001Okay, much better. All right, good evening everyone. >> Good evening. >> Okay. All right. Um, so welcome to our September board of education meeting. It's actually the first meeting uh after we started the school year. Uh, for now I would like everyone to please stand for the pledge, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Please take a seat. And as you know um we have a a group of lovely students very talent talented m musicians here and we're here to um uh recognize our all state musicians. Um so for now we are going to have our um the coordinator for fine and performing arts uh Dr. Hail to
002introduce the kids. [Applause] Thank you, Miss Chang, the board of education and Dr. Rogers for this opportunity to recognize true musical excellence. This achievement of these students tonight is a result of a journey that began eight years ago and in some cases more. The this achievement is the product of a community that values and supports the arts, incredible parents who went the extra mile, a world-class music faculty, but most importantly, the dedication of our incredible students. It's a result of persistence, hard work, artistry, and an unfailing love of the craft. I am proud to present to our board of education 47 students who are recognized as all state caliber musicians in the state of New York. 26 of them were invited to perform or participate with the best musicians in the state of New York
003this December, 4th through 7th, in Rochester, a number that could increase as alternates are called up throughout the season. This is the highest number of all state musicians in Nassau County and quite possibly the entire state. I am incredibly proud to present to you the SIASET 2025 allstate musicians. So students, when I call your name, please come to the risers. We're going to start at the top riser. Yes. And uh be recognized for your truly outstanding achievement. Beginning with Gianna Aphitado, violin. Elliot B, tenor. Aiden Chanmpson, violin. Daniel Chen, violin. Michelle Chen, cello. Haley Chi, clarinet. Katherine Fay, flute. Jason Feldman, composition and songwriting. Joe Funitomi, clarinet. Sam Gerson, bass voice. Abigail Hoe, violin. Ethan Hong, tenor voice. Derek Hang, violin. Emma Huang, violin. Alice Hang, altovoice. And Arvin Huang, tenor voice. Joshua Kim, cello.
004Olivia Kim, viola. Juan Benin Kim, trombone. Harrison King, tener voice. Simon Lee, alto saxs. Jonathan Lee, double bass. Maline Lee, double bass. Skyler Young, viola. Darren Lung, bass clarinet. Valerie Leang, viola. Shaun Lim, violin. Jeremy Lynn, viola. Austin Ma, violin. Joel Park, cello. Jaden Pedro, jazz guitar. Katherine Pury, soprano voice. Nandika Salultra, soprano voice. Kyle Scott, double bass. Nikquille Sha, altosacs. William Shei, trombone. Ryan Sue, clarinet. Carolyn Wang, cello. Russell Wong, violin. Lisa Yasinoff, soprano voice. Taylor Yay, violin. Caleb U trumpet, Caleb Yun, trumpet, Angela Zang, piccolo, Leon Zang, viola, and also Angela Zang on the flute. [Applause] >> And since you're on the Coral Rises, you'll be expected to sing. One more round of applause for 2025 all state musicians. >> What's that? Yeah, you can leave him there. [Applause] Okay, congrat congratulations to
005these talented musicians again. Um I see that uh the musicians are exiting and if parents you're more than welcome to stay for our board of education meeting. If not, this is your perfect chance to make your graceful exit. Thank you. And then we the board members will take a moment to go on to the deas. >> That's exactly Good morning. What's up? This is very hot. I know it's very hot. >> Okay. So, uh we are going to begin our meeting with the approval of the minutes of the August 25th, 2025, uh monthly meeting. Can I have a motion, please? Uh, Mr. Rotolo, second by Mr. Einson. Are there any questions? All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? And, uh, Dr. Rufo, can we have the treasures report and appropriations adjustments, please? Yes. As indicated in
006the treasures report, the cash on hand for the month end July 2025 was 70,2122,457.25. It shows that bank balances for all cash accounts were reconciled to the book balances and were collateralized in accordance to the with the district's investment policy and district banking agreements. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Rufell. Um 6A and 6B can be taken together. They the approval of the treasures report and appropriation adjustments. Can I have a motion, please? Miss Koshia, second by Mr. Ginsburg. Are there any questions? All in favor? opposed. Any abstensions? And then the next item on the agenda is the uh superintendent report. And uh we are going to have um uh the presentation on building belongings and we'll have Miss Gothwit and Mr. Steinberg to give us the presentation. >> While they're approaching the podium, I'll just
007say welcome back to all the members of our community uh whose kids have started the school year. We're hoping that they're having a wonderful school year. Uh, one of the things that the school district has been uh, deeply engaged in over the course of the last several years is really working on reinforcing our sense of community. Uh, we're a wonderfully diverse community. U, but we are one community and uh, we have uh, initiatives from the earliest of ages to our high school students where we're trying to build their sense of belonging and their sense of being part of a community that's greater than themselves. So, um, I know that this is one of the goals. I'll talk a little bit more about the board's, uh, new goals in a little bit. Uh, but I wanted
008to get, uh, right into the presentation so we can talk about some of the changes that we've made since last year and how we're working on deepening this work with our students. So, with that, I'll turn it over to Miss Aaron Goldplate, who is our assistant uh, superintendent for pupil personnel services, or as she says to the students whenever we meet with them, I'm the person that makes sure you get all the help you need. >> Thank you very much. So, thank you to Dr. Rogers, Dr. Curry, and the board of education for this opportunity to continue some conversations that we've been engaging with throughout the past few years that I've been here. Uh, and kind of elaborating on the work that we've been doing. Um, tonight we're going to focus on not only opening
009doors to build community, which is a presentation that we highlighted for you last year, but on how when we open those doors, we're also building opportunities for belonging. In previous presentations, you've heard us highlight things like how we've increased our mental health support and staff, which we're going to focus on shortly, which has allowed for a more proactive social emotional support to be embedded within our school systems. In particular, at the elementary schools, we have seal blocks where we're able to embed that support in the six-day cycle. And it's here what we shared in the past how our teachers and social workers have worked collaboratively together to be able to engage in lessons and proactive skills that focus on our social emotional core competencies of self self-awareness, self-management, um being able to work and collaboratively
010positively with a relationship building and have making responsible decisions. We've done that through some foundational support in our harmony programs and our oveas bullying prevention programs. And just this summer, we actually had an elementary curriculum team that worked on identifying key skills in supporting a lot of the social emotional learning and identifying then and creating lessons for teachers to use in the classroom by building a Google website. Um, so that is a lot of the work that we've been able to focus on and continue to enhance at the elementary level. Today we're going to start off by giving a presentation about how we're also opening doors and continue to work with programming more specifically at the middle school and high school level. We wanted to extend these conversations today in this area because we do
011think that it's an opportunity that when students know that they can belong, it allows them to be able to foster different areas of interest as well as who they are as individuals themselves. In addition to that, this is timely. There's been shifts in laws and expectations in schools and now students eyes and hands are a little bit more open and available for the opportunities that are there in front of them. So this might look a little familiar to you. It's actually the last slide of the last presentation that we gave last year and it provides continued relevance and the work that we're going to be speaking about tonight. So by directly and indirectly modeling and teaching social emotional supports for students, they're able to create healthy identities, manage their own emotions, achieve personal and collective
012goals, display empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions. Research does suggest that students who feel more well adjusted and connected to their school environment and have access to mental health supports yield more positive outcomes. When students have supportive relationships and opportunities to develop and practice their social and cognitive skills across different contexts, academic learning accelerates. At the middle and high school level, students are navigating a critical developmental phase of life. It's marked by rapid physical, cognitive, and social emotional changes, making a strong sense of belonging within the school system especially important. It's during this time that adolescence are forming their identities, figuring out and seeking out peer acceptance, striving for independence, all while still needing, even though they may not realize it, the uh the assistance and support
013of the adults around them. A positive sense of belonging provides students with stability, security, connection, which then in turns gives them confidence, resilience, and an opportunity to engage in their learning. When students feel valued and connected and included, it gives them an higher opportunity to build those healthy relationships they need to be successful, take academic risks, and develop the social emotional skills that they not only need to be successful with in school, but in all aspects of their life. So as students strengthen these skills, we then not only help watch them gain confidence to figure out who they are and how they relate with others, but learn to make more thoughtful choices and shape their both academic and personal successes in the future. This all begins with the board of education goals and district mission.
014Sioid's culture of care is based in the roots of the social emotional competencies and like your goals focuses on the areas of academic excellence, inclusive and engaging culture, climate and character, a connected community, and efficient operations. Here we kind of highlighted within each of your goals some of the things that stand out when you're thinking about a system and a belonging within that system. We really want to ensure that we're creating those opportunities for individualized learning experiences. Helping students identify how to create a healthy work stress balance. G being able to cultivate kind, safe, and supportive cultures within our buildings. Foster wellness, balance, and a deep appreciation for multiple perspectives. Being able to create connections with families and all stakeholders within our community. strengthen those relationships with communication and engagement. It's the essence of who
015we are and why we do what we do. You'll also see an infographic on this slide which highlights the MTSS system that we have. And that's going to be a little bit of the structure that will talk to you about how we create belonging within schools through a tiered approach. what's available for all, what happens when some need a little bit more, and what happens when individuals required much more structured and intensified support. My colleague, Mr. Steberg, is about to step up here and start out our presentation with some more specifics about what we do to create opportunities of belonging within schools. He's going to share ways that we create a school culture and a welcoming environment for all students considering our tier one approach through this process of creating opportunities of belonging for students.
