001Yes. >> Yes. >> Fantastic. Have a good meeting. >> Good evening everyone. I'd like to call the Situit School Committee meeting for June 15, 2026 to order. The Situate School Committee is committed to providing an environment of respect during meetings. We ask all members to interact in a polite manner even when there is disagreement. We value the participation of our community and want all participants, including marginalized and minoritized communities, to feel welcomed and respected. We ask our committee members and all who participate to commit to these standards to support and respect our community. So, last week we had an election. Welcome Erica McMahon. And welcome back, Janice. Thank you so much for joining us. and I get 5 seconds of power in the world and I get to run the reorganization. So, I'd like to
002ask the committee, are there any nominations for chair? >> Um, I would like to nominate Nicole Brandley to remain our chair. >> Do I hear a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> I mean, other than to say she's doing a fantastic job. >> We should not broken. That's not You change it, right? >> Like to call the vote. We can call a doesn't have to be roll call vote just a regular vote. All in favor? >> I >> denied. >> No abstensions. No. Passes unanimously. Madam chair. >> Thank you. I'm passing at all. >> I am. >> All right. Um up next in our reorganization we have position of vice chair. Take nominations for vice chair. >> I'll nominate Maria Fenwick because I think we have a good secession plan in place and Maria's
003>> contributing and it seems like It's more of a partnership nowadays which I really appreciate and a lot has happened in terms of policy and distribution of work. So >> yeah, >> I'll second that. >> All in favor? >> I voted for yourself. >> Yes. >> All right. We have our secretary position. So anybody like to take that on city just >> I'd be happy to nominate Janice Secretary. I'll second that. Right. >> Okay. All in favor or any discussion? >> Janice will do a great job. Full confidence. Full confidence. >> Absolutely. >> All right. All in favor? >> I wonderful. >> Let's move along a little bit here then. Okay. We have public comment. All right. So just a general reminder that uh school committee meeting is a meeting of the committee held in
004public. As such we follow best practices for an efficient and effective meeting. However, our committee supports an inclusive meeting and welcomes participation of the public through public comment. We have a policy BEDH to help guide us while adhering to MGL section 20 chapter 30. We invite and encourage members of the public to speak on any topic on the agenda or within the furview of the school committee. In addition to this opportunity, the school committee invites the public to reach out via email anytime to uh us at school committees set.org. We also hold office hours throughout the year and are happy to engage um with anyone at any time. Um anyone wishing to speak tonight, please say your name for the record, please. Anyone in person who would like to speak can come up to the
005microphone. Um and then we'll take hands raised remotely. But if you're in person who would like to speak, you may come on up and state your name for the record. Hi. Hi everybody. My name is Renee D. Roharn and I'm just um here to make a comment about the Title 9 audit. Um, and so I read the whole audit and I was kind of confused on page 30 and 31 um where it lists the um budgeted spending amount and then the actual dollars spent for fiscal years 22 23 24 25 and 26. Um then it goes on to break down the spending between male and female teams. Um and it provides that for 22 23 24 but there's no available information for 25 or 26. And um it was concerning to me um because there's
006an actual amount, right, a summary amount, right? 99K for one year, 132K for another year. However, there's no breakdown between the male team and the female team. And so there has to be reports if there's a number. And so it feels a little bit like is this even more egregious than the 10 to 15% trending amount that's already a gap between the boys and the girls? Um, and so I just wanted to sort of put that out there that as a uh reader it reads that way. Um, so thank you. >> And I will say we'll talk a little bit more about um next steps on the equity audit tonight too. So hopefully that will um address some of it. If not, you can always reach out to us via email or the superintendent Dr.
007Rob who's really managing that process too. He can answer any questions you have. more specifically than we're able to even you know. >> Thank you so much. >> Absolutely. >> Okay. Any remote >> Sorry. >> Um hi, I'm Chelsea Long. Um I just was going to piggy back off of Renee. I'm also here to support that and talk about that. Um I have a few questions that I hope are discussed tonight, maybe broader or answered further down the road. Um my first one would be how will the district acknowledge the experience of the athletes and the coaches um who were affected in the past. My second is um what does the district believe cause these inequities and how will they prevent them from happening again? And then my third question would be how it is
008to create lasting cultural change and not just compliance because I think that's a big difference um that I see not just data but how we're going to fix this going forward. >> Thank you. >> Hi Kelly. I also want to talk about the title N audit. Um, I'm the mom of both a male and female uh graduate. Uh, my daughter graduated this year. She's a five-year athlete at Situit, two sports, varsity all four of her years. Um, I just want to piggyback off of something that Chelsea just said, which was um, you know, she was part of the interviewing process for this. I contributed to the audit report as well. I was personally interviewed. Um, one of the hardest parts about reading the audit report, I think, is not only what's already been stated. Um,
009part of it, part of it for me was, you know, as I read through page after page after page, I wondered where was the accountability. It was very, very unclear um, the reporting requirements. And I and I mean that more from a professional responsibility or performance management perspective who was really monitoring the success um of the performance of our athletic department professionals. Um I'm I'm very aware of a lot that's gone on over the past I'd say six to seven years in particular. Um but for my daughter I think the other piece of it is sort of reading that report in her shoes. um what what it didn't capture um was really what it was like to be a female athlete um for 5 years. Uh and I I know a lot of girls don't
010have that experience, but uh all of the data that was part of the report paints a very uh concrete picture of a lot of facts. what it doesn't really account for is what it's like to be um number one a female student athlete in this school. uh to face a uh an athletic administration who fundamentally um not only uh quite frankly was categorically uh inequitable uh um according to the data but also what it's really like to know that you know to be a smart kid and to actually see and feel the difference and to feel quite helpless. Um, a lot of these girls have raised uh issues over the past four years, just speaking for our family. Um, and the answers they got, the answers that I got were deficient on so many levels.
011Um, to to the point where quite frankly you wonder if your kid really belongs in this school system. Does an aspiring student athlete with a a very high grade point average with very clear and distinct goals when it comes to her performance and everything she does? Is this actually a place where she belongs? We had that talk a lot. Uh we heard it from our son who felt like her her treatment was different than his. And so I understand that like we're going to talk down the line, but one of the hardest parts about this report and I understand that you know it's it's not fundamentally an audit report uh requirement to kind of talk about what it feels like. You're talking about hundreds of girls high school lives, hundreds, thousands, right? Over the past
012number of years, over the past seven decade, whatever. how miserating it is as a family to sit at the family dinner table and hear some of the things that were said to her, some of the non-actions ever taken. Um, and so I just want to be clear that as much as like the data is there, it will never make up for what her experience was. um it will never make up for uh the things that were said to her and how she had to really think diplomatically about which hill she was going to die on when it came to which topic she would raise with professionals who are there and paid to show a duty of care to her and her peers. >> That's it. Thank you. Hi, my name is Chris Carell. Um, I
013just had some questions about the audit report. Um, there were over 40 solid recommendations in the report, but most of them did not have any date or owner to any of them. So, it feels like a report that may just be kind of kicked down the road like time and time again. So, I was wondering if the committee could commit tonight to a written corrective action plan with a completion date with a responsible person for each recommendation plus a public progress report given at set intervals. Um, the softball, let's see, years of infraction. It seems that this was raised by players, coaches, and parents for years. Uh, with no change seen whatsoever, having to put up the fence manually and whatnot. It seemed like an easy fix, an easy win. Um, I was wondering if
014there was an exact date to have this fixed and who owns it. Uh, the athletic trainer um seems there could be a medical uh safety issue. Seems like there was only one medical trainer and in your documentation it documents a um a girl had a concussion but the trainer was at a boys event. Does the school plan on funding two separate full-time roles for this and when do they plan on doing so? Um, I had the same comment that Renee had as well for budget tracking. Uh it seems that the fiscal years of 25 and 26 are listed as NA. The district could not produce them. How is the equity certified for years that can't be split by gender? And when is the tracking software going to be live that you guys mentioned in your
015audit reports? Girls golf. The girls golf is scheduled for 10 matches. The boys have 18. Looking at all the data from the surrounding towns, um Hangingham 14, Ducksbury 17, Cohasset 14, Marshfield 12. Is there any plan to up the number of girls matches so it's more um in line with the rest of the neighboring town? Um additionally, it looks like the match count and then the guaranteed transportation for the girls as well. So those were some of the comments that I had and hopefully the committee can commit to a timeline of people to work on these tasks. Thanks. >> Thank you. Yeah, and that will that's part of what we're going to discuss tonight is sort of the timeline, who will be doing what. We're getting an initial glance at that, you know, from Dr.
016Rob and his report. So hopefully some of those questions will be addressed um tonight and some of those questions might even be able to be answered tonight. Uh but, you know, we're building sort of there's a lot to work on. So we'll build piece by piece. want to be really um thoughtful and uh strategic on how we and transparent on every step along the way with this process. We take it really seriously. So, I mean, we're starting, you know, tonight. We've had a little time to just digest this as you all have. So, we're going to um take it one one recommendation at a time and see see what timelines we can come up with for reporting out and and all the accountability pieces. I just wanted to add that we um had asked for
017that corrective action plan at the last meeting with the timeline of completion for the plan to be the fall. So there is a draft it's a drafty draft but it is in linked in our agenda for tonight. So if anyone wants to see it um you can pull that up. Um it's in the agenda and linked it is just so it starts to do what you've asked for there the timeline starts to start >> after the meeting but as soon as the meeting >> sorry after the meeting but it is we had the same thought as you and so we're already starting to think in that same direction because obviously yes there's a lot in there we need to start breaking down sorry after the meeting I thought it was in there already I apologize
018>> but many of the questions that were asked will be addressed in the correct Yeah, I think once you see it, you'll start to get those questions answered. >> Anybody else for public comment live? Not seeing any remote participants with hands raised. >> I just Sorry. Um maybe maybe you'll add this later when you talk about the corrective action plan. How would a corrective action plan in draft form ready for the fall address non-compliance when fall sports start in mid August? You are this is out of compliance right now. So why why is the level that we are going to once again demonstrate to these STEM female athletes and quite frankly the entire town. Why is it okay to come up with a plan that will probably start getting worked on in the fall um
019when fall sport starts starts fall sports start before that. >> Yeah. >> I can address that. We've actually already started >> I've already started addressing many of the things in the in the report and I've already started working on things that I'm going to recommend tonight in the corrective action plan. We've already started those conversations. I've already reached out to many people. So, you're going to see some immediate steps that I'll talk about tonight and then some more short-term and long-term steps as well. So, we're really laying it out. We're not waiting till September to start because I've already started. >> Thank you. >> Anybody else? I don't know if it's like relevant, but I thought just while we're jumping on the bandwagon, I'm just going to say a couple ideas. Um, >> and I've
020spoken to a bunch of different people from different school districts and just wondering what our thought was based off of this. >> Can you just say your name for the >> My name is Sher Cornell. >> Thank you. And um what people's thought was because obviously a team like or a sport like football is like very different fan base than a sport like golf or tennis or things like that. So, is there a way we could do a situatewide booster club instead of each individual like I've spoken to many different schools that do that and that way we don't really have to worry about well this team gets that because they raise all this money like they're all players they're all trying their hardest. So if there's a way we can have a conversation about
021why does it have to be per sport that's >> we can that's one of the recommendations in the report to look at the booster structure. So we'll absolutely thank you all very much um for speaking. I know it's tough to come to these meetings and put your thoughts out there. So we really really appreciate that. Um, up next we have our retirement recognitions. Turn it over to you, Dr. Rob. >> Sure. Thank you so much. So, we're really pleased to have retirees here this evening representing all of our six schools as well as central office. So, I'm going to take the privilege of beginning with central >> I'll take the privilege of of beginning um and ask Dr. Bowman, our retiring special education director, to join us up at the table. And then after that,
022Mr. Lynch will talk about another retiree in central office. And then we'll go alphabetically through the elementary schools since that seems to be an acceptable way to do things and then go to the middle school and high school. And we're really excited to have everybody here. And we have a small gift for all the retirees in the back. So, um, beginning with Dr. Boowbert, um, we're here and if you came to her retirement party, these are shortened version of what I said there. Um, so we're here to say a deeply grateful and incredibly reluctant see you later to our phenomenal director of special education, Michelle Bober. When you work in education, you meet a lot of dedicated people, but every so often you cross paths with someone who doesn't just do their job, they embody
023their mission, and that is Michelle. In a field defined by rigorous regulations, endless paperwork, and naturally high emotions, Michelle has always been our northstar. She handles the most challenging situations with a calm, steady hand and unshakable sense of integrity. Her professional is her professionalism isn't just about following rules. It's driven by a fierce, unwavering philosophy. Students come first. And whether it's a three-year-old entering our prek program or an 18-year-old preparing to transition out of high school, Michelle has spent her career looking at every single child and asking, "What do they need to thrive and how do we make it happen?" I'm very pleased to acknowledge Michelle's retirement this evening. >> Mr. Lynch, >> thank you very much. Um I'm here this evening to recognize uh Joanne Anderson who is one of our great supports in
024central office. So in preparing for her retirement speech and for tonight's recognition um I asked some of our uh department chairs and principles to just share a few things that they really appreciate about the 10 and a half years that Joanne has been serving Situit Public Schools. So here are some of the direct quotations. Joanne has a willingness to go above and beyond to make things easier for others. If she's taking or talking on the phone or greeting someone at the door, she treats them all with the same respect and kindness. Joanne was my first contact at SPS and made sure I was comfortable and set up for success. She has endless patience and the magical ability to make lots of field trip forms, schedules, and calendars perfectly organized. 196 field trips to date. Exclamation
025point. And she consistently asks how you're doing and genu genuinely cares about um the answer. One additional story we had was um one of our interviewees was very nervous and Joanne took the time to connect with that person uh personally and got them back to a level where they would able to represent themselves um the best way they could. So those are the stories I collected um and personally I really appreciate Joanne our two years together um all the support you provided for me our district and um you put put us on a great path for future success. So we wish you all very well in your retirement. >> Next up, Mrs. Kate Chula from Cushing. Thank you very much. We have two retirements at Cushing this year. Um, Mr. Peter Mut, who could not
026be with us this evening, but deserves to be spoken about, if you don't mind. Um, Miss Sheen, Christine Sheen from Hather and I have the privilege of announcing the retirement of our beloved music teacher, Mr. Peter. Peter has been a music teacher for the past 36 years, starting out in Medford and then moving to Bridgewater Reum. For the past 18 years, Peter has worked here in Situit. While he primarily worked at Cushing, he also worked at Hadley and Wampuck as the general music and chorus teacher. Peter was genuinely the kindest human being you have ever met. He cared deeply about the schools that he worked at. He composed school songs to increase school spirit, and these traditions will last into the future. Peter was also a kind and supportive colleague. He always made sure to
027stop you in the hallway, shake your hand, and ask how you were doing. Peter embodies all of the things that great teachers do. He absolutely loved what he was doing, and he had a firmly held belief that his students could do anything that they set their minds to. At every chorus recital, you would see students full of joy, stepping out of out of their comfort zones to do solos because Mr. Mont made them feel that this was something they could do. He recognized that this is music's greatest power. It brings people together in harmony and in joy. Peter, thank you for your passion. Thank you for your kindness. You have inspired countless students through your love of music, and your impact will be felt in Situit for years TO COME. AND NEXT, I have the
028pleasure of speaking on behalf of Miss Linda Mardus. For 21 years, Linda Mardus has been so much more than the person behind the health office door. She has been the calm in our chaos, the reassuring voice when Cushing kiddos were scared, and the steady presence who kept our entire school community safe and cared for each and every day. One fifth grade student told me today, "Sometimes when I had to go to the nurse's office, I was nervous. But the minute I saw Mrs. Mardus's face, I felt better. Does she really have to retire, Mrs. Schula? Could she please just come to Gates with all of us? Miss Mardus has always approached her work with incredible professionalism and dedication, taking every single scrape, stomach ache, allergy, and emergency seriously, while somehow managing to bring a great
029deal of laughter and light-heartedness to even the busiest of days with her wonderful sense of humor and laugh. She has gone above and beyond her job description time and time again, giving her heart to the students, families, and staff at Cushing each and every day. When I transitioned to Cushing, I asked students about the school nurse, and one student told me, "You know, Mrs. Schula, our school nurse always puts everyone else's needs before her own. While we will miss her expertise, her kindness, her laughter and daily smile, despite it all, we are so happy that this next chapter gives her the precious gift of time with her husband and her two grown daughters. Thank you, Mrs. Mardus. For 21 years of unwavering care, compassion, and commitment, Cushing is a better place because of you, and
030your legacy will be felt here for many years to come. Congratulations on your well-earned retirement. NEXT UP, MRS. SHEEN FROM HAPPILY. >> NO, >> she didn't have any retires. That's awesome. >> Yeah. >> All right. Mrs. Oldac from Jenkins. >> Hi, I'm Mary Oldac, the principal at Jenkins. um will make up for Hatterly because we have five retirements. Um so I'm just going to ask each of them to just raise their hand just so we know who they are when I speak about them. But we have five retirements this year with a total of 113 years of service. Um, and many of these staff members have been at Jenkins since it opened in 2001, since it was built in 2001, which I think is a real testament to our strong school culture and sense of
031family amongst the staff. Oh, Ann Burke. Ann, there's an um an is uh retiring after 13 years of service in our schools and she's retiring as a kindergarten pair professional in Mrs. Norton's classroom. And we thank Ann for her warmth and nurturing spirit that she's brought to our youngest learners every day and for also starting the oh so popular French club um that she brought to Jenkins for the past two school years. It's always fills right up. So thank you Ann. Um Jeanie Kan you raise your hand Jeanie. Genie 24 years. Um for the teachers, I asked their current students uh what they'll remember the most about their teacher and I we also asked the graduating seniors, so the situ high school class of 2026 if they had Mrs. Korean what they would remember. So,
032her current students um said that they will remember that she helps them find a friend when they don't have anyone to play with and that she has good talks with us. The graduating senior memories playing house in the cubbies and rest time at my designated spot at the corner of the carpet. Always having a smile on your face. I always loved walking into your classroom and making friends at our colored themed tables. Thank you, Jeanie, for your 24 years at Jenkins. And Jen Farwell, Jen, 32 years at Jenkins. Um, her current first graders will remember that she always sings the weekend song when it's time to go on Fridays. Hey there, my friend. It's finally the weekend. I asked her for the link to that so I could sing that to you. Um, if I
033get something wrong, she sits with me and helps me. And from her graduating seniors, I learned everything I know about pilgrims from Mrs. Farwell. You let me bring my chicken into school to show everyone. And I learned how to spell together from you. And a fun fact about Jeanie and Jen is that they went to college together and actually taught each other's kids at Jenkins. >> Lisa Masterson, raise your hand. Lisa actually retired in December after 25 years. Um, and I am still learning about you, Lisa, even though it's unbelievable. Um, Lisa and I are both from Pittsburgh, so we share our love of u the Steelers and the Pirates. But her graduating senior memories were >> This meeting is being recorded. >> Her high energy and enthusiasm about teaching us, and this is a
034new one for me. Uh, she did cartwheels and handstands in the classroom. Um, evidently you were previously a gymnast. I did not. And writing stories and hardcover books that they published. So, thank you, Lisa, for 25 years. And Nancy Pupiki, um there's Nancy, 19 years of service at Jenkins as an instructional pair professional across our grade levels at Jenkins. Uh we will miss her flexibility and can do attitude. Um we'll particularly miss her at bus duty. She's the expert down there who organizes our four busfuls of kids and safely sends them on their way home at the end of every school day. Nancy, thank you very much for your 19 years of service. start. >> Go right ahead. I apologize. >> Um, welcome everyone. Um, I'm Tracy Varden, principal at Watuk Elementary. And, um, we
035have three, um, women that we want to recognize tonight that are retiring from Watuk. I'm going to start with Kim Sheen. Where's Kim? I can't see you, but I see you there. Tonight, we celebrate Kim Sheen and 21 years of service to the Central Public Schools. Kim's path to education was not a traditional one. Teaching was her second career. Before entering the classroom, she worked in the business field before she decided to earn her mers in education. Kim began her career in our early childhood center, working with our youngest learners as both a special education and gened teacher. From the very beginning, she demonstrated an ability to understand children not just as students, but as unique individuals with their own strengths, challenges, and personalities. Later, she moved to kindergarten at Watuk where she has spent
036the final chapter of her career, helping children take some of their very first steps into formal education. She possesses a deep knowledge of early literacy and early childhood education. She understands that learning is to read is not simply about letters and sounds. It's about building confidence, curiosity, and a lifelong love of learning. One of Kim's greatest strengths has always been her ability to differentiate instruction seamlessly. Every child who enters her classroom brought a unique learning profile, and Kim has a remarkable talent for recognizing those differences and adjusting her teaching accordingly. She saw strengths where they others may have seen struggles. She helped children use those strengths to overcome challenges and discover their own capabilities. Perhaps the greatest testament to her impact can be found years after students leave her classroom. Every year when our fifth
037graders reflect on their favorite elementary school memories, it is remarkable how often those memories trace back to Mrs. Shi's kindergarten classroom. Students remember how she greeted them each morning and made them feel welcome. They remember feeling safe, cared for, and important. They remember the small moments that to a child feel enormous. A few extra minutes spent helping them learn to draw a star. A word of encouragement when something felt difficult and a smile that made them believe they could do anything. For 21 years, Kim has helped children begin their educational journey with joy. Congratulations, Kim Shian. Next, I want to recognize Jeannie English. Tonight, we have the privilege of celebrating an educator whose impact on generations of Watuk students can be measured not only by what they've learned, but the memories they still carry with
038them years later. Jeanie is retiring after 27 years of service to Situ. For most of those 27 years, she has been in room one at Walmart. Um, teaching fourth grade and helping hundreds of students navigate an important year in their elementary school experience. Jeanie's knowledge of the fourth grade curriculum is truly remarkable. She spent decades refining her craft, understanding exactly how to engage students, challenge them, and help them grow. While students learn a tremendous amount in room 1, what they often remember most are the moments that made Jeanie's classroom uniquely hers. They remember her sense of humor. They remember attendance each morning being taken in both English and Spanish. They remember anticipating or perhaps cautiously approaching her April Fool's Day jokes. They remember gathering for readalouds that sparked imagination and discussion. They remember outdoor snacks,
039movement breaks. They remember diving into animal research projects and discovering the joy of becoming experts on topics of their own. Over the course of 27 years, Genie's worked alongside countless colleagues, adapted to changing curriculum, embraced new initiatives, and supported generations of students. Through it all, one quality has remained constant. Her unwavering commitment to the children in her classroom. She understood that every child deserved to be heard, supported, challenged, and celebrated. She worked to ensure that students received what they needed to succeed and she never hesitated to speak up on their behalf. As she closes the door to room one for the final time, Genie can take pride in knowing that her impact will continue long after her retirement. Congratulations, GENIE. And finally, we're going to celebrate Michelle Moran. Um, she was our admin assistant who
040retired in December. Um Michelle served Situ public schools for 31 years and all of that time was spent at Watuck. She her story is one that perfectly captures the spirit of community that makes our school special. She didn't begin her journey as an employee. She began as a parent volunteer with the Wuk PTO. And like so many dedicated parents, she wanted to help. But unlike most, she spent so much time at school that eventually someone suggested she get a job. What followed was a great career that touched count countless families, students, and staff. Michelle first became a parah and later an admin assistant, serving generations of children, becoming one of the most familiar and trusted faces in our school community. Over the years, she wore many hats. She ran after school knitting clubs. She helped
041support the early childhood center. Um, she organized our beloved tra traditions like the kindergarten orientation and the senior walkthrough and our cookie swap at the holidays. Michelle has always been the person who remembered details. Her deep knowledge of our schools and our community has been invaluable. If you had a question about situ, school history, or how something has always been done, chances are Michelle had the answer. Her legacy lives in the students she supported, the family she helped, and the colleagues she encouraged, and the tradition she helped create. She leaves behind not only a great record of service, but stronger, more connected school community. Congratulations, Michelle Moran. >> Thank you, Mrs. Rear. And next up, Mr. Ryan Bey, Gates Middle School. Good evening and congratulations to all our retirees. Um it's my honor to recognize
042two employees from Gates Middle School. Uh first we will recognize Miss Heidi Brea. Uh who is retiring after a remarkable 18 years uh dedicated to serving students, families, and the Gates Middle School community. Throughout her career, Mrs. Brana has helped students discover their strengths, build confidence, and achieve growth that many thought were possible was not possible. She is the kind of educator who never accepts the limit on what a child can accomplish. Instead, she works tirelessly to identify each students unique abilities and creates opportunities for them to experience success, often in ways that they never imagined they could. Her unwavering belief in her students has inspired them to believe in themselves. Mrs. Frank is a fierce advocate for students and families. She approaches every child with compassion, patience, and a deep understanding of their individual
043needs. Her ability to differentiate instruction is truly exceptional. She is a master at meeting students where they are while ensuring they are appropriately challenged and supported. Whether working with a struggling learner or helping a student reach new heights, she has an extraordinary talent for designing learning experiences that allow every student to grow. What makes Miss Brinka especially remarkable is the culture she has helped build at Gates. She has been instrumental in fostering an environment where every student feels valued, respected, and included. Her students adore her because they know she genuinely cares about them, and they respect her because she consistently holds them to high expectations while providing the support they need to succeed. Through her work, she has helped make Gates a great place where everyone truly belongs. Mrs. Franka's impact extends far beyond the
044students she has served. She has been a trusted mentor, collaborator, and a source of wisdom for countless colleagues. Her expertise, professionalism, and commitment to excellence have made those around her better educators. On a personal level, I can say that I have learned more from Mrs. Brana about what it means to be an effective educator than from any other colleague in my career. Her example has shaped my own leadership, an understanding of how meaningful relationships, high expectations, and relentless advocacy can change lives. The legacy that Mrs. Frankle leaves behind can be seen in the confidence of her students, the gratitude of families, and the countless educators she has influenced along the way. While her presence will be deeply missed, the impact of her work will continue to be felt for many years to come. Congratulations, Mrs.
