um because that's been a big piece of the hesitation that we're trying to avoid. You know, can I use it this way? Can I not use it this way? Um so I think the I think leaving it more broad is our better approach on that. Um we can certainly give some guidance with some of those columns in terms of um which standards it aligns to what grade levels it's most appropriate for. Um, but I think that could be a great example. Like if let's just say for for giggles in 12th grade we're doing a we're ending the year with a choice novel. Well, maybe I'm reading something that's outside of the scope of that, but I'm following that parent permission process and the parents saying like, "Cool, this is a really up here novel and I want to see my kid challenge." Or maybe it's down here, but it has this really cool theme that my kid's interested in.
So the idea was that um this could be accomplished and it's really I I can see the data for the children with MCCAST scores and all of that but what we can't see are um how people are feeling either. I mean having somebody come in, they look at curriculum materials, they look at everything. They give you a bigger lens. Um, and they're not just looking at the reading, they're looking at the writing, they're looking at the vocabulary, all the pieces that go together, which our state test doesn't even really do accurately anymore. Um, I think having that kind of data at the end of the school year is I know as a principal a dream because you have all summer to look at it and make meaning of it to help plan the next school year. So that was why. Um, so if we do it in the fall, again, everything's already been put together.
Um and there's no magic to it and people have spent a lot of money and our high school 94% of all high schools in Massachusetts are doing better than our high school. That piece of data should scare all of us and we need to do better. and having somebody come in from the outside makes sense because we're all looking at it through a lens of Greenfield and our kids. Um, so if it gets pushed off, it gets pushed off. But I think we've been waiting for a long time. Um, and the state comes in and the state does their thing. Um, but they also don't live here and know that the children could be doing a lot better. member Denive and then I would really like to move this motion. >> I really want to thank the chair for reminding us that we do not we're not in the classroom.
All right. You know, um, so we're just trying to leave some of those options open. >> Just a hypothetical. So, let's say that we're going to use one of those books as a whole class book study, but a handful of parents say, "No, my kid's not going to do that." So, now, how do we deal with that? Like, how do we isolate five kids? >> It's a great question. Uh, that that does become complex when we get to those points. Um, I think that we have to make some decisions on a case- by case basis as to how many kids or how great of a group are we talking about. I mean, to me, if you're getting to five, six, seven kids in a 25 student class, um, then we probably need to choose a different novel in general. Um, or we need to open up avenues, and this is where our teachers are quite skilled, right?
all the classes have been put together. All everything's together. Nobody's going to undo something. Um, but maybe, you know, if that's the way it has to be, that's the way it has to be. But that was the idea that we have that fresh. Um, so people really had something hands-on and that, and I'm going to be honest, that's never really happened. Um and Greenfield has struggled with literacy um in one school or another for the last 15 years. It's not something and everybody has tried if there used to be a base a room in the in the basement of the middle school that had all this money that was spent on all these different initiatives that were supposed to fix things, but nobody ever brought in somebody to look at what was the thing. It's there's no magic bullet. It's hard work. there's new no new core and our new core is six years old.
That's not our job as school committee members. We do not do the dayto-day. We hire specifically people with expertise to hire more people with expertise to do this. Like this is not our purview at all. Um, but one thing we can do that is under our umbrella of governance is to maybe have all this mid um midcycle data put on the website and to maybe have a have a more organized way of looking at this because if you're saying that people are not getting the information that they want and I go to the website, yeah, it's not there. There's the strategic plan is there but it's kind of hard to find. It's under school committee. I don't know why. Like, it really should be like on the front page, but it's under school committee. It's buried. Um, none of this data is there. So, really, maybe we need an achievement section for our website where families can log on and look because, you know, not everybody knows how to look for the school report card.
We need to open up avenues for I'm I'm instructing you in character traits and you've chosen one of these three or four novels. So I can give the direct instruction related to those character traits and the assignment that you're doing or the reflection on learning is based on this book, this book or this book. Um our teachers are skilled enough to do that. It's definitely a heavier lift but they're skilled enough to do that. I mean, I would say that historically, unless it's something that's really on the edge. >> Well, historically, I mean, they haven't used those books yet, right? But in general, I would say the vast majority of parents if they're >> I think >> most parents, and I know at least I will say I feel this way. I think most parents, if they're properly educated about what's in the book and given that option to opt out, >> feel relatively comfortable.
