001Okay. Can y'all hear me? Amy, can you hear me? Yes, ma'am. I can hear you. Can you hear us? Go where? She must not can hear us. Hold on. Can you hear us now? Can y'all hear me? I'm going to text her and see. >> Yeah, text her and see cuz I'm not sure what's going on. We can hear you, but you can't hear us. We're working on it, so hang tight for just a moment. So, that's plugged in. It's not time for me. Can you hear us? I can hear you, Rachel. Okay. Can you still hear me? Yes. >> Okay. Let me walk away. >> Okay, I'm in my car and that's my computer yet, so I'm going to log off, but if I can hear you on the phone, then I should be
002able to hear you once I get to my desk. Yes. Now, the settings might be different. Can you still hear me? Yes, I can. Okay, I'm just making sure. All right, good deal. >> thank you. All right. Bye. They'll probably time out, but >> Mhm. >> Good morning. Good morning. Can you hear us? Yes. Okay, cool. >> you. I'm still trying to get to my um computer. We got to meet and so of course everything that went wrong this morning uh Yeah. cool, but I am at work and trying to get in the building. Okay. And we have everybody's here well, Kevin, Jason, and uh Kathy are here. Dr. Ross is here. Ms. McCaskill and Mr. Davis. Okay, perfect. Um good morning. I'm going to switch to my computer in just a second so I
003can also be looking at the um um at the agenda cuz I'm not looking at it right this uh right this minute. But I want to um go ahead and officially call the meeting to order at 8:30. Um and we may need to amend the agenda to discuss um um for me to appoint a chair to this committee. This is our first committee meeting so I don't know if it's formalized in the same way um as our regular board meetings. So I could use um quick direction on whether or not we need to amend the agenda for that. Ms. Snipes, um this is Kathy. I think it's probably a good idea. Um and we should be able to do that. So I I move that we amend the agenda um to select a board chair.
004A committee chair. >> committee chair. Do I have a second? Second. Perfect. Um all those in favor of the amendment to the agenda. I can't see but um A yes from Mr. Baynum and a yes from me. Okay. All right. And then is Mr. Scalia are you opposed? Yeah, correct. Okay, perfect. All right, well, the motion um passes um three to one. I am logging into my computer. Y'all, I'm sorry. I'm coming. Quick question. How many board members are on this committee? Um Kevin, she may not um heard that um Okay. >> Miss Snipes, can you hear us? >> Can you hear me? We can hear [clears throat] you. Can you hear us? I can now. Okay, there we go. I'm sorry. I was having some technical difficulties. Um I could not get into the
005meeting because that's just how the morning is going. Perfect. All right, thank you so much um everybody for being with us uh today. Um we are um assembled um our first committee since I have um been on the board and we are um pulling together because we have gotten multiple um emails and uh and feedback as it relates to Chromebook usage um in the school and um and multiple parent concerns. And so, as chair um I exercise the right to be able to pull a group of us together um to be able to have a discussion about this and then hopefully have the committee bring forth um recommendations to the board um for um consideration. And so, the first thing um on the um on our agenda um other than the welcome is um introductions.
006You all can see all of our board members and staff um that are with us today. Um And then we already voted some in the agenda to have um someone um chair this um to chair this committee so that we can make sure the work is moving forward um and this committee cannot make any decisions alone but can bring recommendations um forward to the full um to the full board and administration for um consideration. I am um not going to run um this meeting. Um I'm going to appoint um Miss Huddle to serve as chair and so I'll let her run the meeting from here. Okay, thank you Miss Snipes. Um so, by way of introductions, um we've got Miss Snipes on online, myself, Catherine Huddle, Mr. Baynum, and Mr. Scully, and um Mr. Hearing
007will be joining the committee. He just wasn't able to join us today. Um The next thing is to review the committee's purpose and responsibilities. And um one thing I wanted to point out cuz I've had some questions as to whether or not um members of the public could be on the committee. And so, just this committee was formed under policy BDE Board Committees. And I'm not going to read the whole thing, but a couple of um salient points is that um committees are comprised of board members. So, there won't be anyone that's not a board member on the committee, but obviously we will get a lot of input um from various uh stakeholders in in these decisions. Also, another um important point is this is not a standing committee. So, we're going to meet however
008many times we need to meet and then we'll disband. Also, all board members will receive the same information, explore options, and make decisions together. So, this committee can make recommendations to the board. It will share all the information that it gathers with the board, but this committee won't make any decisions. Those will all be up to the board. And last but not least, the function of special committees will be fact-finding, deliberative, and advisory, but never legislative or administrative. Um so, those are that's the role of of this committee. Um So, um next item on the agenda is um the review of board policies. So, um we received a packet with these policies, but anyone who wants to can go online on the district's website and you can go under the board and then the board
009policies um to find these. So, the first one is I J N D B use of technologies. Um and so, that's a fairly lengthy policy um in our packet that um was last revised in um February of 2014. Obviously, a lot of things have changed in technology since then. Um but I'll stop there and just see um if any of the board members have any questions for the administration even though they probably weren't here in 2014 necessarily either. Um but anything they'd like to bring up about um that first policy. Mr. Baynum. So, maybe just as far as like a refresher for the public and us as well, um you know, I I know we've all received different uh communications from families and parents. Are there any limitations to um hours or time that we
010are spending for mainly elementary school? I think is kind of where we're geared towards um with a lot of the complaints or concerns from parents as far as time spent on the computers. I know different teachers have different activities they do and different methods. So, there's no time limit as far as saying 30 minutes here, 15 minutes there, or anything like that. There's no absolute time limits. It but but it's strongly encouraged that the time that is spent on the computers are active learning times and not um not for play or not just for for free free searching, looking at things. So, really just making sure that what we're doing is intentional and purposeful. And just as a question that um I had as well, with reading material, do they utilize, you know, online um