045Brink. Uh, I now have the privilege of honoring Mrs. Liberty, who cannot be with us tonight, but throughout her 30-year career as a specialized par profofessional, Mrs. Liberty has helped support learners of all ages from kindergarten through high school, helping students grow academically, socially, and emotionally. Her creativity, patience, and wonderful sense of humor have brought joy to countless classrooms and created meaningful connections with generations of students. Mrs. Liberty's impact extends beyond the school day. Through her involvement with Best Buddies in the unified sports program, she has gone above and beyond to create opportunities for inclusion, friendship, and belonging for all of our students. Her commitment to supporting others has made our school comm community stronger and more welcoming. We congratulate Mrs. Liberty. Next up, Mr. Mark Langer, principal of Sichu High School. >> Thank you,
046Dr. Rob. I have the pleasure of uh honoring five retirees from Situit High School. Uh, first Margaret and Sarah. Margaret Jenkins and Sarah Carlson are par profofessionals in the EXL program. Margaret and Sarah are both retiring after more than 20 years of dedicated service. The impact they have had on the past and current students is truly priceless. They have been outstanding professionals who have been who have helped students develop independence, gain meaningful employment, and prepare for successful lives. Sarah's legacy will live through the garden courtyard she helped enhance and nurture. While Margaret's legacy can be seen in the countless community-based opportunities she's helped establish for EXL students. Their commitment, compassion, and belief in our students have shaped the program in ways that cannot be measured. They will be deeply missed and their contributions the AEL
047program at Situate High School cannot be replaced. Mr. Timco and Mrs. Meredith said about Margaret. Margaret is just so awesome. Our vocational program was in such good hands with her. She is irreplaceable. Our next retiree is Donna Dlo, cafeteria worker for 23 plus years. When I asked the staff for input on Donna, the word used most was she is so kind. Donna was nice and welcoming in our cafeteria at Situit High School. Her smile and kind demeanor were evident each and every day. I personally enjoyed seeing Donna in the calf every day. She was always happy, always happy to greet the kids. I personally um I when I asked Taran about what she felt about Donna, she said, "Donna is just so awesome. She's so kind to the students. She is so missed. The moment
048she left the cafeteria, we felt the difference right away." One co-orker said that in the calf is not the same without Donna and never will be. Donna enjoy retirement. Our next retiree, Jane Bolins, a custodian for 22 years. Jane worked a 12 to 7:30 shift at Citro High School and did a great job. She was reliable and cared for her work each and every day. For two years, Jane would be working hard in the hallways, in the office where I was. And at late nights, I was often with her, having great conversations. our administrative assistant just adored her and talked so highly about what Jane was like to work with every day. Congratulations, Joan. Enjoy retirement and you are sure certainly missed. And our last retiree is Jamie Ford, math teacher for 21 years. Jamie
049is one of the special teachers that you're ever going to come across. People like Jamie don't come around that often. I first witnessed this real time when our pepper pep rally in 2023. Being a new principal, I did not know the staff that well. He ran our pep rally and students just flocked to his energy. I couldn't believe the energy that he put out in that pep rally. I remember saying to myself, every school needs a Jamie Ford. People just people just attract to him. He's amazing. As a teacher, he was second to none. His care and concern for students is evident in everything that he does. Citrate High School will never be the same without Jamie. I will miss him in the hallways. Every morning when I walk the hallways, he comes out and
050has some funny story to tell me. Uh, you are loved by everyone. Please enjoy your retirement. You certainly enjoyed it. Congratulations, Situ High School retirees. >> Thank you very much. We're real pleased with our retirees this year. Wonderful stories. >> Thank you so much. Thank you all so much. We appreciate everything. Just the stories about the students are just so heartwarming. You all be deeply missed. The marks that you left in each building are just what everyone said. You're just irreplaceable and we will miss you here. >> But enjoy your retirements. You certainly earned them. >> Yes. >> All right. Yeah, take a five minute recess for everyone to Okay. All right. Up next, we have our approval of our June 1st minutes. Hard to believe that we are halfway through June. We just want
051to say happy Pride Month to all SDS. >> Excellent. >> Any questions about >> No, sorry. She's like done. >> I don't I don't want to pay. >> I know. It's a competition. >> I love this. kind of told you could do it. Spicing it up. >> Yeah. Um I'll make a motion that the state committee vote to approve the meeting minutes of June 1st, 2026. >> Second. >> Okay. Um >> all in favor? >> I. >> Okay. So that's one of these to our secretary. >> Secretary first duty. Yep. >> Okay. We have um approval of our elementary and secondary handbooks. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. At our last meeting, you heard the six schools present the handbooks, elementary and secondary. Mr. Landrew began presenting the athletic handbook, and I asked him to table
052that until we can make it part of the corrective action plan. It seemed a little, you know, not silly, but foolish to do something now only to have to redo it in September. So, um, I'd respectfully request a vote on the handbooks as presented, understanding that the athletic handbook will be part of the corrective action plan that will be discussed. >> Fair enough. Sounds like a good idea. >> Okay, take a motion on those. >> There's no questions about that. >> I'm sure we'll talk more about that shortly. >> I make a motion that the school committee vote to approve the elementary and secondary handbooks as presented. Second. All >> righty. All in favor? >> I uh approval of our policies that we've reviewed. Uh Jif CB, the bullying and prevention. >> Did you want
053to talk about this one, Mr. Lynch Paul? >> Uh that would be great if I could. You could. So just as a quick update sort of to reorient everybody on May 4th um the bullying prevention and intervention draft was proposed to the committee um with some uh background slides about the changes that are proposed in it from the uh four meetings that the the group had um with with stakeholders over the course of the winter and spring. If I were to summarize the improvements to the plan, more emphasis on digital safety and preventing and reporting cyber bullying, sharing anti-bullying and reporting resources more than once per year, more emphasis on regular data reviews to monitor the effectiveness of the plan and and enhancing our professional development to take a more proactive approach um to bullying
054rather than reactive only. We also discussed a number of uh improvements outside the bullying prevention and intervention plan which are included in the slides. As part of proposing the new policy, uh there's a mandatory uh comment period. So after the May 4th meeting, we shared a survey uh with families. So just um at the at the bottom of the slides shared with the committee. Um just going to provide a quick summary of the responses. One response sought a desire for the consistent application of the cell phone policy in schoolisssued devices policies across all schools. Another respondent um asked the district to take a look at making sure that um software is not just used correctly, but that it's also developmentally appropriate. There was some feedback on um a positive school culture can really prevent bullying.
055So, a real emphasis on building a positive school culture, a desire for that. Um one of the respondents just had an appreciation um and the necessity for anonymous methods for reporting concerns. That's part of the plan and um remains part of our process. And lastly, uh, one respondent just want to say thank you for all of the stakeholders, uh, who worked on the plan to update it. Uh, so this evening, I would for the committee's consideration, um, we're just looking for a vote on, um, the updated bullying prevention intervention plan and see if you have any questions about, um, what's proposed. >> Any questions? I guess I just I mean this is >> I guess I just want to make sure I think similar to some of the comments we heard that this isn't a
056policy I mean the group worked pretty hard on it. I mean sure do say so myself. >> It was fun. I mean it was really good to hear perspectives of lots of people and get into the data and what I don't want to happen with this is for it to be the policy that sits on the shelf. And so I would love, you know, I'm not putting this on you Ryan alone, but I I would love to hear some thought on that has to be tonight, but soon about is this another committee task force work? Is this like because I think the the details are in implementation and the extent to which its fid fidelity is is met, right? Um and so just I don't know. I would just like to see something around what's
057lowhanging fruit, what's going to be, you know, anyway, that's just my thought. >> I think um so this is going to come up later in the agenda, but it'll actually come up a bunch of times before that, so I may as well say it now. Um when Nicole and I talked a little bit about our different subcommittees this year and just were sort of reflecting on, you know, which ones are working, which ones might we want to shore up or change, we had the thought of um creating a new subcommittee. Currently just drafty title like an equity subcommittee um that's perview would include oversight of um this bullying prevention intervention plan work. So that like because I think one of our highest functioning um subcommittees again not to say not to give myself a pat
058on the back but it's policy but it's because we have a clear >> deserve it. We know exactly what we're supposed to do >> and we have a a like a body of work that we're just ticking through constantly and the and the amount of work is there and we know exactly what we're supposed to do and we just do it. So if we can create this other subcommittee and my our thinking was that this could go under that the athletic correction corrective action plan could also go under that that these could be ways that we could continuously monitor >> these such plans because they are they're a very strong plan but only as good as the paper they're written on unless we make sure that they're actually an active. So the charge of that
059subcommittee could be, you know, the implementation of those and making sure that they're happening the way that they should. And I think as that work unfolds, that group could figure out, you know, who would be on it, what would it look like exactly what's the cadence of the meetings, all that stuff is still kind of TBD, but I think that's something that we could do from our angle. Um, that could help with that. >> Third leg, it's also related to the trienal plan, which we'll eventually hear more about from Dr. drop and goals related to achieving equity. So, >> we felt like that sort of that's a lot of work and it was an initial sort of just what could this look like? Here's what this could look like. Then the committee could sort of
060establish its own goals and um go from there. Yeah, we looked at what other committees have and it kind of feels like a lot of committees do have a academic focused subcommittee, but to us this felt like something important that could be a way to sort of tie up some of those pieces in one and provide some of that. >> Well, it inculcates it into our regular cadence, too. It's not just a like, oh, we have to report. Another parent talked about compliance versus, right, like not just being in compliance. So this would be a step towards not just being compliant on our reports due to but really >> yes >> moving the needle. So yeah having regular reports on this would be great. >> Yeah keep it from just being a one time meeting
061and then it goes on a shelf kind of a thing and what is that actions what are the action steps? Who's accountable for them? Who do they report to? We're accountable to the community. So >> if we're not reporting out and >> it's the only way we're going to change culture is to have a regular rhythm to all of this. you can't expect it to change. And I I would think even you know the group of authors that worked on this um could be a really great resource for the subcommittee. Like we call on you know subcommitt like little groups that when we need them that are um content specific like when we need to review the wellness policy. the wellness team really does that for us and brings forth, you know, so that group
062could be a really good resource and be a way to sort of keep the people who worked on the plan and who know it inside and out um active in great in some of that. So that could be another >> but I do think you're right. I think our policy subcommittee is really is like a very high functioning. Thank you Ryan, Janice, Maria for all your work because it is it's a great model for us to then apply to this particular subcommittee of equity and belonging but others as well. So I mean >> finance and budget >> I can say if you think about any committee that we've created whether it's about the school building >> the you know I mean the task force that Ryan led when when we have very specific charges right
063I think we all Yeah, >> that makes sense. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> But for tonight, for us, for our charge, it is to approve the policy. This is the bullying that the bullying prevention plan is is under. So, it sort of is the meat that says like we will have a bullying prevention plan. So, we're approving that policy to >> sort of do that work. >> So, is the motion to approve the policy and plan? Are they separate motions? Well, it's like the policy is >> it lives in I should make sure we get it right. >> JF hinged into it. JC J. >> Got it. >> Yeah. >> No, I just want to make sure we do it right. >> Getting very excessive motion. >> I'll make a motion that the school committee
064vote to approve policy JFCB, bullying prevention. >> Second. Okay. All in favor? >> I I wonderful. Another policy tonight. Uh we've already had a first reading on this one. Also, ADF, the wellness policy. Yep. So, as a reminder, similar to the bullying prevention intervention plan by state mandate, we are to review this on a cycle. And so, we were on that cycle of review. The changes that were proposed are not very substantive. Um although later in tonight's agenda we will discuss two more wellness related policy is a little bit more in depth but um the wellness policy itself doesn't include a lot of substantive changes and it was reviewed against um a couple of different state provided tools and rubrics um for both implementation and fidelity to the policy just to refresh our memories and
065it was a lot of work so I'd like to thank Greg Rearian Kelly and Tammy and Tammy All right. Any questions about that one? >> I make a motion that the school committee vote to approve policy ADF, the wellness policy. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> And approval of the C policies, a slate of >> very interesting policies. >> Any questions anyone has on the C policies having reviewed them? last meeting cleaning up and housekeeping in those ones. >> Primarily major changes. >> There are some changes. Yeah. But nothing earthshattering. It's just a house. >> Yeah. Housekeeping policy. >> I'll make a motion that the school committee vote to approve the C policies. >> Second. >> All in favor? Hi. >> Wonderful. Up next, we have our model UN uh conference, two
066conferences, one out of the country, one inside the country. >> So, we apologize because we were late in getting the back. >> I think we have just a >> You guys are so fast. >> Well, unless that's something we don't have, but we have we have things. >> That's it. Perfect. Yes, we have >> Yeah. >> So, um, my name is Heather Willinger. I'm one of the adviserss. >> Um, my name is Kelly Traers. I'm the other adviser. >> Uh, I'm Leo Quinnland. I'm the treasurer of the club. >> Um, so we wanted to come today. Um and I appreciate you getting us in at the last minute um with a very packed schedule um to propose two conferences for next year. Um, as you know, um, the previous year we went overseas and what
067we have been trying to do is build the club so that we are able to go overseas every other year um, in an attempt to allow all students whether they be freshman, sophomores, junior, seniors to have that opportunity to have at least one international conference. So um in preparation for that we um are looking to do one conference in um the United States in the fall and we are looking at um the University of Virginia conference. It's one that we've never attended before um but it is very highly um regarded. um it falls at a nice time for school um itself um in no November um prior to you know like the end of the term um we are looking to take um around 36 students it will depend again on um tryyouts and things
068like that but we're planning to take around 36 students um and for chaperones we are going from a Wednesday to a Sunday so students would miss three days of classes Um the conference is hosted like we said by the University of Virginia and right now because we were just getting approved now we don't have um the potential costs with um flights or um hotels. However, in the past similar trips have been around $900 to $1,000. Um we are really working hard with our fundraising as well. Um we had um some great success in um this year with some fundraisers that we did. Um we were able to offset costs for students. We were also able um to work um in with a couple of grants as well to pay for our transportation costs which were
069allowing us to be able to offset the cost for students as well. Um so we're really trying to take um a real focused look at making sure things are accessible um for all students. Um, do you want us to talk about the second one and then or do you want to ask questions about this one first? >> Probably just one at a time. >> Okay. >> Any questions about um Charlottesville? >> Yes. More for the chair or or Tom if given that the details are still being >> developed. Can you help me understand like what am I actually voting for tonight? Like just approving. >> Just come look this up. We have only a twostep >> twostep approval. >> Yes. So it was a twostep approval that that we could update later on. But this
070is >> perfect. That's what I thought. >> We'll be back or you know whichever whatever you would prefer whether it's you know coming back in person and presenting or whether it's just information >> getting us the information second. >> Okay. Great. Okay. >> Part of part of the renewed policy was sort of permission to move forward. you know, we hate people to go through all of this work only to find that for some reason perhaps it couldn't get approved. So, if if the spirit of this could be >> permission to move forward, you know, with confidence, address the fundraising, address the students, be able to have meetings with students and parents, talk about it >> and then, you know, that we're doing that >> and then come back in September and October with more. >>
071It might be good in the future just best practices that the action item actually say >> yeah first reader permission to move forward. So that if somebody was reading the agenda, they'd have an idea of what part we were because they're like, "Why are you approving it if you don't know the costs?" Right. >> Yeah. Or the second one, the location. >> Right. Right. Right. >> But I understand why you would need to start. >> Yeah. Makes sense. >> That totally makes sense. Healthy JJH student go back. I found it. Great. >> And typically we do come with that information. Yeah. And what we what we decided to do it now cuz and kind of squeeze this in is that last year we came in the fall and we were trying to go to UVA
072and we got locked out because they already filled up. >> Um and so we wanted to get on the agenda to at least get that so that we could register and try to move forward. >> Totally makes sense. Just wanted to make sure. >> I like the first reading idea though for all. >> Great. the second trip as as you pointed out, we don't even know where we're going yet, but this is the conference that we went to last year where it was in Geneva. Not Yeah, last year when we were in Geneva, Yell offers a model UN um conference in Europe. Um and so this past year, um we didn't attend it, but they were in Rome. Um and so every year it sort of switches to a new location. They are finalizing and
073I think midsummer they're going to release their the dates are confirmed but the places are still optional. Um I am in personally hoping for Vienna. That's where I'd like to go but Vienna um Paris, Madrid, Lisbon or Prague are the five considerations right now. Um and so that would be released midsummer. Um, and the same thing again, we would um plan to come back and present that information and the logistics and the flights and all that, but considering where we were um last time, probably looking around $2,500 to $3,000 um a person. And in some ways, this is a lot less expensive than a lot of other trips because we're planning all the activities as opposed to going through um an organization that is doing it. any questions on >> and I didn't say I'm
074sorry for for the um students will will be going on a Tuesday and coming back on a Sunday so students would miss >> four days um of school >> and then just depending on flights and things like that I think last time we had to come back on a Monday in order to but >> but that's what our goal is at this point >> what do we know when the conference starts >> um March 9th 9 to the 15th. >> It's that whole that whole time. >> So, it's not the whole time. So, we would leave um >> the same as last time. >> It's the same as last time. So, it's the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And so, we'd take one day sort of as a travel day. We'd have another day built in
075for some sightseeing, of course, because they're spending the money to go to to Europe. We want them to be able to see things. Um but the bulk of that time is the conference itself. the cost just seems I know it's a great opportunity. Um now the last time you went were you able to fund raise to cut down on enough to cut down on that cost because that to me I mean I have a hard time approving a trip when it's that much money but like >> and I don't want anybody to not be able to know or not be able to you know fund raise enough. I think part of it too is that you know like you're trying to provide multiple opportunities and I recognize right like for my own children if this
076was the cost I might say you've got to pick one you maybe can't go to two or you know this is coming up you need to save money or ask for you know birthday presents and things like that you know what I mean to like help offset the cost so I recognize that it can be um difficult to do that this year we were able to raise around three over $3,000 with one of our fundraisers. And so we were able to give students, you know, like $500 for um like a piece. And then also um for some students we've been able to go through community Christmas as well. Um although we're trying to cut back on some of that. Um this year we also wanted to offer um an opportunity for some parents that might
077be able to afford these and maybe be willing to sponsor other students as well. Um, I know again it's a lot of money, but you know, some families obviously have um a little bit more availability to be able to offset, you know, even $100 of cost for students. >> And I think to um sorry on like the the broader conversation of this, we've both been part of like the recent group in the high school to better organize our fundraising for clubs and activities. And I know there's a committee like a subcommittee now working on like a student account and ways for students to like for us to actually um assess student need and distribute it more evenly. So we're hoping to that when that gets off the ground in the fall that will be really
078helpful and will be advertised to students earlier and often hopefully to make it a little more equitable. One of the things that's happening with that, um, at least right now, at least what's proposed is for the senior classes that graduate, if there's leftover funds in, you know, in their account, that they would perhaps transfer that over to like a student scholarship fund. Um and so the details are still being worked out but that would be an opportunity to be able to build some things up, build some money up so that you know we are able to offer these opportunities for for students. I think one thing that would be helpful for us maybe is um like a bird's eye view of all the field trips and the costs of the dates because sometimes we do
079approve them so far in advance >> that it's hard for us to keep track of what we have approved when the trip is and how much that trip costs >> just because like I think it's helpful to also keep an eye on are we offering something for all different student interests >> you're talking across not just >> across the district across the district like I think It's really important that we are offering something for a kid who's really into, you know, um, government and social studies like UN versus, you know, kids that are interested in biology, you know, or whatever, you know. So, I just I think that would help kind of be able to see that bird's eye view, but also remind us of like we did approve a trip that was around this
