And then we work with CSS with equity inclusion council, and our goal every year is to have that number of students on that zero to one list continue to go down. So, that is where we're at with relationship mapping. We're really proud of it. Um I have a few questions. Uh what was our response rate from the student side? Um I actually I want to I want to say it was somewhere around like I believe it was right around 70%. It was the same time that we gave the the relationship mapping survey if you will to our students at the same time that we gave them the state-mandated survey. So, we had to talk as a team about which one we were going to really remind students to do and we went with the state-mandated one because it was required. Um so, we will continue to work on increasing the number of students who do it, but it if my memory serves and I would have to look it up to be sure, I think it was around 75% of our students who completed it.
What specific student outcomes are expected to improve? Um I believe it'll it'll bring um ownership and equity. When students know exactly what they're aiming for, that's not a moving target anymore. They know what they have to work on, what they have to do in order to get a a better score instead of a grade, it's a score. So, how they they move on that mastery scale. Um how do we prevent grade inflation or compression compressin- compression? Um or club as a proficient, I would actually probably say teachers, it's human nature to look at how many A's you give, how many B's you give. Um, I don't think they'll do that as much in a standards-based grading because you're comparing the student to a standard, not to anybody else. So, that student is just getting compared to what they know and what they can perform and do.
One of the things that I noticed among the guests are colleagues or generations that are also working in the district that really warms my heart. So, thank you for all the countless moments of service that likely went unnoticed but were um never more unimportant. So, thank you everyone for being here tonight and with that We do not have any public comments. Um we have to do that at every meeting. We do not. Um retirees, before you leave a couple of housekeeping things, you are welcome to take the flowers that are at your tables. Uh there should be enough for each of you, but please leave the vases. So, I believe we have some little bags if you need uh those to take with you. Um and then we also have boxes for your lanterns or your um uh gifts. So, if you would like those, get with Amanda before you leave.
And also a special thank you to my husband Scott who is my biggest champion and my rock. So, thank you all so much. I so appreciate it. >> [applause] [applause] >> We have a number of presentations this evening. Dr. Phillips, would you mind introducing them for us? Not at all, Mr. Shear. Thank you very much. First up tonight, Mrs. Nancy Millspaugh comes and gives us an annual update. And as well, tonight's update on food service also will come with a recommendation later this evening for food prices for next year for lunch prices I should say. Jeremy, thank you to Dr. Phillips and the cabinet for inviting this evening. And to just talk a little bit about the BCS food service program. We participate in four federally funded nutrition programs, the national school lunch program, breakfast program, the after school snack program in schools that qualify, and the summer feeding program.
We found an alternative solution, which is already a made blimp from Serbia, but it's very pricey. It's $1,500 and then they have high tariffs and international shipping was very very expensive. But, what we liked about this was it's a single sealed envelope. It had a dropping mechanism and a flying mechanism already built into it. But, things we were going to run into is difficult to transport. We wouldn't be able to get it through a standard doorway, and it cost even more just to fill it up for one time, and maintaining it would be even even more difficult to do. So. >> So, at the start of every year, we are given $1,000 to work with, but we realized very quickly that $1,000 is going to burn really quick, and so we applied for the Indiana grant. And so, it's been granted to 545 applicants across all 92 counties in Indiana.
We have built back in the first Tuesday 2-hour delays in September, October, November, December, and March. We did not do them in January and February simply because we lose so much school already in those days. Um we have uh fall break is the week of October 18th. Thanksgiving break is still 3 days. Christmas break is still 2 weeks uh beginning on December 20th and running through the January 3rd return date. So, our break is April 3rd. We have three uh built-in snow days. Those are built-in on January 17th, February 21st, and March 6th. The 17th and the 21st are President's Day and MLK Day. The teachers association is in agreement that if we have snow days prior to two two weeks or longer prior to those days, we could use them for snow days so we don't have to have so many e-learning days in a row.
Um, so that was what my presentation was about this year. Thank you. >> I feel like even as they're speaking and saying these things, it is no surprise that they have won awards at this level. Um, and this is always our sharpest dressed group. So, I very much appreciate um the effort that you guys put in and any parents out there who were in charge of ironing or steaming some of these things. Um our next one is Karum Arbini. All right.
