Can anyone on the team characterize what the implications for this are? Are we imply like does this going to impact right how many families is this like a major impact like people are going to feel this in the community or are these typical hazardous zones or areas that are consistent what we've had in the past. I'm just kind of wondering I understand the findings. I understand why we have to vote on it and what they mean. I just don't know how it compares to what the impact will be. Right. So unlike maybe in past years for people that remember where we kind of like made changes all at once and then had to back away from those changes again, we're kind of taking this incrementally right now. So what you're seeing tonight is just the findings of the study. So, this could be that an area that maybe was considered safe before is now on.
So if you look at English what you see um is you see there are two credits in English 9, five additional English credits and then a credit in communication focused course. So you have to take a communications course. That is a new requirement. Although it's a new requirement, it's not a new course. So we have courses that will meet that requirement for our students. Uh math, same thing. It increase from six credits to seven. Personal finance is now a requirement. And although it is a requirement, again, it is not a new course. It is a course that has been on the books for us for quite some time. And so again, we have teachers who can teach that to our students and they will be able to meet that requirement. Science, technology, and engineering. That was the first thing that I noticed is that it's not just science.
Please, Dr. Smith, think about this before you place it. Put thought into it. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Erica Whiskawitz and I am a fifth grade teacher at Deacy Elementary. I am speaking on behalf of my colleagues, but more importantly of the rising fourth and fifth grade students affected by Yale taking over the fourth and fifth grade pod at Dece Elementary. We discovered this was the plan when several people from Yale came to our pod after school one day. Again, we are frustrated with the lack of transparency in disseminating this crucial information to staff and families. When we spoke with you, Dr. Smith, last week, you mentioned that the district made a commitment to Yale and that there were rooms available in dees. There are no rooms available. Therefore, two fifth grade classes, a computer class along with two resource teachers would be would need to be uprooted.
Or maybe an area where there was construction seven years ago and so the sidewalks weren't done, but the sidewalks have been done for five or six years and we're still busting kids in some cases literally across the street to school or they're eligible. A lot of them don't even ride, but eligible to go across the street. It's cleaning that part up. This is not what we're not doing compared to what happened in previous times is we're not saying stick a crossing guard here and here and these 700 kids are going to walk. We're not doing that right now. What you're seeing in front of you is literally just the hazardous crossing study. It is not a recommendation or indication of any of those additional safety measures coming into place to change that to turn an hazardous into a non-hazardous. So we're we're taking a whole half step between the process that was held before and where we had to kind of work backwards.
They call it science, technology, and engineering. So that increase from six credits to seven. So you have to take the two credits in biology and then the the new one is uh you have to take a computer science class. So that becomes a requirement. Again, it was on the books, not a new class, but it is a new requirement. And then they use some language down there at the bottom where it says two STEM focused credits. And so that's interesting because when you start to look at the list of required classes, there are a lot of classes that fall under um STEM focused that aren't necessarily a science class per se. And so there are a lot of classes on that list that we offer. Some through CTE, some are advanced science courses. Uh biomemed, for example, would be one that that would uh meet the science, technology, and engineering requirement.
Moving Deacy Elementary students out of the pod would push them into DMS, thus displacing several middle school classes as well. Not to mention, the fourth graders would be sharing a space with students who may have difficulties adjusting to the pod traffic, the noisy bell system, and other distractions. The fourth and fifth grade classes at Deacy utilize the pod area for projects, guest speakers, student council events, and small group pullout instruction. We do not have access to common areas at DMS as these areas are reserved for middle school only. Our current schedules and school procedures are created around the needs of middle school students. Adding Yale to our shared spaces would further stretch our resources. We feel you need to repprioritize your commitments and think about what is best for EFAM students first and foremost. While I understand the commitment to Yale was made before the tax levy increase was made available and you must balance a budget, your plan was not strategically prepared with contingencies if the sixth grade pod was no longer available.
So there this will be a very low implication um for families. Uh that's what um in the previous slide we talked about kind of going out at the beginning of June was really to indicate to people for this school this area may have been offered busing and highlight that and say it's no longer because it's 02 miles from school but there's now a walking path or the sidewalk is done or you know something else that's been there but it's not indicating any new areas be changed from hazardous to non-hazardous. It would be a logical like if I get a call from a family it would make sense like oh I'm being busted across the street maybe I don't need that thating right um thank you for that. I do you know we're going incrementally so I'm just trying to get a sense of the implications of it all.
