001And thankfully you agreed, Dr. Rekenberg. So we found out a short while ago that uh Summers High School finished third in the running for that award, which is really something to be celebrated at your first run at the high school level. The first two selectes get a site visit. We've gone through that fortunately two times in this very small district, which is not common. Um but Dr. Rekenberg got some very good feedback from the association. She will be going at it again next year and it's um it's a very good process to go through. Um and this same thing this this third finish feedback and resubmitt is exactly what happened at the elementary school. So principal Musei, you're you're here. You responded to that feedback. you and your team went at it again and then
002lo and behold, you have the elementary school of the year. So, we're going to go after the high school award with that same motivation uh the next time we can submit. So, good job on that. >> Great. >> On February 6th, I went I've done this for the last few years. I get invited to go to Yukon to meet with the graduating seniors coming out of the NEAK School of Education. So these folks are are probably the most soughta ed candidates in the state. They come out with a master's degree. They have a very rich student teacher experience. And each year I go out there and meet with the students. I was out there with the superintendent this year from Bloomfield. We we interact with the students. They get to ask us questions what to
003do and what not to do when preparing for an interview. and our district uh gets a front row position at the recruiting fair. That's my compensation. Um and you know, we want those students to come and talk to us. Um and hopefully maybe bring them aboard here in Summers. And that concludes my update. Penny, any questions? >> Any questions? >> No. Okay. Thank you. Uh Stephanie is not here. She's not feeling well. So, we'll not do the monthly budget report. We'll move that to Monday. Fine. >> Okay. Um, so before we get to the budget, I want to give Ed an opportunity to vote on the minutes from >> Oh, yes. >> Thank you. >> All right. Dr. Galloway, >> talk about the proposed budget. >> All right. Thank you guys for coming. Staff, some
004of you came voluntarily and some of you maybe not voluntarily, >> but it's it's well kind of, but you you know um I appreciate our work that you all do on behalf of our students and families. I'm glad that you're here tonight. Um before I get started, if there are questions and I can't respond to them immediately, I have someone uh capturing them and we will create an FAQ document that we'll post on Monday. So that is the intent for today. I would also like to thank the Radits, Mike Briggs, Ed Poe, and JC Galloway um for their work on the budget subcommittee. Thank you for giving up your time coming here in the evenings to get us to this point. So tonight I'll do a combination of letting you read and also reading for
005the benefit of the folks who are live watching on live stream. And I'm very pleased to present uh the budget to you this evening. First slide is is our staffing board of ed district administration school administration and board members. Good. You found your hard copies in your folders. >> Thank you. >> Mhm. That was that's good. >> Our agenda tonight, we'll go through our quickly our mission and vision, portrait of the graduate. I'll mention some district successes, technology, our development process, the actual budget, budget history, proposals, grants, staffing and benefits, as well as district enrollment. Our vision and mission. We are in pursuit of excellence, lifelong learning, an environment conducive to success, student, family, and community partnerships, responsible citizenship, honoring equity, individuality and diversity, and educating the whole child. That's what we are in pursuit
006of in this district. Supported by these tenants, which are the success skills. Some of these skills are have been abandoned by other places in the past, but we still believe critical thinking is is vital and important. Collaboration, working in a team, being creative, solving problems, and being able to communicate. I wanted to mention some of our successes as we move forward as a district. We're still fully engaged in having hosting parents on math and ELA nights, STEM nights, open houses, meet and greets. Uh thankfully with the support of the board and town, we now have an aligned math program running K through 8. There are AI, math, and ELA districtwide leadership, districtwide committees. They meet here in this very room and also offsite to do good work. We have strong community partnerships with Summer Shine