080price point for China or for Galapados or whatever. >> Um, because it's hard for us to remember that. And secondly, we've talked about this before, but I know a few years ago we established a little fund in the district budget to help offset costs of field trips when students needed it. And I know in the past we've said that that's available and all that, but I just would love maybe if we could get some sort of update on like how much of that is typically used every year, where is it used? Like is it pulled from equitably across different um field trips or I don't know. I just think that might help us also, >> right? And how do how do people like what what is the accessibility of that for people? >> This question
081has come up in our in our our meetings that we've been having um about fundraising and about um offering these scholarships. Um, and right now it does not feel like that money is accessible because it's sort of been sort of pushed back on like well can't you know like the senior class donate the money and then we can ask for like a donation from other but like it doesn't feel accessible yet so maybe we just haven't talked to the right people to sort of organize it but um I don't know how much it is and but we haven't really tapped >> there's like I feel like there's no process to get it and also there's no process to >> monitor Um yeah, >> I think that process we had a process to monitor that could
082help make sure that there was a process to access >> I think that's in the process >> because I think they were mirroring it on um some of the um the um uh community Christmas, do you know what I mean? Like there was there was a form that was going to be filled out that like you know and some of the questions on the form was you know have you accessed you know scholarships earlier this year, right? Because you know on on one hand you have students who will opt into every trip which is lovely but if you know and then there are other students that might be able to just afford one and would never ask for the aid and so trying to make sure that that's equitable. >> Yeah. >> You know with
083options Yeah. for students. >> Yeah. Exactly. >> That accessibility and distribution would be an interesting topic for an equity committee if it were established internally. And then creating an opportunity for students to be identified and I think you were speaking to this a moment ago without having to raise their hand in a way that's othering, right? Is valuable. >> Yeah, we >> and that's not easy to strike. So something that we can talk about. We do um we do that in the meetings that you know like we always make sure that we tell students and in the parent form that they come home parents have to sign off and they get to just sort of check on that form that only we see whether or not they're looking for financial aid and then we re
084as adviserss reach back out to the parents and have that conversation. >> Um so we kind of remove the the students from from that conversation itself. I mean I want to be equitable to all the students and if they have they look at these two trips the model UN students in one of you know one or if it's just one student that says well I'm not even going to try to go to Europe because I know my family can't afford that >> like that's to me not equitable and it they might not want to come forward. So it's it's just tricky. Um I think the other thing too and again it's not you know like not everyone can go on every trip. >> Um you know we do we are going to be offering I
085know that Richard Kerman's going to be coming back in the fall with our local conferences as well. >> Um so again there are sort of different levels of conferences that students can go to. The local conferences are only about $300. There are going to be one-day conferences. There's going to be conferences that are a little bit more like UVA where we're flying. And then there's this conference which you know students may have to prioritize you know where their interests lie and where they want to you know as as most families would um have to choose the one that they're able to >> that's the the point though is that they want to if they have to prioritize based on their finances >> that to me is not equitable. >> Okay. Am I not like am
086I I'm not saying that like they they shouldn't go like this this trip shouldn't be approved but I don't want to cut students out even having it I have two kids who are not act like >> right >> yeah like I'm gonna have to so but you know what do you do when you have twins or like >> multiples in high school >> and I don't know answer you know and I would love to be able make it free for everyone to be able to go >> opportunity for any student >> and I wouldn't want somebody who feels like they can't afford it >> to miss out on a fit >> and I think I think that's Erica's point too is you know we have to come up with a process where people feel like
087they can ask what we have to remember though equitable doesn't mean equal >> right >> and so like we don't want to not have that kind of trip >> because we can't figure out how to make it available So I think this this notion of mapping >> what Maria is saying these opp because to me it's >> you want equal opportunity like opportunities right so like maybe putting two locals together even though it's not in Europe you're getting the experience and the the things that go on in model UN >> you've approved like model US they have a good in DC that's much less expensive I mean so there are that's what I'm thinking about just like what is the menu of options for a who's like interested in this. Is it >> is it
088diverse? Is it, you know, accessible? And is that menu available for kids regardless of what their interests are from high school? I think that's like kind of what we're hoping to achieve. And and on top of that, we're doing the best we can with access to funds, you know, when we when we have them and and creative and trying to keep costs down. You know, that's obviously something we always want to strive for. But I also think the earlier we approve these, the more opportunities you all have and your amazing eboards that are running this sort of student level that have all the great ideas can get into active fundraising and work on reducing the cost. So >> and also book our flights early. That's the other thing too is like once we know we
089can book and the flights will obviously be cheaper than if we waited until you know to book. >> Yeah. So planning ahead is smart just in that includes equity. You know you'll be able to be more equitable with that as well. So Okay. >> So, we're approving tonight forward. Yeah. So, voting approve these. >> We're voting to >> We need a motion to we can vote them separately if you want, but we can um looking for a motion on the SHs model UN conference in Charlottesville, Virginia. First reading. >> So, is this like a tenative? No, >> it's called a preliminary approval. >> It's a preliminary. Yeah. If you look at policy, JJ. Yeah. >> All right. So, does JJH call it something? >> We didn't have that much. >> So, we're going to call
090it preliminary approval or instead of first reading >> when we get to the I will reward that because you're you. >> All right. I'll make a motion that the school committee vote to approve the model UN conference to Charlottes to preliminarily approve the model UN conference in Charlottesville, Virginia. >> Second. >> Okay. All in favor? >> I right. I will make >> unanimous. Another motion that the school committee vote to preliminarily approve the 2027 Yale model UN Europe conference. >> Second. >> Okay. All in favor? I >> right unanimous as well. Yeah. >> Can we just clarify procedures going forward and what that actually means now that it's preliminarily approved? >> Yeah. Yeah. >> So that obviously we can register for the conferences. >> Um are we able to book flights? So this is where
091you know my question is like how far can we go if we're not necessarily fully approved yet? Because I would hate to incur costs >> that would then maybe not be approved. Yeah. >> What would be the t Can I jump in here? >> What would be the timing that you would need? Like in other words, would September be too aggressive or October be too aggressive to come back with that information? >> You know, we'd definitely like to do it as soon as possible. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Well, we haven't discussed it yet, but our first meeting will probably be either August 31st. We might even meet two two weeks prior. So, there will be an at least one August meeting. Okay. When it comes, >> we haven't firmed that up yet. Typically, we have
092one August meeting, if not two. So there will be an oct. >> Okay. And would you like us to come back to the that was my second question. Would you like us to come back to the meeting itself and present the details or to send >> a document with the information? >> Either way. So, it says, yeah, sorry, my can't get online, but it says final approval will not be granted until all preparations for the trip have been completed, including but not limited to all logistical details involving transportation, accommodation, arrangements, and fundraising efforts. So, I think that gives you a good amount of leeway to do all of those things >> to to move forward with the planning and then just come back in and say, "This is what we're doing." >> Exactly. Right. On
093the second end, we want we want everything. We want every detail >> and so then we'd be able to give the costs and the >> final costs. Exactly. what city you're going to. >> I would I would give all the information to Mr. Lynch and then you and he can decide whether it makes sense to come back yourself or if he can represent the final. >> Yeah. I I mean honestly I don't think we don't you don't need to come back if Brian can represent. >> Yeah. I just think given the international piece it makes sense that 60 days prior or more we consider what's happening where we're going what costs look like. Perhaps flights aren't the cost point identified. >> So I think all that makes sense. I'm happy to review it and if
094it's easy enough what we expect, I would present it to the committee. You would be able to see everything. But if there's more questions, we'll bring everyone back for >> consideration. >> Okay. >> Thank you very much. Appreciate it. >> I do, but they do not. Right. >> It's getting on that block because we're blocked from I keep getting kicked off and then giving me our Yeah. >> So, what I'll ask to do is >> they can't see it. >> That'd be great. Thank you. >> All right. We have a report from the superintendent. We're going to talk uh discuss our athletics corrective action plan initial first draft. Draft. Thank you, Madam Chair. Before I begin, I've been reflecting on a lot of the public comment and I wanted to make a few overarching comments
095first before we dig into the corrective action plan and the report itself. One of the things that I made a very deliberate decision on was not to interfere in the creation of the report. When I spoke to Mr. Ranatino back in the fall and we agreed on parameters, we agreed on timing. I said, I really want something by the end of April um to be able to present to the committee before the end of the school year and he showed me a draft before it went to the committee so that I could see it. And I very deliberately did not try to edit or change that. And that was a very deliberate decision on my part because there are certainly some factual things in the report, many of which were brought up tonight. Some are
096true, some have a story behind them, some we've actually started working on already this spring. But what became more important to me than actually correcting or amending little details in the report was that it was suggesting to me what was said much more eloquently than I'm going to say right now is a problem with the lived experience of the girls in our program. And that to me is what I'm reflecting on. And so a lot of people have said to me,"Well, why didn't you do this? Why didn't you do that?" What part of the report or or people who are in the know would say, "That's not quite accurate. We we fixed that this spring or we did something a little bit different this spring because we've been working on this." What I didn't realize
097in the fall was the extent of the issue. And so we did this report to identify those things. And as we read through it, you know, many of us nodded our heads and said, "Yeah, you know, this has been an issue in girls sports for the last 20 25 years. It's a it's an issue culturally that's beyond situ. Some of it is very situate specific. Some decisions are very situ specific. But I made a very deliberate decision not to go through and edit the report with Mr. Granitino and have him amend or change things based on what I might or might not be aware of because to be perfectly honest, it was more important to me to represent the lived experience of the girls and work on that as part of our cultural change. And
098I think that's been the hardest part of this because I know the stories behind a lot of the things that have been reported. But again, we will put that information in the corrective action plan. And so in a lot of ways, I'm going to say these are things that we did in the spring of 2026 in anticipation of these changes. We knew we had to make these changes and they're a tiny step forward. Much more important are the larger cultural changes that we're going to be working on. So, you know, and specifically, you know, we talk about the budget. Um, certainly we have all the invoices from 24, 25, and 26, but if they weren't readily available or easily available to the person putting this report together, then I wasn't going to say to him,
099oh, well, you know, you've got to dive in and spend 3 weeks. We will do that and we will report that information. I know. And and and and Mrs. tool can go through the invoice by invoice and figure out exactly what was spent on whom and we can we can put that out there and if it's you know equitable or not we will report that information as part of the corrective action plan. So I guess that's a long way of saying I very deliberately didn't try to correct the report along the way and I very deliberately didn't try to fill in what I perceived as might be gaps because I knew we could do that and we could do that slowly and carefully over time. So as you look at this draft corrective action plan
100it's very very drafty. It acknowledges 11 points taken right from the report um that I want to work on and I'll walk the committee through them in a moment. But there are some things like was said earlier that are going to take you know three, four, five, six months to implement. There are other things we can implement immediately and you know one of those things is we're going to look at the FY27 athletic budget, our current athletic budget and I've asked Mrs. Hoo to work with the athletic director to rewrite that budget as a first court budget. We don't have to wait till FY28 to do that. We can do that immediately. And then in the fall, Mrs. H will be putting forward all kinds of adjustments to our budget like we do every year
101and those will be incorporated into that. So, you'll be able to see those very transparently, but we're doing that immediately. Um, you know, immediately I'm working with the coaches to tighten up communication. Um, I learned that our coaches don't have sit.org emails and so we're going to be making sure that our coaches have sit.org. ing emails. We're going to train them in parents wear. We're going to train them in the remind app things that we expect them to be doing and make sure that immediately this fall that's what's happening and that the way they're communicating with parents and so we're trying to take immediate steps. So I'm not waiting just to be crystal clear I'm not waiting till this is all approved and voted and done the corrective action plan before taking action. We've already
102started and and we will continue to do that. What I'm asking for tonight is some feedback on this and anything that you think needs to be added to it. Anything you want me to emphasize. Um, this is a first go. Um, and and I just I take it in that spirit. But understand that I'm already working on it. I'm doing the work even while it's still in draft. I'm not waiting till September. I'm not waiting till October to begin this work. Um, so taking a look at this, there's 11 points and it might be a little difficult to read. I will put this online. Um, and I would invite any anybody that's here to come meet with me. Um, react to it. Let me know, you know, your thoughts. I I I want to hear
103what people are saying. Um, again, it's about the lived experience. It's about what we can do to acknowledge what's happened in the past, but also to move forward confidently uh for our for our students. So, the first thing, and this comes from the report, and they're in no particular order, um, but participation opportunities for team expansion. I mean, you talked about in the report how we do have equal representation of girls and boys, but are we making sure that the girls have an opportunity for participation? If new teams are proposed, are we looking at that through an equity lens? Um, and it, you know, talks about district-wide in interest surveys. Mr. Granitino spoke to a lot of people, but I know that there are a lot of people out there that didn't get a chance
104to speak to him. So, we want to make sure that we're gathering this information. Um, one of the tough parts I learned early on in my career when you're in administration is people don't often tell you when something is wrong. They don't want to do that. It's uncomfortable. They don't want to tell you this is a problem or that's a problem. They they feel like they're burdening you. Um, so I need to find other avenues for people to tell me what's on their mind. And sometimes that's a written service, sometimes that's a phone call, sometimes that's a one-on-one meeting is a little bit less threatening, you know, and so I'm going to offer those. Um, I put a timeline for completion here. months one and two, months three and four. I did this all with
105kind of a six-month timeline in mind. That's probably a little aggressive in terms of total completion. Um, but during the course of next year, this is certainly going to be one of my we'll talk about one of my superintendent goals for next year is is making this happen. So, um, there'll be a lot of opportunities for oversight, not only from the equity subcommittee that you'll be talking about later, but also, you know, if I make it one of my goals, then it becomes very much what I'm going to be working. So, um, we'll look at equipment and supplies, transition to the bottom of budgeting, like I talked about, and we're going to do that immediately. Mrs. H is going to work with the athletic director to do a a budget. We'll have the input of
106the coaches. We'll have the input of the captains to make sure that we're putting together a per sport budget. Um, and we're going to be talking to the coaches. So, it talks about mandatory autumn and early winter meetings between the athletic director and all head coaches to gather explicit localized resource and gear requests. So, I want to make sure that's happening. I want to make sure all the coaches have an opportunity to represent what they need. And those are the things that I don't know for sure. Like it's easy to say, "Sure, all the coaches meet with the athletic director, and I'm sure they do, but I don't know the extent of that. I want to find a checklist where I can ask, and this is exactly what was asked of you. You've had an
107opportunity to give me your your what you want for a year. Um, unifi codify a five-year uniform cycle." I know that we've been trying to do that because I was business manager. We try to do that, but I want to codify it. So, just like our five-year curriculum action plan that Mr. Lynch has put out there and anybody can look if you're concerned about, you know, when when is math going to be discussed? Well, you know, three or four years from now that's going to be discussed and you can anticipate that. Same here. So, that it's not just um discussed, you know, when it comes up. It's it's something people can look forward to. So, I know if I'm a coach and my uniform replacement is two years from now, I'm going to make different
108requests, but I know it's coming. I can relax about it. they don't have to worry that that it's not going to be provided for. Um, again, equivalent benefits and scheduling of games and practice times. We're going to review all that through an equity lens even in the fall. Make sure that there are equal not only equal practice time, I think we're fine in terms of the number of minutes. The issue is when, right? So, are the girls and boys getting the same amount of time? um you know whether it's a four o'clock practice, five o'clock practice, game times, you know, people want to be under the lights, whatever the the issue is. Um we're going to be very clearly walking through that. You know, um we did expand the girls golf schedule a bit this
109spring. We did get to be more than 10, but it's probably not where it needs to be. And so we'll keep moving in that direction. Um, so I'm not going to read every last word of this, but what I'm what I'm asking the committee for is to really react to this and we'll commit to these 11 goals because the report is rather comprehensive and I need to really focus on what I think is the the really the most important part of of these um travel accommodations. I heard all about the travel situation. Um, you know, and little things I knew of. I knew that, you know, if we were going to put, you know, the the boys on coach buses, certainly the girls would have to, but I want the band on coach buses as
110well. You know, we want to have equivalent buses that way. I understand that certainly the situation that happened in cheerleading will never happen again. But also, um, I want to make sure those opportunities are available all the way around. And I really need to dig in to the transportation of the sports that aren't currently getting it like swimming and some of the others. Um, I don't know history of all that. It's a problem. I don't know exactly how it evolved to get to be where it is right now. U and I think what's happened is over the last and this isn't an excuse. It's just the truth. Over the last 15 to 20 years, certain things are put into place and then nobody ever goes over, you know, why are the girls driving to swim
111practice? I don't know. No, at 5 in the morning or 6:00 in the morning. I don't know how that started. Maybe it started years ago with a very legitimate reason, but now given the world we're in right now, it would make sense if we can put them on the bus and make sure that they're being transported, but I need to look at the budget implications of all of that. Um, I talked about an athletic handbook. We're also going to be updating our coaches handbook. So, we have a coach's handbook. It is way outdated. And one of the goals will be to update that. and that'll talk about hiring evaluations um and how we do all of our coaches. Um number six, equivalent facilities. We just built three beautiful new locker rooms here at the high
112school. I'm confident that the girls and boys locker room were very similar um if not the same. Um but we need to also talk about you know what is it the the softball out outfield fencing stabilizing that fence is sandbags the answer or not? I don't know. But we'll figure out what makes sense. um you know establish spring golf weather contingencies uh conduct regular equity walks that to me is the most important thing are we reviewing this on a regular basis so you make one change but I think we need to put processes in place where we're reviewing we're reviewing this as well um equivalent medical and training facilities I heard a lot about you know with the athletic trainer and I've heard this even beyond situ I don't want people to blame any one
113person this is a systemic cultural issue that we're dealing And a lot of it is really taking the time. It's easy to say, for example, if there's a girls soccer game at 4:00 and there's a boys football game at 7, it's easy to say, "All right, I'm going to tape all the girls first and then I'll see the boys." But, you know, boys show up and they come in and it gets handled and then you've lost that equity. It's really drawing the hard line and over prepping and putting a sign on the trainer's door that says, you know, girls only from 3 to 4, 2:30, 3:30 and then enforcing that and making that clear. And so it's not just anybody coming up and trying to get through the line. It's this is the way we
114do it. It's published ahead of time. Everybody knows that and it allows for those those things to happen. Um, you know, and so all all of these things, you know, create weight room boom time slots, propose separate full-time staff roles, and some of the stuff I'm addressing immediately. Some of it is going to be addressed next summer. You know, we're trying to figure out strength and conditioning this summer. There's a lot of things I'm learning about the strength and conditioning program and how that works. Some of it I can address and have addressed immediately. Others I'm going to have to wait because it's coming two weeks. And so, I'm I'm addressing what I can immediately with a with a longer term plan as well. Um, and we do know that we need more trainer time.