Um, so we're prepared to offer those classes, but now there are requirements. And so the thing about that is now we have students who are taking those classes and where they're taking those classes, maybe they aren't taking some of the other ones that we had. Uh, and so that is going to require some analysis. When you look at social studies, social studies uh, decreased. So you had to take six credits in social studies. And so with the core 40, you had to take a US history, you had to take a world history, you had to take government, you had to take econ. Now there's a US history, there's a world history, and you have to take government. Econ is no longer a required course. Um, which, uh, the social studies department folks had a lot to say about and actually a lot of people had a lot to say about it.
Even the original plan to house Yale in sixth green was not without many flaws. Your plan also lacked input from important stakeholders. It should have included all cabinet members, supervisors, and principles from the start as their expertise can provide better solutions for where to place Yale students. It should not be a two-man show. Mr. Yates and Dr. Smith, parents are not interested in paying higher taxes only for their children to come second to an outside agency. Currently, Yale students use trailers on the Medford campus. They are completely separate from the general school population for lunch, recess, restroom facilities, and other activities. Trailers would be a better solution for next year until more space is available at Evans. Trailers should be placed on Evans property so that no EFAM student is uprooted. We ask that you reconsider where Yale students are placed and prior prioritize our students first.
I do have a couple other questions about alternate drop offs and pickups um because that sounds like an impact where people have been in a have been used to something and they're not going to be there there's going to be a change for them. So my question um is um do you have again my same question do you know what can you characterize the impact of of that change? Is this a lot of families? Is it a small amount of families? And then my other question maybe you can answer at the same time is about um kids connection at schools um that they're not going to be bus to another school, right? Because they'll be at their home school. For our special program students, would their homes would they go to Kids Connection at their home school then? Like if you're in a special program that goes to Hunt Club, you know, like an EL program or something, but your boundary is F Fox Chase or Yeah.
Um, but I want to highlight where it says two credits, world perspectives. It's highlighted under social studies and that's because there's some flexibility there. So, if I'm a world language student and I am taking level three and or above, I can actually get social studies credit for taking a world language class. So, again, there are some there are some places where the state has built in um some flexibility. And then when you look at PE health, uh, fizzed under core 40, you had to have two sections of or two semesters of PE. Now you have to have one. So that decreased. Uh, preparing for college and careers PCC. Again, that is something that we offer through our uh, C4, career tech ed, and we are prepared to offer that to every student because it is now a requirement. Next slide. Okay. Um, the second sheet of paper that you have talks about the readiness seals and that's what this slide talks about.
Thank you. [Applause] Hi, my name is Laura Cots and my family and I have lived here in Marlton for almost 14 years and like so many others, we moved here for the excellent school district. What I've seen though over these past handful of years is concerning and quite frankly heartbreaking. My fourth grade son is asking me why he won't be in fifth in the fifth grade classrooms next year. And I don't have a good answer for him except to say that I will stand up here and make my voice heard for him. My second grade daughter was in tears because one of her friends told her that she was going to a private school if Yale students would come to Demi. Our students have had to worry year after year now about cuts and major changes to their school and education. It's not fair to put them through the stress and worry.
Yeah. So, all of the SPED students have specialized transportation, but the first question you asked if it's a the impact on families um that's low impact. When you talk about the alternative drop off and pickup, primarily what we saw was those were mostly walkers that didn't have transport or was utilizing that service to their home school um for daycare reasons. And so that now with kid connections in every building, elementary building, that will be a low impact. There won't be a significant change. Yeah. Oh, she's asked me about one of the examples. So what we we saw was if the student was at grandma's house, grandma lives within the district but not within the homeschool boundary, we bust that child from the grandma's grandma's which could be 10 miles away from their school. And so that again wouldn't be needed because kids connection will be in those elementary buildings.
