Oliver first of all wonderful presentation I appreciate the thoughtfulness that went into it that being said before I turn it over to my colleagues I'm gonna ask that we just keep it around the questions from this is all of our around her presentation and know that all of us have received a number of emails over the the past weekend or regarding our Native American symbol and how that ties into this agenda topic but we can be absolutely circle back around I will allow discussion on the tail end of this but right now if we could just discuss our ask questions of mrs. Oliver directly related to her presentation around equality diversity I would appreciate it so we can start with whoever would like to go first and let me I can't see everyone at this point I'll turn how about I turn it over to Kathleen em all Thank You Traci for that presentation like that was you know quite interesting and exciting and hopefully the keynote speaker is something that can happen because that's an important for all of our staff I'm quite interested in that as well honestly but this is just so important and and I like how you know we highlight that we are a district with a growth mindset so it's not so much what we're doing wrong what we're lacking it's like how can we improve how can we get better and and seeing as we are a district of I don't know if this demographic is correct but we're eighty seven point seven percent white it's really important that we create those opportunities to - for those windows and those sliding glass doors so that people you know that's it that's it that's a that's a percentage and there are people behind that percentage so of course there there are lots of different people but ultimately we are predominantly a white community and it's really important we step outside of ourselves and anytime we can and it's great to start you know with our youngest learners and moving on up and encouraged to see the changes that have been made all throughout um so yeah thank you those are my comments for now thinking it again tomorrow dr.
99.97 percent of covet deaths are over age 15. science says kids don't get seriously sick or not spreaders aap says it's extremely harmful to keep them closed kids have nearly zero risk from covid19 and rarely transmit to adults proven by data from all over the world closing schools denies science dr atlas stanford medical hoover institution world-renowned doctor scientist public health expert he's not wrong on his facts i've researched it no one disputes his fax statements many similar reports dr atlas quote everywhere in the western world has shown that children do not transmit significantly to adults even their own parents and quote kids are the opposite of super spreaders quote schools are essential businesses aren't they my concern is specifically the severe protocols to be imposed on the children scientifically unnecessary with undue suffering on grade schoolers parents predominantly want their kids in school and without overbearing impractical and likely unforeseeable health protocols extreme risk adverse parents have the option of online schooling families who want and need kids in class daily need a true choice that's to be contrasted with a false choice one so burdensome it makes kids suffer so unhappy and frustrated that we are compelled to remove them to homeschooling to it one herd immunity coronavirus coronavirus 19 is like the prior novel kovids notably none were included in any annual vaccines sars and mers have lessons however even if the drug companies never developed vaccinations funny how nobody gets sick from these past covids despite no vaccines an ncbi abstract footnoted below notes quote the lack of a vaccine for sars it was pointless to continue investing in a vaccine for a disease whose cases ceased to be reported end quote but why no more reported sars cases few on more recent mers it's the herd immunity per doctor atlas two covid not lethal for kids the consensus seems to be this covet is far less lethal reportedly a quarter the lethality of the annual flu for children under 18 the death rate is 0.4 for those under 70.
Jenkins I thank you Traci for for putting together that presentation and you know one of the reasons why I'm I wanted to highlight I asked to put us on the agenda and give the full attention to it is because I know that we are doing a lot and I know you know through conversations with you and dr. Gifford and miss Roy there's some confusion sometimes when we talk about all all students matter and everyone matter is because today's political discourse that can be a little touchy right um but I think it's so I think it's important to note that when we say all kids matter it me it really means that and then what we're doing in this curriculum is highlighting so many different cultures and ways of living and that's what we mean by that not that any one group you know we're trying to downplay issues of race and racism but that in our curriculum we really are providing those windows and those doors into a variety of different cultures and so I think it's really important um you know we talk in as social science practice right about being clear with your definitions right and because sometimes we're on the same page but we're not talking about things in the same way and so I really want to highlight that that when we go out and we talk about all kids matter you know all cultures matter it is not to downplay issues of race and racism it is to highlight that we are literally teaching kids about all of these things and so I hope that the community sees that through your presentation how it is woven throughout the entire curriculum and then to miss a Meraz point in your point right I think this is great and I think as we continue to work on this you know we always can ask how can we do better and I'm excited for us to continue that work once we figure out what fall looks like to start working on those sorts of things Thank You dr.