007SEF. They've been very supportive. Uh the crisis management tabletop exercise is something I'm mentioning that because we engaged in that in August. Uh we were there the fire department, police department, public works and other town officials and engaged in a tabletop exercise in case we had an emergency. We could communicate with each other and talk about how we would solve problems. Our athletic achievements, recruitment and job fairs, you know, we we now are out there. Um, in my previous role, I did recruiting and I never saw the this particular district. Now, we are out there fully staffed and engaged. And the kids I saw at Yukon a couple weeks ago, I required them to stop by our table. That was a requirement. They all agreed that they will stop by our table uh at the
008fair in April. We now have an EAP plan for our employees. Um and thankfully SHS is now a school of distinction. So Dr. Rekenberg and the team know not to lose ground and are working really hard on that. So good job at the high school and also the preparation that we are continuous continuously engaged in to prepare our students for their next steps whether it is college, the military or workforce. I put over uh on the right top right just the it's physical fitness but what you see there and it's very clear and visual what I found when I started here in April of 2023 the staff who worked here deeply care about the students and the district however with a bit of focus on the right things at the right time you see the
009results results. Over time, our technology department has taken large strides forward um now compliant with data privacy. We have FM multiffactor authentication throughout our district. We now instead of discarding old technology, we resell that technology. The third grade has been moved from iPads to Chromebooks. serves two purposes. The ESPback starts in third grade and is very difficult to navigate on an iPad and that switch also is a cost savings. So our goal, you know, I've said this in previous meetings is for our third graders to hit a higher launch point and then build from that point. We now have a security system for our maintenance building, which is new. And now we also have a district-wide alert system for administrators to hit their cell phones if there is a lockdown so they can quickly respond
010and know what's happening. Curriculum SES, you guys are doing yman's work. they are fully engaged in implementing ELA and math curriculum at the same time. So good work with that. But what comes with that is the professional development to give us high quality implementation of both programs. So that's very important. You'll see datadriven decision-m in literacy and also math. We've partnered with Eastcon to improve our processes with the data team process and that is where teachers come together and meet and talk about student performance so they can monitor and adjust instruction in real time. We now have an AI leadership team that runs K12 to deal with AI. So all of these uh issues are being dealt with by our staff members. Special education, you'll see an increase um in several lines to support our
011students. There are some increases with out of district schools and pro programs, contracted services, transportation contract increases and in software. This is our process. We start this discussion in August uh as a coal team. We run through November and December. administrators have a duty and obligation in my opinion to advocate for the educational space. So they present their budgets to the CO team. They provide rationale as to why they're making certain requests and I really don't put guard rails on principles when they make the presentation because I do believe that that is their responsibility to advocate for SCES, to advocate for MBA, and to advocate for the high school. That's their role as a principal. And then moving through that process after several discussions it gets paired down. Our subcommittee meets we have very thoughtful
012discussions to provide rationale and they give us feedback and we respond to that feedback which lands us here in the January February time frame to present this budget to you. And as we move forward through March through July to move this budget forward, um we'll have a public hearing coming up. I'll present it to the town uh in that. Well, they haven't set a date yet. Whenever they set the date, I will be there. So, here's the ask. Last year we were at 30,476,322. This year's proposal is 31 think I said 31 million. Did I say 30,000? 31,598,192, which is approximately a $1.1 million increase at a percentage of 3.68. And I heard loud and clear, especially last year when I went to the town, Dr. Galloway, you can't come in every year with fives.