011books more so than just like regular material for reading passages and whatnot because there's been some research back and forth and you know, we want to do what's best for the the kiddos in the future as far as like comprehension. So, we encourage books. That's why all of our classrooms have classroom libraries in them and we encourage books. We also have to be um cognizant that they have to take their testing online. And so, we have to teach both both avenues of of of reading because they're actually different skills um for for doing that. And so, we have to teach both. Yes, Mr. Scully. So, Miss McCaskill, you would say it would be limiting to um educationally to remove one of those options. Absolutely. Miss McCaskill, um one of the and I'm asking this out
012loud for the public cuz it's something um I feel like I've gotten emailed about several times is um how um how are the rules around Chromebook usage um implemented? Meaning, if they're supposed to have, you know, we clearly like still use books obviously, but if there are limitations on maybe how much time the Chromebooks are supposed to be used or even what they're supposed to be used for, um what kind of process if any what kind of process if any do we have for um ensuring that that's like being followed through as well as um how do we manage it if you know, a parent's experience, as you know, we've gotten like in emails, differs from, you know, how you would um how you would implement the policy and how you should how you see
013things um needing to be run in the classroom. Does that make sense? Yes, ma'am, it does. It's a pretty big question, so I'm going to try to take it a piece at a time. >> Sorry. Yes, ma'am. But quite honestly, whenever whenever we The first thing I want to say is we have to all believe that teachers are professionals and that's the first thing that I believe. I believe teachers are professionals and they are trained to do their job well and trained to teach students. And as as an administrator I always that's the first thing I would say to my staff is you're professionals and I trust your professionalism. Um part of what we do is we do have observations but that observation that we do in classrooms is to give feedback to teachers. Just
014like I need feedback from from Dr. Ross, he needs to give me feedback. We all need to learn, we all need to grow. Um and we continue to do that. Um so as far as parents being able to help us even if if there's questions and whether they don't know what's happening with the Chromebooks on the Chromebook there's a little backpack and I in one of my I think it was July maybe when I did that um presentation but there's a there's a screenshot that shows how you can go in and you can see the exact usage of the Chromebooks um from for your child and I've had um a couple of parents that have reached out to ask about that and Mr. Davis has helped me to be able to pull the reports for
015those parents to give very detailed reports on you know, how their children are using the Chromebook and I've yet to find one that has been used inappropriately. Um now part of our discipline policy is that we if a child does choose to use the Chromebook inappropriately, there are consequences for that. Um and I do you know, another presentation that I had I don't know within the last few months I can't give you exact dates but just when we think about any tool that we use in the classroom a pencil can be used inappropriately if a child chooses to use a pencil inappropriately and then there's a consequence for that. Um so I I just I think I have to go back to believing in teachers and believing in the professionalism of what they do. They
016know what students need. One student might need one thing, another student might need something else. And that truly is the beauty of what technology allows for us to do in a much more efficient and effective manner. So the teacher never gets replaced. The teacher is always the most important person to be able to deliver instruction. But while a teacher is doing so with a small group of students the computer we have computer that's adaptive technology that can then meet the needs of differentiation of students that would allow them to do the things that they need to do to meet to meet the needs that they have, the gaps in the learning or even to extend that learning. We also have to make sure that um students are learning how to type. They have to learn
017how to utilize collaboration tools within technology so that when they go into the workforce that they're able to do what's necessary. We talk about and we're so excited about the Siemens um technology that we have with engineering then our middle and high schools coming in. They can't be successful with that if they don't have the prerequisite skills that happen in elementary school. We can't have the um scholarships that we're getting from from students in our high schools and and and the awards that we're getting in our high schools without the foundation that happens in the elementary level. If we take that out we're really being in my opinion negligent in in what we would do with in education. Um so I I don't know if that totally answers your question Ms. Snipes but that's a
018a big overall picture of of my thoughts right now. Okay, I want to do a follow up a quick follow up on um three things that you said. One is um you know, trust the teachers to do their jobs. I can't speak for other people but I don't believe that that is a concern. I believe the concern is about um um individualized students and what works best um you know, for them. It's no secret um it's quite public knowledge um you know, that there have been some shifts with my kids and um and and whatnot um and so um you know, can use my one of my children for an example. I've used it for example in the meetings before um as other parents who have come to speak or send us emails and so
019sometimes it is about a you know, does one size fit all and so the reality um of it is um is um um is maybe uh we do have you know, sort of a blueprint that we should follow. Um I think parents just want to know that they'll be supported if they find out that blueprint isn't being followed for their specific child. And so I just want to clarify that this isn't really about um and I'm just talking from feedback that we get or have gotten um in emails that maybe asked my question. So for somebody that's listening or whatever, this isn't about um you know, we the board or whoever not thinking that teachers are professional. It's just um um I think people want to advocate for their kids or feeling like their voices
020are being heard um as it relates to their concerns and then you also um and then also I want to clarify that at least in my it's not my intention um for us to look at whether or not we want to take the Chromebooks out of schools. I think that came up in the in the first overall discussion. I think what we're looking for um is just to like you know, better understand and then also um you know, help parents like the one who emailed me yesterday because she was excited that we formulated a committee so that their thoughts um could be considered and we could look at some of their you know, real world experiences that they've been feeling um experiencing first hand. And as you um know Ms. Macias when I get those
