so I wanted to share that and I would take any questions or comments from the committee remember good one I would like us to relook at the process for the signing of the warrants and maybe consider a majority versus just one person being the signatory I feel like there's unfortunately I feel like there's a lot of rubber stamping and I believe it is our primary responsibility to oversee the financial um aspects of running the school department so one person is signing I never know who that person is um I see warrants after they've been signed um so I'm asking questions after it's already been acknowledged that the bills are being paid so there's a lot of you know I'm sitting here looking at reports in a different way I'm seeing a lot of negative numbers um so things are being shifted around um so there are a lot of questions and I think as a taxpayer I'm always asking questions about how public money is being used um and so the way we currently do it doesn't give me as a member of the school committee a way to feel like I'm getting questions answered prior to um Warren being approved approved so I'm just looking for another way um and some school districts do have multiple people um being responsible um there's a majority uh so instead of one person and also saying that there's one person who has signed and not who that person is is also um another thing that I think should be we document everything through the minutes that should be something that is also documented somewhere um I will let just to share a little bit of of History um when I came on to the school committee our process was that a quorum of us needed to actually go in and sign the full warrant um the opportunity came up they there was a change in the law for the school committee could vote to design to allow um a single member to uh to sign on behalf of the whole committee the committee voted to allow that currently it's a kind of a first come first serve if someone gets there and signs it um we can look into that maybe we want to designate someone in a particular role or um want to designate a particular person we could also revisit the the whole um format um so we I'd be happy to put that on agenda for uh a future meeting um for us to take a fresh look at the way the warrants are authorized um if people ever want to know who it is that authorized the warrant you can um contact the business office um Vera I'm sure will be happy to answer that I can tell you most of the time it's me um but but uh any anyone is welcome to I don't always have to be the one to do it our bills do need to get paid so someone needs to go in and and look at those invoices in a timely manner um and sign off on those that has been me um but I uh welcome other members to take that on you just have to and you one way to I have a reminder set in my phone uh it's usually the Monday every other week um so you can set a reminder in your calendar that's that's how I do it to go in and look um other questions or comments secretary Den I concur with everything that member Goodwin has said and one of the things that I asked in hyenas last week I asked every committee that I could find what they did with their warrants how it came up in their meeting and they all said well this is a standing item on our agenda and really 99% of the time no one's going to bring up a warrant like I don't care that you have to pay for copy paper like it's it's of no interest to me but once in a while you encounter one that you're not familiar with or whose amount doesn't seem maybe correct and you just want to have a little bit more information and because it's public money it really needs to be discussed in a public forum and it's also an opportunity for us to sort of course correct if we find something that maybe um we could be asking about um a new contract for a vendor perhaps we need to be able to bring it up so us not talking about it is very out of the norm this is something that you're expected to talk about and I don't think any one of us would um abuse it in any way or um be nitpicky or even talk about it all that much I mean it's we get these things that are like 150 pages long but bills that have to be paid and everybody just wants to have the bills paid but it's also our responsibility to scroll roll through and to make sure everything looks copasetic and 99% of the time it does so if there's something that's an outlier it is absolutely our job to bring it up and that's what we found in hyenas I think I don't know if you can concur with me remember seon but that was the the Viewpoint was best practices warrants on the agenda at all times that is what was brought up by most of the school committees that we did talk to about this and asked what their practice was um I can also say that I I mean I don't know how you're defining in a timely manner but I'm often looking at those warrants within four hours of them coming to us but even still before I've had a chance to get through them all they've been approved so that's part of the pro processual problem that we're talking about yep we will have it on an agenda at a future meeting about how the committee wants to um handle warrants we can revisit that I would say um I see the mayor and um member Martini would like to speak but I I would say that um if we do have uh you know if I've been wrong in the past practice of the committee has been wrong and and this should be on the agenda as a standing item um I still think it would be courteous and helpful for the superintendent and their the business manager to know what people's question questions are in advance so she has a Time chance to prepare responses and it's possible that the answer that she gives you would make you feel like perhaps this isn't something that requires the attention of the full committee and and the full community watching from home member Martini I uh just thought I would add a little bit of my recollection from this previously as well um because I was on the committee um during our past practice which was that four members were required to sign up on warrants and there was a frequent problem with getting all four signatures by the time that was required for the bills to get paid and I I recall that being part of the discussion about um whether or not we should go to one member and signing off on warrants and I'm not really taking a position here about how many members ought to sign up on warrants but um if we're going to discuss this I think that should be part of the um part of the solution so that we're not um stressing out our administrators with the same problem that we used to have and um in terms of uh other committees and what they do and what have you I've certainly spent a lot of time uh going over other um committees materials and things like that um partly in large part in the process of creating our annual budget uh development calendar because I was looking for precedent um in other places so there certainly are a lot of other committees that have warrants as a standing item um on their agenda so there would be plenty of um of precedent for that I'm not sure how that would work with our um schedule because if we have warrants um that need to be signed every other week we don't meet every other week so that is a question that remains to be answered some committees do meet twice a month and we don't so um I would like to to hear what options are actually feasible and if there would be some kind of substantive change that would have to happen in order for for that to be a thing thank you mayor dorer um so first I'd like to thank you Glenn for being the person that is there and doing the signing um when I first um got to be the mayor that there was so much to wrap my head around and there were these emails that were coming out could we please get one person to sign the warrant and um it sounded like Vera was waiting for one person and the first thing I wanted to say was thank you for doing that because I actually emailed her and I thought do we have to go there or whatever because I didn't want um her waiting to have the bills paid so I'm grateful very grateful for you doing that I and secondly I think it's a good discussion for us to have um because um if we're you know it runs different on the city Side we have two or three signers you know like the accountant and I sign the accountant signs and I sign and I go through everything carefully because my signature is on it and um I do think it's a good discussion because I have never not once have I been the person that was the signer maybe because it took me longer to get there because I had a lot to do or whatever but I think if we're all ultimately responsible maybe there is a different way that we should look at it so I think thank you Glenn for um for doing that and for putting it on the agenda for us to go forward because it sounds like we're all supposed to you know acknowledge that you know we attest to everything that's on the warrants so I agree with taking it a step further thank you you're welcome uh member Martini yeah I'm sorry I just had one thing um I forgot to say I was thinking about um some of the work that we did on the handbook uh the school Committee Member handbook um when we were developing that over uh the course of the summer and uh one of the important points in many of the handbooks that I looked at for um precedent and guidance about how other committees um developed their uh guidelines for their members was no gotas basically and to please let the superintendent know or the business manager whoever it is that you have a question for what your question is ahead of time so that they could be sure to be well prepared um when you ask it um if you don't if you're not letting them know what your question is uh beforehand then they will not have had a chance to go and do whatever um fact finding or research that you need them to do to answer it for you so I just wanted to um Echo What Glenn said there if you have a question about a warrant um please reach out to the superintendent to the business manager so that they can get that information for you um I'm not saying that we shouldn't put warrants on agendas and and talk about them then too but if we do that I just um want to advise members to please um communicate in advance so that you can get the information you're looking for thank you U mayor dorer are you use your hand up again I no I just forgot to take that okay fair enough if you were physically holding your hand up you would probably have noticed that in the virtual world it's easy to forget um I guess I'll say one thing with our until we have a chance to discuss this um as a full agenda item in the meantime I'll plan to um wait 24 hours from when the um email Coes out to us before I sign off um and maybe we can all plan to do that give give everybody 2 4 hours um to look at it and to ask any questions they may have before um someone authorizes it um anything else on that before we move on thanks everybody um where are we here timeline for discussion of business manager hiring environment and the logistics um at the last meeting uh I had agreed to ask Liz lefant from ask to come tonight to talk to us about basically what is the hiring environment for business managers uh we currently have a contractor um and people are qu are questioning which way we want to go um she wasn't available tonight but is working on um either herself or um someone else from mask coming to join us in December so that's the update on that uh I keep losing my spot here okay budget and finance [Music] subcommittee um member Mar hi hi yes so um as you will know if you have been um joining us recently uh and I will go over it in case you haven't uh the committee has a new annual budget development calendar that has um just been uh developed and approved as of September and um the purpose for this is to give us more clarity and more engagement uh with budget development uh here too far in the past uh we have had uh what I think is kind of a murky um process of budget development which um leads to a lot of kind of ignorance and confusion out there about how the budget happens um and people want to have um want to have input they want to share their ideas um what they think is important and that's part of our own policy as a school committee so uh we now have uh this calendar which spells out for people all the different uh moving parts that go into the development of the uh the budget every year um including actions by the school committee School administration the city and what goes on at the state level um and how those things ultimately come together into our our school budget and uh it also outlines for people um the many ways in which they can offer their input along the way so I would encourage everyone if you haven't already um had a chance to check it out uh go on to the school the school website um and under Administration you'll see the budget information page and there you will find the FY 26 budget development calendar which is now posted there in English Spanish Russian and Romanian and uh the superintendent has included this in her recent updates as well uh repeatedly so people should um find that readily accessible and then the next thing that we did uh was to decide upon uh manner of providing a more Outreach uh than has been done in the past uh for Gathering stakeholder input into budget development so that the committee can establish priorities um in this upcoming budget and uh again in the past uh folks have certainly been um able to and have shared their input by the usual means of doing things like emailing the school committee or making public comment um and we strongly encourage people to continue doing that but we also decided we wanted to um take a more forward approach so members uh so as you know the school committee approved um this this uh Outreach plan last month and members of budget and finance have been um attending meetings of um our PTO and uh the ghs school council in order to uh essentially conduct some listening sessions to hear from uh our parents and staff and students um who may be at those meetings to um as to what's important to them in our budget uh and can't really uh say at this point because I don't know all of the input yet uh what exactly um all of that will come out to but um I can say that we have already been out to um PTO at a at GMS and um we are uh I just went to the ghs school council um the reason that that is a school council um Outreach rather than a PTO is because there is not a PTO at ghs uh and um Federal Street actually also just occurred yesterday as well we're looking forward to upcoming um similar sessions at the PTO at Newton as well as at the discovery school at Four Corners um that will be Monday the 18th at 4:30 and Tuesday December 3rd at 6 respectively and uh I will will also be um doing the same thing with our CPAC which is special education parent advisory Council for those who don't know and our elpac which is our English learner parent advisory Council um and those are uh on Wednesday the 20th at 5:00 pm through zoom and on Thursday the 21st at 6 pm at the GMS Library respectively all of this information in terms of dates um and locations and what have you is going out weekly has been going out um through the superintendent update and has also been posted on our um social media so and I just wanted to say in that context um it just to respond to a mention during our public comment session about um hearing things from Facebook or um other ENT online um I would just encourage folks to please rely upon the district's social media pages and not U not necessarily other sources if you're looking for Reliable information so please head on over to the Greenfield Public Schools Facebook page um if you would like to catch up on the dates for all of these um budget development discussions uh so I'm looking forward to um coating all of that information and bringing it back to school school committee in December uh so that we can um so that we can establish some priorities going into uh the budget season that is upcoming um and that's about all I have um about the subcommittee I did just want to add that um just in terms of my own experience um Glenn I relate to what you said about not necessarily knowing everything about your role um because uh this being my first year chairing budget and finance is also steep learning curve for me um so uh I just wanted to um update you all about my activities last week at the masc conference because I focused on attending as many um budget related sessions as I could and there were um some excellent um trainings that I attended there like I mentioned before um including uh one called the uh student Opportunity Act is working but uh which was an excellent um Deep dive provided by masc and mass budget into what is working and not working about the student Opportunity Act uh also the training that I mentioned earlier uh which was entitled what should be in your budget document and uh I really enjoyed hearing from Wister and Welsley public schools and their business managers and our um masc field director uh Tracy uh in that training and I'm looking forward to following up on that um in budget and Finance in terms of um how we can improve our budget document uh I also attended trainings on using data to inform School budgets and policy securing top-notch School Finance leaders strategies that work and special education Financial issues impact and management so uh I just wanted to share that uh experience with you and I'm looking forward to using all of that um Newfound information in our ongoing work on budget and finance thank you other questions I I just have a comment please um I would just like to thank um member Martini for her work on this um I can feel that she's put her whole heart and soul into this and I really appreciate the Outreach that she's doing and I'm I'm grateful thank you I second that any other questions or comments thank you so much member Martini uh policy and program subcomittee we have listed here first read of policy J IA dress code and uh uh I need to give you a lot of context but basically we're not taking action on this tonight so um at the last meeting we found it basically kind of a typo or some missing words we sent it to our attorney and asked him to please fill in the missing words so we kind of thought it would just be non-substantive changes uh when he took a fresh look at it because he had seen it before but when he took a fresh look at it he saw many things ways that it could be improved so he provided a marked up copy of us to us with many new changes and basically it was going to come to you tonight as a first read um of a substantively changed document um however we had some Version Control issues and the version in your packet is not the version that uh we want to put forward to you so um I guess I would take a u motion to table the first read of policy jca dress code to our December meeting so Move Motion from Member Charles is there a second second second from Member Goodwin any discussion uh secretary Den will you call a vote second was good one yep yes okay Den May yes um Vice chair Martini yes CH Johnson mad yes mayor dorer yes member Goodwin yes member seon yes member Childs yes passes unanimously thank you that is tabled um Community engagement subcommittee member ston all right so I believe it was the 22nd of October that we had our very first community engagement subcommittee meeting at which time we reviewed a draft um Mission and function document which basically lays out what our responsibility is and what we are supposed to be doing with our time um as a function of that subcommittee we did get some public comment which was great people knew it was happening they came that was exactly what what we're trying to do there um and then we had a a really good discussion about the draft that was provided to us um we made a few changes which is not in your packet but probably will be for next meeting um I think that you can probably find it on the meeting minutes from that meeting that should be on our website um but essentially what we wanted to revise was actually to make the language a lot more active so instead of just attending various meetings we also wanted to be able to to host them to call for them to say we would like to to do things rather than just showing up to the things that other people are doing um we wanted to give ourselves the attitude to also be proactively hearing things and then maybe let's have a forum to discuss it or let's have a listening session about XY or Z thing um and that is that's basically what was CH uh reflective in all of the wording changes um that we're in here um and we also discussed that we of course want to make sure that the things that we're doing are in alignment with where the administration is is wanting to go so that we're not working at odds with each other but actually really supporting one another um with calling these meetings um our next meeting we decided we V we voted to establish a regular meeting time as part of this which is the third Tuesday of every month at 6 PM the third Tuesday is next week so our next meeting if you want to come hang out with us is Tuesday the 19th at 6 PM I believe it will likely be over Zoom unless I can secure a spot somewhere um and for that meeting we'll actually be diving a little more deeply into our goals for the remainder of the Academic Year so if you want to come and give us goals as the community please do so otherwise we'll discuss amongst ourselves that's pretty much what I got thank you mayor I see your hand up uh no what happened again was I forgot I'm putting it down excuse me no problem president yes excuse me chair any other question questions or comments for Community engagement thank you very much um mask division 5 representative member Den I have my division five and my masc conference and my legislative all-in-one report for you wonderful thank you for sending me to the massachusett association of school committees hyenas conference 4 days left last week which I attended with member ston and vice chair Martini my first panel was on how to incorporate policy review into your regular committee work and how to navigate the differences between procedure and policy I chose this panel because we have recently completed our masc policy review and are now ready for internal reviews to adjust our policies to our own Greenfield school culture I wanted to make sure I understood the value for and reasoning behind that process in order to bring additional info to member Child Safety Research I took how to create a therapy pet program in your District which I think is something worth discussing because it is locally possible volunteer-based not expensive supports social emotional learning practices and has evidence-backed data for helping increase literacy rates having therapy pets in your school Community regularly has been shown to increase feelings of safety for staff and students through lowering trauma response responses and increasing Joy one of the most active programs began in Fitchburg and has been going strong for years I also Met School committe members from Athol who are using pets regularly in their buildings at both the elementary and secondary level and there were pets there which we got to pet so that was fun my third panel was on securing School Finance leaders which I took with Vice chair Martini we learned new strategies to find Finance leaders in the education environment and the private sector many Finance officers would like to move out of the corporate world and into education and we were given actionable steps to take when crafting new contracts and job descriptions I also had a conversation with our masc field director Liz leond about this panel and future training and her suggestion was that we take the steps we learned and begin the process of meeting as a committee first to discuss what we would like to see in the future prepare several documents and contract drafts and then contact Margaret Driscoll at masc who is their finance officer Brain Trust um and have her come and give us a training look at our progress and make suggestions for next steps I also took a panel on parent ADV advisory councils the purpose of this panel was to learn how to work with them in the district by including and inviting them into our committee reports and presentations increasing their visibility in the buildings and District Communications we were also presented with a new policy kbg that requires the formation and support of specific packs the new policy language will be available in a few weeks but I have forwarded an advanced copy to the chair and superintendent for early review and adoption and I have a hard copy for you my fifth panel was on communication through crisis and controversy this panel was given by a sponsor so what I glean from it is the importance of having continuous communication across all platforms suggestions were to have a Facebook page that is connected to our web page with a good news tracker showcasing all the positive work we are doing and how to create social media that is not comment enabled my sixth panel was the big one I was interested in it was the longest one I took new funding for improving school facilities this panel answered many of the questions we've all been having about Capital Improvements in our buildings the basic gist is there are organizations we have not thought of who regular L step in to help maintain the older buildings like eversource they have a program for this part of how that works is making a practive plan as a committee now to decarbonize our school buildings completely the idea being that if we come together and make statements of interest about older boilers and other fossil fuel energy users we'd like to remove we would be very likely to get full funding for replacing these systems with heat pumps and new technology I have three different organizations we can contact about this one of which Mass clean energy was mentioned in public comment earlier and has a new and robust program beginning in January which we should take advantage of the msba the Massachusetts school building authority is also starting a brand new heat pump program in January which we should look into right away I will create a list of these resources and send it to the chair and superintendent next week and hopefully we can have a special meeting about our facility soon soon and get started on this work because most of these programs begin in January but not all of them are about um HVAC they cover all kinds of different facilities issues um another thing that this panel covered was how to get started with new building projects which is something we're just beginning to think about now talking about the potential to have a new elementary school um we had our division five meeting with our division 5 colleagues which covers the Connecticut Valley and felt very productive we discussed the next steps we identified at the last day on The Hill the plan is to bring our advocacy work now to plan virtual meetings with legislators throughout the winter and spring Humera faden is the chair of division five M she and I plan to begin this work shortly we will identify the current legislative priorities and I will bring them to you all for approval we have added new interested Comm committees to our informal Coalition last at the last stage on the hill we went with six or seven different School committees from Mostly Western Massachusetts we now have contacts with Pioneer Valley Regional East Hampton Worthington and Amherst pelum to bring on board for the next day on the hill event uh memb seon and I also created an idea along with the Worthington school committee and collaborative board member to meet with division five members at the Northampton collaborative to work on these Regional issues and meet our other committee friends a little closer to home we will let you know how that goes and invite you all when we have a date let's see there's anything else oh yes um I reached out to comerford's office about our high school boiler issue and that resulted in a meeting between the mayor superintendent and comerford's office last week to discuss and the door is now open for future eark earmark requests with that office thank you very much for attending that meeting and I think that was a really great first step towards working with our local legislators to fund some of these projects that are right at our doorstep and that is my entire report thank you questions comments member Goodwin just thank you for doing all of that you're welcome so much thank you it was so much so I appreciate you so much thank you remember seon I just think maybe Kate and I probably need to do a write up similar to what you did because Elizabeth just shared all the sessions that she went to but Kate and I were also at our own sessions we strategically divided so we could we could talk even more but we won't right now I appreciate you all for going and uh appreciate you um member Deni for really leading the charge and inspiring everybody member Martini I was just going to say remember genive this is why you win Awards thank you so much that's right and the award that was announced a few months ago at this meeting was officially given to Elizabeth at the mass conference so congratulations thank you I'll bring it next month so that Karen can add it to the pile of Greenfield Awards excellent thank you all right it's uh 802 uh we can take a five minute break [Music] n a [Music] he [Music] a [Music] n [Music] a [Music] n [Music] a [Music] a [Music] n ah [Music] n [Music] nah [Music] a [Music] he [Music] we'll resume our meeting Sydney are you ready okay great we are returning from our break um we're on to Old business the new elementary school subcommittee we had um had a motion to lay this motion on the table the motion was to create an ad hoc subcommittee to research and present a proposal on whether to set a goal of constructing a new elementary school I'd like to hear a motion to take this item up take it up from the table okay a motion from the secretary and a second second a second member Martini yeah I think we have to like have a motion to bring it up again um so uh any discussion on discussing the motion okay member Den will you call the vote this was on just taking up the mo just taking up the discussion discussing it tonight yeah Den yes Vice chair Martini yes chair Johnson mad yes mayor dorer yes member Goodwin yes member seon yes member child yes yes all unanimous all right great so we are now um taking up the motion to create an ad hoc subcommittee to research and present a proposal on whether to set a goal of constructing a new Elementary School uh any discussion I'll comment if's not anybody go ahead thanks in the room um well I brought this up because um the committee has talked about this idea numerous times over the last couple of years and um understandably redistricting uh took precedence and I would like to have the committee consider this again you know now formalizing this in um terms of research and discussion because I have concerns about the um long-term and and even fairly shortterm sustainability of our uh Elementary level facilities and um not to be exhaustive about it but just among them I would say that Newton School is 109 years old at this point in time and I understand that um the large addition is um considerably newer than that but it was still 198 9 and uh we also have similarly um aged school buildings Four Corners is about to be 70 Federal Street school is almost a 100 years old at this point and um I think we need to consider the the health of our facilities what they need right now what they are at risk of needing in the near future and what that means for the stability of of our planning uh for example we did um we did put through a fix for the elevator at Federal Street school at a cost of $75,000 uh this year but my understanding from that discussion is that it was only a patch and that there was a possibility that it would break down more seriously and need to be replaced um at that at a cost of about a million dollars uh and of course those costs will go up as time goes on and it's not lost on me that a similar million dooll repair need was the uh driver behind the closure of Green River School which then led to a great deal of um upheaval for the district moving grade levels around um into the middle school and out of the middle school and uh I feel concerned about what um what may be on the radar for us I would not like to see The District in a similar position because of a lack of advanced planning about our facilities so um I would be interested in having a subcommittee tasked with the purpose of investigating the um the current health and risks and potential benefits of building a new school uh that being said I also wanted to just put out there this um could potentially be related to the next discussion on the agenda this evening which is uh another proposal as to creating a subcommittee focused on safety I just wanted to mention that um in terms of History the committee used to have a subcommittee that was entitled uh something along the lines of health safety and facilities subc commmittee and uh we had decided to um eliminate it two or three years ago and um it sounds like both of these items would be um appropriate for a subcommittee so titled but um I would be open to either either idea so it sounds like you're open to either a ad hoc subcommittee with a limited focus on creating this proposal or um creating a recreating US Safety and Facilities subcommittee who tasked who would be tasked with this same um project to present the proposal that is correct thank you other comments or question questions uh let's see I see member Goodwin and then member child's I think mine is more of a question um we used to have a facilities manager who was it was sort of their oversight of the buildings which matches what um member Martini was just describing is that still exist yes Michael buo is our facilities director yeah and I think that the school committee's role would be more like setting goals related to facilities such as should we try to create a new building or other other big picture things like that y