013We all clearly understand that. Uh and thankfully for the due to the support of the board in town, we when I got here, we started at a 434, went to a 521. last year was 568 through efficiencies, attrition, uh, and we don't need to make a huge investment with curriculum this year. We're able to bring that percentage down to a 3.68 for this year. Our budget is broken out into thousand lines from 1,000 to 9,000. So this is a different representation of how the lines show up through salaries, benefits, professional services, property services, purchase services, supplies, property dues, and fees. This is a graphic uh representation of the slide you just saw. Um and between salaries and benefits that accounts for just over 80% of our budget. Here's a representation of what has increased or
014de decreased regarding each of those thousand lines for salaries. You can see the increases 516,202 and some of the reductions in the 5,000 6,000 and 7,000 line show up here. bought just to make sure this slide is a representation of some things that were proposed to the CO team uh through some of the discussions that we've had. You know, I heard on the town side and I just want to make it clear. I believe that there was a a belief that we had not made reductions. So, I wanted to put on this slide our process that shows what is proposed is discussed and paired down before it even comes forward to to the board event. So, the proposals had us starting at like a at a 4.82, 82, but through multiple conversations uh with our
015school leaders and staff, it gets paired down and that's how we land with the 1.1 increase. So, you can ask as a principal and leader, as I said before, to advocate for your space and then we go through in-depth discussions about what we can afford and what we can afford to move forward. Here's our grant slide. Uh, with federal grants, our idea grants amount to $413,000. And our different state grants come to $421,000, just short of 422,000. This slide captures our staff count by school and total districtwide. Total count for for this year is 266. On this slide, it just shows some of our contractual obligations uh through the negotiations process with each bargaining unit. You'll see teachers, administrators, paras, administrative professionals, nurses, custodians. We're in negotiations now with that those groups and unaffiliated. That
016gets set in June. This our benefits slide. How many staff members take single, dual, and family? As you can see, um we have 169 staff members who are taking our medical. The premium cost is 15% and 72 staff members are entitled to insurance waiverss. This is the employee cost share per unit. Administrators are paying 24%. Teachers 23%, secretaries 19, nurses 22.5, custodial 20% and the unaffiliated staff between 19 and 24%. Here's our enrollment count and this is taken from October 1st. And on October 1st, our student count, our total student count was 1,297. The next slide is is our projection for our 26 27 school year. and that should be up by 26. You know, there's going to be some give and take as we get closer to that time frame, but we're projecting 1,320
017students. it came up in previous discussions um about students going to a schools and you know I've been on the website of some of the schools where our kids are going and they have full-fledged FFA programs and we just don't we don't offer that here. So I think last year we had a good number of students go out to ad programs And this is our magnet school anticipated enrollment and tuition and our vote. You know, as I spoke, a lot of students went to Rockville last year, and you know, those numbers are showing up right there. Just for context, uh we added this slide so you and the public could see how we're standing against uh other districts in the Talon County. Colin County average at 22,809. The state of Connecticut's average is and our
018district is 21,729. And this is probably the third or fourth representation of what the salary lines look like in a different format. Just highlighting salaries and benefits come to almost 81%. And the other categories are like 19%. Which is not unusual. Um for school districts, salaries and benefits usually carry the day. And this is what leads us to the 3.68% ask. Any questions so far? But I will say again uh to the board if you can't think of anything tonight, please feel free to email me. I will start an FAQ document that will be posted on our website and add to that as questions come up through our budget process. So, I'm open. Go ahead. >> I have two. Just wondering the um CLA, ELA, and the Eureka Math, are they two or three-year contracts?