021I always send them to you so you have an opportunity to investigate or connect with the parents or do with that whatever cuz we're not trying to take over um you know, in that way. And then um the last thing is you made a comment about um kids um you know, needing to be able to learn to to type and it just as a follow up to that statement I just wondered if we had now implemented or we're looking at some sort of um more structured way to for kids to learn how to type cuz I think I asked that in a meeting um before as a you know, as a plus um to the Chromebooks but at that time there wasn't necessarily a regulated system for that. It was just sort of they'd sort
022of teach themselves and I just I was just curious about that one just because you mentioned it. That's all. We do have um a software program in the elementary level that is provided by the state that does help with um typing assistance in typing learning to type. So we do have that and it's done during their computer lab time during the week and then they can also use it throughout the week as needed if if time permits. A lot of that is also incorporated through the use of like when they do their writing then they they use their typing skills to to type in Google Docs to to practice that. So that's an ongoing an ongoing piece. Our standards that there's so many words per minute by third grade so many words per minute by
023fourth grade. So there are standards that go along with that. Thank you Ms. Macias. Those are all my questions. Um I have a few questions as well. Um so one is I know that during COVID we provided home internet access. Um do we still do that? No. No ma'am, we don't uh intentionally provide the hotspots that we were providing for all students as prior during COVID. Okay, thank you. And then um I also to um to follow up I think um there was a question asked about the textbooks and um I when I visit the schools I see almost no textbooks and then and when I do see them they're like like locked in a closet and there's like a checkout procedure. So is it is it safe to say that the majority of textbook
024usage is actually um reading the text online on the Chromebook versus the actual physical book? Depends on if you're looking at middle schools, elementary schools or high schools. So our middle and high schools do um utilize their um online textbooks more. Our elementary textbooks mostly are um gosh, the word just went away from me. They they're consumables. So they're actually consumables where they actually write in most of their textbooks. Um so they get those um in their classrooms. But our middle and high schools do predominantly use the online textbook. That does not mean that the child is not available to get a a textbook if that's something that they they want, they can get that because the state provides that. So um a lot of times they don't they prefer not to because of the
025the weight of the books. They don't want to tote them around, things like that. Most of our classrooms have like class sets of um the books. So, if a child wanted to get it just in the classroom, they could do that. Um but I would say middle and high schools predominantly do utilize the online textbook mostly, but not our elementary schools. Our elementary schools are mostly consumable textbooks. I did want to say um Ms. Snipes, going back to you, I was trying to find you were asking about Chromebook usage and monitoring Chromebook usage. Back in August, I had um presented to you with the information of average usage per day and we'd pulled that data um from what we had. And the most usage from any school in that that graph had had different numbers,
026but the most usage from any school was on average 22 minutes per day. Um and that was in our elementary schools. In our secondary schools, the district average for secondary schools was about 48. Looking at my phone, it's just below 50, so it's about 48 minutes um per per day. The most That was the district average and the most was at a high school, which was uh 75 minutes per day in the high school. Um I have a follow-up question. How was that measured? Um so, what we can do is we are able to pull the usage. Networking gets to it can help us pull the usage overall of all Chromebook usage. And so, we have access to the Chromebook data. I guess what I was asking is um if if is it measured based
027on how often I'm interact- If I'm the user, how often I'm interacting, keystrokes, scrolling, whatever, or the fact that it's on? Um it's it's measured mostly by the fact that it's on and you're actively browsing the website. So, um a child goes to Google Docs or anything like that. Anytime they're moving around all the document or entering um Google Docs, it saves automatically. So, anytime they're typing, it also logs their time on the device. If they're reading, like we just talked about the textbooks, if they're just reading what's on the screen, does it count that time as well? Uh yes, ma'am. As long as they're actively on the device. So, if they have a page pulled up that's there, um Google has this feature where it'll time out and it'll kind of blank the page
028off if nothing's there or no one's doing anything. So, it does log the time while they're reading it. Thank you. Um does anybody have any other questions on this policy? Yes, Mr. Baynham. And this was kind of technology geared. I've seen in some of our schools um that they use the mirroring feature. So, the teacher can basically see what everyone's doing. Is that something that's kind of when y'all have your meetings, kind of geared towards more safety protocols like let's keep that mirroring feature on the whole class, or is it as needed? Um we keep that on for the entire class. Each um teacher has access to their full roster of their classes to turn on um Hapara when they're in there. So, if she's teaching, he or she is teaching, they can see all
029their students to make sure they're in the correct place. Okay. Um we're going to move on to the next Oh, sorry, Mr. Skelly. Um yeah, I I guess I I in contrast to um previous comments, I I agree with you, Ms. McCaskill, about the issue fundamentally being whether or not we accept that teachers are professionals and able to do their jobs because even the concerns from the community, the fundamental flaw there is that it takes away their they're not assuming that in their questions. Otherwise, it wouldn't the question wouldn't be there. So, I think when you accept that the teachers [snorts] are professionals, um then that kind of lays the foundation for really what and I and I wonder, when we got all these emails, did we channel them the proper route to the teacher,
030the principal? Did we first do that? But it it really is an issue of whether or not we're assuming or accepting that the teachers are professional because if we do so, then a lot of these concerns don't really rise to that level and they get handled at that that classroom level. Um and also regarding your comments about uh the primary the middle schoolers and high schoolers tend to do a lot or most of their work online through the textbooks online. So, if the middle schools are doing that, then it becomes even more imperative that we train and teach our elementary students how to do that so that they'll be able to do it once they get to middle school and they won't be behind walking in the door. Um so, it's it's critical that our
