We crunched the numbers. We couldn't do it. Uh Ashland 30 years ago was a place kind of like Framingham was 10 years ago. A lot of folks from Framingham moved here. Property values uh you get a lot for a bang for your buck. Uh, I I still hear from some old-timers at the state house when Ashland was derogatorily called Trashland, and I have to correct them. No, Ashland has come a long way. I've never heard that. No, but Ashley's come a long way now where it's not the place where folks from Framingham move where they can by buy a larger plot and a larger house. Uh what I'm most worried about is it's not if the teachers don't have a place to stay. Uh the person who worked at the grocery store, the the hairdresser, I'm talking to them and they're moving to places like Upton.
I had to look it up. I was so proud of myself that I took the time. And the word is, and I don't know how you pronounced it, but it's ph n m e. Phone. Yeah. So, phone the phone segmentation one is And you've already looked it up. It's awesome. And And it just I I was Yeah. Yeah. So, that just stands for the the uh the sounds in words. The sounds in words. The single sound is a phone. And I it just I thought, [Music] "Wow, I'm still capable of learning something." But thank you. Thank you for your explanation of um what it is where, you know, we're trying to teach the other thing. Oh, this was exciting. I went to a meeting on Saturday. my tribe in won't tell you who but anyway people that I've known in in Chico for 40 50 years one of the topics of discussion was Chico Unifi's push to make sure that all of our kiddos are reading by the end of the third grade and I thought wow you know they were these people are years removed from, you know, having kids in the school and yet they were sitting around this room talking about what Chico Unified was doing for our kids.
Uh I looked it up on a map. It's a beautiful community, Oxford. Uh but folks that grew up in this community, Ashlin, Framingham, Metro West, uh their families have lived here for generations. Unless they want to live with their parents forever, there's nowhere to go. Uh, and what I worry about is that as we resist change as it relates to potential uh, more affordable housing, we're going to find that the community that we love today isn't going to be there in the near future because the the nurses and the teachers and the working-class folks that made Ashland and Framingham the places that I love, uh, that that welcomed me, aren't going to be able to afford to live here in 5 to 10 years. Uh we passed a law that increased access to ADUs. Uh talking to a lot of seniors who they no longer need uh four bedrooms and two baths.
And I thought, we're doing a good job. We're still doing a good job. Thank you. Well, thank you for for that. Um, so, uh, on the top of this screen, you'll see this is these are all the different assessments we currently have in grades K through, uh, five and the comparable ones, um, for Spanish as well. And what we're proposing is that the MClass Dibbles or Lectura assessments replace several of them. And it's not like a one, it's not a moving those out and putting these ones in. They're measuring the similar things. So, instead of having our our staff do um like the basic phonics skills test, the the nonsense word fluency one does the same thing. It will tell us are they do they know their letter sounds? Are they able to put words together to um using the rules of the English language?
Uh but they also can't afford any of these new developments uh where they're going to move into a house for the their their golden years. And so they're looking for opportunities to stay. Uh some are moving back in with with loved ones. Uh, but I hope we continue talking about what it means that those folks who have paid taxes, put in their years of service as teachers in places like Ashland who then can't afford to stay. Uh, and so I I wish there were an easy answer other than we need more housing and the governor has not been shy about this. We need more housing everywhere. Uh, what that looks like I think is an important conversation and an important debate to have. Uh my hope is that we continue to seek to make sure it's truly affordable housing. Uh not just meeting the bare minimum, but what it would mean to actually build housing that I could be approved for a mortgage for or teachers or social workers.
Um so, it's we're we're removing those ones that would be duplicate. Um and and using the the Dibbles ones because that's part of the new ed code. Question. Yeah, sorry. I had that written down so I I'm going to um address it now because that was my big thing when I was teaching. I was involved in the union and um we would hear from elementary teachers the it was very difficult to get all of the assessments done. It would take away from the students and the teaching and so I thought is this going to be yet another assessment that they have to give. So I'm relieved to find out that it it will be actually reduce um the number of assessments and give um the same information. So, thank you. Yeah, at all of the the dibbles ones, since they're a normed assessment, they're they're they're t limited to one minute.