019>> That's a good question. Um >> I'm not sure which is which. is three. Math is >> you know >> math is three >> and >> I wasn't sure if it was we've eaten one year plus three or two more three more. >> Right. So this is year one of Eureka. So you have two more. So we'll have another budget cycle before we have to plan for that. And then CKLA >> that first year was that the pilot? Did that not count as the first year of your Cuz I know there was a pilot. I don't know if that was the actual >> I don't think that that counts. >> Okay. So then this would be year one. So they'd both be up at the same time. >> Yeah. But I'm capturing that and we'll
020add that to the document just to make sure my response was not clear. >> The only other question I had was in the 8000 series dues and fees. I did look in the detailed one and the 42,000 for that. I'm just wondering like what does if we can what does that what makes that up >> when 8,000? >> Yeah, the 8,000 series the dues and fees like is is we're at the 42,000 there. We and I'm just wondering like what does that consist of? >> I can list that out. Uh memberships. >> Yeah, I'm just wondering just seems a little almost as much as our bog. >> Yeah, CASPO CAPS other organizations. I can list those out. Okay, thank you. >> Dr. Gway, thank you for this presentation. Uh, all the questions I had, you
021eventually answered. So, appreciate that. But I did have one question around your anticipation of gaining 26 students in enrollment, but where do you get that data? How do you anticipate that number? And I guess the follow-up question to that is do you anticipate that net new enrollment to be predominantly in the elementary school, middle school or high school? >> A lot of that that report comes from NASDAQ. It's the New England School Development Council. It's it's a report. It's an organization that services many school district Yeah. >> districts and they provide us with enrollment projections. Um, you know, kindergarten is a moving target. Sometimes it's based on birth rates in the town. So, that's kind of where that comes from. >> Okay. I appreciate that. >> Sure. >> Shane, also if you look, this year's
022um graduating class is less than 70, which I think is one of the smallest we've had. So, they're going to roll off and then you're going to add a group of kindergarteners, which is going to be significantly higher, most likely. Yes. >> Higher than 58. So that's got >> it's a part of that as well. >> Okay. >> And in fact, I believe that is your whole class >> right there. >> Small town USA right there. >> They all know each other. That's for sure. Yeah. >> I mean, obviously the biggest increase is always salary and benefits. Uh I think you did a great job detailing that out. Um a lot of them are contractual agreements predetermined. have the utmost faith in the budget committee. So, thank you. I do too. >> Well, I think
023also as you bring up with the um insurance, they are anticipating a 15% increase and then we're adding seven new either individuals or families to the program. So, okay. >> That's really, you know, a huge chunk of this >> um to increase this. >> Yeah, I saw that. Yeah. Benefits were even higher than salaries themselves. So, I didn't know if it was net new hires, but then you went and elaborated you're expecting net new hire and the high school. >> Do you Is that just a general I'm expecting a net new hire in the high school going into 27 >> or is that is that anticipated or >> anticipated hopeful? >> Okay. >> Is it a specific role in mind or is it just kind of generally you see the staff maybe moving around? >>
024No, you know, we have a strong desire to revitalize the culinary program. >> Okay. Oh, awesome. you know, we we caused it and also remember we went down from three counselors to two counselors at the high school. Um I believe things have been going well with with the two. So, you know, we were thinking about that, but just being um trying to be efficient, conscientious to pause the program for one year, but we have a lot of students. I actually met with several of your students. They're strong advocates. Um, so they really would like a culinary program at a high school. Yeah, >> I think that's great. In addition to that, um, having worked at a VOAG school, a lot of students will go to a VOAG school to get into other courses that they
025offer like one of the CTE programs like culinary, manufacturing, things like that. So, building that up here could also help to lower some of our BOAG numbers. Yeah, to that point with the magnet schools um when you look at the um the correct um computer science and engineering, you get five students going there. The other ones are a little outliers, but like that's a good chunk. So, I'm encouraged to see some of the classes that are being added because maybe they wouldn't need to go there if we offered the courses. And I did notice some new ones looking at the program of studies this year. Is there any data around homeschooling? We seem to have good data on Boag obviously because you can probably track admission, but do we have any data around homeschooling and
026how? >> They have to notify us so I can make that part of the FAQ. I mean, let us know. >> Yeah, that that would be I'd be curious what that ratio looks like. And then do we have any idea of how many kids are considering VOAG or magnet for this year? Because typically they have to get a recommendation from either Miss Bohan or other teachers just to try to anticipate that a little because I know we had a big jump for this year up to 21. >> Yep. >> Capture VOAG for me. But I believe it was three. >> Three. Yeah. Just for the VOAG. We're not sure. >> I believe it was three, but I I will just double check to make sure. And I've just heard some are a small handful I