115So, I don't I can't guarantee that we'd hire another full-time position. Um, but we know that there are times when there are two varsity matches going on or there are two matches going on in two separate places where we may need two people at the same time. And so, there's opportunities for contract services. There's opportunities to make sure we have those trainers available. Um, again, all part of a corrective package plan and stuff that we can do immediately in the form. Um, there's a lot of training. I I want to put the the coaches through some equity training, some eye openening equity training. We've all had it. And anytime we've gone through some equity training, we all come out the better. We all understand things with a perspective we didn't have before. Um, and so
116sometimes, you know, it's just an unconscious bias and you're not even aware of it, but we help people become aware of it and become aware of how your words and actions can influence things. U Mr. Lynch, I know I'm flying. I apologize. I'm not saying next slide, you're just rolling along. Um, you know, support services, administrative, secretarial, and clinical support. Um, I talked about internal communication standards. Um, you know, we want to make sure that our coaches are communicating with our athletes through parent square because that's discoverable. We know what they're saying. We can look at it and then it goes to all the parents. We don't have a situation where somebody doesn't remember, you know, who's on a list, who's not on a list or somebody makes a Google list and then it's not
117accurate. And so, we have the list. we know who our students are and we can make sure that there's equity there. Um, you know, making sure we know when the athletic director and the assistant AD will attend matches and then standardizing the fundraising approvals. Fundraising approvals currently go through athletic director. He does see all the fundraising that boosters want to do, but it's standard standardizing that looking at it through an equity lens, making sure that it's happening. And then, um, you know, we want to talk to our boosters. I've already reached out to the good iron club. reaching out to some of the other boosters over the next couple of weeks to really meet the presidents and the treasurers and get to know them and and celebrate the work that they're doing. But at the
118same time, we need to see it. We need to understand that and what does it mean for a systemwide boosters club. I've been in districts where we've had one. I've been in districts where we haven't. I've been in districts where there's been sort of a hybrid where this sports that have a hard time fundraising come together. So, there's lots of ways that this can be done better than it is now. And that's not to say that we don't appreciate all the money coming in from our but we do we couldn't run the program at the same level we're running now without it but there needs to be a look through that equity lens. So um and then administrative compliance like I said policies procedures operators and I'm I'm really coming at all of this yes
119of course adherence to policy KCD public gifts to schools but it's more than that it's it's really understanding from an equity lens what's being given to us. um and and how we're using that and how we're making sure that all of our teams can benefit. So, um just understand I'm taking this very very seriously. This 11-point plan will be fleshed out with, you know, more of a timeline, you know, more people involved, who's responsible for each part of this, you know, so that it's clear who I'm going to, who I'm assigning to be part of this. I mentioned Mrs. some of the financial pieces, but you know, every member of the administrative staff will have a piece of this and then coming back to how what we've you know, we begin by looking at the
120equity subcommittee and that up to the subcommittee itself, however, that it's brought back to the committee um not only for regular updates um but also so that you know that we are taking all of this seriously. So, that's a short summary, but know that um I really very deliberately kept my mouth shuts ago and I kind of heard from a couple of people in the community who said to me, "Why didn't you say anything?" Because I needed Mr. Grantino to say what he needed to say to express what needed to be said and not worry about so much about correcting details. That wasn't what this is about. We will do that in the corrective action report. People will see in corrective action report those details. Um, this was more about acknowledging the lived experience of
121our athletes and what they are doing. >> Thank you for that initial overview. I'll turn it over to committee members thoughts and feedback for Dr. Rob as he continues this. >> I don't even know where to start. Um, I mean, I think this is, you know, we took it out of the report and put it into a very drafty corrective action plan, which is fine. I would really love to see these items reorganized by lowhanging fruit to longest term acknowledging that there are some things you've said them but I want to see it where you take you know you take them out you prioritize maybe they still have the category so we know how it's aligned with this initial but I really want to see when when you say you're working on this like put
122that in the chart like this is this is happening now and I expect an outcome in a month or whatever right I just think it's really important Um because in my humble opinion, part of the reason that this we we are where we are is because there's been no oversight and accountability. And so we need to start with accountability from day one with a corrective action plan. The other thing I'm wondering about with the committee is I'm really listening to our community. We've had a chance to meet with some folks outside and you know yes we were able to collect some data but that N was very very very low >> concerningly small >> and I just wonder I would really love to hear from the female athletes. I I mean I was a collegiate
123female athlete and this report ticked me off because this is the crap I was going through and I'm way way older >> and this is still going on. And so >> I think this report goes a long way to talk about process and policy, but I don't I still don't see the people in this. And I think the thing that I'm very very worried about, Tom, is while I appreciate that your central office team is getting involved, you have an entire district to run that includes UN and band and academics and teachers and all the things. And if you read the research on culture, it starts with leadership. And if I I don't know our athletic department leadership very well, but like I'm very worried >> about the ability to change culture and implement this
124plan with the team that's in place right now. >> It doesn't mean they can't do it and it doesn't mean we don't support them in doing it, >> but I feel like I'm just very worried and we need I mean I've sort of joked about it and I'll be quiet in a minute. I'm just I'm just really really upset. I have joked, but there's part of me that's very serious. I feel like we need someone on the ground observing and walking through >> because like even doing a schedule for the practices, who's going to be there when one of the teams encroaches on the other team >> and eventually pushes them off? Like who's going to be there to say, "No, it's not 4:15 yet. It's not your turn." like who's going to be the
125physical body out there saying this is not okay >> so that whatever team is on the field now can finish their practice and not feel bullied >> to get off the field >> and so I I feel like we need a team on the ground supporting >> like taking equity and DEI training is great but like you're making the assumption that everybody wants to change and that's just not always >> the case but I'll get off my soap box I'm just I'm just really upset set about this and think we have a lot lot of work to do. >> So I was going to ask about um no apologies >> additional ways for people to bring forward concerns at this point since we did to your point have a small kind of number initially. >>
126Um I think for us as a committee it's really important that we have you know a broader point of view than our own perspective. Yeah. Um, and some of us have zero experience in high school athletics. None. But that shouldn't matter. We should be able to still feel like we have the full story. And so I was just thinking about ways for people to do that. What are the best ways for people to bring forward additional information now? Um, and I think there's kind of two buckets there. I think it's really important to preserve the Title Nated focus of this report. And there are other concerns that I'm also hearing that are not title n related but are still terms and they are related. >> And so I feel like >> we want to do
127both of those things at the same time. I don't want to lose that. Like I said, it's really important to preserve that focus. Um but there needs to almost be like another catching point for the other concerns so that they are also noted and heard and and whatnot. So I was curious about that and I wondered if you know similar to the bullying and prevention intervention plan have we had a public comment period for the policy and the plan if we would want to do something like that when this plan gets into its next iteration more formal or um are there other ways like ongoing >> having well yes ongoing but I mean even like >> like early you know what I mean I think ongoing yes but I was just thinking like >> well
128we don't want to miss something right that's what I'm worried about and I I was thinking like whether it's a public comment period. I know it's like a really terrible time to be putting a survey out, but that's one way to do it. Or a um a a community um those >> uh there's two >> I'll be doing that. >> Uh yes, I know you've been doing that, but I wonder if it's advertised as being specifically about this if that might help. Um just to draw out like I thought the public comment tonight was really illustrative. Um, I really just think it's helpful and we need >> We need more of that and that wasn't enough really in this small slice. Um, and that's the type of thing that I think will help us. Um,
129like I said, we can't operate based on our own experience. We have to have that next level of information. Um, and right now I don't know that we do have enough. >> So that's my long-winded way of asking. What are the best ways to that people should be doing that at this point? I know it's also like quite a busy school year. >> I mean, I even wonder like I know we don't manage the schools, so I'm being very mindful of what our boundaries, but like could we meet with the different teams >> or or somebody could I don't know. I mean, >> I don't know. Just >> I mean, I think people can always email us. you know, this is our last meeting of this school year. So, the timing is tough, but you
130know, little cloud bar email open all summer. Um, we don't have, you know, any office hours on the agenda right now for summer. Like, it's just the timing is tough and I don't know the momentum. So, I'm just trying to brainstorm a bit publicly. Yeah. Of some of those opportunities. Like, I know you're responding a lot to individual emails, some which is great, but that also isn't the most >> like efficient way. >> No, I'd like to actually meet with some small groups. I'm, you know, it's hard for this week and May and next week at the end of school, but I'm available the second week in July and I've responded to a few of the inquiries I've got and appointments for July 6th and 7th. So, >> you know, it's around three weeks and
131I think I could certainly offer again summer's hard, but offer the opportunity for some office hours. So, you know, people could come in even virtually on Zoom so they can leave their home >> and and have those conversations with me and just tell me some of those experiences >> as long as there's only two of us. We can also attend. >> Sure. I can let you know what I >> You know what I mean? That's another thing. >> Yeah. I just I guess I'm just I don't have an answer either. I appreciate the brainstorming. I just you know the thing I want to acknowledge, Tom, is one I I appreciate that you're accessible. The other piece is I think the reality of this is you're the superintendent of the district and there's power and privilege
132that comes with that and no matter how you show up in that space as this kind you know intelligent person that you are I just don't know how many people will come forward. >> You know what I wonder I wonder to your point there because I think there's comfort in the numbers to agree and I wonder Dr. around if you were to extend an invitation to um female athlete alums and students in and create a group for coffee. So there's not just one coming to you, but there's a larger group, then there might be more comfort in sharing. Um, >> people might feel a little more confident >> talking >> or even upper classmen too, right? Upper class students like getting the younger students to come. And on on that note also just thinking about
133your comments earlier and the impact to um students and you know not only alums but certainly the students who populate the building today. Will there be a communication plan to the all students? I was going to say the girls, but I think all students about because of course this is now chatter that they're certainly privy to and >> I'm just thinking about how that impacts their feeling of selfworth and belonging and so >> I think some type of a communication plan to the students would be incredibly powerful. Um, and then I just wanted to raise the point too, and I know very little about booster club fundraising, but I know that when it comes to this issue, this is a little bit of speculation, but two cents on every dollar nationally and in Massachusetts goes
134to girls and women. And so I wonder if this model is actually going to result in equity regardless of the meetings that you are able to have and engage these booster presidents >> in because I mean this is this is an issue that every organization is managing is how to get you know private fundraising and dollars to girls and women's causes and organizations. And so I'm just thinking about the impact to the booster model. And so I wonder if the model is going to result in the equity that we're desirous of. >> It's a great question and without getting too far ahead of myself, one of the things I was talking to somebody today about >> and again with all due respect to, you know, boy soccer and girls soccer, two separate booster organizations, why
135do we need two separate booster organizations and soccer? If soccer is soccer, >> y >> then let's have a soccer boosters and we can figure out the equity under that umbrella. But those are some of the preliminary thoughts that I've had. But I'm I'm trying to be respectful of the work that's been done and the people that have done the fundraising. But at the same time, there's no question things need to change. And so, how do we begin to do that? You know, how do we look at particularly the what I would consider the relatively easy sports like lacrosse and basketball and soccer that have a counterpart, you know, a girls and boys counterpart >> um where you could you could do that. And so those are the kinds of things that are on my
136mind. The other thing that's on my mind is there's a neighboring community that any funding the boosters do, any any boosters club, any funding they do by policy, a certain percentage goes to a general pool for those who need it for equity. >> And so everybody kind of understands that if you raise money at any level, some small percentage goes into a general pot for those who don't have it. Um, so there's there's so many ways as I've begun some conversations, you know, and and I say to myself, sure, >> then that took what, a week of me talking to some people and you get some great ideas. So I think as we dig into it, we'll find what works in situ and we'll find what's going to work here. >> Um, and and I
137I I'm confident that we can can do that. We just have to start those conversations. And I'm, you know, meeting with the presidents and treasurers of the boosters clubs. I'll try to get as many in over the summer as I can just to begin those conversations because honestly, you know, they've been doing a lot of work and a lot of work on the sidelines. You know, not to use a football, but you know, they've been doing a lot of work on the sidelines. A lot of work that probably isn't well recognized. >> Yeah. >> And should be. I also think there's a lot of misperceptions out there. You know, somebody said to me just a couple of days ago, "Well, the football boosters get all the the um the gate receipts." Like, no, they don't.
138We do. you know, and but somebody was living with that misinformation, you know, and and like fuming about it, and I'm like, "No, we get all that money, you know, so and I budget for it. You've seen it in the budget. It's a revenue part of the budget." So, you know, those are the kinds of things that I also want to correct in this corrective action that, you know, what do they do, but also what do they not do, you know, that you think they do. So, those are all pieces of what's going to come together, but it's I love the idea of the low hanging fruit and being really clear about what we can do immediately. um you know whether it's a Gant chart or any kind of opportunity to really say look and
139and we're doing it we're building the plane as we're fixing it right it's it's happening I'm not waiting to do this we're doing it right now >> well just being really transparent that like some of this is going to take a little time so if we have that chart we have a sense of >> this is what we're doing now this is what we can do now this is what's going to take some time >> just I just wanted to commend you though for sitting on your hands so to speak while the report is being developed because having this pure um external perspective as a starting point is critical and I know that's that must have been hard as well to not make inferences relative to data. Thank you for that. >> Um I just
140wanted to ask this is like a kind of very specific question but about the coaches handbook um and will that be something that you would anticipate asking for our approval of in the way that we approve other handbooks? It hasn't been yet, but we can talk about it. I mean, I'll certainly present it. Yeah. So, you'll have opportunity to look at it. You'll have an opportunity to give feedback. >> Whether it requires a formal vote, we can talk about like the school improvement plans, you know. Yeah. You look at them. I approve them. >> That's true. I was just thinking I think it would be nice to have it rise to some level of like a detailed review for us because I think it's one of those things where we have an understanding of what's
141in that. it will just equip us better to understand what's what's being expected and what's being communicated and therefore you know like I think that would just be helpful for us our own education I think that would be good um and then the other thing I was just going to say is I'm glad that Melissa Aosta is here tonight because I think some of the um points have been brought up about the repairative aspects of work that could happen that are not named explicitly in this plant may tie in with some of her work and that's kind have a piece that you may not have seen coming. Um, but here it is. Um, so I'm really glad you were here tonight because um, you got to hear some of this firsthand and I think hopefully
142that has got about that later, but I just had that made that connection. Um, to address like the budgeting, I'm glad that it's going to be done the correct way. Um, but how do you see doing the bottom up budgeting with sports that we don't know who the coaches are yet? Like because we don't advertise for some like the spring sports until almost the spring, you know. >> Sure. So, two two levels. First, we do have some history. So, we can look at whatever history we do have. There's also in any given sport, there's a baseline amount of materials that are needed independent. It doesn't even matter to the coaches, but you kind of know what the baseline is. And if we have to, we can reach out to other communities to find out what
143a baseline budget would be for a sport if we really can't figure it out. I also know that, you know, we're going to be doing next year we do transfers during the year. So, if we found that come January, February, we needed to make some adjustments in spring athletic budget, we could do that. and then by bringing to the committee ready and we would um we would make those transfers and make >> I mean I would think it would be beneficial for to um meet with the spring coaches that just coach in preparation for >> budget >> one other thing I'll just say this is a bit of a preview when we get to the subcommittee conversation later on we had talked about also adding to the purview of the finance subcommittee the review of
144the booster ers and PTO any other donation money per our policy the letter is now but the donation policy um because again that's the type of thing that's similar to how policy reviews policies in a subcommittee and that says the larger committee hey we've already done the background on this here are the ones that we should really talk about um that some of that work can happen in in that setting and then be brought to the bigger committee so that we I think that's a actually a tighter way to um than asking all five of us to look every month or every whatever the cadence is going to be at everything not all at once. We thought that that might be a better kind of more just a stronger way to >> policy KCD. It's
145in it's in >> I knew it was I just >> but that's I think an important like people who are involved with the PTO boosters need to >> know that >> it's going to be a change from how business has been happening. >> It's a big change. So >> yeah. Yeah. >> It requires some careful conversations to people understanding the context, understanding why we're asking this. It's not just my way or the committee. This is the law. This is >> the law. We want to we want to make it as easy as a as possible. So >> this will later show you a template of how we're proposing to do that with some preliminary data that we've been able to gather. So you'll see that later and you can react to that too and say,
146"Hey, does this work? We're looking for different." I will start to assign things. I promise that >> I agree with everything everybody else already said. Of course. Um I'm wondering too if the boosters might folks who are involved in boosters currently might have some thoughts or feedback about a new model just in general based on their experiences. >> That's another thing would have to happen this summer really fall. So, >> right, >> I just want to emphasize, you know, I haven't brought this up much because I do not want to diminish the the the focus of equity, but I really really think that there's a broader culture issue as well. I only have male athletes at the high school right now so far, but I mean, it's just I think there's a lot of beyond
147equity, including equity, I should say. But um you know I just want to emphasize that that's things go um more are more encompassing even than that um in general. And to that point I think it's not typical that we would dig in as a school committee on certain minutia as it would be called sort of in budget in terms of um within a department in that way. But given the circumstance and the sort of what's been presented to us in the report, I just don't think that we would be doing our jobs diligently if we didn't request the 25 like the missing NA >> or whatever titles in there. >> Um so if you could gather that for us just so we can have a clear understanding and share with the community sort of what
148that is. Um while we don't usually look at budgets to the level if it was like calculators like you know detail, >> right? sort of have the system to guide us through that. And those folks that are uh managing their departments are responsible for those within the departments and getting their teachers or their their staff what they need in those supply items. We sort of have an over overarching budget view of the department. But given the circumstance, I think it's like how can we not ask for that point? >> I was. >> Okay. And then I would be remiss if I didn't also call this out. Um kind of my last point that it sounds like as Carrie pointed out, Dr. O, you were really taking the bull by the horns here. The plans, you
149know, the initial plan coming out within two weeks, trusting that the administrative office is is on top of this is Irene's already had some assignments and Ryan's going to be involved. The school committee is doing our best to say like from what level even carries as can we do this? Is it are we stepping in too deep? If we hold meetings with people, what more can we do to support this? We love situate. We love our athletes. We love our families. We want to help support and make change and be a part of that and listen and and be a part of corrective action. I don't hear and I know you're going to assign these things and there's more depth going, but I haven't even heard an initial assignment for the high school principal in
150this at all who oversees the athletic director. So really getting some clarity from like an org chart perspective on what uh you know because that's just a really important person in the >> process here. Um and also of course our athletic director as well. They just want to know what their very specific roles would be. And I know as a team of school committee members, we would like to have them report out on this as well and not just have you be the sort of voice of this change. like we would like to see that they articulate and you know can share with us what's being done in front of the committee for the community in a public forum. >> My ears perked up on the trip because that should include how who's responsible >>
151but it did honestly like that's one of the what's one of the components of that you know in addition to the time and like what the contingencies are you know and it makes it really easy to follow. I just think that's going to be really important for everybody. >> They're great. We use it for the construction project and I've actually gotten accustomed to seeing them from the construction project. We do two week flip aheads and they're really helpful. They say who's doing it and they have to do it green and red and yellow. It's very nicely. >> That's what I'm envisioning something really. >> I don't I don't think it needs to be said but you mentioned having two bo boys in the high school and I think for folks who don't know many many
152of us on this committee have boys and girls and I'm thinking my kids are not watching this because they just don't. But if my if my boys were watching this, I would want them to to know clearly like that this isn't a committee of five women. This isn't about squashing anything that our young men are doing. Like >> equity is not about squashing one group for the betterment of another group. And so I I I felt like I wanted to say that out loud so everybody who's watching and listening can hear that >> this is about if we were on the academic side of this, it would make total sense to everybody that we would want equity of opportunity and getting students what they need. >> So what we're asking for now is for every
153athlete who institute to get what they need to be successful as athletes. And so that has nothing it's not about reducing one group to the betterment. It's about expanding and getting everybody what they need. So, I just wanted to say that just in case my boys were watching. >> Now, we'll challenge them to watch the recording. >> Couldn't agree more and really appreciate the initial steps we've taken and sharing that out and the opportunity for this discussion. >> Yeah. And and for all the folks who have been really honest and come forward. Yeah. Um, I mean I would just say if folks have if our community has ideas to Maria's point on how to create more spaces for these conversations, I am all ears and ready to show up and listen if that's again appropriate.