Um but as much as this is difficult conversation, we're going to be talking about housing uh forever uh as long as we're doing this work. So I'm looking forward to those ongoing frank conversations. I I I would just like to suggest though that that the 40B housing that we're building isn't where the teachers and the um police officers and the firefighters want want to live. They're they're apartments that you know people might move on and the same way the condos were in Ashland where you'd lived in the condo and then you decided this was a great community and you were able to buy a single family home. I I mean that we're not that's we're not building affordable housing for families. That's not what's happening here. What's happening is developers are building something that will be financially productive for them. Um and so that's the problem I have.
So, after one minute, that's our little snapshot into how many, for example, letter sounds or letters a student knows and then we move on to the next one. And some of the assessments, even I know this is kind of getting into it, some of the assessments, depending on where a student is at, the the system will actually say don't go any further or back up and do this one. So, there's some rules like that that go along with this t-shirt. I was just curious um is do you see lectur being used like at the Rosedale site? Will we be testing those the students in the Spanish immersion dual immersion program in both in both English and Spanish? So we are going to continue the similar of how they have it set up now and in the same so tests that exist on our benchmarks currently that we're going to replace with dibbles will take that that spot.
I'd be happy to build build um a bunch of homes or you know the Musterfield from Framingham when when you know men came back from the war and their families lived there. I I I could understand building that for our our you know town employees. Um so I just wanted to clarify that it's not that um not in favor of housing. I just this is a statistic and I don't have the exact specifics but through some different conversations and policy and different committees that I've been on my understanding is between 1980 and 2000 Massachusetts built X amount of housing. and I forget what the amount is from 2020 from 2000 to 2020 we almost built half of that amount. So that's one of the issues with the state needing extra housing. We're seeing it here and you know not that that's you know we have to solve the problem for everybody but that's one thing and the other thing in regards to apartments is we are supposedly and you know developers are hearing that people want apartments.
And so it'll be a little combination of both. And I think too we're going to have ongoing discussions with Rosedale as to which grades are we focusing in on the Spanish and the English. Uh so um why implement Doubles and Lectura? Uh we've been using it for two years with our intervention team and now Hooker Oak with positive feedback. Um it's on the approved list of state adopted screeners risk screeners. Yay. Yes. Um, like we've said, the assessments are very similar to what we are using and they're norm referenced. And what it will do is it will it will give us um information to say, you know, if if the student continues on with classroom instruction, they're they're going to probably be fine by the end of the year or this student will benefit from or will need, you know, supplemental or intensive interventions to support them making those gains by the end of the year.
they don't want some of the the condos and and also financially for them it's a little bit easier but it's not a debate amongst us so um Paul had mentioned that he wanted to ask a question and I know Makita didn't have a chance um did you want to did you want to ask them or I was just going to jump into the housing thing and just say you know so I'm not going to all I'm going to say is that you know nowadays it's kind of hard for people to afford you know houses for purchasing condos and people are forced to rent now. I mean, with 13 I mean, for $1,500 a month rents, you know, mortgages are even more astronomical than that. So, you know, I just want to throw that out there. Okay. The issue is the salary in equities, right? Yeah.
Um, as Heather said, it's become um a new California ed code and it aligns with an ELA continuum that we've been working on for many, many years of making sure that, you know, we're assessing students the appropriate skills in the grade levels. Um, and it links seamlessly to our K5 literacy interventions because our intervention team has been using them. And then this information now done at a whole school site, whole district level will help even refine that process um more for them. All right, so Hooker Oak Schoolwide has been using it. This is a list of the celebrations and commentary from staff over there. It has been nothing but positive. Obviously, there's a learning curve every time that we introduce a new platform like that, but the the feedback that they've given is it's worth the learning because it's it's having a good effect on the campus.
If you could go up. Yes. Then we're And then I have a lot of uh opinions on the housing, but I'll stick I'll stay in my lane. Uh so Paul Kendall uh six ribbon I I appreciate uh everything both you do and and your time. So uh I have a question and then just uh something to advocate for. Jack, I think you mentioned in uh what just came out of committee that you were looking to take some of the excess uh and and fund the circuit breaker. So I'm assuming you're talking about the uh the deficiency in the transportation section of the circuit breaker. The state. Yes, the state. Yeah. U and so just on that, we've had a couple of tribard meetings and I brought it up there. Uh we do have the new new revenue from the millionaires tax and things like that.