remember child so from the city's construction uh committee some of the things that I have picked up is that if we were doing a super accelerated timetable for a new building we're looking at at least a decade so I think we all need to be clear that anything here it's not okay we're closing the three elementary schools tomorrow it's long-term planning but something else that has been stressed on that committee is that the more planning you have in place before you do your Grant application because you're not doing any Municipal Building without State funding the closer it is to getting what you want so uh basically this is a long-term plan and as much planning as you can do as possible and the the environmental uh impact of these buildings is something that has been discussed at the uh Town construction committee as well especially looking at HVAC heating and more than that cooling at these older buildings that were built at times when may would not have 98 degree days I don't know if we have 98 Degree Days yet here but some days it feels like it so um just some context from the relevant City committee thank you uh member mayor dorer I think this is a great idea um and I I would also like to say that the ad hoc committee I feel it I guess that you're thinking or maybe whoever is bringing this forward would be thinking a subset of the school committee um and um and I'd like to thank you for serving on planning and construction I think it's important to have somebody like from energy and sustainability who takes a look at the efficiency of all of the you know subcommittee of all of the buildings on this their their uh fuel use Etc we spend a lot of time and energy um looking at which buildings use the least fossil fuel so I think it's important to to look at this and maybe to have um you know a few people that are that are a subset of this committee but maybe using somebody from energy and sustainability on this so the makeup of the committee would be important to me but I do think it's a very good idea I know Ann you've looked at the over all of the buildings and but financially I don't think we can look at it at building anything until 2035 because of our borrowings and there are different departments that have different needs I know I has looked at you know City Hall um but I think it's a very good point about how old the schools are and whether it's a good idea to have all of the elementary children in one school with that help with some of the things that we're having issues with with lack of diversity in some schools or possible lack of diversity in some schools so I I definitely would vote in favor of this but I would like to talk about the the makeup of the committee thank you other questions or comments looks like me member seon and then member Martini yeah I just wanted to say that I would be in favor of cre creating this um somewhat agnostic about whether or not it's a subcommittee versus a new standing committee although if we're talking a 10-year time frame it might be worth it to have the standing committee just because other things might come up that would fit under their purview rather than having a multitude of ad hoc committees um but I think that it is prudent for us to be asking these questions and if we don't start it now you know someone else is just going to have to start it even later next could compound our problems moving forward other questions or comments m one oh member Martini sorry I think I had said okay um I was just going to um Echo member Childs about the need for this to be a 10-year plan um it's not something that can be um picked up and done quickly by any means which is part of the reason why I think the committee needs to formalize and approach to this now um and I am also mindful of what the mayor um just brought up in terms of our city debt obligations U because 2025 I'm sorry 2035 is um that's nine years away now and that fits um pretty well with a 10-year plan so um and I appreciate what member zon just said about um it making more sense to make it a standing committee give given the long range nature of the planning thank you um member goodwi I think this is a good idea to start the conversation but as um a principal of construction I mean there was a one of the things I learned through that process is that you have to monitor the state and all of a sudden the state will release money and encourage um cities to apply which is why a lot of middle schools were built in the year 2000 and you may not be having those conversations and they happen too fast so I think this is a good idea and monitoring um how the rules changed I'll give you a good example in the year 2000 a team of people came to Greenfield Middle School and also South Hadley Middle School and we were told that if we wanted extra space in our classrooms we would ask for green houses none of us wanted green houses at that time we wanted extra space in our classrooms because they were very small what the state designated for children at that time we all got green houses and no extra space thank you for the history other questions or comments okay um well here's my thinking is a little fuzzy um do we I mean it seems obvious we need a new elementary school at some point uh the the the current motion is about presenting a proposal on whether to set a goal of constructing one but everyone the way everyone's talking it sort of sounds like well obviously they're going to come back to us and tell us yes but am I wrong about that is that is there any going to be any argument against trying to get a yeah member child's so the argument that came up at the construction committee was about walkable towns and neighborhood schools so I do know that there will be some people who support the smaller schools and the smaller walking distances right so the sustainability you know how much can these buildings be nurtured and retrofitted with better technology so yeah there will be some people who are against a new school just saying that right and the way it's phrased is it assumed that we set a goal of constructing a new Elementary School it would be a single elementary school for the whole town is that the way people are thinking of I'm seeing a some people nodding yes and some people nodding no so I guess that would be part of the committee's work would be to to um look into that the funding environment walkability neighborhood schools um all all those different issues um other Pros that there may be for having a single school um so let's see well um I'm also aware that it is November um and um in January there will be you know usually reassignment of subcommittees um so maybe we think about um maybe I could come back to you next month with a proposal of how to structure the work talk to the superintendent talk to the mayor and um what look at the possibility of doing a um standing committee um so maybe we don't take action on this tonight what do people think I'm seeing nodding heads all right um so then I guess the question is whether we vote on this current motion or just essentially um vote it down for the time being with the understanding that we'll come back to this uh next month any preferences from people about how we handle that remember Eve I'd like to see it come back next month because I mean I have notes here saying that I'm wanting to request a meeting about building facilities I mean maybe there's a larger umbrella to discuss keeping our current facilities up to dat learning how to utilize State programs getting comfortable with that and also kind of leveraging all of this into learning about how to build a new elementary school that's going to be quite a journey for all of us and there we'll probably all be gone by the time that this is built so we want to do the work I think thoughtfully and and as proactively as possible with as much information for the future people that are coming after us to have okay member Childs I'm sorry member Goodwin and some community are giving great thought to not just building a school but building a school attached to a YMCA building a school attached to a public library um looking at you know a 24-hour child care by having you know the why attached to the school so there I think it's wise for communities when it comes to funding to look at what other types of building schools can be attached attached to that help with the overall picture you know um North Adams has a large Elementary School it's the newest one which is attached to the YMCA so the children have before school care after school care um and you know the Y has a separate parking lot but it's actually well done and I think in Greenfield we kind of think Silo based where we have to have this building that building that building but looking at how we can connect those two projects are usually well received by state funders um and there are other things that Greenfield desperately needs as well thank you uh any other questions or comments yes member ston this is just a one of the many exciting things that I learned while I was at the conference I took a session on Robert's rues because I'm that kind of person um and the technical term for what we're wanting to do right now is postpone oh okay great yeah well um with your Roberts rules experience member sex we please make a motion I would like are you wanting this in December or January um I think we should I think we should re well what do people think do we want November we want December or January December yeah May December great then I would like to make a motion to postpone the discussion of the new Elementary School subcommittee the discuss discussion and vote discussion um to the December school committee meeting I'll second that and I see mayor jerger mayor disor sorry oh put your hand down and didn't unmute and maybe you wanted to unmute too yes great I'm all set thank you oh you're all set okay great any discussion all right secretary Den will you call the vote Den I'm a yes Vice CH Martini yes chair Johnson missan yes mayor dorer yes member Goodwin yes member seon yes member Childs yes passes unanimously great thanks everyone great discussion um let's see member Childs was tasked with um giving us uh research in potential recommendations um around uh school safety needs remember Childs okay so I've spent the past month interviewing usted parties attend very sorry talking is hard attending various meetings reading academic studies on as many facets of school safety including but not limited to school discipline strategies various support Personnel roles emotional support dogs and even teenage circadian rhythms uh while the research let Al alone a comprehensible report on said research is more than what can be realistic done in one month I do have two items of action to present to the school committee tonight but first I have a little bit of relevant information you'll find it repeats some things that have already been said tonight but it's also part of the study so um the topic of communication it should be known that superintendent Pat node and chief Dodge are continuing to actively work together and additionally superintendent patod has been working on improving communication with other City departments by representing the school department at City department head meetings so good movements there uh shifting topics restorative practices have come up a lot in both research and interviews and also tonight in public comment as an update on what's going on though there's more in depth in the superintendent update tonight superintendent patod has been working with numerous entities furog CTC CES on restorative practice research and training for the schools ultimately restorative practices aren't a oneandone training they require long-term commitment including Financial while we have started the process quality restorative practice implementation takes time work and ongoing support all that said let's move on to what we can do now first recommendation I'll move that the school committee enter into anou with the Greenfield Police Department regarding remote access to security cameras during emergency situations very recently the district invested heavily in modernizing and upgrading the physical security of the schools superintendent patner has already provided the first responder access to the physical buildings to the police department and fire department as well remote camera access for the police department requires a memorandum of understanding approved by the district's legal council um my second recommendation would be uh to move that the school committee work with the superintendent on a safety survey for school staff thank you very much um I guess first we we will take up your um motions but first let's see if there's questions or comments from the Committee Member good one I just want to thank you so much for all of it you are like an investigative reporter that just keeps on going and so I really thank you because you've been everywhere and people who I know have come to me and said um she asked great questions so thank you than you thank you any other questions or comments before we take up those motions remember ston I was just curious if like what were some of the more common themes that emerged from people like not just the academic literature uh the answer to that is definitely yes uh it's all over the map um I have not finished correlating all the data because there are still people who have expressed interest in talking to me and anyone who wants to talk to me I am going to listen restorative practices have been one of the number one things coming up uh and also there's been a surprising amount of building uh things that have come up just really you know specific building like questions about this window here or that door there so that was interesting to see um trying to think of other thematics because of course the SRO question is up both for and against and there have been some great discussions from that about what makes a safe person for kids to go to uh who can fill that role what are the pros and cons for various kinds of people filling that role and of course uh School discipline comes up and so you'll see absolute rejection of zero tolerance kind of policies it's kind of funny to be like zero tolerance for zero tolerance um because our community in my conversations with them been very much about the holistic interests of the child and creating the kind of enironment where a kid can make a mistake and then make things right without being penalized in ways that will interrupt their school career thank you other questions or comments I just based on um the feedback we've been getting by email and many people coming in public comment I just thought it would be useful as part of the context of this discussion to review what our motion was last month um there was a motion that the school committee begin a comprehensive study and deliberation process to evaluate the potential addition of a school resource officer to our school district and that was voted down five to2 so I just wanted I'm not sure that that um motion really got um all of the distribution and communication that it needed so I'm just trying to amplify that that that was the vote we made last month um great so then why don't we take your motions one at a time member Childs okay so for the first one I move that the school committee enter into anou with the Greenfield Police Department regarding remote access to security cameras during emergency situations is is there a second second well I uh oh was there there was a second from mayor disorder yes discussion mayor uh member Goodwin I think the question I have is there must be some legal component to this that maybe the superintendent should should look into before because schools have certain legal responsibilities and the police are very different than the schools so giving them access even during an emergency I think I would just want some attorney to kind of weigh in on that maybe I'm wrong um but I think before we take a vote we should get some more information the superintendent should weigh in on this I think part of the motion is that we would not be writing the memorandum of agreement our attorney would be member Martini I was just going to um also say that I would like the input and opinion of the superintendent about this issue and also um I I'm just mindful of the fact that uh typically when the school committee does need to have a discussion that's pertinent to the security of our schools that we don't do that in Open Session because that actually damages the security of our schools so I'm not sure that I feel 100% comfortable with this [Music] on on this agenda tonight superintendent and I would like an opinion like for like from our superintendent and from the attorney as to which venue it's appropriate to have a discussion about this and or parts of it um I did do that Kate before this evening so um having the Moa on a public session um was an acceptable uh conversation to have because the specifics of the security system and um what we would be discussing ing was not uh compromising school safety um if it gets into the specifics where folks want to know you know numbers of things or locations of things or access Etc that would have to move to Executive session but that this topic to enter into an agreement for emergency P purposes only um was just simply to take up theou thank you member ston um can I reasonably expect that the definition of an emergency situation I know it sounds silly to be asking for that but that that would be spelled out in thatou because I want to make sure that we're not giving them access to just look at our cameras whenever they think something might have happened but only when we ask them to I think if you vote Yes the draft would be for you to review first before it is actually imposed M Childs the example I've read from other districts do specify out um I didn't want to bring any because I didn't want to have that as though we were promising to do that before our lawyer could look at it and see but there are a whole bunch of them all over the Internet that do lay out all of the details thank you other discussion or questions all right uh secretary genive will you call the vote Yes um we'll go backwards for funds member Childs yes member seon yes member Goodwin yes mayor dorer yes chair Johnson mad yes Vice chair Martini yes den I'm a yes so it passes unanimously thank you on to your next motion member Childs so the second motion I move that the school committee work with the superintendent on a safety survey for school staff is there a second second um discussion member childes can you talk about so part of uh this is because one of the voices that has been harder to get especially in bul the people who are actively in our buildings working with our kids day in day out uh we need to have a preponderance of feedback from them uh they're going to identify things that people on the outside simply can't see uh they're the ones who we are trying to support so we need to find out what support they need thank you uh other questions or comments superintendent Do you have a any thoughts about that um member Childs and I did discuss this and I think um through our Communications um person we can craft something in a way where we could get the feedback that um we're looking for I think some of the hesitation was around um just identifiable markers and not wanting to be the sole voice for a a collective group so I think if we do this in a way that is um thoughtful and really addresses that the need is to support them I think we could craft something that would be acceptable and we can always discuss with the Union first um before uh allowing it to be pushed out so I think we have some good avenues that we could go down other questions or comments uh member Martini what would be the feasible timeline on that what would be the timeline superintendent I would think that probably a two- week turnaround with just uh the communication person to craft questions um we have a union meeting the first Monday of every month so if we could potentially get it to them by that December 2nd Date I think um they could review it and weigh in on the survey contents and then um see how we could push it out so I'm not sure we'd actually have the results by the December meeting but you at least could have a maybe a finalized version that they would be willing to give their input on other questions or comments M child did when you were looking into this did you find that the Greenfield Public Schools are notably [Music] more more or less safe than other schools I did not find any evidence that we were anything out of the norm when compared to our peer schools meaning similar demographics similar towns okay I mean I'm I'm happy to have a survey and learn I always want to learn you know from our staff but it just feels like the reason we're taking this up is somebody asked to have school resource officer on an agenda and then it kind of caused a big Community discussion um but I just want to kind of emphasize that there there isn't as far as we know anything out of the ordinary happening in our schools around safety and so I'm not sure why it's a strategic uh choice for us to put energy and attention into it it seems like the superintendent is working with the police department there it does sound like it was very useful that first motion you brought up um but I just I don't remember us as a school committee deciding that this was a strategic priority for us so I'm just not sure why we are wanting to I guess gather more data or do more it's and it's like uh as the superintendent has reported she's working on um you know the um the ways of of trying to create a new culture revitalizing that effort it's taking time but it's moving forward so I don't know I guess I would like to hear from people maybe from you remember child's about why you think we should do this so what's the norm now is not the same as what the pre-o norm was and the problems we are having are indeed problems that are Countrywide of the kids who came back after covid and had lots of Behavioral disruptions uh from the interviews I've done uh it's quite clear to me that this is something that the community wants us to be actively looking into and because that is the will of the community people that I've spoken with I think the school committee should be supporting the superintendent in these programs and one of the ways to do so is gathering the data not from the community but from the people inside the school thank you member ston yeah um I agree with what member child's just laid out but I I also wanted to add that I think you know I would actually be curious if you were already planning to do some sort of surveys since you're in year zero of the restorative justice work where you were gathering data and laying out some ground foundational stuff I see this as being supportive of that um and while it might be true that in fact we are not out of the norm the perception amongst members of our community is that is not necessarily that right and I think the things that we can do to provide concrete evidence from our community to our community because there's been some resistance to relying on studies from outside of Greenfield um I think that that would do a lot to build back trust and to assuage people's fears and concerns I actually wanted to expand the scope of the of the motion to include students as well not stuff member Den one of the things that I've learned from all of this endless workshopping with masc is about how incredibly long it takes for your new superintendent to change the school culture and to move things forward and it's not something that any superintendent can do in a year or two this is a multi-year journey and so we can't really expect to see extreme significant change for the first five years really that's what they've taught us so I'm really encouraged by learning through survey work what the students and the staff feel about safety and how they feel in general in their workplace and their Community Place but I'd like to see see it followed up again so if we do one this year I'd like to see one in two or 3 years and then I'd like to see one again in two or three years because that's the only real measure of the long-term work that we're going to need to see and want to see and will see from um Karen's tenure as a superintendent because she needs time to enact all of these these things that she's working on and so I'd like to give her all of that time and just find out what's really going on at different intervals throughout that time thank you member Goodwin one of the things that we're charged with is that fiscal responsibility and a lot of the things that are going to [Music] lead to the perception of school safety whether it's cameras whether whether it's um professional development all takes money and so having data to support our funds or that we may find out that there's a perception that is wrong which is fine but at least we've addressed it and I think any school district that is making a school safety a priority is one where people want their children to be so it's a good priority to have um but it also requires funds and when we look at our budget um when we make decisions about um funding something that takes a long time um to put into place we want data thank you other questions or comments um I would add that oh member Martini uh I'll just read itate a little bit of what I said at the last city council meeting at which uh councilors had questions in regards to the uh vote that we recently took in regards to not re resurrecting the SRO program um and I invited city council members and I would invite everyone to um utilize the information available on the desie website about our uh School District because there's a wealth of information on there and um part of it is about uh student Behavior which seems to be the biggest part of this conversation although gun violence seems to be a second um and I uh just wanted to share what I gleaned from there um which is that as a school district we used to hover about 8 or 9% each year it seemed of our student body and incurring some form of uh discipline for infractions ranging everywhere from vandalism to vaping to assault um and um that's all it's all available on there and broken down by different subgroups of students and um and things like that and I I just wanted to um put this conversation in context um because I feel like there's I I kind of feel bad that our students have gotten a bit of a bad rep in this um recent Community conversation um you know in the past like I said we used to hover around eight or nine% um of our student body uh incurring some form of disciplinary infraction on there and we had um as you as everybody knows a pretty rough year in 2021 on the return to school um especially that fall it was extremely difficult um but even then it wasn't um a huge uptick it was more like 10 point something per that year and then um since then it dropped to five um which is a 50% drop in the course of a year and it's lower than it was before the pandemic it means 95% of our students stayed out of trouble for the most recent reportable year um on there and and 5% of our students need help so uh I wanted to just uh share my my observations from that and in terms of um this survey I love data um and uh I would just I appreciate member Den's comments um because data is only useful if you can track it over time and so I'm not sure that um a motion for one survey is the most useful approach and um I would also want to make sure that it's actually useful for the superintendent um and not just yet another thing to do so um I don't know how this fits in with the superintendent's um comprehensive plans as detailed in the update that we just received and um in the more detailed information that is in our materials um in terms of the uh direction that has been provided through the collaboratives work um through through the listening that they've done so uh Karen do you have any feedback on this is this helpful to you is this uh is this another thing to do and also when I asked what the timeline was I would I was the answer I was not expecting was two weeks you have so much on your plate right now with um the desie site review and um everything else that um I was I was surprised by that you're always so responsive um and I appreciate that but um I don't want to be over taxing you um I think if the direction that the committee would like to go in is um the planning and thoughtful implementation of restorative practice work I think then holding off potentially on this survey and the and trying to gather this information until that committee is formed because then other components and stakeholders of who's in our buildings every day AKA our students would also be part of that committee and then we could form this survey around the direction that all of those members want to see that work go if it's just to kind of get a temperature gauge on staff's opinions of what's been happening the last few months in these conversations then I think that's a different track um but I think potentially if we do get the committee off the ground and we start the Deep dive into the planning of how restorative justice work can be um part of the culture of Greenfield Public Schools then I think holding off might benefit us um just to get a a handle on who's going to be part of this planning and how we're going to roll it out member Martini uh about when do you think that committee would be formed and the answer I am expecting is not two weeks um we are obviously would love the um interaction with the collaborative and having them be a part a partner in this work so after our meeting um yesterday with the collaborative um they asked us for obviously some budgetary constraints for the district and some timelines on that so we're doing a little behind the scenes work and then they're doing a little behind the scenes work based on the 2022 work they started with the district and then we're meeting December 12th as a followup so I would think in the new year um after that because um potentially at the December meeting We'll be asking for potential budget funds to support whatever um you know kind of proposal they've provided the district with and go from there but it probably would not be until January or February Kate anyone else questions or comments I guess um one place my mind is going is sort of similar to what you were saying superintendent which is that with these types of programs like a restorative justice program they are usually best practices about how to go about gathering information from people which people when how um and so knowing that we are going to be doing that work and we will be involving staff in that um I don't want them to get survey fatigue like we ask you now to take your temperature but now we're coming back later for this more substantive information so I guess for that my personal vote on this will be um will be no but only given that we know we're going to be involving staff and students in the restorative justice planning M Childs oh would you like me to just withdraw it because it's going to be covered by the other committee later on I mean that would be my preference but I don't what do you want you're the one who made the motion I'm fine withdrawing it and uh getting that data a couple months down the line instead and having it shaped by our programs that we're trying to develop for restorative justice so unless someone else has a strong opinion and really wants it to be voted on right now I'm fine with drawing it I'm not seeing any strong opinions so I think you can withdraw great discussion though thank you so much and do you have any other motions for us no okay thank you very very much for your hard work on that let's see now we're on to the school committee uh yearlong agenda uh we're once again thanking secretary Den um uh this is a best practice for school committees to have a year-long agenda and um secretary Den was nice enough to stop waiting for me to get around to putting out a draft and to give us a draft herself so with that secretary genive do you want to uh talk to us this was just member seon and I had a lovely dinner and decided to just do this work and give you all a gift um a beautiful gift really it was just some light business work over some Curry and honestly this is just for you to start the process you and Karen and really it's lovely that you added comments and of course we want to be a part of it because we want to know what's going on and what to expect throughout the year but but really just take it as a gift that it was intended to be and please feel free to delete things and move things around because honestly like I didn't I didn't know if something belonged in February or October I mean we really didn't know so that's entirely up to you to format it so that we understand what you expect so we can just follow along wonderful thank you um so one possib possib well think that Karen and I would both really appreciate people's thoughts on it so if you have if people have questions or comments or feedback on what's presented tonight we would love to hear that does anyone have any feedback right now yes member goodwi I think more knowledge about special education because I just saw a negative two M two million that just like you know raised my blood pressure so more knowledge about um the costs of Special Ed I mean how many children you know I'm not looking for like names or anything but like we see all these numbers and we know that they are special ed but we're not quite sure um annually what we're paying versus circuit breaker especially since I know there's some people here who will go to their legisl pictures um and look at for more funding so I know circuit breaker never covers the full cost of everything but I think I would love a presentation about the costs of special ed um and I don't know if one person has all those numbers um and I know it's constantly changing but there should be some way to you know even know how much it changes you know um are we I guess just that information because I try to figure it out as I'm looking through different things like how many kids are going to the May Institute how many