154Not not stepping on your toes at all, but yeah. Just please let us know. Of course, please let us know. >> Absolutely. >> All right. You're still >> on to something less controversial. >> I don't know. >> Not as >> new elementary school naming update. >> So just as an update, we met on June 1st. Well, on June 2nd, the task force reconvened and uh Maria and Janice, thank you so much for representing school committee on on that task force, we had over 20 people show up in person and via Zoom. So members of the original task force as well as interested members of the community. Um so it was great. We had three students come to really help us out and we had a broad perspective of kind of what are people thinking? What
155are some of the things that that people feel that we did right and some of the things that they really want us to revisit. Um but one of the important things to me was that we review the work to date. And so the committee spent some time reviewing the three name choices, how we got there, what we did to get there, the research that we did, the extensive research from the students as well as the research from the historical commission, um, and how we narrowed down to the three choices that we had because I wanted everybody to hear that and and understand that. And then we talked about some additional criteria for names, like if we're going to consider additional names, um, what are some criteria? and and they're not a surprise to anybody. Being
156a part of Situit's life, more than just a simple connection to Situit, but truly a member of the community, a contributing member of the community um should probably be someone who's deceased. I don't know that was important. >> We have a we think we have a policy naming after like a living >> is a living person. >> You're not allowed to do that. So, >> okay, good. So, that was an easy one. So, so I apologize. someone who can be verified by the situ historical society. I think one of the things we talked about, you know, there's a lot of lore um of particularly around the revolutionary war and some things that happened and some of the debate sisters I'm sure it's a great story and I'm sure they existed but they exist at the
157age they did and this is more focal. I don't know. I'm not trying to step on citrus history. I'll be the last person to do that. But we need to be very careful about that. We're going to name a school. We need to make sure that there's historical accuracy. Um we talked about pronouncability. you know, can elementary school children pronounce the names? Um, and certainly a direction toward education. Um, and could we even consider a place? We have Satuit, but could we consider Minet or North? Um, and we recognize that Minet fails some of the pronouncability tests. Um, after after the announcement was made, uh, two members of the community submitted additional names for consideration, and I'll just put them out there. Sergeant Michael J. Kelly is a fallen hero who was killed in the
158line of duty in Afghanistan in 2005. Claire Mcdana, a longtime resident who was on the conservation commission and wrote an around town column in the mariner uh back in the 80s. And another member of the committee put forth Daniel Ward, the founder of the mossing industry in such as a potential candidate. So again, we certainly haven't decided this, but these are the kinds of names that we were putting forward that we could add to that meet the criteria that we're talking about. Um, so the task force agreed that I would write a summary of the work to date and share the criteria with the school committee. That's what I'm doing tonight. And then, um, toward the end of the week or next week, I'll put this summary out to the community and let the entire
159community know that the task force met on the second and invite anyone in the community who wishes to nominate a candidate and include a written one or two paragraph rationale. So it was very important to the committee that if somebody wanted to put forward a name, they needed to provide that rationale for us. You know, give us one or two, three paragraphs, explain to us why that person is important to you and why you think we should consider it. Um and I'll put a survey out. Um the submissions would be due by July 30th and the task force would reconvene during the second week in August and begin vetting them. Um ultimately narrowing down to two names to add to school committee consideration. So pretty aggressive timeline. um the project architect has really kind of
160drawn a line in the sand. It said Columbus State weekend. He needs to know the name of the school. They have to order the letters. They have to order some things like that. So um so that's that's where we're at. I thought it was a great meeting. It was about an hour and a half or so. >> Um really allowed us to catch up. We had students of student representation. We had uh representation from all walks of the community. So we had many people that that showed up that contributed um and and it was a great conversation. So, we'll continue that work and uh and hopefully in September we'll be able to come forward two additional names, keeping the three we have two additional names for the committee's consideration. >> So, that's where it's at.
161>> It was a good meeting. >> It was great. Yeah, it really was. >> Rose knew she was committee. >> Yeah, >> that's where it's at. So, over the summer, we'll see those communications go out and I'll do package if we meet in August. I'm sure I'll provide update. >> Okay. And then well that's just a reminder that we would want to vote on this by >> September. Yeah. We're getting into that. >> We're going to need to >> required range for our architect team. >> Yeah. >> Sounds good. All right. Um so let me introduce Melissa Costa um our director of support engagement and advocacy. So she started here on March 9th and has spent the last three months really doing a listening and learning tour. Um as the committee is aware she's taken
162on a very unique opportunity here in Sichu and really dug in took these 90 days. It was great. I was thrilled to be able to provide the budget opportunity to start her in March and not have to wait till July 1 and really allow her the time so that she's really hitting the ground running um you know in two weeks when the next fiscal year starts. And I think as you go through this you'll see all of the fine work that she's done and she's really setting herself up for success and in making the best of this position. So let me turn it over to Melissa. >> Great. Thank you for having me here tonight. Um I just want to um take a quick moment to acknowledge the work regarding the equity audit as part
163of one of my one of the things that I did was also take part in the civic actions project and two of the tables that I visited was around um student athletes. One of them was actually a boys um athletes who talked about um boy a boys sport that doesn't get as much attention as other boys sports as well as a group of um young ladies and their sports. So it's not just a boys versus girls things. It's about also the type of sports. >> So thank you for bringing that up. Um so yeah, so I I I'm sure that will become also part of my I'll put that in these findings as well. Um, so yeah, so as um Dr. Rab said, I started on March 9th. It's crazy to think that it's been
164just about my 90day my listening and learning tour. So let's see where I've been and where we're going. So in the first 90 days, I've been working really hard on building relationships across numerous um stakeholders across the district. have been meeting with students, staff, families, community partners, um laying the groundwork for a more connected, equitable, and inclusive Situ public schools. Um during the first 90 days, like I said, I've just been connecting, listening, and relationship building, as well as begun some launching of some um initiating some programs, some partnerships and other initiatives that we'll you'll see throughout the PowerPoint presentation, as well as beginning to sustain some ongoing engagement systems and culture changes that obviously will become a bigger part of my work. Um, so some of the students that I've met, um, I've gone
165to some of the GSA groups, um, at the high school and the middle school level. Um, so GSA is the gay and straight alliance. I met with the high school and their afterchool group. I met at the middle school during the uh, safe uh, safe school program that is part of the Jessie um, program. So they had a an assembly that I was a part of that I got to join them in. I've met with METCO students in their Oasis room. I've met with the STAR group, which is the students taking action against racism during their wind blocks. Uh again, the civic action projects as an interviewee. I had a number of groups reach out to me as as my position to um interview me as well as an evaluator. I've started also doing some
166classroom visits and meeting with students doing focus groups whether um even earlier today I met with some middle school students that I asked Miss Smith to kind of put together a group of students just so I can kind of get like what's going well here in Situit what is if you could make some changes um and so because I am a firm believer in student voice and choice and then if we're going to make decisions at the district level that we need to make sure that the impact that we're making is directly impacting ing the students and that you know that we get their stamp of approval. And so also I met with some high school students. I met with high school students in the metco room. I met with students um actually here in
167the library. I met with some chess students in the 10th grade. They were here one day after school. I met with them. I'm meeting with some other students tomorrow. I've also met with students in the situation that is our high school um journalism um class. So I met with them. I got interviewed with them within like my first month of being here. Um, I will say as far as like the focus groups, I've heard a lot of positive around the variety of clubs, activities, sports. I've heard a lot about like some really good teachers. Um, I have heard about um some of the struggles um they really would like to see the schedule change. >> Interesting. Yeah, they um they just talked about, you know, um more so like at the middle school level, they
168felt like last year's school schedule was different from this year's school schedule and there's just too many classes and so you know like I got a lot of feedback on that today. Um and so um so just you know just you know I'm like I don't know how much power I have in that. unlike but I definitely will you know let your voices be heard you know and so it is important that their voices are heard and I've also met with program partners like the PLC ILC and gems which is at the elementary school level which is our um programs as well as the middle school level TLP and GLC and then our excel and lighthouse here at the high school faculty and staff I've met with um our faculty and staff during professional development
169and mentorship ship. So, um there is a mentor program that um one of our teachers at Jenkins schools runs with um teachers who have less than three years, I believe it is. Um so, I got to meet with them as well as I attended the school-based PD session. I believe it was like my second week here that I got to go and meet with um numerous teachers during that time. I've also attended numerous um schools for during their care wellness teams and I've met during the PD session. I also met with like health and wellness teachers. I've met numerous times with the school adjustment counselors and the gu um formerly known as guidance counselors now school counselors. Um I've met with the department chairs, school leadership, metco staff, the lit leaders which is um at
170the elementary school level and the middle school level. And I've also attended a number of the schools at during the all staff meetings just so that way they can have face and name. um just trying to get around to meeting all 500 staff as much as I possibly can. I've also been meeting with families and community. So, I've been meeting with parents and caregivers during coffee with caregivers at Gates Middle School. I've gone to a number of those. I've also um gone to a number of the elementary schools um for their PTO meetings. Um I've also assisted with MECO during an interpretation a couple of times. um they had two families from the Boston area who needed assistance with interpretation. I do speak Spanish, so I you know offered my services willingly. Um I've also
171had some parents reach out to me for a onetoone to want to meet with me. So I met with them um and had some good conversation and looking forward to some more future collaboration. I've also met with some of our community partners and Marie Gavin from Situet Facts. We had a good conversation met at the library, got the whole history of Situate facts and kind of where they're at and how we can continue our partnership. Um, Situate DEI, I got in touch with Bob Clark over at town hall, who then put me in in touch with Tom, who is the chair of Situate DEI, got the history of the town, what's been going on there, kind of what their current functioning is, and kind of what the future of Situate DEI is looking like. Um,
172I also attend the monthly uh situate freedom team meeting as a stu as a school representative. I've also met with Southshore digital wellness and we have some future meetings on the books. Um, I've also met with FL is our representative from PIA which is our partnerships and education and resilience. That's the organiz that's the organization and then from them we purchased the HSA which is a holistic um student assessment. I remember during I believe it was during like my site visit or or maybe my day visit or something. Um I remember I think somebody was asking me like what are you gonna do with like pair on the HSA and I'm like I don't know what that is. Um but now I know I'm very well verssed. Um so been meeting with them been looking
173at our data. We've gotten back since then we've gotten back our spring data. I have all of my school adjustment counselors looking at that to make sure like how does that compare to our fall data? What kind of um systems are we putting in place? What kind of um work are we doing with that? Because of our data, we also have invested the district has invested in character strong which is uh castle approved which is collaborative for academic, social and emotional learning. Um so we recently um Greg Reneer and I met with um Stefan um who and a and Amy from Character Strong to review our contract with them to make sure that it is meeting the needs of the district. um being with me being in this position, we're going to actually make investments
174um to make sure that our PD is up to date with our you know because we often find that um everything gets excited right that first time around and then like a year or two or three kind of go by and things kind of fall to the side. So now that I'm in this position being able to make sure that we rejuvenate that, make sure that things are being done with efficacy and fidelity. So we'll be bringing in that PD in November for all of our elementary school levels to um make sure that it is being done the way it's supposed to be done. So that way we are have we do have a strong tier one um curriculum that is being done. Um we have also partnered with steam the streets. They are a
175nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase youth engagement, awareness, and interest in emerging career pathways through media, music, and interactive programming. That on I said that pro that nonprofit organization is by by coastal. They originated in New Bedford and are also in California. Um, and I'll talk a little bit more about them in a moment. Um, and I also have a meeting scheduled with Cartwheel, which um, that meeting is scheduled for July 7th with I'll be meeting with Alvin from that from from that organization. And they do school avoidance. They're a mental health partnership with schools and they collaborate with schools and families keeping students at the center to address some of our higher need students with that. So, that's who I've been meeting with. Um, and some of the work that I've done so
176far is I launched a belonging series via social media. And so it's just a way to identify and highlight, you know, whether by culture or profession, ability, all the different ways that we belong here in Situ in Situit Public Schools and in the community. And through that, we've gotten some really positive um not sure I I like to highlight um Knock Up. We highlighted the family during Asian-American Pacific Islander Month and just like the positive and the warmth that was just surrounded by, you know, by her sharing her story, her immigration story from Vietnam um was just so they belong, right? they belong here in Sichu and the community was so warm and welcoming and so that one you know was just so positive but we've highlighted you know just our admin assistants our our
177um assistant principles our nurses so many different ways that we belong here in situ and so it's been very nice warm and welcoming um we reviewed and shared the district chronic absenteeism back in April when um Dr. Grab first asked me about connecting with um cartwheel. I went through and I looked for the chronic absenteeism which means all students who have at least 18 plus absences up to that point to better understand like what system supports and interventions are already in place before meeting with cartwheel so that that way um we can start to develop those internal systems. Um, so done that. Like I stated before, I have done a trans I've done some translation. One of those families has accepted to enroll in the fall. Um, done some partnerships like I stated before. So
178what happened with Steam the Streets is um, apparently Gates Middle School had been talking to Steam the Streets prior to my arrival. I was getting the position and so I had reached out to seam the streets as well. I know the um the founders of them. I'm like listen and I knew that they had received a grant for to to do some work within um Massachusetts schools. So I'm like I need you to hold one of the slots for Situit. So just as I was arriving they were connecting again back with Situ public schools. So, it worked out that they actually were able to um they'll be here at Gates in the fall doing free programming for Gates Middle School and um so that's super exciting. So, that all worked out nicely. I've also linked
179um the high school assistant principal Lisa Miss Karp to Southeastern Regional to they have someone over there who has developed a student leadership program, mentor program, an ambassador program. So looking at best practices on how to develop student leadership and um what their model and modules that they work on districtwide. I've also um I've been working with Miss Fluker, our HR director of HR um human resources in a and drafting the job description for our shared coordinator position because our each of our positions are distinct and so um been reviewing those positions as they've been coming in. we have uh just over 30 who have already applied. Um and so, you know, um looking at that. So, we're excited to, you know, find the right person that can fill both of the needs that we
180have. Um so, we'll be seeing that. And then, um this one I'm really excited about as well. I've attended a screening and a panel for Can't Look Away. So, Can't Look Away is a documentary that came out in 2025 that exposes how harmful algorithms and big tech negligence impact children and teenagers. And so, the panel then was um made up of Dr. Kathleen McKenzie who has recently uh wrote a book called Exit Plan: Mapping a Way Out of the Youth Mental Health Crisis. Um as well as Bristol County um Children's Advocacy Center, a representative from Attorney General Andrea Campbell's office was present as well as State Rep. Chris Hendrick's office was there talking about the bills that they put forth on the House side and the Senate side regarding cell phone use, social media. Um
181and so I'm actually working with Dr. McKenzie now on our November PD. So I've already started on my November and March PD planning. Um so getting that on the books as well as how to also bring the screening and a panel to our family and community engagement component. um next steps as far as social emotional learning and DEIB which I've already started to kind of allude to as I've been talking is um you know building a shared resource guide for all of our staff right so if you know of a family who is in need of a particular kind of resource you know it shouldn't be held for just one person to be able to tap into but where you know let let me tap into this like particular um guide so what are the
182community resources that are available Once again, reinforcing tier one social emotional learning, you know, executing character strong with fidelity. So that's focusing staff readiness, that training that I talked about earlier. Um, explore sister city learning exchange opportunities, whether through virtual classes, email, or good old-fashioned pen and paper, writing down and putting it in an envelope and mailing it off to one of our three sister cities that we have and waiting going back and forth. Um, everyone that I present that to is like, "Oh my gosh, that would be so cool." And I'm like, "Right, like wouldn't that interest you to like come into school or if you know if you're on the computer like we're gonna do a math class with our sister city in, you know, Cork, Ireland or in you know, Cape Bird
183or something like that and being able to like build up those partnerships that way. Um, as well as coordinating monthly school adjustment counselor meetings to anchor our ongoing support. And those meetings are to provide peer supervision to review knowledge and skills assessment, stabilization, and intervention with our youth who may need support or assistance as well as to ensure that all necessary supplemental resources and or tiered supports are provided to all students so they can have access to individual or group um activities or sessions. It's also important that all it's all while creating opportunities for students to be able to draw from their cultural and linguistic knowledge and personal knowledge. It's also important to see the school adjustment counselors in their ongoing collaborations with families and caregivers through inclusive written and verbal communication to identify ways
184to build on student strengths and support further growth. Um, I've also started to partner with the LIT leaders to share curriculum resources. Each one of the So, LIT is really prominent in our elementary schools. And so, but they've all been working in silos and so bringing them together and having them have resources where they can share and they can pull from each other instead of having to constantly reinvent the wheel by themselves where they can share their resources amongst each other. um raising flags of countries of origin throughout the district. This actually came to me um through one of those um civic action projects and the star students start um they had received a a grant from shore and so with that they wanted to purchase flags. So what we have we have actually identified
185that there are 58 countries that are represented within Situate public schools and so they are actually in the process of purchasing those 58 flags and so they are um looking to um actually we're looking right here in this atrium to be able to um hang the flags of the countries of origin. And so um with that we're part we're in the process of developing like or organizing what does that opening not opening of school year but like that first month or two like what does that school year event looks like um and that came from them. They had historically done the this is our house but they want to do this instead. So this is completely by the kids um and what they want to see done and they own this. Um so some next
186steps um which I've kind of spoken about already but um also building a public calendar of family and community engagement events on the district website as you can see under my family programming you know possibly what they can't look away screening and discussion some other topics could include 504 plans I heard I remember um when I watched the school committee meeting and hearing about the increase in that. So, I've started to speak to a partner about, you know, what does 504 look like? What and, you know, getting that information out to parents and things like that. As well as I know that there's some concern about maybe some vaping increase. So, do we need a vaping awareness, maybe a QPR question, persuade, refer, which is a basic su suicide 101 training. Um, some of this
187information has come by staff reporting, but maybe we need to conduct like a family survey. If we could have three or four family community engagement events a year, information on what would that look like? What do you want to see? What would you actually attend? Um, because I think they're great ideas, but that's my idea. What do families actually want to see and hear and listen to? um as well as aligning the school adjustment counselor with the health and wellness team meetings next year with the um going to the collaborative meetings once a month. So partnering with the school adjustment counselors and the health and wellness, what does that look like on the elementary school level, on the middle school level and the high school level um on a rotating basis? Like I stated um
188the elementaryaries um special education and school adjustment counselors all on the elementary level having that professional development for the character strong training as well as an all counselor professional development for the can't look away. Um also um one of the other things that I have started to have conversations with is with all of the district um department heads on conducting an equity centered curriculum audit. So what does our curriculum actually look like? Are we do we have an equity um equitable curriculum? You know who where are we pulling our information from? And you know what are our students actually learning? Um as far as also um community resource site visits, we do not operate in our silo. So we need to make sure that not only that we are getting out and so using our
189PD days, some of our PD days to also go out. I've already started to I reached out to Quinsey family resource center so that way we can get our counselors out to go do a visit over there. Um, I'm also looking at possibly going to visit the um, Aspire, the crisis center in Quinsey, so that that way if we do need to make a referral to a family there, we can let them know this is what it looks like when you get there. So that way we can try to ease some of those minds as well as possibly like the Hingham District Court in case we do need to make a referral for CRA or something like that, we have those connections. It's all about in this field, in this work, it's all about connections.
