001[Music] Hi, >> how you doing? [Music] >> Okay, so it's uh 7 o'clock on Thursday, September 4th. We'll call the um Wilton Board of Education regular meeting to order. Has everyone had a chance to look at the agenda? Yes. >> Are there any questions or comments on the agenda? Is there a motion to approve the agenda? >> Motion to approve. >> Thank you, Heather. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Pam. All in favor? Carries unanimously. Comments from the public. >> Oh gosh. I'm sorry. That was >> comment from the public. >> Calling you directly on your phone. >> Mr. Luca has a comment. >> That's happened to me as well. >> Livia ate my last cinnamon roll. That's where we were before we got here. Um, the board has set aside time
002at the beginning and end of regular meetings for public comments for the members of the public to share their views on matters involving the Wilton public schools and to help inform the board's decisions on such matters. Two minutes will be allotted to each speaker and a maximum of 15 minutes to any one subject. For the record, please also give your name and address. The board considers the views of citizens in its deliberations and welcomes and appreciates public comment. The board listens to public comment thoughtfully and with interest. The board, however, generally does not respond to public comment during board meetings by offering commentary or asking questions. The board also invites commentators and the public to contact the board or the superintendent directly with any specific questions or comments. The board through the chair and the
003superintendent may respond to questions and comments offered during public comment or shared directly and in responding may also direct members of the public to the appropriate staff member for a response. Are there any comments from the public hearing? None. Um consent agenda. Um there are two items on the consent agenda. policy 5141.7 external heat illness awareness for intramural and intercolastic athletics. The change is just a recoding to 4115.4 and then regulation 5141.72 concussion management and training for athletic coaches. Again, the change is just a recoding um from 4115.2. Are there any questions or comments about the consent agenda? Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? Motion. >> Thank you, Pat. Is there a second? Thank you, Lori. All in favor? I >> motion carries unanimously. Um, board chair's report. I'd just like to
004say a quick thank you and congratulations from everybody who has walked through our building since school opened last week. from teachers, staff, parents, kids, custodians, the whole educational community. This opening has started with such great success and there is a buzz and a vibrancy in all our buildings and everyone has um jumped back in. and we'll see later tonight with our testing reports that we're on solid footing and we're all just really looking forward to a really successful um partnership throughout the entire year. So, we just want to give um a big thank you to everyone, even noting that the buses seem to be running on time and >> they're pretty. They're so pretty. >> Yeah, >> we love a shiny clean bus. >> Yellow bus. So just um recognition and um appreciation to everybody
005across the entire community. So thank you very much. >> Great. Was it only last week that school started? >> I know. >> Feel like we're in it. >> We are. We're in it. >> Cool. A couple of things. If you saw your email from me this morning, uh we learned yesterday um from good news from Laya that our federal title funds were restored. So that's great news. You may remember at this time last year, I was scratching my head because I could not figure out how the um what is it called? The small area income poverty estimate was generated and nobody seemed to have a clear answer. Um there's a 2% threshold that stipulates you get money or you don't. And apparently last year we fell below it. This year we're back above it. And
006so, you know, maybe I shouldn't ask questions. Not that there's someone to answer them, but it's good news. Uh we received $46,045 in title one funds. Um that those funds are really um intended to support instruction for underserved students. We received another $41,941 in title two funds. Those funds also are intended to support professional learning for teachers to um support our underserved students. And um lastly, we received $9,520 in title three funds. Those are directed to support our multi- language learners. Um so that's really good news and hopefully um that will continue in subsequent years. Um just wanted to to notify you all a date will be forthcoming to do an afternoon written cutting for the new business and innovation center up at the high school. Um so we've just got to coordinate some calendars
007and make sure we get our donors there and um that'll be something to look forward to. Also want to remind everybody, you all have the invitations in your mailbox and anyone who may be listening at home. Next Tuesday the 9th we're having a long range planning session. We have Jonathan Costa from Advance coming down. So, we're hoping to get from our staff, from from the rest of the community to come and spend a little time with us talking about a vision for our facilities, which as I explained to you earlier, will be fed to the architect who is developing at Specs, and then that will go on to the facilities committee and hopefully lay the groundwork for a much clearer plan moving forward. Um last the um consent agenda um the policies that are recoded
008that was part of the recommendations from the audit that CABE conducted of our policy manual this summer. And so we just got that about a month ago. I've been going through it. Um according to CABE um 81% of our policies are exactly as they should be and then the remainder um need a little bit of um updating or tweaking. And the two categories are um primarily, you know, some policies are 10 years old or older. Um and so there have been legislative changes and the legislative changes need to be updated in the at the bottom. And then the second category are just the the new mandated policies. And so we're going to be looking at two of those tonight and we've got a small handful that we'll need to work through uh for through the
009policy committee and then forward later this fall. Um that's it. >> Thank you very much. I look forward to that ribbon cutting. I was in that classroom. It's pretty fantastic. >> It's great. >> Yeah. >> You know, I never How did that come to be? Did I miss that whole? >> So, um Bianca Dioro, >> I met her. >> Her brainchild. >> Yes. She and she's can teach. Um so, she's a high alumni. So, was you know working in private sector I think in finance several years ago. um decided that she wanted to teach and so you know we were lucky enough to scoop her up. Um at some point last year she approached the PTA looking for a grant to reimagine that space. She had some ideas about extending personal finance, creating a you
010know studentr run investment um doing some other things. Um and so the PTA landed in my office um and then um I called our fairy godp parentents um the strap family and the Buché family um and they very generously >> got it. I was I was just curious how Yeah, cuz it's a beautiful room and she's a lovely person. Yes. >> And very excited about it. And she went here. >> She just graduated. >> Yeah. >> Great financial report from my >> So, um we're ending fiscal year 25 in a positive position. We've held back a little bit more than we normally do at the end of the year. Um, we're figuring right now between 15 and $17,000. The town is still closing out their year and we're not sure if there's going to be
011any expenses that come our way that we weren't anticipating. So, we just wanted to air on the side of caution. Um, we were very excited that we didn't have to have a spending freeze this past year and a lot of that was due to people really being thoughtful about their purchases and and just trying to have a little bit more control over what was being spent. Um, and special ed was our friends this past year where we didn't um we didn't have a lot of unexpected expenditures um that were that drove costs up. I don't know that we'll be that lucky this year, but >> that that was then and this is now >> but um but that did help us last year. Our medical expenses were slightly higher than what we had been projecting.