It talks about the seals. So, we're going to make a shift from talking about honors diplomas um, academic honors, uh, tech honors to talking about honors seals. So the seals again are earned in addition to your base diploma. So everybody has to earn the base and then you can add on a seal. Um the seals are meant to recognize achievement beyond just the base diploma and intended to give students some currency. Um and I'll explain that here in just a minute. The seals are organized around the three E. So that would be things that you think about students doing after they leaving high after they leave high school. So they usually enroll in an institution of higher learning, they go directly into employment or they enlist. And so those are the three E um and that is how the seals are arranged. You can get an honors enrollment seal, honors employment seal, an honors enlistment and service seal.
School should be carefree and fun. Instead, our children are worrying about what changes are coming as a result of Yale coming to Demise, and they deserve answers. As parents, why weren't we asked for input before the contract for Yale was signed? Or like one of the other people said, why did you contact the principal, the teachers, the professionals? At the last board meeting, it was presented as a possibility to help raise money, but apparently it was already a done deal. This decision seems very shortsighted. What happens next year when there might be more than two fifth grades? Why do fifth grade classes in the resource room need to be displaced? Do you have a plan in place for if there's a possible disruptive situation that might occur? You mentioned shifting the classes as if these students are furniture. They are children. They have looked forward to this year.
Yeah. And majority again, majority of the alternative drop um pick up and drop offs were walkers. Okay. And then I just have one like thought or recom maybe a recommendation is when you do your like meetings or your town halls in in in the summer, maybe you've already thought about this, like have some kids connection people on hand to register students or give them some information about what that could look like uh if they especially if those are attended by people whose you know um practices are going to change for the next school year. So, thank you. Thank you for that. I think we are we're really working to scale this with the appropriate amount of time. Yeah. And also making sure that we have the right amount of resources in place to support whatever change may come because it's really important that this works well because we want our kids, our families, and our students to feel success.
And then you can go next level and get an honors plus seal. Again, the seals are uh the intent is for students to walk away with currency. So, um I am meeting cor I'm sorry, I am meeting postsecary readiness uh at a very high level. If I get the uh honors plus seal, if you look at the honors seal, it is very comparable to what we now call the academic honors diploma. So students won't feel much difference in pursuing an academic honors diploma. I'm sorry, in pursuing uh an honors seal uh as they did pursuing the academic honors, it's virtually the same. But when you step up to the honors plus seal, um it becomes uh more rigorous. And so just a few things that I wanted to to point out. The employment honors requires 150 hours of work-based learning and it has an attendance goal.
They've been through COVID. They've been through so much. And to you, for you to just say we're shifting them shows how you feel. And it's very disheartening as a parent and as a teacher. These are children, elementary age children who are being used like pawns so you can make more money. Let me be clear. My issue is not with Yale coming to Demi, but with the disruption it is causing the current students at Deacy. You said you had an agreement with Yale. What about the agreement though that you have with all of our current students? You also said earlier that our students are the most important, but your actions scream otherwise. Because our tax increase, we're able to maintain smaller class sizes and the jobs of the 10% of staff whose jobs are in danger. But you're sending a message with your previously proposed plans that you don't value the students and staff.
Jen, I'm sorry. Well, I was going to say one of the things and I don't know the timing. I'm just giving an example, but I remember when Hunt Club was built, we didn't have sidewalks for a couple of years, and so we had a very different um transportation routes than we do now. So, that would be something that would potentially be changed at the next iteration um we had to bus kids literally across the street because there were no sidewalks. Uh back, I don't remember what slide it was, but it says this is a three-phase process. Is is what's next the three phases or is this three phases something else? So we've been working on this in three phases. So when the engineer first took their information and presented to us like Miss Doami said we worked with a lot of building leaders and the principles that it impacted their input before making any type of um change and looking at those hazardous studies.
The honors plus requires 650 hours of work-based learning. And so those are some pretty high hurdles to clear. Um and so that is um some of the those are some of the things that we spent talk spent time talking about when we were meeting to look at readiness seals. How are we going to get kids readiness seals or how are we going to get students ready for readiness seals? Um I think one of the things that we're probably concerned about is capacity. Um you heard me in my last presentation say about 50% of our student body is going to pursue I'm sorry is going to get an honors diploma of some kind. So when we think about students pursuing the honors plus seal, um that's a lot of students who need a 150 hour or um if you're doing the honors plus in uh employment, that's a lot of students who need a 650 hour work experience.