RHAM Board of Education Meeting; November 21, 2022 Part I

001Terry I'm here uh did you just say your name in uh Jerry Israel Nina Marlboro thank you Joe buddy person okay life Sharon document support uh Mary kojeski Marlborough soup great I'm Mike Morris and I represent we call stand for the Pledge of Allegiance here um nation under God indivisible I would like to ask the board if there are any objections to going slightly out of order of agenda I'd like to push items six seven and five uh forward and address them prior to im3 which is public comment if there is an objection I'll make a motion to do so and put it to a vote if there's no objection I'll carry on here no not you I'm sorry any any effects all right hearing no objections I'll push forward the uh board chair report

002[Music] there's no adequate way to describe and discuss and disappointment and anger I felt when informed that what appears to be a news was discovered in our high school boys locker room on Friday this Behavior and the dog was Associated will not be tolerated period I've lived in the region eight district for 20 years and this behavior is in no way shape or form representative of our communities a confident report our community leaders and our community at large share this with you and have a similar reaction to that news this happened law enforcement was contacted immediately and has reported significant resources have been brought to bear in the investigation our superintendent communicated everything known as soon as practical to keep our parents our students our staff and our community informed our entire Administration has been

003and will continue to do everything necessary to support our students our faculty and our staff they continue to assess the needs and I'm confident that they will adjust and apply resources as appropriate going forward the board stands ready to assist in those efforts the most appropriate steps next are to support those who need supporting continue to cooperate with law enforcement to find out who did this and holding my calendar and get on the United goal of educating kids rather than letting the goal of this kind of contentious Act division fear and intimidation Mr McNamara continues to be the appropriate point of contact and the note to communicate information next steps actions resources and activities in the region School a region 8 school district response thank you so good evening as the board knows I sent

004a message to the entire School Community regarding the situation from last week I am not able to make any further public comment on the matter at this time due to ongoing police investigation it is important however to reiterate the word that words were actually spreading racism discrimination or hateful ideologies will not be tolerated in our schools Ram is committed to creating and maintaining an educational environment that is physically emotionally and intellectually safe and free from forms of harassment and discrimination the district's focus at this time was to ensure that the students and staff who have been affected by last week's event are provided with a safe a safe space at school and with all the supports we can offer we also have begun connecting with Community Resources to work on developing a long-term plan that

005addresses this issue through educate training and Community conversation our priority continues to be the well-being of the entire Rim community [Music] we all know about the incident that occurred on Friday and I feel as though that it is a terrible situation but it is also an opportunity to open up some conversation I understand that the thoughts and feelings of people in this community may have right now may feel extremely happy as a student here at Ram I too feel this burden however I want to take this opportunity to offer my perspective in hopes that it may spark a conversation Ram is a great school there is no denying that however I have heard from other students especially those of color that they sometimes feel like they are on the outside of looking in what I

006mean by that is just that they have expressed that they feel excluded at times within their community I myself can understand and relate to these perspectives at times therefore I feel that amongst a community of students here at Ram as well as in many other schools there is a lack of awareness as to how we as students as well as a community contribute to these exclusions this is not to blame anyone but to highlight that as a community I think it may be helpful to open the possibility of such ignorance and to open more conversations and educational discussions about diversity and inclusion it truly is a complex and layered issue and one that will most definitely take time and effort to address but I feel as though being open and honest with one another despite

007Point different points of view may be helpful chairman yes [Music] I to say we certainly Circle yeah I understand okay it's a little closer to the mites [Music] thank you it's a good evening uh obviously and this is going to go throughout the night we've already heard of this already but I'm my heart goes out to all of those uh who were affected by the incidents that occurred uh on Friday it's like uh everybody said it's not tolerable here at them and I know for a fact that Ram is also a school that is able to get through this together as a community because regardless of what happened on Friday I know that there are many the staff members and everybody around knows how to come together to help uh you know get people through

008these times so I just wanted to keep that out there because I I mean I've been going to rain for four years now and I know that Ram still continues to be a pleasure to be in and I and I genuinely love this community so and I believe that this is a that's all right if we could going forward we're going to just try to do the best we can and focus on the end if you have a comment you're probably going to speak up a little bit so we make sure we pick it up for the hybrid unfortunately okay thank you for indulging me in that uh order change item three is public comment to bear with me for a moment Hebron Andover Marlborough Community engagement and attendance at Buffalo Board of Education public

009meetings as well the public comments segment of the meeting attended to set aside for the Board of Education may receive public comments procedurally public remarks will be limited in three minutes and citizens will be asked to identify themselves because the board of education is limited by the Freedom of Information Act of discussing only matters on the agenda the board of education is not permitted to engage in the discussion of the comments presented this time I would like to open up to anyone present step forward if they'd like to make a public comment please go ahead good evening my name is Lori palazzolier program like many of you about this assistant Ram High School I'm heartbroken and scared I'm scared for the students of color at Ram I'm scared for any student who identifies from a

010marginalized group finally I am terrified for all of them and a friend to the human rights of one group is an important to us all however I'm sad to say that although I'm heartbroker and I am not shocked while this can certainly happen in any school I am not surprised it happened it rain so over the past couple of years I've noticed a lack of discourse regarding issues surrounding the George Floyd murder and the black lives matter movement I compare it with being said in the classrooms and in the schools to my work at Manchester High School the discrepancy was tremendous where I worked we centered our professional Dialogue on race and discussed the issue of race daily with our students this was not happening at Ram well I realized that ramp has not the

011diversity that Manchester does it does not give us the permission to largely ignore these issues while we do not have the same population we still live in the same world with the same problems our students need to hear a clear message about what oppression is and how people of color faces every day and not just a free Civil War era is happening right now they Olivia has students of color were facing this impression right now at Ram High School what worries me is that there is a building culture that is tolerant of hate I am worried this lack of discussion of white privilege of Oppression is giving those who are racist or may subscribe to racist ideologies tacit permission to be more vocal certainly the selling of Confederate flags at the Hebron Harvest Fair gives

012us another piece of ovens where there is tolerance for hate hello this is not in our jurisdiction we need to be aware of this and not turn a blind up I am worried this latest act may be just the beginning how long will I turn a blind eye to what is around us we need to face this head-on by this I do not mean a one-time assembly where we discuss this and the students return to our class they will not remember what was said and they will not be meaningful by this I mean you need to integrate a discussion of race into the fabric of the culture of the school is to be integrated into the curriculum a class devoted to human rights and diversity and understanding maybe as a graduation requirement regardless of how

013we integrate this education it needs to be thorough meaningful and be a part of the mission of the school I know that a response is not thorough if it is not integrated into the culture we'll be back here again talking about the next incident in a month a year two years but we'll be back and I'm terrified of that good evening my name is Donna Jolly I'm a resident of Hebron I've lived here for over 35 years both of my children graduated as a ram I'm also vice president of the Coalition on diversity and Equity or code on behalf of code I want to express how appalled and deeply saddened we all were when we heard what happened feel for real students especially students of color and their parents by hanging noose is a symbol

014of hate and intimidation the history it represents is horrific and tragic it is no place anywhere but the fact that it was in our school is heartbreaking and a wake-up call for action the issue is not going to be solved just by calling in the State Police arresting the offending individual or individuals and expelling them well discipline is appropriate the student's behavior is a symptom of a larger problem and the underlying reasons for this action need to be uncovered and addressed code is committed to working with ram leadership to identify and move forward on the many recommendations we have offered on creating a culture that is welcoming and respectful to all that increases the number of teachers of color that celebrates diversity that teaches a holistic and comprehensive history of all people including those whose