012Um but because we were on top of it all year, we were able to absorb the additional costs within the budget. So, we were good on that. Um just as a reminder, you know, we're closing out two systems. We're we're still in two financial systems. So HR and payroll is still a new world. This is our first year closing out in Munice um on the financial end. So it does and it's for us and the town. So it does cause a little bit there is more involved with it. So um but we are feeling very positive about things. The first two months of the year have been busy uh with a multiple projects all across the district and uh but things went really well. we were able to stay within the planned budgets for those
013things. We did just get a new truck this week. Um so that will help if we have snow and for moving things around the district. So that's we're very excited about that. Um we did a RFP for food service this year. We did get four proposals. We decided to stick with Chartwells. Um I think we're going to see some very positive things this coming year. we have a new management team in place. Um they're very excited and they've been responding very well um to our requests. So I think we're going to we started some positive things last year and I think that's just going to really continue this year. So we're excited about that. So the year's off to a good start. >> Yeah. I just share with the board um just winding back to
014a comment L made a minute ago about special education. Um we were confronted with a couple of um most costly outplacements and so those are going to gobble up most of the excess cost already right out of the gate. So that's a line we're going to continue to watch very very closely. So we're in good shape now but you know you may hear a month, two months, six whatever months from now that we have to free these move things around to cover. So just you know be forewarned that is as always the most volatile line in our budget. >> Yep. the a lot of the um the title one 123 funds that we got is that are those retro back to last year or is that just for this go? >> It would be >>
015the hard part with the government funds is that a lot of times we don't get notification until now. >> Yeah. >> And we we've already planned what we're going to be doing. So that's what hurt us last year when they cut it because we were counting on it and then suddenly we didn't have it. So this year it had the opposite effect. It was a nice It was a nice surprise. Um, but understanding that there could be a lot of expenses like we're we're still electric still crazy. We don't know what's going to happen with special ed. Um, we're keeping a close eye on medical this year. So, you know that we we know that there's going to be expenses that come up. >> Can I ask you a question? Are there any cost savings
016or revenue opportunities in the um new Chartwells agreement? >> Um there are several things that that we did um negotiate in. So part of what we're going to be doing is replacing some of the older equipment in the kitchens. We're still paying for it, but they're kind of fronting the money and then we're going to be paying them back over time so that way we can have the benefit of upgrading now. And I think um with uh Chartwells, it's great to hear that there's like a new management team in place. And I think that um while you're working with them, I think um parents through the PTAs or some way to help get that information and those faces out to people so they know if that, you know, so parents and families know if there's
017if they encounter concerns in the cafeteria who they should reach out to or who they um can talk to. and just to make that accessible. I know that I was at a PTA meeting last year where charts came and presented to the parents and I think that went a long way and it was very successful. >> Yeah, we we spoke to the regional manager about this earlier this year and I'm sure just started this week or at the end I guess the end of last week. So I imagine he's got a newsletter going out to introduce himself and then at some point once they are fully established I think we'll invite him to a meeting. We'll have them bring Conrad, our executive chef, and they'll do a little show and tell and, you know, maybe
018feed you all some of their wares. >> Yeah. And they're excited about getting out into the community and that's grading everybody. >> That's right. >> Any other um questions for >> Are we hanging on to all our reusable plates and forks? And >> we are. Yeah. No unexpected extra replacement costs so far. Um, we've been having a little bit of an issue with um with some tarnishing on some of the silverware. So, we're trying to track down what the issue is. We thought we had fixed it last year. Um, so we have had to purchase some additional silverware for replacement. Some of it just walks, you know, doesn't always make it back to the correct bin. So, there is always going to be a little bit of that going on. But um overall the the
019program's going well. >> Thank you. >> And um we move on to the highlight of the evening. >> When's the last time you were called that Chuck? >> Highlight of the evening. >> He has his blazer on. That means it's serious. >> A little bit. Oh, okay. Hi everybody. So tonight I have a lot of slides to go through over 50. Um it's primarily results from last spring standardized testing that state mandate. Um that amount of information and data can be a little overwhelming and perhaps even mind-numbing. So I'm going to keep up a brisk pace tonight. Um I'm not going to go over every slide. I've given you the information. Um, if you have questions, I can certainly answer it, but I'm not going to go through all the in detail. Um, it might
020be helpful if we listen to the whole presentation and then engage in discussion, but it certainly if you have a quick clarifying question, please feel free to ask. Um, I also want to point out that we provide this level of detail because prior board members found it to be helpful. But if there's something different that you would find helpful, please let me know and I can read the presentation for next year. Okay. All right. So before we start, I just wanted to provide some context for the information that we're going to be talking about tonight. This is the chart. I think you've probably seen it before. Our comprehensive assessment system. On the left hand column, we've listed the different types of assessments that we use and the levels that those fall into. The top left
021hand is the statewide accountability assessments, this SBA and the SAT. Under that are our own district interim benchmark assessments, the MAP and the PSAT. And then finally, all of our classroombased formative assessments. And that's just a brief sampling of all of the formative assessments that our teachers use. next to the uh the middle column lists the questions that that data is supposed to answer. So if you look at the top center column, the state accountability assessments answer the question, are enough of our students meeting standards? And that's designed for state and district leaders and boards of education. And it helps us to decide um you know basically are enough of our students meeting benchmark and how best to deploy human and material resources. The next two levels, which students are meeting which standards and what
022is next in the learning for each individual student, are designed for different groups of people to make decisions around programming, instruction, and most importantly at the teacher level, what's next in the learning for each individual student. The reason I'm maybe belaboring this a little bit is because we need to use the assessments for the purposes they're intended to serve to answer the questions they are designed to answer. The results we're discussing today are not designed to provide anyone with the granular information they need to make specific program and instructional decisions. We look at other data for those decisions. These results will help us as district leaders to decide if the district is meeting its goals and whether resources are being used as effectively as they can be or whether we have enough resources. Does that
023make sense? Okay. So, what we're going to go over tonight is the SBA, the next generation science standards, the SAT, advanced placement, and college entrance and persistence. So, before I actually get into the numbers, I wanted to talk a little bit about the strategies that we used to support um academic achievement and development. I think sometimes the way we chunk information across meetings that can be months apart, there can sometimes be a disconnect between what we're doing to get the results and the actual results. So, I thought maybe it would be good to start with. And you've probably heard much of this before, but I just want to remind everybody what do we do to get the results that we're we're getting. The first thing that we do is we support teacher collaboration which involves
024using all of the time that we have available. Program meetings, professional learning time, coaching cycles and instructional effectiveness team meetings to engage teachers in repeated cycles of data analysis, planning, implementation, and reflection. The second involves establishing regular district academic goal meetings between central office staff and building administrators to monitor academic achievement and growth data and to provide guidance and support with decisions related to curriculum instruction progress monitoring and professional learning. The third refers to the SRBI process, scientific research-based interventions in which we monitor students rates of improvement in their movement between levels of support. And finally, we align components of the teacher evaluation process, teacher goals and professional growth plans to the acceleration framework and cycles of again of data analysis, planning, implementation, and reflection. It's important to note that these strategies are mutually dependent.