027think are applying to some of the correct but I haven't heard. >> Yeah, you usually see one or two that it was just that five >> and then three for OA. >> I know Ann had a bunch of questions. Do you want to throw those up on the website or? >> Yeah. Okay. I sent an email just I'll put make it part of that running document. >> Okay. Great. Any other questions? All right. So, we're going to go ahead. >> Yeah. So, what happens? So, at the next meeting when we vote on it, >> we vote on it on Monday. Yeah. >> Oh, yeah. Wow. It's Monday. Okay. >> And just for anyone who might be listening at home, um I know Dr. Galloway mentioned there is a group of four of us on the
028committee. So, we've obviously been to two or three meetings on this already. Um, which is my maybe why the question seemed a little light, but um we have been, you know, working with uh Dr. Galloway and Stephanie um for a couple months now and have vetted a lot of these numbers already. So, >> thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. opportunity to add or delete agenda items. No. Okay. So, we'll need a motion to approve the consent agenda. Add second. Okay. All right. Any questions, discussion on the consent agenda? No. All those in favor? That is unanimous. Okay, we have no old business, new business. Uh the first thing we need to approve is um the scoreboards for the middle school. Um Nick Beller and the Summer's Basketball Association has raised
029$15,000 for two new scoreboards, two new wireless scoreboards in the middle school. So, I think because they're on school property, we need to approve that that they're okay to go up. Um, so any questions on the scoreboards or the donations or >> just one question. Um, they have really done a nice job with all the installation and breaking that down. I'm just wondering from a maintenance standpoint is would we take on the maintenance of that or would there be future fundraising for that or what's the expected maintenance? >> I can give you a quick answer. You know, along with that donation, we'd be willing to first troubleshoot anything in house. >> Yep. >> Follow the warranty, you know, take care of it. >> Yeah. maybe how long are they under warranty, >> right? You know,
030and sometimes they have a typical lifespan of, you know, 5 to seven years before you start to see some of that just to kind of get ahead of it so it doesn't sneak up on us. >> Yep. Well, that's a that's a good thought. Okay. Any other questions or comments on the scoreboard? >> It's a great thing. >> It is. Okay. So, we'll need a motion to approve the scoreboards. >> Second. >> Same. Gina. All those in favor? Unanimous. Okay. Next thing, an open choice program. Um, Dr. Galloway, you may want to talk about this more. We typically have 20 spots. Um the request is to move it to 25 spots for the open choice program. >> Yes. And thank you for that consideration. Um about 3 years ago uh when I arrived our enrollment
031was probably maybe just over 10. Um but lowered some of the guard rails and obstacles and and we promote our district now and people are choosing to come here. So we're up to 20 and the ask is to increase to 25. So based on the attachments, so we currently this year have 15. >> Uh let me get to your >> That is correct. We had um close to 20. The family actually moved to town >> which actually took off the roles for open choice. >> Yep. Um, I'm just wondering if when looking at these numbers in the K5 that's the lowest amount and I'm just wondering do we open the seats at any grade level? And I just asked that um >> we do now. >> Okay. And has that how has that been? And
032I just from previous experiences >> um you know when students can come to us at the earlier level they have the benefit of all of the curriculum and interventions and supports that we provide. Um and they historically tend to do better getting that from the get-go >> versus when you have a student that comes in in seventh, 8th, 9th or 10th grade. Many of the times they can come in and there's a lot of needs that we then pick up as well. So, I'm just wondering what that looks like when we look at um the numbers being higher at the secondary level than the elementary level. Are we noticing any more significant needs coming out of that? >> You know, that's a case by case basis. There are students who come who who have needs
033and then there are students who come that don't and thrive. And that was part of our discussion in increasing um the seats, removing some of those uh guard rails of coming here. >> Okay. And it's something we're out promoting and yeah, >> I believe and I hate to call you out Dr. Der, but since you're right here, I believe you went to the fair at Two Rivers. >> Yeah. So, we represented at the uh Harford Magnet and School Choice program. Uh, and we did some recruiting there, met families and, you know, talked about summers and what we have to offer. We had a lot of interest. Um the primary concern is the distance. Um folks are concerned about the drive which is understandable. Okay. Any other questions? Okay. So we'll need a motion to approve