015lives and contributions may have been ignored and that deals firmly and emphatically with any incidents of heat or discrimination we also invited a parent already Community member to learn more about code and to become involved in our work [Music] good evening my name is Eden as well and um service you guys are putting out a lot of time and effort and I appreciate the thought you were putting into this as a member of the president of code the Coalition on diversity Equity that as Donna had said we are outraged by this incident my thoughts um are about um the board and how importance um conversations and deliberations about certain topics send a message to the Greater Community so um as a member I was a member of the board for eight years I want to

016urge everybody to on the board to educate yourselves about the increased risk mental health issues and suicide for kids that are marginalized on a daily basis and I'm saying this because it's a reality that every school has kids who are marginalized and I want to just brings forward that when somebody or if there's a shirt or or where's the certain symbol just brings support to somebody that that shouldn't they shouldn't Define be thought of as a racist act or or one of a political statement like these kids have marginalized they need to feel supported and cared about and I just encourage the board to in fact learn about how best to handle these kind of situations because the conversations they trickle down these the conversation that you're having a session tonight that's all over the

017place but it's not just the niece in this area the kids are hearing this and it's hurtful and it's continues to oppress them um I'd like to model I'd like you all to please consider modeling that this learning is a lifelong Endeavor bring in Specialists on how to deal with this you can't do business as usual because that's not working for us we have to bring in people who this is their job to bring bring to talk about race on a daily basis bringing people who are going to be able to educate our administrators before people please learn first so that you can carry the you can carry the message loud and clear leave that meet the truth so that everybody is understanding what's expected of this District it starts up here um this weekend

018alone I've heard of several parents from fellow parents that say they're kids are receiving racial race or experiencing racism on a daily basis in this school I want to um I just I so I wanted to reiterate that it's really important for for the board to understand that this is not a one-time deal like this has got to be a long-term solution as Donna mentioned that it's we've got the police involved but and it's obviously a discipline is appropriate but we've got to look at the bigger culture the bigger problem and bringing people who can help us as a community solve this work on this and as somebody else mentioned to integrate it into daily conversation that's got to be happening submit your comments because most of us have lots of I don't even listen

019ing Mrs jelly and others also submit written cup the fifth possible I didn't I didn't write anything so I'm not sure that that's possible but we'll get a transcript of it be going forward one will ask is for people to use this microphone over here it's only because it's a little closer to the microphones and pick up things anyone else present Republican please sir I could ask you to step all the way over here just because it helped pick up the hydro pump no problem jerk was getting in here just take your name and where you're from a minute that was a walk excuse me evening everybody my name is Rodney Alexander Jr first vice president of the Wyndham Willimantic Branch at the end Double ACP and I'm here today tonight speak on this one

020situation of this event or should I say horrific situation that took place with the news hanging in the locker room this is 2022. when's it going to stop we saw some of that remarks online about Chester news doesn't mean anything both the person of color especially black means a lot it's one of the most involved discriminatory tools for racism in America I'm going to tell you why it's important because once it's hung just a matter of time before it's used in June of 88 Stratford Connecticut of course the aircraft had a couple white guys throw a rope around my neck tried to choke me up and said it's how we usually bring your kind back in the days when article said the rope's not important news is not important that's why I'm here tonight we

021have to figure out a way to stop this racism is old and surface again and we have to figure out a way to bury it for good not as first vice president to win the Willimantic Branch I am more than willing to sit and talk with any staff president superintendent principles of any schools out here to come up with some sort of educational plan diversity plans so we can put a stop to this I'm very easy to find our website you can check me out there my personal cell is 860. -6121 we need everybody's help to put a stop to us this particular brand to the NAACP to win the Willimantic Branch as one of the most Diversified branches in the state of Connecticut we work very hard in a lot of schools because we

022covered from Coventry through Thompson and will well-known of you but it's obvious we're not knowing enough here so I'm here tonight to let you know that the Wyndham Willamette branch is willing to do whatever it takes Stockton we have to put a stop to this because if it starts here believe me is spread and it's going to keep spreading and I need your help your help and your help to stop it thank you [Applause] thank you good evening my name is Jennifer Lee sputz I am a faculty member in the niac school of education and Associate Vice Provost at UConn spent my 28 career in higher education in public schools I leave in strong Public School Systems I cannot agree more with our colleague from Windham and Willimantic just said what is needed right now

023is an immediate active response to this incident we need community members like our colleagues in the NAACP and code we need the school board leading the way along with the superintendent to right this wrong a noose is a weapon simply it is a weapon if a gun had been found what would the response be of the board [Applause] we should view this as a weapon in your response a noose is also a symbol as we have been reminded by many speakers here tonight it is a symbol of racism it is a symbol of hatred it is a symbol of intolerance it is a symbol meant to remind people that they are belittled to the point of death that their lives do not matter and that is not something I am willing to tolerate in my

024town and in my school districts this is also something that has to be active the letter is a right first step the condemnation that we heard at the beginning of the meeting tonight is the right first step the people here sharing their stories is the right first step but it is only the first step without a clearly communicated action plan we will fall victim continue the evidence of systemic racism in our town and in our schools this costs for curricular reform it calls for training and development of our teachers and our students I am here to offer my support in any way that I can to identify colleagues at the neide school of education many of whom are experts in just these areas in school climate diversity and inclusivity and the education of everyone involved

025Town people too in these Concepts that is the only way we will drive out hatred in our town and in our schools is to educate each other to learn from those who have been there ahead of us to listen and amplify the voices of our colleagues of color and to promise that we will act in ways that will ensure that we do better and we provide an actual safe climate for our students to go to school they cannot learn if they are not safe they cannot learn if they are not made to believe that they are members that are valued and protected in our community and this is not one or two or three teachers having black lives matter signs in their classroom or support for lgbtq students who we also saw witness to violence

026over the weekend this is me asking why every teacher doesn't have that in their classroom by every space in the school district isn't viewed as a safe space now again I pledge my support to all of you I know that this is something that probably many of you didn't think you were going to do when you ran to the school board was try to address issues that are truly systemic to our society but we have to start somewhere and it seems like we're starting here [Applause] good evening my name is Aaron busier I am a long time human resident I'm actually a ram graduate from 1996. and my child is a senior this year and I've had two other children go through Ram I'm here to tell you that racism is Alive and Well in

027Ram it has been forever when I graduated in 1996 there may be a few of you here um that were at Oregon at the time but I can tell you that I was the girl that was yelling at the kids wearing the Confederate flag shirts and getting sent to the principal's office for that um so not much has changed I moved away when I was looking for a place to raise my family I said I'm going to come back to Hebron because I thought that the town had progressed and that we had great school systems but I'm here to tell you that there's a big problem and this shows it I don't want to be here all night talking because everyone everybody said here is absolutely perfect I agree with everything that everybody said I

028appreciate all of you for being here appreciate all of you for being here but you know this is really something that is bigger than the school it's a community issue when your kids are going home and you're making racist jokes it's not funny um you know when you're making jokes about safe space on Facebook it's not funny um so as a community we really need to come together and realize that we are set an example for our students for our children for our community and and when we walk around like it's okay to drop the n-word like it's a joke it's not a joke so we all need to act appropriately and I think this is a huge wake-up call and I really really I just appreciate everybody for being here and for speaking up