kids are going here and and then then there's the busing pieces and trying to figure all that out um I think it would be helpful for um Whoever has that control of the numbers the the data to present to us um prior to talking about budgets and everything else thank you other feedback on the yearlong agenda that Elizabeth presented remember Childs thanks for doing it so I didn't have to it's a gift to all of us I'm sorry it's a hot mess we'll take it we'll take it you'll take care of it I'm sure thank you other questions or comments not seeing any thank you very much we'll move on to item 10 request for future agenda items all right let's see oh we got member Den let's start with you I'd like to have a meeting to discuss the business manager contract and I don't know what what venue is the most appropriate for that and just because it's important to discuss contracts before they are looming and um figure out what we'd like to do and how we'd like to move forward in whatever way that we do preferably soon though because em if masc is going to come out and do a training they definitely wanted us to be sort of starting to step towards whatever our eventual goal is okay so you you're say well I was thinking that the mask presentation would provide us useful context in deciding which way we want to go so maybe we would do the presentation for mask followed by the agenda item about which I mean we can discuss in a public session we there are certain parameters but we can discuss in a in a public session about whether we want to continue with a vendor or try to hire um an employee so we can do that in December and then have a training maybe I don't know if we'd have to have a special meeting for a training but if we had one I know we're pushing into Christmas at that point but if we had one a few weeks later what would um what was maybe I'm not following what the training is well the train I mean I don't know what kind of training you want to have but when I spoke with Liz lefon she said make sure that you guys have an outline of what you're looking to do so that when they come to talk to us because it might not be Liz it might be Margaret Driscoll who normally handles those kinds of things and she did the training that I took on school business officers um they would like to come in and kind of have an idea of what what we're thinking about are we just wanting to revamp a contract or are we wanting to go in another Direction and that would involve her telling us different things I guess it's a bit of a Chicken and the Egg thing I kind of feel like the committee needs a general overview and that's kind of what I thought that the directed us to do last month was provide some context of like what the have mask Pro provide some context and then we can use that context to make some have some deliberations and make some choices so I was thinking that both those would happen at the December meeting but maybe we can talk more and I can try to understand more um what or talk to Liz about like what exactly hear from her directly exactly what she wants us to do in what order yeah but thank you we will we will take that on um member ston yeah this is not necessarily for next month unless we just happen to have some free time on our agenda but I don't want us to lose sight of the work we started about the other best practice which is having school committee goals yep thank you I will say this committee is not bad at setting goals we have we have we we we are doing we're setting goals every meeting I've noticed but yeah we will take a look at that practice that best practice and try to embody more of that and I I'm really proud of um how we as a committee have taken on so many of the best practices um and there's been so much initiative from people um and just also implementing things that were in our policy manual that weren't being implemented so we're really building something it does take time but thank you we will get back to that other uh requests for future agenda items member Goodwin I think hearing from different departments um whether it's special ed presentation um the Arts like what's being offered where and when and who and I mean all of that um changes from year to year some parents know it I don't know it um I think facilities might be a good one because we're interested in that hearing from the person who actually is responsible for that and what the priorities that person sees um every day when he walks into buildings um he knows where the roofs leak and he knows where things are not what they what we want them to be um so there's and all of that impacts budget and so I think hearing from people in different departments it would be nice to have that scheduled like if it's one person a meeting or two people people are meeting um it was wonderful tonight to have um recognition of staff and children I love that um I think that's and of course you know many of them were minute and hard so I think hearing from those people um would be a great thing thank you other questions or comments I mean other uh requests for future agenda items no not hearing any I would hear a motion to adjourn so moved seconded motion for member child say second from Member suon discussion secretary Janie will you call the vote Dena yes Vice chair Martini yes chair Johnson mad yes mayor dorer yes member Goodwin yes member child's yes member seon yes we're at 909 [Music]

good evening and welcome to the Greenfield Public Schools school committee meeting for Wednesday November 13 2020 2024 6 o'clock pm this meeting is being recorded by gctv if any other persons present are doing this the same you must notify the chairperson at this time I don't see any um secretary geneve will you please call the role yes member Goodwin here member Childs here member seon here chair Johnson mad here Vice chair Martini I'm here online she's on Zoom I don't see her yes I'm here great thank you secretary Den I'm here mayor dorer okay so all present except for mayor dorer we have a quorum great Quorum I'm being call to order at 6:01 PM um so I want to just say up front there's um new language in our agenda that was put in at the request of the town clerk it says no discussion or comments will be entertained unless requested upon by the chairperson of the board or committee I request all of your comments I want to hear from everybody who came to talk to us tonight uh public comment will proceed the way our normal policy is which is each person gets a two-minute turn uh and so um we'll start with the people to um we'll start with the people in the room and then we will move to the folks on Zoom Susan Farber do you w to we're doing two minutes I'm sorry we're doing two two minutes yeah our policy says two minutes at the last meeting we all right we we have been doing three minutes uh but we found out that our policy said two minutes so we decided last meeting we would continue with the precedent of three minutes and then start again at this meeting following our policy two minutes thank you thank you I'll speak very quickly if it's two minutes I have been closely following the public discussion at city meetings and on social media about safety in Greenfield schools unfortunately most of what is said is one opinion versus another opinion it's not about evidence that demonstrates what makes schools safe I would like to commend the school committee of a few years ago for doing their homework and doing an extensive study of all the evidence and then making a decision based on this evidence that sro's would not offer an effective way to make schools safe I would also like to commend the majority of the current schools committee to support that decision I will also ask those who are shaming the school committee for this vote by saying the school committee doesn't care about the safety of the students because they voted to not do the same study they already did maybe those shaming didn't bother to look through the extensive study the school committee did likewise I'll be happy to supply all the evidence that supports what I'm about to say 80% of School shooters were bullied in their schools armed police in schools were school shootings have taken place have not lowered the number of injuries or fatalities all students feel safe in school where there is virtually no bullying because they are taught how to be active bystanders when bullying occurs in person or online and the bullying stops they are taught to do this by teachers and trained counselors students feel safe in schools where they are taught conflict resolution skills and I won't go through all of them here now they are taught to do this by teachers and train counselors in advisory programs each year each adult adult is trusted and accessible and when conflicts occur all the adults in the building are trained to sit down with the students who two minutes thank you sorry hello hi welcome Jes Lea 8 Deerfield Street Greenfield um I want to um say thank you to the superintendent for responding to um the email um in reference to the uh response that we got from uh Desi and the state auditor's office regarding um the unreimbursed expenses it sounds like like Greenfield is already doing everything that it can um in terms of looking for funding but the second part um of what was important in that response is that these expenses that Greenfield has absorbed for many years are in fact State mandated expenses that the state is supposed to be paying and that they haven't funded an any line item at the state level since 2001 um some of those expenses are now part of um the student Opportunity Act or the special education circuit breaker but um we've been absorbing these expenses for years and it has affected our ability to effectively compete against charter schools and other school districts for funding and that's important um which uh brings me to the other um part of my public comment um amoris pelum uh Regional school committee last last night joined us in uh the advocacy to look at uh school choice and Charter School uh Public Funding and we have had um success in reaching out to some legislators to set up meetings with their constituents on this specific issue but it is slow going um we are hoping to have one member of the Greenfield school committee uh join us in a zoom meeting with Senator cumerford on uh November 25th so I if someone might be able to get back to me on that that'd be great thank you thank you hi there thanks for having this meeting I'm Skyler uh Lambert and I live on High Street in Greenfield um I'm here to speak in opposition uh for placing an SRO in the Greenfield Public School System uh recently the communities that career Coalition administered Health student health surveys to 8th 10th and 12th uh graders in Franklin County and the North quaven Region and I really think that the surveys reveal some key findings for this discussion um primarily the re the CCC report shows that in the categories of bullying and substance abuse black students fell into the lowest range as defined by the US Department of Education meaning they're at higher risk of being bullied and are more predisposed to substance abuse uh it's also notable that latinx students also fell into the lowest range for substance abuse um furthermore only 51% of students agreed with the statement students in my school treat each other with respect and only 46% of eth graders agreed but the most troubling data is in relation to empathy only 41% % of students agreed with the statement at this school students talk about the importance of understanding their own feelings and the feelings of others 45% agreed with the statement at this school students work on listening to others uh to understand what they are trying to say that's less than half of students um the answer here is clear helping students engage in active listening and engage with their own emotions are key to solving some of these problems and creating cult of respect these Solutions don't require law enforcement but rather folks in the helping Fields social workers counselors Human Services Workers let's open our hearts and Minds to Alternative Community Serv service Safety practices grounded in human well-being and anti-racist principles it would behoove the Greenfield school committee to investigate practices that reveal root causes and address cycles of harm and Punishment thank you good good evening uh John McGee Green Street um I am a proud GPS parent and as such I want to just say thank you to the school committee um for all your hard work thanks to the school staff and administration also um I would like to comment on the debate about putting police back in the schools um I have studied police for years and knowing everything that we know today it makes no sense to me to put police officers back in our schools um it is magical thinking to assume that one cop across a handful of schools is going to make all of our boogey men go away and the sad truth is that we are all vulnerable there's no shortcut around the hard work of building safe and caring learning environments um I'm proud our school committee chose in 2020 to do what they can to opt out of the school to prison pipeline um I'm also proud that we elected folks who are serious about making our schools more inclusive and welcoming and taking care of kids even when they make mistakes uh let's invest in training school Personnel in those skills uh my understanding is that um uh superintendent patod and her predecessors have not yet taken significant steps in the direction of restorative practices but uh I'm eager to hear the update tonight I hope that we're making progress um I encourage you miss patno to work with the school committee to implement a restorative justice program to resolve conflicts peacefully and stop cycles of harm um I also hope that we can improve Communications uh between the school district and families it sounds to me like from the complaints that I have heard um when there's a lack of good information it creates space where rumors can Thrive and trust is lost okay so anyway thank you all and carry on thank you my name is Susan WTIC I live on Forest Avenue as a former teacher Al be at one who worked in that profession many years ago I can honestly say that the amount of time that I was trained trained in age appropriate and culturally appropriate discipline for my students was minimal I taught High School in East Harlem and the upper west side of New York as this was a period of major school overcrowding I taught in Auditorium balconies and cafeteras while another class was sharing the space rarely did I have a classroom students often came to school with knives in their pockets and occasionally guns I was never taught how to deal with disruptive students or even how to ask a student to give me their weapon while I do not assume that the Greenfield Public Schools are in the same category as the conditions of the New York Public Schools when I taught I am uncertain that teachers are given much more training and discipline than I was I know that when teachers do not have the tools to discipline students for normal student to student or student teacher infractions and there is an SRO on the premises there is a tendency for teachers to ask the SRO to provide the discipline and that often leads to the beginning of the school to pipeline I would like to suggest the greenfields public schools invest in a significant effort to train all teachers and administrators in age appropriate and culturally appropriate discipline and that this training be rigorous and thoughtful after this training has been instituted and the results of it fully evaluated then it would be worthwhile for the school committee to review the safety situation of the Greenfield Public Schools and determine if an SRO is appropriate my guess is it won't be thank you hi um I'm Andrea Michael I live on James Street uh in Greenfield um I am a parent of a sixth grader who is at Greenfield schools um and both my children went to Elementary School here um and both of my nephews graduated from Greenfield High School so while I'm not an expert in SRO I'm not really an expert in safety and I don't have a lot of Statistics to read I have been around our schools a fair amount and I I've talked to a lot of the kids who are in our schools and I have not heard a lot of concerns about safety except during the pandemic um my son who's in sixth grade I asked him do you feel safe at school he said yes um he's not he's a kid who probably would feel safe so I'm sure that there are kids who don't but um I he said he would be scared if there was an officer at school um and he really was confused as to why anybody would think there would be and a need for that and I I frankly am also I don't I in in my profession which is product management we um spend our time like my expertise is find out what are the problems talk to the people who have the problems figure out the best Solutions and think about how you can best spend your Capital to solve those problems and I'm not really seeing that in this discussion as to is there a problem what's the best solution it seems like people are just jumping to a conclusion about what the best solution should be based on I really don't know what so I'm I I I I know we did a lot of studies in the past I think those were good and we should just refer to those and stick with what we decided a while ago hi everyone I'm not here to talk about an Sr but I have something to say anyway um I'm stilla Verlander I live on 18 Pawn Street um so I recently just got off a meeting with some Massachusetts climate groups and this was brought to my attention and I really think that this would be um very important to implement into our schools so I just want to put it on your radar so the Massachusetts clean energy center is launching a green School Works uh program which is set to decarbonize K through2 school buildings this prioritizes title one schools um like our which so this would apply to our district um and there's over $50 million in funding I it may be like way over that but the numbers got kind of mixed on the website um I believe that this would be most impactful in cases of solar and charging ports for electric school buses um I know that the city has looked into electric school buses however charging ports looked like it would have been an obstacle so I believe that this would be important to um use for charging port money um the money for this program is non-competitive and the applications for this open in January um I think that this is very important I work with many climate resilient uh groups especially focused on education and this is a rare opportunity that I think we should definitely take advantage of as soon as possible um I think this is something that would be most applicable to the schools that are higher in energy uh usage like the Middle School Newton uh four corners and Federal Street uh our high school is uh pretty good about energy usage but also I feel like solar panels Ely be um useful but I just wanted to put that on your radar uh thank you I come in peace I'm also not here to discuss the SRO um what I am here to discuss is um thanks to the superintendent and the assistant super superintendent for um a ton of hard work that they've been doing recently um I thought you guys should be aware of the fact that communication between the police department and the school department is probably as strong as it's ever been uh a lot of initiatives are underway all thanks to the superintendent um we've met several times now we've had great conversations every initiative underway is keeping the student and faculty safety in mind so um a couple things just took place today I'm not going to get into the what we're doing in terms of securing the schools for obvious reasons but uh they're really good steps um I I do still support an SRO but again I'm not here to talk about that that's just my side of it but again I appreciate it Karen for all your work Stephen um and I see no reason why it won't continue so I think at this point in time with the communication going on between us uh the schools are probably as safe as can be right now so just wanted to pass that on thank you hi I'm Rebecca Moretti I live on shaik Street I have a four-year-old at a and an eight-year-old at FSS and I'm really confused as why everybody's angry all I keep hearing is people are mad and Facebook has apparently blown up I'm not on Facebook on purpose so I don't hear all of that but I'm still getting rumors that don't seem to be substantiated in any actual fact um as far as I can tell all of our schools seem to be safe and I appreciate that FSF has a focus on being friendly safe and successful and my child keeps coming home with little green waves and she's excited to go to school she loves School my little one can't wait to get there and she can't wait to come home what I would like is more communication so that I have any idea as to why people get mad and I want real information not rumors I don't know what the solution to that is but I would like some sort of letter that comes home to the parents in a way that I can access it without being a Facebook parent I get the newspaper so I get the obeds which have also been very angry but again there's no actual facts in those those are just opinions and I want to know what's actually happening so that I can be angry or not based on what's actually happening thank you hi Molly Merritt uh solar way um I'm a Greenfield parent and I plan to send my child to the public schools I strongly oppose uh the idea of police presence at GPS in 2020 the school Community came out decisively against school resource officers after hearing testimony from many students especially students of color about the threats harassment and intimidation they faced National statistics show that the presence of SRO has been linked to increased arrests of students for non-criminal Behavior as students are often referred to law enforcement for typical behavior and small infractions the school to prison pipel line is particularly devastating for students with disabilities and students of color um we may have problems that need to be addressed in our schools but instead of trying to solve these problems with methods that are proven to be harmful we have an opportunity to think about what might create a school culture where students can resol resolve conflict before it comes to a Breaking Point restorative justice programs such as the highly successful and effective Palante program of hoolio give students the tools to bridge differences solve interpersonal problems and create safe School environments uh one police officer in the school will not create a needed culture shift it's tempting to have a simplistic solution to a complex problem but we need to do the work of creating districtwide conflict resolution and transformative Justice programming materials already exist that we could adapt please work to build a robust restorative justice program at GPS I am not alone in saying that having such a program would make me excited and proud to have a child in our district hi oh uh yes so I'm here about the SRO issue and I would like to express my opinion and that I am very much against an SRO in the schools I Echo what everyone has said before me in particular what John said about embracing and supporting children even when they make mistakes and as Molly also pointed out just before me um police intervention is proven to impact um and harm students of color in particular and putting them on a road road to involvement with the criminal justice system and um finding solutions that are holistic and get at the deep root of the problems seems to me something that makes a lot more sense so and also thank you so much for all your hard work and for some those of you who were on the committee in 2020 for making that really um Mindful and thoughtful decision so thank you I'm from grei good evening Doug selwin Forest Avenue um want to Echo what what people have said uh to this point and won't repeat it and again Paul uh jablon my turn today I think laid out a pretty clear plan for some things we could do what I want to suggest tonight is that now that ballot question two has passed and that we are no longer um required to do a forced March of our children to um high stakes testing at the uh end of the year we have the opportunity to refocus what we offer our young people in schools we can focus more and what engages them what matters to them what gives them a sense of hope and possibility and connection we can pay more attention to helping them to learn about taking care of themselves and each other to learn to listen to think critically and calmly about the ideas of others and to care for the community we can help teachers to become more skilled and practiced at working with children beyond their subject areas which means more consistent paid professional development we can help our schools pay enough so that the core of Educators can afford to stay and develop a culture and community that welcomes all the children we can bring in more social workers and counselors and folks who can help the community learn to develop the supportive Community we would like to see it's an opportunity we have and I hope I know we're doing some of that now but I think we have room to do more and I think that will address the safety concerns that we all share the other thing I want to say is what Stella said earlier the CL the climate resilience program is something that I really hope we can join with thank you and thank you for all your work good evening hi uh my name is Andrew petan I'm on Cleveland Street um thanks for the time to share my perspective perspective on the school resource officer um all of us here are lucky to live in Greenfield a safe town and a safe region um and we all want Greenfield Public Schools to be places where students feel safe supported and empowered to grow uh schools should nurture the whole child academically socially and emotionally in recent years many districts across the country including Greenfield have turned to sro's to maintain safety on campus but the question we must ask ourselves is are SRO truly helping our students or are they reinforcing har ful systems that disproportionately affect um our most vulnerable populations school resource officers often do the opposite of what we might Hope by creating a culture of fear and Punishment rather than understanding and healing research has shown that the presence of SRO can disproportionately harm students with disabilities students of color and poor students increase criminalization of minor infractions and escalate conflicts I have two children in our school system both have ADHD one has autism this means they don't process information in a way that an authority figure might expect they can be impulsive and often more time to understand what is being asked of them and more time to respond if a police officer is present statistically this makes School less safe for my kids and for many kids just like them there is hardly a shred of evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of sro's in fact much of the research concludes they are highly ineffective at making schools safer they are simply the illusion of safety despite the community's best intention therefore instead of policing our students we should invest in restorative justice practices because there is ample evidence that it works restorative justice builds empathy accountability and conflict resolution skills helping students heal and grow from their mistakes skills that will help them throughout their lives it Fosters supportive it Fosters a supportive environment that prioritizes social and emotional health over punishment ensuring every child has the opportunity to thrive let's choose healing over harm and transform our schools into spaces of care not criminalization thanks thank you if we're done with public comment in the room we'll move on to the zoom um if you wish to speak um from Zoom please enter it in the chat I will start with the first person who requested to speak that's Patty PTY y O'Neal with two L's on Glenbrook Drive hi um uh I also wanted to comment on the SRO issue um I did uh attend the public safety um presentation with the like um pres where the SRO presented uh their experiences and uh also the meet and greet and I thought the sro's um who had been working as SRO and the ones who were wanting to all seemed like very caring um people um they spoke about um supportive roles building relationships with the students um befriending them checking in and and mentoring and and just kind of showing up um which I thought was really great and surprising um I'm still not sure why um these kinds of supportive roles couldn't be um provided in a nested in like a community institution rather than a police institution where um there is a lot of uh there's just been a lot of traumatic experiences for people um it's it's not an institution that has the best track record of accountability um I would be worried about like like maybe these SRO would be um nice to you know really top tier thoughtful engaging people um but what if uh SRO who came after didn't weren't of the same caliber I've I looked through Reddit about this topic and it seems like it can be a mixed bag sometimes like you have these really good people who could be like these um SRO that I met um but there have also been that's time paty okay well I just hope that we can um support the community to fill these roles and like someone else mentioned it sounded pretty good thank you thank you next is Melissa Webb on Grove Street my Melissa web Grove Street I'm on my phone so I don't know if video okay there unmuted um I was just calling because I know we're also discussing budgets and going to PTO and we also have the fifth graders coming back into the elementary schools I know one of our focuses has been to increase more um music are in gym time and I just hope that we can really keep on that path to have um you know a one fulltime person for art a one fulltime person for music and a one fulltime person for Jim and all three of the elementary schools and that possibly we could talk about bringing back those programs into AEL on a reg regular basis thank you thank you next is Charity if you can say your first and last name in your town hi I'm charity o um Lyon Avenue in Greenfield um I am a licensed school counselor and also the parent of a newborn who will be in the green for public schools eventually um and I just mostly wanted to to affirm and appreciate the school committee for engaging with the topic of SRO so thoughtfully and in particular for standing by their 2020 decision to remove the SRO position um like so many before me I agree and understand the evidence that points to really immeasurable harm that happens when SRO are in our schools um but I also feel a sense of frustration about like just sort of the cyclical nature of this debate it we spend so much time focused on SRO in particular we've the school committee has done such a wonderful job reviewing the evidence and making a decision I would love to see us move forward using our imagination collectively about what safety could really look like beyond that topic um I think there's so much that folks have named around restorative justice transformative Justice that could really lead us in a Direction that's far more productive and supportive of our students and our community um and I really want to sort of reiterate the idea that we should be listening and taking our cues from the students themselves what would make them feel safe um what are they noticing in school that's working that's not working um I'm really curious about how we can continue to get their input about this topic um so yeah I just I want to reiterate how harmful I think sros are and thank the school committee and encourage all of us to come together to figure out what safety looks like beyond the sort of carceral complex that we've been discussing so much thank you thank you Crystal Cleaver okay sorry just trying to find the mute button um hi I'm Crystal Cleaver uh 45 Russell Street you guys heard from me last meeting so I won't take a ton of time um but I just um do want to say uh a few more words I I talked last uh month about my son and about my concerns about having us arose in the school um I stand by that but I I also just wanted to mention that after the meeting last month hold on I'm on the phone sorry um the family that spoke about their child being assaulted at the high school was um in the lobby and I um you know we are in a particularly sort of like us them time in history I think and I felt really um moved by what they said and how abandoned they felt by our school system when their child was hurt and I am a social worker in in the community and so I went out and I spoke with them and offered my number and said that I could try and help connect them to any kind of supports or services that they needed I don't know if that was offered by the school system or not but they didn't feel like it was offered by the school system they felt like they didn't they weren't heard they weren't responded to and so although I am on the opposite side of the issue of that family I do think that we need to um think about uh how we're responding when violence happens in our schools and make sure that families um because that child was hurt but that whole family was hurt um that whole family walked away traumatized and um you know I wasn't I'm not in the school system I don't know how it was handled I know how that family felt like it was handled and I know that when you're in a moment of trauma sometimes your you know your thinking brain goes offline and so maybe they were offered supports but they weren't able to take it in in that time and so um I'm hoping Hing that that incident gets looked at um I'm hoping that there's a review of that incident and that we think about how things could have gone better for that child and that family um because I think that incident is part of the reason we're having this conversation I don't know that a school resource officer could have changed the outcome for that family but I think that there are a lot of other things that could have happened in one second buddy um