034the 25 open slots for the open choice program. So move. Okay. Second. All those in favor? Okay. Opposed one. No. Okay. So, that passes. Okay. Okay. So, we have a first posting for the 2728 school calendar. >> Any questions on the school calendar? >> No. Okay. On this >> seems pretty straightforward with what we've been doing the last couple of years. nothing really stood out as a big change. I guess the only question would be do you feel it's enough um professional development time given the new curriculums because we want to make sure that the teachers are still being supported. >> I do. >> Okay. Um and we have a couple new courses. first posting for the creative literacy course. Any questions on the creative literacy course? >> So, is this is the intention behind
035um these two middle school courses to start leaving out study hall or is that what it is or give other options if you >> study halls? >> Yep. >> And a sticking point for me. So yes to um eliminate, diminish, obliterate whatever adjective you want to use. >> It's tied in with some other um schedule changes. >> Okay. >> So removing double blocks of ELA and study halls and then putting in the extra courses. >> Oh, okay. So >> what will ELA become? >> They'll just get one block. They won't get the double block. they could if they can get into that they could like pick up the creative writing there or from my understanding writing would go to some of the other content areas but I'm not sure yet what that would look like
036is that >> Mhm. >> So removing the double block of ELA is that's like that was the goal or that's one of the goals. Well, it it's the the goal was primarily to decrease the the study halls, right? And in doing doing that, um the decrease in ELA has come about, but we we've had good discussions about what ELA or writing reading and writing looks like in the content areas in in social studies and science and other areas. Do we have any more detail on that on what that would look like or how the teachers would be supported for that? Because when we did initially talk about it, there wasn't a lot of it was >> Yeah, they're they're still working on it. Part of it was waiting to see if this was a go
037here, but I'd be happy to uh provide additional information as we move forward. >> Yeah, I think that's where I'm stuck trying to make a decision honestly without having all the information. And we vote on this the next time. >> We'll vote on it the next time. Yeah. >> Okay. Okay. Um and then another MBA class for general music. first posting for that. >> And that is just Do we already have a music a general music class there? No. >> No, this is part of that whole if you take the double block away, there's got to be some place for in the study. There's got to be some place for the kids to go. >> Okay. >> And is this just guitar? >> No. >> That's one of the areas that they'll study, but it's
038like music >> music theory, history, introduction to guitar. >> Okay. cuz there's materials, guitars. >> I just I wonder if like the kids want to get into one of the things we were talking about is the amount to have enough open seats and they'll have to the kids will have to choose based on their priority, but there's only so many spots there, right? So, >> like if you really didn't want general music, but you ended up in general music, >> is that really going to help open that introduction to really help students find an interest in an area that they may not have already been interested in? >> I like guitar. Is great. >> Okay. Um, >> and then will like band and chorus are will they be able to do this as well? That's
039a lot. >> That's a lot of I don't know. Those are the So, I'm hoping we'll have some more information at curriculum instruction here. >> Okay. So, we are there are a couple of things. You've mentioned the double block of LA changing. Um, you've mentioned study halls going away. We are increasing instructional time, which I think is important to note. We're going from an 8 period day to a 7 period day, from 43 minute classes to 50-minute classes, which is a better support for our math program. We've invested an incredible amount of professional development time so that we can deliver this curriculum appropriately. We've invested an incredible amount of money for a well- vetted program that we believe is well aligned and very supportive of the standards to help our students grow and the change
040in the schedule um appropriately supports effective implementation the most effective implementation that we can provide. So that's why the changes are being made. Um as far as music is concerned, um students would be able to choose band, chorus or general music. Band and chorus will be at either an advanced level or a beginner level and they will also have the opportunity for lessons built into the schedule with their teachers. So those are those are some of the the new factors that play a role in this. Um, as far as the um the options that we have, we have created a course that allows for a three-year rotation. So, guitar would be one year of that three-year rotation. So, if you wanted to take general music over the course of three years, you're not learning the
041same thing over and over again. And actually um as we plan things out the most appropriate way uh we would likely start with a music tech uh beginning which is a strength for the teachers whereas guitar would they would need to refresh their own learning before they felt more comfortable um implementing that curriculum but that is also still on the table. So, the course is still um being um rolled out as proposed, but where we start in that three-year rotation um is one of the things that we're we're still finessing right now. As far as the literacy component, we will be more in line with our um our middle school partners across the state with having a single block of language arts. Uh and what we have found is uh Dr. Deer and I have