So, they really like the effective data that it's immediate. And then another big piece has been that connect home. It gives parents real specific tools and insights into what they can do at home as well to support and they can read it whenever it comes to them. And it's also translates to all the languages too. So it has a a big scope of languages that it translates into. So it'll go home in the home language as well. And then from our reading teacher and title one teachers, they echo the the pieces that Hooker Oak staff are saying. Um it it's easy to use even as a beginner. Um, part of what we've been doing this year at our intervention team meetings is we've been starting each meeting with a little practice and you know, we're all in there together like how like what do we click?
And while I fully support and and really love the initiatives with uh free community college and all that, that's really important. uh you want to talk about something that impacts us is ensuring that we fully fund one of the most dynamic components of our municipal budget. Uh we feel very strongly in what we need to do to service all of our children here in Ashland and keep them there. Uh but it's also one of the most volatile parts of our budget. Um and so uh to my concern I've shared with the during the tri board is not that not taking a backseat to the other commitments that we've made with so ensuring that we fully fund now both parts because we have the transportation part that's you know now fully on boarded. Um is that really you want to talk about something that can dynamically change our budget from from almost day to day.
How do we do this? Um, and then when you sit down and do it with a student, like I said before, uh, when you finish that assessment, it will automatically tell you kind of where they are range-wise. Um, so it's, you know, it's not putting the stack of papers over here and coming back to it. it's like you know immediately and can already start thinking about okay what are our next steps for for this student. So um we've done pretty extensive work. We're very passionate about making sure that as we move through initiatives that we get feedback from all different angles from the admin team from the teachers from our interventionists have a pilot in place. And we held on March 25th a district-wide day where we went through a a similar presentation with all of our K5 teachers and walked through three different options for implementation so that there was feedback gathered as to knowing that this is coming where in the year next year would it fit.
um and then has has dramat dramatic impacts. So that's something that from our perspective you you want to make sure that we're as stable as we can be. Uh ensuring that we can uh fully fund both components of the circuit breaker going forward is is something I would definitely advocate for. after to hear. Um, appreciate that. Thank you. And and for those who are watching and listening and a lot of people here are very involved. So circuit breaker is the funds that we get from the state to help us pay for our special needs and their programs. And the one thing to remember is we as a town have to pay the first 40,000 and then there's the a percentage that we get for the rest of their funding from the state and the commitment to fully fund might still not cover all of our expenses.
Technically, we just have to administer it one time during the year. We had three possibilities and overwhelmingly the feedback we got was let's rip the band-aid off, we're ready to rock and roll. So we were like, "Okay." So we've been in it. Kind of surprised us. I kind of thought there was a different option that would take the lead, but good thing I didn't put money on it because I would have lost. But so they are ready to go. And where we are now is really thinking about what is going to be our best way to maneuver the training and the professional development of this and roll it out. And it's awesome to know that we have people are ready to go and and they understand it. and it wasn't a big taking on. So the kudos to the intervention team, our teachers that piloted it and Christy's lead on kind of getting t taking the time to really understand it and what it's going to what it is and how to use it and what it will do for our staff, families, and students.
Um, but that's what the discussion is. And one thing I've always said is that the whole circuit breaker funding and program needs to be reviewed because for a community like ours, we just had two or three students move in and that's going to hit our budget by minimum the 120 because we have to cover those first 40,000. So, and again, that's a discussion you and I have had, Jack. So, anyway, thank you, Makita. Anything else that you wanted to Okay. Um, I appreciate you both being here as well. Um, I think a lot has been covered, so I'm not going to try to add any more to it. I want to be respectful. Thank you both for being here. Um, I would like to ask one last thing before we go. So, you both brought citations for Jen. Um, and we've celebrating Jen. One of the things we like to do is take pictures with people.
So and I guess one of the other pieces is we are looking to do this K5. We know the law says K2 um by doing it K5 and we we um as Heather said all K5 teachers were like let's just do it like let's do it um because then we have common measures throughout all the grade levels. So when we look you know try one data versus try two data we have consistent measures K5 that we can um to look at. So right now what we're working on is drafting a professional development plan to get everybody at least initially trained to administer it the first time in the fall. Uh we're sharing all this feedback with our reading and title one teachers, our elementary teachers as well as our admin. And we're here tonight to share it with you um and hopefully um adopt Dibbles as our screener.