025For example, collaboration is critical, but only if teachers are clear about what they're trying to achieve. In other words, what their goals are, and only if they receive the support they need to grow professionally, professional learning. And a point I want to make here is that it's difficult, if not impossible, to draw a straight line from any of these strategies to the results we get in in a particular year. And so if you'll just indulge me for a minute, I want to engage in some analogous thinking here. So when we think about growing students and teachers, my mind goes to a particular hobby that I have and that's gardening. So I like to grow roses and I've over the years gotten pretty good at growing roses. In fact, sometimes people knock at my door and
026ask how how is it that you get these beautiful roses? There's a lot of things that I do to get the results that I get. You know, I use two different types of fertilizer. I use rose tone. I use cow manure. I spray them with different things. Antifungal stuff, neem oil. Um, some of the roses need to be deadheaded. Climbing roses need to be shaped so that they bloom the right way. certain roses have to be in certain places in the yard so that they get either more or less sun. Um, so there's a lot of things that go into that, but I can't say, you know, if I get a beautiful blooming rose, I can't say, "Oh, that was the fertilizer or that was the um deadheading." We do the things that we know
027are going to help, right? And many times it works. Um, but there are things beyond what we do. You know, like this past summer, we've had a very dry August, right? Roses generally don't like a lot of water, but there's been too much dryness. So, you see what I'm saying? Different things work for different roses at different times, and we can't always predict or draw a line between what we did and what we get. The only reason I'm saying this is because I know one of you is going to turn to me today and say, "So, why did we get that result?" And I'm going to tell you, I probably am not going to be able to give you a definitive answer. We know what works. These are the things that work. And just like
028the roses, if we keep at it year after year, we're going to get the results that we want. Make sense? And I think you're seeing that our results are much better than they used to be. And it's because we are disciplined about doing the things we know that our students and teachers need to bloom. Make sense? >> It does. >> Okay. Good. Thank you for indulging me. >> You have to come to your garden. Your >> roses. A field trip. >> All right. So, these are some bright spots from the spring 2025 results in terms of achievement. you know, our students continue to do uh, you know, demonstrate very high levels of achievement and growth on the state's assessments near the top in ELA and math. I'll let you look through those if you haven't
029already. And these are the bright spots for growth. Again, we're pretty much towards the top overall in growth. Just as a final reminder, these are the levels that the students uh are scored on on the uh assessments, if they score a three or four, they are considered to have met benchmark. So the percentages that you see on the following slides are the kids who have scored either a three or four these assessments. Let's look at ELA. All right. So this is the current and historical data for grades three through eight in ELA. You probably heard me say this before, but it's helpful to look at this data in two ways. One is crosscohort and one is within cohort. And let me kind of, if you don't mind me getting up and explaining this. So when
030I say cross cohort, I mean comparing third grade last year to third grade this year, keeping in mind that we're talking about different groups of kids. It's the same curriculum, but a completely different group of kids. within cohort is looking at third grade last year to fourth well the year before to fourth grade last year. Right? >> That's the same group of kids, but we're talking about a very different curriculum. >> Right. Make sense? >> You know, there's pros and cons to looking at it both ways, but it gives you a more well-rounded understanding when you look at it both ways. Right. You know, unfortunately, the curriculum is not I think I've said this before, it's not evenly distributed, right? Um, some grade levels could be more difficult than other grade levels conceptually, right? You
031also have groups of kids who come to each grade level with a different set of prerequisite skills. So, you know, fourth grade may have been easy for one group of kids last year. It's not going to be easy for this group this year. Right? >> You understand what I'm saying? >> Okay. So, in grades five and seven, we have met or surpassed our district goal of 85% meeting benchmark. And grade 8 is knocking at the door. And in all but one grade level, grade six, we see increasing numbers of students meeting benchmark from year to year. Those are the within cohort um comparisons. So again, if you look up here, we went from 72% of the kids making benchmark to 75, 81 to 88, 80 to 77, that's the only dip, 84 to 85, 81
032to 83. If there was an increase in just one of those grade levels, I probably wouldn't put too much weight on it. But the fact that the majority of these leads me to believe that our teachers are really engaging in those cycles of data analysis, planning, implementation, and reflection. Okay. All right. So, the next few slides are taking that information from the previous slide. Um, wait, what am I doing? Okay. Why is this not There we go. Just taking the information from the previous slide and breaking it into the various levels. Personally, I don't find this information to be too helpful. Generally, what we would like to see is a movement towards the right. One increasing number of kids at at levels three and four. We would prefer not to see a slide to the
033left where we have increasing numbers of kids at level one and two. Um, it's helpful if there are patterns here. Generally speaking, we are moving a little bit to the left, but I don't really find this to be helpful because I it's very difficult to find a pattern. Make sense? So, I'm just going to skip over all of these if that's okay with you. >> Um, can I just ask a general question? When we when you >> look at this data, that includes everyone that took the test, even special. um yes kids who get services and intervention correct so it's across the entire spectrum >> okay >> how do I go back >> the dur comparison thank you okay so here are the dur comparisons We are at the low end in grades three and
034four. Top of the Dur in grade five. Grade seven was tied for second with Eastston. And we're in the middle of the group in grade six and eight. I want to remind everybody that third grade last year was their first year of implementing a new program. Overall, that puts us fifth in the dark. And now we're going to talk about growth. So the SBA sets growth targets for each student based upon their performance from the previous year. The targets are calculated to ensure that students who are meeting benchmark make at least a year's worth of growth and students who are not meeting benchmark make accelerated growth. specifically to close the achievement gap within three years. So our kids who are following falling below benchmark have more challenging goals than the students who are at benchmark.