the death rate is 0.01 for kids older than the age of 15. non-coveted mortality rate nationwide for kids is zero and that's time on mr hoog's comment next comment is from carl stock of cave creek reopening schools for on-site classroom instruction for the 2021 academic year would be crazy and irresponsible even when the proposed measures in place we can expect based on all available scientific evidence coronavirus will be transmitted in classroom students and teachers will become infected and some people students teachers family members will die as a result of these infections even with the best possible plan for distancing and personal protection anyone with classroom experience knows that you cannot expect the necessary level of compliance among students to avoid transmission teaching online presents a challenge but ccusd also has an opportunity to use the coming year to develop and refine this mode of teaching and learning the next comment is from mark and erica copenhagen thank you board members for taking the time to address our concerns we still have several unanswered questions we respectfully ask that ccusd push back in-person learning to after fall in october at the earliest to protect the health of the students teachers staff and parents arizona is still considered a coveted 19 hot spot and pushing back in-person learning will hopefully keep everyone safer finally we beg the district to follow science and not emotions or budget when making decisions regarding the health and well-being of our students teachers staff parents and community thank you so much the next comment is from dennis bentley of cave creek i'm sorry denise as the mother of three children at cactus shadows and a hospital worker i am urging the district to wait until october or later to return to face-to-face schooling my children are both asthmatic as am i i would not feel comfortable with them on the school bus i want a clear and outlined cleaning strategy provided before return as well thank you for your consideration of this pushback the next comment is from jill wallaby of cave creek our son is an incoming freshman and we have questions about the upcoming school year and we would like answered before we make a decision about online or face to face first i would like to say that you really should postpone the face-to-face start date for several months there are too many covet cases in arizona now for it to be a safe environment for students staff and teachers next comment is from kathleen roberson of phoenix i support postponing the reopening of ccusd schools for in-person instruction both as a parent and as a teacher online instruction is not ideal but it is the only safe option i would further urge the board to base their decision to reopen in-person instruction on some measurable target based on science rather than an arbitrary calendar date after quarter one for example schools should only reopen when teachers staff students and parents can be assured they will be safe this can only happen when community transmission has been curtailed and there are no new cases in arizona or when a vaccine is readily available the next comment is from heather mcgilvery of cave creek my husband and i have an incoming freshman and sophomore at cactus shadows and we would like to see the start of school push back until data is in place to show that it is safe for students staff and teachers to return to work we have chosen the face to face starting with distant learning option and are confident that the board will make the right decision to ensure that it is safe for reentry to face to face teaching and learning the next comment is from aaron boyd of scottsdale why is there such a rush to reconvene in person on august 17th when many school districts have already pushed their in-person start dates back to mid-september some even into mid-october the next comment is from linda peters of cave creek before our children can return safely to face-to-face learning it's important that the district ensure that certain protocols will be met if children cannot be spaced six feet apart in the classroom it is not safe for them return unless this protocol is met then face-to-face learning should be postponed until our numbers of infected in arizona are down the state requires restaurants to space table six feet apart and people have the choice of whether they want to go to a restaurant our children must go to school they have no choice for many of our children online learning is not an option please follow cdc protocols and make sure our children are safe if you cannot please postpone the face-to-face start of school the next comment is from monica monica french of cave creek there are businesses who are not allowing their employees back into the office work until december january because the risk of exposure is too high why do we think cramming 30 kids in a classroom is safe please consider keeping the distance learning not aoe and delaying the start of in-person school until kids and staff can safely return thank you next comment is from winnie sarah bia of cave creek there is still too much unknown what's known is that opening in person attendance too early could risk exposure as we have folks enter back into the petri dish known as schools regardless of whether you're public private or charter it's similar to throwing a covet party inviting people to show up and we wait to see who gets it and if it's as bad as they say if we look back on this 5 10 15 20 years from now and we're a blip in the history mark over covid what could we have done differently with the science-based information we have on hand not the political or financial information but science because this is all about our health and lives everything science related is asking the nation to slow down and not open during a surge even american pediatric association went back on their recommendation and followed this logic it would be in ccusd and arizona's best interest as we are still searching to delay in-person school start dates for the fall at a minimum through first quarter as shared by amy amy wright people testing positive for covid19 have been documented to be sick even after 60 days many people are sick for weeks get better still and then experience a rapid and sudden flare-up and get sick all over again a man in seattle was hospitalized for 62 days and while well enough to be released still has a long road of recovery ahead of them not to mention a million point one in medical bills mis-c multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed including the heart lungs kidney brain skin eyes or gastroenterolog organs children with mis-dust c may have a fever and various symptoms including abdominal pain vomiting diarrhea neck pain rash bloodshot eyes or feeling extra tired while rare it has caused deaths this disease has not been around for years it has basically been with us for only six months we know little about covid no one knows yet the long-term effects or how it what may present itself years down the road for people who have been exposed we literally quote do not know end quote what we do not know the more things we can all do to mitigate our risk of exposure the better off we all are in my opinion an opinion shared by medical science the notion that it's quote just a virus end quote and all we have to get it eventually is a careless lazy heartless stance the next comment is from elizabeth sandell for the safety of the students and staff i feel a start date of august 17th is premature and would support a start date after labor day or even october first thank you next comment and our final comment president hill is from colleen neese there are many families that strongly believe it is the