016I'll then be able to return back to talk a little bit more about what do we do when a whole building approach or schoolwide culture is just not enough and some students might need a little bit more looking at a model through a two tier two and a tier one approach. So, it's at this moment that I'm going to introduce my colleague Mr. Steinberg. >> Okay. Thank you, Miss Goldworth, and thank you to the board of education, Dr. Rogers. Um, so we'll start off this part of the conversation uh focusing on pride. Pride has been at the foundation of who we are uh in terms of our character. It is something that we kind of o overlay across all our programs. It has been with us for about 20 years now in the district um
017and has been infused across the district in every one of our buildings. So when you're in the different buildings around the district, you can see elements of pride throughout. And why we start here with pride is because of the the value of the common language it creates for us as a community and for belonging. And we know research tells us that if there is a common language, then people can speak that language. They understand that language. They can connect to that community and culture that they're in. And when you can connect to a community and culture through the common language, then the the ability for our students to be seen and to be heard is elevated. So that's where we start this conversation here. We continue talking about sort of the overall school program and
018the learning experiences that we create. And why do we create these varied learning uh experiences? Well, first off, we need to provide choice for our students. They need choice so they can begin to experiment with their likes and their dislikes and begin to find where their passions may lie. But it's through those choices that we're actually strengthening their voice because they be get a better understanding of who they are. So now they have a stronger voice where they can advocate for themselves. They can get out there and tell us what they need. And that's empowering them and that speaks to giving them their agency and allowing them to have that agency as they move through. So when you have all of these different programs which we'll get into conversation in a bit about the students
019step into the these programs and this is where now they have voice they have choice now they start to build relationships they start connecting within the community they connect around like interests. So they'll go and participate in different activities and that's where they build these trusted relationships. They build trusted peer relationships. This is where they get introduced to coaches and adviserss and teachers where they can start building those trusted relationships and they start to foster having a trusted adult in a space. So you can see how slowly they begin to now start belonging into the school community no matter the age that they come to us, no matter the school that they're in. This is standard practice that what goes on. All of this leads to them being able to affirm their own identity because
020now they have a confidence in who they are. So they start to feel better about who they are and they begin to see themselves. So when we look at the overall school program, we look at let's say the middle the middle and the high school program. The middle schools have over 60 course offerings. The high school has over 300 course offerings at the high school alone. And what that provides the students to do is to now interact with the curriculum in a way that helps them to now further affirm who they are. And the work that you have heard us report on before is that we are in a continuous cycle of reviewing curricular work so that we ensure that the materials that are being put in front of the students are materials that that
021mean something to them. They speak to them. They can connect with those materials. Just as aside, we had a project this summer where our coral teachers uh were rewriting some of the coral program to ensure that they were including non-western influences in some of the coral selections. And that was an upgrade. And that's just an example of the kind of curriculum work that goes on to ensure that as our student population evolves that a curriculum is evolving with them as well. So they feel as if when they're sitting in their classes, it speaks to them and it's something that they can connect to and it gives them that sense of belonging. And that's what happens inside the classroom. And then outside the classroom, we have over 200 clubs and groups between the two middle schools
022and the high schools. And we say it, we often repeat it is that there's something for everybody here in Sioset. And when there's not something for somebody, we'll do everything we can to create that something to create that anchor point to create that that opportunity. And then outside the classroom, we have over 200 clubs. So having those between the clubs and all of these courses, we often repeat it. There's something now we know that there are some points in in the students um career where it's a little bit more anxiety producing. It could be those transition years. So it could be the five to six, the 8 to nine. So we do spend a lot of time within that program to ensure students are feeling comfortable. So as you're aware, we run a number of
023different orientations where students are visiting the schools that they're going to be going to. They're interacting with this with the older students who they're going to be seeing. Um the eighth graders will be visiting the high school once again this year in December. We'll have an opportunity to feel what high school feels like and they'll be able to engage with some teachers and learn about some of the elective courses as well. So all of these programs are put in place so that students have multiple opportunities where they can feel like they're welcome. Even our athletic fields, we have over 120 athletic teams. We have one quarter of our student body are athletes and with a lot of those students playing multiple sports. So there's high levels of engagement with our extracurricular athletic program that keeps
024our students here. We saw how many all-state musicians we had this evening and that's because of the the musical opportunities students have in this school um to to to connect and find those ways to do that. And then on top of all that there's the there's the the schoolwide programming that happens. All of our schools are no place for hate schools. And so we reinforce these values of pride as we're going through this. Um just recently the high school uh during their superintendent conference day did a whole afternoon session on pride where the teachers came together and they discussed how they can actually do a better job of modeling pride within the classroom. what does it look like inside the classroom from a teacher's perspective? And and so these are the kinds of conversations and
025the kind of work that happens so that we're ensuring that on the tier one on the schoolwide basis that we're providing students with every opportunity to connect and feel like they belong within the school. And so when that doesn't happen inside the classroom teachers, one of our students will come in and feel that way right away. And some of them do need additional support along the way to help. We're providing students with every odd bike to come back up and talk to us a little bit. So when that does target because not every one of our students will come in and feel that way right away and some of them do need additional support along the way to help them feel. >> So as I said earlier and you just heard Mr. Steinberg notice that
026sometimes >> Miss Goldweight to come back up and >> what's available for all is just not enough. And that could be for many different reasons. There could be students that struggle to figure out how to engage and where to engage. They might need more confidence in those areas. >> So as I said earlier and you just heard Mr. some skill deficits that need to be remediated in what's available for all we might need to and that could be for many different things that way. There could be students that on the screen here you see a lot of different areas in which we're able to provide more targeted small groups we do have to be remediated in some capacity. I'll talk about some specific experiences and this is just a highlight some of what is available
027on the screen here. You see a lot of different areas in which we're able to provide more small group unstructured activities with the difference can be a hard time we do have available they might not feel that they belong I'll talk about some specific experience to go to highlight some of what is available so in the middle school level we do actually have some spaces to go a little bit more so that we can structured the required during that time they might not feel >> you could see that in something like the wellness spaces both middle schools know what to do where students can so in the middle school level we do actually have during a lunch period that are a little bit more >> during lunch time as well. There are some lunch time.
028You can see that in something like the wellness. Both of our middle schools have a wellness activity can happen where students monitor access to need lunch or a monitor that might be >> during lunchtime as well. There are some lunch time. >> There's also lunchtime workshops. The administration will find empty classrooms available during a lunchtime period where maybe that's just something that's available and we're really excited because in our high school with our new >> there's also lunchtime workshops that are available where students might see sometimes we might need to intervene in these just providing a space that's just something that's available strategies and intervention in the future and when we identify trends that are school opportunities of what we call sometimes we might need to intervene in these moments and just provide that typically
029take place anywhere from 6 to 8 we need to provide skills psychologist social workers counselors then we're going to identify trends areas that they may struggle those opportunities this is something that's ever changing kind of small group support anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks with our time have an executive functioning small Well, they work directly with students, different people in that struggle. Parents might say, "My child, this is something different groups together to be able to provide what is instruction on that topic." At times they might be true for an executive functioning anxiety group that they work where different people sometimes we have things like parents might be struggling groups that might need together to be able to provide support during these unstructured time and it's here and strategies based approach to be able to
030sometimes we have things like friendship groups that we also have definitely the middle for students that might need a little new entry during these a lot of time to move into the district and it's here where we utilize middle school and high school based approach. So we do have new school social workers and guidance we also have definitely at the middle and secondary level and b help them to one another being in a new space in middle school and high school. So we do provide lots of different opportunities where we can provide parents come together and work with our new entrance to a connect in different times of life to help them connect to one another and to help them navigate and we do have a partnership with Northwell Health. Also we do provide lots
031of different opportunities where we can provide not only do we target our support during the win day but we also provide opportunity in different times of life after school experience we sometimes provide different areas of support and we do have a partnership with join that provides as you heard from Mr. Steinberg, we have a plethora. Not only do we target our support during the school day, but we also provide opportunities of what do we do when that happens? We be able to figure out sometimes kids that might offer opportunity or dance dancing days. >> So what do we do when that happens? might have students who want to have a cultural connection and make different multicultural clubs or unite clubs. Some examples of that can include reaching out where we have peers that will come
032together to support other serendipity or in addition to that we have a lot of buddy programs and mentorship. >> We might have students who want to have a culture students are trained and work with different multicultural students that maybe have diverent needs or GSA. In addition to that reaching out where we have peers that come together to support there are some students who might not ever have that option. In addition to that we have a lot of speakers where students are trained to work in super allowed us to create here in addition to that we have challenger population at the middle school level. There are some students who might not ever have that opportunity. You've heard me speak a few times about the excitement and the sport offerings we're able to provide in these areas
033able to do that again allowed us to create we've had unified high school at the middle school unified at the we also have challenger I have come track to share the basketball in these areas I'm able to do that again to the mix so we've had unified consistently high school which is sport to make Sure. We also have challenger for students depending upon basketball. We created cheer last year for a student who wanted it and this year we're adding soccer. As a result of your continued investment, we also have opportunities and times where more individualized special opportunities for students. Thanks to your support, we've actually been able to increase our mental health support capacity with different areas of Asment. We also have opportunities and time number of individuals that we have within the district that
034actually support with different areas of expertise. The start of my year right now every single year up on screen you'll see the number of individuals that we have within the district. We've added people that actually live in our mental health on board. We've added psychologists social workers since I've been on board additional guidance counselors within the start of my past that I have been here. We have added staff members to these areas because we've added consultants since I've been building small group instructions of seven social workers since I've been on boarded additional targeted individual years. In order to do that work, we need to ensure that we have the staff that are trained to do that. This is key because they can do things like MTS building continues to not be >> as well as
035do different types of crisis intervention. That's when more targeted individualized support in order to do that starts immediately. We need to ensure that we have the staff that are not just these individuals. They can do things like build everyday interactions students have with our staff as well as do different faculty all of our buildings that we need to make sure this to identify when a student might be struggling because it's not just training happens that are capturing and supporting students our mental health awareness work across all of our buildings that we need to make sure they have a keen eye to identif In addition to that monitor and support staff have a series of trainings that they undergo to be able to support mental health doings workshop working with entire faculty managing individual conflict before
036school starts and creating a positive in addition to that our monitors and support staff have a series of trainings they go on to be able to find different areas of training need these trainings include working with nursing supporting to provide opportunities of training to the staff members that are working with our students. In an effort of training prep and I met with our training need and we actually learned of a story of these areas that we can grow and develop just that week to provide one of the school training to the staff working and spoke about a student in an effort of prep and I met with our princip that week one of the school models that happens consistently in to the guidance and it is something that will continue to grow during the lunch
037period as time goes on that student was unable to get different ways of one of the things I do want to point out and I think it's extremely important is opportunity can't always do this work alone >> that happens in our buildings there are times and it is something that we can continue to grow and there are times that students don't want people to know that they may be struggling but they may be one of the things I do want to point out and I think that's extremely important is we connection families. We need to have partners. We can provide support. There are times students when we don't share that there's a struggle that's happening. There are times that students don't want people to know that they may be struggling as a school, but they
038may be comfortable when that's happening. Reach out to your building so that they can provide additional support outside of the school. And if that doesn't happen, urge people, we have community partnerships. Use us as a school system. Those community partnerships can happen. Reach out to your building so that they can help you navigate what's going on within the school day that can include national guidance potentially outside of the school day and we do as a district have a we have community partnerships and that Northwell Health community partnerships can many different services including training for our staff support as well as provide in the moment crisis support can include central Nashville guidance. Lastly, they can also our families and we do as a district have a partnership with Northwire and that North collaboratively with the school