035But for the kids who at benchmark, we want to see at least a year's worth of growth for those students. Now the goal is for every student to meet 100% of their target. But in reality, some exceed their target, some others don't quite make it. And so this chart shows the average percent of growth targets achieved by our students. And you can see here the growth in the elementary grades is strong, but we'd like to see more students making more growth in the middle grades. I would like to also remind you that we are in the process of reviewing the curriculum for middle school and next year they will be piloting various units from three different programs so that we can make a decision moving forward. Um did I miss a slide? Well, overall across
036all levels, we rank right in the middle in terms of growth. Let me go back again. I'm sorry. I think you had the dark one growth. Is that fair comparison, right? So grade five had the best growth in the DAR. Grades four and eight were at or near the bottom and the rest were generally in the middle which again puts us right in the middle. Okay. So this chart shows the performance of our students who receive special ed services and supports in 24 and 25. >> Say it again. >> Okay. >> One more. So this is the chart that shows the performance of our students who received special ed services in 24 and took 25 which provides a cross cohort and within cohort comparison. There are still some areas of growth for us. The within
037cohort growth at the elementary level is decent but we would still like to see more growth at the middle school level. This is the same data but includes the actual numbers of students involved. You'll notice that these numbers are not large which means even small changes one or two students can cause large changes in the percentages. The other point about students who receive special ed supports is that they are entered and exited into special ed over the course of the year. So the numbers aren't necessarily very clean. um and it's make makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions about overall progress. This is a comparison of students with and without disabilities. There is still quite an achievement gap, but I have to say that over the years it has narrowed significantly and I think we
038are making progress. All right, let's move on to math. Again, this is the current and historical data for math in grades 3 through 8. And again, it's helpful to look at the data in two ways, both cross cohort and within cohort. We exceeded our goal in grade seven and are getting close in grades six and eight. And as I said in ELA, in all but one grade level, this time grade 8, we see increasing numbers of students meeting benchmark from year to year. Again, these are um just all of that same data broken down by level. If you have time to dig into it, I I stopped. Um if you have time to dig into that data and you have specific questions, please let me know. And here are the DUR comparisons. We're at the
039bottom of the comparison group in grades three and four. We are in the middle in grades five and six and at or near the very top in seventh and eighth graders. Overall, we're third in the dur behind Darianne and Newan. Growth in math continues to be quite strong. You notice those percentages are quite good. Compared to our DUR counterparts, we were near the bottom in grade four for growth, second in grades five and six, and third in grades seventh and eight. We are second in the DUR in growth overall in grades three through eight in math. Students who receive special ed supports, we made some growth for three of the cohorts. We have some work to do in the others. Again, this is adding actual numbers. This was something a prior board member felt was
040important because the percentages alone don't really give you a sense of the numbers of students that we're talking about. And again, there is an achievement gap, but if you look at our results historically, we are narrowing this over time. All right. Science. So more students met benchmark in 2025 compared to 2024 and it's more in line with the 2023 results like back up to 79%. Really disappointing we couldn't get one or two more kids into 80%. Grade 8 um grade 8 was interesting. We dropped in our achievement level compared to previous cohorts. You'll notice our performance historically has been pretty good. So, we're wondering if the results are, you know, a bit of an anomaly that is specific to this cohort, but we're going to be taking a deeper dive into our instructional assessment practices
041to ensure that we return to our previous levels of achievement moving forward. Another great year for Wilton High School. Wow. So comparisons, grade five and six, oh I'm sorry, grade five was sixth in the DUR. Grade eight was fifth. And once again, Wilton High School was number one in the DUIR and number three in the state. Can I ask just a quick question? Because that's like the second or third time that I've noticed that our lower grades across the dirt might be a little bit, you know, lower in um ranking, but then the upper grades and the high school kind of surpass and are at the top of the ranking. So, I just, you know, we talk about foundational foundational needs. So, I just it's just something that I've just been pointing out and maybe
042there's a question or something to inquire further or look into that further, but I just find it interesting. >> I think what we could achieve if we could get those foundational skills up to the level we'd like to see. >> Yeah. >> I do think that the high school has a heavy lift sometimes, but it's getting less of a lift. And the middle book is also really lifting the kids up a lot. Yeah. and we're sending kids up to the high school who are much better prepared. But I think you're right. I think we have some work to do at the elementary level. And I think that's one of the reasons why we moved to um illustrative math and also why we're looking very carefully and have made a decision to move to a different
043curriculum at the elementary level. >> Yeah. Okay. So just you know that that's just kind of what >> Yes. has or we seem to have a really solid recipe on the top and it seems like we're getting there in the back and if it just Yes. And like each year you see it >> Yes. >> you see it building and at the top is definitely sustaining and continues to grow. >> Everything takes time >> and they're early. They're young learners. So, we're just fluffing them up and then we just keep moving them along and they do more and be more and learn more. I have every confidence that we will be able to improve our performance at the elementary level. I let me rephrase that. We will continue to improve our performance because we are
044improving our performance. >> Okay. So, excuse me. All right, Connecticut School Day SAT. These are the results in total and broken them by level. Another exceptional year for Wilton High School. Um, one thing I want to mention here is um the benchmark for math is much higher than the benchmark for ELA. So, I know we consistently see math seeming to be lower, but you need to keep in mind the benchmark is harder. And I think every school district has better results in ELA than they do in math because of that. >> And that's because of the >> and Matthew, you might have to help me with this. Those cutoff scores are based on what students need to know and be able to do in order to get a B in their freshman year, >> C++
045>> or better freshman level. So freshman level math classes tend to be more challenging to score that grade level. Good grade. >> Make sense? >> Freshman college or freshman high? >> Freshman college. >> Yeah. [Applause] Okay. So this is again that breaking down by level. Okay. So this is the dirt comparison. We're number two in ELA in the state and number two in math behind both both behind Daring High School. [Applause] Um this is our students sped versus non-sped which you can see we do still have some work to do. There is still a bit of an achievement gap here. All right. Advanced placement. This includes the number of subjects tested and how are students scored across levels. Level three and above is what is needed to get credit and we are above 90%. which
046you'll see in the next slide. This is the percent of students passing AP exams and the percent of students who actually participated in taking exams. This is one of our best years ever. This is the percentage of students who participated in AP at some point during their high school year. So again knocking at the door of 80% which I think is a very good reflection of the breaker of the high school and the last two years have been an historic high for success on AP exams. As you can see from this graph AP scholars um achieve high scores on multiple AP um exams. Again I think this is an all-time high for us. Correct. Y and then finally here it's finally no the last test scores. Uh so there has been a downward trend in
047the number of students taking the ACT. Um but last year was a bright spot for students who opted to take it and had historically high scores. And finally these are the college persistence numbers. students who enter college and persist, meaning they return from their sophomore year. The data is not never very current, but we are near the top in both the state and the Durk, which means we are preparing our students well for success in college. So, sorry for the speed dating aspect of this, but I I just wanted to get through and do the highlights. So, do you have any questions? >> Chuck, I had a question. Just help me guide how I digest some of this information. >> Sure. >> If you can go back to slide 18 asked me to do it.