that could have happened for that family to walk away feeling safer and better about their their child being in the green Public Schools so thank you thank you Ella um hi Ella Condon Precinct 8 in Greenfield Ella can you spell your last name please for the minutes uh c o n d n thank you um I wanted to thank the committee for their 2020 decision of pulling the SRO and for holding that line recently but I also wanted to Echo um Charity's comments that I think we need to move Beyond this conversation and really start looking at alternatives to an SRO and how we can better support our students when they are in times of emotional distress thank you thank you Maddox okay yes and you're madx sprangle spr n gel yes you got it um I don't live in Greenfield but I am a mental health provider in the Greenfield Community um just want to thank you for making this space accessible to folks to join in the conversation um my training and experience has taught me that safety is something that's created in collectively practice practiced commitments to behaviors of care acceptance and skills for managing emotions and this is something that's created by staff by parents by students and by all of us in the community so the idea that safety could be provided by one individual through the threat of punishment or Force it's it's misguided and it's dangerous um and it's also a missed opportunity so instead of spending dollars towards an SRO salary the money could fund Collective skill building volunteer opportunities and that would offer a safer and a better social return um Greenfield schools have an opportunity here to invest in foundational skill building where an ethic of care is the priority and I just want to Echo uh what Char said about including students in these conversations they are bright thoughtful people who also can really reflect and mirror back the treatment that they are being shown by the adults in their lives and also what Molly said about local school districts like the Palante program in hoolio who have experienced doing this work thank you so much thank you Andrew Vernon Le in sunet square um few things one SRO I do nothing against SRO I don't believe that we need them in our school district but I confident that something work needs to be done in our school district given some incidents that happened against my son uh two I am fairly confident it's on the agenda so speak to it um I think it would be good for the school committee to consider I believe that business manager position is through a vendor um rather than an actual School District employee I would like to have the school committee consider making that position through Public School employ rather than a rather than an outside vendor not that individual position anything wrong or inappropriate um but just that in my opinion should be an actual employee thank you thank you um Eve you have two minutes to share public comment if you wish oh that' be great um I'm in my car on the phone I'm Eve B an b o d m o v and I'm a resident on Shadow Street in Greenfield I'm just going to try to summarize my letter because I'm a wordy person but I will say this um I speak to as a parent former a parent of a former Greenfield Public School System uh long respected careers at the social worker and as a child and family therapist I listen carefully to the public safety Commission and to the Asos who are great uh when they spoke on October 23d um and I listened carefully to what they said and how they are effective in their jobs all of the skills they have and all of the ways they understand and work with kids do not require a gun so I want the spring the Greenfield Public School System to give training to social workers or guidance counselors or teachers or vice principls the same level of training that the monu usro guys have because um that's what we need we need transformative Justice and we need good social workers because that's what we do I've been a social worker for over 30 years and once a gun is involved it's a different conversation and instead of getting cooperation you get compliance and you get an escalation of threat and that's the worst thing you want to do to a kid who's disregulated um I will also say that uh I've in my career I've I've interacted with law enforcement in a number of different ways uh from being on the northwest District Attorney's high-risk team to running an abuse intervention uh program um to working with clients with pretty significant disregulation and the single most effective way to address violence or the threats of violence is to engage to find out what people's concerns are to find out what their needs are to help them feel seen and respect that's time okay thank you is there anyone else on Zoom who wishes to speak I see the mayor's joined us for the minutes welcome mayor all right thank you for the public comment we'll move on to recognition of Angela morsy welcome Miss morisy um Angela morrisy is the building monitor at Federal Federal Street Elementary School in was recently awarded the communities that Care Coalition Mike Fritz Community Builder award Angela was nominated by the Federal Street PTO and her nomination highlighted her positive effect in uplifting Spirit as her greatest strengths as a positive role model for our students Angela's dedication compassion and commitment to inclusion and equity have had a profound impact on the students at Federal Street Elementary we are certainly grateful for all of our hard work and dedication to Greenfield Public Schools and want to congratulate and honor her tonight congratulations thank [Applause] you yay Angela thank you okay um I guess I'll just use this moment while I have everyone's attention to just say how proud I am of the work that I see our Federal Street Community doing for our kids every day um looking around just this room I see several of our PTO members here our principal Kelly halin is here tonight um and I just in this time where everybody seems so at odds with each other and so concerned about what we're doing for our students I want to say that what I see every single day in our school is people doing every possible thing they can to work together to uplift these kids and to make them feel safe um not just in our school but beyond to know that we're really here for them um in any way that they need us so for everybody listening please just keep your hopes up and don't think that nothing is being done because there are a lot of people working really really hard for our kids thank you we'll go to Kenzie next we welcome McKenzie pollen who's a senior at Greenfield High School and she's here tonight as well to be honored today Mackenzie had a letter of intent ceremony at the high school where she has made her commitment and accepted an athletic scholarship to fut to further her academic and athletic career at maram College this commitment has allowed McKenzie to fulfill her dream of playing Division One softball and Coach Kay and I did a lot of history uh lessons today and we think you're the first softball player to go division one um ghs family friends and administrators join mcken at her National letter of intent Signing Day to celebrate her hard work and achievements this achievement however did not come without sacrifice she has done hard work and much dedication to the sport of softball McKenzie has given up on many adolescent experiences to pursue this dream and we want to recognize that while challenging the reward for her is the Fulfillment of this dream the greenwave nation is very proud of her and excited for Mar maram College to welcome her into their community next year [Applause] congratulations I just want to say thank you so much it's an honor to be here tonight and I want to thank Miss patod for making today so special thank you Shane Tumi will you come up I have the pleasure this week three ghs seniors were nominated for the Franklin County superintendence award adiana kluf Jake Gardini and Shane Tumi this award recognizes one senior from each Franklin County school who not only excels academically but gives back to school and community and builds a positive culture I had the pleasure of interviewing all three students and had to make the very difficult decision as to who this year's award winner would be I asked all three candidates the same questions and my last question to all of them was I've read your resume I reviewed your transcript I read your guidance counselor's recommendation I've asked you interview questions about your school experience but what is it that all of that doesn't say about you that you wanted to share and it was Shane's response to this that really addressed the characteristics of what this award represents Shane said to me quote a lot of folks thinks think it has been an effortless Breeze for me but that is not inherently true and implies a disconnect with the people around me the truth is I very much care about the world about this school and the people that have been in it with me some of them since a I have met some of the most interesting people in Greenfield during my school experience and I'm really grateful for Greenfield Public Schools and all of this my ultimate goal leave the world better than I found it and I learned that here it was those words that said to me congratulations to Shane Tumi on being the award winner we look forward to celebrating with you at the tech school on December 5th congratulations feels very weird sitting at this table as opposed to over there I just want to address that um I want to say thank you to miss Paton for carrying out the interviews um I have as I said I've been in Greenfield Public Schools my entire life since a um it is no secret as I've seen sitting over there um Greenfield Public Schools we have our issues we have our challenges but despite all of that I am still incredibly proud to say that I have spent my academic career at Greenfield and will get to finish it off at Greenfield High School I'm grateful for the people I've met the teachers who have coached me along the way and for the opportunities that have been provided so thank you all [Applause] okay so you're going right from being honored to giving a report we'll now hear the report of student representatives to the committee all right putting on the new hat um so we're going to begin as we always do with student council um on October 11th the student council sent 18 students to the WC fall conference in minog where they got the chance to meet with regional student leaders from other schools and attended a variety of workshops likewise on October 26th the officers of the ghs student council attended officer shop at Worcester Technical High School this conference is Statewide and was intended to provide current and aspiring student council officers with networking opportunities as well as skills and ideas to return to their home councils as of the writing of this report the student council was finalizing preparations for our November bonding which will be a lockin at ghs only members who meet set participation and engagement requirements will would be able to attend and we will be doing a variety of uh activities games and workshops since then we have carried out this event and it was a huge success um we give kudos to everybody who showed up and stayed up all night for 12 hours and we had a really great time we're also currently planning for the upcoming Spirit weeks penny wars and our November prep rally which will occur the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and for Key Club Key Club recently participated in the stonely Burnham trunk retreat with over 150 local children attending and completed another ghs campus cleanup we are for our annual Turkey Trot in November and our donation and participation in the Festival of the trees and Salvation Army initiatives um one quick addition it's not on here but we do have some athletic recognitions we want to go over so first off JHS Jr Dylan brevik is the school's loan qualifier for this weekend's state cross country meet at Devon so congratulations to Dylan um elderen ketun Jan I'm very sorry for mispronouncing the last name uh made all states for girl soccer she is one of 27 girls in all of Western Mass to be recognized so both of those are incredible achievements and we applaud them both drama club drama club has continued to meet and welcome new members as we prepare for additions in mid November we are very excited to start rehearsals for our play the somewhat true tale of Robin Hood after Thanksgiving break French Club is preparing for our coffee house event on Thursday December 5th um during the first week of December discounted $5 tickets will be on sale at JHS lunches and tickets at the door will be $10 additionally that this year's t-shirt design will be made by French Club senior Mack Clark Library Club hosted the fifth annual ComicCon last Wednesday over 50 people were in attendance for fun sessions including live action role playing basic comic structuring and spooky stage makeup there were also there were some incredible entries to the cosplay contest and everyone had a great time we thank the Greenfield Public Library for co-sponsoring this event um next next up is a book to movie event on Friday December 6th at 5:30 p.m.

over March h post PL Alle amen United States of America to the for stands one na indivisible poost [Music] right than forward before we sit down could we just recognize our veteran um you know because we celebrate Breen day this week and we just take a moment and thank God for them serving and serving our country you may be seated Al Terry pres Michelle Kate hereis here Dr bronin laurenita here here Julie thank [Music] you the board welcomes public participation and ask that the speakers please limit their comments to 3 minutes speakers may offer objective the comments of school operations and programs that concern them the board will not per permit any expression of personal complaints or defamatory comments about Board of Education personnel and students nor against any person connected with the tambur public school system thank you did anyone uh want to speak or come before the board and did not sign the the paper oh everybody is good okay we move on down the agenda Julie the consent calendar motion appr consent calendar ser13 and14 ased in ACC minutes facility [Music] 24-13 and 10344 thank you motion made by Julie could I hear a second second second by all in favor could I hear all motion still care anyone from our educational staff here [Music] okay so we we students right hello my name is Ariana West hi and I'm Al good evening word of Ed members cabinet and community members thank you for allowing me to represent and speak on behalf of the alternative Cent for EXC Melissa lasi in the Ace journalism class would like to invite you all to check out our first articles of the school year and the alternative times the alternative times can be accessed at Ace alternative times.com and on Twitter at a Al times Ace would like to invite you all to our annual Ace Thanksgiving dinner which will be held on Tuesday November 26th from 10:30 to 12:30 the ace Thanksgiving is our way of saying thanks to the community for all the support that we have received over the years this event is made possible in collaboration with abitch culinary program and donations from St L on Friday October 18th Melissa lasi danela Esposito and DJ gimz took a students to Gerald dine R Dodge poetry festival at the p Center in New York New Jersey students had the opportunity to experience life poets and spoken word poetry as well as participate in writing workshops including meeting weeks with celebrated poets and writers one of our students senior Joseph sopia went to the microphone and recited an original poem at the festival the next event we want to talk about is the project during our Flex times a students led by Daniel danela espito Diana dinaro Melissa ly have been creating dream catches to bring to the cancer center this is our third year in the just a little bit in the seventh a care school project the dream catchers will have supportive and encouraging student written messages for the cancer patients caregivers and staff to read we expanded this year by collaborating with p Elementary School's first grade class when on Monday November 4th 10 a students joined Miss chimal's class to create watercolor feathers and messages to complete the dream catcher project Ace students and teacher Representatives will deliver the dream catchers from paper feathers to crack here before the Thanksgiving holiday lastly Ace is beginning preparations for annual dinner with Santa this event will take place Saturday December 14th from 3: to 6:30 the event will incl pancake dinner holiday crafts photos and photos with Santa the event is hosted by a students and staff thank you for allowing us to share what is going on with our Ace family have a nice evening stay healthy and remain Ace strong thank you very much thank you I'm going to turn it over to the super [Music] good evening everyone uh we do have a presentation today we're going to go through um part of what's under the superintendent report I'm going to ask assistant superintendent Kelly trz to um present on a couple of our goals that we have set forth for chronic absenteeism which is our part of our school climate goal as well as an update on our positive intervention uh and positive behavior intervention and support um which is our school clim goal for from three and so while we're moving ahead of a little bit to the superintendent report because it is a presentation want to to have it um presented at this time so with that I will over to Kelly thank you um so this evening I put together it's a two-part presentation uh the first will focus on our chronic apps andm um in particularly our lead program we have been uh for several years now the proud recipients of uh grant funding to help us to provide supports to our students to improve our attendance rates at school um that will be the first component of the presentation and then the second one will move into the positive behavior supports and intervention you will see here um I do want to knowe Cara Watson W's name is also up here on the presentation um some of the data gathered for The Chronic absenteeism is something we regularly work with her on and so I wanted to definitely make sure that she received uh credit for some of this as well um so the LEAP program just to remind you guys the leap stands for learner engagement and attendance program it was created um by the state department in the spring of 2021 um as a result of um addressing students AB absenteeism as a result of the pandemic um we noticed a couple of things students were not coming to school and students were disengaged in learning um sometimes present but not engaged in the learning and other times remaining outside of school um so the leag programs the premise of it is to create um a home visitor program and so essentially it's building Rel relationships and connectedness with students and families to help to identify the why so not every student is not coming to school for the same reason some of them are experiencing homelessness others are experiencing mental health disorders others are experiencing um you know Tor in the home um sometimes in illness different things and so it's really trying to identify why make a positive connection with with a staff member at school and then to really support and assist that family with improving uh the students overall access to to academic opportunities the core values of leap and this is really important and I think um speaks to why the district has seen we still have worked to do but we've seen some nice improvements um is we made it a top priority uh if students are not here they cannot learn so we need kids back in school um and I know that was uh definitely emphasized by uh superintendent casmiro um you know from our opening uh student remarks to opening uh admin Council to our conversations with uh the Board of Ed and and parents in the community um you know in addition to being physically present they need to be engaged they need to understand the why the purpose um they need to have voice and some choice in their education um for the leap work getting students really re-engaged back in academics um everyone has to be involved it has to be from the first person it might be our safety Advocate that's reading a student walking in the door in the morning um all the way to the nurse that might be taking care of the skimy when a student falls on the playground to our um admin assistants that are answering parent phone calls calls and kind of talking about sensitive information on why a student may be absent from school uh to teachers reaching out and really you know asking you know I miss so and so why aren't they in school what can I do to help um so it really took a team effort I think prior to the pandemic a lot of this work was done primarily by um building principals School nurses and people Services support and I think since the pandemic not that teachers were not reaching out I don't want to make that indication but really they've increased their efforts in doing so we've seen really really positive results really relationships are Paramount to success students need to feel connected engaged um not just with their peers but with the adults we need to be honest and have conversations some of these conversations are really difficult when you're talking to a parent of a child that has missed 30 or 40 days of school um there's an automatic you know kind of tension in the room right that that's a problem and but we're here as partners and so this is not in a judgment um way but but how can we work together to support and then lastly um evidence-based decision- making looking at our data looking at the success that we've had sharing those successes amongst the district um we've really created a culture and climate amongst our schools to share listen I tried this it was wonderful this is how it worked or I tried that and it bombed and probably stay away from that try something else and we all kind of um have have participated in learning together um what works for one school doesn't always work for everyone but we've kind of shared and said why reinvent the wheel we can all do this work together so this is just a reminder uh the bar on the far left is from the 20189 school year so prior to the pandemic we're around a 7% chronic absenteeism rate uh chronic absenteeism just as a reminder is missing 10% or more of school days so in 180 days school year if you attend if you weree if you were supposed to attend school every day that would be 18 or more absences so it's a pretty significant amount of time um throughout the pandemic we spiked um you know in the 2122 school year um it took over you know 23 between 23 and 4% quite high and we have seen um a regression you know uh in the in the number of absences over time but we're definitely not back to our pre pandemic rates um so we're very proud of the reduction that we've we've had overall as a district and there's some even more significant bright spots in certain places um and then we have some other areas that still remain challenges that we're working on uh this is just a breakdown um by grade level uh far left is kindergarten all the way over to far right um being grade five and this is what we mean by uh D you know evidence-based decision making if you look here what we noticed is that our kindergarten first grade families were really our families where we saw an increase in The Chronic absenteeism particularly after the pandemic and we needed to work and intervene on that we we realized we need to re-educate families we had spent the better part of the pandemic saying if you have a call for the sniffles stay out of school don't come we don't want to see you and so that was a culture recreated for really good reason during Co but postco it's like you know a little sniffle that could last weeks we still want to see that child in school and here's the impact and here's what we're missing and I'm sure for for many of us in the room the way we participated in kindergarten and and first grade they're very different than they are today you know very play based very um and not to say that we still don't have components of that but you're you're coming out of kindergarten knowing how to read and so if you're missing a significant amount of time that's really critical and going to set the path um you know for the rest of your academic future um Middle School uh we saw again looking at the the grade levels far left is sixth grade far right is eighth grade um and um what we saw is we a spike in our eighth graders we realized that students were uh you know in in Middle School longer we need that was a grade level we needed to focus on um and so across the board we have the greatest success right now with our sixth grade um you know some with our with our seventh grade doing really well while we've had the most significant reduction in our eighth graders that is still a population that we do need to focus on and now we're moving on to to um our high school so chronic absenteeism again left to right is 9th through 12th grade um post pandemic we saw um you know some pretty increased attendance rates across all grade levels um while we still have seen some declines what we are noticing is that our ninth graders is an area this year that we are paying the most attention you'll see those yellow bars really haven't moved haven't decreased in the way we would like to um that does include any student that is classified as a nth grader so just bring that to your attention if you have not had enough credits to obtain your sophomore year status you are still counted in that nth grade so it's not just first year high school students um but we are continuing to focus increase efforts um what we saw right after the pandemic was 11th and 12th graders needed the most work we've seen the most significant reductions there um and with our nth graders really just focusing on the Freshman Academy continuing those connections and making sure students and parents understand the importance of coming to school um this is our high need subgroup versus our uh non High need so you'll see the high need subgroup is the blue bar um and the non- high need is the orangish reddish bar um and so what we noticed here High needs is our um is our special education our uh multilingual Learners and our free reduce lach in order to be classified as a high need Student you need one of those subcategories to be identified as but you may have two orth rate um and so this showed us uh continuously across the across the district across all schools across all grade levels um that our high needs population was chronically of at a more frequent rate than our non- high needs population um proud to say we have seen the most significant um you know improvements in some of these groups particularly in in some areas but it continues to be a need um to further highlight this as we dig down to the school level data I don't want to paint the impression that it's all special education students in all schools or all multilingual Learners in other schools we actually had some schools that those populations of students were outperforming the not high need students um but we had schools in which we noticed that there were Trends and patterns in particular subgroups or particular grade levels and that's where we focus the building level work to intervene um here you will see uh this is the current year-to-date data and so it goes from the first day of school to the last day of October um and so what this is is our chronic absen ISM right here to date um we are shooting to try to uh get that number about the the 10% Mark uh we would love to be back to uh pre pandemic uh levels but we are we are really striving um to to outperform where we were last year around the 14% Mark and and get it as close to 10% as we can um what I will say here what's important to note is this this number is highly um volatile especially in the beginning of the year because it's the percentage of total days of enrollment so for example at the end of October we had approximately 40 days of school it was even under that 38 days of school let's call it 40 just for easy math if you missed 4 days that's 10% you're chronically op so as there's more days available in a school year so if you have a student that gets the flu the first month of school and misses a week they're going to be chronically absent until you hit the threshold that which students have been in school 50 60 70 days um so I do bring that to your attention here uh for that reason we monitor it by month over time so we calculate it by month and year to dat and that's really really important um it also reflects if a student moves in and only attends school for a 100 days in a given year their chronic absenteeism rate is based on 10 or more days absent um so this is something that you know we need to look at at the individual student level as well um using you know what we did in District um what we did is u a monthly District uh attendance uh team meeting so that is your uh core and extended cabinet um we made this actually a weekly agenda item on our cabinet constantly talking about talking about the successes that we have and talking about um the spots that we need to follow up on and then assigning to a particular individual who's going to do that right away so that it doesn't get you know it doesn't get missed and we don't want too much time pass um we also do a more in-depth meeting on a monthly basis where we are disaggregating the data by school on sometimes by subgroup population and really talking about specific intervention the strategies similarly your school has an identified attendance team and they are meeting at least monthly most are we meeting bi-weekly and they are doing the same work uh what we do uh to help support that work is We Run The Chronic absenteeism rates in the building um by student name so we make it kind of put it in the school's hands of if you want to focus on they have last year's data because we know students that were at risk or exceeded the chronic absentees last year or more likely to this year so we ask them to start with those families first and making connections and reaching out and following up um and then as the year progress is continuing to monitor um and uh we also break down that data like I said by grade level by subgroup population and so forth to also have those conversations with schools of where does this school need to do some work to improve this um it has been a part of our both our district and school Improvement plan so it is a goal um of every single school to reduce their chronic abente ISM rate it's been a department priority in the PBS team uh we've had a centralized monitoring um not just by the cabinet team but particularly by carer and myself um we are kind of the two people that are reaching out very regularly to the building principles to monitor how their schoolwide attendance teams are going to help them with any data questions that they have and then provide feedback that interventions that are needed um and as I had share previously that you know individual student uh data is being monitored at the building level next steps um what we've done we started some of this this year and we'll continue the work across the year uh we are adjusting some of our family L on support due to uh we are very appreciative and thankful for these funds the funds have decreased some significantly from it's Inception so we are down to about a third of the lons that we had when we initially started this this program and project we are very fortunate to have the lons that we do and they do great work um but we are sharing them across buildings now where we used to have one in every school so I bring that up is um you know we're continuing to make really really good strides on less people to implement this actual work and I think a lot of that is due to the culture and climate we've created in the district making it a focus bow at all levels um and having everyone do the work so it's not in year one it was it was primarily the lisons that were doing the work now it's a little bit of a shared responsibility on staff um we're continuing we saw great improvements um at our elementary and middle schools and we're continuing that work we're not making a lot of changes there um we're just continuing to do the strategies that work and monitor the individual student level um we did notice as I talked about previously our grade n um is an area that we are we are working with high school to increase um utilizing the Deans utilizing some pral counselor supports and so forth um to continue to focus on those students um it's it's constant it's at the Forefront of all of our conversations every time we get together with the administrative Council we are having conversations we are also doing a little bit a healthy competition we put up you know what are the attendance rates by school and we post them no one wants to be in the last spot um we also do what home visit rates how many home visits have occurred in each Elementary School each Middle School um and it te I the person remain nameless one day I posted that um information and within a week I saw a spike by like 100% like over like it was like I'm going to do this and so I think constantly bring it to their attention has really really helped kind of L A Fire around us Karen do you want to add something is this the last side not yet okay okay um continue to increase uh collaboration with our Community Partners um this is stuff that we have to make sure when we're working with different agencies throughout the community that they understand our attendance lingo they understand our expectations and they can also help to reinforce um there uh is a community Collective or collaborative and there are a lot of Partners there and I think a big part of that work has been educating other U members of our community on how important it is for kids to be at school um you know even just a simple conversation that I had with someone that was from a doctor's office they saying like oh I didn't realize when I offered the 10:00 a.m.