039many different whatever supports happening on the train supported as well as provide in the moment supports for students that need them. >> Lastly, they can also connect our families. It's important for me to conclude by saying robust research has key to work collaboratively is related to whatever supports happening on the emotional wellbeing can be seclusion engagement while motivation to be a part of school and their overall educational outcomes. It also mediates. It's important for me to conclude by saying robust research has found that a school's sense of belonging is related to the students overall on a dayto-day basis and is what we're demonstrating engagement motivation adolescence and young adults and their overall sense of belonging to their community. They learn those skills to be able to do that work. >> This is why we focus
040on belonging. what we do on a day come together and it's what we're demonstrating to address the ever changing needs of adolesence and young adults who have a strong look forward will be more resilient during as these opportunities extend they learn those skills to be able to do that >> these are not just additional programs they're not just addition we're building the everanging systemwide students that they present that all students belong we look forward to continuing to enhance our practices as these opportunities extend in this mass of fellowship These are not just additional programs. They're not just additional experiences that we're building. I definitely >> it's a systemwide statement that all students. >> Thank you again at this point. Are there any questions from the board for um [Applause] >> Thank you, Miss Gwit and
041Mr. Steinberg for the uh comprehensive presentation. I definitely learn a lot of uh new information here. So, thank you again. And at this point, are there any questions? where to begin, but like we talked a little bit >> about connecting relationships. >> Um, and we also talked about uh clubs and things like that. Um, >> thank you very lunch clubs >> in the high school. They do clubs after school. So, we're going to begin like we talked a little bit middle school about connecting relationships, >> the things that you talked about and then we also talked about about skills and small groups and books and things like that. um in the elementary school they do have I'm not sure but I don't think that they have a school organic way to meet each other over
042a common bond way to possibly look at the things that you talked about some sort of club like skills whatever it is like a rotation so that kids start to connect with kids of similar interest that may not organic way to figure out new people are just struggling I just feel like that lunch >> some sort of club life I don't I is a good time whatever it can change that child's entire day finding their people that may not have organic facilitate that maybe social skills but they're having to figure out where to find people or just struggling in general I just feel like that as things change >> is a good time can change the child and finding their people and if we can help facilitate that maybe they don't need social skills but
043they're having trouble in general but just identifying the problem seeing them real needs helping to figure out where they problems in real time. Uh are >> the other thing about and I just wanted to see the trainings that were done this year and expanding from last year is based on feedback. How do we great because >> identify decide what trainings that we're going helping to constructively solve problems in real time are really >> necessary. So I'll take them in two separate kind of buckets here. >> So the first one is about um clubs during lunch. you're asking about instead of just being correct. >> And so specifically for the middle school, I just feel like during lunch there are options like there are elementary buckets here. So the first one is about after school in
044the high school that during lunch you're asking about instead of it just being there's a little bit after school but lunch is specifically for the middle school. I just feel there are options like it would help elementary schools that are during lunch that help kids over there are clubs after school in the high school that make that help kids. Well, it is a topic that has come up. Uh I know and it is something that the principles were kind of kind of talking about a little bit about how do you make this a possibility. Um there are some challenges which doing with doing clubs on during the lunch time and that's a lot of times clubs tend to be more. >> So it is a topic that has opportunity I know something just a small
045pocket talking a little bit about how breath is a possibility when you're creating a club. There are some challenges. However, I think it's really more about creating during more structured time and experience. A lot of times clubs tend to be inviting them, seventh, eighth grade opportunities for all that started a little bit with just a small pocket. You don't necessarily have breath when you're creating a club like that. However, I think it's really more about creating more structured opportunities to experience the different games and then inviting them to participate is a continued conversation that started a little bit with our event Tuesday together where we create opportunities for connection where students might have it is something we are exploring and connecting to look into it is a way natural connection by finding similar collaborate what
046you're describing there's a house for us identify a need and target something the intervention continues for kids and that how do you have what you're trying to kind of connect too I think is really what you're looking for and those are definitely things that we're starting to new opportunities to figure out how to meet a new front and look especially when they're coming to you have seven elementary students that are our middle school we're doing exactly how do we um create with these peers sometimes need new opportunities to figure out how to meet that is something that I know we want to bring into a little bit more middle So it's happening naturally in those spaces in those environments instead of feeling more how do we help them kind of force connection because that's really
047that is something that I know we want to continue to engage and definitely are brainstorming how can we make that little giving so it's happening more naturally in those environments instead of something that we will continue to look on because that's really the piece too training on the other side of things that has actually grown over time a lot of it come from an identern that might be coming up. What training do we need to put in place to identify that area training on the other side of things? How can you a lot of it might come from an identify what training do we need to put in place to identify that area of concern? So one such example could be you know how can you how do we be able to help students with
048their maybe what are ways that you can interact with our new training how do you help some have trainings for example so how do we help provide the language and then became more approach to be able to provide that training comes from different ways and different reasons and it's something for example Um the training on working with different neurody divergent students actually came out of um parent feedback in SEPTA um and then became more a schoolwide approach to be able to provide that training. So um it comes from different ways and different reasons and it's something that we're always looking to develop and enhance. somewhat narrow question, an ice cube, right? Like uh just a point about the lunch, you talked about the nooks, you talked about wondering obviously is this a space issue that
049we don't have enough space and obviously space is coming over the next few years as of right now somewhat narrow question. Is that the issue with having just a point in the workshop you talked about during lunch or is it a demand issue where there's not enough people that know about it we don't have or that are interested to do obviously space is coming over the next few years as of right now is that the issue with having room for the nooks and it can go for us >> during lunch or is it a demand issue where there's not enough people it's finding available in the building during that period might a little bit more classroom might be open one period might be open the next period. So it's not the same look for each
050period what's available for us to do and it is something that the administration and staff that we are creating is finding where the building opportunities in different periods because one class might be open another class might be open the next teachers that are there to support um students during the cafeteria we have that are there to support students and then how do we cook those group going to a different space you have an individual that goes to that I would say it's not a man a little bit of making sure students during the cafeteria we have our monitors that are there for students. So it would just be the idea if we have a small group going to a different space you have an individual that goes to that same opportunities for students. So that's
051a little bit of a newer way and activities to help facilitate social engagement and it's something that we've more creating towards the idea that couldn't be used and technology is a challenge. Hence why we're creating and having to build structured experiences and activities larger wellness space in general is going to have multiple that is a challenge smaller and larger is a challenge why we're so our larger wellness space in general is going to have multiple spaces for students to engage with smaller and larger if the cafeteria happens to be too much andor if they just need smaller spaces to go. >> Thank you so much. It was such a great presentation that is our focus. >> I just kind of wanted to piggy back on what we said a little bit at the high school
052um >> because SCAD so SCAS is so large which is great because there's so many kids to pick from. I think there's a lot of kids who wind up getting lost who aren't so much such a great presentation social skills but who want to piggy back nevertheless a little bit you know for whatever reason haven't found their science don't have so large which is great so many kids talking about there's a lot of opportunity or even the opportunity for kids social skills and um but who are lost partnerships kind of things I don't for those connections or if they do that in high school as well talking about those different different opportunities or even the opportunity for kids you mentioned community when people's things I know children who struggle making connections and who are looking
053or if they do that in the high school ways to meet people and connect for whatever reason haven't had opportunity or did hearing from people there's a lot of there's definitely patterns of portion of struggle making also knowing about the mentorship or partner opport just for whatever reason haven't had that opportunity or did there are structured and then things that have become over time there's the peers >> and also knowing about mentorship or partner opportunities because that sounds like too work collaboratively with some of our needier students so a lot of that tends to be better structured examples like the buddy programs have been coming and growing a little bit in the high school as the peers reach out there are more recognizing identify with some of our needier students and finding a lot of
054that need to be when it comes to like the buddy program in the middle is a little bit newer and a lot of it is coming from um and is something that is available I so recommend and students that demonstrate I think a little now is um I don't finding opportunities of where maybe they need to be a role model to others. They just haven't figured out that has been to be able to engage um and is something that is available. I think what I wanted I would like to say approach a little I don't like to look at this as these students are lost. So they're not prom they just haven't figured out to be able to engage. That's a great way. So when that families feel like look at it to share their
055concerns about what might be going on and then in a very organic way a guidance counselor can help make connections about let's look at anything that looks interesting to you. So having that facilitated families to feel connected to the school to share some of their concerns can be students and sometimes in a very organic way about the individual building support. So having that facilitated partner um and sometimes that's how that's hard because we want to give our students as a parent and I want to give my children the ability to be able to figure out how to navigate that conversation. Many of us are probably hearing the individuals that building school. Don't ask for this. I know they're magic in those moments. But we need to also recog that's hard because we want to give
056our students as a parent. I want to give my children the ability to be able to figure out how to navigate that on their own. So how can we many of us are probably used to hearing don't call the school I don't want you to call schools don't ask for this I don't build but we need to also recognize that sometimes students while they may want to be independent during these developmental years so it does take time so how can we do that collaboratively conversational kids that have to happen and sometimes and then build the work to not try again so that's the hard part it's building that frustration tolerance up of knowing that maybe the first tie up I try to engage in something it might not be the right for me but it
057doesn't mean I shouldn't have that kind of leading point so that we need to try again so and that's the hard part it's building that frustration tolerance up of knowing that maybe the first time I I tried to engage in something it might not the two of you for your presentation I shouldn't stop trying >> this is just a quick question for the middle kind of cheerleading group around a child >> lunchtime workshops or lunch nooks >> how would children who let's say are eating lunch depending on what their period is. If the um classrooms change, how would the children come to the two of you for your presentation? You know, how is a publicized question for the lunchtime workshops or lunch have to turn around? How would children do it kind of shared with
058the students? How would that room at that time go? They know there is a different permission to go to those one of these. So there isn't a way to turn the principles behind me here. But I do believe it is something that is kind of shared with the students on a consistent basis. There's a lot of staff members. >> I don't want to put anybody on the spot. You can totally get back to me on it. I was just curious. We know that the kids have to go. I know you guys do a great job, but we can get back to you in the looks like unless they want to help me to know how would my child know that these things are going on. Thank you. I don't want to put anybody on the
059spot. You can totally get back to me on it. I was just curious so that we know that they have the opportunity. I know you guys do piggy back on questioning that was just said just how the students and how the parents would know with this targeted small groups what's going on. Um >> thank you. >> I guess she basically stole my thunder there, but I was going to ask that. >> So you get back to us. Thank you obviously for that. Um I'm going to piggyback on what definitely reaching out just said how the students and how the parents would know what targeted group that you can then facilitate at home. So you're not really sure what's available to help kids or your children navigate what that may look like. So it might be
060kind of reaching out to building administration or if you're not sure what's available too. It might be reaching out to your guys also. kind of learning what's available and then that at home to help kids or your children uh navigate what that may look like. >> Thank you. It was a really great presentation. >> This is not so much a question, but I just wanted to offer the board a little insight on what we're doing on reaching out to your guidance counselor. So, kind of learning what's available and then foster that sense of belonging during free periods approach is really best. >> Um, student government is now working on getting board games like really great presentation. Um, it's not so much a question, but I just wanted to offer the board a little insight on
061what we're doing on devices now in students in the high school to foster that. We're looking to ask our peer leaders that may student government is now working on board games in this organizer leaders and while it may not be structured by adults at the moment we're hoping that student leaders in the school organization in the future might take too long to structure in the high school as just to give younger students maybe or students that have felt a little excluded a place where they can belong. And while it may not be structured by adults at the moment, we're hoping that our student leaders will step up and foster that sense of belonging. And we'd love to work with administration in the future getting adults involved to structure that in the high school as well.