best interest of our kids parents teachers and community as a whole to return to in-person school many of these families feel as if we have been silenced by the outspoken families that believe it is not safe to return to in-person school it is great that ccusd has created an online academy for those families for the many many families that have chosen the in-person option we want you to know that we believe returning to school on august 17th or soon thereafter is important those that disagree have the online academy option we cannot keep pushing back the in-person start date if august 17th doesn't happen after labor day is a good option continuously pushing back to october or november or later is not a good idea there are some questions i have about the differences between the online academy and distance learning what is the difference between the curriculum is one better than the other who are the teachers at each for distance learning how will the curriculum be delivered will there be a teacher providing instruction via live stream webcam in the spring there was no actual instruction and it fell completely on the parents to teach their kids i worked full time and this was extremely difficult i hope that there are teachers who will teach our children how will you and your ieps are ensure ieps are met my eighth grader has an iep and did not receive any of his services in the spring which by law are required will chromebooks be provided foreign language these classes need to be taught via video or in person handing out worksheets and other quizzes and expecting our kids to learn a language this way is unrealistic thank you for taking my comments and questions into consideration i look forward to getting our kids back in school and that concludes the comments for the site on president hill thank you moscato so presenter presenting item 4.4 is dr burdick thank you president hill governing board members um the administration is recommending postponing cc usd's reopening date for the 2020-2021 school year until september 8 2020 we would recommend that the board approve to postpone the reopening date until september 8th as some of our neighboring districts have already done so moved second rich okay um discussion i'm going to give a heads up on the discussion that once we vote i'm going to first some recommendations we have or the allowances we have before you vote each member will have two minutes to explain their vote so if you feel like you um once you do your vote you want to explain why you what vote you're making you're going to be given two minutes per person to vote but before we do that um we have a motion a second so it's time for discussion um i guess my first question is what i've seen some can you tell us what the surrounding districts in our area have done so far president hill at this point i know that paradise valley unified which is to our south directly and scottsdale unified which is to the um southeast of us have both postponed till september 8th deer valley which is on our west side has a postpone in to a date in october i don't have that exact date any questions um postponing till september 8th that's the opening of the classrooms or starting school period member busby that is a great question we are still starting on august 5th our plan that you approved is distance learning that the board approved is distance learning to face to face the face-to-face portion is what we're discussing right now currently it is august 17th per the executive order um but we are asking the board to postpone the face-to-face option to the day after labor day which is september 9th right september 8th i apologize next week i i understand that governor ducey is supposed to address the many school issues including his uh prior order about starting school on august 17th whether he's going to keep that in place or change it is there any consideration of waiting to see what governor ducey has to say um there have been each week an expectation that the governor may postpone the date um that has not happened we've heard the same rumor again this week that we heard the prior week and the week before i think the difficulty is if we do not make a firmer decision this evening and we've asked told our parents that they can wait until wednesday now to turn in their options we cannot start figuring out the staffing for both programs option one and option two and perhaps an option three which would go along with option one so we have tried to patiently wait to see what the governor is going to do we can continue that waiting game but at this point we feel like our families deserve a firm answer any other questions or comments i did have a question hang on i forgot what it was so come back to me i heard today that the governor was thinking about making an announcement this week about you know addressing the issue and uh i myself expect him to extend it until october which would be consistent with his extension of other executive orders that pertain to other parts of society um just to clarify there were several of those comments that were referencing the american academy of pediatrics and alluding to the academy wanting a delay on the start of school i'm looking at an article from the academy of pediatrics that was published three days ago and they're advocating for schools to open and they are also strongly advocating for safety measures to be adhered to in schools so that's just a clarification um regarding the what the american academy of pediatrics is advocating for any other discussion or questions or is everyone kind of holding out till they do their vote i'm getting that vibe are we ready to vote okay i'm great okay we have a motion and a second uh as presented which would be to postpone school until september 8th remember brown uh if you want to speak we have two minutes and i'll just keep a timer uh my vote will be no i think uh with what i have read and what other districts are doing both in state and out of state and i've referred also referred to the academy of pediatrics for their recommendations and especially with the k through six students that face to face is so important also that's important for our immersion and our iep need students that need that i also understand though the governor could come out tomorrow and say now that he's pushed the date back so i do understand that's out there but for this motion i will have to vote no okay uh remember busby i am going to vote no i am concerned about everybody's health and safety first and foremost so i want that to be made very very clear but at the same time i am also concerned about um education gaps that many of our students [Music] could sustain by not having in-person instruction our special ed kids depend on their classrooms and without having uh in-person class those those students sans lose a great deal we have as member brown mentioned immersion programs that will suffer we have worked very hard as a district to build up our immersion program and this can totally put it in the tank we have people are going to walmart they're going to the restaurants they're going all kinds of places there are more safety protocols in line for our classrooms than at any of the other public places that people have taken their children and if for this particular motion on voting now i'm waiting to see what the governor has to say in the coming days okay remember hatcher um i i type something that i'm going to read so that i keep myself on track um after tonight's vote half of the community will disagree with the outcome and more than likely be unhappy this controversial issue has pitted community against district against teachers and against one another a school board does not typically find