042worked on a heightened sense of literacy across the curriculum. There are literacy across the curriculum standards. Um that we have really invigorated this year with our staff in an effort to share that ownership so that reading and writing are not just taught in the LA classrooms, they are taught in the technical subjects, they are taught in social studies, they are taught in science as well. And so there is a very strong shared commitment um to our students in that regard. We also look at the attention spans of our students and sitting for the 80 minutes is a long period of time. Um and that has unfortunately um not always because of the distractability of the students after that period of time the efficiency in the instruction has declined. Um and so we believe that with
043the shift to a 50inute period, the uh commitment that our staff has made to literacy across the curriculum, um and the general changes that reduce study hall and increase instructional time for our students in general is a positive shift. In order to make this happen, we need to have these additional courses um added as a component of our schedule. when we meet on Monday for curriculum instruction, when you talk about that shared responsibility, will you be able to expand a little bit more like what does that look like? So, you know what I mean? Like I I understand that writing can be taught across it can be taught in special areas too, but what does that look like at MBA and what will it look like going forward? Um, when we look at our scores,
044ELA is an area that we need to improve on. And so, I'm all for being more efficient. And I I I hear what you're saying about it's got to be good quality instruction, but I I need to understand more or I'd like to understand more about what that writing is going to look like because a science teacher wasn't necessarily trained to be a writing teacher. Doesn't mean they can't learn it, but what does that look like? I think it's really important that our kids are continuing to build on their writing abilities. >> Yeah, I and I wholeheartedly agree with you, Gina. I think um for example, one of the things that we've done is we've been working across the curriculum on what we call a CER rubric. So, a claim, evidence, and reasoning for those
045of you not familiar with that. And it is a style of writing um particularly in research that is um is what we are promoting consistently across the building in all subject areas. And so using that model is something that we find to that consistency in implementation and the teachers um collaborative efforts through both PLC meetings and faculty time um allow for us to promote that writing aspect very succinctly. Um the other thing that I'd say is we have worked very hard with our interventionists to share best practices that are being taught around reading strategies. Um and so we while we understand that a science teacher may not be a trained reading teacher, some are because they also are some are cases, right? Um so we have uh our reading interventionists have been sharing quite a
046few of the strategies that make effective readers. Um and so you'll hear terms such as annotating or stop and jot uh while students are reading. So already the blossoms of this have begun and it is a cross-curricular effort. >> So CERS are happening in social studies now. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Yep. And in science. >> No, it's I'm familiar with it in science. I've seen that over the >> course of the years. I just have not seen it in the other area. >> Yep. So if I can just thank you Marggo and I I just want to point out to the board through I mentioned earlier there's a a math leadership team and through their work they raised the point of needing more math time at the middle school level. So that was you
047know I proceverate on the study hall issue but that was coming into play as well. So those two things working together and you know when I was a high school principal we made a strong effort at literacy through the content areas. So the professional development that's involved the coaches who are stationed there to support those teachers who are not formally trained in reading. However, you can teach lit literacy strategies through your content area and that's really what what we're after as opposed to kids sitting in a study hall at the middle school level. So, thank you for that um that math reference. I forgot that. Yeah. >> Just one more question about the music. Can the kids take the same? No. Can the kids take the same instrument all three years or Okay, they can't.
048>> So, general music is not like you're not doing trumpet. It's not band. So, you can take band, be a member of band. You can start in beginner band and move to advanced band. Uh over your time, they're all keep staying the same instrument. Or if you wanted to switch, that would be a discussion between you and the teacher, the student and the teacher. Um and and certainly that would be allowed as well. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Great. Thank you. >> Okay. Committee reports, curriculum, >> uh we'll be a meeting on Monday. >> Okay. And you guys will discuss the >> uh SAT. >> Okay. Literacy courses. I just want to make sure like do we postpone the for you to get the information? >> I I just I I want to be clear.