062>> And I think giving kids a place to go when they're feeling excluded is like amazing. So, thank you guys for being so on top of it. Um um is that you guys are to help provide them with I think that's I think it's even better if it's um structured by giving kids when they're >> make it easier to engage other people. >> Thank you guys for being so on top of it. Um >> I think actually obtaining the games right now hasn't been so much of an issue with student government. We have a pretty hefty budget that we can use to get those games. Right now we're more working on how do we store those games and make sure they're returned to the place that they were they were put in the first place
063and make sure that there's no damage to the games. But we're working on I think actually obtaining the games right now that hasn't been so much of an issue with student government. We have a pretty hefty budget that we can use to get those games. Right now we're more working on how do we store those games allowed to the phone to come through in the first place. Combination of how students know about it is it can be mentioned in classroom but advisory which I should have known is the place where a lot of this is spoken about. So in advisory which are like small group phone come through. Um so the combination of these are all know about this is it can be mentioned in Google classroom but advisories which I also not only know
064is the place where a lot of opportunities belonging there in advising information which are like small group families multi-grade level supported by all our faculty within the buildings. These are all the topics some of the topics that are spoken about. So those are those safe spaces that also not only do we highlight belonging there but provide information come two presentations. Uh Dr. WJ is responsible for all of our federal grant programs to make sure that they're allocated in accordance in accordance with federal law and uh we started a new year of our UPK. We're now next we're going to have Dr. presentations going to be responsible for all of our staff there and also students to make sure that they're allocated in their day in the morning with federal law. We have and uh we've
065started a new year has been in several years program had the pleasure of going underwritten our state sites to completely the staff there also welcome students uh to their benefit to members of the community. We have advantage of the program and as the board knows UPK has been through this with each of the school district we've gotten deeper underwritten by state improving the program which is focusing on the staff the facilities benefit to members of community and there are a number of advantages that come through this with each we've gotten deeper we have some improving success the preare program that we offer and the by focus opportunity here the facilities because so many of our youngurriculum in the program we have a much better number of learners advantages that come from this now that we're
066hitting our better program to serve them we have some nice successes to share with you broader opportunity here is that because so many of our young people are in the UPK program we have a much better sense of who the learners are that are coming to us in kindergarten and that just means we're even better prepared to >> Thank you Dr. Rogers good evening everyone Dr. Rogers Dr. Curry board of education. Um I'm pleased to have the opportunity to share with you this evening two of our federal grants as Dr. Rogers had shared. The first one is our annual ESSA grant. ESSA standing for every student. Good evening everyone. Dr. Rogers to five different patients. So I'm going to briefly go pleased to have the opportunity to share with you this evening two of our
067federal grants as Dr. Rogers had shared. First one is our support for title one for every student success through grades grouping through five different types. highest title go through the title are determined by our low-inccome family ratios for title funding in the amount of 220,000 grouping through title one schools are determined by title one schools to support the learning and literacy program um additionally um part of our funding amount of 2200 which which is a neglected reserve going to be that partial salaries within boundaries and then we also to support the learning reserve that we have used in the past. Additionally um part of our funding goes to Mercy first which is a neglected reserve facility that is title one boundaries goes directly to our neglected and program reserves. So we have used in the
068past intended to use the allocation of $46,000 $21 for students here vocational skills for the students who attend goes directly to our supplies for their building. So they are um entitled to the allocation of $46,000 $21 for action and that remediation vocational skills $90,000 for the students who attend Mercy first as well as supplies for their building maintenance program. So it's our mentor coordinator and then for effective instruction and that application is to work with our mentor $90,000. Additionally, we have stipens for our STEM for the elementary school and those work. So, it's for our high quality STEM instructions for our science fairs things like for our mentor mentors. Additionally, part of that is through our publication quality educ for professional development on differentiating instruction. Additionally, part of new to us to our island of
069the gifted is in the district, our lady of two that have also part of that allocation for um professional development. They're going to um offer professional development on different into two different parts to us. One is for our English language learning school for the gifted and the other part is for immigrants our lady of both of those and they are allocations for professional development for our tutors at the middle school level. Title three is broken up into two different parts. One is for our English language learning all about student supports and the other part is for our immigrant students. So title funding those applications providing at the elementary level for our instructional TSS um and again St. Edwardade for PD social instructional material for enhancing writing at the elementary level instructional coaching for MTSS um
070and again St. Edward Long Island School for the Gifted. Um they have allocations from this title grant and that's for PD for social emotional learning for St. Edward and instructional materials for enhancing STEM for Long Island School for the Gifted. >> I'll be real fast. I know the grants aren't very exciting the 90,000 for title 2 part A. Does that get increased because of the Long Island School for the Gifted >> joining or we've now p we are pulling money from what could have potentially been used for >> I'll be real fast. >> So you're not Thank you. You're welcome,000 for title n public schools getting increased because of the school for the gift or we are participate every year. It sort of varies. Some years CDD, our center for developmental disability show participates are
071just depend nonpublic schools within the borders of Scots schools and St. Edward and Long Island School for the gifted are two that happen to participate every year. It sort of center for development disabilities as Dr. Roger shared its really excited to be providing our youngest learners with this strong foundation um for the lifelong learning. Um this evening I'm really proud to share with you just the universal pre kindergarten program to our UPK program as Dr. providing our youngest learners of educating a strong foundation for the lifelong learning. Um so this evening I'm really proud to share with you a snapshot of our youth that we've continued to make this year in the 2025 2026 school 31 students of educating the whole child. Um those preschools are the same preschools we contracted. Just as a blooming
072reminder, a snapshot of our camp in the 2020 school 31 to 2 p.m. across those different preschools before that parents can private trees, Northshore, St. Edward Variety and Woodbury. Part of um our enhancing the structure of curriculum through the grant. Last year and this year we spent Um a lot of times I work directly for a myriad of different before and after that we develop private. Um one of the learning goals is really last year and this year was to focus our enhancements to the structured literacy last year and this year we incorporated integrity which is a time awareness director awareness is the building quarterly. developed learning goals. Initial portions of one of the learning goals learn as a preacher this year was to focus on soy structured literacy. So research based program which is
073awareness professional development in November building blocks of our sites came together to learn program. So he is science research based program to teach the teachers. kicked off professional development there in November of 2024 using authentic together to learn the program. Additionally, there was professional development focused on foundations. Foundations is the next step that program. So after children learn their basic sounds, now they apply those sounds so that they can begin the process of reading using authentic to work on that. Additionally, there was a heavy focus on literacy being incorporated in every learning center that the program. So after children learn their basic sounds, learning throughout the day so that they can literacy is incorporated into every began to work on that more deeply um with a heavy focus of literacy incorporated into every learning center
074in our learning environment and ensuring that while they're learning throughout the day literacy is incorporated into every part of those sessions decided to incorporate this year was a common corner. One of the things we also focus on a comic corner is a space or a center learning book too when perhaps they feel like they environment developmentally. It's a time where they can reflect on how they sit down decided to incorporate this year but it's an opportunity for them. Common corner is a space where they activate All students learn in small but it's an opportunity for them to get facilitated small group activities with the teacher and the teacher assistant. The other thing that we um focused on again within that learning design is being sure that language and class forefront of everything students are doing
075to facilitate language acquisition with the teacher and the teacher assistant that's in the classroom. again within all of those wonderful academic and that is where language acquisition is academic. It's really about learning through play and that happens both teacher guide all of those wonderful academic things we'll see opportunities where students are in center based activities play time those activities are designed to curiosity for students it's really collaborate and that happens both teacher guide one another opportunities where students are in center while students are playing and they're really those activities curios and you can see by these images are just three examples of centers where children play while students are a dramatic building foundational in all areas language math can come in learning and you can see these are just three examples centered around transportation children
076created an entire dramat play related to science and exploration. So students can develop curiosity questions within that sector. >> And then you can see that one of the units was centered around transportation and they created an entire multilingual learning related to science and exploration. So students can develop curiosity that language immersion for students whose um first language is not English is there for students to learn. For example, we've emergent multilingual learning to support students with disability. You can see um one of the things we really focused on is making sure that language immersion for students in Mandarin for those language not is there for students to learn for example we've paired it with pictures to support the same thing for students of feeling and pairing words with pictures allows students the opportunity without having to
077pair the words the language right they're able to use. >> We do the same thing for students um with disabilities. Within that we provided professional development with our jurors on how to express themselves without having multilingual learners languages right away. They're also focusing on how to support behavior within the classroom. Within that, we've provided professional development opportunities and of course we have a very long partnership with our CPSC office here with students with focus on students and our support programs with disabilities or students who are at risk. And of course, we have a very strong partnership with our CPSC office here at the Mr. Steinberg creating a sense of belonging at every level in our UPK class students with disabilities. Our curriculum nurtures empathy social emotional connection and communication among students you know as you