>> All right, I ideally anticipates releasing additional guidance for schools and so we'll be waiting for those. They should they should be here anytime. So >> So Rick, uh when we have these guidelines because it's pretty general when you say wireless communication device. This is a phone. I can make phone calls. I can text. I can do everything from here. Email on my on my smart watch. Is it going to be specific to like a smart watch or >> Yeah, if if you would look at line Let me see. The second paragraph. Uh wireless communication device shall mean any wireless web enabled device capable of allowing voice, message, data communication between two or more parties whether it operates independently and it gets to that wearable technology. And then it also says wearable technology shall be considered a WCD for purposes of this policy regardless of whether it is actively connected during the school day.
Summer school has slowly kind of been whittleled away. by the DOE and they've done that by how they fund fund or don't fund um or reimburse courses. So, it's primarily for remediation I instruction helping kids to prepare for that with the eventual um taking test before summer. So, it would be uh my recommendation the board approve our summer school proposal As presented, we continue to line up transportation, all those things, food service. That would be my recommendation. >> I know it says 36 invitation. >> What did we say? What did you say today, Lisa? That we had was it? >> No. How many would that be? >> 26. We had several pass this first uh opportunity and so then they don't have to come to >> Okay. >> Our goal is to have smaller list. Last year I think we had >> almost 40 I think attended.
Okay. And uh I don't know. Big is not here. What about uh Risk Academy? >> Yeah, there there was the one that she was concerned with, um but we're we're working through that. Same thing, you know, that's not graduation not graduating is not an option. So, yeah, we'll make it happen. And then also, I'd like offer my condolences to the Downs family with the loss of Jace and Jaden. Also, the South family with the passing of Jace James' father. So, that's all that I have. Welcome aboard, like everyone has said. Glad to have you and forward to you and Sam working over there at the high school together. Um that's nice Thanks, Corey, for the update. Congratulations. We look forward to having you here and working with the team and so um What I've got first, Mike. Um welcome. You know, one of the things that I'm really excited about about Mr.
And we're all sharing that atmosphere. They're using it for cooking. That's their cooking fuel. They're putting plastic under there. Yeah. And a huge issue in Massachusetts is that our incinerators are all at capacity at this point. So, much of the waste that we have when they they usually say that, you know, when um Um, they put the trash into burn. It It reduces, but you still have 1/3 of it left. Is that toxic ash, which still needs to be dealt with. Um, so what is happening to a lot of the waste is it's being now shipped out by rail to other states, um, you know, in usually like low-income neighborhoods. Uh, so so you know, at a very high level, not just plastic, but we need to be reducing waste as well so that, um, you know, we're not contributing to the problem. A question on, well, two things.
Yes. Good evening. Um it it may not necessarily be soil, but it it could and likely is groundwater contamination. Okay. Could you introduce yourself, please? >> Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Schwartz Campbell. I'm an LSP with Campbell Environmental. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, sorry to interrupt, Chris. No, no problem. I'm trying to put this in perspective for other people besides the commission that are watching. No, that we understand. It's a complicated subject and we we tried to make it uh a little more digestible and easy to review for for everyone here. [clears throat] Um The next uh soil would be the next category we've looked at. Um a phase two comprehensive site assessment was conducted in 2010. As part of that assessment, soil sampling was conducted uh throughout the site. Soil samples from six soil borings were analyzed for volatile organic compounds or VOCs as I'll refer to them.
Hi, I'm Abby. Did you know that 8 billion pounds of trash in boned in the United States every year and more than 50% of that trash could be composted instead? Hi, I'm Michael. We learned this while researching about composting. After educating ourselves and getting funding from our PTO, we then had an assembly to educate the rest of the school. Hi, I'm McKenzie. We played games at the assembly where we practice on how to clear trays and sort our garbage and scraps. We sign up daily to oversee the students clearing their trays. We enforc this the learning with stickers in a weekly raffle for the grade level who did the best sorting that week. As of right now, Black Earth Composting Company estimates we have delivered 3,600 pounds from our landfill by composting our cafeteria waste. This food waste stays out of landfills and is made into nutritious compost.