049I support there's no point investing in a math program if you can't give it the instructional time it needs. >> And I absolutely support teaching literacy across. Um but I just I want to know more about what that looks like. So if we're not if we're still fleshing things out and we're not ready to know more about what that looks like, then I don't know that I would be ready to vote on it. >> Right. But what I mean is we don't have to vote Monday, right? Or >> we do >> kind of coming up on >> I got to start scheduling. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> So I don't I don't depends on if what comes to curriculum instruction. Maybe the questions will be answered. That's why I'm >> All right. All
050right. Policy. Um we'll meet next on the 9th of March at 6 o'clock. Planning and finance. Uh we don't have anything planned right now. No meetings planned. >> Okay. Salary and negotiations. We have heard back from the custodians and we will meet on the 16th at 5:00. >> Sorry. >> Yep. Uh building committee. Um the last meeting was cancelled due to illness, but um we have sent in our most updated application for the grant. They have 30 days to approve it. So hopefully we'll hear back sooner than that, but we should know in the next couple weeks I would say on the grant. Until that, we're kind of in a holding pattern. All right. CIP's not here. Cret >> Sharon's not here. SC uh next meeting tomorrow at 700 p.m. at NBA. All right, we
051have our advanced calendar of events. We have the uh high school drama production of the music man and that's going to be March 6th and 7th. Dual uh matinea on the 7th, huh? Dual performance. Um, we have the SHS trade fair coming up and that's going to be April 2nd um in the high school gym and then the spring capstone and that'll be June 2nd in the high school gym. Do you need judges for that? >> Uh, always. >> Okay. >> So, you heard it here first. It's a nice experience to go judge. So, if you guys have the time, >> I know we did. >> We did judge. Um, it's something that's definitely worth doing. We also have the invention convention coming up on the uh 25th and 26th. Kids are excited. We're going
052to see some amazing inventions. I can't wait. >> Thank you for the accommodation of sending the training videos. >> Oh, you're welcome. Thank you. >> Um all right, audience to citizens, staff, students. >> Yes. >> I have two questions um of the budget presentation. Um first I was wondering um there's talk of increasing um course offerings within a domain or expanding whole course domains culinary its option the cost of that option versus the cost of paying tuition to send students interested in those domains to other better established and perhaps more expansive programs. I wonder how that cost works out. >> We can probably create a scenario on the FAQ document. Um, >> of course, we want to serve our students, you know. >> Yeah. And and my my pause is the last time I've had
053a focus discussion with Dr. Rekenberg. um the curriculum that we brought I'm not sure what direction we would go with that the books that are in that area right now >> for culinary >> the culinary we would leverage the Perkins grant in order to access ProStart curriculum which is a nationally accredited program that allows students to leave with multiple certifications um and it's a threebook series through Perkins we could fund it and there would be no cost to district. >> Great. >> But you said you could put that in FAQ. >> Sure. >> Thank you. Happy to do that. >> Thank you. And then my other question uh was um you you mentioned and of course it makes sense that salaries and benefits are a little over 80%. And I'm wondering how do SPS salaries
054compare not as a block but per person with Talin County and our DRG? Are we and you know if we're not in the upper echelon are we in the mid are we behind and what um ramifications does that have for recruiting? I I know we're competitive. We now have people from other districts coming to us and choosing us. So, we're competitive. >> Thank you. Anybody else? Okay. All right. So, we will now need a motion to go into executive session and invite Dr. Galloway to discuss the midyear evaluation. >> Oh, sorry, Ken. >> No, you want me to redo it? >> No, I just didn't. >> I'll second it. >> Okay, >> 10 seconds. All those in favor. >> All right, that is unanimous. Thank you everybody.