078heard and that really is Mr. Creating a sense of belonging at every level is our top priority. Our connection with families is our curriculum nurtures in our UPK. Families come in connection stories. They participate in activities. They're there for different holidays. creating an inclusive environment. We bring and of course in the classroom other ways we create a sense of our connection with families sites in our UPK family and so you can see a picture here where all of the activities teachers are there for holidays Valentine's Day participate professional development and the other ways we steal from one another it's a wonderful opportunity to build and so you can see a picture here where all of the UPK teachers come together participate in your professional development share ideas. We're really excited to steal from one another
079for that. It's a wonderful opportunity to build community amongst our >> two quick questions. Um the number of students you mentioned two >> as always we thank you for your continued support and are really excited to present to you this evening the enhancements for UPK >> UPA program or we still have number two is that obviously two questions for the number of students you mentioned perspective is that the the learning environment and all these all these great state um topics that you talked about just wondering if UPK obviously we have to have great curriculums for the kids. can we do whether it's from a literacy perspective what would be the the learning environment and all these show these great so this way they can all be topics that you talked about um just so to
080answer your first question there are plenty of seats left um science's allocation is 400 seats and while we have the room for the seats families um you know have signed up 231 of them so any family who still to answer your first question there are plenty left allocation. So at this point we have no students 100 seats any while we have joined for the seats as far as bridg have signed up 231. So any family or enter into our universal prek is able to join has right away as soon as they come in >> as far as they differentiate for each and individual student. While our UPK works very closely with one of the things our kindergarten teachers do well is their students that you know we're seeing in um they differentiate for design an
081individual student for the students that present in front of us. So while our k works very closely not in our curriculum have not been in regards to the curriculum from our up our kindergarten teachers engage in small group so that they can target for the students that presented us learn not in our program have not been gone to the curriculum from our kindergarten teachers program allows for us to look at that they and target any student who might screen to learn those skills that maybe they didn't. And then from there we provide programs of haven't gone to preschool program before. So our um MTSS program also allows for us to look at the data when students >> Thank you Dr. and thank you again for being able to secure additional we provide um systems of
082support for them. Um my question scor was that um I know in elementary school we always thank you close the gap quickly being able to secure additional funds for what I've seen from other districts is they don't have this extension my question was challenges earlier I know elementary school we so kind of along the same line of questioning concepts how do you feel like when we're identifying them we're able to get What I've seen from other districts is they don't have this extensive up. >> Absolutely. It's also important to understand too that children who are four, five, kind of along the same line of question >> that those levels and abilities there's a wide identifying student developmentally able to do things. Um >> absolutely it's also important teachers that understand kindergarten teachers or first grade
083teachers students those levels and abil That's our tier one support developmentally able to provide those targeted interventions for students who we may see are at risk of developmentally our kindergarten teachers or first teachers need intervening early or tier three if needed interventions for students who we see are at risk or maybe robust feel approach. might be supportive. So sometimes we might see that through MTSS a lot of tier three fine motor support and within that we would have occupational therapist push into classroom to do kindergarten where we feel that a whole class of prolapse might be sometimes we might see that students need a lot of students in a class might need fine motor support and within that we would have the occupational therapist push into the classroom to do you know certain number of
084week support. Just a question for you about the after school programs. You mentioned that the six preschools I believe you said that they each are different. Some offer uh after school programs but some don't. Is that what I heard? >> They all offer after school programs but some question for you about the after school program. >> Certain preschools have said extended time period but they all do some offer some fories. Is that what I heard? >> They all offer after school programs, but some are varying based on what they have before extended time period, but they all do offer some form of before or after an after school program at a different so can a family choose their prek based on far school and if they can't possib Our um UPK seats are selected by
085lottery. So when families register, they have the opportunity to rank their choices of UPK in order of what's best fitting their needs. As families, one of the things we do for families to help them make their decision when it's time to seat are lottery. So when families register have the opportunity to rank that we work with that link to each preschool shares information. One of the things we do for families to help them make their decision more information about what fits them for their far and preschool that we won that link to each preschool shares information about each virtual tour for their needs as far as second choice in the lottery. So that really goes a long way to we go through and we assign based on those concerns about however it is up to
086the family that sent our school that they're in provide that for them. They could participate in the lottery. So that really goes a long way to humiliating some of those um >> those concerns about before and after care. However, it is up to the family that if the school I guess we're wayable, they could participate in another provider. >> Is that going to affect future enrollment or future, you know, are they going to give us less next year? Um, okay. And is there a better way that we can maybe get the word out? I I guess Dr. Roach. Um, tonight I guess we're way under what we're able to lot for people. >> Is that going to affect future enrollment or future are they going to give us less next year? Um, okay. And is
087there a better way that we can maybe get the word out? I guess >> updates during Yeah, that's a great that's a great point. Cards that we sent home to every single family within the district in a lot of different ways. We have lots of let the community know that we share on our website. So, um we put out little things for families from the updates. So, we try the best we have every single family within the district and try to target. We have lots of ways in which we um share it's on our website. Um we put out like little things for families from the prek if they have younger siblings. So we try the best we can to engage as many families as possible um and try to target to get as many
088in as possible. >> Just to bring us all back up to speed, the board worked over the course of this last year put together refreshed goals. We've uh had some goals for the district, but the board adopted some goals, formalized those and uh worked uh hard on the language. So, um we've been doing a lot of work behind the scenes internally to align last year together. We work with the building goals both on what they prioritize for the district initiatives adopted some goals formalized through but also how we act to the board. We've been doing a lot of work behind the scenes to align some of our practices, how we work with the building analyses of what they prioritize initiatives that they're seeing already but also how we initiate and I certainly won't read all
089of the things other analyses of what we're doing but illustrate I thought uh the board was really providing us with how many of our that are under those goals with the work that we're doing here into this read on every obviously we're the board's educational enterprise providing us with the purpose for our assistance so it's alignment with the work that we're doing and so just to refresh on the goals and I won't read the details our students but potential obviously we're ensuring that educational enterprise and academic excellence is uh the purpose for our experience that they find it's important for us and meaningful and we're always trying to balance >> important for the goals that they want maximizing our second is an inclusive and engaging culture that they're obviously our students are going to become
090an experienced future leaders are future enjoyable wherever they may fall and uh we want our goals reflection on school decision second is an inclusive engaging community. Obviously, we think about how they're going to navigate through our future leaders, our future community where they may reside. They do build character and they also navigate great reflection on community, great reflection on this, a connected community. We think about helping them navigate community is stronger the challenges we pull together adolesence so that and they do build during we all pull together and they also know how to navigate that connected is very important and then of course we want to do all of our work we certainly find that efficient this community as possible as together we have some durmic if we all pull together we all pull through
091and we did help folks district is stronger community. Then of course we want to do all of our work in as way as possible as transparent. One of the things that we're going to be spending a lot of times here is our portrait of a graduate folks understand how districts operate. What is the gold state has outlined what they call a portrait excellence area. It lacks sufficient detail. One of the things that we're going to be spending a lot of time over the course of this year working on is we'll be talking to the graduate about our learner successful graduate. What is our elementary leaders and teachers what they call portrait of a graduate looking through it with a foundation for the work and we'll be talking when they reach about our learner profile special.
092So our elementary leaders and teachers have been engaged in working with the knowledge and skills even better our students so that our teachers have more foundations work that they're going to do as we've been reporting over the course of the last year special education is how to use the models that we have for every aspect of emerging students education so that our teachers have we want to make sure them deeply engaged tools here. Certainly we see AI as a significant development in school development with the inclusive effect of life but certainly education won't be worked on developing so we want to make sure our nth grade social studies classes deeply engaged that we understand their responsibilities as members of the high school community but also how to think of themselves inclusive engaging culture that civic
093engagement worked on developing we talked with the board that classes our first idea introduce students to their responsibility suggested that we go back and iterate. We did iterate also about some ideas around do that positive behavior. Our first idea was not our best idea with students. You suggested that we go back and writing is now going to be turnkey result of that additional development for teachers at the elementary level. We're trying to build the range of skills. A lot of curriculum writing this summer. The board has been very appreci. We've opened our second 913 class. Curriculum writing that we've done is now teachers. But again, we're trying to build the range of skills that they have. Youngsters in their home. I've been very appreciative bus. We've opened our second class. It allows them to interact.
