So, all three of our schoolwide uh title one programs have very targeted parent uh activities throughout the year that they bring parents and families in um to do things like literacy nights, steam nights, um things like that really to engage our parents with their students in academics.
We we put uh posting out there for um anticipated just to see what's going to take place with that as well. None of us wanted to really make the cuts that were made. Thank you. We appreciate that support. Thanks. Sure. Of course. I'll move on to my next my second topic which is bridges. Um so an update on our bridges program which as you may know is our special education program to support students with um significant and complex developmental needs. Um we have students in the district all the way really from preschool all the way through 12th grade. I know that we often talk about it at the elementary level and indeed the majority of my report does focus on the elementary level but I haven't forgotten about the Tahanto needs here as well. Um so both Berlin and Boilston Elementary School um have a Bridges classroom.
So, wanted to make sure we know kind of where we're at with that. So whenever we met with Brentwood Builders, we asked we told them about the um um the placement of what has been talked about in the past with the daycare. Um when we met as a board, we um visited about some different placements and they brought up some different ideas as well. So they actually gave me the rotation today on a couple of options. They actually gave me four different options. I only included two of them in here. The other two, one was connected to the auditorium that would have the play area um in the little foyer where all the high school middle school kids could look out the window and see the daycare kids out playing. Uh after talking to our administrative staff some and talking to our maintenance staff, they did not think that was a good idea.
Um, so with that, any questions on our three title one schoolwide plans? I don't have any questions on the plans, but I'm just wondering, are there for future reference um are any of the are there other schools that are close to this threshold? So, Thompson is very close. Um so what we are planning to do is consult again just to see because they haven't they were actually onetenth different from plank um in terms of low income while they haven't demonstrated the over 40%. What we're going to do next step is consult and say well if essentially if we can get plank approved even though it's close but not over can we put in another waiver? Um, so based on that, I'm hopeful that we would get approved and then we can bring we would need then need to bring forward the Thompson plan to then be able to spend um their title one funds across the school.
The one at Boilston has been there since 2018 and Berlin since 2023. um they each right now have a developmentally appropriate cohort and we are anticipating a total of 11 students next year at those elementary levels. Um that really demonstrates and reflects an increased need for this type of programming in our district which is not unique to Berlin Boilston. school districts everywhere are seeing um this level of need and we've been very responsive to that level of need and in that spirit as an admin team we've really assessed well what do we need to do to continue to meet this level of need and the projected growth here um so what we're looking at for next school year is really some imbalanced group sizes in Berlin and Boilston um and also an inefficient use of our resources given that projected enrollment. The admin um team has worked on that and looked at it and is bringing really a recommendation to bring both of those elementary bridges classrooms together under one roof.
And the other option they gave us was to try to put it over here on this side north of the football field um and block that road off going that direction. And we did not feel like that was a good option. I did not include those pictures, but I have those hard copies if you guys would like to see them. But the two the two placements that I think we really need to visit about tonight if we are going to move this um from the board's um Oh, they didn't make a motion. They it was a consensus consensus to put it by the football field. The south of the football field. There was no Yeah, there was no motion. But um so so the two options that are included on here you'll see are option one that include putting a one-way road sorry option two.
So that's our next steps um once we submit the waiver for plank. Thank you. Yeah, I noticed um chronic absenteeism and I think that there's a direct correlation with chronic absenteeism um relative to um student proficiency, academic proficiencies. So, I was wondering in what details or um how do you plan to address chronic absenteeism as I know it's mentioned in the plan, but I didn't know if you all were thinking about specific strategies that you will eventually input. Yep. So, um, in especially in, um, both Plank and, uh, Boulder Hill, they have specific strategies related to, um, chronic absenteeism. You'll actually see when we get to the Title One SIP, um, both uh, Fox Chase and Boulder Hill have written specific attendance goals um, within their uh, title one SIP plans. So, some of the things that they're looking at is uh stronger coordination with their teachers, with their families.