031elementary school students are able to be uh competent and efficient with working online, with reading online, and and using those online resources, Chromebooks, whatever the the media um or the medium is to do that. But it it's super critical in that case because it's so reliant in middle school uh starting to be able to to have those skills. And um they do type um I I just know from my experience with with my kids, they uh in elementary school, they they learn to type very proficiently at that level. Um much more so than than what I was taught. I didn't learn until high school, but that was back in the '80s and '90s. Um in today's world, elementary school kids have to be able to have that skill. It's a critical skill for them. And
032so, I I applaud you guys for the structure that you do have and the teachers for doing their jobs and being able to uh assess each individual child and meet their individual needs, whatever that may be. If one is struggling with analog um hard copy reading, or whether they're struggling with digital resources, um our teachers have the ability and the professionalism and knowledge to be able to um meet them where they are. And so, um thank you for that. All right. Anybody else with any other questions? All right. Um we'll move on to the next um policy. It's I H A G, computer technology literacy. This one is actually so short that I'm going to read it. The purpose is to establish the board's vision for computer technology literacy for the district students. The primary
033goal of computer technology studies is to develop technologically literate citizens. However, these studies do not exist in a vacuum. The district must use educational technology to support curriculum and education. The board believes that students, teachers, media specialists, counselors, administrators, managers, and others should have access to technology resources and the ability to use those resources at the time and place of need. And this um policy was actually adopted in March um 2013. Um so, any questions about this policy? Um one question I had is it it does address um teachers, media specialists, etc. Um the previous policy talked about the use of technology resources. And that one didn't really say it was it was addressed to students. So, that's kind of my bigger question is is in you in your guys' mind, is are these policies
034really just for students or are they for students and staff? And are they different? Maybe one's for students, one's for staff. And do we need to clarify which is for which? They are This is a I policy, so I believe it's an instructional policy, which would guide staff. And then there's a S policy um the student policies under Is it um Instruction kind of has students as well. True, but there's a there's policies in terms of behavior with um with technology that guide students and And you got a whole policy series that is. And maybe it's a J policy. Right. So, the acceptable use policy that you'll see in the I J N D B, those acceptable use guidelines, that's for all students and staff. That that that would be for both. So, one question
035I had, would and this I H A J is so short and sweet. Would it If we're going to revise the policy, would it make more sense to get rid of that and add it in with I J N D B, or do you see a reason that we need I A H J as a separate policy? I wouldn't see a issue with combining the two within that. Okay. And Ms. McCaskill, you agree? Okay. Um any other questions from the board? All right. We're going to move on to the next one. And the next one is IJK A. And this one is technology resource selection and adoption. And I'm not going to read it, but it has a section for software about selecting the appropriate software and a section for hardware. And this policy was
036um adopted in January of 2013. Uh so anyone have any questions on this policy? Mr. Baynum. Being that that was, you know, a few years ago, how often, you know, with like our technology department working with our um the instructional department kind of go through the ap- applicability of the actual software, like how relevant it is. Y'all do like yearly updates on some of these features? Um yes, so our vetting committee each summer goes through as much of the software as we can um to see what's still relevant um to make sure all the software still abides by the rules that we set out for them. Some companies get sold, bought. Make sure data still um saved in the correct place. And just to make sure we don't have multiple products doing the same thing
037that I can't hear. >> used. I'm sorry, can you hear me now? Yes, I'm sorry. Okay. Um the software portion that we have a vetting committee that kind of goes through all the software during the summer to make sure everything is still app- applicable as it was uh initially voted on to use. Um just to make sure data is still stored in the the correct place um and we don't have two applications doing the same thing that we're paying for. Um and we kind of review all those every summer. We make them sign the document. So if anything is done in the meantime after it's signed, they should notify us what the changes are. I can also add Monday night you're actually going to hear where we're reevaluating some software, some overlaps, and things and
038to be able to talk about maybe streamlining where we don't have quite as many products um and streamlining that. So you're going to hear some about that Monday night. Any other questions? Um okay, I had so I had a couple questions. One is um the policy says we'll select educational computer software. W- would you consider an application the same thing as software? Okay. Um and the Chromebooks, correct me if I'm wrong, they don't really have resident software on them uh other than what's they're basically a web browser, right? Uh correct. They just have the Google OS installed on them. Okay. So in other words, in other in order to use an application, it has to be available on the on the internet. For the Chromebook, yes. >> For the Chromebook, yes. Um does that pose
039any any limitations for us? Is there software that um it would be good for our children to be able to use that is not available on the internet? The best example I've have that, and I'll just ask, do our do our children have access to Microsoft products like PowerPoint, Word, and Excel? So they do not have access to PowerPoint and Word on the Chromebook, no. But most other programs um have sped up with the times, so they all have an additional Google plugin or a web-based um hosted version of the application. Some may have an installed version that's for Windows, and some most that we do um vet have a Google applicable version of the software. Okay. So in my example, so they would not be able to use Microsoft Excel, but they would be
040able to use a product similar to Excel. Correct, like uh Google Sheets. Okay. Um you know, Mr. Scully talked about getting students ready for the for the world. Um have have we looked into that because you know, those products seem to be very extensively used in the business world. So do we have we looked into that versus our ability to be able to use those products? Uh we have not looked into changing to strictly Microsoft, but the two products are very, very similar. Okay. So for the most part, if you can navigate and use the same formulas in Excel, you can use almost the exact same thing in Google Sheets. Uh Kendra, just uh for uh clarity, what do we use in our computer labs? Our computer labs are um Chrome-based. And it it depends