itself making decisions which could deliberately place students and staff in harm's way but here we are parent reasons cited to return face to face are personal freedoms socialization needs of children too many distractions at home needs are better met in the classroom versus the home the online curriculum is not up to parent expectations and various studies which we have been sent making the case to open schools it's been suggested that we permit small groups of sped students and the younger students to return to a classroom sooner than the rest of the student body i understand your opinions and agree that a better education is obtained through live interaction with the teacher the reason to maintain distance learning is the personal health and safety of students and sometimes the staff is mentioned and i'm talking about from what we've just heard a school board member's charge is to make sure student achievement is accomplished with the resources available to the district the ccusd does a really good job of that those resources are primarily money the school buildings themselves and the employees in the situation we find ourselves in today all three components have been considered in the creation of the ccusd plan and how that plan is to be implemented the second and equally important factor which i must consider is student and staff health and safety this includes aids bus drivers food services employees custodians nurses and front office employees regarding academics if we don't have healthy teachers we will not have students receiving quality education the ripple effect of the possibility possibility of staff becoming ill is something i cannot ignore we have many parents and teachers afraid to put their children and for the employees their own lives at risk of contracting covid19 for me this is not a decision where i prioritize students over employees or employees over students i look at everyone as someone i have an obligation to protect we cannot foresee the future and quite possibly this is something we will be dealing with on and off for the remainder of the school year we need to be prepared for that teachers are flexible individuals and if need be they would shift to online instruction immediately if necessary parents should be prepared for that possibility too we hope that will not be necessary but we can't possibly know i believe we all want the same thing that is to see our students in class with their peers in front of a live teacher fortunately there's a compromise available students can be learning either in class if it's deemed safe and online in the interim they will still receive an education it may not be an ideal situation but these are not ideal times if we want school to open safely we all need to follow certain protocols both in school and in our private lives the sooner we get this under control the sooner we return to normal it takes all of us we are only as strong as the weakest link and with that i vote to approve the delay in opening okay um i know because i i've had contact with many people that after tonight i will have regardless of the decision i'm about to make i know i'm going to lose friends i'm going to lose colleagues because they're not going to agree with my decision and i'm okay with that because the decision i'm making is the one that i believe is for the best interest of our kids and our staff i do have a student that lost his spring sports season plus prom is going to be a senior and is going to lose a lot already has i know is going to lose so much and that eats at me every day i am angry with the county and with the state for not providing information to us i've looked at information that's been given and they keep saying we'll get it to you in the coming weeks and it's unacceptable our school boards are here to discuss curriculum and other items i'm not an epidemiologist i'm not an infectious disease specialist that's not a requirement to be a school board member or to lead a district we are being asked to make decisions that are beyond our scope of understanding and i looked to our governor into our county to provide guidance and they give us nothing arbitrary dates i don't know when it's going to be safe i don't see any difference between august 17th to august 19th to september 8th i don't see anything that the county has given us that gives us any confidence of what they believe is an appropriate time to go back and so saying all that and knowing the ramifications of my decision i have to approve to delay the opening until september 8th remember rich thank you president hill um i've i've uh evolved quite a bit over the last few months on this subject because i know i haven't uh been concerned about it as far as my own health is concerned and i know that it wasn't affecting the youthful portion of the population but as the rest of the nation has moved on as they've peaked in each state and moved on we're in the thick of it right now in arizona and uh i've really changed my mind about it i am extremely concerned about infecting the susceptible members of the population and you know the issue that if we have students come back to school that they uh will spread the uh infection on to uh those susceptible members of their families and others and i too wish we had more guidance from the state i fully expected the governor is uh going to extend until october is my personal belief anyway which would make this vote moved but we are voting today because we have to move on as a district and i vote in favor of extending it okay so vote is three to two to extend the closure date until september 8th item 4.5 recommendation to approve ccusd's resolution regarding cova 19 ms scotto do we have any public comments we have two public comments president hill the first is from mary hillika of cave creek do not approve agenda item 4.5 cc usd's resolution regarded code regarding covet 19.
Jenkins anyone else this is wait you got me I got ya know again like Tracy it was fantastic it's so exciting to see what's happening and one piece that I thought you you know we mentioned I'd love to hear more about is the student ownership of you know especially but the civics projects that are gonna happen in eighth grade I think you know we've seen you know students are really like they want to express their voice they want to feel empowered and I you know it's starting you know more and more through these discussions and third grade through the book clubs that are you know happening so I'd love to hear a little bit more about the direction of those projects and you know do they include volunteerism you know you know how those will look and as you know again I know we have a lot to iron out people between now and like I said the fall and you know how this will look but I'm I think the the student ownership piece is really important yeah so I'd love to tell you more about them but the funny part is that they've wholeheartedly student-led so as much as I want to not admit this but being the control person of wanting to put things out the topic of what students are gonna do is student-led so until we have a 8th grade students and we let them pick what they're going to do and we unpack it for them we don't really know what it's gonna look like so the teachers have been trained as to what to do it they went up last year and they they found templates and found ways to guide students through it but we really need our students in front of us to kind of pick the project which is so exciting and yet it's just Jo they're gonna do it so we're gonna we're gonna see how it goes so we certainly will update you once we once they once they tell us what they're doing what's all great Tracy thank you thank you Thank You mr.