029I know there are a lot of people that are afraid to speak up there are a lot of people that didn't want to come tonight because they didn't know how they would be viewed enough we can't live in fear anymore the people that did this are in the wrong we are not in the wrong we are the group that's in the right and we all need to take a stand this is not political this is human rights so I just again that's that's really what I wanted we wanted to speak about tonight and I do thank everybody for taking the time to be here thank you [Applause] I didn't prepare anything to say but I do just want to throw something out previously I tried to have the order so thank you very much and

030that was what they chose to do was from committee the community naturally accomplishment so I would like to Echo what people have already said which is mean to me that you don't want committees because they don't get this word isn't done you don't need to read that the deal Your Community Partners who have already gone out and done it and I come from a broad career field so I apologize for the quote I'm about to use but we all need to shut our mouths and open our groups you're all white most of us are white listen to the people who played this with this I'm Jewish and that's a kid pennies for thrown at me in the hallway obnoxious but I was never hurt talk to the people who live this every day listen to

031the people who live this every day and take it apart [Applause] good evening my name is Phyllis frager and I am a million nwacp uh I would just like to say I was born in the 50s and from out Birmingham Alabama so this is this is nothing new to me and only thing I see that has changed is that the hoods have come on you know and I just want y'all know we are standing here in a learning institution this is a taught thing you know it's just don't continue it has to be taught generation after generation after generation so we need to stop now you know we need to stop in now so like I said I was born in the 50s and I'm still witness to this and the only thing half they

032used to cover up now is out in playing day around [Applause] Tiffany Tilly 626 Gilead Street and um I'm just speaking tonight in my capacity as a concerned Citizen and I certainly don't want to take away from many of the wonderful comments that I echo which I fully support and agree with here today I think the only thing I want to say is I want to emphasize the point that this doesn't end inside the school this is a larger Community issue and I think that this is something we can't continue to sleep under the rug and say it's one incident problem solved it's very clear there's an undercurrent throughout our communities especially on the in Eastern Connecticut and so I think we have a lot of work to do to live up to the ideal

033of being an inclusive welcoming community and I think that organizations like code are a helpful resource and we should work with them more frequently to realize that ideal thank you is anyone else present like to get the public okay at this point I'm going to turn it over if there are the people online that would like to present public comment Eric I'm going to rely on YouTube let me know if you're online and you'd like to present public comment either raise your digital hand or just go ahead and speak out thank you none okay I'm sorry there's one what's the name Catherine Stevenson please go ahead um thank you thank you so much for having yes okay I'm not like you are clear okay I last week's events proved that Ram's environment and culture does

034need to change I also Echo support an agreement with previous equal statements my presentation today has a slightly different event I feel that the climate needs to be safe not only for student s my concerns today are twofold one is about drugs intimidation from students students or other students and for the bus drivers this continues to be a problem to principles and never to superintendent principles with essentially no um my other concern she has experienced threats of over names and apparently it took five days for some [Music] so that is not Zero Tolerance policy for maintaining C plus the comment but in the letter Graham is committed to creating a maintaining and educational environment that is physically emotionally and intellectually safe forms of press teachers need to feel safe she's resigning she's a huge huge

035something has to be done as well as the drugs and meditation and France from kids on the bus to the bus drivers and is there anyone else online for Public Health yeah okay uh just one more time inside did anybody come in assuming no look I'd like to thank everyone for taking the time to be here I think some folks came from farther away than others and I I know sometimes people took a lot of time out of their own personal lives to come here and share and I appreciate the fact that we did that the board appreciates the exactly you did um thank you very much okay yeah so we'll pick up with the rest of the board agenda item four is it addition and deletion of agenda items this time I'll open up

036to the board are there any items to be proposed for addition or deletion from the attendant okay hearing none we're going to assume that there are none we've already covered items five six and seven brings us to item 8 the consent agenda the approval of the minutes from October 17th which is enclosure 8.1 I'll entertain a motion to approve the minutes from October 17th Eric is there a second Heather thank you do a Voice vote all in favor any opposed hearing don't opposed that carries unanimously thank you okay item 8.2 the resignations of Todd helling uh enclosure 8.2 a Declan weatherall and closer 8.2 B and Nadia to Roy loser 8.2 C is there a motion to accept the resignations of Todd Helwig Jacqueline weatherall and Nadia to Roy oh Joe is there a second

037Heather thank you we'll do again do a Voice vote is there uh any uh I'm sorry is there any discussion I would like to hear some discussions since I brought about okay go ahead if you could speak up that would be sorry yeah this is basically about the board discussions is there any board members that have any discussion depending on the motion in front of us okay hearing none I'm going to move on to the vote I'll do a Voice vote all in favor any opposed hearing none that motion carries yeah like I I'm sorry hold on one second Dr Benson Clark I can't hear okay thank you I appreciate it sorry it's uh difficult to hear you tonight it's not our normal uh venue so we're making do with uh sound which I appreciate

038the people that put this together for us but I know it's not it's not our normal situation retirement notification item 8.3 and Robert Schweitzer enclosure 8.3 a which there's is there a motion to accept the upcoming retirement of Nancy Robert Switzer all right Mike is there a second caring about you thank you is there any discussion hearing unwell Voice vote all in favor aye any opposed any opposer of sentence hearing none that carries at this point I'm sorry go ahead [Music] little thing tonight I is for 8.1 I kind of should be yes okay I understand we've tried I've got any questions for that thank you um okay item nine econ presentation thank you uh at this time I'd like to introduce uh Erica toolis who is the new executive director at eastcon eastcon is

039our local Regional Educational Service Center that provides districts like Region 8 as well as many other districts across the eastern part of Connecticut with support and services that are very beneficial to us and uh Eric had indicated when I met with him earlier in the summer that he was interested in coming to our district and talking a little bit about what's going on in Wisconsin so Eric thank you so much for being here and please step up to the mic thank you no yeah I made it to speak up as best you can okay uh thank you for the invite tonight I am Eric fortulis the new executive director at eastcon uh truly is a privilege to come here before you as well um I'm in a debt of gratitude to region eight uh as

040I spent a good part of my career here as a school psychologist and as a director of people services and RAM has a very special place in my heart and I'm excited to be back in the region and have the opportunity to address you tonight and and acknowledge the work that you guys have before you obviously tonight's comments and the events that you're facing with are very challenging and uh I know there's a strong Community Support in the region uh that we want to be here to be able to support that in any way that we can from these accounts for expert as well uh I asked to come out and speak with the boards uh as part of my plan of coming back into working at eastcon and really seeing what opportunities we have

041to present a little bit of what we are the last few years have been a challenging time for eastcon as far as an agency as many of us have felt the the pressures of the pandemic and the impact that it's had and so I walked into a situation with some Financial challenges as well that we're working very uh heavily and mightily on rectifying um but the big piece of it is really to help rebuild our relationships and restore econ in terms of its place within the region uh that might not be noticeable to some of our communities and it's more noticeable some of our other communities that we may not have been able to be as responsive as we would like to be and so part of my commitment in coming back to Easton is

042to be in that position where we really do uh cherish the opportunity to collaborate and build the relationships my own career I spent a lot of time doing that both regionally and across the state I've worked for eastbound before and as well as an arrest down in the greater New Haven area visas and that work really has been a focusing on looking for those collaborations and efficiencies that arrest was designed to do and how do we present and bring forth services and supports that are distributed and particularly when we think about Northeastern Connecticut the challenges of research challenges of those Networks it is there's a lot more pressure in our region uh linear and being a partner to all of our districts so um I would just like to take this opportunity to thank you