041on what the computer lab is used for. Um high schools, Kate, they're using um Microsoft desktops. For the most part, if it's a business class or things of that nature, they bring their Chromebooks. Uh and and it could have been a while since I've been principal there, but I thought we we did Excel in some of our instructional courses in the in the high school. Uh we have if they [clears throat] say business class that requires that and the lab is also being used for most other things. They are still Windows labs, the left hand schools. And we have for engineering classes, our CAD drawings and all of those, those still being used? All Windows devices, yes, sir. On Windows, correct? Yes. So there's a variety of uh variety of software and OS >> that
042we use. Yes, sir. Specific to the standards that prepares them for those particular standards, correct? Yes, sir. Um and then I also had a question about the the hardware to um the Chromebooks. Do Do we purchase Do we get grants for those or are those all purchased with district funds? Uh those are all purchased with district funds. Anyone? Yes, Mr. Baynum. That kind of led to my other question. With the software purchases similar to Microsoft, is it a yearly purchase that we buy like the license? Are we purchasing it outright on some things? Unfortunately, at most companies have gone to an annual cost. That's it's I don't know that we have anything that's a one-time cost anymore. Most everything's an annual cost. Any other questions? All right. I I had one more about the the
043vetting committee. What um what kind of standards or criteria do you guys use when for the with the vetting? Yes, uh it's a lot. >> [laughter] >> On the technology side, we're normally the last ones to get the vetting information, but when we get the vetting information, it's sent to instruction and I'm pretty sure you guys look at how it's how it's used, how it can be applicable. Do we have something that's already doing this? Is it doing one other thing that's just similar that we just want um it's it's very extensive and it's tested before it even makes it to technology to make sure it's stored data is stored in the right place. Data is not Data is not stored in North Korea. Um how people access it, are they sharing the data, are
044they farming out the information that they get when we log in and things of that nature. Um so to follow up on that, um you guys do look at what data regarding the the student is stored uh or access- accessible to the vendor. Is that what I'm hearing? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Are there What are things that you will not allow or what do you allow? However it's easiest to say that. We do not allow them to sell our data. Um that must be written in their policy. We do not allow them to store our data in foreign countries. So if it's a huge program that's storing the their data centers in China, we don't allow those um type documents. Are there any limitations on what they can't If they store it in the US and
045they don't sell it, are there any limitations on what they are allowed to store? Like students' date of birth or, you know, I it that kind of depends on what the program is for. For the most part, they just doing credentials. And then any application that saves data, if they wrote a paper in an application, that's pretty much what they're saving. Um most programs that we use just require um login credentials. So student username, password, and then any documents that they create while they're using it. It's it's an absolute need only basis, truly, that's what it is. So our PowerSchool would be the one that would have the most sensitive information. Um but other than that, our regular applications for instructional purposes, there'll be no reason for them to have sensitive information. Um and one
046last question on that, if if a student is at home using their Chromebook and they're accessing an application and they're using their home internet, is it possible, cuz I don't know any of this that this type of stuff, is it possible for an application to disrupt or corrupt or do anything to their home network or any other computers that are on their home network? Um from the ones that we vetted, it they should not be. Okay. So it is possible, but that's one of the things you guys have vetted for. We vetted for capabilities of it, so it's not a product that would later when they go home all of a sudden disrupt and corrupt the device. Uh most of them, cuz they're on Chromebooks, are all web-based, so they shouldn't be affecting the hardware
047on the device. Thank you. All right, any other questions, Mr. Baynum? And this just is another technical question, cuz my daughter's mentioned it before. If they're working on like a paper on our Chromebooks, if it like goes crazy, shuts down, there's an error, is it stored at to the servers of that particular app or on the Chromebook hard drive? It's on the server of that particular app. Got you. Mr. Scully. Um is the software and the programs that we use is is any of it um custom for D5 only, or are they widely available national programs that Uh all of them are widely available nationally. So, we don't And nothing that we use is just specific or uh proprietary custom to D5? No, sir. So, the issues that you know, storage, the offsite, and um
048the access uh vulnerabilities for data, all of that, every school district, every school in America, generally speaking, using PowerSchool PowerSchool, for example, is under those same terms. Yes, sir. Okay. All right. Um moving on to um the next item on the agenda is e-learning days um and the e-learning days district handbook, which um we have under exhibit D. And uh for anyone watching, this is actually the South Carolina Department of Education's e-learning days district handbook, and it was issued in July 2025. Um it's you know, it's probably Let's see how long it is. It's 10 pages long, so um we're not going to go into the the whole thing today, but I thought it might be a good idea. This um My understanding is that this there were some change some pretty radical changes in
049this from the prior version, so um maybe Ms. McCaskill, you'd like to talk to that to to those items. Sure, the biggest change, uh if you're looking at that, it's found on page four, where it says, "What should an e-learning day look like?" Those are the big the biggest changes, and I will read the second paragraph there. It says, "For any e-learning day used, the district certifies that each e-learning day will be 5 and 1/2 hours for students in kindergarten through grade eight, and 6 hours for students in grades 9 through 12, or a minimum of 200 minutes of daily instruction. Lessons provided should require a minimum of 200 minutes of instruction, video, reading, listening. The remainder of the time is for student engagement, studying, and work completion, etc. These times are cumulative across subjects.