094We opened our first last year. They're typically involved gives them our most opportunity to be part of the building community. We know are building in their home community rather than wonderful joyful celebrations specialized in those it typically peers. It gives them and as you heard earlier to be part of a lot of energy as we know buildings build sense of belonging as students wonderful joyful celebrations those students get to participate in those uh the peers a lot of what we've done has been we're very excited about that through technology as you heard earlier want to oversell it thinking about how to build many of our communications building we reinvested in the website uh started over from scratch >> the connected community goal we are trying we've done has been curriculum online through technology want to
095overcin parents have resources that they can access now to their convenience no longer have their devices and remain Nevertheless, make sure that they're able to communicate about clubs that are working. We started connecting the monitor that line that we can have announcements and information. We're doing some things in the high school now that students no longer devices. We want with our opportunities. We've started larger the construction monitors that line the wall. So that last introduced the facilities bond tracking tool that will allow public operations. We're obviously entering large have a sense of those projects the larger part of the construction projects that we excited about working. So last month I introduced the goals. We're excited about working on the the work that allow members of the public can see where the all of these projects
096are as connected to opportunities to take on those projects performing well >> these we're excited about working on because we're now communicating with a new platform I just want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to download the app gives you the best experience for performing well and have that we're out. I won't leave this up here also because I think QR codes can >> because we're now communicating with I just want to make sure that everyone directly app can be annoying but uh this will be posted online so someone >> Thank you Dr. Rogers. Any questions for Dr. code to get directly to the app and not an impostor app. Uh so that you can download and uh get your >> um thank you so much for the update and updates. >> Um
097one question I had we spent a long time um when we were making the board goals discussing you know the need to have the comparability in classroom assessments especially in the high school and I was just wondering if you could give us thank you so much for the update that's been made for that. One question I had was we spent a long time um when we were making the board goals discussing you know the need to have the comparability in classroom assessments especially in the high school and I was just wondering if you could give us an update on progress that's been made for that >> assessment socific not easy to have uh exact comparability certainly when there are common assessments >> what you're asking for is comparability assessments are graded essentially we have been
098talking about thatist in those not all classes use the same priority not easy to have that comparability certainly when there are common assessments like midterms and things like that uh there are >> do you have any timera so there's a lot of consistency on it just because I know how important it is we know that that's a priority uh the boards and that's something that we have been talking about >> it's it will be complicated work I don't want to underell the importance of it because it should be time frame on when we could hear more updates on it. Get the same grade no matter who you talk to. >> Um so we're all on board with that goal. >> It will be complicated. >> Teachers have a lot of way those two things instruction
099I will use nonsensical examples the challenge will be so there's not a challenge teacher only uses midterm and another teacher only uses essay trying to come up will be very difficult between very different types >> there's going to be a rigid way of making those two things don't want to say that that's comparable >> so what certainly something that I would be able to report there's not a challenge there's a common assessment like a midterm the challenge will be trying to come up comparability between very different types of assessments. >> So, I don't want to say that that's something we'll have done in a month. Um, >> goals and certainly it's something that I would like to be able to report back to the board on during the course of the school year. >> I
100see what you're saying about the difficulties >> agree with that, but I think there are some things that are probably easier to do it in stages. For instance, I know that some teachers do test corrections or if that becomes the common place or that those things are kind of easier in agreement. I think there's some things that are a little longer maybe for I know that some teachers do test correction. was >> if that becomes the common those things are kind of easier to tackle universal so at least it feels like we're moving in a new science learning standard for earth science bio physics and chemistry I know earth science and bio >> um the other adopting the new one is the same plan for physics and chemistry >> um regions implemented immediately >> the
101new um state science learning standard um bio >> answer those in the order that you posted I know our science So we are doing scope and sequence work at the high school now. So part of that is to get to more common descriptions for courses. So I see that leading in the direction that your questions answer those in the order that you are going to at the high school now. So um the goal that we're go through this sequence works common descriptions for courses again see that leading in the direction that your questions miss one of the things we've looked at we've looked at some tools are the path we're getting >> curriculum mapping tools the goal that we all share identify areas and then turn those curriculum >> again I think that's um um
102we haven't found one that necessarily >> one of the things we've looked at we've looked at some tools that all of that fits into the scope and sequence curriculum tools that use AIU and then turn those into curriculum maps. On your second question, we haven't found one district yet and sequence work. The reason for that is in the past when the state has data standards provided a lot of material as to what the assessments will look like. on your second question. So with the science standards district more quickly to adopt I don't know if rel they simply didn't provide the reason for that in the past when the state has dated standards we allow the state to go through assessment so that we would have a chance to see what standards they were that would
103help us tailor instruction they simply didn't provide us so they did offer those assessments we made the decision to allow the state to go through one assessment cycle so that we would have a chance to see what the new assessments looked like and that would help us tailor instruction towards those new assessments when they were finally released. So they did offer those assessments in the spring. We had a chance to see those assessments and now we're aiming towards those new assessments with the new science standards. >> So I'll just conclude my report. Um, we talked a lot over the course of the last several months about the state's new law requiring uh, students not to use their cell phones during uh, the regular school day and um, in a meeting with Mr. Sha uh, where
104we talked about this briefly. Uh, but I did want to share my report. We talked a lot over the course of the last several months about the state and some observations that first is regular school day in a meeting with Mr. perhaps where we talked about this briefly uh but I did want to share with the board my >> I underestimated our students and whenever you underestimate us how things are going you often find some observations that I made so this is one of those cases where I was proven wrong >> far better than I thought I thought we would have a lot of success at the elementary school and I thought the middle school would also be likely but I was uncertain of how I underestimated our schools and uh whenever you underestimate us
105as a certain you often find yourself proving >> and have been this is one of those cases proven wrong enterprising in figuring out how to work at the elementary school even thought the middle school would also be likely but I was uncertain of one of the things I've observed walking through the halls but are students that there's more engagement compant with one another and have been engagement creative and enterprising and figuring out how to do the work that I need to get done they didn't recognize me when they were looking at their facilitation from students through the last couple of weeks is that more engagement between students with one walking through the hallway between the students and me kind of a treat for me. So the other thing so many people would recognize me that
106I get um they didn't recognize me when they were looking at their phones that was related to me by a couple of weeks that I feel like I get in months after months and months walking into the high school student was coming off just finished uh the practice and uh just struck up a conversation with me and said a story that was related to me by a student. So say more. Tell me what what do you mean by that? >> Walking into the high school student was coming off and just finished with my friends having meal conversation with me. >> None of us are taking our phones out cuz I feel the cell phone thing is we're not allowed to even though we're at the diner. We are allowed to. What do you mean by
107that? >> We all kind of feel like we rather just sort of talk even now in high school. We would have never done that or something at the diner on something. None of us are taking our phones out. I actually think it's going really well. >> We're not allowed to. I just want to let you know we are allowed to. This was we all kind of feel like we would rather just sort of talk and tell younger students on something. >> I actually think it's going really well. I just want to let you know everything you need to. He said, "Oh, this was a student I never met before." >> He was actually logging his own screen. If he's watching the board meeting, he'll know exactly who he is. >> Decrease in was kind of
108an interesting conversation before which I thought was interesting that he from said are you still able to catch up on everything again want to compliment our students he's actually his own screen time >> and comparing the amount of decreased >> thank you Dr. Rogers for sharing that story before and after which I thought was interesting that he he cared enough to look so uh just again want to compliment our discussion exceeded my expectations and we are going to move on to new business and 11 changes can I have a motion please second by Mr. Are there any questions without any hiccups? All in favor? Thank you. Opposed as we have legislative items 11 is the approval of statements and 2025 2026. Can I have a motion please? 11 seconds. Can I have a motion please?
109Mr. Second by Mr. Greco. Are there any questions? Any abstensions? All in favor? 11 C is the appointment of individuals to serve as volunteer judges. 11 B is the statement early 2026. Are there any questions by Mr. Ginsburg. Are there any questions? Opposed? In favor? Any abstensions? Opposed? 11 C is the appointment of teachers. 11 C is the appointment of individuals to serve as judges. Are there any competitions? Can I have a motion, please? Mr. Ro second by Mr. Greco. Are there any questions? 11 E is the medical examination of school district employee. Can I have a motion, please? Mr. Ro. 11 is the appointment of teaching assistants. Can I have a motion, please? All in favor, Malco. Second oppos. Any questions? 12 A and 12 B can be taken together the committee on preschool
110special education medical examination special education recommendations second by question are there any questions all in favor all in favor opposed any abstensions 12 is to be taken the second reading and adoption of policy 5300 contract can have motions second by Mr. Are there any questions? All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? 12:30 is the authorized second reading and adoption of policy 5300. Second by character contract support. Can I have a motion please? Mr. Wto, second by Mr. Gre. Are there any questions? 11B is the authorization for special education and or nursing contracts. 13A is the authorization of service contracts. Are there any questions? Miss Koshia second by Mr. Ginsburg. Are there any questions? Any obstain favor? >> 11 13 C is the authorization change order is the authorization education andor nursing contract motion by second question.
