Do being 53.65% or 714,350 and Sherborn 46.35% at 617,150. Thanks. Motion to approve from the region. From the region. Yes. Kevin. Thank you. Um may I have a second? Thank youa. Any further discussion? No. All in favor from the region. Okay. Uh Kate's not here tonight. So we had five in favor. So thank you. I think this was actually beneficial to have both committees here because it is something as a community. Yes. Thanks. All right. Thank you, Don. Thank you, Mark. Thank you. So, we'll continue with some of the other action items which do require uh additional votes here. We have uh a vote to approve the bullying prevention intervention plan for the second read which is part of your package and any comments. Okay. So, if you remember, we had a first read at our January 28th joint meeting. Um and um changes that resulted from that joint meeting um I highlighted in yellow um including uh making sure that it was the language of target and aggressor.
And that's one of the things that's kept us from sort of falling into that same trap that others have. Cuz when you look at I don't want to use names, but when you look at some of our neighbors that are just now discovering they're in trouble, you know, that's without blaming anybody, like that typically happens because one of two things, one of three things occurs. either the business office isn't doing what they're supposed to be doing or they are and they're telling superintendent and they're ignoring it or they are and they're telling the board and the board's ignoring it. So the board's taking it as you know a very personal sense of responsibility around that. Um we just happen to be in a district where I don't I don't sugarcoat it. play it straight and our team plays it straight and so we know exactly where we stand and where we stand is actually in a really good position and in part it's been because of I mean this is the other thing that meet and confer should both take pride in and be able to leverage as context is it's also because meet and confer part of those conversations over the years and we haven't been in a position where what's been recommended was going to bankrupt the district right So that's why we're not we're not in that same boat.
We added to the um the form that our administrators complete the fact that we want to make sure that the supports um provided to targets is separate from the uh supports or interventions provided to aggressors. Um so the first round of changes again are highlighted in yellow and then uh we thought we would do a second read soon after that and the first second read went to the region who had additional feedback. Um, and I wrote this in the memo that at that point the region said um they were hoping for um well th those those are in green. There's not many of them. Um but they had also requested that we be considerate of more comprehensive support measures for the target professional development for staff on pre the preventing and stopping of bullying the involvement of educators in the planning and provisions of support to students.
Yeah. So I think um uh so I think some of uh and this and I think we need to be cautious of this too. Uh is uh some of this is messaging and I think that our um as a as a team we've changed some things over the last couple of years and I don't think they were bad things um in the effort to be more transparent. we are we are now streaming um a lot more information is going to the governing board and I think we're kind of seeing some of the um uh unintended consequences of that and what I mean by that is people are now more and more seeing how the sausage is being made and it's not a pretty sight right um so uh but at the end of the process we always whittle it down we always have everything out we always prioritize it and it always ends up being a couple the things and if there's other things great if not that's okay too.
I went back to make sure um that those things were in here and if they had not been I would have added them. Um, so to support that request, I made the the um highlights in blue. So, as you see it now is what you have for a second read. Um, I'm not sure if you're ready to take a vote to support it um or if there's a diff additional conversation um and discussion that you want to have. I will say a couple of things. Um the first is similar to you know curriculum is important, teachers are more important. I would say that the plan is important. Implementation and the people implementing the plan are also very important. Which is why it's more than just the plan. It's the student education and the curriculum that we provide in the classrooms. It's the training that we do annually with our staff um at the before school opens with every staff member pre-K to 12.
Um so I I I I was uh I was talking to Diane about this about like changing some of the process and and being a part of that and it's fine. Um but I I just think we need to be aware of that um as we go along and how how that messaging goes out um and whether or not uh whether or not the message is being heard uh in the way that we intended it. Um and clearly that has not been taking place. And also keep in mind this is a governing board advisory committee. Um we all directly or indirectly work for the governing board. Um and I'm not saying that it's a blank check and we have to go and uh and and meet everything that they ask us to meet. Um, but I think it is ill- advised to just go and say, well, we're not going to do this or we're going to take it in a different direction when there's clear uh guidance uh that's given to us because what can be given can be taken away.