050So, that's a that was a huge difference in the amount of minutes required for live instruction or videos, um direct teaching type things, not not just activities or assignments. And then also on the back page, page 10, where it talks about the frequently asked questions, the last question there says, "May packets be used on e-learning days?" And it says, "Instruction must be provided in the form of online meetings and are provided videos. Packets may only be used as appropriate for age or accommodations to provide materials for student work. They may not be used in lieu of virtual instruction." So, in order to have e-learning, the the devices would be necessary, because you couldn't provide videos without providing the device. Because then we would be assuming that every household would be equal in terms of their
051access. Okay. Um any questions, Mr. Baynum? And again, I know things have changed definitely since the years of COVID and directly after. Um obviously, it varies with like our special services and special needs classes. Um our household has a range of those. As far as can a teacher, if they wanted to do like a live class meet, is that something that's an option, or is it just self-paced as our goal? So, schools that have made decisions on doing this consistently, so that we would um be consistent across schools. And uh most of our middle and high schools have agreed to do videos. However, when we talk about special education, that's totally opposite that's totally separate. Um and teachers can make individual decisions based on needs of individual students. Cuz I will say, obviously, it it
052varies towards um the needs of the class, the students. Um but I've seen over the the past few years and as we participate in e-learning days and so on and so forth, the um the live class meets at least for my students are typically enjoyed more, if that's the right word. Um just that interaction, cuz they a lot of the especially the elementary age, they do enjoy that social aspect, so whether it's a a group activity, a group game, um but that's just the feedback that I've seen. Other questions? Um I've got a couple. One is like if if they if this if the teacher wants to do the live instruction, what tools is are they using? Google Meet? Google Google Classroom? >> Okay. Um and do we know how on a typical e-learning day,
053do we have know how often that's being used and and how often videos? Do Are we able to track any kind of data on the frequency of the method that's being used? I don't really have any data to to share with you on that specifically. I can tell you that the majority of it is video usage, and then we have teachers are available, and so I hear all the time that a student sends an email to a teacher asking a question, and then they send a Google Meet and quickly jump on if it's something that they need to quickly help a student with or something like that. So, it's it it's very much based on what the needs end up showing, but I don't have data to necessarily show that. Um the other question is
054I've received a lot of feedback from parents that that that their children end up spending actually more time doing this than they would in if they were in school. And you're shaking your head, you've heard that, too. So, um do you think that is an issue, and and if so, how do we solve it? I think what happened and what from what I've been listening to some parents that have have I've spoken to I've also I've also talked to teachers as well as some students about it. Um we actually have a committee that's working on e-learning right now. We've got a parent that's um on that committee as well that had some ideas um that we're working through. But I honestly am not sure I'm I'm struggling with whether it really is that they're using
055more time than they would use in the classroom, or the fact that they're at home by themselves make them feel that it's more time, that it because they're just constantly working on this this this these list of activities versus in the classroom, I've got people around me, I'm collaborating with my friends and my peers, and it just doesn't appear to be the same. So, I I'm struggling right now as to whether cuz looking at what's being placed for e-learning versus what I see in classrooms on a daily basis, I'm really not sure it's different other than I'm by myself, and I'm having to work by myself. So, I I I'm I'm I'm really struggling with that. And um last question, um do we know, I mean, and I know we know, but off the top
056of your head, how many e-learning days a year we're using? Like, how many have we used so far this year? How many did we use last year? I believe it's two this year. We only are allowed five per year. Um last year was one of very unusual year um for us to use I think every one of our e-learning days, but this year we've used two. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions, Mr. Scully? Um I apologize in advance on this question. I I may be misremembering it, but I thought one of our neighbor districts, uh I saw something that if I'm interpreting it correctly, I believe that one of the board members there said that they canceled they decided to cancel their e-learning day and not have an e-learning day and just cancel school that
057day um because they thought >> Mr. Scully, I can't hear you. that they they thought that they weren't getting instruction, that it would they were losing a day of school by having e-learning. Um it maybe I might be butchering that as a recollection, but that being the case, what is your evaluation uh whether you would either disagree that it's better to cancel school and just make it up as a regular school day down the road, or go ahead and have the e-learning day, what come what may? And are [snorts] they is the instruction um are you satisfied with the level of instruction that they're getting on the e-learning day, um what would you your response be to that? I'll turn to Ms. McCaskill. She answers everything today, but that's a that's a me question because
058uh I typically have to make that decision. And there was a lot of factors that come in to determine if it's going to be e-learning day. Um one of the things that we found out is in our makeup day, um most families have already scheduled to be somewhere else as well as our teachers. Uh so we consider that um that on those makeup days, what does the level of instruction look like um when you have a lot of absences? Um and so our first piece is to have school the day that we were scheduled to have school. That's my number one goal. Have school the day we were scheduled to have school. That's when any change to our delay, 1-hour delay, canceling brings in a a a lot of scheduling conflicts to the district. And