e e e the Anaheim Union High School District Board of Trustees meeting of November 14th 2024 is called to order at 3:17 p.m. the following members are present Ron hosi Brian O'Neal kathern H Smith Jessica Guerrero and and Murray Randall tro staff has requested the following amendments to the agenda page two of the agenda pull close session item 4.6 you said two 4.6 page two page two we're pulling 4.6 and Page four of the agenda pull item 9.16 say that again we're on page four we are pulling 9.1.3 page 4 916 okay and then on page 17 uh there's a correct budget implication to reflect Carnegie carnegi Grant okay that's this P 17 that was it the extra page that went in oh that was a the replacement page yeah you have their page pulled out all right may I have a motion move to approve as a adopted or as as amended second move the second all favor I I there is no one wishing to speak uh we are going to move to close session to discuss items 4.1 through 48 on the agenda it is now 318 and we will move to close session

e e e like to call open to order please stand for the pla [Music] ready begin States and we will have an a sport student and staff presentation I'm sorry I do need to report something out while you guys are getting um settled um in close session the board took action to approve and ratify the October 4th 2024 final settlement agreement and general release between parents and District in student versus bath Lake School District special education due process Cas case oah case number 865 pursuant to which the district has agreed to fund and provide Educational Services to the student and the student parent have agreed to release PL claims against the district in exchange for Educational Services as specified in the agreement the vote was unanimous in favor the agreement okay that's all now we'll hear from eorts so I'm Stacy hudston I am fifth grade teacher here at OES and I am one of the coaches for eorts and I'm Michelle Burton I'm a fourth grade teacher here at OES and I'm the Sports we're getting the presentation up for thank you here we are okay um theam I talk too loud I need to projecting um in well two years ago so this is our third year and and uh this is our little schs um this is just really fun um kids that start off in Esports these are all the different jobs they can do um things like coaching software developing shoutcasting which is announcing for Esports journalism um art graphic design that kind of thing so it's just really fun I like to share that um whenever I talk about orts because you don't realize how many jobs come from them just playing video games can you just touch on what is these yes absolutely sorry should have practic with that um so it's a club after school two days a week uh where the kids come and they play video games together and it kind of sounds like maybe that's not the greatest thing but it really is because they're playing it in a structured environment it's treated like a sport so they're practicing for tournaments they're competing with each other we do things to help them learn about new nutrition and staying in shape we do writing activities we do stem projects for their building or their coding so we're doing all kinds of things where they're either learning academically or physically and it's a place for kids who might not play traditional Sports they might not be the best athletes but it's somewhere they can get that same camaraderie that they would get in sports and they learn teamwork and working together and all the things that playing sports bring you Esports does the same yeah uh this was fun I'm not going to read the whole thing to you you can look at it but um it just talks about how Esports helps improve attendance in schools and a school of California school district Marino Valley they found that it increased their percentages by 19% so that's kind of fun and the picture on slide is kind of fun because in it that's in here right where you guys are all sitting right now and the um students in addition to playing the video games we do a lot of movement so on this they're doing something with Mario Kart where they're actually physically moving their bodies and doing stuff because we only have the four TVs we only have 16 kids that can play at a time we have 90 students enrolled none not all of them attend at the same time but we do have 90 enrolled so keeping them engaged we run a lot of centers and we'll talk about that again so what we do um the students help us set up and clean up so they're learning that organizational skill um we do tournaments where they can win prizes and have all kinds of fun um and at the tournaments the kids shoutcast so they practice announcing what's going on in the act in the games actively they help me with the tournament brackets and they explain like who's winning and who's losing and it's really fun so they practice public speaking with a microphone um they do sport keeping with me like I said and the brackets and then they set up and clean up so we have students who are all involved in the tournament even if they're not still active play um um so we're doing um a lot of creativity art and Technology infused um we're getting to a point where we're going to be doing some writing so ear here we had students design if they could design a different course for Mario Kart or they could design new characters or new carts that they would use than Mario Kart and then um we're going to Morp that into um writing so they'll be writing about it and and using some of the language that they use in Esports to write Michelle and I both did a lot of courses at Q last March and um that was one of the things that I really picked up on because I love to teach writing so we're doing a lot of centers in there um and some stem projects and we've been working a lot with Legos we have a Lego Club here so they do get to Legos as part of these Sports as well yeah one of the Lego things we just did was designer Mario on K because we're doing that tournament um this is just a fun thing talking about how like I would think before students that might not play traditional Sports this is where they can find their camaraderie at school they F in at school um Esports and education provides a unique platform to level up learning experiences by fostering critical thinking problem solving and collaboration skills through Competitive Gaming preparing students for the digital world while building valuable life skills beyond the classroom I'm do that next one all right um oh I did maybe no it's right here okay so um we had some goals and then we'll let the kid of talk because that's the fun part one of our goals is to have competitions with wasuma and so we would love to figure that out and um get the kids to this different schools and play with each other uh the other one is to do some n excuse me national competition with NF they are the National the network sorry they changed their name of academic and Scholastic eorts Federation it's all about having eorts Club in school they help they helped me start the school the program here and they provide all kinds of things um one of the things they provide is free Minecraft accounts for the students so they can compete in competitions the goal for this year we would love to do farmcraft the students build a farm in Minecraft based on where they live so they would grow crops that are grown here in the Central Valley they would talk about irrigation issues and the weather and all those different things and they would build their own Farm in M it's really fun competition so we'd love to see the kids get to do that and then we also like we said we have 80 to 90 kids here sometimes and we only have 16 kids playing on the devices right now we love to get equipment and get for the kids so right and we brought some students who are going to speak about their expi and what they like about sports ell you want to start sure um hi um my name is I'm in fifth grade and I attend my school I've been going to Esports since I first started since the it first started Esports has taught me how to collaborate with people how to be a good sport how to set and get a better understanding of Technology I came here um I came here I came here today to ask the the school board to support the E sports program at elementary school um and other schools in our district that participate in these I want future students including my little sister to have the same opportunity to participate in such an amazing um pram thank you for your time hi my name [Music] is hi my name is I'm fifth grader uh I like Esports because the tournament and I'm not playing by myself I like the teamwork and friends in orts thank you my is and I go to elementary school I've been going to East Sports ever since SP gr East sport has taught me teamwork and to help me it has also helped me to learn how techology I got so I can learn how work like because the tournament we have there tours we do year on or Mario par Super Smash and Rockets we also get to learn citizenship and sportsmanship we use teamwork from helping each other setting up and bring down the equipment and one of my favorite things is we also don't always have to do video gam can also do col thank you for your than you [Music] I'm hi my name is hully and I am a f reader in Mrs P class I orts because you don't only have to do video games but you could do other activities like drawing and desos you also wearing like teamwork sorry I've never done this before I like how I see have like tournaments for games and also kind of like teamwork not like teamwork but so like so like when like if there's like a kid that's like not that great at like sports or whatever they could join Esports because they might like it like they they might like playing video games and thank you perfect my name is n Porter I'm in m a variety of games that I usually don't like that iang out with scho to orts is a great to get you now there's just some fun pictures of our kiddos we have them doing the movement designing their tracks their parts the Legos and um the group of boys there wanted to be sure they got their picture taken doing h [Laughter] um we also said we would speak up for wuma too because they couldn't be here tonight and we love that there's another team for us like I said to bounce ideas off of and um so it's Mrs egund and Mr P and they do it on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and they have 45 kiddos in their um it's third through 5ifth as well in their Club um and they integrate PBIS which is awesome I think we're going to have to steal that idea fantastic um but I mean I do give the kids points sometimes for helping with something an extra mile but I love that they're doing it for sportsmanship and just participation and stuff um and then they do attendance parties um for 70% attendance for the quarter and um they have tournament prizes as well and then they s some pictures of their toos so there's some awesome things happening and thank you all for supporting us for the last three years we really appreciate it thank you for thank you thank you for coming you guys it's so hard to speak in public and you guys all did an awesome job okay moving on to item number five consent [Music] agenda any discussion hi hi hi hi hi um item number six monthly items and financial reports um monthly approval of the warrants any discussion yeah just comment I noticed we had a large check stolen but it got handle was good yeah um that I was on my I saw the email come in which is good with the county they mapped up the pay and the check um so they're always checking that which I didn't realize they did behind scen and it didn't match the person had taken it out of the mail and then um put their own name and address on it someone not even in this area and I don't know how they got the check it's a whole big mystery but um and it was for our health insurance that's pretty much the biggest check we're sending out reg so uh our bill our insurance worked with us so that we won't pay a penalty because obviously payment is going to be late but so far it's all been worked out and the health insurance company is handling the the felony and fraad piece of it because it was stolen from their mail [Music] did you have another comment Stephen did you have another question I I did but I think it got sort of answered in Clos session we can move on okay any other questions or comments roll call vote I hi [Music] hi the next is the hearing person's wishing to address the board um Mr pero would you like to just comment when we get to the information where we going um don't know there isn't anybody for um that would like to address the board during um public comments I know it looks like it because I have two here but that's not what you see okay okay okay number eight action items expanded learning opportunities program and revision is this is an action item is there a motion I approval I'll second is there a discussion or presentation so you guys saw the summary of why this is being brought forward so this is the plan that um we developed in 2122 for our Extended Learning opportunity program funding and then um since it's been several years it's a living document so there are Visions made to it and so we looked at I looked at it made some revisions um with the change over superintendent I just thought it was a good time to bring that forward and have you guys look at that and um and approve it have any questions about it it's about all of our my club most mostly my club Eagle Academy and then like Garden Club Esports choir all the extended programs excited D look like a lot of work went into um identifying like what happened at each hour and all of that that it seems very um thoroughly presented yeah with the schedules yeah yeah that was a lot yeah to meet the requirements for the funding you have to have nine hours um of uh learning so it has to be past the school day and there's specific criteria and the Auditors are looking at it right now so yeah we have to have that you guys work with the big brothers and big sisters program but my club used to be boys and girls it's different we used it big sisters con with the high school students still no no well yeah my K were my daughter did that in high school she loved it just such a a good bond that they make with the other kids any other discussion discussion questions roll call vote i i i i i motion carries item number nine information items um the academic achievement and curriculum adoption the works okay so this is a presentation for are cast scores in the summary for anybody for the board and anybody in the public staff if you um there's a link there to this to the site that shows the results I thought people might find that handy so I put that in there and then I we'll open up my presentation and then um St has it screen too so um like I said this is to talk about our cast scores which is the California assessment of student performance and progress so the first slide um I just did a simple bar graph here and I compared percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards in Bast L compared to the state percentages and so um you can see there on the on that slide um blue estate and green B link um so that's that slide the next slide is I did a comparison to um our results compared to the 2223 school year and the 22 sorry 23 24 school year so the test is in the spring so it would have been spring of 23 and then spring of 24 and so the 23 test year is in blue and 24 is in green and so you can see there comparison um from Ela English language arts to matap so unfortunately we saw a decline there um in our percentage of students that are meeting or exceeding standard it's probably important to note here that this is for all students I didn't do any disaggregation of subgroups at this point um I just used the all student and this is grades um 3rd through 8 are the great that test and then I thought it would be nice for us to look to see where we compare not only to the state but also to the districts in Mad County there are actually nine but one of them is in high school only District CH high so clearly that wouldn't make sense to compare to it's also important just to note that um some of the districts that are high school districts their 11th graders take the test so those are included in the percentages so that's just kind of important to know um so I did our rankings for and I only did this for the most recent test and um in the spring of 24 so our our last testing cycle and so this is again percentage of students who met or exceeded standard so you can see there um The District's ranking highest to lowest and um the percentage of their students that are meeing or exceeding standard in English language arts and then I threw in the state percentage there too because that's helpful to see so we're six out of the eight at 32.3% and then the next slide is exactly the same that for Ma and so we're sitting that for compared to our our neighbors so we're working to reverse the trend I yes we are of course yeah um it would be great to continue to move closer to number one I hope we can at least beat out R Raymond in the next whoa find out Valley is doing yeah of course I mean there's conversations about that and I think it's also important to understand there are a lot of factors right that's I compared our our neighbors right because they're in our same county but there are also significant differences in demographics to some of these districts in comparison to ours so that's important to pay attention to um when we're when we're analyzing this data um so of course I think that our students are capable of doing better and and having a higher percentage but um you know the standards are difficult and the test is difficult and um we're doing the best that we can and we have some things that are kind of standing in our way with some significant behaviors that I know that teachers haven't had to deal with in quite some time so so there are things um that are difficult but we definitely are looking at it and and staying focused on that and that's my last slide on like what are we doing about it right and so um right now we are looking at the curriculum uh survey is almost ready to push out to teachers and staff about their ideas of our current curriculum and what they'd like to see differently and then we're going to reach out to Publishers and get some get some samples and maybe get some um representatives to do some Zoom sessions with us to give us their pitch right on on their curriculum um so we're doing that we also are um doing some Fidelity checks in classrooms on um some new programs that we've implemented for example you wide in our kindergarten through gr grade for the science of reading and reading instruction and um principles are in um classrooms looking at what components of those programs are being implemented where do teachers maybe need some more training and some more assistance on on doing that it's certainly a collaborative effort and not a Opa um but definitely being in the classrooms and um making everybody aware that this is important and an expectation um for that we also um are looking at professional development opportunities um listening to teachers and principles on what areas um they specifically need for their sites training for teachers and students on how to access testing accommodations that's part of our differentiated assistance work right now um there are are a lot of accommodations Universal accommodations that all students can access that I don't think um maybe teachers and students really know about and maybe aren't quite sure where to click and how to use those tools and so we want to make sure that all the tools that are available to them they understand those and how to use them and know that they are available so we're setting up some trainings on that um to do that before testing takes place and then of course um students on IEPs have have can have accommodations in there as well and making sure they know how to access those and where to get those um we've also been having conversations the leadership team has been having conversations about just a positive mindset around testing I think sometimes it's just sort of the like we got to test again and so um going down to the next bll of they kind of um in in our link there um just like having more data talks with students and and having students set goals for themselves and understanding that you can set a goal based on um maybe how you're going to do how you think you can do on the test both in I ready and on C that's a little more difficult with C because we get the results so much later but we can have conversations about students other than our eighth graders that are going to be coming back and can we do something in the fall to celebrate students who met their goals that they set for the test um in the spring so we're trying to kind of shift that a little bit and making it feel less mounting and less like a chore and more part of goal setting and being excited about seeing how we perform and then um intervention strategies and programs are also being discuss on um you know what's working what's not do we need more of something do we need to look at different intervention curriculum um do we need to structure that differ throughout our day with scheduling and those sorts of convers ations are also being had so questions comments ideas obviously I mean I'm disappointed that we're going backwards that's how it feels to me um I would like to see in the future just what we're I feel like it's a little disjointed like what we're doing we kind of have coration last year about well it's nebulous doing professional development we're doing these things but I feel like it would show in the results if things are working and so saying well we're going to look at what's working what's not working but obviously there's a lot not working so what can we do that works and how can we do that across our district to create success and in stage I'm going to call you up for one second because you and I had a conversation last year about you feeling like we were continuing to move forward in curriculum even if the kids weren't quite there skills wise and you said I wish we could just sort of stop the presses do some foundational skills and then continue to move forward and so I think having those conversations and actually really listening to what teachers need and and really coming together and figuring out what are we going to do we cannot continue every year to go backwards it's just it's not stable and kids can do well they need test taking skills they need all you know everything that we need to give them with the curriculum and whatever we need to give we got we got to turn this around we can't continue to go any other comments H any other comments I was going to say this for later but this seems like a good time so I get people send me the strangest things and uh anyway I got a an article about a group called the California 3 Arts which is a um educational group that's been around since the the 2005 I think somewhere in there but they're real high level intelligent people but they are working hard to to uh substitute the three R which are what we all know are Reading Writing and arithmetic but they want to change those rights responsibilities and respect and uh they're working hard behind the scenes to get that philosophy out to teachers and administrators and everyone and I was just shocked to see the names that were involved of churches and Muslims and Educators and phds and and doctors and they're all in in in bed together with this and and I guess my opinion is why why can't we just get back to the basics and you know and teach the real things that are actually going to matter as you get older so that you can the kids can move on in life and get you know do something a job just to be stuck be stuck with their parents you know we stay with the basics we can build on that get away from the you know some of the other peral issues which you know other it won't bring up right here but that's my comment on that boot [Music] camp I just want to say that I feel sorry for you guys because I know you try your hardest and I do believe the teachers do as well I also believe it's a partnership with families and it's a big struggle and this seems to in and I'm so sorry that you guys have to hear that and I know that you're working the best you can and maybe there are ways that we can help you and maybe there are things we can do and we want to support you but I see you guys it's not 100% on you guys and I feel bad I feel like it's being directed to you guys and I just want you to know that that I understand it it's bigger than that and we appreciate what you are doing and it's not just on us and parents and families do need to be engaged as well it's not one-sided and it feels like you know when you're in the classroom sometimes it is so anyway thank you for doing what you're doing and hopefully we can turn the ship around and go forward anyway go ahead Stephen oh want to say I'm not blaming the principls or our superintendent but because we that article I just thought man that that's just not helping us you know take our eyes off the ball and and and you know and focus on our feelings all the time when the actual things that are mattering are sliding and uh I just wanted to bring that out yeah I couldn't believe there was a group that was actually deliberately doing that you know but anyway yeah and this isn't lame this isn't about Lan this is about us coming together as a district and figuring out how to move forward in the way that gives our students success that is why we're here here to educate students that's what we're here to do and this is a measuring stick of that it's only one measuring tool but it does reflect how we're doing we can sit there and say we don't like it but that is the reality of it and so I think if we face it and say what can we do next that's way better than saying well we don't want to feel bad about it but you know that's just not the reality so that's why I'm making a comment that I'm making is not to lay blame or say that somebody's not doing their job what can we do better fair question any other [Music] comments okay thank you for that report thank you uh next item the first reading a proposal for policy regarding stock Albuterol and haers on campus so this policy um was brought before me um from our Nur Jordan and so this is um just basically summarizing that um we can now have um inhalers like um rescue inhalers on site to use for students who are in distress and that were protected against the law that if we feel like we needed to use that for a student or member that was in distress that we could do that it's essentially what this what this policy is I saw that there is um training for the people that are going to be allowed to administer the um resue inhalers um one of the things in here that um I had a question on is like how are in the training I I'm assuming it would be but in the training are they are they taught to recognize like this is a breathing issue versus something else and there are certain conditions that must be present in order to administer the inhaler and then also my other question is um is is the albuterol like only helpful and not harmful right when administered to somebody like what if they had already used their own personal inhaler and then came in and somebody didn't realize that they couldn't communicate that they had already done that and now they're getting another dose in a short period of Time how are those things yeah those are those are good questions and I would I feel like I need to take those to Jordan and have her answer those questions I did read it thoroughly looking for those answers and I I just didn't yeah I assume right I would like to assume that the training would have part of that training would be how to recognize right um and I would like to think that the the theal or the inhaler that they're giving us is sort of like the rescue for like the fyl where the nose like it doesn't that's not going to hurt you get that but I I will and you and I just wanted to um come back to the fact that this policy just um holds us um harmless yeah correct yes and I when I was reading I thought it was a great idea because some kids have asthma I don't know they some kids carry their own inhalers if they forgot their inhaler I was looking at it more of like getting help to kids who forgot their inhaler was expired and it was just quick access and so yeah or was like their first episode maybe so they haven't been like prescribed that yet and with the study it shows clearly that it's more financially beneficial for the school district which obviously we're always looking at the bottom line and then also um that it helps save lives so I mean why not I just am worried about the flip side of and I know we would well I mean not a doctor but a second Valu all probably isn't going to h a kid but obviously we have to check that Jordan but I mean yeah it's unlikely that one second dose would be harmful and it sounds like it can only do good well so I think it's a good idea yeah so um you know it's it's information at this point we're discussing it so I'll get those answers and then when we bring it to an approval with ADD added information you guys can make a decision any any other questions you ask my questions thank you okay moving on um the first reading of proposed board policy and administrative regulations we do have um Mr pero here this evening that would like to comment on um board policy on social media and use of AI on school projects and reports and this is let see yeah n i looking at the policy and the so that we can get to [Music] that yeah I I was just reading through that and when I was reading through the Social Media stuff kind of plugged out was the AI stuff and having worked in Hightech for over 40 years I've worked along with some AI engine but I gotou questions I just read something here it says California is actively integrating artificial intelligence education in K2 curriculum including elementary schools in October of this year Governor cled assembly Bill 2876 into law mandating incorporation of AI literacy into Math Science and History social science curriculum the initiative aims to equip students with a foundational understanding of ai's principles applications limitations ethal considerations and real world impacts and goes on a little bit so obviously this is a new technology another the gate pretty strong I don't know how many of you played much with AI but I I've played a lot some of the AI engines out there so couple questions I had when I read through that it says what is the school's AI policy I don't know if you have a policy I would probably because it's a huge issue you might want to write a separate policy just AI in the future if you don't have it already what are the tools that are used a number of different AI tools out there gbt um what filters are used on the I AI tools because let me tell you you can get anything and they aren't filtered okay what is permitted using AI for math writing and history an example that would be a child has writ report how do you or how do you do you allow an AI tool to be right because what you can do with AI is you can get five six bullet points and say write me a 300 word essay on XY Z and it spit something out quick so do we have policies on that is that allow I don't know what your policies are and how do you prevent the bias that is prevalent in the AI engines because there is bias they they draw from a certain set of data and not all AI engines are created the same and so um just some thoughts I had I don't know what your AI policy is I know I came in here a few months ago and they were talking about using campus and that but um do you have an a policy is that something you want to consider in the future like a separate a policy what's permitted what's not permitted what kind of filters are on there what kind of bias are in there what uses just some okay thank you any comments questions well do you remember when we went to the the count School Board did that whole presentation to us and it was very ey open thing I have to say to learn about what the The Good The Ugly of AI and so I I learn a lot and I think that you know giving art or students knowing that this is technology that's out there they're going to use it but figuring out how we can harness it in the positive way and you know still have kids you know using their brains for just using you know this technology and also you know you probably already know this John but but what we were made prevy to was just how inaccurate some of some of that chat gbt can be that you put in this information and there's really no fact checking and so it can there can be a lot of false statements that that come through and so it would really the whole presentation was about teaching our kids that literacy EV that you were just speaking about so thank you for bringing it up teaching them and staff how to be like good consumers of that right yeah and what are the strategies to use to to check on things right right um and so I think that that's an important skill to teach and um definitely superintendents across the state and the nation are talking about policies and those are going to start you know we're going to start seeing drafts of those and looking at those for sure so um is definitely I'm also imagining that we are going to the California School Board Association uh meeting next month and I believe there will be several class sessions that we're going to be able and that is something that I was definitely going to attend as well so we're educating oursel as we can to this subject and uh it's yeah it's here any other questions about any other policies or you can come up for anyone um I wanted to know what the plan is for the all gender restrooms that are coming for 2025 how we're to address them do we have one in each School site an allender rest we yes yes um we do have the capability to have that available to students and we're that something we're trying to figure I mean obviously a tremendous cost is involved with that right so how we navigate that and what we do is still to be determined but certainly something we need to pay attention to so um no real significant things to report on I get but it's it's all greater things to to take care of so we have one year right this 2026 was it j26 yeah we don't know you just have to I don't know what the rule is but I think it I think it might depend on your student population okay but it's important that every single child feel that they have privacy 100% any other comments before we move on okay um next is the enrollment and Ada report for it's information so OES is at 339 wasuma is at 265 oci is at 179 and we have 12 students enrolled in Bliss just up one from last month um in the usual shifting around L went up slightly and then the other reported the adaa I hadn't brought that yet this year because there hadn't been enough data um so now I'm going to be able to attach that each month with the enrollment so you can see the um enrollment of each site and average attendance so some strong