048>> Which one was that? >> Uh, this is ELA growth trends. What I was just curious like to your point beginning in the whole analogy of Incredible Roses that um small deviations or or changes in the data you can't really parse out much specifically. How much of a delta would there need to be for you to say one like very positively or very negatively that there's something that warrants a real drill down for you? And did you see any of those types of trends in the data? I mean certainly that dip from fifth to sixth is concerning. Um you know we all have hypotheses about what that could be. >> Yeah. >> Um the transition from fifth to sixth is tough always. Um >> but historically we have not seen a dip like that. So
049I don't think it's the curriculum. The teachers are still collaborating. We've done all the things that we need to do. So I'm kind of at a loss as to what that could be. The good thing is that both Trudy and Karen every year dig down into this data very deeply and they develop what we call the blueprint for unfinished learning and they share that information with the receiving grade level. So, they're both meeting with seventh grade this year to really look at this sixth grade cohort and what their needs are and what might tweaks we might need to to the curriculum and to assessment practices in seventh grade to catch them up and address that unfinished learning. So, it's kind of that's how we tweak things. We see a a dip. We look at the
050data. We identify where the deficits are. and then we help the teachers think about how can we bring students up to to grade level within the context of the current grade level. >> Thank you. >> Did you guys add anything to that? >> Um, no, not really. I mean, I think it's really important to consider one of the things we noticed in the math on the math side was a dip from fifth to sixth grade, right? However, I've always directed everybody, you need to look at where that fifth grade class came in and how much sixth grade grew them. So even though they were at 82% versus 85% they grew almost 10 points from the beginning of sixth grade to the end of sixth grade. So those moves are are equally important. Um I think
051we take everything in in a big picture context and it's not just what is what are the instructional materials what do we have to do daytoday to ensure that learning sticks and we've instituted a number of changes K5 and uh 6 through 8 to ensure that the students are really having the opportunity to stick with their learning. >> Yeah. And the one that jumped out to me on this one was just the 7th to 8th grade cohort from 23 24 to 24 25 and like is a 10 point swing enough for you to say like we need to figure out what's going on. >> So that's growth not achievement. Um >> so yeah >> and so on some level too understand we also have a lot of high achieving students. So if you go back
052to the previous slide and the number of kids in level four >> Yeah. So if they don't make a 100% of a year of growth, they may still be in level four. They just may not be as high in level four. So they didn't affect that number to the degree. And not saying that not it's not an excuse, but it's when you're at the highest level with kids, it's really >> poignant for us to make sure that they're making a year of growth also. Yeah. >> So like what you're saying is there could be a four being scored without a year of growth. >> Yes. >> Is basically what you're saying. So you need to look at not only it's moving both toggles at the same >> Yes. time. >> I would be more concerned
053if we weren't showing >> more than a year's growth for kids who are below grade level. So for kids who are below grade level, they have to show more than a year's worth of growth if they're ever going to catch up. So we tend to focus on you know if if they have less than a year's worth of growth even if they have less than a year and a half worth of growth we need to look at things being differently and that's generally when we start looking at um SRBI a little bit more carefully and seeing whether we need to maybe connect what the interventionists are doing more closely with what's going on in the classroom so that kids are more successful in the classroom. So like circling back a little bit to Patrick's question
054about like what that delta would need to be is kind of like where you see if it's not as much as a year and a half like kind of what is like what changes maybe global changes need to be reassessed or looked at. >> What was the year that we went from two ELA classes to one >> two years ago >> last or last? Have you guys considered that as being an impact on his numbers? >> I haven't noticed that Heather. What I have noticed, I mean Karen, you you can weigh in here too. Our achievement in ELA has been pretty flat for a pretty long period of time and that's why we engaged in the curriculum review. Did you notice a dip? >> I did not notice a dip when we moved from the
055two ELA classes to one. teachers have done a really magnificent job of integrating the two courses and I their achievement has remained at relatively high rates. What I do think we have noticed as a department when it comes to um the lower suppressed scores in grade six that is one of those grade levels where the standards are a little bit harder and we have a replicable replicable practice in grades seven and eight of fully integrating social studies. a little bit more with regard to reading content practices and that's a replicable practice that we'll be working on in sixth grade this year. >> Yeah, I guess I maybe I'm just interpreting the data wrong but when you go from 7th to 8th between 22 23 23 24 and 24 25 it looks like it drops. Is
056that not an accurate reading? I was speaking toward achievement. So I apologize I did not look at growth. Can't see it. Let me find it first. Yeah. >> You're on side. >> You're back on 18. >> Oh, yeah. >> Just go full screen. >> If you look at absolute achievement page nine and then track that. So you take the sixth grade in 2022 and then you track them in 24 25. They continue to improve their should. >> Yeah, know I see Pat. But so we should we not be concerned about the growth. >> But I think your question was about the curriculum, right? >> If they're if they're if they're achieving less growth potentially because they're not in as much exposure. I'm just >> Gotcha. Yeah. So, I think that kind of goes back to
057Karen's point a little bit about integrating more in sixth grade, the ELA curriculum between the ELA class and the social studies class in terms of you're seeing that being a perhaps that is driving growth in in seven and eight in a way that it could also drive growth in six >> could. Yeah. In 23 24 the c the cross >> we think >> within core growth is an improvement each year >> for 7th to 8th from 23 to 24 23 to 24 that one is Is there any way to tease out from the ELA testing that's done what portions of the ELA test they did for them? >> Yep. >> We do that with the blueprint for unfinished learning. We have a sheet that by target whether we have exceeded or secured the learning or
058whether we've left some learning on the table. So I guess I just to go back to like the the kind of global point from the beginning about you know this is kind of from a board perspective you know are enough of our students meeting you know benchmarks and then um looking at you know resource effectiveness or level of resources is so um I know that we spoke about the ELA changes that are you know going to be piloting this year and looking at at at those and talking about perhaps you know inte further integrating across curriculum in the in the sixth grade. Um, so I was just wondering if there were other um changes or resource changes or changing levels of resources in different ways or additional resources that >> I think what I'm most
059concerned about is the achievement gap between general ed and special education. I don't know that putting more resources, meaning people or things, would be helpful. I I'd like to see us do things a little bit differently. And Melissa and I have begun discussions around that. You know, I mentioned a little bit before the traditional way in which special ed and intervention works is we assess students, we notice where their deficits are, then we start working on those deficits hoping that somehow they'll catch up. I'm starting to think that that model might not be the best way to do this. Our goal should be to make sure that students are accessing the grade level curriculum because if we're working down here several grade levels below, they're missing a lot in the general ed classroom and the
060gap just keeps getting bigger. And we see that in the data. You know, it starts small in the elementary level and then it just grows. So, we're beginning discussions with the coordinators and with Melissa about how can we it's what's called just in time remediation versus just in case remediation. So, very often we'll teach things just in case they might need it for the upcoming unit. We want to make sure that whatever they need for this particular upcoming unit, that's what we're working on. Does that make sense? >> Yeah. So a it's kind of almost even being more granular than we are now. >> Yes. >> So diving down into more and like looking into like what they have at this moment and two weeks from now what they're going to need to have and