043uh both for the opportunities that were given to me before as a member of The Faculty here at Ram but also just to to reintroduce us to work and any opportunities that you might see for us to collaborate with you if you and services that we might be able to provide to thank you Eric so much I've appreciated working with Eric getting to know him and certainly look forward to hear our continued partnership um so item number 10 for the agenda this evening is we put together the administrative team for the middle school and the high school put together a presentation that we would like to do on our 21-22 assessment data so I'm going to introduce introduce Dr sarusi from the high school and Dr franzel from the uh sorry I got that middle

044school with Dr Branson from the high school we're going to talk a little bit about Chris and uh [Music] foreign school and so we're just going to go over our assessment data for last year we'll start off with the high school so this is pretty much how we test our students every year um so you can see the breakdown by high school we do Grade 9 10 11 11 does the SAT March as well and the mgss we have AP exams that of course from our students and then at the middle school middle school middle school everybody everybody knows who needs to be great through grade eight they take the smarter balance assessments and math and language arts for grade seven eight in the spring the Next Generation Science assessment is also given only to

045grade five grade eight and grade 11 students that is also in the spring and then we do give the grading PSATs in October just to go a little further one of the things that we are will do with the presentation is we also have referenced our dirt which is our district reference group based on the Connecticut State Department of Education they certainly categorize Canada similar socioeconomic but similar uh looks about themselves so to speak and on the slides on the slide that you have in front of you you see that Andover of our Cam's dead Etc through District 19 are members of third C which we are also a member of I will also tell you that some of the data you will see for the at least for the middle school later on does

046not include a couple of these accounts because they do not have great Senate right also some of them if you have less than 20 members in a class they do not report the data on the site but just to give you that sort of preemptive love the same applies for the high school we have you know far less um districts in our third that we're able to compare to and are actually to the next slide um so we tested um our ninth grade students in March April last year and you can see from the scores that they you know performed well Above This average both years um so over half of our students reach both benchmarks maybe look at this state average um it was about 22 percent they both you can also see there's

047a slight decrease from 2020 2021 and last year so PSAT 10 similar results for us for our 10th graders remarks last year performed well above as the average um more than half of our students meeting both benchmarks which is well above the state average we did have that slight decline from 1019 to 10 16 is our average score over that year I think to some degree we attribute to covet and just just part of that process for kids to come back from that um we also have the SAT last year so we did that on the SAT school day March 22nd which most schools in the country do that day so you can see our scores compared to the state average um in red there so we're well above that so doing very well next

048slide um this is the dirt data for the SAT for last year so if you look at all the um you know sort of neighboring districts that fall into the same category with us we are you know third out of all those districts so that's you know I feel pretty confident and feel good about that and you know consistently score high in our third for the SAT next so this is data for the SAT over the past three years um you can see since the pandemic we've had a reduction in scores um since 2020 but that is actually a Statewide Trend so if you look at the gray you can see the same decline for each area ebrw is evidence-based reading and writing I'm sorry I didn't mention that before so foreign reading and writing

049before so as you can see you know slight decline something that we're going to be addressing next slide um so the ngss Next Generation science standards which tests um all of our 11th graders on science curriculum that's a fairly new test that came out in 2019. we scored nine out of 17. um out of we're sort of focusing on the percentage of our students who are proficient so but if you look at the numbers you can see we're really close to the ones above us so we don't have a far way to go to move up significant and our science department has worked diligently to improve through their science comprehension for a rewriting curriculum designing new performance-based assessments utilizing practice tests um so these are the e-test that we administered last year we did 24

050offerings we had a lot of students take um this AP exams is pretty diverse offerings as well and we continue to add more each year next so for the AP data we had 385 tests taken so we had many students get more than one AP exam the number of students who scored three four five on those tests were 282 which gives us a you know success rate of 90 so 90 of our kids exam if you want to call it that they get credit for it um and then 87.5 of our tests administered were higher than the Connecticut average scores on those weekly exams do you have any questions about the high school data so as I said before we give the every year we've been giving the psata right around the end of October

051beginning November we have four years of data and as you can see we did take a slight decline going into covet and coming out we're hoping we're starting to see build back up a little bit the bottom there The Benchmark score is The Benchmark for PSAT PSE T9 so with 390 on the evidence base right here the ELA as we call them is 390 for that standard and 430 is the mask so one of the things we look at is US compared to the state our scores are pretty much well above the state and there are different districts that use the psata if you ask your name I couldn't they just give us an overall number around 4 000 I think that's we're still waiting Sports relationship looking at over the years we go back

052and switching a smarter balance you look at our Smarter Balance scores over the years the state percentages are in the parentheses and you'll see that we are higher than the state average but at the same time we also notice you'll notice there when you go to 2015 16 17 the different cohorts 18 19 and then 2022. there is one set of scores that are missing that was deemed non-comparable by the state the state does not report it and it was 2019-20 that's it in 2021 yeah so we are we're looking we're looking to start post covet as using sort of this as a benchmark to move up obviously and you'll see that it's reflected in where we followed in our dirt with a dirt C so math 7 and math eight when you look at

053the numbers you'll see you'll even notice here that there's a difference in the number of towns in each one and that's because based on the number of students a lot of times within the district just to give you an example we were curious like Salem has 30 kids Columbia has around 28 or 30 kids as well small numbers that are being reported but we fall pretty much right in the middle in each one and the same truth is true for the English language arts we are right in the middle again if you go a few percentage points up you you know you put us more towards the top of the top half but still it's something that we're working on using this data to inform us going forward the Next Generation science we actually for

054our science eighth grade science we hit our little more towards the top overall in this Sport and it is again we are looking at it we actually have been working on professional development for science teachers over the last couple of years on The NPS standards and we are in the process of looking at curriculum as well so the big question we always ask in both the middle and high schools you know what do you do with all these numbers um we know that numbers don't Define all students and we also know that a lot of times we look at these scores and we say okay what are some of the underlying issues that we we challenge us as Educators to help our students move forward so here's what we do with it I mean we

055use it for goals both School District strategic plans we try to tailor our goals to help us using the data to inform us we identify any critical areas different skills that students need to work on the biggest ones we found over the years seem to be pretty much the same critical thinking and problem solving algebraic reasoning words and content English connections I wouldn't want it on but those just seem to be big heavy whippets will see and part of this is also working with our sending accounts which every year we do have a conversation with our math and English colleagues and um we do provide individual feedback to students for the data about their strengths and areas that they can improve on the psata is a classic one we actually spend a few days on

056our guidance staff our school counseling staff will work with the teams actually the teams work in their advisories and have the students look at their scores and learn how they can access online sort of a self-help tutorial for the Khan Academy work on the areas or near areas of Wheaties and this is available to all students who sign up for college board we also use the data ourselves both know how to identify students areas that need may need additional support interventions do they need is some type of boosted math or science or any of the subject areas and we also use it to plan for a professional development this year's topic has been inquiry structuring project-based learning it's of the critical thinking problem solving skills in addition to we also look at the social emotional

057resilience executive function all these other categories to support questions can I say something real quick because one of the things that we talked about when we put this presentation together um was we felt it would be important to provide the durg comparisons but I also want to stress and I think Cassidy mentioned this very quickly which is I I really would ask board members to not focus too much around rankings within the dirt the the dirts are created by the state right there are district reference groups that's how we are compared to others so instead of saying we're being compared to a Greenwich Public Schools or a Fairfield Public Schools it wouldn't make sense so it's I did ask them and we talked a lot about this but I just if we do this presentation