190It's all about networking. And so the more that we can do that, the more we can ease some of the anxiety or those those provoking thoughts. And so making sure that our our staff feel comfortable with that in order to make our families feel more comfortable or making those referrals or making those connections. um next steps as far as our students and celebrations for our students, continuing to meet with them regularly and remain accessible. More often than not, I pop out into the middle school and the high school at least once or twice a day just to kind of get my dose of youth. Um it helps keeps me grounded and to make sure that you know I'm like okay. um as well as elevating the student voices in the district decisions as stated you
191know when the students came to me and they asked about doing as you can see the flag raising as their school year opener I came to Dr. grab and I asked about that. he was in support of it as well as um doing an MLK celebration where the students are celebrating you know what they're doing the work you know so I've already spoken to some of the department heads you know how what kind of work can we do you know are we doing some kind of poetry are we doing some kind of social studies activity in history are we doing something with our art fine arts department where you know with some kind of music selection or something like that and doing it on on a rotating basis. So that way it's not all of
192the departments every single year but starting to work on a rotating basis so that we can do that celebration on a yearly basis with our students um at every level. Um and then they we also spoke about the students asked about doing a multicultural event at the end of the year and so we discussed a unity fest. So, some kind of end of year celebration where we can bring in different kinds of foods and different kind of dance and different kinds of ways that they can, you know, dress in their cultural ways or however. So, I want to really just um give a shout out to the 10th and eighth grade students who brought these ideas to life as well as Star and to Shore for their partnership and support. Um and I want to
193also thank the faculty, staff and administration that that when I share these opportunities or I share these visions or these ideas with them, their willingness to collaborate and to make them possible. Um because you know all the areas work together to create an inclusive, connected, and equitable school climate that promotes belonging, wellness, engagement, interest, and achievement. And so now I you're open for questions, comments, concerns, feedback. That's just my first three months. that all >> that's like you you've set the bar very high 90 days >> for a position that had no uh map >> I think you have a great map I love this map >> I think you know listening to what you said nothing you said was not important so I think your challenge is going to be like how do you
194prioritize it you know and then we talked about the athletic stuff today which >> isn't isn't unconnected to this I think it connects so I don't know um I just feel like you you know, as now that you've gotten the full lay of the land, I think your work is going to lie a lot in figuring out what are your big rocks, how are you going to prioritize, you know, what will that look like for you as it all matters. Um, I was curious uh when you had talked about the curriculum equity audit. We did do an equity audit a few years ago. It's probably quite dated. I'm sure you've seen it, but I was wondering if that is like in your review of it, did you feel like that is still useful to you
195or do you feel like it's at this point kind of not useful anymore? It's outdated and we should just sort of move forward. It's I think it was from 20. >> I was going to say 18. >> Okay. >> No, it was like 2021. >> Was it? >> Well, we can find out. But >> my question is just like >> right >> you know >> do you feel like that still provides you with any useful guidance or does it feel outdated at this point to you? >> It is I mean it is dated I think it was what 22 and then you all rebooted in 23. Was it 2122? >> Well we just got >> I'll tell you I got my equity report. Great February 14th 2023. >> Oh wow. Okay. was not I'm living
196in another alternative. >> Yeah, I think it was done in 22 and then the report came out in 23. >> Um so yeah, no that's helped kind of guide thinking about like um but the curriculum audit is a little bit different. >> Yeah. No. Yeah. I I realize it's different. I was just curious because I feel like >> we invested in that audit but we haven't seen it really take off yet. Um, so to me it was one of those kind of things that falls into that category of like time and money was invested in building it. And so I'm curious whether it it feels like it's something that we should revisit in bringing it breathing life into it and saying like, hey, these are still good recommendations. We should still, you know, be looking
197to implement them. Um, so I guess it's something we can all sort of revisit and ask ourselves the same questions. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, it's definitely was a point of reference throughout throughout my my last three months. Um, and even thinking about, you know, what does the future look like and how do we, you know, align Yeah. all of those. >> My only other question was just we've been talking about um absenteeism and school avoidance is not something we've talked about in the past, but I know you referenced it today. We've been talking about this for years and asking um if the data that we have on either of those topics reveals any patterns. Um so I know our numbers overall tend to be small especially broken down by building. Um but I was curious
198if in your looking into that if you off the top of your head you might not but if you can shed any light on any patterns that you might have identified just because this has been something we've literally talked about for four years. So, I did look at it based off of grade building. Um, and then just was kind of asking, you know, like what, you know, what kind of systems in place. >> Um, and so that is something that I will be next school year kind of digging more into and making sure like, all right, what are our practices? How do they align with DESIE? >> Um, what are the Desi? I started to look into like what are the desi guidelines and then what do we have here in place and how yeah
199>> once again I think kind of through the conversations that have happened earlier things are only as good as like the paper that they've written on like and so I think part of this position is also making sure that things are getting done right and so um it was interesting just even in pulling I think it was probably about three three and a half% of our of our student population had met the thresholds for chronic absenteeism. as of April >> when I had pulled the data. >> And so, um, just trying to find out like, you know, are we sending the letters? Are we doing the, you know, are there visits? Are there calls? Are there referrals that are being made? >> Yeah. >> Um, so just trying to find out more of that and
200who is holding that information, right? >> Um, who is doing that work? >> So, that that was that was like within my first month and then all this other stuff started coming up. So, >> yeah. Okay. Thank you. question. Well, I was say I love the networking. You're clearly using social work. Social work like just networking like where like who you know where to to get resources for the kids. >> Um I love that it's such a short amount of time that you're building those student relationships, too. It's just such a great you knew exactly like just how to do that and to see that their ideas are really not just being heard but implemented and or like you know we're going to attempt to implement whatever it is that they you know some of
201these ideas is really fantastic and I think you know honestly like the more of that the better really you know the student voice is really important and we always kind of reiterate that here so it's good to see that um and obviously just structurally having, you know, school adjustment counselors and that team have, you know, someone to go to and sort of and also a place for them to connect and, you know, discuss and feel like they have a team I think is really important and then that's just going to provide more supports for students. So, and families and I I love everything about this. >> Yeah. I think for the students too, um when they came to me about like the flag and the and the um multicultural and I was like, "Yeah, let's
202do it." Um they were like, "We can." I was like, "Yeah." Yeah. Then like we're like walking around the building like just trying to figure out like a logistical like space for it. Um and so then I brought in like the facilities manager and I'm like, "Let's measure." and you know so we were like and now we're figuring out like all right what does that event look like so more to come but I think it's going to be really cool >> yeah just the resources overall I think when you're a parent and your your child is struggling or even down the sort of spectrum of that in crisis the school is such a can should be such a rock and a place for resources and you know if that isn't solid and that's just we're
203failing families kind of fundamentally. I think kids aren't able to learn or access curriculum like what is the point of what we're doing? So your work is just so critical to the success of all students just overall. So really having shoring those resources up for families and and building those relationships with community partners is just it's just something that has been missing. And it's it's to me it's like a gamechanging you know component to a successful school district that is you know does have a high sense of belonging and and safety for kids. It's really critical. So I love that that's a central focus too. I know like Maria said, everything's important, but >> safety and belonging. >> Thank you. >> All right. Sorry for the very long night, >> everyone. A little bit longer.
204>> Last final meeting. >> I know. We didn't do that. >> All right. Um, our technology director, Jackie Bonello update. Um, thank you everyone for having me here tonight. I I love being asked to come back for year two. This is great. Um so tonight we're just gonna go over um you know an overview of the tech department, what we've been working on, what we have coming up, some of the um accomplishments that we've achieved. Um for those of you that don't know me, um Jackie Branchello, the director of educational technology. I've been in this district, this is my 11th year, but my second year in this role. Um, so I have the agenda up. Um, as part of my department, um, we are still a very small but mighty department. Um, we cover a
205lot. We do a lot. Um there's myself, Chris who is our IT coordinator who helps manage, you know, all the operations, the network infrastructure, um device repairment. We have Tara God who is our technology integration specialist for grades 6 to 12 up at Gates in the high school. Um, Tara specializes in supporting uh the teachers and the students in integrating the technology into the classroom um and supporting them there. And then we have Sue Egan who is our technology par profofessional um who basically I like to call her the manager of elementary. She manages all of our elementary schools um and supports all of their technology needs every day down there. So some of our key focus areas um over the past uh year have been network effectiveness, cyber security and safeguarding student information. Um
206so I just want to so last year I came and I presented and talked a little bit about how we were in that auditing and analysis phase where we were coming in we were a new team um and we really had to take a look at where we were as a tech department. Um we manage two different pieces of technology in the district. We handle all the network plus we handle um a good chunk of the educational side. Um so we took a year my first year in to really audit and analyze and see where we were in our technology environment. Um and what we found was that on both our network and education side, we needed to really strengthen our security um posture with cyber attacks, security threats just becoming more and more sophisticated
207and happening. Schools are not immune to it. Um nobody's immune to it. So it was important for us to start to build that into um our technology environment and our goals and and moving forward. So this past year um we like I said we started to focus on that. We started to focus on improving that posture um and moving more towards compliances and strengthening uh network security, firewalls, our Wi-Fi and then also taking a look at the educational side where we um started to take a look at some of our educational platforms that we use and to make sure that those are meeting our privacy technology um standards. Kappa, FURPA that I'll talk a little bit more about. Um there's still a ton that we have to do, but we are making um good progress
208and success and taking it little by little um and we're building a good foundation um for us. So some of the core services that keep us running um as a technology department, like I said, we're small but mighty. We do handle both network and education. We are always education first. So, we are always every single day about supporting our teachers and our students in the classroom, making sure that our network is up and running, it's strong, um that, you know, they can access their resources. Um we're also trying to help enhance the different educational outcomes with the technology that they're using each and every day. um school community. So, we support everyone across the district. Um we're supporting all of our students, all our staff, our administrators, and our families. Um we our day is
209never the same every single day. Um and we're constantly, you know, meeting with different people, talking with different people. We service all different facets of technology um across the different departments levels all the time, you name it. Um we are very entrenched in the school community. We're constantly in and out of schools all day. Um so you will always see a member of the technology department somewhere whether it's classroom, hallway here, tech space, we're around. Um so in our day-to-day in our day-to-day um we are focusing on proactive solutions. So we are constantly monitoring our systems um you know managing updates looking to see what's coming out with the technology. Uh we are a Google workspace for education district so we use all of the Google resources. So trying to stay up to date with
210those making sure that our teachers have the resources that they need. Um, so we're constantly monitoring. We're constantly looking forward and trying to either solve issues before they become an issue. Um, and just really monitoring and and having a good pulse um, on our technology throughout the district. We are constantly adapting as you know technology is changing every second. Um, so we are, you know, always having conversations with departments, talking about new technologies that are coming in, making sure that they're, um, compliant with our policies. Um, and we're always there to help with any type of problem solving that pops up with, uh, our everchanging technology. Um, and we are always around. We're always available. We're always approachable. Um, we're very reliable. Um and we're always meeting with staff, students, um to work with them
211on various types of technology at any given time. Um you know, Tara Gette could be in the classroom working with teachers and students on projects or we we could all be doing a training for staff. Um or we could just be doing one-on-one. So, it really depends. but we're always in motion, meeting, servicing, and um making sure that everyone has what they need. So, some of the other things that we've been working on um like I said, our key focus areas um were network effectiveness and cyber security. So some of the things that we've been working on underneath that umbrella um as part of our analysis year one we were taking a look at our network um infrastructure and it is very mature um but it's mighty and we've you know identified some areas that
212um some upgrades could happen. So we were working on that. Um this past summer we were able to um purchase a new firewall. um our firewall that we had was ready for retirement and um it was taking on way too much um traffic than what it could actually handle. So, we were very fortunate enough um to apply for a grant and receive money um towards purchasing that firewall plus we have funding. So, we're able to use some of the funding for that. Um and then, you know, we were able to work it into our budget. So um through looking at different um creative ways to get funding, we were able to get a brand new firewall which can definitely handle our traffic, increases our security um and has definitely um you know been a positive
213for our network and our day-to-day. The other piece that we were working on is our Wi-Fi. We did uh redesign our wireless network. um we were all under one umbrella, so it was not the safest. Um so anyone coming in off the street um was able to hop on the same network that we all work on every single day. So we had to kind of make that um separation. So we were able to do that. We now have a safe and secure student and staff um Wi-Fi network for everyone to work on every day. And then we have one for our guests and events and things like that that um happen in and out of our district. Um and then lastly underneath this uh we are continuing with our no before cyber security training. Uh
214we received a grant for this as well. Normally you would have to pay to provide some sort of training. Um but we applied to a grant through the state and we were awarded that grant again. So um we were able to push out the training to our staff. um to help them kind of stay aware of the different um scams and things that are, you know, coming out every single day. Um we've had positive feedback from a lot of staff that have finished it. They couldn't believe how much it actually could apply to their personal life as well. So, it's nice that we're able to be able to provide this sort of training for them to help them take the step into keeping um our network safe as well, but they can also keep themselves
215safe safe at home. From an ed educational standpoint, um we've been working on safeguarding our student data. So for the past year, we've been working with department chairs, teachers, and to kind of take a look at a lot of the digital and online resources that we use throughout the uh district. It's getting late. um and making sure that the resources that we're using are essentially keeping our student data safe. So in the back in the back end when we're using these online platforms, a lot of these vendors are usually asking us to provide them with certain student information so accounts can be created and whatnot. Um so what we've done is is that we've created a system where we take a look at that and we make sure that we are holding these vendors accountable.
216So when we are creating accounts for students or or staff are using these resources in the classroom that these vendors are being responsible with our student data. We've also partnered with um it's called the student data privacy consortium where they support and help schools obtain data privacy agreements um with these vendors to make sure that they are upholding their end of the bargain um and then if there was ever to be a breach um that they would support us and help us through any type of corrective action that we would that we would need to take as part of that. um when we were working with um our department chairs and our teachers, we were collecting all of these resources. And what we've done is we've created kind of like a a list or a
217repository um of these resources, excuse me. And this list lets staff know what has been approved, what we have received a data privacy agreement on, if it's okay to use, if it's not. Um, this list right here has been a labor of love. I would say we probably reviewed over 120 different um, platforms, sites, you name it, we've seen it. Um, we're still looking at them. This is an active list. This list will never be complete. Um, it's constantly going to be um, changed as we know, technology changes constantly. Um, but this is just a little snippet of what it looks like. Staff can go to it. They can, um, search for the name of a platform or a digital resource and see if it's in the list. If it's in the list, it will
218populate up and then it will show up in um, the order and what you see up here. It will tell you the name of the resource, the company that um, owns it and manages it, whether or not it's in an approved state to use within the district. Um, there's also links there that will take you to the DPA. It will tell you how long the agreement is for, grade level, and content area. Um, in this list, we do have we do also include the resources that have not been approved. Um, and in that case, we will put notes in there as to why it's not approved. Um, some of the reasons, I mean, they vary because they're all different. Um, but we do have vendors that do refuse to sign a DPA. um they can't
219guarantee that they're not going to um you know give out student information. They they can't um make that commitment. So in that case we put it on the list of unapproved. So um we have released this to staff. They've been looking at it. They've been working with us. If they see something that's not on the list, they send it to us and you know we we review it. When we're reviewing the the platforms, we're not looking at it from an educational content. That's where the teacher comes in. We're looking at it from more of like a privacy. Does it align with our tech policies, COPA, FURPA, all that fun stuff. Under the communication umbrella, um, Parent Square has been great. We absolutely love it. Um, as you know, we launched our website with them. It
220is a very easy user platform. Um this year we took it the next step with the communication where we've been working with the principles, admin assistants, department chairs on pushing out um their communication to the school community. Everyone has said how easy it is to use. Um they've been, you know, getting creative with their uh communications. We have met with large groups, small groups, one-on ones to make sure that everyone feels comfortable with using the platform. So, we've been um doing that this year and then in starting in the fall, we will be working with teachers and coaches on using this platform as well. Um teachers and coaches will also have the option to just use their sit.org email if they choose, but this platform right here um just gives them a lot more choices.
221They can create their newsletters in it. They can just send an email. They can create um you know if they are in charge of a a club um they could create a special group in here with their club and communicate that way. So um the parent square gives them a lot more flexibility than just emailing. Um so that's where we have been with uh with that and we are excited about September. So I think it'll be good. We already have some teachers that have been experimenting with it and sending um communication. But what we're doing well, I mean there's lots of things that we're doing well, but um just to kind of do a little um snapshot, uh our tech support, we have taken in, I would say probably a little over 2,800 tech support
222requests um this year. Uh 780 plus devices repaired. not bad um for you know a school where we have devices all over the place. Um another piece um with our tech integration and like I had mentioned earlier we are a Google for workspace um platform um one great thing about Google is that we have been with them we have been a Google district since I want to say you could be a Google district. I think my first year here we actually got certified as a Google district and we've been with Google for a very long time. One of the things that I love is that they always reach out to districts that have been with them for a while who have participated in various things to ask them if they would like to pilot if
223they would like to give feedback. Um so in the past I would say couple of months we were fortunate enough to um be able to share in two different uh Google I would say pilots or experiences where they're releasing tools and functions to us before they do to anybody else in the fall. Um so we have been able to share that out with our staff. So, they're completely revamping Google Classroom, which is um the learning management system that our teachers use. So, Google said, "Hey, do you want to release this to your teachers so they can at least see it, get to know it, give us feedback, tell us what they like, what they don't." Um, and we said, "We do." Um, because it looked very different. Um, there are a lot of new features,
224a lot of analytics. So, um, so we've pushed that out to staff. there's nothing that they have to do, but they get to see the new look. They get to give feedback. Um, and they get to see ahead of time kind of what's um coming down the pike because beginning of the year is always um a busy time. So, it's nice that they got to see that. Um, another thing that Google has pushed out is called something um it's called class tools. Um, which we saw it, we started playing around with it and we were like, "Wow." Um, we actually have had teachers for years, I would say since COVID, asking us for tools like this. Um, but unfortunately tools that, um, Google has pushed out now, they're extremely expensive. Um, they, you know, teachers
225have asked for a monitoring system. They've been asking for ways, can I just take a group of resources and push it out to the student device? Um and things like that are just very costly and hard for a district to maintain year after year. Um Google has come out with their own class tools. Um so Tara Godet um was like I would love to introduce this to a few teachers that I know that have been asking, run it by them, see what they think. She met with a group of teachers, a few teachers one day and I would say by the end of the day she was getting contacted by half of the middle school um wanting to know what are these tools? How can I get them? So we've been working with the teachers
226to kind of get them set up with that and um they've been thrilled. So class tools allows you to share the resources with students. So, a a teacher can put together um you know, a browser worth of resources, push it push it right up to students. Students can interact with it. Students can share screens back. Um uh teachers can lock it during like a test or a quiz, which they've been wanting to do. Um so, they've been all kind of experimenting with it um in different in different ways. So, it's been very popular. um still getting requests even though it's the end of the year. So, it's nice to see staff really excited about um tools that they think can really help support um and enhance their instruction in the classroom. And then one of
227the last things is our knowledge base. We have been putting together a knowledge base over the past year of just different resources and training materials that are readily available to share with um staff or parents if any questions or requests come up. So instead of you know trying to fiddle around and you know figure out how we video or something else works, we have a knowledge base that they all have um access to where they can just click on the links and um pull up those materials and then obviously contact us um if they need more support. What we're doing now, we are preparing for the summer. Um, as always, we have a few different things that we're going to focus on uh this summer. We have our normal summer project where we here at
228the high school, we are still um swapping out our old projectors and putting in um the new line interactive panels. So, we're um we have about 16 panels going in here and about three down at the elementary school. Um so, we're very excited about that. Uh we'll be updating, you know, our Chromebook carts, um servicing projectors, all the fun stuff. Um onboarding any new technology platforms that are um coming into effect for next school year. And then we just got in our next fleet of student Chromebooks. We got in about 600 of them um to get ready for sixth graders and then um updating our fleet. Jenkins. Um, so I'm not sure if you remember, but about a couple of years ago when we did a big switch project down at the high school, Gates,
229um, and a couple of the other elementaryaries, we did not do G. We did not do Jenkins. Um, Jenkins is a a different setup as far as a network goes. They have, I think, about over 20 switches in one building, which is a lot. Um, they don't have a central location. All of the switches are spread out into classrooms which is really inconvenient for teachers and students. Um and for us as well because when something needs to be serviced can't really get in the classroom and um so anyway so we are um starting to work on that building so we can get ready for when the new school opens. So Jenkins is just as up todate and ready to go as all the other schools. So this summer we are phase one of that where
230um we will be building a central switch closet at Jenkins like the other schools have. Yep. So we will be taking all of those little individual switches out of the classrooms. Um teachers are thrilled. They're noisy. They're hot. Um they take up space in their closets. So, it's like it's it's nice that we will be able to um have one space and Mary helped us identify an area on the second floor. So, it's going to be great. We're super excited. So, we're going to start this work this summer where we have to do a lot of rewiring. So, that's going to be phase one. Next summer, we will then get the new switches to put in the building because it's a pretty expensive project. Um, so we've been working on that. And then this summer
231we're going to be working on a tech inventory um to get ready for the new school. So we need to really go through pushing and having to see what tech we can take out and redeploy across the district um because you know Jenkins Wamp um will need some um technology added because they'll have additional classrooms and whatnot. So we'll be reallocating and seeing what we can use across the district. um partnering for success. Um as a team, we are always talking about new school tech needs. Um trying to maintain equity across the district as well, making sure that all of our schools have the technology that they need and that one school doesn't have more than the other. Um we're always talking about how we can best support students and teachers. Um AI obviously is
232a big conversation. We've been having a lot of conversations with teachers um and departments about navigating that and what that looks like which nobody knows but we are not afraid of the future and we are going to talk about it and we will figure it out. Um leadership needs we have been very fortunate to have the support of Dr. Rob and Mr. Lynch um with helping us navigate all the technology, create equity, fairness, security, safety, all the good things. We appreciate being a part of all the conversations, having a seat at the table. So, we just hope that that, you know, continues. Um so, we're looking forward to that and then we're hoping that maybe um in the near future we can kind of talk about um equitable tech staffing. Like right now we have
233tech integration up at the secondary but not at the elementary. So we're kind of missing out there and supporting our staff and students. Um and then same thing up at the secondary. Um at the elementary we have Sue Egan which is amazing and she does all the tech support but up at the secondary uh there's three of us that split that. So trying to have a consistent person up at the secondary to support that. Um, looking at our future budgeting, um, not sure how much you've been following along with the technology, but the rise of devices and costs have been crazy with AI. Um, our budget was not prepared for that. Um, so um, we may have to start looking at some creative ways to be able to afford and provide highlevel devices, um, to
234our staff like we do now. Um, last year we paid maybe $700 for a staff laptop. This year we're looking at close to 2,000 2,000 a piece. It's it's wild out there. Um, same thing with the student Chromebooks. Last year they were maybe 250. This year they're ordering 400 450. So we were lucky and thanks to the town we were able to get our order in early so we didn't feel that too much. Um but uh there's you know still a lot of uncertainty out there. So >> um so kind of looking at that and planning and seeing how we can get creative on the horizon. Um I hope next year to start to work on and maybe put together a group or a committee to work on developing a cyber incident response plan. We