section 5 of the rev resolution authorizes the superintendent to temporarily suspend compliance with or implementation of board policies and administrative regulations during the covet 19 pandemic which specific policies and regulations would the resolution affect or would that apply to all of the board policies and administrative regulations no that's not a good idea and not the way that representation of the people by the governing board is designed to work the governing board should absolutely not approve this resolution resolution i apologize that's the end of her comment and the next comment is from heather mcgilvery of cave creek we also feel confident that dr burdick will make informed decisions should onsite learning need to be postponed in the event of a coveted outbreak and that is the end of those comments president hill thank you moscato and thank you for losing your voice for us tonight um so presentation of item 4.5 will be by dr burdick thank you president hill and governing board members um this is a recommendation to approve a resolution that is similar to the resolution that you approved last march um to follow the orders of the governor at that time as well as the legislature who also had legislation related to the schools closing and so this follows information and is more specific for where we are right now and um is something that was drafted by different school attorneys in the state and um different districts are looking at doing this one reason for doing it is so that as things change we aren't having to call emergency board meetings in order to do some things it talks about the development and revision of health and safety protocols allows allowing us to be flexible as more information is brought forward authorizes all schools to resume classroom instruction and related activities and resume other district functions if needed works with relevant governmental authorities to comply with all laws regulations orders and guidelines as the district resumes its operations and activities allows me to close a school in emergency situation or multiple schools or all schools on a temporary basis if needed to minimize the spread of covid19 at a school site building or in the community temporarily suspends compliance with or implementation of the same and needed to comply with different laws regulations orders and guidelines or to promote the health safety and welfare of the school community and for allows for execution of any further documentation to effectuate the resolution including but not limited to requisite notices required by the arizona department of education or legal authorities and the extent that any provision in the resolution conflicts with or is superseded by enacted federal or state legislation or local ordinance ordinances um what we have always done is when there is something that um if you go back to the last suspension if there's a um or not suspension but resolution last march it doesn't preclude me contacting all of the board saying what is going to be changed or then bringing it for action to the next governing board meeting but allows us to be flexible as things continue to change and so i would recommend that the um cc usd resolution regarding covet 19 is approved as presented oh everyone is so so moved okay have a second discussion um when the governor gets around to sharing some new information how is this resolution impacted so if he comes with a date that is um beyond the scope of our date which is now september 8th we have to comply with that um if he doesn't act the board has already approved that date if we get information eventually that shows that our families students and staff are being negatively impacted by the virus it would allow me after discussion with the board but not with board action to move forward with perhaps having to do some closures or temporary closures in order to clean up a building to stop the spread of the building etc so this would be if we have an emergency that if one of the schools we have something happen and we have to do something immediately because we can't send the schools back the kids the next day this would give you the authority to do that contacting us but we wouldn't have to post right because without this we would have to post that we're going to have a meeting for 24 hours and then discuss that and then that meantime we would not be able to do that sort of of immediate action is that what this is it this this could do that um there is also a policy in section i that allows me to close a school if there's an emergency but we are all districts at this point have no idea what lies ahead right and so um and nobody has returned to face-to-face school so we are looking at unprecedented situations that we may not even be able to anticipate which is kind of where we are right now um this allows the flexibility for me as always to still contact all board members as i usually do and if there are any changes or things that are going to impact the district but then to be able to move forward on doing anything that needs to be done for instance there might be some human resources policies that may need to be changed as things move forward and as we look at not needing as much staff we're hoping the governor will give us some direction on still being able to support all of our staff which we currently aren't planning on doing but we don't know what's going to come up and so this allows the flexibility with me informing the board to move forward with what needs to be done thanks any other questions or comments i i have a question it as i read through this i mean i consider this part of the day-to-day responsibilities of any district superintendent so i don't know i mean i i go back and i look at our board policy cba qualifications and duties of the superintendent and a lot of this is is in policy already i just don't understand why we have to declare a special resolution i mean if if anything would have happened say there's would have been a small fire at one of the facilities you have that authority to move students out of the building and close it while we clean up so that doesn't need a special resolution so i just don't understand why the um maybe a little excessive reach for giving you as much more leeway than is already in policy again it just allows for more flexibility this is something that school lawyers have put together and districts are many districts are bringing to their next um august meeting dear valley has already approved this buckeye has already approved this and it is something that would just allow the flexibility as a one did that you approved in march and you are correct member brown some of these things pieces of them i already have the authority to do um i just was bringing it in hoping that it would allow more flexibility for the district and um not having to bring certain things to the board and suspending some of the policy and regulation language if necessary again as i always do i would contact every board member and if necessary we would vote on whatever it is officially at the next meeting go ahead jim i was just going to say this is only related to cobit 19 it specifies that yes it's only during covet pandemic i'm sorry wait did janet did you have a question well i i i have a concern you know i understand that this is only regarding covid19 and this is an ever-changing field that we're looking at from day to day and from hour to hour it changes but you know for the sake of transparency and communication with our district giving such great flexibility to dr burdick eliminates you know it's one thing okay dr burdick's going to contact us but it eliminates the opportunity for the community to be involved with what's going on and that's a little bit concerning so that's remember hatcher wait you're muted remember hatcher you're muted okay am i good now yeah does this expire when um when covid is officially declared over or how do we know this when the expiration occurs um because it says the 20 20 21 school year okay 20 20 21 all right yeah so it's specific okay 2021 school year we certainly hope it's over in the 20 21 year right questions or comments okay we have a motion in a second to approve is presented remember rich all right i'm in i remember hatcher i remember busby no remember brown no uh item five we have no old business item six do i have a motion to adjourn so moved second uh motion to adjourn member brown i remember busby hi hatcher i am an i member rich hi okay this meeting is adjourned
chairman just Mike congratulations great presentation it's obvious there was a lot of thought that was put into this it's great to see what we're doing in our system with diversity for all our students in all our grades I mean from kindergarten to 12 and my hats off you know to the administration and also the teachers that have done the training to to make sure that they present these in an or correct in proper manner so thank you very much for that Thank You mr. Nunes yes mrs. Oliver I will agree with all of my colleagues I think this is really important that we had the opportunity and I think dr. Jenkins for getting this on the agenda for for showcasing and highlighting what the dot in public schools is doing for you know for our curriculum I think it's it's so paramount right now we're in such a tough tough spot as a nation and I know that I want to show that all students matter in Dartmouth and what we're doing to be extremely inclusive and always looking for ways to to be better I think that's I think that's so important so once again thank you for the presentation I have I have had the opportunity to hear and learn about dr.