If I could, I would have 50 reading specialists like zooming on our elementary schools right now. Um but we have we our future is dealing with keeping those programs, keeping that staff and letting go of the building concept. That because that's where we can save big money and that's where we can still keep our schools alive and well um by just realizing and accepting that we can get this down to fewer buildings and then the city can either turn that into housing which everybody's desperate for um and make money off it and we might get a cut back to the schools you know we can work our deals That's what I'm saying Yeah exactly so I just think that is a future source of making sure this stays um maybe another rainy day fund >> Yeah and and exactly what you just said you mentioned I just wrote that down I wrote no staff lost no program lost right we're not we're not coming with you and and I mean nitpicking don't get me wrong at times you're going to all have to but we're not saying you have a choice to make and do you want me to have strings for kids next year for $25,000 right we're not putting that in front of you we've seen I've seen my colleagues do that in other cities and towns in the area who are going for overrides etc who are throwing out things like unfortunately in South Hadley saying putting on the table no sports next year no band Yep I talked to the Frontier superintendent last week minutes South Hadley said no sports next year in 3 days he got 30 applications for school choice of kids wanting to leave South Hadley bang go to right to Frontier right and that said so we're not scaring I don't mean that in a bad way but scaring >> in that sense saying no we can still run the things that you enjoy here right the music program the composting the band right the sports all that's all the things so Well that gets the kids to actually show up at school Yeah because the clubs I say it all the time this was one of my pitches I may have said it when I was interviewing with you last year that people would talk about extracurricular activities.
and differentiating for kids, I mean, you have a lot ending up on the other end, so. I very much agree and I think it's something that we've struggled with in the really looking at how we're differentiating in the classroom before we jump to requiring additional supports and and taking a look at um what small group instruction might look like in the classroom, um what how the teacher is differentiating for the child because you're right, if we if we don't do tier one well, all of a sudden that triangle um becomes lopsided. Um and I think it's um it's something that we need to go backwards with in in some ways. You know, I think as we refine what tier two and tier three practices are, um in some ways we've lost sight of how can we differentiate within the classrooms? What does UDL look like?
So, internships if um we're um actually working right now with the Ball and Socket. Um, we have um four positions I think that are available. I have I think I might have somebody for the marketing um internship. Uh, I would love to I would love for our students to do more uh with internships. Sometimes it's uh our students are very heavily involved in >> [snorts] >> many different activities after school. Bless you. Uh, so it's not We We try to make We try to find the right fit when we can. We do have an internship um when we have enough students we can run um we can run it. Otherwise, every once in a while somebody will come and and we'll try to find a fit for um an internship. I know Ball [clears throat] and Socket is interested. Merlina and I spent a few hours with them, right?
Trey is most proud of his ability to make other people laugh and smile. Easton Rich >> [applause] >> Easton was on the honor roll and will receive an academic letter. Easton is most proud of being part of the Pioneer League football championship team both in 7th and 8th grade and as well as a Pioneer League track champion. Will the last row please stand and come forward? Shana Rogers >> [applause] >> Shana was on the high honor roll and will receive an academic letter. She is also above the 90th percentile in math. Shana is most proud of being selected to be the page for our representatives. Paisley Spring >> [applause] >> Paisley was on the high honor roll and will receive an academic letter. Paisley is most proud of who she has become and how much she has improved this year in sports and her grades.
It's very easy out there. It's not easy up here when you know, these are these are people's livelihoods. You know, we're not home to say, "Hey, it's here's a game." It's not what it was. I mean, every position was talked about to me. Every every possible, you know, change or what can we do this or how we can save money here and and just this is where we at. We were talking almost $4 million in cuts. Um and again, I we're we're I mean, you know, I think Jack's got to report later and just to kind of reiterate the the special ed part of it. Because we just had we just had several students register last week. Now, this is the end of the year that are really going to affect some of our numbers. Um I just want to say one more thing about special special needs and charter schools and all this other stuff because I think I think people don't understand it unless you're up here.
Class of 2026, I hope you go to college, trade school, or into the workforce and begin following your dreams. I hope you keep close to you those who have helped you grow throughout this stage in your life. I hope you don't let the actions of others dictate what you do and how you do it. I hope you never allow yourself to lose compassion and empathy. I hope you succeed as often as you can, but I hope when you fail, you pick yourself back up. I hope when life gets heavy, you allow others to help you carry it. And Dorado, most of all, I hope you leave here tonight proud of the mountains you've climbed while getting through high school. And that you are as proud as I am to have been a Dorado. I'd like to say goodbye by using my eeky guy for tonight, Hannah Montana.