001Good evening. The school committee workshop business session of November 20, 2025 will now come to order. This meeting is being recorded and will be made available for viewing on the Mthun public schools website. Secretary, will you please call the role? >> Member Daglio. >> Member Dunovan Graci, >> present. >> Member Keegan, >> present. >> Member Maxwell >> here. >> Member Shabilia >> here. >> Member Wlette, >> yep. >> Mayor Boragott. May I have a motion and a second to accept the agenda for November 24th, 2025 as presented? >> So moved. Second. >> Motion by member Shibilia, second by member Wlette. Discussion. >> All right. All in favor? >> I. [laughter] >> Okay, the eyes have it. Um, please rise for the flag salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
002and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. At this time, we'll open public participation. We have two um Nelly Sodto. Good evening, members of the school committee, superintendent, staff, and I'm not sure if the mayor is online, and members of this community. Um, I'm here tonight uh speaking in my personal capacity, and the comments I make are my own views and not those of the Mthuan City Council as a whole, Nelly Stoodto, 71 Comet Road, Methuan Mass. I am here tonight because this morning, every member of the city council received an email from the vice chair of this committee alleging that the city solicitor has caused delays in curriculum materials, digital textbook access, supplemental reading materials, and the school solar contract. The email requests
003that the council intervene, direct the solicitor provide additional support resources, and establish a joint task force. I also it also claims that the students lost instructional time and warns of potential of lo potentially losing millions of dollars. Before these allegations are treated as fact or repeated publicly, it is important that we clarify what led to this email and whether it reflects the position of the entire committee. So I have some questions for you all today. I want to know if was the full school committee aware of the email that was sent and was it being sent that was sent to the council? Was this communication the position of one committee member or of the entire school committee? If it was not discussed or voted on, why was it sent in a way that implies it
004reflects the stance of this entire body? Why did the email omit the wellocumented delays in curriculum training, teacher preparation, and implementation which were the true causes of instructional disruption? What responsibility does this body accept for those internal curriculum delays? Why is the city council being asked to intervene when this committee already employs who two attorneys specifically dedicated to school affairs? Why is this body attempting to shift operational responsibilities to the city council when state law clearly places the responsibility on this committee? What internal accountability measures have been in initial initiated since July 1st regarding the curriculum rollout failures? What is the corrective plan and timeline to prevent these delays from recurring in 2026? Why is this body still delaying sorry dealing with systemic failures as we've seen in the conditions of our schools that date
005back 20 years while while attempting to shift blame outward instead of addressing the core internal issues. So for the record, our teachers deserve stability. Our students deserve consistency. Our community deserves accountability. The city council does not manage school operation. This committee does. and curriculum implementation, teacher readiness, training schedules, and instructional timelines fall under this committee's oversight. At this point, if the district continues to experience repeated long-term operational failures over years and even decades, then we must begin to ask ourselves the question and openly and honestly discuss, is receiverhip the only remaining path to protect our students, our educators, and taxpayers? Mthwin cannot withstand another 20 years of dysfunction. Thank you. >> Alejandra Bayz. Good evening members of the school committee, super office of the superintendent and community. Tonight, I want to speak to you about
006something very real, very local, and very urgent. the risk of mclassifying students as English learners and the fact that this has already happened in Methuan. We're not talking about a theoretical issue. We're not talking about families in our districts whose children fully We're talking about students in our district and families in our district whose children are fully fluent in English and were placed into EL courses simply because they had a Spanish last name or because someone assumed English might be an issue. This has happened here. We know it. Families know it. Students lived it. Now, under the proposed competency determination policy, Mthuan High will allow EL1 and EL2 courses to count as the English language arts requirement for graduation. This may be well-intentioned and I do support the the C the new CD proposal as
007it is uh in mode for uh CDs that now MCCAST isn't a requirement. So, I understand that. However, um whether or not this may be well-intentioned, but it puts us on a dangerous path if EL courses can substitute for ELA. The system has an incentive to classify more students as EL whether they truly are or not. And as a district where a large percentage of students are bilingual or Latino, the risk is simple and unaccept is is simple and unacceptable. We will start mclassifying students again. Not because of data, not because of assessments, but because their last name looks Spanish. And so we cannot pretend that this is impossible. It already happened here. And when mclassifications happen, it does more than change the course schedule. It lowers expectations. It puts students on a track with
008reduced rigor, reduced opportunities, and reduced access to honors, AP, and college prep pathways. Research confirms this. A meta analysis of 32 studies show teachers hold lower expectations for Latino students and even and even when their abilities match white peers. Studies of English learners show that many are placed in low-level tracks based on assumptions, not actual language needs. And expectation gaps have measurable long-term consequences. These studies show that uh lowered expectations contribute directly to lowered achievement. So what happens when we combine Mthuan's mclassifications with a new policy that makes EL courseware count as ELA? We create a system where mislabeling becomes easier where mistakes have fewer obstacles. where a student with a bilingual last name becomes a target for placement, not because they need help, but because it helps the school meet a state requirement. And
009that is not equity. That's not support. That is not justice. That is quietly lowering the bar for an entire community of students, many of them Latino, many multilingual, not because they cannot achieve, but because the system doesn't expect them to. The competency determination cannot become a shortcut. It cannot become a loophole. It cannot become a way to pass students to with with reduced rigor while telling ourselves we've supported them. If this policy is adopted, we must implement a strict safeguard of zero tolerance for assumptionbased placement. Because Mthuan has already mclassified students once, so we cannot let this policy make it easier to do it again. Our students deserve accuracy. They deserve rigor and they deserve a system that believes in their full potential, not one that quietly lowers expectations based on their surname. Thank you.
010>> All right. At this time, we will close public participation portion of this meeting. If you cannot make the meeting in person for public participation, you can send an email to Susan Scandi at sni o n ti at mthuan.k12.mma. us before 3 p.m. on the day of the school committee meeting. May I have a motion and a second to approve the competency determination policy? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by memberilia, second by member Donovan. um discussion. >> Why don't we give it to the superintendent first? >> Yep. Um >> Lisa, tell us about it. >> Yes, >> sure. I see Dr. Kuang is on the meeting and just unmuted. Did you want to start, Dr. Kuang? >> Thank you. I was just going to actually turn it over to you uh just because
011it was given to me first. So, I would turn it over to you to have the discussion. I'm here to uh to listen and to add anything that I need to. Okay, thank you. I'm going to share my screen um so folks at home are able to follow along. Okay, I think we've managed that. Okay. So, last year um we came to the committee to talk about how MCCAST could no longer be considered a competency determination based on the vote um and the state regulations changing and the state regulations have been revised still without much direction from the state in terms of what's mandated for a competency determination. So, as you may know, the Governor's Council is working on what will be the new competency determination for Massachusetts, which will ultimately take several years um
012to put into effect after it's developed and approved. So, the ask of districts who graduate students is that there is a competency determination that's separate from the graduation um local graduation requirements. So there's local graduation requirements that need to be met as well as the CD. Our local graduation requirements u from Mthuan High School are in really good shape because they align with Mass Core which means that students that move through the Mass Core um recommend recommended courses will have um a really good chance of qualifying for admission to the University of Massachusetts. There are several other districts that don't align currently with Massore, so they have that work to do as well. The competency determination step is twofold. The first being now there is a component for course completion or participation in required coursework
013and the second being an element of mastery. So I'll first back up and talk about courses that would count for that course completion. Um, and I'm happy to say there are several members of the Methuan High School administrative here team here tonight who I'm sure are eager to jump in if you have any subject specific questions. But Desi did put out a list of suggested courses that they believed without having the um the purview of all the different districts course descriptions. They believe these courses would satisfy the qualifying course requirement for that participation element. So just like MCCAST, we're looking at completion and mastery through grade 10. So the courses here generally align with what was outlined in Desessie's recommendation. Um that would include ELD1 and two. Um you'll also see that egenuity is um
014a course that's listed there. That's our phrase for our online programming. So, there's two options for that. We have full courses online through egeneuity. And then we also have recovery courses. Um, [clears throat] and then for the English courses, although we're looking for two years of completion in English, 9 and 10, 11 and 12 in the APs also cover those standards and beyond. So, we thought those qualified as well. For mathematics, we're looking for a year of algebra 1 and geometry or integrated courses. Again, that's that's stipulated in DESI's recommendations. Um, and in science, because in 2023, um, Massachusetts did offer science tests in biology, physics, and chemistry, Mthuan opted for biology. But because physics and chemistry and engineering were also offered across the state, those would count as well. Um, and eventually in 2027,
015history will be added to the mix. Um, and that would be the United States history course. So those are the courses that are outlined there. I did want to point out there's a couple asterisks. Um, so you'll see a single asterisk indicates a recovery course, whether that be summer school ELA or ELA credit recovery, um, summer school algebra. And we just wanted to point out that those would only be considered after the student already sat for a fullear course and didn't meet the course requirements for passing. So that would be an addition to. They couldn't skip and move right to that directly. And then there's a double asterisk there um on the strides ELA classes um and also math, science, and social studies or history. Um and those are for some of our special education
016students. Um two years in that class is the equivalent of one ELA course. And so while we also see that um participation in those courses matter, there is a wide variety of students in those courses. So to ensure that we're meeting um the requirements that align with state recommendations, we would also like to see a portfolio of their work for those classes as well. [clears throat] So I'll just move through the overview of the whole program, then if there's questions, I'll take them at the end. So this is to be um um subject for your approval tonight, which would then be in place for the class of 2026. So, seeing as we're in November and Desi is requiring that this be completed and submitted by December 31st, districts including Mthuan are concerned about getting word
017out to families about what the current senior class needs to do um to be able to get a diploma. Um and then those students are already in grade 12 and we're talking about coursework that they took as freshman or potentially even sophomores. So for we're suggesting a tiered approach for the mastery portion. So in 2026 for this year's graduating seniors, we are suggesting that the MCCAST could satisfy as their CD because at the time when it was taken, it was still considered a CD um requirement ELA, math or science or if they've success successfully completed the outlined coursework just like we had done last year. We're suggesting that for this year. Reason being, we have a short turnaround here for this graduating class. Um we feel that it's fair since we're ch changing the game
018because we have to. Um, for these students and the students who would have not passed the MCCAST tests as sophomores, we would have had the opportunity to test and retest several times and run and MCCAST prep situations and practices to help them get over the finish line. And because that's no longer a requirement, we haven't been able to offer that for them. Same thing for the class of 2027. We're talking about current juniors who have already moved past most of this coursework, including the addition of the history course, which needs to count as of 2027. And for our current sophomores and beyond, so the class of 2028 and beyond, we're suggesting um multiple ways of demonstrating mastery. So in the state regulations, it suggests final exam grade or other measures determined by the district. So