a Doc Brown and I think that's a wonderful if you can if you can get him in in the fall my son's like you already have them scheduled that is a wonderful opportunity for the staff and a great growth expense for them especially around implicit bias so thank you thank you thank you everyone so he is scheduled to come I just wanna say that in where 20 with is it a virtual presentation can we pull it off in person but if not he we have made arrangements that he can come for 21 September of 21 to do an in-person presentation so one way or the other we're gonna get him here and that that's exciting so nothing personal before you go I have mr. Nunez his hand raised just a question I mean all things being considered if he's able to hit the shooter that's something like the school sponsor is that or at least nope that was one of our that we had a plan for our back to school PV day that we normally have the second day that the day before teachers students come I'm sorry um we had it planned for that day so he's still scheduled we just got to see what phase the state is in and what it will look like so we've been in contact with them and he's more than happy to work with us or come next year or do it virtually so we have lots of options which makes me happy okay beautiful thank you great thank you everyone thank you so that being said one of the things that I'll address is that a number of the are all the committee members have received a number of emails over the past weekend regarding the Gottman Indians and the use of the Native American symbol in asking us to please consider revisiting and changing it and they they asked to basically be addressed during this agenda item that being said I'll allow my committee members to share their thoughts and their prayer I will actually like to start off with this this was originally presented in the fall this past fall at that time the committee decided not to take any decision on it one way or the other however you know my responsibility the School Committee member Dom it's just like my colleagues is to you know to obviously look out after the best interest of the students in this town but also represent our constituents throughout the tower I think that's important that we listen we allow everyone to have a voice at the table and you know we share their voice through public meeting and that being said you know I I'm really torn about this issue I know one of the things right now is that one second dr.
Jenkins one of the issues right now is while I can appreciate you know everyone's passion around this issue and for every person that has concerns around the diamond Indian there's someone else that I've spoken to that is completely they look at it as a source of respect and pride in whay derogatory however at the end of the day right now I see this committees number-one priority moving forward as how are we going to educate our students in the fall and reopen schools I'm not a I'm not opposed to revisiting this issue and you know and rolling it into maybe our equality and diversity committee when school reopens because that's something that though I need to see happen I want to see happen but I have serious serious concerns and I need to my personal opinion is that I think we need to allow the DA to public schools administration to focus right now on how are we going to open school the the number of hours in the time that it takes to to put out these three different plans that the Commissioner Riley is asking for in addition to I have and I'm sure some of my other committee members have serious concerns about what the FY twenty-two budget is going to look like there is I had I reached out to dr.
Gifford in our athletic director mr. Kiley earlier today about just in the event that we were to look at rebranding ourselves the financial implementation of simplifications of that is it's in the tents it's not over a hundred thousand dollars to look at rebranding ourselves that's not to say that that's not a reason not to do it however right now I think our committees focus should be on how we gonna get our schools open and I agree let's let's put this on the table and revisit in the fall I'll open it once school opens dr. Jenkins I think I'm possibly in my position clear out I am NOT a fan of the mascot I do not believe that money is a consideration we can always make a vote and if we don't have the money delay the change I think what this moment in time is telling us is that is not enough to be non racist we must be anti-racist and anti-racist means doing the hard work of opposing problematic issues in your own home and in your own community right this is tough I get it we've heard from a lot of people but that's what being anti-racist means it means putting in and doing the hard work we have been the Indians for a while right that is not reason to keep it all right I will sleep soundly at night knowing where I voted on this and I may lose my office for this I have decided I do not care right I have heard from members of the tribe that they are opposed to this even if some are in support of this I have heard from some that are opposed and to me the fact that this is painful to them means that I am want to put in this work I'm fine with putting this off I don't think we should make this decision tonight because I don't think this was clearly communicated on the agenda that we are going to be speaking about this but we need but in the work on this and at least make the gesture of changing that name right it may take a while for us to rebrand us because it costs money but we need to put in the work to do the right thing here and that's my position thank you dr.
Duncan I can't see everyone again there wait yes I have to say that I completely agree with dr. Jenkins you know this is you know I came into this office unopposed I'm aware of that no one had really asked me where I stood on this issue but you know when I went to that meeting in the fall I was pretty surprised that there wasn't a conversation that was going to be held that this conversation was shut down I know where we are you know again I agree a priority is getting our kids back in school but you know we just listen to Tracy go over this rich curriculum which is designed to be inclusive and we also have this the eighth grade project which I again I noted that you know it's empower students to make change and I had at least five students reach out I mean who our current students who said you know I don't want to wear the mascot I feel humiliated and I and to me and my own children feel that way which is it's it's tough like and I because I even said to my son and I need to bring him into this but you know he's young and I said well what do you think about this changing and he said you know it has to be done it's wrong like and again they went through the D'Mello system where they were told you can't sit indian-style we don't use that terminology anymore you know we don't use the wording and we correct them we use the word Native American I know there's a lot of change around that name it's not just the name but I think there's a complexity and I did like you know we all had people from who reached out to us on both sides and I actually thought there were a lot of compelling pieces that were of information that was shared to me by people who wanted to keep the symbol and they're very concerned about the history and that we don't want to forget that there were people who were here who were had a rich culture but I'm not sure that handing someone a t-shirt with a symbol of the name Indian and a mascot really informs them about the diverse nature of those cultures so I think we know I agree it's our shank jenkins our priority and i also agree with Chris our priority is to get the kids back in school this is a stressful time for so many families we need to do that but we also need to make sure that we don't forget that this is a very important opportunity we want to be you know so many schools are in the same position they're looking at this and Barnstable and Braintree I think we need to be you don't want to be the people who dragged their feet on this issue especially when we're talking about you know we're embracing inclusivity like you know we need to really make a statement that's that's how I feel about it so that's thank you thank you mrs.