235don't have one. we should um you know just to have a good clear actionable protocol for responding to any type of cyber threat whether it's small or not so small. Um so we just want to have those systems in place. Um we will be continuing to support staff in communications um because I know that will be um a change for some of them um especially for our coaching staff. So making sure that we are um providing support there. We're going to continue with our cyber security um education and um continuing with our infrastructure and compliance. Um another thing that we'll be working on next year, we'll be doing Jenkins uh phase two, but there are new ADA compliances for websites and digital resources. Um we were lucky, we just got a an extension. Um so
236we have until 2028 to make sure that our website's fully compliant. We're lucky because our website is new. It's very clean. Um, and Parent Square does have some built-in ADA compliance, so shouldn't be too bad. Um, and then some other larger projects that we're looking at across the district. Uh, we do need new access points. Um, these are very uh mature as well. Um, so if we want to keep up with our safety, security, and being able to provide um, a strong network, that is something that we do have to look at. Um, and then we are always exploring grant opportunities to see how we can help offset some of these um, costs. So that's it in a nutshell of year two. But >> anyone have any questions? >> Yeah. >> Um I just have
237a question about the the teachers using parent square. Are we going to be using the >> nap? No. Like is it just going to be parents square? >> I know a lot of the coaches now use >> that. I mean, from my lens, Remind has never been an app that we've ever supported as a district approved app. >> Um, that just kind of came out of >> I don't know where it came out. It's just one of the times, right? Um, same thing with Slack. There are some >> individuals that use Slack for communication. Another one could >> just be working on that to make sure that everybody district policy relates to communication. >> I think if we just have one spot for everything, >> we just have to make sure we can do everything
238>> that we want. If we're going to use parent square, all rosters have to be built into it. So that means that like who builds the rosters, who builds all the clubs, um are the teachers effectively drained? So, we have to make sure we're complying with cop, but we just haven't been able to sketch out, do we have the capacity to run every piece? Can we train everybody? Are there better apps? So, it's a good question. We need to figure it out. >> I think that's important though, Ryan. I mean, in all these conversations, it's like we want I think there's momentum for change and improvement, but also I think we need to think about pause for a heartbeat here. Yeah. Exactly. and just we don't want to just make decisions because we want to
239say we're taking action. We want to make decisions that make sense for >> today, tomorrow, and you know beyond. So fair point there in terms of just like what is the right fit parents whoever might be able to do some things but not everything and that's just going to make people upset down the road. So yeah, >> and that's applicable to everything. But um my I had a question about parent square that's a little bit different. I believe one of the things we were excited about was the ability to track open rates on emails and things. I was just curious if you happen to know, you might not, but like have you seen an upward trend in those at all? Um it this is a a thing that we hear about a lot is like
240communication and are people hearing what we're putting out there to the world? And so I was just curious if you've noticed an uptick this year as people have gotten used parent square or if that's >> so I don't look at the open rates as much but I know the principles do. >> Okay. >> And it's been great for them to be able to see. So if they get feedback from a parent or you know a community member and they're like oh I never received they're able to go in and see that and kind of you know so I think >> yeah that's helpful because I think that >> they can see if it's been open you know if it hasn't if they've received it. Um >> so the the analytics and the control on that
241end has been very helpful for them. So I know that they have definitely utilized that. >> That's great. Um, and then my only other question was on your slide that talked about the um um website that you've built that um sorry I keep getting kicked off the internet. It's making me laugh. Anyway, the slide that references um the apps that are approved. I wasn't sure if that also applies to um websites or if if you have Okay. Because I was just I have heard a couple of just like this is not a huge number but a few rumblings about like a lot of content being blocked. That's that is educational. Um and so I was just wondering if like how you sort of find the balance between wanting to keep kids safe online but also
242letting them access things that they need for learning. So >> that's two different things. Yes. Right. So this is just a list of resources that people are like are these okay to use right based on policy all that stuff. If something's blocked then that's firewall. So then the firewall depending on how that website is categorized or that resource is categorized. If it's blocked is being it's being flagged for something, >> right? So it's being flagged for something that's on our list that shouldn't be coming through. >> Okay. Is that something you can adjust? Can you make adjustments to that? Like can you like say for example there is a reason like things that comes up in sometimes like in history when kids are studying you know something World War II and so there's talk of
243bombing or things you know so that would get flagged right but we want kids to ultimately be able to access this website. Is that something that you're able to override or adjust like if needed? Yeah. >> Oh yeah we do it every day. >> Yeah. And thinking back on that because I hear it a lot. I heard it in a few of the civics action projects that I met with students and there's like definitely an element of frustration of being able to have that fluid flowing access to things when they are doing research. It it hits obviously more middle school and then into high school. So I I guess I'm a just kind of like a broader discussion on that in terms of it doesn't have to be tonight but maybe that's something in more
244of an internal discussion and we can all kind of hear what you all decide or think but and the wise but and I understand safety and want everyone to be protected and safe but also we want people to have access to the information that exists that they need to grow and learn and to meet curriculum needs. So I think there is like a tough uh push and pull there sometimes with you know maybe it's with teachers maybe it's student more student focused I don't know I know that it's complicated but um I definitely think it comes up a lot you know in terms of like how to access things and how much access we can have what is the safe level and what sort of firewalls are there to protect but also how they're sort
245of also limiting access to educational content that could be useful, >> I guess. Do you feel like you are like once you make those refinements, do they last or are you constantly having to like re-refine and re-just? You know what I mean? Like I think >> so once we allow a specific resource, it's allowed. >> Allowed. >> Right. So it's not something that >> get better over time. >> Right. Right. >> So Right. So and it also depends on what they're researching and looking at. Right. So like some topics are a little bit more riskier than others. Right. So they might be a higher flagged area, per se, right? So, it's really hard to tell. I mean, it really is. I mean, there are resources that should probably be blocked, but they're not because of
246the way that the website is categorized, so it ends up coming through. Um, and there are teachers that are like, we just saw this kid on this wildly inappropriate, block it, you know. So, you know, there's all different. And then the filtering is different at every level. So, elementary is totally different than middle. Middle's totally different than high school, right? So, we just have to >> so it is developmentally sort of filtered. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. >> So, >> all right. >> Thank you so much, Jackie. You're doing a lot of work. >> Oh, so sorry. Really? Apologies. >> I had I knew we knew this would be a long very long evening, but >> didn't think it was going to be this long. >> Yeah. >> Really fast. I'm sorry. >> Bedtime
247reminders are going up. >> Eric's first meeting. It's not usually a really long extra one. We usually high five because they're efficient. >> Yeah. >> Great. I mean, the contents I and I have to say I'm very very excited. >> Yeah. >> Um, good afternoon. Uh, for those of you who may not know, I'm Marcavius Barnes, the Metro director public schools. I have just finished my second year as director and MECO's 58th year in existence here in Central. Uh, this is my first time doing a full year review for uh, school committee. Um, so we're really excited to kind of share with you guys what the years look like, some student achievements, um, and really kind of share out what our um, team goals are and as we kind of move forward into next school
248year. So, uh, MECO's overall mission uh, is to provide equitable educational opportunities while promoting diversity, inclusion, and crosscultural understanding in public schools. Program overview and objectives. So um coming into this role, one of my very first objectives was to restructure the staff in a way that made sense not only for us but for um for district staff and then also for our families and students really to really provide more equitable supports and access for students and families across the district in a way that made sense and it wasn't feeling like one one staff member was being pulled all over the place. So coming in when I when I first started it was just myself and um I had a program a program manager but then moved forward to really restructure um titles and bring on
249a third staff member so that we had um elementary an elementary coordinator a middle school coordinator and then myself overseeing majority of the high school and programwide. So um as of now we stand with three MECO staff in the district. myself as the director. Um our elementary uh coordinator is Tina Cuka. Um she just spends up her first year and then Dina Dre is in her second year um serving as the med coordinator for grades six through it says six through nine. She helps freshmen with their transition year coming into the high school. Um our program staff and objectives support student academic achievement and social development foster belonging and positive school experiences. Provide leadership and enrichment opportunities for students. strengthen family engagement, support college and career readiness, and then build connection between Boston and institute
250communities. This is a layout of student enrollment this year. Um, which I'll kind of dive a little bit more into deep uh a little bit deeper into um later in the presentation. This year we are at 62 students. We started with 63. We had one student transfer out about mid year um to a to a charter school just earlier this year. Um the well Mechco Inc. and DESIE have been kind of going back and forth between some different policies that are affected in enrollment and DESIE put a cap on S public schools metco enrollment at 66 students. So pretty much the highest we can go is at 66. In the height of my time here we were at 71. That was in 2023 and 2024. Currently, um this these are the numbers here. So, we
251graduated eight students this year out of the high school. Um Gates had 13 students, Jenkins at 10, Hadley five, Cushing for Watuk two. Looking at next year's enrollment, taking into account the students that just graduated and then we have two students coming into the district this upcoming year, a kindergartener and a fourth grader. That's going to put us at the lowest number that we've had since I've been here at 55 students. A little bit of a concern just the trajectory of graduating out more students than we're able to kind of bring in currently. And this has really become a real constitute of the policy that has been put forth through from Desi that's kind of made it a little bit harder for us to get students in. And then really for the the whole process
252has really changed. It used to be based completely on lottery system and now it's not. Um and us being one of the furthest districts away from situ is not most ideal for a lot of families. So um transparency relative to enrollment this for this enrollment cycle I had 12 students come through the enrollment portal. Two of those families decided to move forward and they were all based upon it's too far away. Um they don't have they don't have a car right now so driving would be a concern. they were all with they all withdrew based upon um the distance that it would take to kind of get out to situate. So, um as of right now, we're projected at 55 students with eight just graduated and we have one student um a current that's going
253to be transitioning to a charter school for their high school career as well. So, that accounts for one additional student going out. So, nine going out, two coming in. Highlights of this year. Um this it was hard to kind of encapsulate the year into a like 10 to 15 minute presentation but I did my best. Um something I really want to highlight is student and family engagement, leadership and enrichment and then student activities and achievements. Family engagement has been one of the more critical components of my goals and objectives of really trying to figure out how do I best connect not only our situ and Boston students but all more importantly the families in a way that is effective to the support of the students and not making it like they only see each other
254like at sports games or you know if their kid mentioned their name at the dinner table kind of thing. really trying to create space opportunities for families to really get out, see each other, and get back to I I'm not a Meco student. I was born and raised in the South, but I've heard a lot about what MECO used to look like, not only here in Citro, but in many other districts, and the I feel like a lot of the camaraderie has dissipated across Mechco as a whole. I think that's something that I've envisioned figuring out how do I best get our families back to a space in a place where our students feel supported um by both sides both both communities students have advocates and supports in their receiving districts um and really again
255creating space for mostly mostly a lot of our new families to really meet STE um meet um I just lost my track heard like a buzzing noise um to to treat other families and more importantly really how do we then kind of bridge the gap for them to for those relationships to flourish without needing the backing of a metro director. um leadership and enrichment. the a lot of things that we done this year were was really kind of a milestone year in my eyes for a lot of the students relative to the things they were involved in relative to the the conference I was able to get students out to this year and then the activities and achievements having record number of students involved in AP courses and students into dual enrollment this year and
256um just many many things that have really for me in my second year been uh very eye openening but also kind of given me a lot of fuel and fire to push on into the next school years of like, okay, I've kind of started a little bit of traction here, but what is it that we then kind of take from this to move into the next school year? So, with that, um, student and family engagement, these just some of the events that we've done this year. Um, again, centered around providing opportunity for families and students to engage with each other in a way that is not um like a a parent phone call or through just seeing another parent at a at a sports event or having an IEP meeting, right? But really kind of
257being genuine in the things we do and creating opportunities for the students to feel celebrated, supported, and for the families to have space, opportunity to then join students on that. So, um, this year for our back to school kickoff, which is it's a student- based event that I've run for the past two years, really just to get kids back before school starts, um, we go over like expectations that have them set goals for themselves, for the program as a whole. We go mostly for a lot of our incoming students and our incoming sixth graders, we'll take time to do like um, like scavenger hunts in the middle school so they can find their classes and teach them how to work a locker and teach them how to go through the lunch line. all these things
258that so that when that that first day comes that it's not like oh my goodness like what is going on here kind of thing and then providing space for the new families like so for that event we rent we ran the bus like a regular day so our families were able to see how early the bus is they were able to see where the bus stops are we only have four stops across Boston in the morning so families are having to get up and kind of drive to the different places but the goal behind that was really get kids started off on a good track and then for our incoming students that first day of school They knew someone already. They had a familiar face whether it was myself or someone they one of the
259other kids they met on that day and we actually able to partnered with Nonas this year. So after that event we went down to Nonas and the kids had ice cream. Um it was a great time. Um Hispanic Heritage Month lunchon Hispanic Heritage Month lunchon is something we've done for the past two years. We do this in October. Um we've catered out through um Dominican restaurant in Boston to pretty much provide a day for students and staff to be able to um learn about Hispanic Heritage Month to be experience Hispanic food and then more most importantly to really provide a sense of representation and celebration for a lot of our Hispanic students. Um and the high school 16 of our 28 students are of Hispanic heritage. So that we've been a huge ask for them
260over the years and kind of getting that out this year was a huge thing for us. uh family ice skating at the frog pond. This is the event that we've done um for the past few years down at the um frog pond in Boston Commons. Again, this is a uh um familywide event for both Boston and Citra families to come together this year. We got snowed out. It was like a snowstorm that day. Um so I didn't cancel it because it was snowing the and it wasn't snowing terribly. Southshore got a lot worse than Boston, but the for the families that did come, it was looking like a snow globe like in Boston in the in the comments. It was pretty cool. I'll show a picture in a second. Um, this year we hosted our
261fifth annual Mechco and Friends lunch cruise aboard the Spirit of Boston. This is an event again that brings Boston families together in a calm setting that I aim to create opportunity for them to engage. So, we do like ice breakers and we do like name tags and really just creating space for families to connect genuinely over food. Kids love this event. Um this year we actually celebrated um MissWendelan Harmon's 20th year as our Mechco bus monitor. Um she has served uh as the bus monitor since 2005. So it's technically I guess her 21st year. Um but she's been a critical uh component to ensuring that our families are taken care of, that our students are supported, and she's seen every student that we have in the program currently up to 12th grade have ridden her
262bus except for the freshman that started in 9th grade. Um so we did that and then we also did a um holiday card project in December for Children's Hospital community event as well open up to the entire district to provide opportunity and space for families um and staff to come out together. We spent the afternoon creating uh cards. We had hot chocolate and um and cookies and that again this is our first year doing that event. We're going to continue that one. But it was incredible to see the engagement from the students and some of the things they've written out on the cards just to um just to kind of take themselves out of their own shoes and kind of think about some of the students that may the kids that may be receiving the
263cards. Huge uh success, huge event that I really look forward to kind of pushing out um into next school year and hopefully having more participants at that event. Um this year, just a few days ago on on last Thursday on June 11th, we hosted our second annual end of school year MECO celebration. This event is centered around really bringing the community together around our students, celebrating the end of another successful year and really honing in on the the really the celebration piece because the commitment for our Boston students to get up get to school year after year, year after year is like incredible and really just kind of creating space and opportunity for them to feel supported and that is what that event was for. Um these are a few pictures from some of the
264events that we've done. Um so on the left here is the Hispanic Heritage Month lunchon. some kids eating here. This is a team building activity that we did at our back to school lunchon, our back to school kickoff where they were equipped to build um towers out of marshmallows and um uh spaghetti sticks. And then on the right here is actually on the cruise um picture of our students. We have in that in that picture there, we have students from third grade all the way up to kids who graduated in the last two years. Um, it's just the snapshot of the cruise there. And then here, the top left picture is uh that's from our holiday card making event. And then on the bottom left is we took students this year to visit UMass Dartmouth
265back in December. So that's picture of them there. And on the right side, in the fall, we partnered with Holly Hill Farm and John Bel who come in and hosted the Meco kitchen where um kids had planted things late spring last year um and they harvest them early fall and they were actually able to make salads and pastas out of the thing that they made there. So that's a picture of John and one of our students um they were making pasta salad that day. Um the top left is we this year we took 24 students to MECO advocacy day at the state house. So uh MECO is a state funed program where it's dependent upon yearly funding year after year. So each year in April they host advocacy day. This year uh I partnered with
266um simil social um social studies department to make it a field trip for students. So it wasn't just me students that attended this trip. um and really open it up to students to really see what it was like to see that side of me cuz I told kids it was going to be a super fun field trip. Um that was actually not long after I had took the kids to seeep Africa. So that was fun. And then a few days later we went on this one. I told them it's not going to be super fun. It's going to be a lot of talking, a lot of listening. The main point the main point of this is really for you guys to understand this side of MECO and really what goes into um kind of feeling
267the program and for them to have opportunity and space to advocate um for it which has turned out to be a great event and great time for students. Uh the bottom left is um Miss Tina Cuka on the right side and then two of our other elementary school students on our lunch cruise and then on the right side is um family skating during our um family day at the skate at the at the frog pond. literally like a snow globe. Um and yeah, so leadership and enrichment this year uh was a milestone year for our 48th uh educators conference, which is a conference that the Mechco Directors Association host each year. This year we actually had 15 staff in attendance across the district. Um three MECO staff and then two staff from each school in
268the district. That was incredible to have that representation from each school, not only for um from for METCO, but also for us to be able to connect with each other in a way that is not in the typical school day. Like we were able to reflect on the conference and then I met I knew probably five of the staff that had originally uh that had signed up. So I was meeting new people and really able to conversate with them in spaces that were directly related to MECO and directly related to supporting students and families. So that was huge. This year we brought seven students to the uh MECO high school conference at MIT this year. That was a leadership conference focused around creating uh leadership opportunities for student leadership skills for students and um and
269really kind of engaging them in activities with each other. So there was about I think 175 MECO students across 33 districts at this. So students were uh able to connect and network other students, other directors, other staff and then at the end of it really kind of coming together to put together a a takeaway project that they gain they learned from the actual conference and actually been able been able to partner with MIT. So, next school year we will be looking to do a field trip back to MIT um for Central students to do a tour and do an actual engage a classroom engagement with them at MIT. The leadership uh middle school retreat we just did two weeks ago. Um we took 10 students down to Ron Burton Training Village to do a leadership
270training there. That's like a um it's way down in like Hoverston, Mass. like it's like two and a half hours away um out in the middle of the woods. But the kids loved it. I think it's kind of like a boring dough but like more intense. I think it it's it's a training village. Like it's like borderline like um it's ran by like ex football coaches. Um but they train with the kids. They have them doing um like a lot of like team building, leadership type of stuff, obstacle courses that are um all geared towards team building, community building. And we took students through uh leadership training in the high school. Um they did for student mentors that were going to be mentoring younger student younger elementary school students went through a four session uh
271leadership training there with them that again equipped them with leadership skills to then hopefully push out into the younger students to then recycle that. So then next year they'll be able to hopefully teach a lot of those skills to the younger students that'll be coming in then becoming mentors themselves. Uh then adv advocacy day which I just spoken about and then we were able to take kids on and visit you at Dartmouth as well. Uh student activities and achievement uh academic rel um in relation to academics we have six students enrolled in AP courses this school year across seven courses. That is the highest number of students enrolled in AP courses that we've had since I've been been here. Um the first two years I was here we had zero and then we had two
272one and now we're at six. Um so that number was was huge. We every student that was eligible to be enrolled into dual enrollment this year with college um was enrolled. So we had five students that were in either Spanish one or Shark Tank. All those students passed the course and have been enrolled into dual enrollment. Um eight students graduated this school year. Um it's 100% graduation rate for the students that started together as freshmen. Um all of them are going off to school. um going to Morgan State, UMass Dartmouth, UMass Boston, Bridgewater State, U Mass College of Pharmacy Health Sciences, and then Porter and Chester um Institute for Trade, athletics. Um 18 of our 16 high school students participate in athletics uh this school year. The sports are labeled lacrosse. Um both boys in
273uh girls basketball, both boys and girls football, baseball, um track and field. That is also a historical number for us relative to students engaged in sports. The one of the bigger barriers in the past have been transportation. So I've been able to get a consistent lay bus for students Monday through Friday at 6:00 which has been a huge huge component to adding to the students to the things that students can do after school. We still run into a barrier with lacrosse. Um in particular lacrosse practices don't start until like after 6:00 sometimes. So, I'm running to situations where those students in particular have had to partner um them with like other families to then be able to kind of get rides back into Boston or get them to the commuter rail. Um but boys lacrosse
274in particular, those we have two boys that were playing there aren't getting back into Boston until well after like 9 10 o'clock at night for those. Um but to say the least, they had a great year. Um they stuck it out and have went um kind of all the way through. um clubs and activities. 27 students participate in extracurricular clubs and activities across middle and high school this year. Some of those clubs are star uh best buddies art club mentoring program both through MECO and through the high school. Um photography environmental club and gardening with Holly Hill Farm. um some areas for growth that I will kind of continue to work towards as we go into next school year. Enrollment being one of the bigger ones. Um I've kind of spoken about it for the
275past year or two. Thinking about so the the the current junior class, so next year's senior class would be seven students and the one after that is seven and then the current freshman class is nine. So 7, seven, and 9 over the next few years is kind of what we're looking at as far as students that'll be graduating out in the current enrollment model. I've averaged three students um in enrolled for the past three years. So a little concerning just the numbers there and how that will um impact us and and kind of the enrollment cycle. There are a lot of talks right now between superintendent uh MECO Inc. MDA and DESIE to really kind of figure out what are we doing here and what is the projection of a lot of MECO districts. There's
276some districts um I won't say names but like that have less than 20 students in their district and with this current model they're on trajectory to end up with zero students in the next 5 years. Um, so it's been a little bit of a concern and something that I want to kind of keep on the radar for us here of like how are we uh I guess I it's really not it's almost like not on us honest I would say presenting ourselves but it's a lot of things that again that almost out of our control that are being passed down from the top down that are impacting us significantly. I don't have it on here but attendance is something that I want to continue to work on. Um, chronic absenteeism is a it's been a
277thing that I've navigated over the past few years. Um, the number is not significantly high, the students that are, but I think the students that are, I see significant um, academic gaps that continue to grow and compound over time. And that's something coming into the end of this school year that I have I have a select handful of students that are struggling severely academically, but also severely attendance-wise. And I think trying to correlate, okay, is this is this an attendance thing or is it they're actually having learning um disabilities or learning gaps here. And it's hard to really tell that when the student isn't able to even access the curriculum. Um I would like to continue to see increased number of students enrolled into AP course and dual enrollment. Um hearing telling the freshman and
278sophomores this year they were eligible for college credits, it like hear seeing them light up was incredible. and then going through the process with them, the application, seeing them do it was like just like a um it was almost like the highlight to my year, honestly. Seeing them do that and then the students uh finishing out their AP courses and passing those like going into them a lot of kids were really nervous about it like they were recommended for them. They're like, I don't know, but to see them all finish out the year in great standing was incredible for me. But I like to see that number continue to grow. Um and then improved literacy and math data across mostly STAR and MCCAST. um the number has of students not meeting at the elementary school
279level has decreased. We're right as of right now um we're only at two students not meeting um in math and start uh math and reading and then at the at the middle school level we're also only at two. So I would like to see that at zero at not meeting and then more more partially um the the students that are partially meeting is between seven and nine at each school at each um school level. So that's something that I also like to continue to see. I'm glad that they've improved from not meeting but I would like to see students that are at least at meeting or above going forward. Um, looking ahead, um, next school year, I'll be looking forward to celebrating MECO's 60th year in existence, um, as a as a program, uh, fully.