019for that final exam grade, we would expect to see at least a C minus for the course final grade. However, if a student really did well for the entirety of the course and finishes the course with an end of the year grade of 84 or above, which would be a B, we would also consider that mastery. or if there were a student who didn't meet either of those criteria, but would be able to assemble a portfolio of coursework aligned with standards that we would expect to see demonstrating mastery, which would then be given to the content department chair to rate. And that department chair using a rubric would weight it at 70 or above. That could be considered mastery. That would be more of a proficiency model. And finally, while we are introducing more benchmark
020exams in coursework, you'll see um some ELA high school benchmarks later tonight that go by end of the year standards, not current. If a student is able to pass that and demonstrate that they're at end of the year um proficiency or beyond, that could be considered as well. And so again, that would be for two ELA courses, two math, one science, and one history in addition to completing the mass core requirements as outlined um for our local grad requirements. And so you'll see below um it is the ask of the state that we do have language in here to account for situations that may be outside of um a typical 9 through 12 experience at Mthuan High School, whether that be um late arrivals or students transferring for another school. Um students in populations identified
021as English learners. So the students um who may be transferring in with transcripts from districts within Massachusetts across the nation from other countries students with disabilities and the place where MCCAST may fit. So we would be allowed to consider MCCAST as a CD if we were unable to document any students prior coursework. So that is the case. Sometimes when students arrive at Methuan High School, we may have a transcript that just says a letter grade, but we're unable to see even a description of the work that was done or what happened in the class specifically. So, we could use that. Um, our students with disabilities section talks about our out of district placements and how the team would convene to decide if um their work is in alignment with the CD policy. Um, and then
022we have some language here that speaks about strides, which is our program um that would qualify students for the opportunity to earn a diploma should their um portfolio work um indicate so. And then the goal of our um English learners and that program is to get students into mainstream courses as soon as possible. So whereas we used to have ELD 1 through five, we no longer do. We have ELD 1 and two and then students roll right into the uh ELA class um and they're co-taught. So if we have a student arriving um as an English learner in say grade 11 or 12 at a level one or two status in addition to teaching conversational English the goal of EL is really to promote academic language and there are ELA standards within those courses which
023was the impetus for the state to list them as such. Um we do offer the transcript review for those transfer students to see if the coursework has been completed. Um we do offer several opportunities for students to engage in required coursework. So when I spoke before about recovery courses, summer school egeneuity, um there'll be multiple um avenues for students to be able to demonstrate mastery and then the appeals process. [clears throat] Um, so that outlines the chain of command. If per se, um, we do get to the portfolio option and student has a question about how they were rated um, or they do feel as though a technical error was made in their final grade. Um, that outlines that there's a chain um, to appeal to move up um, if if the fa the student
024or family is not pleased with the decision. And that is the outline of the CD policy. Um, I'd like to invite Mr. Careta, our high school principal. Um, and the high school team was was very much involved in the development of this policy. Um, and Mr. Caret consulted with the department chairs and they thought long and hard about what would be equitable for students and fair. Um, seeing that we're living this change and that we do expect this change will be a patch for what will become the state requirement in potentially five or so years. >> Are there any questions from myself or Mr. Caret? So, I figured now is a good a time as any to ask since it was brought up during public participation, but how are how is the the general ed
025course determined versus how the kids are ending up in ELLL since it was brought up earlier, I figure good time to clarify. >> So, we're we're very careful to follow the um the guidelines and um rules put out by the state department of education. So first when students enroll in methanum public schools they take a home language survey every student and it's outlined by the state that certain responses to certain questions whether um English is spoken primarily at home solely at home by both caregivers by the immediate family or is there another language spoken to make sure that we're doing justice to students who may need extra supports If languages other than English are listed on the survey in certain categories, that would trigger our testing. And so students are scheduled for testing. Um, and
026we have an office, an EL testing office, um, where we have testers schedule appointments. The students come in, they're tested in all the domains, reading, writing, listening, speaking. Um, and then ultimately we have scores in each of those domains and a composite score. And so we follow the guidelines set forth by the state whether the student would be considered an English language learner or not. Once a student tests for reasons of equity, we wouldn't be able to say, well, this student tested as such, but we're not going to consider them that because and that's a protection for the students because the goal is to give students the support that they need. Um, so students that score a one in the grammar schools, they're offered our newcomer program at the CGS. Otherwise, they're placed at their
027home schools and um are put into different models depending on the support that they need, whether it's a push-in model or pull out model. Um and at the high school, similarly, their schedule is developed based on the level of their proficiency. Um so that's for a student that's new um to Massachusetts that comes in. students that are transferring within Massachusetts, we use the transcript and the Edwin report that comes from that transferring student. So often another district has tested a student, already identified them as an English learner and so they're arriving um as such and then they'll continue to test and access. Um and if a student feels as though they shouldn't be identified or as an English learner or do not want the support, they do not need to take the support. So the
028student the parent and family can opt out and say we do not want um English language learner support for our student. What cannot be removed is the identifier of the English language learner until they take the access test and show that mastery or their proficiency in the in the appropriate domains and then they're known as um a former English learner. And again, it's meant for the protection of the student um so we can track and make sure that everything's going well in that area. But students and families do not need um to take any English learner support if they wish not to. We also have our English learner department chair is probably chomping at the bit to share [laughter] her insights as well. And Miss Stoler had been at the grammar school and high school
029so could speak to both. >> So at no point in time are you and Dr. Kuang sitting in a bunker somewhere deciding we're going to throw this kid into ELLL. So that's just not how it works. So the comments made earlier tonight were inflammatory and misleading. >> I don't think that's appropriate. And second of all, >> but I'm clarifying the points because it was it was brought up and I just want to make sure because now that is what's out there and what people are going to want to believe and to now say that that is how ELLL is established. I want to make sure that we're correcting the record. That way, if people are watching and they're taking away information from this meeting, they know that the earlier comments made from the podium tonight
030were not accurate and you just gave us how ELLL functions as a whole. Correct. >> Okay. >> Correct. Yes. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. I will say the supervisors of which we have two in the grammar schools and Miss Dodgler as a department chair um spend a lot of time keeping up with the updates from the office of language acquisition and attend several meetings um and there there have been a number of shifts over the past few years adjusting the survey um and recommendations for how students should support um English learners. But a lot like the special education department where the goal is to um put the least amount of um constraints or supports for students that they can be mainstream. That's very much the goal of the English language um education department. Um there's
031a celebration CGS that was at today um celebrating that some students were becoming partially mainstreamed from the newcomer program and how wonderful that was that it's November and they've already made that much progress. Yeah, Miss Peretti put me in that room for ReadAcross America one day with the the kindergarteners and that was an experience that I wish I had been given a heads up before I got there, but [laughter] it was it was wild. But thank you. I just wanted to make sure that we had accurate information. >> Member Maxwell. Um, so I just want to go off of that because I know you said something about if a parent or family wants to opt out of EL, they absolutely can. They just need to take a test first. Uh, well, they can still they
032can test, I'm sorry, they can opt out of any help. Um, but they need to test out of being identified as an EL student. So, I'm just curious, is there a sample test of the um test that would be required to take and would some of our English students be able to pass that test? >> Um, you can see practice questions from the WEDA website. uh they do have um practice tests in all four of the domains at the different uh bands because like the test that's given to a kindergartener is very different than the test that's given to the grade 912 uh band. And so depending on the age of the the student um the complexity of the language that's expected to be used um and so um it it is challenging in what's
033expected of the students to use. the cuto offs are established by the state of Massachusetts. And as far as opting out, a family needs to opt out every year. Um they can either fill out um a form that we have available if they ask for it or they can send an email with certain information requesting to opt out. We adjust their schedule accordingly. Um but during that access testing window, the state does require that we still test them every year until they reach those qualifying exit scores. And the qualifying exit scores would be based off of their grade level. Correct. >> Well, qualifying exit scores are 4.2 overall and 3.9 for literacy based off of their grade level. >> And it's um by the grade band. So if you're a fourth grader, you're taking the
034four five grade band test. If you're a seventh grader, you're taking the 68 grade band test. If you're a 10th grader, you're taking the 912. The numbers are adjusted to reflect that grade band. It's always 4.2 2 and 3.9. So how you earn that is um you know calibrated. >> Let me ask you this. If if we're testing in the band the grade band four five and this English language student um is you know behind possibly in reading or something like that that could potentially change their test score and then then they wouldn't be able to test out of EL because they don't and it's not because they don't understand English. it's because they don't understand the curriculum because they're great, you know, they could be a grade level behind. >> Well, the the language
035that's being tested does reflect what they would need to be able to use at that grade level. And so there's they're they're really tied together. And so um you know, students who struggle academically, they do tend to struggle uh to reach those qualifying exit scores within certain literacy areas, but it's a combination of the four domains. And so if you score lower in reading, it doesn't mean that you still aren't going to achieve that 4.2 and 3.9. So they do have a formula that they they use to um to determine scores. >> Okay. And then just one more um follow-up question. Do we get more funding for EL students >> per student? part part of the um the the plan the S SOA plan um that I presented before. Part of that is there is
036some additional funding for English learners but also low-income students. Um and so it's to support the district that have more needs which require more staff um specialized staff um in support. So, we do get more money for kids that test don't don't test out of EL >> just like we get more money for students that take CTE classes because that program is more expensive to run. >> The English learner program is more expensive to run and so that's trying to level the playing field. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Member Dalio, did you have something to say? >> Well, it wasn't about the course. >> That's what the the subject is. So, yes, go ahead. >> We were just talking about ELL's. I was just talking about how the completion um so I'm going to start
037with the 2028 and then work my way back. So, final exam grade of a C minus 70 or 73 or higher. So, if I got this right, if a student is getting like a 50 in in the class, but he passed the final exam with a 70 and 73, he passes for the year. >> No, he um that student wouldn't meet the element of completion. >> All right. >> So, that would eliminate that student for qualifying for a CD. >> Okay? But it would be say a student didn't hand in all their assignments for the year, but they're very capable. And so maybe they didn't do as well as they could have, but on that final exam, we see that they scored really high and have demonstrated that they're they can do the coursework or