Um every year we have a session as the administrators of the district with legal counsel. This year it focused primarily on bullying and harassment. Um and in February, um Kate McCarthy and our assistant principles um attended a workshop through Mass Partnership for Youth specifically on bullying. So we we really made a focus this year to make sure that we got into the nitty-gritty and um really worked around our processes and protocols. Um so Kate um while it's the principles and the assistant principles that investigate cases when they come up within the buildings, she is kind of the throughine um to make sure that everybody is implementing the policy um in a fair and equitable and similar fashion. Um so she's done a lot of work this year to make sure that it's happening um the same in each building. Um, and we've also worked with Desi to make sure that the the data that we're uploading to um, the portal is accurate.
So, I'll I'll just leave that there um and um and and let that go through. And the other piece is just more of an open-ended question to you, Mr. man uh about u because we've struggled um I believe we've struggled with options and things that either address the whole or the part of the system um and sometimes I feel like we're trying to figure out you know should we do this thing um or should we not because it only affects a certain group we had that conversation with the the uh staffing for ELL's getting a higher percentage that that's going to have an effect right and it focuses specific specific on specific things and I I try to put that in the context of the SOFG where one of the goals focuses on one particular race and no other. So clearly the message that I'm I'm interpreting and I if I'm wrong tell me I'm wrong.
And I just recently sent you a memo um, in doing a deep dive into DESIE reporting, which that's a that's a whole job we have. One person in the district does DESIE reporting, period, because it's that comprehensive. That's a full-time job all year. Um, so when you look at our report cards online for each of the three districts, what you're seeing is the number of suspensions for bullying. That's not the actual number of cases that we have. Those are two different things. So, um we are aware of when building happens. So far this year, um K to 12, we've had four instances that have resulted in consequences and interventions and there's two currently um under investigation. Um to date, of those four, um none of them have resulted in suspensions. They've resulted in um other consequences and other education. As you know, a few years ago, state law changed and that there's really only three way reasons you can be suspended from school and it involves assault of an adult, weapons, um, and, uh, drugs.
The message that I'm interpreting is the governing board is asking us to do exactly that to focus on the part. And I'm not saying at the exclusion of the whole, but if if you have some thoughts or some ideas on how we might approach that as a team as we navigate because I feel like that's going to come up a little bit more um in terms of like where do we make that decision? Do we put the resources in the part or do we put the resources in the whole? Well, I think it's it's a difficult thing to give specific guidance on because a lot of times the effectiveness is in the story, right? Like everything in life is really fundamentally cap captured in its story. So, one of the things you said that triggered for me is you talked about, you know, possible compensation for the teachers, you know, that are um our SEI teachers, right?
So, we've had to find other means for those four cases. And again, we still have two that are under investigation. Um, and next steps, again, would love approval of this or additional feedback. and um our principles, excuse me, our guidance counselors are all going to a workshop in April on trauma-informed responses um which will help them support both targets and aggressors moving forward or witnesses. Um we have an online reporting form that we're hoping to launch next fall that will be on our website super present where students, parents, friends, um faculty can report instances and then that'll go directly to the administrator of that building and they can um start the process of investigation and then as we have deser reviews for everything. It just so happens that next year we have a review of civil rights which will include bullying and harassment and they'll do a deep dive into our processes, our protocols, our data, etc.
Our structured English immersion teachers. So that is the group I was talking about earlier that had some of that specific professional development and they tied directly to the goal around um language acquisition. Right? So I I think it's I think it's goal three, but it might be I might have it mixed up with goal four, but I think it's I don't know. It's either goal three or goal four. So, um, so I mean I could see a very powerful argument being made for, well, here we're bringing you this recommendation to make an adjustment to compensation for this specific group because this is the group that ties directly to achieving this goal and you've been putting an investment in this group and therefore, you know, that that gets us from A to B. So, I mean, that's a pretty powerful story if you're trying to align things to student outcomes focused governance, right?
and if there's anything of concern, they'll certainly give us feedback. So, all of that plus the plan. Okay, great. Questions, comments. I do. Yep. Yeah. Thanks. Um I'd like to just add some um feedback or some background actually education for the committees um on the harms of the deep fake news that kids can make um pretty really easily these days. Um, uh, there's a study that I've been, um, looking into by Thorne, which is a nonprofit group that advocates for child safety online. Um, they conducted a survey of 1,200 young people, um, this past fall, and the report highlights the relative ease with which young people can create deep fakes. 71% of respondents who created deep fake imagery of others said they found the technology to do so on social media. 53% report they found tools through an online search engine. The Thorn report also re captured responses from a small subset 2% of people who have been creating deep fake images with a large majority of the creators.