058from one year to the next you're going to see movement in the you're going to see movement and I just I I would ask that people try not to get hung up too much on where we are because Bethany said it very well a percent a few percentage points can move you up and down and it's just we wanted to provide it for as a reference for board members but I just I I hopefully it doesn't become a center of focus for for when we talk about our hard data and they have go ahead for years [Music] for as I or better than a partner ing from so um [Music] right any other questions from the board I actually had two so and I I don't need an answer now but I would I don't

059need a formal answer but I sure loved some sort of an informal disorder of uh gauge where I think it's great that they give us kind of state um comparisons but where do we land in the country like where do we land nationally like what you know again I don't need a presentation but I'd sure love to anecdotally know kind of weird weird how does the state in general and then how does RAM sort of fit into that picture give us a ballpark and the last available data for high school was in 2019 so I didn't include it um but I can look up and see where we work historically 2017. Okay and like I said it's not I don't want to spend all the time but it's just about it I think the only

060other thing I would say is look at everything else that I do since I'm generally not the smartest person in the room I usually try to look around and figure out who is and ask them questions as I look at all of these and I'm sensitive to to uh the superintendent's comments about how the birds are put together and how they form and move and change um but I I have to say we were missed we didn't notice in Salem and specifically district 18 sit pretty pretty far at the top of these and think it would be not in the worst expenditure of time to ask somebody that works in Salem in district 18 if there's any best practices or anything that you know we could influence that's all okay thank you and like to

061um [Music] achievement data yeah yeah so huh what was everyone in the world and it it really um activity um convenes that is what we're looking at because I do think we want Global Benchmark identity I know um I have a daughter who's um graduated college and she will believe competitive really because of Rihanna was a good question thank you everybody for putting that together appreciate that all right at this point where I agenda item 11 old business uh the 11.1 is the discussion possible action regarding School construction HVAC Grant application and closer 11.1 um you want to talk a little bit about that sure I'll do my best to get the context for this so as the board members know we are working to apply for um grant funding for a reimbursement for HVAC

062work that has already been completed we've discussed this uh previously there's there's grant money that was made available most of the grant money that was made available for new projects essentially what we've discovered is that those had to deal with shuttle run where you've gone through a very specific arduous process and essentially you're ready to you've got the funding and then you you can apply for the grant it just wasn't really feasible for us to go after the that type of grant money but there was a small amount of money that was allocated for reimbursement and we've had two projects that were completed HVAC projects that were completed within the window of time that was permissible to go for the reimbursement room so the the challenge with this grants application that that Eva and Mike

063schleyhoffer and I discovered when we started working on it is that it's essentially uh the Grant application process is set up like the school construction process where um where um very specific resolutions have to be made very specific building committees need to be made very specific plans need to be provided and developed all that stuff that that basically is gets you to be shovel ready if that makes sense and so um a lot of that stuff wasn't done for our process of the HVAC projects that we completed because of the fact that we just followed our standard budgeting process however one of the things that is required as a part of the Grant application specifically for real or for the reimbursement as well is the fact that the um the district adopts resolutions authorizing the

064superintendent of schools to apply to das for the grant reimbursement so even though we've already done the projects the projects have been completed we still need to go through this because we are dotting our eyes and crossing our T's and this enables us to apply for the grant I will say and I share this at a recent finance company meeting that I I don't know if you know this obviously doesn't guarantee that we're going to get the grant money but it just at least it checks one of the boxes that we're required to check so that's the reason that there's two sep there's these resolutions are coming to you today the two resolutions have to be teased out and there have to be two specific resolutions and two motions for two separate resolutions because that's

065the way you have to do you have to have a different resolution for each project foreign we can go through any discussion or questions that might arise from either or both or none uh and positioning questions about that all right so at this point all I'm saying emotion that the Region 8 Board of Education accept the resolution authorizing the superintendent of schools to apply to the commissioner of the of administrative services and to accept or reject the grant for the reimbursement of the costs associated with the installation of the completed air conditioning project that included the weight room media center and two Health classrooms at Ram High School I like that okay thank you heather uh is there any uh discussion hearing no discussion we'll have a Voice vote all in favor aye all right

066are there any opposed or abstentions hearing none that will carry in second motion motion of the Region 8 Board of Education accept the resolution authorizing the superintendent of schools to apply to the commissioner of the administrative services and to accept or reject a grant for the reimbursement of the costs associated with the installation of the completed air conditioning project that included the dimmer roof head end room and locker rooms at Ram High School like the throne is there a second Heather thank you is there any discussion hearing no discussion we'll have a Voice vote all in favor but any opposed or Essentials hearing none that motion also appears all right the Strategic Plan update 11.2 um if I could sweeps uh 401 1.0 it's uh confessing a new board chair so bear with me there

067are lessons to be learned in this I'm grateful to my advice here for bringing requirements my attention on so that wasn't tracking and it's a policy item so I I appreciate the uh the coaching uh strategic plan that we originally um that is enforced today it's um it's it's available through the ram website there's a link to it it was originally developed in 2017 is that right 2017 they're generally supposed to be three-year plans to keep them relevant and uh but this three-year plan's end and the development of what would have been the next three year plan uh landed smack dab in the middle of the uh covid disruption and so at that point the that's my understanding the board uh adopted this plan to extend out five to the five year mark because it

068was probably not practical at that point given the uncertainties to really kind of try to develop any sort of meaningful new plan at that point given given those circumstances we're sort of operating under an extended plan that obviously has uh some failings with it because it sort of addresses a time when we didn't have coveted although I can't ever remember what that was like to be honest with you it's uh that's a reality now and so uh at this point but it is a requirement for us to review that plan and I don't want to skip over that requirement as a board policy item and that's why I asked Colin itself and it's like I think it's important to discuss in our credit union current uh plan it as it stands but also understand that

069we're in a situation where we're actively in columns leading in charge of this as it's his responsibility to uh to develop the next uh strategic plan thank so so thank you yeah you know I I wanted to focus my update really more more on where we are with um the next steps in developing the the revised strategic plan or the updated strategic plan there's you know it's there's a five-year history with the Strategic plan that had been developed by uh two superintendents ago it certainly there was a tremendous amount of work that was done by the staff and the administration um you know there was a lot of work to provide the skills and dispositions that were um that that were critically important work because it helped build a foundation for what we're looking for

070in of around graduates but really I wanted to focus on kind of where we are right now with regards to um the development of a of a new strategic plan because that's really the process that we're about we're getting ready to Embark about um basically what I've been doing in regards to updating or revising the or creating a new strategic plan is engaging conversations with various organizations and individuals who do strategic plan development it's a it's a heavy lift there's a lot of work that goes behind the development of the Strategic plan to ensure that it is comprehensive and encompasses all the things that the district needs I've been in communication with organizations such as partners for educational leadership to discuss their strategic planning process I've been in touch with um a gentleman from Ed

071Advance which is a different grass there are different rests do different things and a gentleman named Jonathan Casper who's known across the state as a strategic planner I've also engaged with eastcon I know Eric has had to leave but he's gone is another organization that does the strategic planning process and where I am right now is trying to work with them and identify the organization that we will partner with and move forward with with developing a strategic plan and I would anticipate that that's going to be something that gets narrowed down and worked through within the next month or so and then I would engage with the board engage with community members engage with staff engage with Administration engage with parents and with students to really go ahead and start the strategic planning process so