Um and there's no magic to it and people have spent a lot of money and our high school 94% of all high schools in Massachusetts are doing better than our high school. That piece of data should scare all of us and we need to do better. and having somebody come in from the outside makes sense because we're all looking at it through a lens of Greenfield and our kids. Um, so if it gets pushed off, it gets pushed off. But I think we've been waiting for a long time. Um, and the state comes in and the state does their thing. Um, but they also don't live here and know that the children could be doing a lot better. member Deniv and then I would really like to move this motion along. >> I really want to thank the chair for reminding us that we do not we're not in the classroom.
Like, people are just going to Google. Like, there's no reason why we can't have achievements on our website. And also, that would give us an opportunity to crow a little bit about the great things that we're doing. Like here we are talking about literacy rates being terrible. But we had eight students last year that went to Ivy League schools and nobody talked about that. The recorder didn't put an article out about that. Like there are good things that are happening and it just burns me every time that I just hear about bad bad all the time. Like that's something we can do as a school committee is we can change that narrative. We can vote to put more um information on our website. That's a piece of oversight we could do that would be positive in this situation. So maybe I'll make a motion for that under new business for next time.
>> It's when they feel like it's snuck up on them that people start questioning, you know, any motives behind it. But if we say on the front end at the beginning of the year that this is a whole class novel, take your time, read it yourself as a parent, check it out as a family, make sure you're good with it. Um, I think most parents then steer into that parental right piece of um, and I know you and I, Miss Harus, have talked about this. I, as a parent, may not agree with the themes or whatever that exists in that novel or the ideology that exists, the historical context. I mean, we take that a million different ways. But now I have the right to be a parent and have that conversation with my child at the dinner table or wherever I do these things in advance to say, "Hey, you're going to be reading this book and it may be contrary to my beliefs, your beliefs.
That's not our job as school committee members. We do not do the dayto-day. We hire specifically people with expertise to hire more people with expertise to do this. Like this is not our purview at all. Um, but one thing we can do that is under our umbrella of governance is to maybe have all this mid um midcycle data put on the website and to maybe have a have a more organized way of looking at this because if you're saying that people are not getting the information that they want and I go to the website, yeah, it's not there. There's the strategic plan is there but it's kind of hard to find. It's under school committee. I don't know why. Like it really should be like on the front page, but it's under school committee. It's buried. Um none of this data is there. So really, maybe we need an achievement section for our website where families can log on and look cuz you know, not everybody knows how to look for the school report card.
>> I look forward to it. All right. We do have a motion on the table. There was a member who made a suggestion to move this motion to a future meeting. Um but that would actually require the mover of the motion to agree to that and to want that and to express that desire. elsewise, we will move to a vote. All right, I'm seeing that it looks like we want a vote and we want it now. So, we shall have it. Um, we have a motion and a second from member child. Uh, will you please do the voting? We raise hands. All in favor by show of hands. All opposed. Any abstensions? It passes. All right. Two nos. Two obstensions. All right. Yep. So, I do just want to comment on the vote we just did. So, just to be clear what happened, a literacy audit will be begun.
Um, let's talk about that." You know, let's open up that that conversation. If I don't want my kid exposed to that, then I have that right to opt out. And again, if we have a lot of opt out, we may have to go a different direction. So, >> I did have one more question. Um, thank you for reminding me when you were mentioning our amazing teachers that we have and how skilled they are. they are. [clears throat] I did see there were um the there was the past list. Um there was from what we had approved or not approved with the curriculum approval last year. Um there were some recommendations from the district office. Um and then I know there's been alluded to a committee and a way for additional novels to be added to the list. Um, I would like to see a way for our teachers, our skilled professionals, the ones that are in the classrooms teaching the material, teaching the novels.
Like people are just going to Google. Like there's no reason why we can't have achievements on our website. And also that would give us an opportunity to crow a little bit about the great things that we're doing. Like here we are talking about literacy rates being terrible. But we had eight students last year that went to Ivy League schools and nobody talked about that. The recorder didn't put an article out about that. Like there are good things that are happening and it just burns me every time that I just hear about bad bad bad all the time. Like that's something we can do as a school committee is we can change that narrative. We can vote to put more um information on our website. That's a piece of oversight we could do that would be positive in this situation. So maybe I'll make a motion for that under new business for next time.