059if So the number one goal is to have school on the day we're scheduled to have school. Uh if we find uh when the National Weather Service gives us our briefing and they find that there are conditions favorable to power outages, then we cannot have school on the day that we have school uh that we were scheduled to have school, so we cancel. Uh if there are issues um when let's say there's snow, but the rates of fall and accumulation are not going to impact power outages, then we would we would go e-learning on that day. And so that's kind of the decision matrix that we have is to have school on the day that we're scheduled to have school. Uh if you look at our makeup, um we give our schedule out 2 years
060in advance, and a lot of families have made a lot of teachers have made um uh schedule changes, so that's the last resort. Um have we done a study on uh the quality of education on the e-learning day versus makeup days? We have not. Uh but uh in making that decision is to have school on the day we're scheduled to have school unless um power outages prohibit that. And I think that's what's outlined in the new policy is that if there is evidence that you won't have power, then we're going to cancel school, and then the next makeup day um we will make and that goes into the makeup schedule uh as you're aware that we cannot uh ask for any relief of any days until we've used up our our three makeup days. Uh
061so uh all of that is in the calculus of what determines a a a e-learning day, but uh again, I try to enter the day with can we have school on the day we're scheduled to have school? A- Any other questions, Mr. Baynham? Speaking to the committee that y'all are working on kind of behind the scenes and maybe for us going forward, um it might be kind of interesting without having to put too much into it to create extra work for anybody, focused on an example of like randomly picked assignments for like a middle school and high school classes, honors CP, and then the same assignments for an e-learning day. Cuz I will say once my daughter hit middle school, e-learning days did get progressively longer. Obviously, there's more work, more rigor, but comparing it
062to an in-class experience, it's unfortunately longer and usually carried over. That that may depend on the student, their dedication, but just curiosity. And I would say that um different from You may speak to this, Ms. McCaskill. Different from a regular day, um e-learning days come with extended time for makeup. Uh and so uh on a regular day, we don't have that governance district-wide of of makeup. That becomes more of the uh of the will of the of the teacher, but on a e-learning day, if you can kind of outline what's the expectation for makeup? So um with an e-learning day, of course, you have 5 days to complete the work from the day we come back. So if we if yesterday had to have been an e-learning day, which thankfully it did not have to
063be, but if it had to have been, then we would have had 5 days starting today. So that would have been until next Monday to turn in that work. So you do have extended amounts of time, and that's that's not because of extra work, but it's because you're absent of a teacher. Um and that's I was going to go back to the question Mr. Scully had asked. You know, first and foremost, we say it computers, technology can't take the place of a teacher. So the teacher is the most important person. And so whenever we talk about an e-learning day, is it going to be as effective as if you were sitting in the classroom? In my opinion, no, cuz it's an absence of the teacher sitting with you, you know, being right there with you.
064However, whenever you make the most of the situation at hand, I totally agree with what Dr. Ross was saying. He and I have this conversation every time we we start to talk through it. How many how many absent teachers are we going to have? How many absent students are we going to have if we use the makeup day versus the e-learning day? And I'd much rather use the e-learning day than to have 50% of staff absent and have, you know, 50% subs in the classroom. Um our subs are amazing, but they are not certified teachers. And so um that's just I think that's a place that we have to balance and look at. But those 5 days are for what you're talking about, Mr. Baynham. A lot of times e-learning days are makeup type days.
065And when I say that, what I mean is they are kids can finish work, teachers allow time for finishing work, they allow time for review work. It's not new instruction of work, it's review type work. Um and honestly, there's place in that in the year. So whether we do it as an e-learning day or whether we have to do it during the regular school time, kids need that time to absorb and make up and review and and back up and see what what do they remember from 3 months ago versus just yesterday, that type of thing. So part of me says e-learning is is a positive thing because it's something that we we really need to do for kids anyway, but it makes that day worthwhile versus taking an in-person day to do that major
066review. So there there's pieces and parts to that that I see that are really valuable. All right. Any other questions from Um I as to the suggestion about possibly like randomly picking um assignments, I my my concern there would be teachers are already evaluating evaluated professionally on their by their principals, their assistant principals, and their work. Is it improper to then add another level of scrutiny and evaluation to a particular teacher by pulling a random assignment that they made and bringing it up to the board level? I to me that that just would not be appropriate, but that's my my opinion. Okay. Um the next item on the agenda is next steps, and the the first item is questions and feedback from committee members. We we asked questions as we went along, but um I
067think this is a good time for any other questions, and I'm going to start with Ms. Knipe um since she's online and we can't see her if she raises her hand. So um Ms. Knipe, do you have any questions or feedback at this time? I do not >> [clears throat] >> have any um additional questions um at this time. Um I will, because I know I have to jump off for another meeting, um I do want to just quickly say though, I just want to thank um Kendra and Tina for y'all just for sort of answering some of these questions that some of us have, and for people of the public and just kind of working with us to sort of uh meet those needs and concerns of those parents. I really do appreciate it.