Um there are clear dis there are clear advantages and even disadvantages really for which building would be best suited to host that. Overall, we have a recommendation for Boilston Elementary School. There's simply more available space. It's on one floor. Um, it requires, you know, less movement and even the classrooms themselves are a little bit larger. Having the program together under one roof at the elementary level is really what's best for students. Um right now we would be looking at one classroom hosting two students and the other one hosting nine. Um that puts us into a host of logistical issues with nine students um in in one space. We're running out of physical space. It's um not an ideal group size at that level. There's a lot of there tends to be a lot of equipment adults that need to come in and out. Um, and again, it's really just not best for students.
Yeah, option two north of what would be the tennis court expansions. Did talk to Michael about that a little bit. Um and he thought if that road could go just a little farther to the north to allow a little more room, it would be very easy to put that in. When I talked to Chris Cely today, he thought that would be an option. Um, when I talked to our administrative staff today and I also talked to our maintenance staff, their agreement was that option two would be the best placement. That road that goes back there to the north would be a one-way road, one-way road. So they would go to the west of the tennis courts, take a right, drop their kids off in front of the daycare, and then also turn back around and come down what's seventh street to come out. Um, there are some pros and cons on there.
Um, some of the things that they're looking at is not only increased information um because of the differential between like an excused absence, what is excused um as opposed to an unexcused. Um sometimes we see families traveling for vacation or different reasons. Um they've also planned some activities in terms of um opportunities for parents to come in. Um Boulder Hills also uh talked about increasing their home visits um just to have a stronger connection with parents. So really it's a crosscoordination of um extra supports within their title funding um partnering stronger with their teachers, their families both in the school and out. Perfect. Thank you. Yep. Anybody else or student board members? Anybody else questions? No. All right. So, thank you, Dr. Yep. Moving on to 10.4. Um, in 10.4, um, what you have is four of our title one schoolwide plans. Um, so Fox, Chase, and Old Post are entering, uh, year one of implementation.
Academic, social, and emotional needs would be much better addressed in smaller group sizes. Having those students in under one roof allows us to divide those groups differently so that they maybe they look like five and six um or or four and seven, something like that as opposed to two and nine. Um, much different. Um, it also allows us to really utilize our staffing resources, even our equipment and our subscriptions very differently. Um, we believe we can do this without creating any additional costs for either Berlin or Boilston. It's not necessarily cost savings, but it doesn't increase costs. Um, and it is a more sustainable model that we would be very committed to for the long term um, to meet these evolving needs for students. We've talked about it with our CPAC, our special education parent advisory council to get some feedback. It's very supportive of the idea.
Existing road would not be impacted. Um, we would be adjacent to the tennis courts to be able to use that facility if we needed to. The playground would be in a non-intrusive area. There would be no code implications from the existing buildings with this. Um the fire hydrant that theirs could remain. The parking for childcare would be easy to address. Um some cons would be lunch distribution would be a little more challenging but not as challenging as it would be to put it down here by the football field and the drop offs would be on that same road on Seventh Street. Guys, what I really like about this is in five years when we own this and we have the option, if it ever doesn't run as a daycare, it's right there. There is more space for us to use for classrooms. So, really, you're trying to balance the road cuz that's the main problem back there, the road, as opposed to having the option to have it for classroom space or whatever we need in the future.
They are currently this year in their planning phase. So as part of their plan um they had to create their um title one SIP plan. They entered the schoolwide uh I'm sorry the title one SIP um cycle based on their um SY23 data. All four of our schools are in a school improvement cycle um due to their subgroup of children with disabilities. Boulder Hill and Long Beach are entering year two of their school improvement cycle. Um so they entered the cycle based on their data from school year 22 and actually we celebrated earlier this year uh Boulder Hill while in school year 22 um was uh targeted. they did based on their school year 23 move to commendable but since they were already in the cycle they get the benefit of the funding um throughout the entire four-year cycle. So the school improvement cycle is year one based on planning.