072that's that's the Strategic plan that uh update that I have for you and I can certainly entertain any questions that people might have um item 12.1 policies second reading I just want to ask before we dive in this think and finding the correct second reason sorry it's a second readings uh to drive a potential motion at the end okay so second reading for item 12.1 a policy number five 5450 sexual harassment um yeah I could give a quick synopsis so board members may recall this is uh this came forward as a first week over the last meeting this is the um the the Title IX uh policy this is one that um when I came into the position into the district I quickly discovered that this was out of date um I will tell you

073that the policy as it is written is not how we would follow a sexual harassment complaint because the fact that we're required by law to follow legislative action as opposed to outdated policy um so this the policy that we have has been um really is following the draft model policy by shipping a Goodwin and I would recommend that the board adopted as just to be clear if that is the new version that we're voting on are potentially going on now is reflect about the state requirements correct the new legislation yes all right so uh at this point I will entertain a motion to for the board to uh adopt policy number 5450 sexual harassment and students current title enclosure 12 point a uh 12.1 a okay so is there any discussion hearing an unlocked Voice

074vote all in favor any opposed or extensions hearing none that motion carries moving on to 12.1 B uh 5000 series The improving the completion rates of the FAFSA the newly acquired policy which is a representative of the composure 12.1 B want to talk a little bit about that enforcements sure absolutely so the FAFSA is the um is the free application for federal student aid it's something that um this is a new policy that is required per new legislation it currently doesn't exist in our policy book um it is something that was reviewed by the high school administration the high school guidance counselors um to make sure that it was the language that we're presenting as far as the policy is something that aligns with the work that we're doing and again I would recommend it

075that it be accepted as present [Music] I'll entertain a motion to accept the item 12.1 B 5000 series and completion rates of FAFSA the new required policy which is represented with enclosure 12.1 B enlightenment moves Heather seconds hearing discussion let's have a quick question [Music] any other discussion hearing nothing will move to a Voice vote all in favor aye aye any opposed or abstentions hearing none 12.1 D that motion will carry moving on to 12 points one C the 6000 series The Equitable identification of gifted and talented students it's a newly new required policy you can replace current policy 6155 which is representative of the closure 12.1 C yeah it and just be clear we would really just assign this one to d6155 just for clarification sake so this is so this is um for

076lack of a better term this is a hybrid policy and what I mean by that is there was a there was a policy that was in existence in our in our policy head book 6155 we talked about uh and and it highlighted um how gifted and talented Services were provided to students in region eight and uh essentially um just just remind board members I know I talked about this last time we are we are required to have a process that identifies students that are gifted and talented but by law were not required to provide any Services if students are identified as gifted and talented we are very fortunate here in this District that we have programs in place we have the inquiry team at the middle school we have advanced placement opportunities for students who

077are at the middle school to take World Language High School level math we even have situations where we have middle school students who will venture up to the high school from time to time and take is at the high school level if they have the aptitude for a certain content area at the high school level we have events placement classes we have honors classes we have ecd classes so there's a lot of opportunities for advanced placement classes students who have proclivity towards a certain content area and what we've done is the the beginning of the new policy 656155 is newly required language and then what we did was we we have at the end of the policy where it says provision of services it talks about the fact that the provision of services for gifted

078and talented students by the board is discretionary which is true that's impacted representation of things and we basically just say the middle school and high school students identified as gift and talented shall be provided with educational programs at an appropriate level level within the scope of the district's program studies and I really think that's an accurate representation of what we do it's not all but I will also say that we're always seeking opportunities to make sure that we're we're challenging students at appropriate levels [Music] I'll entertain a motion uh or item 12.1 C the 6000 series uh to be identified as 6155 the adoption of the Equitable identification of gifts and talented students the newly required policy close your 12.1 C like um clarifying proving the order I I did want to briefly discuss that

079one to give it yeah I don't think there's any problem with discussing it I was only going to just get the motion on the floor and then open it up for discussion yeah what that's fine yeah well absolutely I can absolutely have a discussion about it I just want to get in there we'll hold off on voting until everyone has an opportunity to weigh in if they need to emotions Mike thank you it's our second thank you heather this time I'll open up this motion to uh discussion I did look at it and I wrote a few notes and I thought eventually are confident or feel or are going to be now that um they can provide what is differences or superintendent America [Music] yes I'm confident in that is there is more education so

080I don't know what else does Lauren any other questions discussion nope all right hearing none then uh we'll have a Voice vote all in favor any opposed or sentence hearing none that motion also carries brings us to item 12.2 the financials turn over to Colin Angelo [Music] all right so for 12.2 a is the expenditure and revenue report as of October 31st 2022. are projecting a net favorable position of 250 595 dollars this is an approximate twelve thousand nine hundred and sixteen dollars less than I reported in the previous month so the uh so the net favorable position is 250 595 and it's 12 916 less than less last month um so as I reported last month October 1st is the deadline for reporting um official enrollments to the state of Connecticut we are starting

081to receive some of the magnet and Science school invoices we haven't received all of them but the ones that we have received are being processed processing it and I'll add more information in next month's legal services department is closely monitoring the risk expenditures and ensuring that they adjust for any changes with their students IEPs that get processed along the way of the month the capital Improvement plan is currently focusing on the HVAC project which has been finalized in twenty thousand two hundred dollars is available at the end of that project the retention Pond survey was completed the week of November 7th the results of that survey are being shared with the engineering firm and the construction documents are being developed based off that survey the irrigation well replacement has the approval of the health department

082and as of the day of this memo is currently awaiting approval of the Planning and Zoning to approve the location of the site update the site has been approved and they actually had a backup site approved just in case Capital amount of recurring fund unfortunately at the time of writing this memo there's still no update on getting that closed out and unfortunately there still is no update as of today your questions at this time the board may have thank you okay okay so 12.2 B um is the Food Service monthly sales and expenditure reports um so we've had a little bit of confusion with the state of Connecticut and providing us some guidance but I'll get into that in a minute so the report that is attached or as part of the packet is shows

083the as the income statement and it shows that we're currently running at a loss of 30 737.47 at the time of writing this medal we were awaiting the supply chain Grant on the second allocation of it which we just received today which is about twenty five thousand dollars worth shot of 25 000. but not too shabby um we also had received or are utilizing the smart funds so we had about a hundred eighty two thousand dollars worth of allocation and smart funds the smart funds are the funds that were provided to each district that wanted them to continue the free meals for breakfast and lunch for students so today we spent about 93 well not today I'm sorry as of October 31st we spent 93 259.73 so this is where we get to the confusion

084part so originally the state of Connecticut said smartphones need to be utilized for providing free meals to our students and so everybody was set to provide free meals to students Unfortunately they didn't divulge what would happen in a partial month so the next set of items was that we can't do partial month we can only do a full month of meals and the rest of the money can be used for equipment purchases as of the date of this metal that now has been has been redacted and so now we have to spend the money on free meals we still cannot do a partial month so now there's a question for guidance to the board of education on how well we can do pressure on them but we have to find the rest of it let

085me read the language please all right so I copied in a paste of the language that was provided to us So based because all smart plugs must be used to support meals free of charge for students districts have three options the school Food Authority may continue to offer meals free of charge to students with their remaining smart fund balance for a partial month and if the SFA which is the district has excess funds for more than three months operating costs the SFA may use excess funds from the sfas non-profit Food Service account or other allowable funds donations general fund Etc to continue meals free of charge for students for the remainder of the month the school Food Authority number two option number two the school Food Authority may continue to offer meals free of charge