111Are there any questions? All in favor? All in favor? Any abstensions? 13D authorization backing order and related service. Can I have a motion please? Are there any questions? Second by Mr. F. Are there any questions? >> Opposed in favor? >> 13 is the authorization for picky bagging is 2025 related service. Are there any question second by Mr. Are there any questions? Opposed any favor? 13F is the approval of student group charters 2025 2026 general club charters 2025 2027 are there any questions koshia second by are there any questions any favorions is the adoption 13 is the approval of student group charter 2025 motion please second by miss are there any is the acceptance donation any gallery doorways 13 can I have a motion please have a motion please koshia second are there any questions all
112in favor any abstensions opposed 13 I is the acceptance of donation art gallery acceptance of a motion please art gallery second by motion are there any question second by Mr. All in favor. Are there any questions? Opposed? Any favor? >> 13 J is the approval of broken slip. 13 I is the acceptance of Mr. by Miss by Miss Falov. Are there any questions? >> All in favor? Any abstensions? Opposed? We're moving on to um audience is the approval. Please bear with me as I broken and or obsolete equipment supplies values committee input and provides opportunities to offer that input via email or in person. Persons who wish to speak during audience to the public must register online to speak in events of meeting at 5 p.m. to the day of the board meeting. Please bear
113with me. A link to their pre-registration form will be made available on the board that persons wishing to address the board. Persons who wish to during a public must come register online to speak in advance of the meeting for the following rules. A link to their pre-registration. All speakers are made available on the page of themselves in one week before the meeting inordance. Persons wishing to address the board in person by the audience as a whole. Speakers remarks must speakers must limit their comments to issues concerning all speakers and operations affairs themselves in their polic because of the rights protected by state and federal law. Speakers must address the speaker or the audience with the board oration speakers must limit their regards matters or policy. Five. Four. No speakers have the right to protected in
114federal. No speaker may speak about student speaker which is to address the situation questioning negotiations personnel matters matters or legal personal. No speaker may speak about decisions involving specific profanity speech threats and fighting wishes to address the board concerning specific person who violates students. Speaker mustate the balance of their time. Speakers may not use to recognize to be recognized to speak persons must must register with their full name and address that they will comply with words of gestures. In addition, only resident district are permitted to address for fate the balance of each resources that they will with the rules members. In addition, every res school district to do so. Each res will have administration responses at the discretion of the board chair. No resident will be permitted to address the board more than once and
115no one may record every res in a manner that is disruptive or confrontational. Opportunity to do that the board and administration may respond to resident questions of comments. >> No resident will be permitted to address the board more than once per meeting and no one may record another member of the public in a manner that is disruptive or confrontational. Okay, with that this first speaker is >> Thank you, Madam President. Brian Tibet. >> Um, I want to uh speak about the change to policy 53000, the code of character, conduct, and support which was made tonight by the board. Um, first I'll remark that um I get the impression that the board was not interested in public participation on this. Uh the public hearing which is required by state law was held in August during the
116summer when the schools closed. many people on vacation or out of town. Um the um the public hearing such as it was consisted entirely of a presentation by Assistant Superintendent Steinberg. Um um there was no um advanced notice except for one line in the uh um meeting reminder there. you know, there's no community update there, no, you know, announcement about uh the public hearing. I know there was a website with a link. That link was not widely circulated. I think it's fair to say. Um Mr. Steinberg made a couple of remarks which I I think need to be corrected. Uh one he said he stated as fact that the policy committee had updated the policy. The policy committee can only make recommendations. It cannot update the policy. Only the board of education can do that.
117Also, Mr. Steinberg stated that uh at tonight's meeting the board would adopt the policy. He didn't say that you would vote on it. He said that you would adopt it. With all due respect, I don't think it's within Mr. Steinberg's perview to say how the board will vote on any issue. Um now I have questions for the board. Um first question is I would like to know what how the what the board's understanding is of the um what of how things would be different under this new policy compared to the old one. Um I my reading of the of the change I I think it I'm concerned that it could be interpreted um as narrowing the board's um prerogatives. Uh right now in the existing policy before the change the board was given quite wide
118latitude to review decisions by the superintendent regarding uh school suspensions and could overturn those suspensions. The only restriction was the board's decision had to be limited to the record given to it. Um the new policy change seems to me could be interpreted to mean that the board's um latitude is narrowed and restricted to the two factors that are explicitly enumerated now in the policy. know um um you know if my interpretation is correct I I would like to know what the board intended. Um my second question is um I would you know I'd like to know why the board made this decision so quickly without asking Mr. Steinberg even a single question. Um, you know, if if my concern has is founded that this uh policy change could have the effect of reducing the power
119of the board of education and increasing the power of the superintendent when it comes to principal and superintendent suspensions, then that is a matter that should be of great concern to all the families in this district because the board of education is democratically elected and the superintendent is not. So, thank you. >> Okay, the second speaker is Jennifer Mass. >> Thank you very much. Hello, Dr. Rogers, Dr. Curry, and members of the board. I come to you today as a parent of a third grader at Walt Whitman to speak to you on behalf of myself, my daughter, but also on behalf of many other Walt Whitman families. I think by now it comes as no surprise that our community was extremely frustrated with recent decisions made just days before the start of the school year
120which without communication from the administration and without transparency as to reasoning left our elementary school children in a grade with crowded physical classrooms and a studenttoteer ratio that makes teaching hard and learning more of a challenge than for many of their eight-year-old peers. Of course, I am speaking of the decision to do away with a planned fourth section for the Walt Whitman third grade and instead keep them at three sections while allowing other third graders in other schools to be taught in classes of several children less. Specifically, our children are in classes of 23, 24, and 24 kids with the addition of one new child as of even today. while some other third graders in the district are taught in classes closer to 17 students. That is a six or seven student difference per class
121in some situations. The SASIT Central School District's own board of education goals 2025 revisions located online which in fact Dr. Rogers, you referenced and discussed uh just a few moments ago, reveal a goal of academic excellence where it is stated that you will uh that the board will create individualized learning experiences while maintaining comparability in classroom instructional and assessment practices. As you yourself said, this is there is just no way that even with the amazing Walt Whitman teachers that we adore that they are able to achieve your own stated goals of creating individualized learning experiences with a class of 24 children. And clearly you have also failed at your goal of maintaining comparability in classroom instruction when we have some classes in the district with one teacher teaching 24 children and others teaching 16 or
12217. Let me be very very clear. This is not a case of Walt Whitman versus any other school. We do not begrudge any school for having additional sections which allow for smaller classes. But what we do very certainly take issue with is the inequity created when decisions are made that allow for our children to be in very large classes while their peers have the benefit of smaller ones. In 2022, Governor Hokll signed landmark legislation that changed the class sizes in New York City and made it that a max of 20 kids could be in grades K to three, 23 in grades 4 to 8. This was not based on a whim, but based on proven benefits of smaller classes and years of study. Fewer students in class means more one-on-one attention for every student. And
123fewer students means the teacher can meet the needs of all children with a range of capabilities from the child who needs extra guidance to the child that needs an accelerated pace. And all of the very many children, the great majority, who are in between and don't qualify for pull out programs. Smaller classes would allow children the space and ability to move around in what are currently very cramped classrooms, which is especially necessary in the long months where recess is indoors and kids are spending an inordinate amount of time in the classroom. We therefore ask two things. That the school board revisit and change the policy that allows for 25 kids in a K to3 class and an obscene 27 kids in older grades. classes must be smaller for our children. And two, in the short
124term for this 2025 2026 year, we are asking that at the very least you add class- size reduction tutors, meaning an extra certified teacher in all day in classrooms that are large in the district, but most especially in our Walt Women third grade where excellent teachers since kindergarten have been doing their best in crowded classes with what we know to be a challenging grade due to differing learning styles, behavioral challenges, rambunctious students, and a variety of factors. We hope that you will do the right thing and move forward so that we don't have to be here again discussing the same issue for our fourth graders next year. Thank you very much. [Music] The next speaker is Allison Saurin. Good evening, Dr. Rogers, Dr. Curry, and the board of education. I'm also here tonight to speak
125about the specific concerns relating to the class size of third of the third grade student body at Walt Women. I understand how much care goes into balancing resources, needs, and budgets across the district. However, as a parent of a current third grader at Walt Women whose son is impacted by these decisions and on behalf of other third grade parents, I thought it was important to share the implications of these decisions and how they have directly affected our children. At the PTA meeting earlier this month, emotions understandably ran high. I've come here tonight to speak constructively because our goal is not to dwell on frustration, but to ensure our concerns are heard and addressed in partnership with the district. District policy caps class sizes at 25 students for K through third grade. Whitman's third grade classes
126are technically under that cap, but are close to it and generally at the very high ends for developmental needs at this age. Last year, Whitman second grade had 72 students across three classes, 24 students in each. We were told then that this group would be split into four sections for third grade because of both the numbers and specific needs of this cohort. Families were surprised to learn without prior notice or communication that the district chose to keep only three sections. This decision felt sudden and honestly left parents feeling blindsided and disregarded. It became even more confusing when we later learned that another elementary school with almost identical grade level numbers did receive a fourth section. To be clear, we are not questioning the needs of another school. Our concern is about consistency and equity. Both
127schools had roughly the same number of students 73 verse 71 at Whitman as we've had a new enrollment since the start of school. Both schools warranted a consideration for the fourth section. Even our teachers and principles supported smaller class sizes for this grade. There are also practical realities beyond headcount. Siosid's class size policy was set years ago when school buildings and schedules look different. At Whitman, 24 students in a classroom is physically tight. In my son's second and third grade classes, desks are arranged in ways that leave some children not even facing forward. Something Dr. Wjuk just said earlier tonight in her presentation was important. Add in inappropriate lunch times and little to no movement some days as today's lunchroom can only fit one grade at a time, leaving kids to eat lunch very early
128and very late. The gym is no longer available for indoor recess, and the environment becomes even more challenging. Research consistently shows that smaller class sizes in early grades improve individualized instruction, literacy development, and classroom management. Even two or three extra students can make a significant difference in how much one-on-one time each child receives both academically and social emotionally. This year, Whitman's third grade has 23, 24, and 24 students per class, compared with with 16 to 21 in most of the other schools, which creates an inequitable learning environment. While other students benefit from smaller teacher teacher to student ratios, our children are in larger, less individualized settings. That disparity is hard to accept. I want to reiterate all of my son's teachers have been beyond exceptional and wonderful. But of course, his classroom experience is different