038have mastered it. That that's what the mastery piece is. Completion is if you've completed the course, earn the credit. So the earning the credit part of the completion is outlined in the regulations. Yeah. >> Um and earning the credit is dictated by what we have in our program of studies. So the completion part is just earning the credit. >> So So like you said, if he was capable of mastering it, but just say in that time frame, he's getting a 50, but we all know he's capable of doing it. like he'll do like a one paper here, one PE paper there, but he still has like a 5060, but then he masters the exam. What determines like I might have misread the regulation portion of this, but I'm just concerned that that in a portfolio
039coursework review by the department chair rated satisfactory 70 or 73 or higher. I feel like that's just such a low number. Well, yeah. So, similarly, in years prior, if a we've had students whose course grades weren't A or B, but they perform really well on the MCCAST, or we have students who do the same thing, perform really well on the PSAT, and we use that as an indicator that they should be in more advanced coursework or they have more that they're capable of. But here, so a 50 wouldn't wouldn't have them pass the course. So that would be an issue to start. Um and then we're likening those grades to um meeting expectations or exceeding expectations like you would see on the MCCAST. Even even still, um there were EPS that were offered um for
040students that didn't um get a satisfactory score in the MCCAST tests. >> And that meant, okay, you'll earn the CD, but you also need to be monitored by administration for the remainder of your time in the high school. Um, and we would monitor courses that were um, taken by students and check in with their teachers to make sure they were making progress because it's only two years into their high school career. And so the state would even give those students room to grow. >> Um, and so that's why that that I'm sorry, Mr. K should have let you field that one, but that um, contributed to where how we arrived at those numbers. also um and and I I know it has to go through to the Senate, but Ryan Hamilton just passed a bill
041that required financial um literacy as part of a course to graduate. We should already be putting that in just in case if it passes the Senate, then we're going to be backpedaling to the point where financial literacy would have to become a courts. I well >> yeah but I would say we should put we should just put it in now for at least 2027 just be part of us as a course. Um I also believe that a civics exam should also be required for a graduation component as well because we talk about civics all the time and how and then we saw the low scores this year. I think civics exams should be also a requirement for a graduation component. I just feel like this is kind of a loose like loose way to graduate
042high school to me. I feel like we need to add some more courses. I feel like it should be more challenging um for kids to to see if they're ready because the MCAST as much as we might have not believed in it, it still held some type of a standard. Now it's relied on us or we should be holding more standards to our kids to making sure that financial literacy and a civics exam should be included for graduation. They've already learned it the at least the civic spot supposedly. So they should be taking at least a civics exam to graduate. That's just my opinion. But the financial literacy part should be included in at least the 2028 and beyond. member >> again just through the chair to member Daglio we we don't do a grandfather
043clause like that at the the state house so ultimately if it's signed into law and eventually if we have to adopt that provision I don't have a problem doing that in in a future plan and again I'm a big advocate of civics and constitutional law bill of rights freedom of speech the whole nine yards so again that's something that we as a committee in the future can discuss. But what happened was I voted to maintain the MCCAST. We lost the MTA flooded millions of dollars to do away with the MCCast. Now we're trying to stabilize a system and if we have the strongest standards possible in Mthuan aligned with the mass core, okay, but also take into account people that might have had deficiencies in the past, they might be able to graduate and we
044can work with those parties. Ultimately, you want to educate as many people as possible and pursue uh future uh obtainment of education at community colleges and universities. That's our goal. So, you're talking about literacy and you're talking about uh financial literacy and you're talking about civics, right? We don't have the resources from the state to to finance our schools totally. We've gone through those reports, mass budget. We've had our colleague from the Havil School Committee that said we're grossly underfunded in chapter 70. Um, and I know finally the MTA is waking up that we're mobilizing beforehand to encourage the state because now they're talking about health care being a huge crisis that they should have known about for years. Okay, we're going to be fighting like dogs to have educational dollars come into the school
045district. Reading, writing, mathematics, those are the core items I want to focus on. If we can do science and arts and civics and financial literacy, I'm all for that. But again, it's something that these mandates from the state without the financial backing, it's starting to become ludicrous. So, thank you, >> member Donovan. >> Okay. So, Miss Stoler, just a couple of quick questions. Um, >> so you referenced the access test. >> Yes. >> Which now, uh, they still administered starting in around January. >> Yes. >> Okay. I know that's a huge scheduling challenge. So, I'm sure and I'm hopeful that we'll get we'll be able to hear from you what the results are and we can review those. I think that would be really helpful for everyone to um have an you know I I
046know we've done it in the past but obviously this is an area of great concern. So, I look forward to seeing that probably like in the spring, right? By the time >> come out late April, early May. >> Okay. Yeah, let's put that on our calendar. And could you please um speak to the EL classes um in terms of what goes on, the expectations, how they could be similar to the ELA classes, um how they're taught, the structure, that might be helpful. >> Okay. So for our um level one and level two students who are those just learning English, entering and emerging students um we initially base our classes on the WEDA standards which um focus on all four domains helping the students learn um you know conversational English and academic English and then we
047build that out into um using it within content areas um key language uses students have to write narratives, arguments, informational, explanatory writing, all of that. um to to be prepared for a class that might have a little less um scaffolding support, getting them ready for that mainstream classroom where um we have added a number of co-taught English classes um last year and this year um here at Methu and High um to help um transition our our students moving from that level one and two um you know into that higher proficiency level but still needing that support and that scaffolding. Um, so our our classes, they're academic based. We're looking to build academic language and be able to use that academic language um in actually all subject areas. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you, Member
048Daglio. >> So, just to go off of that point, um, we do have civics classes at the high school already. So we already have those resources in place. So so for them to go afterwards to take a final exam based off of civics of their basic rights whatever the government were cuz that's again from a history uh history's perspective. I think with a lot of problems that we have in this country today is based off people not knowing their rights and what they can you know what they feel like the government can do to them and not do to them if they knew these basic rights to begin with we would have a less of the problems that we're having theory in a perfect world but if kids are we just went over it like
04934% passed the civics exam if I recall that to me is a concern for putting all these resources in. I would like to now hold those teachers or hold those people and kids accountable that you need to pay attention in these classes cuz we have civics where I teach and the kids don't pay attention. Well, if they knew that was a a standard now, a higher that's going to be a a reason for them to graduate, they might pay attention in theory. again in a perfect world. But that's why I think these are very loose standards and I feel like if we we we keep even though it's lines up with mass core, I think we should go a little bit further than mass core. >> Um member Dunovan, >> so I'm just wondering if
050we're talking about two different things right now. We should be focused on the competency determination and I think correct me if I'm wrong, okay? I want to make sure. I think you're going down an area of the graduation school requirements for here. So two different things two you know I so I just want to respectfully say should we be focused on the competency because >> also >> so we're following >> our students do need to take civics yeah >> for our local graduation requirements which so that for that bucket >> and now what we're trying to determine now is the CD which is our replacement for the MCCAST test. So there's there's two pieces there. So we are getting at the civics with the local grad requirements and then and then there's this other replacement
051piece that we're trying to add in. I have a couple of questions. Um, first the history course that's required um in the U mastery starting in 2028, is that the civics's course or is that a different class? >> No, that's a different class. Um, that's US history and that was selected because in we're looking at grade 10 students and if you're looking at the standards that is the time they would be taking US history. Okay, that was my first question. My second >> says juniors. Sorry. >> Right. Civics says junior. Um my my second comment question is um is it possible the um the two asterisks where it says course completion and portfolio review by content department chair rated at meeting or exceeding grade level standards required. Um for the strides stuff in the first
052box, right? It's right below the first set of um of aligned courses. I I feel like that needs to be part of the mastery. Um because if they can't pass a portfolio check, that's part of mastery of the the subject as opposed to just taking it. Right. >> Okay. >> Um so I'd like to see that come down here with the asterisks as part of mastery. >> Um that make sense? And that was all. Does anyone else? >> Member Donovan, >> could you just one more time? >> Where were you? >> So, so right um right below the aligned courses, this box right here, right? So, right down here, it it has the double asterisk for the strides courses. So, um in order to master the skill, um you need to have a portfolio check
053in the strides classes, right? And so I want to move that that comment to the mastery section as opposed to just the you got to take the class. Do you see what I'm saying? Like these are the classes you can take and if you pass the class, great. Then you move on to mastery. But I feel like that that asterisk is actually talking about mastery as opposed to just taking the class. >> Does that make sense? >> It kind of mirrors the old oldtimey MCCAST alt portfolios. >> Yes. Right. Right. >> Where would that go into 2028 and beyond? >> No, I think it needs to go starting in 2026. I think it has to be for everybody because your strides kids vary so greatly that you have some kids in strides that could pass
054the MCCAST and you have kids in strides that can't. And so I it should be the portfolio should be for starting now to make sure that the kids who are getting diplomas actually have the competency of a 10th grader because that group of kids varies so greatly that lots of them don't member Maxwell. So, I would have to agree that I feel like these, you know, these mastery, the list of the mastery is just with the or or I feel like it is um a little open-ended, but I just going off of member Keegan with the strides un United States history. Um, I mean, how is that any different putting that on the mastery list than putting like a a United States mastery level like Ryan was just suggesting? How is that I can explain
055that? So, the strides classes are the special ed subspparate and so there are kids in there um I have knowledge of one particular student who is at a fourth grade level, right? So that student, every single subject, math, English, history, science, that student needs to look, the portfolio needs to be looked at and said, is this child at a 10th grade level? If not, they're not going to get a diploma, right? Whereas GenEd kids, regular ed kids who are taking a history class, they're not going to have a portfolio because they're going to have a final exam and they're going to >> but that final exam is not being considered in mastery, but you want it to be considered >> for strides for special ed kids in mastery. >> Yeah, it is. It's on there
056>> for Oh, for for history. Yeah, right. I think I put the that footnote under the wrong grid. Okay. So, she's suggesting I move it under the >> I understand. >> That's all. >> I was just so confused by the difference of the strides versus >> the strides. Strides is a subsparate program with kids who >> need entry point access as opposed to grade level >> necessarily be covered under this category. >> Correct. Okay. And so those kids all really they need to be their portfolios need to be looked at to make sure that they're actually that their diploma means the same thing as every other kid. >> Members, >> I I I'm I'm still worried about also the final course grade not being applied to these other two, 26 27. I get it. But
057the question I'm having is or a final exam grade of 7073 or higher. Like how many kids are not passing courses? Like to me it's like that's where I'm confused why the state wouldn't apply these other two years with the same measures. Either they don't think they can master it with a 84 or 86 or higher grade. Like that's the questions I'm asking here. Like why is it two years down the road that these these final grade requirements are being put in? How many kids do we not think can get a 84 86 higher to at least the the springtime requirements? >> Can I answer that for you? Um because these kids are already juniors and seniors and so they may not have done that last year or the year before because they didn't know.