086to students with their remain smart fund balance for a partial month ending free meals on the day after the smart funds run run out so in our case I'm estimating that our smart funds would run out on January 10th so on January 11th we'd have to have to secure apartment on January 11th we would have to start charging premiums and then number three is if the SFA determines that they do not wish to use the remaining smartphone balance these funds will be forfeited so that is the discussion that we would like to open up to the board we brought this to the finance subcommittee and the chairperson of the finance subcommittee wanted to know how much it would cost to um feed to the uh until June 30th or the last day of school So

087based on the calculations um through this was done on November 15th it's 2 252.53 per day and again these are estimates based on the number of meals that we serve um we are going to have enough to get us through January 10th of 2023. and so that'll lead 99 days left for the school year after January 10th so we would be looking at a total of two hundred twenty three thousand and 47 cents to to finish out the school year for the students to have free and reduce our free meals until we get out of school if we stopped feeding students on December 31st I'm sorry so for for January 10th we would have 13 206.15 that would be exhausted as of January 10th if we wanted to continue to the end of January or

088January 31st the district would have to pay in 31 844.40 [Music] the benefit of being able to participate with the uh finance committee and so I heard their discussion I think some of the rest of the board that was not that is not um one of the standing board members for the subcommittee you probably have not heard these numbers nor had an opportunity to weighing in that discussion so I think um you know probably first is most relevant maybe SE finance committee chair to weigh in and maybe just provide input based on that discussion first Dr Benson Clark can you do that for us please um yeah sure just just for the board's information and knowledge um our business manager is superintendent um including the um the question could not do it but as in

089what would it cost for us to provide manager of [Music] years foreign work that um you know and the committee we all care better [Music] work um it is up tomorrow yeah that was perfect thank you very much I appreciate it so I'll just just to you know pile on so as part of the discussion you know it's not ideal to run out of funds in the middle of an odd and not period um only because it's something that's new it's something that we're going to have to communicate definitively to the to the community we don't certainly don't want to have a certain stance where a student shows up and you know frankly it'll be my kid that uh I probably forgot to give him much money in a day or or to repopulate his

090account um I think the thing that um I'm very confident is that we've had this discussion in the past uh certainly over some of the coping period to ensure that the food security with um students not only making sure to accept that A student got something to eat but that there was no Stigma attached with uh the need to get something to eat with in a circumstance where they weren't necessarily uh had money in their account or whatever I'm very confident based on the explanation of the procedures and the process that goes on it's transparent to anybody that might be in the close proximity and at that point really the only two people that are aware of the circumstances and how things get paid for is the person at the register and the student then

091actually brings the lunch up and there's a there's an opportunity to make sure that that student gets some gets fed so so that being the case I think you know Dr pencil Clark's point was you know what does it really cost and so I appreciate even bringing those those figures to us it certainly didn't hurt to ask the question but at this point um then this is just my own personal input as an individual and my board member but at two thousand dollars a day with 99 days left in the year I certainly don't think that there's an opportunity for us to sell fund 223k and I think even to to discuss the canyon we're carrying it from January 11th through January 31st uh 31 000 of unfunded or unbudgeted uh certainly in a circumstance

092where our current favorable position is uh while it's you know positive and you know that's not something that I think we can rely on given that it's not this is not programmed into the budget so I think the only thing the only other thing that did come out of that meeting that I thought was appropriate was there was some discussion about whether or not to end this funding early as in you know we go away for our December break we communicate to the students that you know the funding ends when the community when the school break starts and then we start with the when the break comes back look again this is my individual board member perspective on this but while I'm completely sensitive to the idea that it's it's not necessarily ideal to have

093to communicate it that way if I were to take a step back and manage this in my own household I would certainly not give back any days worth of any funding for groceries at my own home so I'm not sure that I feel confident and recommended to the board that that I'm not confident in recommending the board that we stuff that we turn back what what about to what eight or nine days even worth of funding six school days because I think you know in there are households in our region that that those six days matter and so I would I can't think of a good reason why we would like to get money back frankly so at that point I'll suddenly open it up to the board for any other stuff please yes please

094um I guess my question is if we end it I'm 31st and come back to school can we still use those smart funds for the students who are going to reduce lunch for the diploma It's All or Nothing well correct me if I'm wrong we're budgeted to manage the yeah um so essentially two separate parts when it does it says that money is is that is that internally funded or is that state that state funds right any other questions or discussion yeah I don't really don't want to give any money back at the same time to recognize our ability to self-funded probably not I would I would support you go through the end of the calendar year end of December that would be the end of the last full month the funding was available because

095if I heard correctly January was a partial correct and so the only thing that we would give back would be remainder 1310 all right thank you anyone else excuse me can you eat the uh I I felt like you had a recommendation kind of the other the other evening um do you could you could use the most advice so personally I would love to see us Feed the Children but unfortunately I know that's not feasible so the cleanest route is to end it on December 31st and and to advise the families that as a as they were when they return back to school that payments would be accepted and would need to be uploaded into their my school bus account so that their children can eat or they would have to provide meals for their

096children and or highly recommended that they fill out the applications so that they can qualify to see if they qualify for free or reduced lunch can you I know I I've used um the scenario where we would not preservously nobody else will spend every everything that that would look like the children could eat until January 10th on January 11th payments and or brown bagging their lunches would have to come back on January 11th that's option two and that would be in the middle of the week correct any other discussion um am I misunderstanding to item two allows us to spend to the middle of a month we use up all the funds and we're not under any obligation to fund why this is so I'm abused I'm not with you I'm probably the money out

097of um okay I I don't want to believe anybody on the table um and and you know it just might give people time after the holidays I don't know people are saying seem to really get themselves even more together more notice and I think I I could prefer to use every where I would think that the alternative in the communication Dilemma on this is that if we have a Monday Tuesday and a Wednesday am I correct that Wednesday is the 10th is that right Wednesday is the I'm sorry the 11th protected okay so the 10th is a Tuesday so that gives us an opportunity for the second through the six and then again on the ninth on Monday the opportunity to communicate in the method that would communicate to the students different mediums mine doesn't

098listen to me but I'm certainly I'm certain you guys do all the things you're supposed to do to communicate that that you know come tend those are a lot of opportunities that lead up to that you better notice that it's if you told me to remember something on when do we break December 24 that you I remember on the third or second let me go back I don't know I think I just think there's a there's an opposing view to that communication dilemma that we could probably but I think Warren's considering and not getting that back then we certainly wouldn't patient strategy to make sure that people are aware of how to apply for this lunch as well as here's the day work communicated uh free frequently amount you just answered the question I was

099going to ask because three would do so much is going back to the way that it needs to be pre-covered but people haven't had to worry about that so immediately as the time we'll start communicating it I would assume more as soon as we get that message clear and prepare thank you is there any other further discussion or questions you need a motion um okay and Eric is the motion and Dr Benson Clark is the second is there any further discussion hearing 911 Voice vote all in favor all right any opposed or a sentence hearing none that motion carries thank you that was uh discuss that appreciative [Music] okay so just two more quick ones so 12.2 C's your Student Activity reports the reports as of October 31st 2022 balance to the bank accounts are