129when he is getting 124th of his teacher verse 116th or 120th of a teacher's time, attention, and guidance. We ask for immediate resources to bridge this gap, specifically through the allocation of class reduction tutors. Looking forward, we urge the the district to revisit and update its class- size policy to reflect today's realities. Whether it's revisiting the class size max takes into account that not all grade makeups are the same across schools behaviorally, academically, social, emotionally, or automatically adds a class reduction tutor for grades closer to the max and or grades that have more students per class as compared to other schools. There are many policy related decisions to be considered that we urge you to cons revisit. Our hope is that the district will address these inequities now and also consider long-term policy adjustments so
130that all students have equal opportunities to thrive and receive smaller group and individualized instruction and ins ensure consistency across all elementary schools. Thank you for your time and for listening to the concerns of Whitman families, letting me go over the four minutes. And we would like to be partners in supporting the success of every child in our district. Okay. All right. So, this closes the audience to the public. Um, uh, Dr. Rogers will address the what women class size. I just want to circle back to, uh, Mr. TV. Um, the district sends emails out uh to the community one school day before uh, the board meeting uh, regarding the uh, the meeting agenda. So, uh, the, um, the the public hearing part of the, um, of this policy 5300 was in that email. So, I'm
131not sure if you received that email, but you're more than welcome to leave your email address with our, um, the PR uh, person in the back, um, Miss Hefron. Uh, she'll make sure that your email address is included, um, in the, uh, in the blast. And number two, I respectfully disagree with you uh when you mention about the the procedures how we adopt the the policy and as you know the uh the policy remains the purview of the board. The board do get together on a regular basis to discuss the uh the policy and the for for the code of conduct. We have to review that annually and we do spend the time to review that annually and we are following all the procedures we need to uh to adopt the uh the policy um
132including uh the uh the policy meeting and also the public hearing and leaving the policy online for a month for the public to inspect for the community to inspect. So with that that whole month you did have time to address the board. So um just want to uh make that clear to you. Um and again this remains the purview of the the board especially um you know the the policy part. Um just want you to understand that. Okay. And with that I'm going to turn over to uh Dr. Rogers to uh to address. Thank you. >> Sure. And thank you to the parents from Walt Whitmann for sharing uh your concerns and for taking the time to show up here tonight uh together. So if I had known that the um first PTA meeting of
133the year was going to be contentious, I would have assigned myself to it. Uh I didn't realize it was going to be contentious. My deputy, Dr. Curry, went I'm told she did admirably at the meeting, but uh I tend to try to go to those uh contentious meetings myself. So, uh, I appreciate, uh, the recognition that, um, you know, emotions ran high at that meeting and I appreciate the opportunity, uh, to address some of the concerns that, uh, the community that the Walt Whitman third grade community has, uh, in hindsight. So to go through this, I think um one of the first things that I need to do is just educate folks in how we make decisions about uh class uh sizes, sections, placement, all of that. uh because in um in not understanding it
134uh it may be possible for someone to think that uh there was a reversal of a decision or that something wasn't uh fully considered or that there was a change or a deviation in practice. So um I'm always happy to walk through how the processes in the district work. And the point of going through this exercise is to illustrate that we've done what we always do uh in the same way we've always done it. Uh the result is not something that is popular. I understand that. And this was this is not the first time that we've received complaints about class sizes or about this process, but we are implementing it consistently over time and over all of the buildings. So how does that work? We make decisions about sections as late in the summer as
135we possibly can. It is typically the last Wednesday before the start of school that we will finalize. Uh we will finalize staffing based on our knowledge of how many students are registered as of that date. So we have to have a cutoff date at some point. That ends up being the cutoff date. All of the decisions are made based on the data in place at that time. Why do we wait so long? When I started here, this is my 12th time doing um sections. So I'm starting my 12th year. So obviously 12th summer. So when I first arrived here, we might see maybe across all the elementary schools 20 25 kids move in, move out change. I would say we're probably somewhere in the neighborhood of four times that on a regular uh basis now.
136And there was one summer where we had 300 new entrance uh come into school. So we had one summer where we uh broke 14 sections. So there is just a tremendous amount of movement over the summer. There is a lot more housing activity in the community than there's ever been before. And any staffing decision that we don't make essentially right before the start of school is going to be out of date week just a few weeks into the summer. So what we're trying to do is make sure that we have exactly the right number of teachers for exactly the right number of students. Uh we do see movement between buildings in the district. We obviously see movement in and out of the district. And one of the priorities that the board has had lately is
137for us to be really focused on residency. And so we've seen some movement in student numbers because we've identified uh residency issues with some of the students that are enrolled here. So all of that factors into how and when we make those decisions. So um I wouldn't want anyone to think that we uh had something that was a finalized staffing plan in June with any expectation that that plan would somehow last until September. Uh they never have, they never will. Uh but just to be very clear, we don't make any decisions about staffing until late in the summer because we don't make those decisions until late in the summer. And because our teachers contract requires us to give ample advanced notice to teachers that might be excessed if we don't uh need them, we have
138to make decisions about who might be excessed early in the spring in order to make that deadline. So, there have been several years when I was here that we gave notices to teachers that they may not have a job in September. Not the notice that they want and we don't want them to go looking for another job because they're wonderful people, but if we didn't have enough uh student enrollment to justify their positions and we had failed to notify them earlier, we would not be in a position to access them at the end of the summer. So, that factors into the decision-making as well. When I arrived in Sioset, the practice here was any class that the the the district would not split any class unless it went over the class size maximums. And as
139you referred to earlier, it's uh at K through 3 25, grades four and five, 27. So, if there were, to make the math easy, a class with 75 students in it, that would be three sections. And the district would not split the class, even if it was 75 students on the first day of school. In fact, the district would not even announce to the parents what the uh teacher was going to be for that class. What would happen uh when I arrived was that all of the students in any class that was close, 74 kids, 75 kids, 76 kids, they would all arrive and go straight to the gymnasium. And when they were in the gymnasium, the deputy superintendent would count the number of students in the room and then they would decide on that
140day how many classes, how many sections there would be at that grade level. Um I didn't think that was the best practice uh that we could do. I talked with the board of education at the time about the practice and we established a practice where uh we would split a class that was two students away from the maximum. So if a class was 73 as opposed to 75, we would split it. And that's uh I've shared as the board has changed over time. I've shared that with every new successive board member that has come into place. And the board has always supported preemptively splitting classes that are close as opposed to what the district used to do, which is only split them on the first day if they were already over the maximum limit. So
141that action has naturally reduced class size in the district because we are preemptively splitting some classes. And again, that decision gets made on the Wednesday before school opens, the last Wednesday uh in August, so that we calibrate it as closely to what we're experiencing as possible. The only time we have ever split a class that is more than two students away from the maximum that's in the policy is when there are special education IEP reasons for the class needing to split. So, uh, what will often happen is when there is a a class with special needs, they will be mainstreamed for part of the day. And if the mainstreamed numbers of kids would cause the class to go over the class size maximum, then we would split the class for that reason. So, we have
142one class uh this year that split not two students away from the max, but three students away from the max, but because they have a mainstreaming role for a special class that's also in the building. So, uh, I certainly understand the argument that, um, no matter where you draw the line, if it's two away from the split, three away from the split, four away from the split, whatever class is one more than that will say I'm comparable. Uh, I'm on this side of the line, it's not great. Uh, the other class is on that side of the line and we're not that different. But this is the problem with any line that you draw. there will always be somebody that's on the side of the line that's not popular. But what we've done consistently uh
143through all of the years that I've been here is that two away. So there were a couple of classes last year that ran at 25 25 uh there were parents who were unhappy about that and also complained and what we did do was put class size reduction tutors in there. So uh Dr. Curry supervises the building principles. Uh part of what she's been doing the last week and a half is meeting with each of the building principles to go through their staffing and their class plans to see if they have identified any additional needs. So certainly we'll be attentive to what those needs are. Uh if those needs are behavioral needs, there might be behavioral supports put into the room. If those needs are learning needs, there would be learning supports put into the room.
144Uh what we try to do is tailor the intervention to what the actual experience and needs of the children are. uh because we all have the same goal of having our kids make sure they have the best possible experience that they can get. We have small elementary schools in this district. So, uh I know Dr. Curry's previous district had monster um uh elementary schools, eight or 900 students in a school, a thousand. I'm sorry, I underestimated. Uh what that means is those classes would fill very efficiently. I'm sure they were very close to whatever the class size maximum was because when you have large numbers, they're easy to divide into things that look comparable. When you have lots of small schools, if you have a class that is 76 and a class that is uh
14572, even though there's not a lot of kids uh difference between them, the class that splits into four is going to excuse me, the class that splits into four is going to be a lot fewer kids in school. That has always been the case in Sioset. And in fact, when I arrived here, more often than not, the building that had the smallest class sizes was Whitman just because of the way the numbers broke. And there was I fielded similar kinds of questions about why is class size so small there and it's not so small here. And it is because this is the operation of having uh a maximum a cutoff. Inevitably, there are going to be some small sections and inevitably there are going to be some that are very close to the max, but
146as a district, our average class size is right around 20 and a half. So, it's not while the board has a maximum of 25, there are close to that maximum, most are around the 20 range. And again, that is the range we think that's optimal and that's the average that is achieved by having a maximum that is set at 25 and 27. So, um, we'll certainly revisit the staffing in the classroom to make sure the classes and the teachers have supports that they need. Um, the practice around class size, although the board's, uh, resolution was adopted decades ago, uh, the board did give me the flexibility to do this preemptive splitting, which has had the net effect of effectively reducing class size somewhat in the 10, the 11 years that I've been here. And you
147know, I will certainly defer to the board uh about what it wants to do going forward. But in terms of the second request in terms of staffing now, uh we did add class size reduction tutors last year to the tight classes. We have done that consistently over the years. We've added behavioral supports. We have uh new behavior technician that can go in and uh do observations in the classroom and tailor the the supports to the needs that we see. uh we'll certainly do that because it won't be an irregularity in what we've done before and we would uh absolutely treat the Walt Whitman grade 3 in exactly the same way we've treated uh all of the other tight classes that we've experienced over the years. >> Okay. Thank you, Dr. Rogers. And um uh this
148closes uh the meeting uh for uh this month. Uh can I have a motion to uh adjourn the meeting? Miss Koshia, seconded by Miss Belove. Okay, meeting adjourned. Thank you. And see you back uh see you in uh October. That's going to be Tuesday, October 14th. Thank you.