058They didn't know that they needed to get an 84 in order to complete it because at that time it was an MCCAST requirement. And so how can we say to a kid who got a C in English or whatever, right, that we we're not going to give you your diploma because we you didn't know that you had to get an 84. It's not really fair to them. >> Yeah. No, >> right. And so I think that's that's the reason. >> Oh yeah, I get it. I just feel like it's >> something. >> Yes, Dr. >> Kong. >> I'm sorry. Um I'm intently listening, but I think um an important fact here and I I don't know which member said it. It might have been member Wlette. Um you know, I think we have been asked
059to present and pass competency determinations when and Dr. Gowski helped me uh and I think Miss Ketro might be there as well tonight, but um you know, Desi is doing the same thing right now. So, we're having these conversations in creating a competition policy for the next four years, right? We're trying to roll this out and and yes, member Keegan just said that we're trying to make sure that we're doing this fairly for kids as they go, right? We have some seniors that have are going to have some rules, some juniors, some freshman, sophomores. Um, but we may we may get something from Dusty in the next two months that says everything we're doing is now going to be upended. So, you know, we're trying to put the best plans in place that we think
060is is appropriate. Now, there's no doubt in my mind that every school committee in Massachusetts is going to have to reook at these compsy determination policies as DESIE starts rolling out more information yeartoear. And I would I can't see her uh but Dr. Gowski or if Miss Taste is in the room. I know they've been on, you know, more calls and more um webinars about this than I have, but that is definitely sort of the conversation amongst uh all school districts at this point is that, you know, we've been left with doing this now, get it done, you have to do it by December 31st. Uh but, you know, we're also doing it, too. And we may give you something else that is going to become something that you have to do, and it may
061be different than what you've already decided. So it it it um I just want to I just want to frame that a little bit because I think we're we are trying to uh work through a lot of pieces here. Um, and the most important group for this would be this year's group to make sure that we have the plans in place and have time to communicate with all the grade levels what those expectations are year to year so they have a fair chance of knowing what those um again each graduation and competency determination um pieces are for their their their year, their graduation year. But I'd let Dr. Galabowski and again I don't know if Miss Tetro is there um speak more to that if if needed. >> I could share something too. >> Yeah,
062Mr. Caret would like to share as well. >> So um just to kind of like put some context out there uh we had we we pulled some information on the number of students who received a certificate over the past couple of years. So essentially um if you do not meet the CD requirement um you're not eligible for a diploma. Um you both have to meet your local graduation requirements and you have to meet the competency determination requirement and prior to you know last year that CD requirement was was successfully passing the MCCAST. Um uh so last year we had three students who received a certificate which is essentially saying that they did not um meet the CD requirements. In 2024 14 uh we gave out 14 certificates. Uh 2023 10 certificates and then from 2020
06321 and 22. Uh those are the years that we move to the modified CD um as a result of COVID. Um and that's essentially what we're kind of proposing here with our class of 26 and 27 um from from the from those years uh the the modified CD was course completion. So uh that's what we're proposing for the for the 26th and 27 and that is be uh solely because a senior um today took algebra 1 and geometry their freshman and sophomore years and to that point that Mr. Shibilia and Dr. obstit um they're they're far removed from that and they didn't know that that was going to ultimately be a requirement for graduation. So um we have numbers right now with where our kids kind of stand. So the class of 26 um did
064take the MCCAST. Um it was still a requirement for graduation when they took it. Um and 60 students for ELA 60 students um either didn't test uh during that time or did not pass. Um, of the 60 students, 20 would meet the expectations um for CD uh if we follow the 2028 and beyond model. Uh 21 would qualify with the model. Um, so I 41 essentially would qualify. Uh, 41 of the 60 would qualify if we use the model we're proposing, which essentially leaves us 19 students right now um that we're, you know, working with to try and get them to to complete the courses that they need to complete to earn their uh, diploma. Uh, so we're we're essentially right in line with um, you know, where we where we have been with regards
065to certificates that we've given out in the past with using the the MCCAST model. And the numbers are similar with math. 50 um non- testers are did not pass. One student would meet um the expectation with the 28 expectations and beyond. Uh 31 would meet with our proposed uh expectations and 18 would still be working towards um uh meeting the CD through the rest of the coursework this year. And then the last one being biology. Uh 80 students uh either non- testers did not pass. 39 uh would would meet the expectations of uh the 28 and beyond. Uh 24 would meet our our current an additional 24 would meet our current proposal and 17 would be left with um currently not meeting expectations for CD. So again um numbers are similar to um if anything
066a little higher than they were um in in past years. But that said, those numbers will de decrease because many of the kids that um need these things are currently taking those classes. We don't have those final grades yet. >> Um I have a question. How many of those students, and you probably don't know off the top of your head, but maybe you can get it to me. How many of those students that aren't meeting the CD are subspar kids? >> Uh I didn't include those in the numbers. >> They're not in there. Um yeah, like the I I I with I withheld like um our Junctions program students. >> Okay. All right. So, they're not in that at all. So, those are >> correct. >> Okay. Thanks. and and a big portion of the
067the students are uh newcomer students who um you know just haven't take the the courses that they're required and or haven't had success with other courses that they they did take >> or or when joining the district um had tested right away and hadn't passed the test because they had just arrived. >> Correct. Right. >> Thank you. >> All right. Anything else? All right, then we vote. Um, you want to do a roll call, please, Martha? >> Sure. >> Oh. Um, can I make a motion to amend with the um the course completion asterisks to be moved to the mastery box? >> Make that as a a motion. >> Okay. >> To be seconded. All right. Motion by member Wlette, second by member Donovan. All in favor? >> I opposed. It's unanimous. All right. So
068then we need a motion to accept no approve the competency determination policy as amended. >> So moved. >> Moved by member Shabilia, second by member Wlette. Um can we have a roll call, please? No. >> Yes. >> Member Keegan. >> Yes. >> Member Maxwell. >> Yes. >> Member Shabilia. >> Yes. >> Member Wlette. >> Yes. >> Mayor Borard. Tonight it passes. Five. Yes. One. No. Passes. Um, assistant Superintendent Globsky, would you please start the quarter 1 strategy plan presentation? >> Sure. I'm just going to share that presentation um on the Zoom link as well. Thank you. This is the um quarter 1 report in year two of our three-year strategy plan. And I know these objectives are very familiar to us, but I'll um remind the audience of them at home. Our first is to
069accelerate literacy development and language acquisition across all subject areas. Our second is to reduce opportunity and achievement gaps between student groups to improve outcomes. And thirdly, we aim to enhance partnerships with students and families to increase connectivity, engagement, and belonging. And so I'll move through in the presentation each objective. Included in our plan are particular priorities and then key actions. So to streamline the presentation, I've highlighted the key actions that I'll speak to for each objective um and just the steps that we've taken in this first quarter. So for objective one which is the literacy and language objective, I'll highlight the CKLA launch and professional development. Um I'll explain our connection with several um consulting groups and agencies. I'll talk about the literacy benchmark data. Uh a bit about our investigating history adoption and launch.