Wade them all thank you yeah I think I think number one we've got to get our kids back to school we've got a we've got to figure out a plan that works for families there's a lot of people I'm kind of in the lurch and teachers and administration trying to figure this out a lot a lot that we have to tackle however I I do think we should add this and other things to our equity and diversity committee you know it I don't feel like you can talk about one without the other and it does deserve a consideration in that dialogue in that way and what may come of it I mean the reality is though to no matter how you feel about it like you said Chris we're hearing from people we're hearing from a lot of people who are in support we had that public hearing in the fall and then you know nothing came of that something needs to come of that one way or the other because you can't talk about anti racism and not discuss the reasons behind why people are in support or not in support of of that logo with that said you know the reality is - we might be pushed to change this sooner than later the the 16th of March the legislation actually passed this through to the joint committee the Ways and Means Committee and so whether we like it or not whether we're for it or against it whether we want it to change or not the reality is they have until December to actually make this a law and so kovat has has made a lot of impact in in the legislative you know timelines and such and this is one thing that we may be pushed so at a minimum I think we should include this in our conversations around that committee to do better I also think you know we need to think more globally around disability with that as well and so I have some ideas to me for the table for that but I certainly would support us bringing this up in that forum address thank you mrs.
ml mr. noodles do you have any thoughts oh sure Thank You mr. chairman I appreciate everybody's comments I think everybody knows where I stand and I've always stood on this so that's not going to change but you know it's funny before the meeting sided I wrote a couple of notes down on a pad just so I wouldn't forget about them in case this did pop up and one of them you know following up on us Chris's yeah we've got a first and foremost we've got to think about what we're doing you know come August 27th with school opening and what we're going to be doing where the kids going how are we getting in there what are the classes going to look like and everything could type of deal and the other thing that I had written down and I had thought about this you know when this all started over the weekend was as your comment what's the cost of doing everything and what you know where does that money come from in the budget that we don't have you know and then we're not going to have in the next couple of years the way this pandemic is panning out in the moment so I mean everybody knows where I stand I'm not changing my vote I'm going to be perfectly honest with you and I mean I'm happy being an Indian I've always been an Indian and will continue to be an Indian we do it respectfully we do it with pride you know we don't talk in a negative with the raga Torrey way about them and we act very kind to them so you know leave it leave it the way it is my two cents thank you Thank You mr.
Nunes thank you to all my colleagues on the committee you know with all that being said like I said earlier once we figure out how we're gonna get school open and get our students educated I think that globally not just around the Dartmouth Indian but around equality and diversity we need to get a committee off the ground in Dartmouth I think that's extremely important I would like to see and I'll be happy to you know take some comments for my colleagues I would love to either see the dotted Indian be rolled in to that committee on how we move forward with it ultimately this is just my opinion on it take it for what it's worth I would like to see some kind of formal presentation made from a committee whether it's this committee or if we have another one made up of all stakeholders students parents faculty school committee members presented to the school committee and then a formal vote be taken in the fall after school is is reopened come se October November to make it get both on the record as to how we going to move forward are we going to rebrand ourselves or are we going to stay the Dartmouth Indians that's that's just my thoughts is I don't know if anyone has their opinions on whether or not it's a good idea or a bad idea I just think as a the chair of the committee and as a just a committee member like all of you I would I would love to be able to be presented with everything around this topic because I am I could go either way on this I'll be quite honest with you so I think dr.
Jenkins had her hand raised first or we'll go with a you Shannon yeah I've been talking a little bit to my colleague listen who was at our our meeting last time who talked about this who's the chair of the n-double a-c-p of New Bedford um he's been in communication with some local tribal leaders about this and he's also a Dartmouth resident and he has indicated that he would be willing to help us do some of this work so I haven't asked that you know he'd be included because I think he's a great resource and he has volunteered to offer his time I'd be happy to pass his contact information along but he has told me that he's willing to help out on this great thank thank you dr. Jenkins this is waiting I just wanted to say that Chris I agree completely I mean that was why in the fall I was just hoping for more of a discussion and just to hear and then I've looked into it I researched and you know but you know to your point I think we need to hear from all the stakeholders that you know parents you know alumni and have that presentation plus you know if there is a removal of the name what are we going to do to really you know and present that history in a different way so that you know we can you know celebrate the people who lived here if that if that's our choice if we're deciding or put in the position of deciding that we want to abandon this name how do we highlight make sure that those that history is remembered so I agree crest I think that that's you know an important and in a good way to approach it Thank You mo yeah I just to reiterate my my support of this as well is you know to you know to be clear last year nothing came of it but you know I was chair at the time and we did make a few efforts dr.
Jenkins actually passed along some names were in vote on anything and to have a big committee last fall but we we did reach out I mean I I think two or three times to a few different people and I don't feel like they maybe they didn't feel that we were serious about it but I think rolling it into a committee where it's a broader conversation where this is an important part of it that it will get done there will be some file through there'll be people tasks so I think that she dr. Jenkins my opinion is is to welcome the voice of you know her colleague from the n-double-a-cp to help us move this along as well for this topic as well as the other pieces of the puzzle that we're going to be tackling within that committee okay Thank You Duncan sorry something flashed up here um so I reached out to some tribal members and I've also heard through my colleague with aha yeah I don't think some of the tribal leaders were willing to work with us or communicate with us because we had voted to not hear their opinion right and it's you know when you say hey we don't want to hear your opinion and then you reach out and say so what's your opinion it's not surprising sometimes when people say I'm not present seem like you're interested in working with me so I'm hopeful that if the committee is willing to say yes we are doing this work that tribal responds you know tribal representatives leaders people from these tribes will be more willing to sit down with us because then it shows that we are serious about doing this work as well [Music] thank you dr.