280We're not, Situ is not in our 60th year yet. We'll be in our 59th technically. Um, but we will be doing a district-wide celebration of MECO in it 60th year and doing like a like a living museum kind of thing. Um, currently we're partnered with a historian to kind of navigate. I recently last year came across two or three filing cabinets full of documents and old pictures and photo albums and all kind newspaper articles. So many different types of things. Um so I'm having a partner with histori kind of help me navigate through that to really put it into something that's digestible. We can show it off um in a way that really celebrates the all that we've done here and all that I hope we kind of continue to do in the years to
281come. Um strengthening friends of TECO partnerships. This is kind of a revamp of the host family program in a way that again kind of just creates space opportunity for families to connect to for them to be able to um come together and really support the students not only inside of school but also as we move outside of school. >> Um expand student leadership and engagement opportunities support elementary academic growth through anticipate enrichment opportunities after school and then creating additional um opportunities as well for middle and high school. and then creating spaces for culture representation and celebration for students as we go forward. >> Any questions or thoughts? >> You got through your first presentation. >> Yeah. >> Amazing. >> I had some questions, but you answered them. So, I would just say congratulations. You're doing
282awesome work. And um on the Desessie situation, if there's anything that we can do to be helpful in terms of how can we help, you know, with that um let us know. Dr. Rob did tell us a little bit about that. I know some superintendents were involved in advocacy. Um but from the school committee lens, there's any way that we can advocate for them to change those policies. Again, I think I'll be happy to to do that. >> Tom's been a huge help on that. >> Yeah. Thanks. So, >> you mentioned that you have like the student mentors like when they learn the leadership stuff. Um, what about like using that mentorship to like maybe get some more kids in the program? >> So, >> I think it's just a matter of figuring out how
283to do that. For me, um, Mechco, Inc., so Mechco just went under new pres u, new leadership this past October. Um, Dr. Candace Summer became the new Medco CEO and president. Before prior to her coming in, they used to do uh MECO showcase where we it's like a college fair but for me schools like we would all go into Boston to Reggie Lewis Center, have tables set up and we have student speakers like a whole thing where we're able to at least project kind of what our district offers. >> Um, that was a place that I would I would kind of have things like that. Um, but I think now trying to figure out the space to have students speak to other incoming students or potential families to kind of share their piece. Um, but
284again, that's kind of something that I haven't yet. >> Do we know why those other was it just location? Those other >> that was the location was the main thing and then two two of the families didn't like Citra wasn't that wasn't like they wanted very heavily to go to two other districts north of Boston. >> Yeah. It's hard. It's a distance. It's a challenge. >> Yeah, it's tough. >> Some of the metrics that you just presented are so impressive and particularly given that you've been here for just two years. What support? I mean, I I love also I think my favorite part of your presentation was how explicit you were about challenges and what you're predicting will be your priorities in the near term. What support do you anticipate needing? >> Um, Dr. Dr.
285R has been a huge support honestly with kind of helping me think about that and and being in conversations that I'm not in like relative to other superintendent and that co inc and whatnot. >> Um so really kind of partner with Dr. Rob on a lot of it I think will be a huge piece and then my team um I this year has been a breath of fresh air because I've been able to have a team that I can disperse and and trust to kind of do the work. Um, and then taking allowing me to focus a little more heavily on administrative things and like mechco inc things and whatnot, but really having my team in a place and empowering them to do um a lot of the advocacy things I'm talking about like they
286were at MEC advocacy day with me. Um, they've been doing their own PDS outside of things that I've offered to them. So really Dr. proud, my team. Um, the students honestly like are a lot of a big part of it for me. Um, and yeah, I kind of can't really think exactly in this moment kind of what I need for sure, but I do know that um, Dr. Even Ryan Ryan as well have been huge components and kind of helping me navigate a lot of it and then really just leaning into my team and empowering them in all ways that I can. >> Thank you guys. have a great idea. >> Sure. So along those lines, I I'll let Mrs. S talk, but basically we've started to put together a document to show the committee
287how we want to present donations moving forward. So we populated with some information that we found. This is some information that's not there yet through no fault of anybody. It's just a matter of we had a deadline. We wanted to get it shown. Um I certainly Mrs. H will run through the numbers, but I would also like the committee to take a look at the format because we want to get used to this format presenting donations so that every meeting we have a running record of them. So this way, you know, it's hard to remember sometimes what do we approve back in January, what do we approve back in February. This and we we head into the next fiscal year. this will provide a um a really running record and so we'll always know what
288we're what we're approving at any given time and it will grow over time. So I'll let Mrs. Hul do the actual presentation. Um but that's the goal of this as much as to present the numbers and celebrate the numbers. It's also look at the format. If you have any recommendations or suggestions, feel free to let us know. >> Okay. So assuming that everyone's looking at appendix D, which >> Ryan is about to put up, I believe. Sure. >> Just so the people at home can follow as well. >> I'm going to be I'm going to be short and sweet. >> We have it in front of us. Oh, there you go. >> Okay. So, what what you'll see on the first page is everything that we did in January. So, the idea would be that
289every time I presented this, whether it was, you know, once a month is kind of ideal in terms of because of the sheer number of things that happen that would make sense. Uh so each month in gray you would see what you know the last thing you did and then before that would be each previous month. So, if I'd been doing this all year, there would have been a October, November, etc. We'll start with January, >> and you'll see, as you may remember, we had all those wrestling tournament um donations. We had the trailer come in from a private citizen, and then our shore donation of the golf simulator. So, those are there. They're total that was $18,799. You'll notice that that's allocated to the high school because it's all athletics and I put the
290names in just to show you what it would look like. I put in, you know, Cushy, Hather, etc. But the only ones we were approving, you know, for um January were actually was technically February, I think the second were the high school. So then what what we would do is we would come down and we would say oh like if you were going to approve these tonight which you can if you want to probably kind of point >> right >> but what I did was I I was able to get from most of the schools so far and you know again as Tom as Dr. Rob said it's just a question of timing while I'm missing a couple of things. This is from the treasurer of the Cushing PTO. And in this particular case, they
291literally had each event with the date that it happened. And it just gives you the amount that was spent and what it was for. And you'll notice that at the end of the year, including some very small amounts of money that did not come through the PTO, but got deposited directly into um Situit. And that's just the way Box Tops is set up. uh $37,396. >> Yeah. So, there lot lot of great things going on at um at Cushing, though it's possible that some of those were expenses versus other things. We'll just take that at face value for the moment. Um, then you see I've got Hatherly and in their case it's just it's just by activity versus by any date and that was $51,49. And then you'll see Jenkins uh 24,646 W I do
292not yet have to show you. I don't know why this one is facing the wrong direction. I apologize. >> See it. >> Um but yeah, you you can see what it what it should be. >> And you'll notice that um you know, Gates had several things going on um including the art adoption and then there were no new things, you know, for the current time at the high school. I did put two things that are kind of primarily done at the high school, but I put them as a district rather than assign them to the high school in parks. When I was creating this, I didn't realize that Best Buddies was primarily a high school thing, but you'll notice that um Horus gives us money to pay the stipens for the Best Buddies program. And
293I'm just going to add a personal note. I love Best Buddies. Great, great program. Uh and then um the Situ Education Foundation and you'll notice that that money primarily is used for the um cart uh some robotics and miscellaneous supplies. So going forward if you want to adopt this type of a format I would be able to do this again on the frequency that um you would be comfortable with. I am going to suggest and I'm sure Dr. Rob will speak to this more. I know he sent out in an email a copy of two things from outside sources about the best way to handle donations particularly from PTO's but also booster clubs you know and any other external source if they're going to use your district name. Gee, we're raising funds for you now
294when your logo is there. Um, you know, probably tighter guidelines and again, I'll I'll leave that part back to Dr. Ron, but definitely and I think that's what we're seeing here and why this has been kind of I'm going to call it the wild west for a while and it's been working. you know, they're they're spending money and the schools were benefiting, but it was happening kind of outside of anyone's real >> knowledge or oversight. Um, now I did not include here, but if you look at the treasures reports from the PTO's, it does tell you what all the fundraisers were, and they all seemed pretty reasonable. I didn't see anything that made me say they did what. Um, but again, something that you would perhaps want to want to be taking a look at.
295Um, ideally fundraisers would be approved either by the superintendent or the school committee prior to their actually occurring. I think it all speaks to what we're trying to do to tighten things up processes >> and ideally the first crack of this. I think this is all sort of like a wrapped up school year, but going forward we we would want to approve these before they >> we had talked about doing this also as part of the finance subcommittee work >> so that that could be just something that they do on a regular basis and can get a little more in the weeds than the >> present a memo that memo summary that says in this month's expenses for approval are the following things we've already looked at them here's one we needed to invest see
296it a little bit more. We already did that work, so we're not sitting up here having a golf simulator moment, I guess, >> if you will. I also wonder um does this spreadsheet need to have um an estimate of people impacted like people who benefited because I'm just thinking about all of our conversations around equity >> that I would like to know if the differentials in some of these are just a matter of there's more students or there's more staff versus one school was able to really and then what does that mean for us as a district if one elementary school is getting >> it's the same as the sports, right? like I want to make sure I'm being consistent, which is everybody's getting what they need and like >> if one I mean I
297really do love your idea of all the boosters giving a percentage into a general and so if we're finding that one PTO is more successful, do we think about the same kind of model >> for the PTO's so that we're making sure >> all the students are getting what they need not just because they're located closer to this school or that school. I think in the last couple years, anecdotally, I feel like that there's been a little bit more communication across the PTO, too. But I would love there to be even more. Yeah. Um because I I just think that's a whole other kind of unexplored territory, but that might naturally happen as an outgrowth of this particularly as I think they might need a training of some kind. And so that could be an
298opportunity to kind of start that conversation with them too and say like, "Hey, this is also an opportunity >> for you to share what's working, how do you do this, what do you do?" >> We have super generous PTOs. And I think to to Janice's early earlier point about model UN, >> like if we had a general PTO fund, do you now all of a sudden have a family where we have a process that we can help them go to >> Europe, right? Like because in in the elementary school PTO, they use some of that money for field trips >> and they use a lot of it. They do >> which Yeah. Which I don't want to >> I'm not saying I'm not trying to direct any PTO to do it, but it's just I'm
299just saying that that becomes possible funds that we could tap into. >> But I think the quicker we can >> communicate to the PTO's like this is the process now >> because we don't want them to be waiting >> like the quicker they understand it the quicker we can get to like approving things we don't want to like delay a trip because >> pretty standard. >> Yeah. I also think we have an opportunity in the the sort of um closing pushing and new sort of distribution of of the way kids are going to be placed that are three going from four to three will certainly help a little bit and there will be some of those PTO that Miss Principal Sheen was talking about just sort of those transitional roles and just coming together a
300little bit and these >> you know how to dissolve fun but also >> you know somehow it needs to be infused it's not just the new school that's absorbing some of that. >> My recommendation to both PTO's was actually to dissolve both and start over with a new >> one. Okay. >> You know, and I've started very preliminary conversations with those treasuries, but just to begin those conversations and and like you said with three elementary schools that are going to be roughly the same size when we're done, >> that will allow for some natural understandings of how you do things. >> The numbers will make a little more sense when this >> good time. >> Exactly. >> It's a timing. That's a good point. >> Yeah. And I think it's been said a few times,
301but to we don't we we've all been on PTO's >> and have kids that are engaged in sports and clubs and everything across the district. So we donate, we like participate, we attend, we're we are literally immersed in all this. We support and know how much work goes into it from for parents >> and we are grateful for their volunteering of of all parents and and caregivers with these organizations boosters PTO's etc. So we just want to we want to support them the longevity of them and the sustainable success and part of that is following the policies that we have in place already. And so we want to be supportive of that and you know kind of all all be on the same page and transition together here. So we will get there. >> Great.
302Thank you for this format. Do you want any I mean maybe if anybody has any additional thoughts on this after they get a few hours of sleep for the format. >> Okay. We'll we'll think about once we get up and running. I imagine that will be >> they might want to look at this revisit. >> I think this is fantastic start. >> Great to use that. >> All right. Um very quickly, so we're talking about um dates and things for the summer. Um sort of just again just a discussion point to put on everybody's radar. Um after tonight we might have to have one virtual meeting um for Dr. Rob's contract or something because then we won't meet again until um August. So we're looking at just a potential 82626 date for that for the
303committee's knowledge anyone has any >> official meeting. Yes, >> during the day. >> Haven't hasn't been fully structured. No, you'll be fine to go. >> We'll let we'll let you >> earlier maybe. >> Um any of preferences on timing do what? Like Wednesday. >> I will be out until >> we can look at other dates. Wednesday. >> Yeah. I just real That's what I was looking at. >> I have to do a presentation. >> Are you out that whole week, Carrie? >> Um no. What are you when are you around that? >> That's why I need to look. Let me see. >> We have our own administrative retreat that Monday and Tuesday. So, we if we're going to do that, we would have to look at Thursday or more. Friday. Thursday is our new teacher
304orientation, but that's only first thing in >> I could do Friday of that week. I know Friday is not the greatest for >> you could do morning like by noon >> there. That is the Gates orientation. >> Oh, it is. I don't have that in my calendar yet. I could This is shocking. >> Absolutely. >> I don't have that in mind. >> Earth shattering. >> Okay. >> I could do the 27, >> but we could do it after that. >> You don't have to be there, right? Is that just >> I don't know. It's just in my calendar. >> It's just for the kids. >> No, we have like a whole host of >> We drop them off. >> You just drop them off. >> Just drop them off. >> Drop them off and drive
305over here. >> Yeah. Okay. Fine. >> They'll all be there. >> It's fine. >> Erica, does that work for you? >> It does. Yes. >> So, the 28th in the morning. That works for >> Yeah, that's better for me. >> I'll I'll have the um library computers. >> Perfect. >> Are we doing a half day or a whole day? >> I think a half is fine. >> Four hours. >> I think four. >> Nothing like a meeting. 8 to 12. >> I think four is good. 8 to 12. Is that fine? I don't know if 9 to one. >> 9 to one. 9 to one. >> That's fine. >> All right. Um, and then they're technically called summer meeting dates, but it's it's really because of the way the calendar falls this year that um
306we would end up having a meeting on 17. Were we looking at the 17th? >> 17 andor >> August. You see, we take July off. >> Yeah. And then 8:17 8:31 either or both. >> Yeah. >> Sorry. >> 17th or the 31st >> or both or both. >> So just sort of looking for some feedback there. People are out of town still ready to get back into >> Well, at least for that we could technically one of us could be on that works for me. >> Yeah, those work for me too. >> Okay. All right. >> All right. So we can I'll discuss with Dr. Ab and then I'll send an email. Okay. Okay. All right. Great. >> The district convocation is the 31st. It doesn't we can meet that night, but just for the
307committee's awareness and I'll have Sarah put up any challenges. You're always welcome. You know, it's not but you're always welcome. >> Yeah. Because Labor Day is not until the following weekend. It's just a little weird being so late. >> So I I just I know that other districts actually do meet during the summer. they take a few weeks off, but we we historically have taken >> more than a few weeks off. And I do think that we have a lot going on. So, um it wouldn't be the worst thing for us to do either the 17th or the 31st >> um >> or even both >> or both. Honestly, even only because we have the right athletic thing, we have the renaming thing that's going to be due. If you count up the weeks from
308today for central office such a long meeting I would rather have more meetings than like this is like killing me and we look at the calendar for next to >> I was thinking that this never happens but this is >> in June and have more it seems like we need them in >> clearly we need them. >> Yeah as we build for 26 27. >> Yeah. Okay. All right. That's all from me. Um, it does say vote. Um, >> I think we're going to table the vote because we have our >> Yeah. Okay. >> Okay. Um, this will be fast. We have our policy memo. Hopefully, everyone read it because if you did, that's everything that you need to know. >> Yes. Great. So, we have some policies we need to vote on. Um, the
309first one is uh JKAA, our timeout, seclusion, and restraint of students. Just a quick overview, this was rewritten to align with new state rags. Um, DESIE requires this policy and the accounting procedures to be in place by August 17th. So, us doing it as a first reading and vote is for that reason. >> Um, it's pretty straightforward. Things to happen. Um, once it's in place, it will allow staff to be retrained um, refreshed on what's in it. Do you have anything else you want to add? >> All staff have been trained before Michelle left. She did it. Dr. Bair, sorry. And um it'll be included for other staff who work in this capacity um beginning of September. >> Amazing. Fantastic. >> Thank you. >> All right. I make a motion that we approve the um
310updated JKA timeout seclusion restraint of students policy. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Excellent. >> JLCD administering medication students. Um, so this one we would also like to strike our existing policy and replace it with masks model policy. This also aligns with what's described in our handbook. So we discussed more when we talked about handbooks and when we discussed our wellness policy. So it's aligned is just a little bit more updated. >> Yeah. >> Great. Janice, do you want to >> Sure. Um, I make a motion that the school committee vote to approve JLCD administration of medication to students. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I Okay. And lastly, JLCDC self- administration and self-care medications. This there was an update um in mass rags on this. Um so this brings us
311into alignment. We currently don't have a policy on this, but it is reflected in our handbooks um in that way, but this would give us a district level policy if we thought was important because for any family who has a child who might need um to do this, they might look in our policy handbook for this policy and we want to make sure it's there. >> Epipens, yes. Blood triggers, >> diabetes. Yeah. Uh so I therefore make a motion that we approve JLCDC self- administration self-care medications as a new policy. >> Second. >> All in favors are in the backup for approval tonight. >> The written war that I gave you. >> All right. Um let's table this though. >> Can we do this? Y we're going to table this. But I think what's to
312know is if everyone could just give it a gander and be ready to talk about it. >> Yeah. >> And be ready to tell Nicole what subcommittee you're most excited to what you what liazison role you most want to have and then when we get together we can talk about >> Wait, can you say that again? So there's sub committees and is the bottom table the liaison table? >> Yep. And >> are we really going to be leaison for all the committees you have on here? But look at what it says though. It says that we're not attending meetings. We're just introducing ourselves committing like there's several that we just like don't need to. >> That's clarified now. >> They don't I mean >> that's clarified now. So that should be good, right? >> Um
313but same like working groups, advisories like sick bank committee, stipens, negotiations, like some of those are not active right now, but like I everyone should take a look at everything. Um, and if you keep on going, the bottom of the last page, communications, outreach, and public appearances. I think that matters too. Like I think just tonight's another example of like there's so many great things happening and no one knows. >> Um, and so that part does matter. Um, as we have to keep thinking about that. So look at that too and think, >> right, >> what's your role going to be? I think we should give some serious thought to financial forecast too because like Peter Gates was our our guru and I think thinking about like secession we somehow should I feel like we
314all need to get better at financial forecast. I'm not saying we should all be on it but like >> but it we have to be thoughtful about >> like I learned it. >> We wanted to recommend that whoever's on financial forecast be also our finance subcommittee. Those shouldn't necessarily be different just because when they are it's kind of silly. >> But I think in hand if we can shore up our finance subcommittee that will help everyone. >> Yeah. Because I just think if we all need some tutoring on what's going on in the town and to be aware of the formula. >> Yeah. That's in here as like a short up version of it. >> Similar to that new equity and belonging one policy and then school building which is another high functioning. >> I'm
315excited about this stuff. Yeah, me too. >> If anyone on the committee has any questions, just um just send me an email individually and we can discuss um anything in this document. >> Don't hit reply. >> Reply. >> All right. >> Yes. >> Oh, who's going to do it? This is always Peter's job. >> Make a motion. Make a motion to end the meeting at 10:22. >> I second that. >> Okay. All in favor? I