070And finally, I'll share some updates on the grammar school media centers. So, as you're aware, we have adopted CKLA um for our lower schools K through 4, and that's our ELA program, which is comprised of both a skills and um knowledge strand. Along with the skills and knowledge strand, we also have the boost reading program which is um a game-like model to support um students in their development and it's personalized to them as readers. Um and we've also adopted McLass which is the digital tool which helps us um organize and analyze the data that we gather from the dibbles assessment. So we had our CKLA launch and professional development from Amplify in September because that is when our full day PD session is. So we had um our representatives from Amplify fly out. There was
071a trainer for each grade level and that was through our awarding of the Prism grant um which allotted $225,000 for professional development support. that's meant to be used over the course of this year. So, we're very fortunate that we were able to be afforded these opportunities. Um, and so the PD that we've received from Amplify, which is the publisher so far, we had that full day CKLA launch, which administrators also attended. Um, there was an MClass Dibbles 8th session which the reading specialists attended. Um there was a getting started planning session on one of our half days, enhancing practice on the other. And when we return after Thanksgiving, there are uh coaches from Amplify that are going to be visiting each school. And we're really excited because um the teachers have asked to see someone
072model lessons so they know what it should look like and to match what they've been doing against something that they know is proven. And so we're going to have some modeling sessions, some debrief sessions with teachers during the CP time. Um, and so the supervisors have been creative um in finding opportunities for PD outside those few PD um half days that we have. So we're looking at more job embedded PD. So I've mentioned Prism and the support that we've um received for the training that was outlined there. Another layer of Prism um and that stands for partnership for reading success the competitive grant we were awarded for K through three is that their strategic advis advising meetings which I attend and also our humanity supervisors our EL supervisors principles also join um and we just
073make sure the implementation is typical and what we'd expect to see in an arc of implementation um and to support that um we have consultants from TNTP who've been assigned to us from the state and they visit um and we went to 40 CKLA classrooms over three days in their first visit um and they're compiling the data that of what they've observed and viewed the student work they've seen to put together what we call a landscape analysis which will help us determine what are the next elements of professional develop development we need are there trends of support that we need throughout the district. Another really nice aspect of Prism is that they created and helped us launch the Mthuan Curriculum Council for Literacy. So, those are stipended positions. Um, and the team is comprised of
07410 teachers, a reading specialist, three supervisors, a principal, and myself. Um, and the Prism folks or the TNTP consultants help to facilitate those meetings, gathering a lot of feedback from teachers about what they're seeing. Um most recently they went through some of the desi tools for unpacking lessons which they found really valuable. So we now we know that that's a good thing to roll out to the the larger teaching community. Um but that's been really helpful group to work with. Um and also uh the CKLA uh leader launch for grammar school administrators was launched for TNTP. So, we're really trying to build capacity among our leadership so that everyone knows what we're looking for in terms of what effective instruction and CKLA looks like and how students should be engaging. We also are a member
075of other teams um and these were applications that we submitted to the state and were selected. So, we are part of the learning acceleration network. We were last year as well. So this is our second year. Um and so from there we have a TNTP consultant who we've been working with for years. Um and her focus is on the upper school. So with that group we're looking at 5 through eight. Again we have strategic advising meetings regularly. On the most recent visit we did 16 classrooms. Um and she also offers the support in creating pacing guides and other additional tools that are useful to teachers. And now and then we're also members of um two new groups and they're called the HQIM communities of practice. So the high quality instructional material community of practice. Um
076and this was attractive to us because it puts us in a group with other districts who are implementing CKLA and also other districts who are um implementing EL education. So, we enjoy bouncing ideas off other districts, but it also provides us with coaching calls um and also visits to the district from another company called School Kit. So, we have coaches come in, visit classrooms, um make recommendations. Um so, it's nice to have that that leveling of what they're seeing nationally as opposed to what we're seeing here. Okay. So, those are the groups I'm going fast here. Okay. Um, so that these charts are from the um McLass Dibbles uh benchmarking system. So, again, another piece of Amplify. What's really nice about our benchmarking is that um because we're using the same publisher company for both
077strands, foundational skills and knowledge and assessment and boost reading and progress monitoring. All the pieces dovetail together and so we're all we're working in unison instead of trying to jigsaw different resources. So, one of the pieces that the MClass system offers is um the aggregate of all their students nationally. So, you can see on on the top row you're looking at um the aggregate of four over four million students who took MCLASS in this beginning of year benchmark. Um and then on the bottom row the Mthuan School District. So this was given to students um in grades 1 through 8 the very very beginning of school. So September 2nd to September 19th um the next administration will be December 8th um and de between December 8th and December 19th. So we're on the bridge of
078getting new data. Kindergarteners took their first um their first assessment October 20th um between then and um October 31st. So we are um similar very similar to the bands of the national um beginning of the year benchmark. This next slide, I isolated the beginning of the year scores by grade. And these are the composite scores. And we use those um because Dibble says that it's the best overall estimate of early literacy skills um and predictors of proficiency. And so what we're calling the green at grade level or the blue above, what that really says to us, these are students who are very very likely um to be where we would expect them to be at the end of the year with no really additional support needed. If there was just core support and they move
079through the lessons, that that's what we would expect to see. the students in the yellow category are below, which means on one of these subtests or perhaps two, they were below the mark of where we would want them to be. And so there needs to be some targeted support there. and those in the red um scored below in multiple which means that there needs to be um some direct action to make sure that students are on track for that end of the year goal that we have for them. And so that's the purpose of this beginning of the year benchmarking to see where we're starting and where we need to grow. Um so you'll see for instance our kindergarteners who we just received we have a lot of work to do there. Um and likewise
080um in the other grades although as we move up um we seem to see higher numbers of proficiency. And the next slide um shows this information by school. So this would be K4 by school. And I just want to note too that um at the comprehensive grammar school where we um house the Excel program, which is the program for newcomers, we do test all students because it's useful for us to see their growth. Um and so that's likely reflected in the higher number of students in the red in that school. Okay, the next slide shows um K through8 Dreambox reading plus insight assessment scores. Um and so as we know um this these composite scores um are made up by reading fluency which is essentially the speed at which students are moving through um silently
081their reading vocabulary scores which are typically higher than grade level and then the comprehension measures which are more difficult um for students. So we have the breakdown by grade on the left. Um interesting to note that that proficienc starting proficiency level um increases as do the grades. And then also um the right shows the school. Okay. And the next slide, this is new. Um so Miss Dumont was here earlier um but she brought in the common lit benchmark assessment for high school. So this aligns with standards of where we would expect students to be at the end of the year. So this is different. The others chart where students are currently and is is that where we would expect them to be at this point in time. the high school assessment charts, are they at
082a June um readiness level for the grade that they're in? So, in grade nine, 29% of of grade nine students are already at or beyond where they should be at the end of the year and 26% of grade 10 students. So, to me, that tells me um more than a quarter of each of those grade levels needs to be challenged. um with some more rigorous work because they're already able to do what we would expect them to do in June. Um and then the others, most of the teachers at the high school made this their professional goal to isolate standards in specific areas where students um are maybe lacking some skill having just received them um and how they're going to support students in accomplishing that. I will say too, this is the first time
083teachers have given this and students have taken it. So there might be an element of that there too, but we're happy to have data on those students. And I'll just continue till I'm done objective one and then I'll I'll do questions at the end um because I'm close here. So investigating history um is something that we're really excited about. So this is an inquirybased curriculum that's aligned to the history and social science framework. Um, it's authentic and interesting, inspiring, discussion, connection, problem solving. Um, so a lot of what's included in investigating history mirrors what we're trying to do in the ELA program, EL education, um, with synthesizing information, writing, comparing different sources of data, um, discussing students taking more of a driver's role, um, with their curriculum. So last year we started a pilot with
084um, teachers in grades three and four. um was a Desi offering with free professional development. Several of our teachers took us up on that. We're excited about that. We haven't required investigating history in those grades because those teachers have a lot to think about right now with CKLA, but we did bring in investigating history in grades 5 through 7. So, that is the history curriculum that we're learning now and using. Um, I put it in objective one because it's going to support our our literacy goals as well. Um, and not in grade 8 because grade 8 is civics. So 5 through 7 um the curriculum is has recently been revised for investigating history. They're launching all the modules um before we get to them, but by the end of the year they'll be complete. and
085through some grant funding, we were able to have um a Desessie certified um professional development provider come in and offer support for um our social studies teachers in the upper schools. So, from what I hear and what I see, that's that's going well so far. And then finally, our our middle school, I'm sorry, grammar school media center updates. Um, Miss Guthrie is our our high school media center specialist who's been very kind um and flexible in helping to upstart the grammar school libraries. So, last year, you know, we revised the collections, refresh them. Um, and so what she's been doing is working with volunteers um to help organize and operate the selfch checkckout station, check-in books, shelf books. Um, and at the Tim the time when I put this together, she let me know that
086there were 900 checkouts um during the what she called the grand opening or the first week. And we do have some title one funding allocated for the purchase of furniture. Um, additional shelving if needed. Um, but some ways to make that space more welcoming and also useful um for teachers to to bring their classes to come and work. Um, and so Miss Guthrie, in addition to helping with these grand openings, is also doing hours after school at each grammar school on a rotating basis. Um, so she'll be in each school after school hours here, so starting at 2:00. Um, and she'll do an day in each grammar school just to make sure everything's, um, maintained um, and to be available if the volunteers have any questions. And that's objective one. So I'll pause there in
087case >> member Maxwell. >> Um so I have I have a few questions really per each um each block. So objective one um just wondering how the district is measuring the effectiveness of CKLA lunch. Um, and then after the Amplify coach visits at each school in December, will the committee receive an update of the strengths and challenges and next steps? Um, and what concerns or needs have teachers expressed regarding the CKLA implementation? Um, do you want to start there? >> Yeah, let me let's do [laughter] those first. Um, so after every PD session, we give the feedback survey and teachers all respond with their recommendations. So we've been using what they've been expressing there and what we're seeing in CP meetings and in classrooms to help redirect and change professional development. Next, so in the