068Thank you, Ms. Adam. Um Ms. Knipe, since you do have to get off, if um I want to go ahead and jump to item B for you. Is there any additional information or data that you would like to have? Not that I can think of um offhand, but I'll let you know if that changes. All right, thank you. Um Mr. Scully, any additional questions or feedback? Not at this time. Okay. Mr. Baynham? Great. Okay. Um so we'll move on to um additional information or data needed. Mr. Scully? Nothing right now. Okay. Mr. Baynham? None. Go ahead. None. Okay. Um well, let's think about this forward thinking. So um you know, when we meet next time, we'll you know, I think dig into the policies a little bit more in between now and then, and we
069can look at it. So in order to do that, is there any additional data or information that you would like to have? Okay. Mr. Baynham? As far as maybe um blending in some concerns from um parents and community members that are watching, obviously not responding live to anything, so potentially including any of those questions and concerns to how we can better address those going forward. We mentioned some of them today, but maybe mention some of those once they watch the meeting that they may have. Okay. Um I took some notes, and and this probably is like similar to what you were thinking. So you know, one question I would like to see is we mentioned State testing that requires the use of computers. If for our next meeting we could get copies of that. That
070would be great. And also if there's any If you guys are aware of any >> clarification copies of The state's policy like the rules like anything from the state that says we use computer testing for Um I'm drawing a blank on the SC ready for third grade. Just something that shows us cuz I have no idea is it starting kindergarten is it third grade? Where is the state requiring computers for testing and does the state offer any options for not using computers whether that be Blanket or it be by student like in a student because they are have a disability for example. So I for one would be curious about that. I was also curious if um If there is any teacher training that is offered on The use of Chromebooks and computer apps and
071stuff if We don't need exhaustive stuff but just you know kind of what is done what is provided and Is it done by the vendor is it done by us just kind of curious about that. And and also some It Maybe training's the wrong word but is there any Information routinely shared with parents About Chromebook usage. I know we we tell them what to do when they have a question but is there anything Done proactively annually or otherwise that goes out to parents that says here's how Chromebooks are used here's what to look for you know that kind of thing. And I pardon me I'm going to go to my mail list just to Refresh my memory give me one second. Um The other thing I'm curious about is Are there And this may go
072back to your vetting committee or or Miss McCaskill how you guys Do things but How do we use studies scientific studies To decide Which which apple you know applications work which hardware we should use Chromebooks What what scientific studies are we looking at that look at these things and the educational outcomes so we see that um There's that there's I know BrainPop I'll just use that I don't even know if we use it anymore but I know the system name that comes to mind is if we're using BrainPop do we have are we looking at educational or scientific studies? Um And I think I think that's everything that I had. Oh I know um I was also curious if we get any Input from our School psychologist Just curious with regard to the way that
073software and hardware is used. So those were my things that I was curious about Mr. Bain I'm a he made him think of something so go ahead. And I know we're not going to be doing new material when we have substitutes But it do they do when we're hired or the The company that hires those Folks do they do any sort of like qualifications so they can process are they given a Chromebook for the class To use for any assignments or prompting or they basically just think go on your Chromebook the teachers giving them a list Type thing I don't know if that's something to look into or if we know off the top of my head. Y'all said. I can answer that a little bit our substitutes there is a schools have a couple
074of computers that they can use for substitutes to be able to project information for students. They don't have access to Like all of the teaching software that that teachers would have And so then They would they would not necessarily use Use it like a teacher would use it they would use it to project say a presentation or something like that's what they would use that computer for And then whatever if there's something being assigned on the Chromebooks then they would monitor that as they're monitoring the class is what they would do. Yes Mr. Skelly. >> Yeah I can speak to that on the other side I during the shutdown Applied for ESS to substitute in another district so I I went through their onboarding. They don't They don't substitutes don't get any training like that
075as far as that they tell you to walk in with a clipboard and the main thing is to Review the exit plans the emergency procedures and things like that so it's It's not that Sophisticated where a substitute would get a Chromebook but like they said the school and the teacher would make whatever resources are available to the subs That they would need for that that day and that lesson. Okay we'll move on to determine potential recommendations or areas For further review. Maybe a little early to do that but at this time does anybody have any potential recommendations or areas for further review? Okay. And the next is timeline for follow-up discussion or reports To the board same thing maybe a little early to To do that I think we probably need at least one more
076meeting but anybody have any recommendations or thoughts on that? Okay. So what what I will do is um I'll I'll send everybody including Mr. Herring who couldn't join us today an email and we'll look for a a time that we can reconvene And I'll look for Dr. Ross to let us know how much time you guys need for those those few items so that we don't try to schedule it before them. Okay. Anything else from anyone? Okay do we have a motion to adjourn? Make a motion. All right a second. All right all in favor. All right meeting adjourned.