percentages there the 90% And what's the state average I do not know that but U preco we were usually around 95 so it's getting closer I can look into that for the next one okay and in District transfer reports [Music] so since the last board meeting we have had four students transferred into the District Two from and next is accomplishments and other reasons to celebrate from throughout the district to elementary school [Music] it's not let good evening um I have a lot of things to share I'm so excited so um oh yeah we've been up to a whole bunch of really great things over the past few months uh we are trying to get our uh pdis positive behavior interventions and supports going strong um we are we have changed it from Pride to um soar and so we are the Soaring Eagles we had the pleasure of having OES student o oci students come and teach our um student body about appropriate expectation and how to show how to soar in the cafeteria how to soar on the playground how to soar um in the classrooms and so it was fun they came and did little skits for each of the areas and then did a little game show at the end so that was a last and um much appreciated so thank you oci and Y and oci Leadership so that was bment we have pdis rewards up and going and so that's been super fun the kids are awarded um PBIS sore points for um showing sore and and doing amazing things and so we had our first sore store in September the end of September the kids absolutely loved it we have one coming up this this um Friday so here is a first grade class in the in the sour store after purchasing all their loot so they're all excited um about Source store coming up this Friday we have had several we've had spirit week so all of the schools in the district aligned and we had um on Monday we did Disney day and so here we have Walt Disney he this is class and this is Elliot's class plac them in pictures and so we had kids dressed up now that Disney you know out by star or have bought out star in Marvel you know we saw all kinds of fun things we had Disney day we had a sports jerky day um we did dress like royalty that was fun people got really creative so that was great too um whoops and then Halloween on Thursday we did costumes or pajamas lots of people did pajamas uh our St costume theme was the OES do and so I was the keeper this was the idea from from they did this this years ago and so each teacher group like they picked their own zo so that was Prett fun um so here's just some pictures from Halloween we had a little good A little Halloween grade at the end of the day and that's always tons of fun so here they are posing for their pictures participating um one other thing I don't know who's doing it but we do have somebody doing mystery Hunts on campus it started at the beginning of the year and somebody hid Ducks around campus and so teachers have been staff has been looking for ducks and then um we had Boogie hunting so like little boies and they're all over campus so again no idea who's doing that but we totally love it it's a blast so we still have four yet to find yet so that's you know how do you know how many I'm sorry how do you know how many so they make a little like sheet of paper and it saids you know when you ccle when you find onecle um we have fantastic school program happening Tuesday through Thursday we have study hall uh Wednesday and Friday we have sports Tuesday and Thursday we do connect cor on Tuesday we partner with Big Brothers Big Sisters and so they come in and on Wednesday we have the news club things happen here School uh we have the wonderful specials happening music with Mrs D is fantastic everybody loves it um we have Miss Donna La coming and she does art with glasses and so in the picture you see first graders they created some spiders they work with clay all kinds of awesome um mediums so that's really fun and also p is always a favorite and so our our staff and students are really enjoying having PE Specialists from campus put across fantastic uh he got recently he set up crisy gol on campus and so he we had portable baskets chain baskets and so it was really fun watching the kids prison ball uh field trips are up going at the beginning of the year third grade to the library and all about resources there uh toward the end of October we had the fourth grade we'll learn about local history and Historical Museum uh on the 30th uh first grade went toy always the last and on um Halloween TK and K visited the sugar so here we have our first graders at ry's learning all about what they do um in the bakery and um in the deli and they' got to go back and check out you know all all the aspects of the learn about there and here's our fabulous little Kinders and te all bundled up the sugar Prim railroads that was last cold that day C weather um o has been undertaking some projects to try and meet the district initiative of getting all students to read on grade level and so um Kelly Rous our library media person she specialist she and kirst Forte they organized the wildout books reading contest and so all the GR compete against each other well they compete against their classes and so the every week the class in the grade level that gets the most AR points for that week they get a trop for the week and then at the end of the quarter whichever class in each grade level earns the most points overall they get some Grand party pza party Sunday bunday that kind of thing and so the kids have been super jazzed about reading they love it a second grade competes to lift the Llama it's like this huge stuff house the trophies are stuff the kids love it uh third grade sees the sloth fourth grade competes to take the turtle and fifth grade tries to steal the seal so that's show you the pictures in a minute uh safy hon Michelle Burton Kelly R and K Forte have been working hard with fourth and fifth grade student in battle of the books so on December 10th our four grade teams will go to Madara and compete um they read 20 books and participate so we're excited about that and here is a picture of our little lending library Jenny Pierce tummings uh the director exhaust for ELA and El she donated them to um OES in wasuma and so that's been hugely successful also so here's some fun pictures that's second grade with thinging the Lama and we have a monkey Toad the spot here that was when Mr Max cled one and then next to that is um monkey toes is teaching Miss garens class when so they're having fun uh Turtle sea turtles keep's getting ready to serve the internet onook cart and here's our fifth gr stealing the seal so they love it and I like unbelievable how Jazz and then we track their points on the trees we yeah so it's really motivated kids to read more lots of Partnerships happening we had a an awesome uh safety adventure with Sierra ambulance and Red Cross earlier in the year we were partnering up with yhs every Thursday and Friday 44 students from yhs herec come and spend an hour with their Littles we have oh and two seniors on Wednesday come and to tutoring as part of their senior project so that's been great um American Pate Society comes once a month and they Carol Carolyn ho and Carol they come and teach our kiddos about Iris they planted tons of Iris here I know they do the same thing ATA and they give each of each kid gets an iris and for their birthday pretty awesome and um we have several teachers that got grants from theity o AIT show so here we have Natalia with SI ambulance show kids about taking their blood pressure she gave them all tours of what happens in the ambulance she talked to him about 911 and first aid um and then we had Red Cross inside teaching um uh about emergency safety with patri Peng so and here's our kiddos planning irises fifth grade kidos um and then here um are the grant winners in the mountain area from the oers uh oers show uh let's see Robin Ward she purchased Lego building kits Eric McDonald's brand allowed him to purchase 20 microbit units for coding and computer instruction across the district de Elliot got a bluetoo laser pointer and slide advancers and items for math instruction chrisy new bought a bookshelf for her classroom to improve student access to library LS and Nina Powell um got money to increase her social emotional learning in her RSV classroom to help those that need that here's kidos building with Legos having a blast in the fors blast they totally loved it they follow instructions you know not just play and build whatever you want they have a goal and they have to build certain things so it was really good for them and that's [Laughter] it um 11 superintendent reports so I don't have a very big report on tonight just a couple things um my October talks with Townsen um those were good informative and meaningful talks um I just wanted to let folks know that if for whatever reason they are not able to get to that and they still want to have a chat with me they can um contact the district office talk schedule on my calendar or email me and I would be happy to schedule something outside of that time if that doesn't work for them I try to be there for a two-hour block of time to accommodate all breaks but I know sometimes that doesn't work for folks so um I'm open to scheduling anything outside of that if anybody's interested and then um yes I will admit publicly that I'm a happy dogging fan W the World Series and um because of that I was um able to participate in a celebration party that Mr Mcdonald had for his students he's actually a huge Giants fan but he has students that are big Dodger fans so he um was tolerant and celebrated with them and invited me when he found that that I love the Dodgers and so that was a ton of fun I brought treat bags and celebrated with them and the parent were wonderful and brought hot dogs and Mr M Series highlights and kids were watching that and then um we went out and we played a game of kidball together so that was a lot of fun to connect with kids and and just have a little bit of fun that school and U that's it word number comment um I I mean I don't really have a comment we're going to go to the csba training next month I'm excited about that obviously the election results are not quite done yet so there's a slide chance you know like if I don't win that I maybe won't go I don't know um but I'm not foreseeing that that is an issue um but I'm excited to go and learn and um work together with our team and figure out how we can move forward okay that's St well I'm just going to go right out there and say congratulations to our two incumbents and retaining their seats not done yet not done yet thank you thank you I think you I think you've made it okay we'll probably see you in December just fine and um what else was I going to say okay skip all my other things for another meeting I think um yeah I like everything I heard about that e Club that was that was pretty good and uh you know because these kids are going to play video games no matter what so they might as well just you know enjoy it turn it into a competition and and get into it and and I like the competition thing that's what makes everyone a little bit better and I want to especially thank John pero for bringing out the AI thing that's a ongoing thing a lot of districts are looking into that and um and uh it's we're growing with it I have to say I'm I'm taking tests regularly on on topics I'm I'm involved in and uh and sometimes I just can't find the answer and when I when I go to look it up the uh instead of just having to go through all the searches this AI bot comes up and says we're going to search this for you and give you the best possible answer combined with everything we can come up with and and it does sometimes it's just absolutely the the perfect answer but what I find me to is that it was the perfect answer two years ago it's not the perfect answer today and so it's would have been had I used that information it would have been so you can't you just can't trust it but but we're growing into it it's going to be everywhere um everywhere and so we we've got to get up to speed on that and I know there's top people working on that pop people anyway I just want thanks same here so I actually pulled up something email from riches challenge it's a program they have in the schools that is proactive with kindness and I actually asked Michelle if she have that at the school she's process looking into that um but from the website and this Echoes my sentiments to the Educators so dear Educators as we move toward the end of the year we want to take a moment to reflect on the spirit of gratitude in the chaos of school life it can be easy to focus on challenges yet November gives us the opportunity to pause and Rec recognize all we have to be thankful for we are immensely grateful for each of you and the care you bring to the students staff and communities in our schools the act of gratitude can be a powerful lesson as we express thankfulness for the small moments of connection and learning we Inspire students to look for the positive in their own lives by creating a culture that Embraces gratitude we help young people see that even in tough times there's always something worth celebrating so as the year wraps up let's continue to foster a sense of hope and optimism looking forward helps us to build resistance and work towards goals that uplift and support one another together we can cultivate spaces where kindness and growth are the foundations of learning so thank you for all that you did and you Thanksgiving okay Happy Thanksgiving thank you for showing up every day and doing your job to the best your ability as it shows and we're grateful for you guys taking your just putting all your effort out into protecting kids and keeping them safe and making hard decisions and um I just want to say thank you and um I also excited to be completing my year as president and I'm looking forward to um Diane being in the seat next month passing the G yeah passing the gavel okay future agenda items any ideas sorry bless you next um agenda is going to be our reorganization meeting where um we change hats and bring on any newly elected people or congratulated incumbents depending and some other fun things I'm sure first in around update on the okay yeah all kinds of business and our next meeting date um is Wednesday December 18th and that's because we have to have certain things after a deadline certification of the election has to happen end of the election results we have to there's always a reason for the M the 18 correct 18 got it actually elections office and they said December 3rd would be the date that it would be finalized and that a law was passed all California has to certify the same day okay and that's a wrap this meeting is a jour

you ready yeah right uh we'll Now call the regular meeting of the trustees of the bar School District to order at 6 p.m. we have four of our five trustees uh in person over here today um today we will have in close session we'll have item under item a conference with legal council uh existing litigation pursu to government Court section 549 9569 subdivision d sub division one one sorry and then student discipline or other confidential student matters at code section 48912 subdivision B and and 20 USC section 1232g uh and atmc will have conference with labor negotiators government code section 54957.6 under we under item D we'll have Public Employee discipline dismissal release complain government code section 54957 um at this time are there any public comments on the close session items all right seeing none we will adjourn to close session e e e everybody uh good evening once again uh we'll now reconvene to open session uh we'll begin with a F flag salute trusty jenez would you lead us in the flag salute today please stand and flag again I pledge Ali to the flag of the United States of America thank you for that um Tran can you help us with the district m statement today please the Bera Union School District provides all students the skills to become lifelong Learners and successful 21st century Global Citizens thank you for that and trustee Miss boak can you please read the nor for the Board of Trustees please the bar Union School District Board of Trustees agree to focus on the best interest of students at all times be respectful listen openly address problems and process process not persons keep each other informed maintain confidentiality work toward the future learn from the past equal participation from all members stay on task thank you for that um item D is disclosure of action taken in close s uh close session Dr ftis on that please yes with respect to agenda item 2A conference with legal counsel existing litigation the Board of Trustees approved the settlement agreement with a vote of four o for resolution of a dispute regarding special education services for a District student based on an IEP for Educational Services and attorneys fees for full waivers of any and all federal and state special education claims against the district thank you for that uh next item is adoption of agenda I have motion to adopt the agenda I move to adopt the agenda second moved and seconded all those in favor say I I I agenda is adopted thank you so much we don't have anything under recognition ceremonial U are there any public comments on the consent calendar agenda items today no only um are there any questions on the consent calendar if not I'll entertain a motion in the consent calendar I move to approve the consent calendar I'll second that been moved and seconded all those in favor say I I I I consent calendar is approved next item is uh comments from the public on non-agenda items we have we have a few we have 10 all right so we have 10 speakers today right okay um and have 11 all right that's it one more perfect thank you uh we have 12 speakers today uh we usually assign maximum of 20 minutes to the topic uh so we'll reduce the time to 2 minutes per speaker is that okay with the word all right all right so sorry before we I call excuse me before I call for the first Speaker I'll go ahead and read the speaker conduct for all those who wish to address the board during the public comment periods speakers are requested request to state your name and affiliation for the record each speaker will be given two minutes today to address a board five minutes per organization in a maximum of 20 minutes per topic speakers are reminded to communicate with respect fairness and courteousness to each other and to all present we ask that you not use the name of any any District employee in your comments the board welcomes orderly communication from the public with that let's call um Jean isant isant two minutes wow I did use my stopwatch at home and check myself out so I should be able to do this my name is Jeanie aizan and I'm a former ruscin teacher uh I'm here to speak can you all hear me okay excuse me I am here to speak with why Ruskin should stay open besides having a very strong academic program with many qualified teachers and administrator Ruskin has a science lab as a unique program that offers students an opportunity to learn science using Hands-On techniques which has proven to be a most effective and engaging students to learn about science it's my understanding that rusin is the only elementary school that has such a lab in 1996 and 1997 I took on the role to raise the money to build the uh building there the science lab and um it's the building that stands here today parent donations Community donations excuse me fundraising and grants paid for the building it was built with metal framework covered with Zeo to match the rest of the school it opened in November of 1997 no District funds were used for the building funds to help pay for the two science coaches have been raised each year to help pay for their uh salaries by parent donations and fundraising this average is 45 % of both their salaries and the rest is paid out of the Ruskin uh general fund the rusin community of parents have recognized the benefit of the program and have helped support it for 26 years the science lab is part of the culture of Ruskin and its Community why not allow more students to bet that benefit and opportunity if another nearby school was closed and Ruskin remains open students that were transferred to rusin would also benefit from this unique and valuable program if rusin is closed that would be the end of the rusin science lab students will no longer benefit this would be a loss of a quality program that is avoidable rusin needs to stay open and if I can just add I was very excited about building helping raise the money to build it I've watched it got bu getting built and if any anybody has any questions and would like to talk to me personally another time I have a binder with pictures of it being built and I have a a binder of every single donation that was made to build it so thank you for listening thank you appreciate your comments thank you so much the next speaker is Jan Janet Yu hi good evening everyone my name is Janet U I'm here to talk about a couple of solutions to help minimize school closures um yesterday we were in this meeting where we talked um a couple of board members had mentioned trying to find solutions to minimize um impact on students family and the community um the two items I really want to bring up is the closure of mopas Christian school and having open enrollment mopas Christian School sits of course as you all know on property that belongs to B USD with its pending closure I I'm wondering if we have asked their families where they plan on sending their students to school I definitely do understand they're a parochial school and it might be hard maybe to sway families to move into a public school system but um I think it's still worth asking um from my understanding the partner school is Kings Academy which is in Sunnyville when I did the like Google Maps it is 11 miles away through traffic we all know how hard it is to drive to Mountain View at 7:30 in the morning so there might be a lot of parents who can't make that commute um yesterday was also mentioned that they have not paid rents in the past two months and I so I do wonder if there's a way to survey their families maybe even in lie of rent I don't know the numbers I don't know if that's even feasible but realistically are they going to pay this rent would we have to take them to court um so in lie of uh having them pay rent we can ask get them to ask their families where they're planning on sending their students what might attract them to come to a bu USD school is it a stem program is it an arts program something like that and we can encourage um mpus Christian School to um have them strongly urge especially those who cannot make that commute to consider going to be USD on top of that we would be able to hopefully absorb some of their teachers um if we had additional enrollment um I I know that sometimes with um private schools teachers may not have teaching credentials and I know be USD has provided um emergency credentials or emergency whatever for them to be a teacher so with this knowledge we can figure out open enrollment to better fill our schools right thank you thank you for your comments next speaker is uh Nolan fan uh admittedly it is my first time speaking in front of a board so hopefully I sound formal enough I'm Nolan fan I'm a student at Pont Hills High School and I'm here to speak about my experiences at Ruskin and CRM and why I'm assuming they're closing so oh man why is the timer not started okay I'll keep talking uh sorry about that uh so my experience as at Ruskin I actually graduated from Ruskin five years ago now admittedly I don't remember all that much about Ruskin as a whole but I do remember that they had an excellent science lab it was the only science lab that I remember and that the teachers there were very nice they were very kind with me even if I accidentally popped one of their balls and in honesty they had a very good playground they had pretty good food and yeah that's all I remember from ceron rusin at sierant since I graduated from that school two years ago now it was a lot more fun even though it was over covid during my sixth grade all the teachers were pretty adaptive they were all very nice I even had like a technical issue on my end my teacher was like okay just talk to me after they're all really nice so as to why they shouldn't close my experience reflects maybe a couple hundred other students that all went to Ruskin and sea I know a lot of them personally and a lot of those students would probably agree with me in that you shouldn't close these schools because they're really good I'm pretty sure they're also overfunded but admittedly there are many things that could go better but those are all so minute that they shouldn't matter when it comes to boards decisions and also that a lot of students would that c this that if they went to these they'll probably also ask why would you bother with these they're so in they're they're not important enough for us to be talking about this and also where are you going to send these students if you actually close down these schools if I was in third grade and Ruskin shut down where would I go the next closest option for me is Noble which is not close enough so yeah think of the inconveniences and that's all I have to say thank you thank you for those comments and next next speaker is Kaya Yan thank you for board members and uh District super intend attendance my name is cayen I'm a rasing n mountain mom uh I'm going to talk about uh uh rasing and uh besides the science lab many speakers as already mentioned and the uh rasing school is also one of the largest School uh in our district is has the most 24 permanent Clos rooms uh uh 24 classrooms so it has the capacity to welcome new students so I think we should make it a welcoming um school not a um closing school right uh I just use uh a nearby school as an example right if we move students from rasing to nearby uh Cherrywood that means we will p p we we will put students we will pull students from permanent classrooms to pable classrooms why would we do that to uh our students when we have a well equipped school and we abandoned it and move students to other uh schools in relatively poor conditions right we have the brand new playground we have the brand new softball uh field we have the newly uh renovated law and after one years we close the school right people will question uh the boss ability and the district ability to make judgment right to make plans and um yeah another Point okay yeah for the uh M immersion program uh like our other programs we said many times they are relocatable right so uh I think uh we didn't invent M immersion program we have examples uh other districts do right we just follow them we don't need seven years to know how to run a Mion programs they should be mature enough after 7 years to be relocated thank you thank you for those thank you for those comments next speaker is Teresa CIO K yes Teresa hello my name is Teresa Creo I am a former student of rkin and sieron and I am a current rkin parent um my parent bought their home in the beras community 50 years ago Unfortunately they were not notified about any consolidations or closures however we did receive flyers in the mail about straford schools and St Victor schools holding open enrollment this spring with that being said I think we need to counter this with our own open enrollment and this will also give a chance like um Janet said if mita's Christian School is closing this gives us an opportunity to absorb their student and their teachers um I think an open enroll policy an open enrollment policy will also show you where the families would prefer their children to attend school which school in the district and um if you guys are concerned about how we would manage this we can also create a community or a committee of community members and of parents because as you've seen in the past couple of weeks there is a strong parent present that are very interested in keeping all of our schools open um there has ALS there also has not been any kind of um fundraisers I remember as a child in um brkin we would always have holiday fundraisers I'm not sure why that stopped but that may be a consideration to bring some kind of funding back to the school um and if we don't consider an open enrollment policy and we do close schools um this will affect the property value we were told by a real estate agent by $100,000 which will also in turn affect the property tax value which will also affect the funding that goes to the schools um the schools have great academic programs such as the science lab which the science lab was in the process of getting funding for agricultural program to teach the childrens about agricultural um and we're are looking for Solutions where this um will help us in the long run because Clos closing schools now is a temporary solution it's not a solution and thank you thank you for those comments appreciate your patience uh next speaker is uh Venice can hi my name is Venice thank you for the two minutes I am a mother of three children who are currently attending Raskin ceremon and pitmon Hill this tree school have the best location and allow walking distance and ourself do not blend on low enrollment but you need to invest in attracting new students allowing open enrollment promoting and marketing our best performance school I believe our concern parent here are very willing to help in promoting our best school in berasa closing school to save money forcing students and families to find new school to attend is never never a solution next according to the California Department of Education outl the best practice guide for potential School closure which the first step is engaging the community however basas Junior School District feel in the first step because as a resident of berasa I do not feel engaged I do not feel involved no newsletter no flyer no survey no case study about screw closure at the very beginning the only newsletter I received was the flyer and newsletter about no scw closure I think sorry to say that I think our concern Community here is doing much better than b USD in engaging the community last Raskin and ceron are the con last okay Raskin and ceron are the Central and part of our neighborhood School site provide indoor and outdoor spaces within our communities to get together School building and classroom are a critical part of the teaching learning experience especially the science lab building in Raskin which create the most value teaching learning experience for all students my children always came home to share with me what they learn about science and I benefited from learning science with them together last no glucosure thank you thank you for those comments next speaker is PR Krishnan good evening and thank you for the opportunity to address the board my name is pra I have a kid in Raskin and an ex seront parent I was impressed by the thoughtful discussion and public engagement during the study session the idea of converting pedmont medal into k28 school is a fantastic opportunity to enhance educational outcome by consolidating other Title One schools into pedmont middle we can ensure that our students receive the targeted support and resources they deserve as for elementary school discussions there are some additional questions that I have on budget relocating Ruskin science lab involves significant infrastructure cost has the budget accounted for the expenses of moving and reestablishing the lab in a new location kids in Raskin have had access to these Labs from kindergarten or transitional kindergarten if the kids are displaced then as per the superintendent's office the boundaries might have to be redrawn causing some kids to lose access to these Labs that they've always had how will this that be addressed the Raskin lab is a community funded initiative supported by the school denying Community Access would be unfair as it would deprive them of the benefits of their Investments Raskin has the highest number of kids walking to school moving them means more cars on the road which is neither good for the community Community nor the environment while I don't want to dwell on the negative aspects I agree with the boat's suggestion to focus on Constructor feedback parents are increasingly seeking stem and steam programs for their children Raskin science lab is one step towards that by allowing students to learn through experimentation we can foster a deeper understanding of science especially for our non-english Learning Community Hands-On learning has been proven to significantly boost academic performance not only that Mi is a special program and we must wait it accordingly bringing in mi students into Raskin will also give them an opportunity to spread their wings into a bigger Community to add to this rascan has more classrooms that are vacant and can accommodate more students and as somebody already mentioned Why move kids to a portable when you have classrooms that are and in rkin thank you for the opportunity I appreciate it thank you for your comments next speaker is Bobby [Music] Evans hi my name is Bobby Evans thank you again for the opportunity to speak I'm still recovering and processing last night's meeting let's talk long-term growth and stainability it makes much more sense to keep a campus such as Ruskin open due to its larger sized campus as it could support higher enrollment should the number of births and attendance rise in the future the district needs to ensure and accommodate this potential growth I just want to reiterate as a homeowner paying property taxes which helps fund your public schools why would you not notify us of these issues the district is experiencing and get us involved and no we have never received um any surveys or anything to get our input please reconsider slowing these decisions down and listen to the community on other solutions to help you achieve your goals thank you for your time thank you for your comments next uh next speaker is Tang FEA good evening B members uh my name is t I'm a parent of three children attending roskin and sount uh thank you for staying late yesterday to hear opinions from the community today I would like to share my thoughts on school conation first urge the board members not to close our top performing schools doing so we send the wrong message to the community suggesting that our school detri does not prioritize academic performance it has taken decades and and multiple generations to build the strong reputations of Raskin and sount but only take one wrong decision to spend them I believe none of you want to be responsible for that second closing schools will negatively impact proper values home owners and property value Revenue further straining the district financial situation we also make our district less attractive to young families compared to neighboring districts like meas and many many families will leave if these two schools are closed lastly I'm concerned about one comment from board member yesterday regarding special consideration for the Mi program the consolidation committee has discussed and agreed that all programs are relable based on Criterion 13 if the B believes