088fall, we had a succession of several dates where we had um opportunity to have providers come in or curtail what we're doing directly to what the teachers need. Now, because we have a break, um we don't have professional development this month, December or January, that's why we're doing the job embedded um PD. So the launch I'm calling the launch training the the one-day session, but we're still in launch mode really because they've been doing it for two months. Um and so we're we're moving through and using very much the landscape analysis that's being put together and shared with the team. When we go through classrooms, teachers receive an email um for the principal who typically joins us on those walkthroughs of trends that we see overall. Um and it's easier um for someone like me
089who's able to be in all schools to note trends or strengths and weaknesses. Um and so what we've been doing is trying to give administrators the opportunity to cross over and see what's happening in other schools. So for instance, Mr. Reef after his walkthroughs went to the tenny to accompany us on theirs to see strengths and weaknesses so they can cross and share some best practices or things that are going on. So that's been really nice. um needs and wants. Um right off the bat, I think in our first launch session, um it came to light that teachers would need particular things to to to execute. So beyond the books, beyond the workbooks, beyond all the manipulators or things they need, um like like certain types of sticky notes, certain types of books. So there's
090an exhaustive list that CK CKLA offered. So we ordered everything. um so everyone has what they need in their school. Um we're trying to remove those barriers that make things a little simpler if we can. Um I've heard from several teachers that they would like the modeling. Um so CKLA does have on their website videos of models, but there's still requests to see. It's different when you when you feel like you see the kids in your school or in your district. So, we're going to have um Amplify come in and model. We're also trying to find a way where it's not too disruptive in that there's coverage for teachers to see each other in the school if they're willing to host. Um because there while there is a manual that should be followed and steps
091that should be taken, teachers put their own twists on different pieces of it and some are finding success in other areas in terms of like engaging students who are listening for a long period of time um or looking at a visual. Um so we're just trying to share those best practices. Um updates. Oh, okay. I wrote down updates. I think you had asked about the sharing of the landscape analysis. >> So that just came out. I think it'll be available to me tomorrow for Prism and um LAN which is EL education, but I can I'll share those with they come out three times a year. So I'll share that at the next quarterly. Um so you'll be able to see that too. But that'll be really interesting because Prism um there's a few programs only
092a few programs that um Prism supporting throughout the state. So the the group that's working with us for CKLA is seeing CKLA year 1 in several other districts. So they're a good gauge of are we off, are we close? Um but they were from just our conversation thrilled after the first visit because teachers were diving right in. Um, and we're really excited about how students are responding. Yeah, some elevated discussion. >> Um, so I don't know, I have questions per category. So if anybody has any questions on that category, maybe I can wait until the next Can we do it category by category so I don't dominate the conversation? >> Sure. >> Okay. >> Sure. Um I'm not sure what your categories by like >> so like by so this one for instance was objective
093one and then there's prism and then there's hqim and ln and then there's the dibbles benchmarks. >> All right because it's all objective one. >> Okay. So should I just go through? >> Yeah. Why don't you go through all yours? >> Okay. Um as far as the um well I'll jump ahead a little bit to the dibbles and benchmark data. Um, how come this year it looks different than all of the other updates that we've gotten? Like in the other updates we've gotten, we've had um students with disabilities, EL learners, you know, you kind of separated them out like that. I think that was helpful um for us if we could continue with that. >> I can do that again. Okay. >> I think I think benchmark one last time I didn't do that either
094because it's just a starting place, but I can do that in the other ones. >> Okay. Um and then these are my questions. So um why is there such a high percentage of students in the well below category especially in K through K and grades two? Um how are we in adjusting instruction between benchmarks? And can the committee receive a plan school by school for addressing the red and yellow tiers? Sure. Okay. So I think so the student groups I can do for the data what I think might be helpful too is if I invite the humanity supervisors to come to the next quarterly too is they they work really closely with this data and um as you know that landscape has changed too. So now there's one that covers two schools um and then
095another who does another two schools which um has been interesting because they're able to share a best practice and align their practices too. So I'll invite them as well but definitely a plan um how are we adjusting instruction? So from what we see in benchmark one, part of the beauty of the MClass is it helps with the interpretation of the data and the grouping. So there's a lot less heavy lifting that needs to happen. You're able to see at a glance which students have similar needs, what they may need moving forward, and it also um tracks progress monitoring. So that's something like for instance tomorrow morning um Kathleen Dunlevy who's a supervisor at the Tenny is offering a drop in session for teachers to go over progress monitoring now that they're in it and practicing
096what they can see and and notice if students are improving or not. Um and then it will also align with the questions or task students are getting in boost which aligns with where they should be in the curriculum. So, um there's a lot of syncing that needs to happen. Um it'll also tell teachers how students um should probably be grouped for like skill. And the the step that is helpful is what could be done in those groups. Um so there's less of troubleshooting I think that needs to happen. Um and then in K2, well K we have a lot of students who are um getting used to school and are are new to it. Um so that's who we have joining us and and we're excited to work with those students and to help them
097improve. In one and two, um we did see there was there was tremendous growth in K last year which we hope to see again. Um and so what we need to see is at the second benchmark are those numbers still low in one and two or was that a beginning of a year new administration of the test um type of issue. Um but there are grade two across the district I've heard from the supervisors is one at particular schools that they're watching. So when I go to visit like we have certain grades that we're we're watching based on that data and also trying to lend more support to those teachers because we know the students who have joined um may have some some gaps that we can work on. >> Are the students in the
098yellow and the red are they placed with um are they placed with like a certified reading specialist during their win group? So the reading specialist we try to p we try to use to pull students during when to the extent possible. There are some circumstances where we might need to pull from the end of a skills block also um just to make sure we're maximizing the number of students that are with the reading specialists. Um but that's part of the job of the supervisors is to help prioritize which students when and then when students have made adequate progress and then we can pull another set of students. Um but to start looking at um supports or interventions in within the classroom setting um and identifying which students um need particular supports or scaffolds. Uh, one
099thing about CKLA I like is that it does really promote discussion between students who are truly discussing. And so they're learning from each other and and focusing on the structures of language. Um, and then the manual that CKA comes with, you really shouldn't deviate from because even the phrasing of what seems like just a direction or a question is modeling academic language and structures which is going to help build that literacy. So, the the program is strong um and we we know over time we'll see changes um more immediate the better. Do you think that we will see um kind of a dip in these scores because we're rolling out the new CKLA curriculum, the history curriculum and the science curriculum? They're all like new curriculum. So, do you think that that will affect our
100literacy rate at all in a negative way? >> Um history and science is upper school. >> Okay. And both of those additions, that's right, >> support literacy. >> So I would hope if you think about Yeah. the elements of those curricula are >> really heavy in text and discussion. So it's almost like an extra ELA class in disguise, but the content is different. So, I would hope that would improve scores, but I think I think C KLA it may take us a little while to get our footing and really see that um punch that we expect in the scores, but I I wouldn't think they'd be too different from last year um at midy year. >> Okay. Um I'll end it with just two more sections. So, Prism um what were the main findings of
101the 40 classroom walkthroughs and how is that kind of guiding the instruction or is that the report you were just >> That's the that's the formal report but after we go through >> um every couple hours we sit and debrief with the coach as the administrative team u and we talk about what we see. We align in what we see or didn't see. Um, and most of the time we're really hard on ourselves and they tell us actually no that was that was pretty good. Um, so we we calibrate and then we go on to the next. So we have a sense of where it's going. Um, but when they look at the student work or the assignments that students have been given, um, that's another thing that we look at too. There are a
102lot of pieces to the new program. Are we using them when we should be and how? Um then we get the more detailed aggregate. >> Um the meetings for the curriculum council are what do those look like? >> I know they're made up of teachers and administrators and I think you said you had three >> three administrators. >> No, three so far. Three meetings. >> Three meetings. Yep. Um so those are virtual because our um coach from Minnesota helps run them. Um, but like for this for this last one, Jen Connelly ran it, who's one of our supervisors. Um, and so Desi came out with some new tools to help teachers prepare lessons. Um, because I think we're in a good spot in terms we have a lot of high quality instructional materials. Now, we
103just need to make sure we're working smarter, not harder, and using them efficiently. And so it's taking one lesson and you know what you're what you're generally supposed to do, but unpacking like real where is the real focus of the lesson? How does it match the objectives and the essential question? What part do I really need to lean into? And is there a part where I could formatively assess the class and see that we're good and we can move on to the next thing. So it's really modeling how to get in deeper into that. So that's what they did um that time. The second meeting um or was it the first I they actually asked the administrators to leave and did a focus group with the teachers about how they really thought implementation was going
104and what they needed from us and then they shared that information with us. >> Um and then I think I think in one of the others they talked about the vision of literacy and the goals of the group. So the idea is the the grants one year that when the support falls off the team continues. >> Okay. Um and just the last I'll wrap it up with the MTSS. Um what is the organizational structure there and and is it across the district for all schools? >> MTSS. Yeah. >> I'll I'll talk about that one next. Um >> Oh. Oh, that's objective two. Yeah, that's okay. >> Sorry. >> And me guys, thank you. >> No problem. Member Donovan, >> I I really just want to comment. You mentioned that teachers may be working with their
105colleagues modeling classes and I I really am impressed with that. I hope we can continue that or expand upon that. I know it's hard for coverage. Um but when you think about how teachers really want to see that exemplary um classification on their evaluations and you really can't get there unless you model best pra you know you model for other colleagues. So I'm thrilled with that and congratulations if you can work out the coverage because that's a lot. >> That's the trick of it. We're going to have to have several opportunities for that. But I think it's also um reaffirms when teachers see other colleagues do it that what they're doing >> is really good as well and on the right track. So I think sometimes you know helping to to to solidify that in
106their minds is helpful >> and we it shows how we value the work of our staff. So I appreciate that. and and just the grouping. You talked about grouping and you know I'm always going to ask is the grouping now that you're talking with CKLA and the recommendations it's flexible obviously is it within the classroom or is it where you go outside again in the classroom? >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yes. And that that's coming up in the next objective too. Um because now there's that consistent piece of exactly what should be happening in knowledge and in skills to build those foundational skills. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Um, I just want to say thank you for adding the high school um, data because I know I sound like a broken clock about it. So,