I would like to get some input as well from the anticipated Boilston principal for next year. overall in the spirit of you know making sure that we're developing that program prek all the way through 12. We've been working with case collaborative to develop opportunities for improvements in all areas um such as program vision and alignment instructional material staffing professional development um supervision and even long-term planning for the program as well. not wanting to miss out on the importance um of students as they're growing older and they are moving up to Tahanto which has been happening. Um we are probably at this point just about overdue or about to be overdue um to add a special education teacher at Tah as well to meet the growing needs of students um in this area. again remembering that Tahanjo also services seventh grade levels um and and needing to be able to meet those needs as we look ahead.
Um, I would recommend us really taking a look at that and trying to balance that to get it to be moved back there in that area. Option number three, you'll see on there as well, um, shows the new driveway. It would probably be a Uturn in there to come straight back out, which would cause a little more congestion um, to that side of it. I think that option would give us I think it might be a little compact in there with everything else we have going on um with that tennis court expansion if that moves forward or what that looks like. I do want to pass I'm going to pass it this way. I didn't include option three and option four, but they're right here. So, I want to pass those around just so you guys can take a look at what option three and option Oh, sorry.
That's part of the change in the funding. Also, uh year one for planning is not uh funded as uh strongly as um year 1, two, and three of implementation where that's where we see our direct supports for students. Um so as part of their goals, um all four schools have goals based on academics. So for reading and math, as I mentioned before, Fox Chase and Boulder Hill based on their data wanted to do some intentional focus on attendance. So their third goal is related to attendance. And Long Beach and Old Post, their third goal is related uh to effective systems and teams. So really trying to strengthen that coordination with parents and families and students, sorry, and teachers um about children with disabilities. So our overall the rate the reason why we enter a school improvement cycle is based on our summit of designation. So we will get updated summitive designations this fall um which is based on academics chronic absenteeism um and academics both in terms of performance and growth.
So that would be something that I would recommend um to our admin team that we consider for the FY27 budget. And my third topic is um earlier in May, DESIE released um the new special education annual determination ratings. As you may remember, we received a rating in January of last school year. So, this one felt like a it took a long time to come out. Um it is new to us and the admin team really is looking at all of the data to understand it. We did receive a um meets requirements rating which is the top tier rating um which we believe is very well deserved. Um this um this year DESIE did change the way that the rating is calculated as they do just about each year. So that doesn't come as a surprise. there's a fair amount of overlap in looking at um the criteria or the considerations that were in last year's report and this year report.
Wait, no. It would be option one and option four is what it would look like. One and four. So, um you know, no matter where you put it, you're always you're going to have somebody upset at it. The one thing you have we need to make sure and that we do is we do our due diligence on making sure that it's where we want it and it can be used in the unc oncoming years if there's no daycare in there. We all know from what we're dealing with right now, the main problem with daycare is trying to find workers to work in. So, um I would really recommend us looking at that first option that's on there just for what it's going to give us 3, four, 5 years down the road and what it could help with. Uh whenever I talked to our administrative staff and our maintenance crew to day two, they both um highly recommended option two over putting it south of the football field.
Um so there's a few other things that are part of that um but those are the main things. Um but we'll dig into further details in the fall when our new data gets released. So um throughout the plans you'll see a focus on academics, social emotional behavior and really concentrated on strategies, systems, supports and then strengthening those relationships with parents.
They were just maybe broken down differently. Um for example, last year MCCAST um all the scores for MCAST for grades four, eight, and 10 were sort of lumped together in one score. This year they're broken down a little bit more. Um, and it looks at the proficiency rating for students with disabilities. It looked actually at 17 different um considerations across three categories of performance compliance and even other considerations. So very briefly um it looks at like items such as graduation, MCCAST proficiency, integration rates of preschool students, suspension issues, any disproportionate representation, um especially among specific disability categories. It looks at our responsiveness and compliance with child find early childhood transitions, any issues of non non-compliance, although we didn't have any in that period, um whether or not they would be corrected very quickly. Um it looked at a couple of fiscal areas such as our maintenance of effort, our timely and accurate reporting um for students progress in preschool as well as post-secary readiness.