I think that it is unreasonable to anticipate that the timeline that's in this motion is actually going to get met. Let's just be really clear about that. Well, if it's okay, We can work on the wording of motions if we know if we can anticipate that they're not actually achievable. >> Yeah. >> Um and for clarity, I I believe I know where member Goodman's coming from, but I just want to clarify because I did hear a different kind of uh topic from somebody else. I believe you're looking for us to hire somebody. Yes. Okay. Thank you. I did I did hear it said that um maybe the superintendent would be doing it. No, but no, from other members just so we all on the same page, we'll be proceeding that way. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Uh, all right. So, we have another motion, item B.
I would like a way to see them be able to expedite a process to if they have a novel that they think is fantastic to send that through to us, whether it's monthly, quarterly, it's on the consent agenda, it's an agenda item, whatever that may be, so that we can allow them as teachers um to enjoy the art of teaching. For sure. I appreciate you teeing that up because we've already talked about that. So, it's a good tea up. Um, our conversation has centered around taking that um that spreadsheet and those columns as we've discussed. And so, let's say the teacher brings a novel to our attention that they're interested in, we would come to you at the next available board meeting and say, "Here, here's the the name of the novel. Here's the Lexile level. Here's all of those columns that we've described." And then you as a board can either say, "Thumbs up.
>> I look forward to it. All right. We do have a motion on the table. There was a member who made a suggestion to move this motion to a future meeting. Um but that would actually require the mover of the motion to agree to that and to want that and to express that desire. elsewise, we will move to a vote. All right, I'm seeing that it looks like we want a vote and we want it now. So, we shall have it. Um, we have a motion and a second for member child. Uh, will you please do the voting? Member >> web hands. >> Let's raise hands. All in favor? I show of hands. >> All opposed. Any abstensions? >> It passes. All right. Three yays, two nos, two abstensions. All right. Yep. So, I do just want to comment on the vote we just did.
Um, hopefully we can get these through these a little more expeditiously. Um, motion from member Goodwin to direct the superintendent to determine the amount of screen time that students in each grade are experiencing in the Greenfield Public Schools in the 25 school year. The amount should be categorized as either instructional or assessment and reported in minutes per day. Is there a second? >> Second. >> All right, we have a motion from member Goodwin. We have a second from member web. Uh discussion. >> Yes. >> So I have a question again. Is this something that is easily attainable um in the time that we have left? Is this a time consuming something to find out how long everybody spends in front of a screen? I don't know. I've never been a teacher. >> Um, yeah, if we're if we were directed with this, we would have to figure out a way to collect data.
We're good with them using that." or we have questions. We'd like it to go through the novel review process. So, our intent is to give you two options there of a um you know, we left out a different one, Romeo and Juliet. It's a classic. I don't know why that wasn't on our list, but it's not. And we come to you and say, um Dr. Valenuela wants to teach Romeo and Juliet. And you go, cool, fine. Easy enough. You have that choice. Or you go, h I'm not sure our community is going to love Romeo and Juliet. Uh let's dive a little bit deeper. Or I've never heard of that book. Let's talk about it. Um, and then we can take it through that novel review process to go a little more in depth and bring you additional information. I mean, the great thing in 2026 is that whether we fully trust everything on Google or AI or not, it's pretty easy to get a good synopsis pretty quickly.
So, just to be clear what happened, a literacy audit will be begun. I think that it is unreasonable to anticipate that the timeline that's in this motion is actually going to get met. Let's just be really clear about that. Well, if it's okay, then maybe we can work on the wording of motions if we know if we can anticipate that they're not actually achievable. >> Yeah. >> Um, and for clarity, I I believe I know where member Goodman's coming from, but I just want to clarify because I did hear a different kind of uh topic from somebody else. I believe you're looking for us to hire somebody. Yes. Okay. Thank you. I did I did hear it said that um maybe the superintendent would be doing it. No, but no, from other members just so we all on the same page, we'll be proceeding that way.