061>> exactly and that makes that >> scaffolding around that or much more specific around it to what they need to do >> and it makes the connection between what's going on in remediation and what's going on in the general ed class a little bit tighter. >> Okay. So when they're sitting in both rooms, they're kind of >> within the same working on the same problem or the same in the same area >> at least the prerequisite skills that they would need to be successful in that unit rather than some prerequisite skill that doesn't necessarily relate to the particular >> reinforces each other. Knowing that there's not a like a standardized test for for social studies, I'd be really curious at some point um to hear if the high school history and civics teachers or whatever
062feel that the middle school students are coming in prepared enough for those types of classes. Um, especially since it sounds like you might be kind of leveraging the social studies curriculum to actually teach ELA because, you know, we've reduced the amount of ELA ELA, but to provide an opportunity to apply what is taught in ELA in social studies in a reinforcing manner. >> I I would be cautious about saying that we've cut curriculum or that we're teaching less. It's might it's less time. is time is spent differently. But I just, you know, I think just in general, I think I would just be careful about how we, you know, talk about the learning that's going on within, you know, the amount of learning or the what that's going on in the classroom. >> Karen and
063the teachers worked very carefully to make sure that we were addressing all of the standards. Um so we feel confident that we um you know the way we used to do it with two classes it was enriching but I I don't know that we were addressing additional standards during that time. >> So >> that's that's fine. I was just I was just asking about social studies. >> We can certainly ask the social studies teachers about that. I would point out that although there is not a social studies test, the standards do apply to the discipline of social studies. Even in the SAT, when they break it out, look at do students know social studies content? Do they know science content? Um, and the um SBA, those standards are expected to be addressed by the social
064studies teachers because learning how to, for instance, write an argument, that's a big part of social studies. So they are intertwined and mutually reinforced and we can make some inferences from the data we get from these tests about how um important social studies is. I have to say Karen has always told me that you know the results we're getting we can attribute a lot of that to the social studies teachers. >> The topics that they read about on the smarter balanced assessment are aligned to the content taught in the in science and in social studies. So, if they can apply those literacy skills in complex content text, we're going to see better comprehension. And now that we're really focusing on building background knowledge from a very young age, we're increasing their comprehension capacity over time.
065I I mean, I think that's great for comprehension. I I I am more curious about the amount of focus we're putting on like just the the the amount of content, right? Like how how deep are we going into civics? how deep are we going into some of these topics that I I feel like a lot of kids just don't know about right now. Um and if they're actually getting the time to do that as as all because I think that a lot of times you know um students don't necessarily understand the history and and what's happening in the world and things like that. So just you know curious about how we're addressing that. >> Great point. And in grade five, um, next year we will be adding a unit on the United States Constitution. Um,
066the rigor in the fifth grade first pass of US American history has really been lifted with the new standards. >> Oh, that's great. Okay. >> And we could certainly share with you the social studies curriculum. We could come to the board and talk about it. I do think right now it's a a critical component of our children's education right now. Um, so having a good look at it, I think was really >> And those standards keep on, right? Weren't there new social studies standards put in place recently? So last October or the October before, I apologize. Those two years are blending together for me for obvious reasons. Um, we moved from social studies frameworks to social studies standards. Um, so I I think you'll see a difference in that. >> You could definitely bring like
067a workshop or something to the the table on that interest. And I just had a I'm sorry I can't I'm like dominating the questions. Go. >> I'll go when you're done now. >> Okay. Um have we had an opportunity to talk to other districts or have we looked at what other districts have done in terms of their switch over potentially from teachers college to a new English curriculum and if there's been uh a change in their numbers versus our numbers. anecdotally. I haven't discussed it one-on-one with them and I wouldn't want to speak to their data. It's hard for us to decide what's impacting our own data. I wouldn't want to speak for them. Um, but we know what the districts are using. >> You know, I think it's a little too early for us
068to determine what the impact is. You know, teachers when they first adopt a new curriculum, it can be almost mechanical and it takes a year or two for them to refine their practice and feel confident and kind of delays the effects. So, I I want to be really careful about making any um definitive conclusions about the effectiveness of the program until the teachers feel more comfortable implementing it. And I I would assume our counterparts are thinking the same thing. And so just just as a confirmation, right now the new English language arts curriculum is implemented at grades one to K5 this year. >> K5. It'll be all the way through K5. This year. Okay. And then the the middle school is is piloting a bunch of different ones. >> They are piloting two programs and
069comparing it to their existing program, evaluating the performance of all against the standards throughout the year. >> Great. and that the existing one we're doing a little bit in eighth grade in terms of tweaking it to make the transition to ninth grade a little bit smoother. >> That's right. >> Thank you. You're welcome. every every year you come and do this presentation and every year um you talk about the gap between typical kids and um special education receiving kids and it's always like yeah that there's still a gap and but we've been hearing that for a few years now and there's no further >> there's a second part to that there's still a gap but over time we have been narrowing that gap app. I would like to see greater narrowing, but it's hard. You
070know, kids wouldn't be in special ed if they weren't below grade level. >> Well, there's kids in special ed for social emotional. >> Yes, that's true. >> Too. I mean, are we seeing a higher number of kids in that category? >> At the secondary level, generally the students have more of the social emotional issues. We see more learning issues at the elementary level. And I would point out even if they've got social emotional learning issues, they wouldn't be put into special ed if it wasn't impacting their educational performance. They'd probably be on a 504 plan. There has to be an impact on their educational performance to receive special ed supports and services. So I, you know, I do want to see us narrow the gap, but when we narrow the gap, the kids should be
071exited from special ed. I have to say when I first got here I think 10% of the kids were meeting benchmark. We're up to 30 40 sometimes 60 70%. So we are narrowing the gap. Um >> you talked to other assistant superintendents of curriculum in other districts and learned what their secret sources for narrowing >> time. Let me answer that question. >> We have the secret right and I did the analysis a year ago on last year's data. I haven't done it yet for this year's data, but you know, you really have to look at the look at the growth numbers. And even in this presentation that Jeff just provided to you, if you look, you know, not every grade level is consistent. Third and fourth grade really struggled, but there are unbelievable growth results
072for our most struggling learners in the data. Last year, we had the greatest acceleration, I think, in the state. So I I when I look at the data, I separate out districts that aren't full K12 districts. There's a lot of smaller places, you know, around the state. So I try to do like comparisons. are we're one of the strongest in terms of um closing the achievement gap and addressing our special ed students >> and and we have a ton of work to do >> and that's great that you and Melissa are you know looking at alternative >> um resources and alternative pathways. Yeah. I I said one other question and if you've already answered it, remind me. Um, one of the things I was I was trying to parse out is the I've always wondered