100there any questions is on what information you had in your packet on Student Activity so hearing none this is 12.2 D is the second month that we're reporting on the short-term investment fund and as of October 31st 2022 we had a dividend reinvested of 873.54 are there any questions on the short-term investment money question what is that actual return percentage I can my apologies next month I will add that in the mail thank you okay this brings us to committee reports [Music] so what I would like to do is go through committee reports um so at this point why don't we kind of cover call us quite a bit of policy stuff but I'll defer to the policy committee if there's anything that we need to discuss or any updates that they have for us

101all right you're going to move out of Finance we've also we've talked about finance a little bit as far as the lunch is concerned any Finance uh updated report okay we're going to facilities well I will be able to provide the board and my weekly update some information about the well timeline and location which has been approved of the news okay uh programming training program uh negotiations yeah [Music] um next and um we are we are in progress we are going forward so we hope to have something to bring to the next board meeting superintendent actor where is that correct correct we have a tentative agreement with the administrative group and we will be able to come to the board uh with that ta for ratification at the next meeting we feel good about that

102thing uh how about Eastern Maine tomorrow okay for the East busy summer I'm still here thank you for being here uh and then Kate is okay for us to maybe report after this it came off of a weekend decade of country was pretty tiring but good so uh you know perhaps Mary Sue and um superintendent Captain America and I could just Dolores I'm sorry I apologize if you could appreciate the question I I weekend of Friday and Saturday so I would like a bit of time for us to process the tiny bit in a board meeting okay great thank you all right nice did I miss anything as far as committee reports okay item 14 turns us to public comment uh if you'll bear with me and read our statement again just to be clear

103Hebron Andover and Marlboro Community engagement and attendance and power of Education public meetings are welcome the public comments segment of the meeting agenda is set aside so the Board of Education be received public comments procedurally public remarks will be limited to three minutes and citizens will be asked to identify themselves because the board of education is limited by Freedom of Information active discussing only matters on the agenda the board of education is not permitted to engage in a discussion with the comments presented at this point I'll open it up again to those present for public comment Lisa yes if you could over here thank you oh sorry yes hello oh there we go um good evening uh Ethan Spinelli 22 Riverdale Road Marlborough I also the president of the Rea is gonna if you're not

104familiar I am voted by The Faculty members to speak on their behalf in all matters and today was an emotional day I will not lie for teachers we are struggling emotionally we are stressed and I said something to the superintendent when we talked last night and I do appreciate him reaching out to teachers and asking for opinions on what's going on in school but I did say to him um that not saying something in my opinion is saying something so I did not plan on making comments tonight but I felt that by not saying something that also sends a message [Music] um The Clement rail is is struggling teachers need some help I get concerned and a little bit defensive when maybe there were some implications that part of the difficulties at Ram are what

105teachers are doing or not doing in the classroom and and that makes me a little bit nervous I can tell you there is no more inclusive or welcoming or open faculty than the ones that you have here working for you they work endlessly each day to make sure every student feels supported and welcome and that is part of their their concern with how the unfortunate incidents might be played out I'll be honest I want to take my comment until the to the media left I think this is important to discuss on a personal level and how things can be sensationalized but I do not want that to happen um but the climate is a reflection of the cultural School teachers do not make the final of the school climate and I've been on my leadership

106so Fox for a second planet comes from culture culture is created by leadership all of you on stage have a responsibility to make sure the culture that you want at Ram is communicated with the building administrators so that they can put bad culture and practice into play among the faculty climate is a reflection of culture and if climate is struggling at Ram among teachers then that means our culture is struggling that way I think it's fantastic that we brought in a lot of experts tonight or or people from an outside community and within the community and parents that have spoke tonight about the concerns that they have but I have disheartened because this district has a 140 experts on hand ready to discuss what students need in the classroom 140 we have experts in math

107science student like this I apologize we in all kinds of areas we have experts in Psychology we have experts in social work we have experts in student counseling and so I get very disheartened when teachers are dismissed as just teachers we are experts we know what this community means we listen to the students every day every day we are the experts and we want to work with collaboration with experts in our community and outside to make what happens we can never happen again I will also add if I'm allowed that if I told you the things that teachers here and have some dirt every day from students in terms of rude and disciples disrespectful I'm going to you would wash you would absolutely be blown away by the book of enemy that teachers here in

108their classroom now I'm not going to take this guy's following I'm a pretty rational person this is a great school it still is and I believe it always will be the teachers hear these things every day in their classroom and it winners on them it grates on them we're into November probably at the beginning of the school year and teachers are feeling it and they're upset what make you blush even more is probably some of the responses that we get from building administrators when we bring it to the Art Center and I respect every single one of them and they're doing their job to the rest of their ability as we all are and I believe that honestly do we are all doing our best but it is not enough no teacher to be told

109in any kind of profanity where to go and what to do it should not happen but we accept again make your own make what mistake we accept it and the teachers are supposed to take it back to the class and we'll carry on with their day and it is not fair it's absolutely not fair so I'm asking for your help we have a conversation about the culture that we want to re-establish that Ram and later these incidences and move forward to help create a better climate among the teachers which in the end will equate a better climate among our students and we know that we absolutely want that for sure if I could just extend my time a little bit longer something else is very concerning to me as a representative of the faculty we

110have four teachers resigning tonight when and the last time in the history of France have we ever seen four resolution to Outlaws not like 20 years and what makes me a little bit upset is that here at Brandon we do have a unique tradition where the board approves resignations I don't believe that happens in any other districts to be honestly but I think it's a good practice but when it comes time for discussion there's nothing there should be discussion why four teachers are residing at one time there should be serious discussion at peace and executive session at least teachers designer and they have no other job it's not like they're leaving to go to another school they just find that they cannot work here any longer and they're just that should be a concern what's

111even more concerning is that two of those teachers are teachers of color and nothing sends a message to other teachers of color that we want to come the way then knowing other teachers of color are giving away that is and so I asked the board to ask yourself some tough questions let's work with our building administrators let's now put teachers in the way of profanity unacceptable Behavior with Jessica response of that there's nothing we can do about our administrators support us there's no doubt about it no doubt they support us you know that but nobody it's the Lord not not teachers not building administrators should be taught to the way that we all thank you again should not happen so let's hit the reset button let's talk about the culture that we want to put

112back in place of ram that supports all of our standards all of them all of them in light of what happened this weekend or the last week rather and let's reset the climate of ram so that teachers a more successful in the classroom students can learn students feel welcome and then teachers are going home upset every day looking for other jobs outside of them speaking thank you very much foreign I'll ask online is there anyone online joining us at a hybrid that would like to share a public comment here no okay okay thank you which brings us to item 15 the informational items uh calendar of events County I mean maybe here any questions regarding any of the items calendar both the middle school high school as well as the disciplinary report at this point

113uh just before we I asked about this motion that I need to practice just a couple of practical matter what's the most efficient way to manage the uh sound and recording and all that and going from this meeting to that meeting and the fact that it's neat are we set up that do book two to do what we need okay and then bring it back right okay I need you to tell me what's you can use that is that is that a difficult thing okay that's what we'll do I don't want to change absolutely okay so at this point um I would like to entertain a motion to move to uh executive sessions for the purposes of discussing an attorney-client privilege communication related to the speech in public forum matters in schools and further uh

114move to invite superintendent Colin McNamara and attorney Jessica Ritter into the executive assessment thank you Mike is there a second one second okay thank you Karen uh is there any discussion about that motion you're none uh Voice vote all in favor uh any opposed I'll make sure that we shoot the link back out here thank you I was hearing on that motion carries and we are an executive session just for the Public's notes we will move to the executive session once that's complete come back here for the agreement so