But I don't think it's a necessarily so because the other argument you could make is well we also have a math goal. We also have a literacy goal. We you know we're we're targeting third graders. We're targeting eighth graders. Um for some of our outputs we're targeting fifth grade. Um for some of our outputs we're looking at you know K through two. So when you when you put all that into the mix ultimately at the end of the day it really in order to achieve all those goals it affects it sort of blanket affects all the teachers and there's various things as far as investments and professional development and resources that need to go into all. So you could say, look here, this is an example and this group needs this. But you could also make the argument, but by extension, if we're going to do all these other things, we don't want anybody falling out of the system after we've put this investment into them, that would be counterproductive, right?
74% targeting women. Over 30% of the creators indicated they had made nude imagery that depicted minors. More than half of this group of creators reported that they shared these images with their friends or people at their school. To mitigate the risks, school can start by clearly identifying deep fake nude imagery as a form of abuse and including it in their policies against bullying harass harassment. Um, while most young people understand that deep fake news are a form of abuse, the survey found that 16% of respondents targeted by a deep fake don't seek support to deal with the abuse because they fear being shamed, carry a sense of personal blame, or have concerns about not being believed. While the child safety ecosystem is just beginning to understand and analyze these harms, we must we must design our policy for safety. Um I do believe that this is a new frontier.
So I mean, you you really could bring that argument for either of those two cases, either the specific or or the general. the the thing I've been learning over the last couple and I've said this in the past but I didn't really have as clear of a understanding around it that I've been learning about schools as a system is whenever you remove anything from the system ultimately the impact ends up in the classroom. So if the school if you don't have school nurses, right, or even if the day that the school nurse is out sick, like that actually impacts the classroom. If you didn't have assistant principles, you know, it's I pretty confident, James, you don't sit in your office just eating bon bonss all day cuz if you did, you'd look like me instead of like you. But um that's, you know, the best evidence I have for that.
I have also read that the trauma caused by deep fake um nudes on people who who are the targets is equivalent to actually being sexually assaulted. So this goes beyond sexual assault is not listed in our student code of conduct but this has the same impact can have the same impact and it does cause trauma. So I believe we need We need to to name it and we need to say what we stand for and how we're fighting for it. It's it has become a learning obstacle for girls in our school and it is our responsibility to identify the impact it's having on our students and deal with it on a policy level so that we can be effective. We can effectively keep our kids safe and if these students are preying on other students they should not be in our school. So that is um that's my feedback.
But um but I I really honestly believe that without an assistant principal on campus, that puts pain and pressure on teachers, right? When you when when we're short psychologists, right? There's there's things that you know, teachers aren't getting the support they need with certain groups of students that they're trying to provide um you know, additional either educational supports or um it might be a kid who's being mainstreamed into their classroom or whatever. and making sure the IEPs are squared away and all those kinds of things. So, you know, if you don't have people trying to sort out all the mess with our grants, then we end up losing money and leaving money on the table like our neighbors are doing. And it's part of like if you think about the Isaac story, with no disrespect to our friends at Isaac, but they left $9 million sitting on the table as part of I probably have that number wrong.
I understand that we are trying to um that we're trying to pass this tonight. Um we can either pass it with the caveat that we will be looking into this issue more deeply and we plan to address it on a policy level once we have more information. I do know that we need this we need to survey the students. We need to find out the impact this is having. Um, and I do know that it is our responsible as adult responsibility as adults to be up on all of these things, to be up on what's what's coming down the pike, new ways of exploiting our children. Um, we need to be up on it and we need to be ready to respond on the policy level. I think we should be taking a firmer line with this type of um, cyber bullying and it should be an expulsion case.
I know it was multiple millions of dollars because the um ESSER paperwork wasn't filled out correctly, right? And that was the money that the state superintendent's office sort of got the variance from the federal government to replace. But that was part of how they got into such hot water. If you tell me that that didn't affect those teachers in that school district, I'll have you have a conversation with Heather and she'll she'll tell you a different story. Right. So, um, I think the thing that's challenging is to figure when you start to piece and part it is to figure out how you do the least damage to the system by piecing and parting it. So that's well it's I've I've watched it over the years and um I've rarely seen things come out with any group kind of walking away feeling comfortable or happy when it's been highly divisive.