073like how consistent and are we showing just consistent growth when a cohort leaves one school and enters another and how performance differs. We don't have K through two, so there's really only one comparison in this data set of uh uh Cider Mill to to Middlebrook, but it it seems like the growth achievement for math when moving from fifth to sixth grade is higher than ELA. Just curious, is that a trend that you guys look at? Is there any meaning in that and how we're like are we are we getting better at providing a more consistent uh outcome or or quality of teaching in in that movement from one school to the other? >> Well, we do have a pretty consistent instructional resource program >> in math and that's the illustrative math program which has been
074implemented K to8 now. That's what we're trying to do in ELA. >> Yeah. >> I don't know. We have a K to5 program now that's um being implemented. One of the programs the middle school is looking at is that same program which would then make it, you know, a K to8 program, but middle school students are different and the teachers would like to look at additional options. What I've said to them is I'm open to a different program than what we're using in K to 5, but we need to ensure that there is a smooth transition between fifth to sixth and then from 8th to 9th, >> right? So, >> so and I think the pilots are going to answer yes >> a lot of those questions for us because they're looking at >> you
075know carrying it through K eight or what the trans or what the results will look like when you have a transition to a different program and similarly um some of the pilots in eighth grade are going to look at um coordinating a little bit with the high school and what you know having greater cohesion that way might do or look our eighth grade students are really performing at very high levels and that they're very prepared for nth grade. Um, in our curriculum review, we really started looking at ninth grade and how to kind of lift the rigor to meet them. >> Yeah. Yeah, that's another interesting Yeah, >> that's a that's a good sign because we're outgrowing what we've done in the past. I think that's a good sign. >> Thank you. >> Sure. Any
076other questions? >> Thank you. It's a lot. >> It is. It's good though. >> It's good. We appreciate, you know, um, you know, our students also, you know, we hope that they continue to look like your rose golden. >> Okay. >> They get teased about that for a long time. >> Thank you, Bob. >> Thank you. [Music] Okay. Um, next up we have um policy 514412. It's a new mandated policy challenging behavior prevention restorative practices response and student discipline. It goes to our goals and priorities number five and six. >> Great. Okay. want to look at both policies together because they're companion policies. >> The companion policies. >> So, we'll also at the same time look at 5131. >> I should have actually put the the um Connecticut school policy first on the agenda to
077make it easy. So, here's the the short story with this. Two years ago, the state legislature completely revamped the bullying and safe school climate law. And so um whereas in the past the statutory focus was around bullying behavior and um eliminating and preventing and responding to bullying um specifically and the statute was kind of organized around that idea. Um the statutory thinking in the past two years has evolved. And so two years ago the state supplanted all of that language and replaced um the statutory language with um language around um restoration and safe school climate and standards for ensuring safe school climates in schools. um as part of the statutory change that required mandates. And so one was that um every school district adopt policy language that was mandated to be drafted by CAVE on
078um safe school climate. And so what you have in front of you, policy 5131 911 is the statemandated Connecticut school climate policy. Um ours is the same as every other district in the state per state statute. Um it's a positive change and so the state we think the legislature is looking more holistically at student behavior. Um that's is something we've tried to do all along and so we actually think this is you know policy you know catching up with with practice and um you know very good intent. So the state required um policy language we don't have um discretion around what that language says it's there. Um Kim um I remember a year ago when we changed her position she was kind of in the teachers unit now she's in the administrative unit. she functions
079as our safe school climate um coordinator. One of the changes in the law, you know, at the time was that that person had to be an administrator. And so that's why we made the change with Kim. That's why we expanded her um responsibilities. Um her primary job is to implement this policy and to work with the administrators and the safe school climate teams in each of the buildings to implement the policy. Um this summer as part of our administrative training in July, uh we had Jessica Richmond Smith spent half a day with us to go through the new policy, the implementation of the new policy as well as all of the um investigative reporting that so we did that. So coordinating with him, our administrators and staff um have received this and you know we're
080working through the policy. the regulation um that accompanies this policy um that's drafted by Shiko. It's their recommended practice um that lives alongside the policy the um the shift um there's some language shift in the policy. So the old the old policy focused on bullying um the new you know term of art in the law is challenging behavior. um again which is you know I think for me it's a positive change because um both of them just conceptually um the second piece that's really important in the change is u an understanding um and a response um toward restorative um practices. So in the past the um you know the the policy you know kind of required consequences um the law has now um necessitated that while there are consequences there's also restorative opportunities and so
081part of the shift for us and you know for everybody across schools is to incorporate restorative practice into the response to challenging behavior. Makes sense. >> Only slightly. >> So what could you bring that alive more? Because restorative practice I've heard the words restorative practices a lot. >> Sure. >> But I still don't really like for a kid that's you know you you kind of mean to Johnny and you threw his backpack on the floor. >> Um what does restorative practices mean to >> Yeah. Our resident experts in the room. So you want to provide you probably had one of those today. Um you know that I think that the intent is um to provide an educative experience um to help the student you know reflect a little bit on his or her behavior and
082try to correct it through some some measure um and you know in a way that to make the victim more whole. Um go ahead. >> Yeah, we've actually been preparing for what we know this legislation was coming. So um anytime a student is um sent down all actually their questionnaire that they go through get them to reflect on their behavior. So that's been implemented now at the elementary schools for several years um secondary now in the last year. So that's one piece of it. And so there's a continuum like with everything. So it could be that own personal reflection. It could be a restorative conference that's happening with students who maybe got into some type of disagreement. It could be a restorative conference with student and teacher. It could be an educational opportunity. So, it
083really um depends on the situation, but often times it's discipline paired with restoration because we know restoration is actually more effective long term. So, >> pause. Sounds like it would take more time, >> but it's time well spent because typically I can tell you in the conferences that I've participated in with students, that's something that um changes behavior typically, which sometimes a suspension, you know, may not have that lasting impact um because the issues may still be there. So, you try to get through the issues. So long term it it uh maybe a little more time but long term I think you have a better benefit which is kind of the impetus for why uh the state is moving in this direction overall preventative rather than >> do you keep um numbers for how many
084times you had a restorative practice >> intervention data now policy in terms of restoration um related to challenging behavior Yeah. And like the the old law, um there's some pretty stringent timelines around investigating, completing investigating investigations, communicating with families, communicating with teachers. And so that was some of the work that we walked through with the administrators this summer is just understanding what those timelines are, making sure we're using the appropriate forms for recordeping. So, um, Kim has that all set up and then later in the year, you know, we'll find a time we'll come back to you and we can report out on, you know, what the practice has been, you know, what those experiences are, what numbers look like, how many, and, you know, some features of, you know, maybe some of the responses.