the committee's report is flaw or is incomplete it should be care for reviewed or rone the board should not suddenly prioritize one spe specific program at one school and use it as a major factor in decision making on the other hand roskin science lab is completely funded by the Rasin Community if ruskin's closed it's unlikely that the program will receive sufficient funding at another campus thank you thank you for those comments next speaker is Susan Lee hi my name is Susan Lee and I wanted to thank the board for your service um I'm a parent of a student at seront and we he also attended Ruskin closing your best academic schools violates your mission uh providing highquality education to each student camont and Ruskin are your top schools and have been since my husband went to varasa schools 40 years ago we were actually denied an intradistrict transfer to Ruskin as um as well as other parents and even various teachers were denied transfers interdistrict transfers to Ruskin we all chose to send our kids to private school instead of a different baras of school why not allow open enrollment accept all transfer requests to increase enrollment numbers when the Evergreen School District closed schools recently they prioritized academic quality and desirability of the schools why are we not doing that our consolidation committee members didn't even know that they could weigh the academic quality criteria more heavily until the October meeting our child did end up going to Ruskin later and is now at camont because we bought a house in that neighborhood now many people have said that you know Ruskin my my child's favorite part about Ruskin is the science lab and the fact that there is it's providing a private school education for free science lab is not only not movable because of the building but the families who are willing to donate and fund the science lab many of those families will go to private school if you close Ruskin who is going to pay for the continuation of the the science lab at a different school I do um Advocate turning peont um into a TK to 8 school my kid was in a tk8 it is safe pedmont has the facilities to keep the elementary school students and the middle school students separate the traffic is actually better over there than camont um thank you for listening thank you for your comments next speaker is Jesse Tang good evening board uh my name is Jesse I am a former B USD student current homeowner and expecting parent who moved here for Ruskin and sierant I understand that we Face the reality of declining enrollment and budget constraints my humble request is that among the many valuable things the board is solving for to please consider options and actions that maintain the district's highest quality School environments while I know that student transfers to bosd schools are currently closed I believe that if we did open trans transfers back up many parents such as myself uh would be drawn to rcan and sieron academic accomplishments some programs and community-built science lab I appreciated hearing the board's questions and efforts yesterday to make this situation uh which is tough as much of a net positive as possible for the community please consider balancing decisions that address urgent short-term needs with ones that keep this District an attractive place for future families please keep both Ruskin and camont open thank you thank you for your comments next speaker is danu hello everyone this is Demi from SAR Middle School my daughter just graduated from Rasin this summer I'm happy that she's a girl but doesn't have stereotypes about learning she loves math and science thanks rasing for always supporting her to explore the learning world and let her believe that girls can do anything just like boys this summer the rusing team just won second place in the mass League National Championship among 81 schools across the United States she was one of the members I don't know how to convince you not to close our best schools I just know that I'm so sad and disappointed at this time because we are still talking about if we need to close our best performing schools I believe that Ras king and the Sion has always been great schools with good reputation and it took decades to build the reputation if rasing or Caron is closed I don't know whether I still have chances to tell people that Ras and the thereon used to be great schools I don't know whether I still have a chance to tell people how proud I'm of being a parent at school and the cemon I want to mention that our schools have famous Al uh alamon including the Yahoo founder Jerry Young and the rasi is the only one school that received the Blue Ribbon reward in our district please don't let these two schools disappear on the map thanks thank you for your comments thank you everybody for being here and for your thoughtful comments today really appreciate it I'll leave this here um all right we move forward with our next item on the agenda item number 10 is reports and presentations uh first on the list is enrollment predictions Dr ftis thank you this evening I'd like to welcome our demographer Tom Williams he um comes to see us each year to share with us our demography um projections for the next several out years which he'll do again uh this evening thank you Tom it's good to see you thank you she'll be running the show for me thankfully next slide please this summary is essentially straight out of the report um the three key things are the history and what we're projecting going forward the history at the top is the total enrollment in the bar Union School District compared to the current figure is forecast a decline by 181 to next fall over 603 years and nearly a thousand students in five years as significant as these reductions are they had a slower rate than the loss of over 900 students in just the three main pandemic impacted years of 2019 to 2022 a key difference between the enrollment reductions from 2016 to 2019 and in the projected amounts however is that the large eighth grade classes graduated in those past years while the expected decline occurs mainly due to small kindergarten totals you think about that for a minute you had a lot of much larger um eighth grade classes going out than sixth grades classing is coming in for several years until recently you'll see that in a pending table you also had uh kindergarten decline going on but not nearly as steep as happened in most recent years and based on the birth data that kindergarten decline is going to continue going I'll show you that in the later table but that because of that now I go to Bullet two the pending losses are concentrated at the elementary level accordingly projected reductions for next year are by 160 elementary students and just 21 middle school students the cumulative projected declines in three years are by 513 elementary students and only 96 secondary students the cumulative projected five reductions to 2029 are by 726 fewer elementary students which is declined by 20% almost or the equivalent of one out of every five current elementary kids and a Dro by 261 for the Middle School total while some resident by Resident I mean where they live not the schools they happen to attend by some resident student reduction is forecast for every elementary school there are much larger declines expected in the Majestic Way Lan View and Rushen regions these three attendance areas areed to have between 73 and 128 fewer students three years from now the main reason for this is these schools have significantly more resident students in the Upper Elementary grades who will be graduating in the middle schools than in the lower elementary grades with ongoing low incoming kindergartens expected and I'll show you birthday supporting that um the smallest resident Elementary School total however should continue to be in the Toyon area with the projected tk5 total has only 190 students in five years next slide please this table is one table in the report but I split into two parts to fit clearly on the screen this first page shows the historic Trends the next page will show the projected numbers I'm going to focus on four columns in this table TK K 5ifth and eth as well as the numbers of the bottom you see the numbers in the bottom right have you going down by had you go down by 70 kids on average per year at the elementary level from 2016 to 2019 that's pre pandemic and 76 kids at the middle school level annually during those years since there are twice as many kids in the Elementary grades in the Elementary grades the middle school grades that's actually a faster rated decline at the middle school level then then during the pandemic both those numbers more than doubled but still proportionally speaking was a middle school total that went down more per grade since and then in the last two years Middle School total on average has gone up 40 kids and the main reason for that is in the e8th grade colum you'll see back in 2016 for example you had 898 eighth graders about to graduate and 798 fifth graders are going to graduate into six that's 100 student difference a year later you had 850 eighth graders about to graduate and 7 56 fifth graders about to graduate in again about 100 student difference differences became small the next few years but still was significant when we got to 2021 again it was 764 in 8th grade and 665 in fifth grade again about 100 student difference so those differences of the amount rolling out of into sixth and out of eth were significant what happened in the last two years is you had much smaller eth grade amounts graduating out and you actually have larger fifth grade amounts graduating in for example in 2022 you had a class of 653 e8th graders and a class of 688 fifth graders or or 25 more 35 more excuse me in in fifth grade and eighth grade that's why your middle school totals went up this year the numbers are basically balanced and for the next few years again you're going to see relatively small amounts coming out of Fifth versus graduating from 8th and that's why a very small change is projected for the next three years at the middle school level at this same time at the elementary level we had TK which represented a three-month birth period from dece September 2nd To December one from 2016 to 2021 from 2021 to 2024 that went from three birth months to nine birth months that means you if all other factors St stayed the same the number of kids in TK should have tripled but we didn't triple 111 to 333 we only went to 252 so even though we had a big increase in the enrollment in TK in proportionate terms per birth month you're still going down so even though that helped your overall enrollment not decline by as much at the elementary level as otherwise would have happened we're still getting fewer kids per birth month in TK than just three years ago even than just two years ago does that make sense to everybody so even though that number went up it really on per month basis is going down and once that becomes 12 months then the per month base is going down means the TK numbers will start going down as well then in kindergarten which is the gray shaded column you were in the 700s from 2016 to 2019 the 600s in 2020 and 21 and only the 500s since then fact you fell all the way down the low 500s in the last two years that's going from the 700s to the low 500s in a fiveyear time frame and based on the birth data I'm going to show you in a little bit and I'm following the table you're going to even be lower in the next five years in kindergarten so the growth in kindergarten is about to stop and then go the other way I mean excuse me the growth in TK is about to stop and go the other way the growth the decline in kindergarten is going to continue and you're going to have larger amounts gradu out of fifth that's why the elementary numbers are declining much worse than the Middle School numbers does that make sense to everybody okay now remember that uh that 2024 number I only have 539 in K and 540 in first all other grades have 600 plus when we roll those small 500 numbers forward and keep projecting lower kindergarten numbers you'll see the next table please prog progress this is what happens those blue shaded numbers are the 500s going forward and they don't actually reach the middle schools in the fifth projection year so that's why the numbers are going down so much more at the elementary level than the Middle School level you have lower uh you you'll peek at about 290 in the TK numbers and those may be optimistic numbers by 2029 and you have K numbers only in the 400s in fact that they're in the Low 400s by the latter part of the projection period remember only five years ago they were in the 700s and now I'm projecting the lower half of the 400s um and then you got all those small numbers in K graduating forward to the rest of the Elementary grades the net result you'll see down at the bottom is for next year I'm projecting 16 few fewer elementary kids and only 21 fewer middle school kids even when we get out three years it's 5133 elementary kids or more than one many of your schools currently versus only 96 few are middle school kids it's when we get that that fifth forecast year that we start having those 500 numbers hit the middle school if I had projected this numbers out any farther the Middle School numbers would start coming down more significantly as well as those blue numbers went through all the middle school grades does that make sense to everybody next slide please and this is what your enrollment has done since 1994 you had a slight tick uptick from 22 to 2023 as some kids came back from private schools and homeschooling and having temporarily moved away during the pandemic but since thing went right back into Decline and unlike what somebody said last night your net difference from two years ago to this year is still a decline not a big decline but some decline if it hadn't been for the growth in TK it would have been a more significant Decline and I see no reason to expect that Trend to continue based on all the data I'm looking at next slide please okay again I do all my analyses based on where your students live not the schools they happen to attend and only when I'm done with all those analyses do I come back to where they might be attending so I deal with what I call the resident projections which is where your kids live not the schools they have them to attend as everybody knows some schools get a a lot of kids comeing in like Cherrywood because of the man do the Mandarin program and Noble because of the parent participation program and that's why that attending J column has 276 kids being added to Cherrywood and 40 kids being added to Noble and the other schools all have uh for the most part significant declines other than Northwood um some have much smaller declines uh and then at the bottom you'll see there's other TK 569 that's the incoming in District kids you accept from outside the district parents uh staff kids Etc and that factors into those numbers as well but when I talk about the resident numbers just in the last year Brook tree lost 32 kids Majestic Way Lost 26 kids Vincy Park lost 29 and Noble lost 25 and uh you obviously extrapolate that out by a few years those terms in significant numbers with what the birth data tell me is going to happen in kindergarten and those attendance are and the rest in the next 5 years you'll see that even going out three years in that rightmost column I've got Brook tree down by another 58 Lane view down by 109 because there's much larger classes graduating from fifth G kindergarten Majestic Way Down by 128 basically every single attendance area is down significant amounts of the Northwood and you know Cherrywood and Summerdale are not as much either but they're also much smaller numbers to begin with the numbers in blue show you what your resident projected numbers are in 2027 you'll see Toyon is only at 190 Cherrywood is only at 223 uh then the numbers become larger than that rusing up to 288 Majestic weight of 300 Etc so those if you talk about attendance boundary changes are probably the numbers you want be focusing on more than where your kids happen to be going across attendance boundaries today next slide please and at the middle school level again I'm not projecting nearly as big changes in the next three years but I am projecting Sion to be down by 118 because the kids in that attendance area now in grades 3 four five is which versus what are now in the tenness area grade 678 whereas moral partly because of new housing and partly because of those differences between 35 and 68 actually has a gain projected but the big changes at the middle school level becomes more significantly in the fourth and fifth forecast year and if you look at the blue column again you'll see that morals got 663 Sheron has 574 and pedmont is still the smallest at 539 despite having less of a a decline than Sierra mon so that means two of year middle schools be have less than six 600 kids and the third only around 650 kids a lot of districts consider more like 800 to be a pro a desirable number for Full program and I don't know if you want to add to that or not Kevin okay next slide please okay again I do all my analyses based on where your kids live that includes by housing type um I create in the first study I did for your District way back 18 years ago or whatever it was um I broke your District up into a bunch of planning areas that wherever possible represent homogeneous housing types by housing types I don't just mean attached versus detached I mean bigger homes versus smaller homes more expensive homes versus less expensive homes um smaller Apartments versus larger tow houses Etc not because I care if a kid is Rich or poor but because I want to see where the numbers are changing more and evaluate the likelihood for those differences to continue by degree so this table shows what I'm finding by those situations and what I call the relatively affordable and intermediate attached units with attached including apartments condos tow houses plexus and Duets I'm going to focus on just the K2 numbers because that's the most important number for me in the past and going forward and you'll see that just in the last three years these units lost 36 kids in K2 or 16% does everybody see where I'm looking on the table um that's significant in a three-year period and 9% of that was in the last year alone if we go down to what I call the upgraded Tas which are the town houses and the uh apartments that have more secure uh parking and things like that you'll see that they're down 19% in the last three years in K2 these are all every single of these categories going to show you have significant losses in K2 in the last three years and I always say that the more consistent a trend is across housing types the more like it is to continue and if I had just had one category having an ex strange anomaly outlier in your District's case you're going down in K2 across the board in the last three years and those are mostly post pandemic years some districts have those numbers come up instead next slide please when I get into what I call the mod moderate sfd again you're down 16% in K2 in the last three years when I call the middle income sfd you're down 21% in the last three years next slide please and in the most expensive detached housing year down 12% in the last three years that's the smallest drop of any of the housing categories however that's a net difference that category actually went down 14% this year alone so you have severely declining K2 numbers across the board no matter what the housing type no matter what the income level and for all areas of existing housing combin you're down 177% in K2 in just the last three years those are pretty dramatic differences and in total numbers since 2021 you're down 312 K2 kids and more than that in K5 of course in tk5 next slide please these are very complex numbers to try and explain in a board meeting but I try to evaluate how each class of students in kindergarten is graduating forward through the grates kindergarten to First and first to second and second to third what I call cumulative advancement rates are what if those rates continued for eight years what the population in first grade would be excuse me seven years in first grade would be in eight years later for example uh in that top row in the top left cor right corner you'll see a 1.03 that was the rate from 2016 to 2019 and the most affordable units in the district that means if those rates had continued for seven years for every 100 kids in kindergarten there would been 103 kids in eth grade that's a very high rate for that category you'll see in most districts the normal range is from 0 6 to 0.95 so you're actually gaining better kids in that category than most districts then the pandemic hit and the numbers collapsed and we all know that every District did this the rates if they had continued from 2019 for seven years you would have lost 50% of the kids in kindergarten by the time they got to e8th grade then since the pandemic ended the numbers bounced back up significantly but a lot of that is just a pandemic post-pandemic rebound neither the declines caused during the pandemic or the rebounds that happened since the pandemic as kids came back from private schools and homeschooling and having temporarily moved away are trends that are likely to continue so you'll see that even with the declines I showed you in the last three years you had very positive accumula r gains since 2022 those rates are unlikely to continue so for that reason whatever little positive things I saw on the data in the last two years they're probably not going to continue does that make sense to everybody okay next slide please this is even more complex slide than the last slide but it's probably the most important data to discuss this Compares what the birth date birth were in the 95132 zip code to the number of kids you had enrolling in kindergarten 5 years later from the 95132 ZIP code this table doesn't show the other ZIP codes in the district because they're mainly in other districts so you get the minority of the kids from those zip codes nonetheless I did put 95131 and 95133 in the appendices of the report but this one shows you a trend from a huge chunk of the district and I think that trend is applicable to the rest of the district as an average as well and if you look at the orange column you'll see that the bursts from 2012 to 2018 were all in the 400s the burst correlating to the current kindergarteners was 399 essentially 400 Down Below in Orange the burst for the next four years are all in the low 300s you're going from the 400s in some case the upper 400s to the low 300s in a couple years fact for next year we're going from 399 to 336 that's essentially 20% lost excuse me but essentially 15% lost that's a that's a huge decline one year and the numbers don't get better the smallest numbers are in 2023 326 so any hope that the birth data was coming back up post pandemic is not showing in the data the second thing about this data is the rightmost column what is the correlative ratio of of those births showing up in your schools five years later in kindergarten and back in 2012 to 2014 it was the 80% in fact it was 89% in 2012 for showing up in Fall 2017 that's an extremely high ratio showing up in kindergarten when factor in kids going to private schools in a lot of districts those numbers are much lower than that in the past then during the pandemic years the rate fell down to 76 and 77% which isn't surprising because some families moved away between when they were born and when the pandemic hit but what happened in the last three years is when down in the 60s and as I say in the report the main reason for this in my opinion is the Stratford schools mil Pedas they presented some data to mpus unified a year and a half ago that showed their schools only 41% of their students are have miletus uh postal City addresses and that includes your part of milus so the part that are actually attending miletus schools from uh um City from milus excuse me attending Stratford schools from meus Unified School District is less than 40% most of that remaining 60% probably probably almost all are coming from beresa that's in kindergarten and I can't see that as a fact but I'm sure it's when they say mo the r remaining kids are almost all coming from San Jose you're the nearest part of San Jose uh and so when we go from an 89 percentile corative rate or an 88% corative rate back in 2017 2018 20 64% correlative rate for this year that's a huge statistical swing as long as the statford schools are there I think you're continue being in the low 60 percentile correlative range so you're talking about a much lower correlative ratio against much lower kindergarten numbers for the next four years and Beyond and that's hard numbers that's not an opinion and that if you look in the bottom right what's that mean for projecting kindergarteners from the 95132 ZIP code that means we're going to be going from being in the 400s to being in the low 200s in the 95132 zip code now the quar of ratios don't get impacted nearly as bad in 95131 and 95 133 but the birth numbers do the same thing they're collapsing and a big factor in that is young families are having a hard much harder time foring to live here the cost of housing until the price of housing goes back down which isn't going to happen it's still going to be hard for young families to move here next slide please okay new housing everybody thinks there's a huge impact coming from new housing and it is a beneficial impact but it's not a huge impact the new town hous has built in recent years there were 339 of them and they're a they have kids for a net of 0.12 or about one student in every eight town houses that's not that dissimilar from what I'm finding in similar districts um again young families can't afford to buy them when we get into apartments and condos they're a little bit more affordable in town houses but they often tend to be Studios and win bedroom units which obviously can't have many kids so we're only averaging one student in every 20 new apartment and condo unit built in this District so out of 1,644 units built in the last few years in this District we got a total of 83 kits now that's still a positive that still helps some schools a lot like Northwood moral but it's not a huge Factor on the future enrollment now you've had no blow market rate developments built in this District in recent years so I brought in a couple samples combined samples from Sunnyville and oako school districts and just to as comparative purposes regular affordable housing which we call BMR or blow market rate is aver about one student every four units so if you have such a development built here that's what I would apply to that development and then if you have single occupancy there's virtually no kits so you wouldn't even pay attention to those bottom line projected new housing next slide please in mainly Mark R tow houses you'll see I'm projecting 420 in the Northwood and moral areas that's why those numbers go up otherwise I'm only getting 48 in the Vincy Park in moral areas and only 32 in the Summerdale and pedmont areas and I'm not projecting anything in developments are five more units anywhere else in the district when I get into mainly market rate apartments and condos Vincy Park and moral is getting 160 and Summerdale pedmont are getting 345 but again those are only averaging one student in every 20 units so those are not going to generate huge student numbers and then I do have a BMR nonso development propo projected um in 2028 and 2029 um down near the BART to South of the BART station and uh that'll help Vincy Park numbers but Vincy Park isn't one of your smaller schools does that make sense to everybody bottom line is new housing is going to help a few attendance areas but not the district as a whole next slide please questions and you need me to go back to any tables thank you for the presentation any questions specific questions on the board I did have a one question from your experience um are there any school districts at all I remember reading uh article a while ago about I want to say doublin Unified I might be wrong but maybe you know uh that their enrollment enrollment increased um last year or in the past couple of years do you have any anything to share if I ignore what happened in TK and everybody added kids this year in TK because the additional months and also there's some IND a that more parents of TK eligible children are being willing now to enroll their kids in TK as it becomes better understood so that's going to help thatg grade a little bit um that number is still more in flux in the other grades because of that but aside from the growth in TK was mostly caused by the extended period every District I'm aware of lost kids this year okay now I only have data from maybe 30 districts right so I I'm sure there's a couple out there that buck that um let me rephrase that aside from TK Sunnyville added 38 kids this year everybody else lost significantly in K or K12 or okay okay thank you for your presentation thank you for being here Mr Williams appreciate itk you next item on the agenda is measure U construction Bond program update I I find this thank you uh we invite Tony kisto our director of bond facilities to provide our monthly status of existing projects good evening everyone um we'll start out with the first picture is um of the new PA systems that we have at all the schools well at so far Morel and now pedmont and again I'll go over the projects for measure you give you an update and kind of a timeline um so again so the projects we've completed since last month is the fire alarm at Majestic Way it's actually complete we just haven't turned it over yet to us but it's all ready to go and they're going to turn it over on Monday we also completed the PA project at pedma um projects that were bid were the public address systems for brooktree and Ruskin and also the gynasium cite electrical work that'll actually come to the board in December for recommendation for approval um projects in progress the HVAC project at the 1376 the old district office that's on schedule and that should be completed in March the pedmont window replacement the shop drawings are in and they're going to start actually replacing windows at the February break um security alarm they actually started Noble replacing the security alarm on Monday they should have all three of those schools done by the end of winter break basically the first week in January um exhaust fan project again that's on schedule they completed all the exterior roof fans except for one they just didn't have it that'll be completed in at the Thanksgiving break and then also that project will be completed by the end of the winter break as they're going to actually work in the Thanksgiving break and the winter break to complete everything else because those those units are basic Bally in the buildings um Monument Monument sign projects that's almost done we're actually kind of doing the punch list Tri to make sure that everything's okay um the comprehensive infrastructure renewal and utility assessment project the lighting is done we're just doing a punch list for that also we found out since this that some of the units for the Portables that we're going to replace are going to be in so they're going to do that over Thanksgiving break I think it's three of the schools pedmont sierant and toy on um projects in design the warehouse replacement that's actually at DSA right now the fire alarm replacement projects for those Toyon Vincy Park Northwood those are actually at um DSA also we're planning on doing Vincy Park this summer and the other two probably starting in September um and then again the comprehensive the HVAC system replacement those are all going to go to DSA in January and February again most of that work's going to happen next summer um the Solar projects those are actually in DSA again those will happen next summer um security alarm repacement we're just waiting kind of to get the first the last three done and then we'll move to the next ones same with the public address um we'll start walking some more schools and then we'll do those as soon as the rusin and Brook Tre schools are done fencing projects were still in design with Cherrywood Morel toyan and Vincy Park and then the last bigger project is Vincy Park that exterior wall replacement is going to happen next summer same with the perimeter fencing and then the exterior door office Rec office reconfiguration and the pod storage reconfiguration and the Ada scope that's actually going to DSA in December and we'll probably do that the summer of 26 and schedule for each of those projects and then another picture of the wonderful PA systems um any questions thank you for the presentation any questions the comprehensive project I just want I'll just say comprehensive project can you remind us what what all Sites they doing the hedback is it specific so we're doing um Noble replacing most of the units yeah um Morel we're replacing a lot of the units Brook Tre we have we're changing from a central plant system to indiv individual units same Majestic Way Toyon we're putting in package units and again getting rid of the central plants and also for Summerdale so those are the projects we're doing and then there are some miscellaneous mechanical units like for the Portables that we're doing throughout the district okay thank you thank you for your presentation today perfect next item on the agenda is superintendent report Dr fentis uh thank you I just uh want to wish everyone uh here and those that are viewing a Happy Thanksgiving we have that upcoming in the next week or so so taking a good opportunity for all of us to express our our gratitude and spend some time with our our families and also just want to highlight our schools continue to have lots of family connected events um we are in the holiday season and so there's quite a lot to go visit and see and participate in I know um had the opportunity to celebrate uh dewali with the Cherrywood school they did a great job and I know a lot of our sites celebrate various um holiday traditions during this time Majestic Way this Friday is having their uh Multicultural event and extend their event CommunityWide so uh I know um we look forward to participating in all of those uh fun spirited events that our schools offer thank you thank you Dr f is any comments on or announcements from the board I had a quick thing to share um also I want to take the opportunity to wish everybody a a Happy Thanksgiving um in a happy and safe holiday season I had a quick thing I wanted to share uh uh with the board I had an opportunity to visit uh moral Middle School uh this week uh spoke with Dr Spain over there regarding U mental health and wellness uh they I know we are a lot of our students are facing some uh challenges with that um and they they have a uh they're taking a proactive approach uh to uh student mental health and wellness and they're putting together a fair uh on Tuesday um this coming Tuesday uh during the lunch time between 12:22 and 12:52 p.m.