Johnson that mr. Nunes you know Thank You mr. chair I just just thinking is everyone's been speaking I just become a little bit concerned with the time time frame that you've talked about Chris and the only thing that concerns me is the fact that we don't we're not sure what's happening with school as this moves forward and I don't want to see as boxed into you know September October November and you know everything's hitting the fan and we're not able to do that and all of a sudden everybody comes back and says we'll see you people are dragging your foot feet and you don't want to do it because you said you'd have it done by October and here it is November 1st etc if you understand what I'm saying I just want to make sure that we don't box ourselves into a time frame sure no no I and being able to because of not being able to meet Coco with 19 net cetera et cetera nope I thank you for those comments and thinking about that mr.
Nunes uh that being said why don't we do this why don't we think about and I would like to see this on the our nickel committee agenda why don't we if you could Kate or dr. Gifford add an agenda item around of and no one really answered me whether or not this should be a separate committee or rolled into the Equality Diversity Committee that were already looking in about forming are we okay with just one committee exploring all of this because I think some of these same stakeholders would be valuable and exhibit both the the broader picture dish in any of the Dartmouth in the end I think yeah okay so why don't we have formation of equality Diversity Committee on the next agenda aya and let's be thinking about who do we want as far as stakeholders go off the top of my head I think to school committee members to school department representatives some community members but but less some at the next meeting let's take a formal vote as to who we're gonna put on this community on this committee to really explore not only the Dartmouth Indian but also you know how the Dartmouth schools can do better because let's face it we can all do better with with this I'm just everyone is everyone okay with that any nope time with that I'm good with that okay so yeah I won't this way we won't tie ourselves right now to any timeline but let's get it formally on next the next meetings agenda let's create a committee and then at that point we can you know get the ball rolling and decide you know who's going to be on it and how to proceed and then ultimately at some point depending on what school looks like in the fall in and I don't know I have my own concerns about that of what schools going to look like in the fall but you know let's not tie ourselves to any timeline but let's just be committed to exploring this process and following it through and ultimately I'm taking a vote on this so I thank everyone for their thoughtful therefore thoughtful words and their statements around this topic once again thank you - and this is next up under old business superintendent's update on matters related to were affected by kovat 19 in dr.
Gifford Thank You mr. Oliver so as you know I don't want to rehash things you do know but we are in the process right now of developing the three required plans for return to school to be submitted on July 31st we've met with teams of teachers and admin throughout the district just to get initial thoughts etc right now we have a small group just drafting we're trying to wrap our head around what kind of what this looks like even on paper just the appropriate things to include in the plan etc so we're drafting that including the return to school full return to school with restrictions of course safety restrictions which the buildings have worked on for us and they're each built in each building taking into consideration the feasibility study spacing that we would have to do the desks etc as you might require you know we're looking at either three-foot to the six-foot we're trying to take into consideration all thinking and to use many non-traditional spaces such as the auditorium maybe the cafeteria our closets to put kids and teachers in as we split kids up and teaching staff there's also a lot of other repercussions about that especially at the high school level we're trying to brace up break up the courses and the qualified staff this appropriately licensed staff to teach those various classes so there are a lot of things to think about in any kind of return to school plan we're also investigating a hybrid plan which a couple of comments you know a couple of suggestions were which we actually put on our survey week on week off alternate day etc so we're just brainstorming how that would look so of course that would be like half this coming in on one time at one week or one day and then half working at home and vice versa so we would break students into cohort groups of course with that we have to consider special education placements and transportation as well the third one as you know is the remote learning plan right now we have individual we met with um teachers who wanted who volunteered to be on what we're calling the remote learning task force and they're working very hard with their levels so we have an elementary team a middle school team and a high school team on tweaking and enhancing our existing remote learning plan with more robustness if that's a word schedules grading that kind of those kinds of things that we really need to step up our game if we were to go completely remote so we're working on that we're putting together a draft plan we also have set bargaining dates so because anything we decide we obviously have to bargain and negotiate with the Union so we're meeting with them this Thursday I wanted I think I sent you an email that if mr.
Nunes would be willing to sit on that if the committee has no problem with that you can talk about that as he did on the other teams so that's where we are with the plans being developed what I'm thinking is if we I really have to clarify from the Commissioner which someone asks that our last Commissioners meeting but I don't I'm not quite sure we got the complete answer if we do not come to agreement with the Union as you know this is a very very short window of time to get this done and come August 10th when we have to submit what we call our final drafts if you will our final plans and make a decision as to what plan we're going to implement do we still implement it if there's still no agreement so I have to look into that a little bit more and get more direction but what I was thinking was on our next meeting which I believe is August 3rd we can have more detailed about what that hybrid plan is looking like and some of the highlights from the remote plan as well so we have more of a formal kind of presentation because we do need school committee support for whatever plan we think we would implement come the middle of August so we'll bring that forth again um excuse me dr.