085Um, but you you can if you want another just kind of concrete look at, you know, potential restorative restorative actions in the code of conduct for Cedar Mill, Middlebrook, and the high school. um you have you know kind of potential infractions what the kind of disciplinary consequences are and what the potential um restorative opportunities are and that will also give you a flavor >> just I guess while I'm reading it just is it my understanding is it correct to look at it that now bullying is a subset of challenging behavior is that correct so challenging behavior encompasses everything. Okay. And then so like when you have these definitions in here, so you like in this one so I was read so it's like restorative practices and then it talks about challenging behavior >> and then
086it says what challenging behavior it is and then it defines what bullying is but it's not quite queer clear to some extent that bullying lives under challenging behavior. So the restoration like all that work lives within the full universe of the behavior. So I think that's when I was >> Yeah. Yeah. Understood. >> So I think that's what I just so when a parent or somebody sits down to to read it that they understand that um how the definitions apply across the board. So anytime that you see they're calling out bullying separately. It's just as a subset of the challenging behavior and all that applies to challenging behavior also applies to to the to the bullet. >> Yeah. And I I think too, you know, in this case, and I think it's it's reflected in
087the in the spirit of the change of the law. >> Um >> there was a time where just about every mean behavior was labeled as bullying. And you know, we knew then that that's really not accurate or appropriate. And so, uh, one of the positive steps in this change is that we're getting away from those labels. Um, we still have an affirmative obligation to investigate thoroughly and to respond thoroughly and to, you know, help, you know, all of our kids be successful in school behaviorally. And so that's not different. Um, and you know, again, that that's embedded in the law as well in terms of how we communicate and interact with families around some of the issues that occur. Yeah. >> So I just because when I was just looking at it I was like
088like when I was looking at what it talks about restorative practices and then talked about challenging behavior and then when I saw bullying separate I was like wait a minute does restorative practices also apply >> you know in those cases as well. And so I just um that and then I guess just the the new kind of definition of bullying with that kind of that involves a real or perceived power imbalance that new element. >> It's an important one. And so that just kind of my I was just trying to wrap my head around really kind of what that >> sure >> what that looks like or what that um what that means and do even kids really you know in teaching kids what their behavior is or what it looks like. that might be
089part of the the restorative response, but as you know, these guys are confronted with those kinds of situations, they're trying to make a determination and one of the factors is determining whether or not there was a you know, among others whether or not there was a power imbalance in play. >> Yeah. And there's a wide realm of when we look at the power imbalance, it could be a group of students to one singular student. It could have to do with socioeconomic education. you know, we look at all those factors of what may be playing in. >> Have the teachers have the teachers all had a chance to look at this or is this all >> they get training every year, safe school climate training that they do, they have the choice to do it on
090the Friday before school starts or by um September 30th. So that has all the new information in it. And then I'm going to each of the individual schools. I've been to two out of the four so far to bring that to life and answer the questions that um you staff have. >> Yeah. And I I just ask and and maybe I'm I'm interpreting this wrong, but like to me I I just wonder in a classroom where you have a student that is incredibly disruptive, right? Someone that's preventing the education of fellow classmates and that may be because of special needs, that may be because of social emotional issues, whatever that might be. Um, are we able to like leverage some of these guidelines to have a restorative practice around some, you know, a kid that
091is really disrupting education, >> right? Can can we use this to say, hey, like you've really disrupted the education of every other kid in this classroom. Is there a way for us to to implement a restorative practice that enables them to see how disruptive they've been? I mean, I think that's something we're always intervening on. Um, that would meet the statute. >> Yeah, that's what I was wondering. And then, >> um, we always look to restorative practice. There could be discipline associated with that. >> Um, it depends on the situation. >> Yeah. I just I it'd be interesting to see when the teachers read this if they kind of have that. That was my first instinct when I read it, >> right? Because it reads very different than kind of the bullying piece, right? because
092it's just more broad around >> how we approach disruptive behavior in in the schools. >> Yeah. You know, I know that the Middle Brook at least I think I was over there for an audience meeting a couple of weeks ago and Janet was kind of walking them through it and they were struggling around, you know, some of the concepts and what it looks like. So, there's a lot here for people to digest for sure. Then just the second related policy you know that was referenced 44.12 the challenging behavior prevention. So that's also a mandated policy. Um the language from this policy is uh cave model language and the the language is not you know statutoily required but the policy is and so we haven't had a chance to meet as a policy committee. So if
093there was some word smithing that we wanted to play with as long as you're not tinkering with um you know the concrete requirements of the policy um you can play with the language. Yeah, I think that's where some of the the underpinnings of the making sure when the definitions making sure that bullying kind of is included in that challenging behavior. That's where I think some of um there's probably um a parenthetical goal that can be added to just clarify that or something along those um those lines. >> Yeah. So, just kind of looking forward, the um Connecticut school climate proposal will come forward for a vote at the next meeting. amount of discretion there. This other one you want to play with, we can put that on the agenda for the next committee and study
094the language a little more. >> Sorry, which one school climate policy you're going to see again in short order? >> The 5131.911, the larger one, >> challenging behavior prevention. Um, we'll spend a little more time looking at the language since that's not the language isn't required. >> Got it. So, just a question on nine nine 51 Connecticut school climate policy. Uh, it's it it requires us to establish a school climate committee. >> Is that just is that one committee for all the schools? So, we had a district committee which we're now going to meet a lot less and that's folded into the schools. Um the schools already have um uh I wouldn't say new we're doing a lot of the stuff that is in here already. We um you've heard me talk about our climate
095surveys and we have action plans. Those action plans now are due by December 31st and we have to have them public facing. So that that's really the the big >> and then um Kim is Kim serving as both the coordinator and the specialists. Were those two different >> the principles are the specialist? >> The spe the principles are the specialists. >> They are. Okay. >> And also in the statute. >> Okay. >> They've been school climate specialists for many years. Congratulations on the formal >> formal recognition. >> Yeah. >> Um so we'll see this one at our next meeting. >> Correct. >> We'll push the other one to the policy committee for one just >> scrub full. >> Um and Kim, thank you for all your work behind this. And that gets us to comments
096from the public. Um, seeing none, under future business, um, look forward to, um, Tuesday, September 9th of next week for long range planning. And just everyone note the time again, it's 6:30, not 7 o'clock over at um, the Zelner. And then on Thursday the 18th we have a regular meeting and then again on Thursday October 9th and just to the board to aware in the coming week too we'll send out a schedule of some of the committee um governance and um policy and other um dates. Meeting adjourned at 8:24. [Music]