107I really appreciate that it's here. Thank you. >> Go ahead. >> Shall I move on? >> Yes, please. >> Okay. All right. Objective two, um, reducing achievement and opportunity gaps, um, between student groups to ultimately improve outcomes. I just highlighted uh, a few pieces there in terms of our key actions and what we've been really focused on this year. So, I will talk about um a nice segue uh the redesigning of the of the the school day schedule essentially for K4. Um because that does promote the opportunity piece and the equity. Um and then I'll get into our work with MTSS, uh share a little bit about the Cascades platform, which we're excited about, and give some pro pro programmatic updates. So, I I just spoke briefly about this with member Dunovan. Um, but we
108readjusted the the master schedules for K through 4 to allow for the minute requirement that's suggested by CKLA to reduce another barrier. Um, and so we have students in grades K through three spending essentially 120 minutes a day in their literacy instruction. half of that being um knowledge building of their ELA program, the other half being foundational skills. Um, and so the foundational skills piece, although we did use a program before, when we found that um, when students were switching for different reading success groups or working within their own classroom, there was an element of inconsistency between classrooms and grades because there's so many resources and options and it's hard to really track what students need. So, we really like that um all students have that um designated structured time that we know um is
109rooted in the science of reading from CKLA. Um and I think once teachers have gone through the program one time, it feels unfamiliar at first, but then they'll gain familiarity um with that as well. So the windb block is the time where we're trying to lean on um reading specialists to the extent possible and there are occasions we need to pull from the skills as well. Um and then in grade four, I just wanted to highlight that knowledge and skills lessons are integrated. And so the recommendation there is that they have 90 minutes of their school day um dedicated to that work. And then the wind block is where they um receive their support. And I should say also in both K through three support or enrichment because there's significant number of students who require
110the the enrichment as well. Okay. So um we have quarterly um MPS leadership meetings and the focus or theme of this year is strengthening MTSS. And so we have this happening in a couple layers at the same time, but just wanted to share with you um in November in our most recent meeting, our first we introduced the Cascades platform, which I'll share about um and then in our January meeting, we hope to launch Cascades and share the work of the revisioning team, which I'll also describe. Um at the March leadership meeting, we're going to review the revised decap plan. We're going to share the work of the revisioning team um at that point as well. And then we're going to collaborate on the execution of plans and structures for MTSS and in May really anticipate
111what do we need to adjust or plan for in order to fully implement and be highly effective with our tiered system of support in all school buildings. So, first um using grant funding, we posted for um an MTSS revisioning team and the description is shown here of what that team will do. Um and so it'll be 31 staff members across the district, administrators, teachers, counselors, um related service providers, reading specialists. There's representation from all schools and in various roles on this team and the goal is really to evaluate or to look at um how have we been doing business in terms of MTSS we have a guide and a structure have we deviated do we need to refresh um and what we're the goal of this team is um over time we've come to to
112operate in silos so there'll be a behavioral al team, there'll be an academic team, and there's all these little groups that are happening within a school when truly it should be one team because all these variables interact um and we need to see the whole child in order to make recommendations. So, we're working up um to a process where that's highly efficient and accurate. Um and then also they'll do work to define and map all the interventions that we have. Um I think our staff is very well-versed in the interventions they work with regularly but may not know um what's happening outside of their role. Um and then the referral procedures um we'll review those develop the procedures to monitor the in the interventions support the integration of this platform that I'm going to share
113about um integrate uh CPS collaborative problem solving. We want to look at our curriculum K12. We know we have a lot of things going on but vertically align that. Um and Dr. Dr. Kang has tal has talked with me about um bullying curriculum and how we're going to structure that K12. What's all that going to look like? Um and then we want to review uh and redefine our data collecting practices. Um and so for instance, I know Mr. Crocker talks a lot about um when we see those ODR writeups, we know that an event occurred, but we're wondering why. What was the skill? what sharpening did they need? Is there a trend between all the the many of the occurrences that we see that we can preventatively support students in in developing those skills? So,
114that's a big list of things we want that team to do, which is why it's so big. So, we'll work on many things together as a team, but then we will have subgroups within that team that'll that'll polish up and sharpen some of these areas, and then we'll come put it all back together. So with all this information, it's really good to knowbody if um we can't see it all and that we can't see how there there could be interactions. So we have been truly over a year hunting for a tool or a platform or a resource that would be useful to us to streamline the NTSS process to make sure that we're tracking students that we're not missing some vital piece of information. Um and so we finally found a match. Um and so
115the Metamorphics company um is new to this space and so is working with us to customize what they call the Cascades platform. And what this will do um is to in a screen show the teacher, show the um TSS team as much information as appropriate about the student. So, you'll see benchmarking scores, you'll see attendance data, you'll see grades, you'll see behavioral infractions, and so there's um warning indicator flags that will um color code and alert the team if there's something that needs to be watched as the data is refreshed. Um, teachers will be able to see the roster of their class with one quick link and see which students need potentially more support in some areas. Because there's so much data in the platform, if a teacher wishes to make a referral to TSS,
116they don't have to go through the leg work of going around to gather all the things. There is a space to upload specific samples of student work, but it's already gathered through benchmark data and they can hit a button that says refer and that puts them in the queue. And so myself, um, and I haven't had this access before, um, in building principles be able to see how many students are in the queue, for what, um, what's the recommendation, when is the team convening. When the team convenes and ultimately decides an intervention is needed, they tag in the system an interventionist, a teacher, whomever is responsible for delivering the intervention and it goes on their queue and comes off the list until 6 to 8 weeks when the intervention's been delivered and then it um
117it uh signals for a meeting to occur for an update. So with fewer people um in terms of supervisors who typically did this work in the buildings, this is going to be more effective um and and also um for us to have a sense of of the scope of how many teacher uh students are being brought up um for review. And so that will also um hold historical data um and screening data will also be available in that system to counselors and they'll be able to track um their uh progress on the interventions that they're providing um for uh mental health and wellness as well. So we're excited about that is a lot of work to get it off the ground, but um next quarterly I'll share some screenshots of what it looks like generically.
118Um and then program updates um I decide strong and CPS. So for I decide we have a full team um admin counselors and teachers who have received the training to to go ahead and deliver the I decide curriculum to support substance use prevention. So we don't need to have outside people come in anymore. Um and these cycles of intervention will continue through the school year. And then strong, which stands for supporting transition resilience of newcomer groups. Um that this is grant funded as well. A team of counselors from across the districts got training in September to be able to deliver this intervention. And that's specifically to support newcomer students who are joining our district having experienced trauma. So, not only trying to navigate a brand new school and system, but also trying to cope and
119manage um some of the experiences they've been through. And so, again, that's another um area where referral systems and implementation plans are being developed. And then collaborative problem solving. Um we're fortunate to have grant funding that we're able to support the these efforts with as well. So, a team of coaches um who are MPS staff have already gotten their advanced training um and so they're going to begin um the next step of planning and developing PD sessions and a train the trainer model where they'll be able to train our own staff and they'll be engaged in the work um of the revisioning team as well. So, we're trying to build capacity in that area too. Objective two. Are there any questions? Go ahead. >> Um, for the reading success uh master schedule, what percentage of
120the students receiving intervention are making effective progress? Um, I know you probably don't know that off the top of your head, but I'd be interested to see that number. Um, you already answered my questions about the MTSS and Cascade um, and program updates. So, I'm good. Thank you. I have a question. Um, as far as Cascades goes, um, I know one of the comments that I've heard from teachers a lot is that if a kid gets referred at the end of the year, >> um, they don't get their interventions and then they have to wait a certain amount of time the next year before they're allowed to get the the referral again, etc., etc. Will this help us fix that problem and the gap in time of services? Um, and will those students that do
121get identified at the end of the year be able to get help at the beginning of the year like not have to wait six weeks or however long it is? Yes, that was a problem we identified as well. Um, and so that will expedite that process. So, it'll it'll be an ongoing um living program. So, at the start of the school year school year, you'll be able to pull up where we left off. you might need to um assign a new teacher or inter interventionist to oversee that particular work. Um but that will stay with the student. And one one piece I really like um about this tool is it charts really clearly when the intervention began and ended and then whatever aspect of the student has improved over time. And so it'll it'll map
122whether it could be due to that intervention or another variable and then it will try to figure out what that is. Um it also supports the intervention team um at the conclusion of the meeting um deciding what is next. So we have our offerings in Mthuan. Um this program will also suggest other pieces too that might be useful for the student um and building in some some AI features too. um that of course we'd always vet but trying to draw in technology to to support students. >> Um and will this let's say the student has their intervention and they're still behind is there a way to automatically refer for a special ed testing? >> Yes. So if the student's not making progress um after we've been through an through an intervention and maybe a need
123to try a different type or maybe we we misdirected where that target should be but eventually if it does need to go to special education. Yes, absolutely. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> I just want to apologize. I was at the pinning ceremony for our newly promoted firefighters tonight. Uh good to be here with all of you now. And uh also last week I had the flu. So it's been a very eventful week, but [clears throat] here we are. Any other questions on this objective? If not, we'll move on to objective three. >> Okay. Thank you. Objective three to enhance partnerships um with students and families. So here I wanted to highlight our work with the MPS portrait of a learner. Um again talk about the extracurricular involvement that we're we're trying to
124um increase extracurricular offerings in field trips at grammar schools. Um and then the mental health parent student advisory council. So first I'll say portrait of a learner is same as vision of a graduate. Um those those titles are used interchangeably. Um but we thought portrait of a learner would be more appropriate um for us. So um this was a recommendation of NAS to develop portrait of the learner which we knew that we needed to do. um our original plans got um sidelined with COVID. Then we got up and running. Then we developed our plan to create this portrait at the same time that the state council released the Massachusetts portrait of a learner. Um and so other districts when they were developing theirs didn't have to wrestle with trying to align or match the states.