who have they picked a cro cro fun fact cro was actually in lucina's reveal trailer back in Smash 4 Wii U can't say I'm a can't say I don't know much about prom he's an echo fighter of Roy with I up special okay so yeah he might use that a lot cuz oh wow going right in for it he's throwing out those forward airs throwing out all those hit boxes he's running all over the stage pretty crazy going for down airs oh he's he's evading all of his moves oh wow oh wow he called Robbie out on using his neutral special what the crap nice counter that was a good counter I'm very scared oh nice grab that is a nice grab I'm really happy about that um all right it feels like crom is a bit too fast for incinerar to handle so that could be a well the thing about it is that cinor is moving all around oh he could he could have used his up special he wasn't in freef fall and fun fact you could tell if a character was in freef fall or they have their double jum uh based on their character animation yeah mhm oh punching the counter right there crom does also have a counter but that's to be expected with most Fire characters except for like Robin and bth yeah I think those are the only two off the top of my head for sure yeah all right up smash doing very good work for crom he he isn't really going with the up air afterwards but he does go with the downer and a forward smash too he waits out he waits out oh gosh up special from in okay nice grab sending him up can he take his can he take a can he take a stop he's close he's close oh and there's prom on the floor he didn't do anything oh close so close back air from cro so close a special thing about crom's back air is it actually turns him around too yeah which is pretty cool so he can constantly go from back air to Forward Air like very seamlessly which is pretty cool all right so as you just saw there we've had a bit of a stream update we were actually in the corner during that match so that's pretty cool oh yeah for sure I'm pretty happy about that so I wonder who they're going to bring in next it could be it looks like Scott it's look like it looks like it's going to be Scott and you can also see up there we have the chat now yep hey Morgan I know we already said hey but you're right there that's pretty cool all right and we've also got the screen down there so if you guys want to watch the action and watch our faces at the same time it's very convenient and looks like we're looks like we're going to be bringing out pyro mythra heck yeah Scott's coming back oh yeah he ain't going to leave it on two self-destructs he's going to come back with a vengeance oh yeah for sure and py mythra is one of the greatest characters to do that with oh gosh he's going straight for the up airs though oh my gosh prom was in face he ran right to them oh and an upy from Mithra 2 wow oh from pyro I mean this is an exciting match already yeah it's very very fastpaced you know I'm pretty excited about how this is going to turn out I got a good feeling about this one like cr's at 80% our guys at 25% I'm excited oh yeah for sure oh but back here into a forward smash but Scott does the eye out of it in time that's good uh crom using his up special on stage even though we weren't even anywhere near him don't know why he did that maybe just did In the Heat of the Moment maybe all right this game is a lot about maybe just clicking the right buttons and that could have been really easy Miss input mhm that's true and Miss inputs are not the best in this game you know especially you have to be precise you got to be precise all right okay crom trying to counter but he wasn't even anywhere near the attack oh an up special coming right on him it's like what Sethro did do incar that one time but the sword is on fire this time so wow oh yeah for sure okay crom trying to keep his distance he's only going in once he gets a from him but if he but he's looking around for opportunities to get more hits oh and that opportunity did perform well oh and a side be good job building up CR damage oh forward smash into counter no that's not good oh and he teab bagged oh shoot this crom means business oh no this Crum this Crum this crom means business oh my gosh uh forward smash oh and a side special that's pretty good too up special into that that's pretty good too all right launching off side specials oh but an up air from crom he's using up air into up air into Forward Air was a nice true though he's a neutral special running off trying to trying to approach he tries to run up and counter that didn't work Scott was unfaced I don't know why he's rolling so much yeah that is not good all right using yeah pirate time it Scott doesn't really seem to use Mithra all that much and Mithra is faster than pirate oh and kooing the Crum that's pretty good oh I thought I thought Scott was going to teabag on him you know like he did you know yeah we're not about all the bad manners you know yeah we're we're we're we're good here you know I beg your pardon all right using up special but crom air Dodges out of the way um Scott seems to use a lot of roles and as we mentioned that is not the best idea considering running would be even faster than air Dodges oh you got to grab the ledge it's not just the fact that if you fall uh when you're below the ledge you just die it also it also means like you can't use any any um any attacks when you're falling you got to focus purely on your movement to make sure they don't hit you all right down air oh he countered the up smash oh and a down air just missing Scott's down to his last stock and we're down to our last player if Scott loses the other team wins I think I think Scott can take this uh guy's last stock for sure me too Scott's a very talented player for sure he has a lot of potential right now mhm oh crom trying to find this uh trying to find a good opening to take him down oh nice here we go 84% I think I don't know I feel like cr's at kill percentage now so one good up smash or up special or maybe even a for smash could kill right now oh a down a counters it oh but he T it so close that yeah he teched it wow and just took no damage oh nice counter if you don't know what teching is if you play if you press the Shield or air Dodge button before you hit the ground from a devastating blow your character will roll out of the way and gain invulnerability for a set amount of time oh yeah oh and a four yes good job good job Scott good job Scott look at him he's dancing spinning in his chair he's confident in his abilities and you know what I tend to agree I'm very for sure for sure I'm very confident in his abilities I feel like good things are coming his way oh and look at the oh no it's bird boy from Discord who told him about it well it a little bit of lore about bird boy over here hopefully he doesn't care um the thing about it is blue J uh one of our Varsity players we'll see him later he tends to play um he tends to host this online tournament called the Sasha slam which is basically an online Smash Bros tournament yeah bless you thank you thank you we got tissues on standby um one second oh and it looks like our opponent picked the Sethro where are the tissue we got we have this go oh look the tissue Lord he's blessed us thank thank you tissue Lord you burned your dollar all right pyro jumping off the stage Scott's looking as ready as he'll ever be he's doing this baby oh Scott getting the first hit Scott gain the first hit good job I'll explain more about what I was explaining previously maybe after the match I don't know you'll you'll just have to wait and find out oh yeah all right Sethro using his neutral special again dang look at him go he's running all over the stage using all the hits he can at his disposal Shield that good job good job good job so the thing about seph Rod's chargeables is the fact that they can is that the more you charge them the more powerful they are but the less speed they have oh yeah for sure so yeah I'm pretty excited for how this is going to go ooh pyro pyro almost jumping into it oh my gosh seat's already got him up to 127 and he dang seph's got the advantage here to make a decision he walked seph just walked into the sword good job seph you're doing it nice nice hit nice hit this is close oh and another hit he's at 98% oh oh close close oh the range on that sword but unfortunately seph Roth has more range all right Shield okay I guess he didn't need to he was out of range all right a side B okay that time he needed a shield he was in okay sending him up he's going to use a upy good job St look at him he's so happy with himself good job I I mean he's like over there he's over there you can't see my hand it it's it's it's it's it's over there it's over there there you go that way you could see my hand all right can can Scott take this a second stock from this separo I think he can he's playing flawlessly okay a forward throw from Sethro oh no oh seph and another forward throw what oh and he's sending out his side B which is those purple balls I mentioned earlier oh oh boy what's he going to do he's jumping around he's trying to find that opening but Scott is Scott is intently looking oh there we go he gets another side B does not punish it though zro goes for the punish but he misses it too he takes more damage oh something get Scot get another St he hits him right into the jumbo TR can Scott take the third stock oh my gosh this is so hyped oh no oh no a dash attack wow that was great play that was crazy absolutely crazy great plays by Scott P yourself on the back Scott cuz I can't your amazing that was took two stocks from his one stock that was amazing that was so crazy I am I'm all right I'm excited oh yeah for sure next up thank you for Ben Davis next up Varsity versus Hobart yeah so thank you Ben Davis for playing with us you you got some good Esports players oh yeah for sure for sure all right so now it's time to go through the varsity names of the roster so we have our team captain Jaden AKA blue J we also have Eli also known as exploded we have Tristan known as trzy D we have Izzy also known as rainbow Moonlight and Kamar also known as Corlin yeah Corlin yep oh and it looks like we have an interview by Scott himself Scott himself and also rest of the JV the rest of the JV team cuz we forgot to mention this is actually our last week on the F split if I'm yep yeah the last week on the Fall Split so we're going to get the whole team in here um come on in come on in yeah come and wave to the camera if you like there you go wave to the camera don't flip them off please we don't want to get taken off of you before we even mzed actually can you let's get camera so we can ask the questions there we go there we go anyways so yeah how have you guys felt with the season you know you got yourself a win it's pretty good that was the first game we won was amazing that's that's pretty good I'm I'm I'm happy with that I'm happy with that so what was going through your mind when you took two stocks with with your one stock against that seph Roth I was surprised exced excited feel like I could actually beat him oh yeah for sure that's good I would understand that you get hyper you know you get that tension building you're like I got this man so Adriana what would you say has been the greatest Improvement of the team since the beginning well I say we our improvements are like we've been practicing and we some of us try new characters and they actually turn out greater so we stick with new characters then yeah so like it's like we have more Improvement like more like oh I I think I'm better at this person so we switch Yeah there tend to be times um where you pick a certain character and you're like oh I really like this character to the point where you don't want to try any new characters and you end up blocking your creativity cuz you don't end up playing with them you know yeah so definitely spreading out good mhm you have any other questions I think you took all of mine all one of them what is cornbread cornbread how would you what would you say is the biggest difference from this match versus your first match that you guys ever did uh opponents are a lot different difficult more difficult mhm and they have a better uh team captain mhm yeah than most all of the other teams we faced so far yeah and we didn't have any lag so we could have won oh yeah for sure oh where's Ash uh he's working on game more characters for the switch you want me to go get him I W take that personally okay on game other way oh dang there we go did you take his cornbread with him yes no he put his cornbread down now that's corny okay anyways um oh my gosh question okay what are the questions so how did you feel this team was compared to the first team you guys ever faced um the first team we faced um the first team we faced was really good because we think they cheated and put a varsity team in because it was preseason so I'd say they were a little worse than not not preseason not preseason not preseason um I'd say I'd say we did bad compared to the actual first season match yeah that tends to happen but there is another split you know yeah hopefully you guys can improve on that um I think you guys will you guys have some great potential um one last question how would you guys say um the teamwork has improved over the first ever match you guys did M uh a lot better now yeah I'd say pretty well I mean we've gotten to know each other a little more I mean that's good that's that's kind of natural also like um watch over other matches and figure out what works and we move it on for next next rounds if we have to yeah that's good that's good it's like for example last week um Scott was able to beat a king K rule on first match and we had to face King rule in second match so I sent like hey we should send Scott in since he beat king K rule last time yeah so I was like I was being like um strategic yeah like I was like I was observing and figured out what to use like figure out okay if this works we need to do it cuz if it works it works you were playing to everyone's strengths yeah yeah that's good that's good that's good that's that's what it takes to be a good team all right I think we're done I think we don't have any more questions we will take a break and we'll 5m whoa [Music] a [Music] a [Music] n [Music] pap [Music] a [Music] a [Music] a [Music] [Applause] [Music] stress on you guys all right so so welcome back welcome back to ihen 24 25 week six of our regular season final week of this season uh but today uh we're going to be kicking it off with Varsity that's right our Varsity players are going to be coming up so in case you just in case you forgot about them let's go ahead and remind you so they're facing off against Hobart um Jaden is the um Varsity Captain who is also known as blue jay Eli who is um arguably one of the best on their team is also known as exploded Tristan is also known as trzy D Izzy is also known as rainbow Moonlight and kamora is also known as gorlin and like I said they will be fighting off against hobar um they have gone undefeated along with our varsity team so they could give our varsity team a run for their money but I believe wholeheartedly in our varsity team that they can beat them the stage that they will be playing on though is called town and City and um of course the loser of the first match gets to pick the stage for the second match and like we said before um first person to Four Points wins and each point is towards each player eliminated all right so lookie there it looks like their first pick is a king K rule versus a king DDD and we forgot to me oh jeez Eli you can't see it yet oh okay you couldn't see it but it was zoomed like really far in on his face and I kind of wish they kept it that way uh you'll see his face cam soon soon um yeah there he is he's the guy in the black hoodie not ripping the Esports Jersey but we'll let that slide yeah heck yeah all right Eli is a well-known player of King DDD he has done quite a few things in Esports he's taken a lot of names and taken a lot of Victories over people which I guess is the same as names all right so so yeah they're both playing uh King K rolls down smash can bury them but he only seems to be jabbing oh oh and in four til wow I wonder how Sam feels about this cuz Sam plays King K rule oh okay okay yeah we didn't mention uh Sam Sam is a player all right Sam is a player on our varsity team and he plays o that's a good hit that's a good hit and his gamer tag is m135 don't ask us why it's called that he it just is well hello hello weing that's okay okay what's up you get to see firsthand at the match looks like Eli's doing a good amount of damage look at that we got a new person well not yet not yet they they they don't see us and there we go there is our person this is kamora this is kamora yes otherwise known as Corlin oh Eli took his took his first stop good job Eli good job Eli that's good uh one thing I'm surprised uh Eli has not done is used King ddd's neutral special which basically sucks stuff in like I'm surprised he hasn't sucked in King Kroll's canon ball or crown and shot it back at him he's always just trying to dodge that was a good punish by the king K oh and he jumps over it oh and then he uses the suck move oh dude he air dodged oh but he does recover from it air Dodges can be detrimental if at the wrong angle oh boy oh a grab oh nice grab nice grab oh good setup good set up oh for tilt yeah you want to stay away cuz King K roll's propeller can even hit you despite him being below the stage it can hit you all right a back throw and a neutral special King K Ru is trying to cover the skies with projectiles tries to cover the ledge with his belly but fails miserably oh nice punish nice punish by Eli oh boy oh good job Eli good job smacking him he's smacking him all the way back to the town in town and City cuz they're currently in the city portion yeah that's one thing we forgot to mention so town and city is basically two different two different stages at the same time it's the town and the city we're currently in the city area and about like I don't know 20 seconds after 20 seconds passed the the platforms go away and it transitions to the town area and the platform layout is different so if the platforms go away you'll know hey now we're transforming into the oh there they go there go the platforms now there are no platforms to save them if they fall over oh but oh nice there we go is he going to spike no he isn't and now we're back in the in the oh good hit good hit by oh jumping over the crown oh there's a Gordo in the air oh doesn't hit oh oh nice punish Crown good job Eli that's amazing now that's how you Crown the king that's what I'm saying yeah it's just like a chess match and now King DDD has his biggest fan come up to him that's pretty cool that's pretty cool as well so cand I do need to ask you how do you feel about your chances of winning the match um well I look at my team's stats I think we have a really high chance of winning that's good that's good that's what I'm saying's on his game today everyone's on their game today we're all playing the same game oh yeah yeah their confidence level through the roof wor mhm and go better yeah oh yeah and I wanted to ask you guys do you do you know of a special place that you can go to hang out with your friends and it's completely free what is it it's called the garage and it's one of our sponsors for today's stream that's crazy yeah so special thanks to the Moose what to the Moose as well check out the garage here in town on Main Street it's a cafe Game Room music venue for the Youth of bluon to hang out it's really fun they got a karaoke venue so anyone can show off their singing skills let me tell you as someone who sings Beyonce in the shower I do really well up I do really well up there m you were handed a mic so you can commentate with us let's go okay we got an inkling okay looks like the inkling is doing a good amount of damage dang King DDD is covering nice nice grab nice grab all right shielding ni grab throw oh side special that's good oh B oh yeah Eli's trying to cover all of his options with all of his Aerials he needs to be very um very um strategic with how he uses his aial oh nice I wonder if he'll realize if he gets the inkling to hit his own bombs it will take double the damage that's really good but the thing about damage as well is the thing is the thing about inkling the more ink you have on your self uh the more damage you take from inkling attack so inkling trying to get as much ink as she can on the king DDD so they can do the most damage they can you know yeah oh nice grab nice grab nice punish but just like hero inkling ink meter is also limited however when it does run out they can hold uh the B button and charge it up oh and they can also use they ALS go can press a side Direction on the control stick with that side special El needs just to hold down and kill this special you can get one stock that'd be great oh they're probably going to send in Jaden after this oh shoot oh shoot and a forward smash so close so close yeah 131% it's not bad at least our stocks are quite even at the moment crazy at least our stocks are quite even I'm very very excited for it all right so far it's one1 one to one but by the end of this we'll know who one oh [Laughter] yeah thank you thank you and speaking of thank yous uh quick shout out to miss Van Mater thank you for thank you for letting us use your art room uh really cool if you take an art class at uh bluon high school you'll be in this room just without just without the the script and two really awesome people oh yeah I would love to have you guys in the background of my art room commentating as I teach you do that one day I commentate and be like there she goes she's talking about angles Ricky cheats on his homework Ricky doesn't cheat on his homework we got Little Tex text box looks like Jaden's up next looks Jing o oh shielding quite often that's pretty good and inkling is taking the initiative and destroying all of Jaden's landmines so that's that's something I try to prioritize as well cuz Jaden can get a lot punishments off of those land those those LS they are annoying they can do the two hits collided that's pretty funny J isab is yellow so that possible yellow ink could be hard to spot yeah hard to spot so if if it's like right in the middle of her forehead you won't be able to tell yeah the engling might think that Isabelle is covered in the pain and goes for an aggressive attack yeah that would probably be okay and Jaden used to actually play Isabelle with a yellow colored shirt so hey maybe that might be a good tactic next time yeah that is a pretty good tactic nice yeah see there good good hits those ly rocks again so I'm talking Jen sending inkling to go shopping that's pretty good all right Forward Air uh I mean Isabelle's Forward Air is fine you know like oh yeah it she can quickly pull it out and basically cover all her surroundings with it you know it's to pull out barely has any lag Jaden are already getting the inkling to 68% that's true and what we and what we haven't mention is that inkling also um inkling also no not inkling Isabelle also has the ability to pocket certain projectiles that includes inklings ink bombs so Jaden can essentially pocket that ink bomb that oh wow oh good hit that was strategic um Isabelle can essentially use the ink bomb against inkling themselves which is pretty cool yeah and like we said before that does double the damage to her mhm and Jaden loses his first stock but that's okay the inkling is already at 89% yeah yeah uh we usually call them Lloyds you know those things that um that Isabelle digs them in the ground but one thing you may not know is a previous coach of the east of our Esports here at bluon High School Mr Brooks used to call them urinals and the reason for that and the reason for that is cuz there I say they look like fire hydrants dogs pee on fire hydrants it's not a very obvious Isabelle is a dog yeah yeah hopefully those weren't peed on when she fires them out of the ground oh no hey it could do do some like extra damage maybe poison damage speak of damage wow inkling trying to go for the combos down throw into up air dang oh Jaden throwing out his fishing rod that's also a really planted planted a Loy you need to be you need to be aware of that oh boy she scared to go over there yeah she tried to throw a bomb to uh destroy it but Jaden just pocketed that bomb throw it back out o hits the shield and bounces off oh boy the inkling was ready for that oh oh no oh Jaden gets out of there just in time oh good hit hits the hits the up you get hit with the lloy and it's like it's it's annoying you got to try like it takes a good 20% as well well yeah and you have to watch as your character slowly floats to the top of the screen you get a second to think you're like did I really just do that yeah it's like the moment of shame I really just fall for that as Isabel comes to just hit you with a high damage dealing move speaking of high damage equally oh nice fishing hook wow J Jen's classic Jaden saw Jaden saw how much can he get out o he barely he almost gets out almost gets out oh nice H fishing down throw into Forward Air into up tilt dang Isabelle has a lot of weird moves for her tilt you know she brings out a broom she might bring out the squeaky Hammer if we're lucky I saw earlier yeah you must have been lucky but um as Jaden called me before me and Eli before the Batman and Batman or the Batman and Robin he's pretty much Batman right now yeah he's pretty much doing it he's just doing this he's doing amazing right now and just like Batman the perfect 111% oh the perfect 11.1% inkling please just.