125Um but it's almost nice that we're doing ours in tandem. So um in September and October, we first tried to figure out and this was um a model that Newberry Port used and also NITMK um regional schools. They're they're kind of the gurus of uh portrait of a learner vision of a graduate and this is a model that they recommended as well. So we followed it. Um, we surveyed staff, students, community members to identify just central words, words that were important for what they would expect graduates to know, be able to do, embody. Um, in in other words, we're looking to identify what are the competencies that we're going to ground this portrait in. Um, and so, interestingly, I'll just give you some highlights. Um, since I'm not sharing the all the survey results, but
126um, respect came up as a really important word in all groups. Um and then there were some differences between um staff and parents and students, but generally um it came around some some themes which seemed to almost align with what the state was suggesting. But that's not the work for us to do um or for me to do is to take the survey and decide what we're going with because it's supposed to be um more organic than that. So we had the working groups um on October 24th and our NEAS chairs uh Miss Dumont and Miss Moore with the help of Miss Grant facilitated these working groups where we had parents, students, community members come in, shared the survey results with them and asked them to make sense of it um and to try to
127figure out were their themes, were their categories, what did they think would be the most important words to include? food while also accounting for the survey responses. So, both groups were very similar. Um, there was a couple differences between them. Um, but their job was to whittle it down, which they did. Um and then in November we posted for a portrait of a learner committee which would be MHS teachers and all the districts I've spoken with they said administrators really need to take a step back and have it be teacher le community students um and then we live in it when it's complete. So what the portrait of a learner committee is tasked with doing is they're going to facilitate some workshops to put teachers through um on December 15th and in January in lie
128of um some of their meeting time and they're going to ultimately come up with okay we have the words and the competencies how do you define that because effective communicator for instance might look really different from your definition in mind. So, we're looking for an operational definition um that's aspirational but realistic. Um and so they're going to to help facilitate those workshops for staff. They're going to contribute to the design. Um we're going to have students help with the graphics eventually once it's developed. We need a rollout plan for how we're going to publicize and market which students will be included in of course as well. Um but then we need to think about how we're going to ground our work in the high school um in this this portrait. So that team will come
129into play later as well. So I just alluded to the workshops on February 5th um at Neans Memorial Library. the YAR students from the youth participatory action research clubs. They're going to host um an event for the community where they're going to show this portrait or vision, what the competencies are, what the operational definitions are to date, and then seek community feedback. So, everyone's invited to join us for that. Um and then we're going to during the day practice with the YAR students with our up forlearning um groups and do a workshop model with them. And we're just trying to get some feedback and eventually it comes to the school committee in the spring uh with the formal presentation of all of our steps and ultimately that's um would be for your approval. So that
130is our our progress um and updates on the portrait of a learner. The extracurricular involvement um last year if you remember we started with getting baseline information on students in Infinite Campus um under the programs tab so we can tell um what students are involved in and to then look at how can we get more students involved? what are barriers to participation? Um, are we needing to offer different things or let students know that they can create different opportunities if need be? Um, so there was the club and activities fair. This was another idea of the YAR students that was held during the school day and students went through cafeteria almost like a science fair model and heard what there is to offer. um where do we meet, who the adviserss are um to try
131to to to uh inspire some more participation. Um there's also the winter sports information night that was recently held for students and families. Um we have several grammar school clubs up and running. Um I listed some of them here. Um and then the playball was offered in the fall, soccer, volleyball, and whiffle ball to upper school students. Um and there were um about 500 upper school students who took part in that which is really great. [clears throat] And then finally uh the mental health parent student advisory council um so this is um shared from Mr. Crocker. So there's recruitment of additional par uh parents and caregivers and high school students. Um and they've engaged in outreach to the grammar schools uh and the upper schools to give them the opportunity as well. Um and then
132the connections program at the high school is um the the periods of time where the school day stops and the whole school delivers um a common lesson. We call it connections. Um some schools may call it an advisory program. Um but the high school students are developing lessons for that time that center on mental health literacy uh reduce stigma um and to generally improve social emotional competence. So um the connections time was one of the segments where we um asked students to complete the portrait of a learner survey and to give feedback. So things like that. Um so we're leveraging that time. Um and then professional development and training sessions for staff and families are being planned um around the idea of uh reducing stigma. There's a mural sponsored by the council that was completed
133this summer um that's in the MHS main hallway if you want to take a look at that. Um and then we have some some other interesting things to add to quarter two that we haven't executed yet but have planned um regarding objective three. So I look forward to that. And I believe that's the last slide, >> vice chair. >> Um, so two things. One, I want to mention that, um, the activity fair was also done during open house for parents and it was fantastic and I hope that that stays as a regular thing. um because parents were there was so many positive feedbacks from parents like we had no idea this existed and oh my kid would love this um and the kids just weren't give bringing that information home. So that was really helpful
134at the high school and I wonder if that could go to the middle schools also so that the parents have a way of knowing what's being offered because again sometimes the kids just don't come home and tell you. Um and so just because it was such a good um feedback even though there was a fire drill in the middle of it but you know it really was there was so many positive feedbacks walking through that room and coming out of that room hearing it um from parents. So I just wanted to encourage that to stay and possibly go to the middle schools. Um, and then for the next time, um, when it comes to the, um, mental health stuff, the SEAL stuff, um, I'd like information on the mental health screeners. Um, specifically, if you
135have kids who are below grade level reading and don't understand the questions, how are we figuring out if they're real answers or not real answers? Um, and that would that would also pertain to English language learners. How do we know that those students are actually understanding the questions to be able to answer them? And how do how do we make those determinations? >> But I don't expect that answer now, but that's just for next time. That's all. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Member Maxwell. >> Um, both really great questions. Um, I noticed that in the extracurricular involvement there are no K through I don't want to say five, but K through four clubs. Um, do you have a list of those that are offered or do we offer? Not to the extent that we do
136um upper school. Um, but that there's offerings that come out of the um community um office, so a 21st century program or steam enrichment. So, I could I could add in some some things for next >> quart of like the I don't want to say free because it doesn't necessarily have to be free, but the ones that you were talking about um those are $250 per kid for six weeks, >> you know, so that's a steep bill for some of our parents. So, if we could offer something groups or clubs, that'd be cool. Um and which field trips are being planned or have already been taken this year? Yeah, there's actually quite a few. Um, pull up my spreadsheet right here. Um, I know Grade 8, um, band is going, um, the House of Blues
137puts on during the day educational programming. Um, so the grade 8 band students are going there December 2nd and they're going to hear like a blues a blues workshop. It's like schoolhouse. I can't remember the full title, but it looks really cool. Um, and so some of the the um band teachers brought that idea up. Um, and I know that there's actually been some great ideas um for grade levels that have come from fine arts. Um, so for instance um there's a couple grade seven groups going um to the Museum of Fine Arts because the art teacher pieced together that the investigating history units for grade seven actually match um the exhibits. And so we have some of that those taking place as well. Um there's Museum of Science um being planned. These are just
138off the top of my head, but I've been getting more more requests than than usual. Um >> are you able to find grants for some of those? >> Most most of these um like Museum of Fine Arts, Science Museum, House of Blues, free admission. Okay. because we're title one. Um, and so we mostly need to to find busing money, although Museum of Fine Arts does give busing grants if you're title one. So, we're able to to finagle that. Um, some of the PTO's have been really helpful in offering to cover buses as well. Um, there's also um schools account where they might be able to dip into some of that to help with busing. Um, but we've been really fortunate. There's there's opportunities because of our classification as title one school. >> Awesome. Thank you.
139>> Any other questions about objective three? If not, we will move on. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Next on the agenda is the unit B contract ratification. We need a motion and a second to remove. >> So moved. >> Remove it from the table. >> Second. Motions from member Daglio, seconds from member Shabilia. Discussion. If not, we'll vote. This is simply to remove it from the table. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. The eyes have it. So, it's been removed from the table. We need a motion and a second to approve UNIP ratification. >> So, moved. >> Motion is from member Shabilia. The second is from member Daglio. Discussion. I think the superintendent's joining us remotely. Yes, I'm I'm here. So, I just I don't know if there's
140any further questions about theou that was presented a few weeks ago. >> Vice Chair, >> um I just want to apologize for not having seen it um last meeting. It was in our emails. The superintendent sent it to us. I did not see it. So, I do apologize for having to table it. Um and all of my questions have already been answered. Any other questions or comments? If not, we'll vote. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? The eyes have it. Do we have any other business from the committee? >> Mr. Chairman, >> member Wlette, >> just a quick thing. I went to a recent function with parents. They have broached the topic of class list the app and the feasibility internally of working with the school administration and the parents to
141have the class li class list app. Maybe at the next meeting we could have a formal report from the superintendent and the administration on the feasibility of promoting it amongst the parents the class list app. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Member Maxwell. >> Um, just to follow touch on that, the class list app is um, it's for parents um, during parent teacher conferences to put their names and emails. It's kind of like an opt-in list to be able to create playdates for our kids or things like that. Um, and CPAC has been working with the administration on kind of pushing that um into the schools and and they were hoping that it would be available during parent teacher night. Um, that's coming up and I mean I I can't see it's a great idea. I
142everybody's always looking for ways to get their kids together and to not have access to the friends in their class. How how are we supposed to facilitate that? So, that was um a great point. I just wanted to um I didn't know if everyone knew what that app was, so I just wanted to put that out there. [laughter] Um and then just based off of the public participation tonight, I I just wanted to make it clear that I I was unaware of any of the emails that were sent um for the regarding that situation. So, just for public record, I just wanted to make sure that it was aware. >> Yeah, I I'll just address that for one second. Not that we're supposed to talk about public participation, but yes, I sent it all by
143myself because otherwise it would be an open meeting law violation. So yes, it was entirely just me. >> Any other business from the committee? If not, then I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion is from member Daglio. Seconds from member Shabilia. All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. The eyes have it and our meeting is adjourned. Good night, Muan.