00126 meeting of the Beacon City School District Board of Education. Please stand for the pledge. >> 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. Please remain standing for a moment of silence um for Karen Ditenhoffer. She passed away uh last week. She was a teachers aid at um South Avenue or an aid at South Avenue and uh she had worked for the district for 19 years. >> Thank you. >> Vicki, can you call the role >> here? Oh, she is excused. >> Mr. >> Here >> uh Matt, can you review the fire exits? >> Exits are in the back of the LGI. >> Thank you. Can I get a motion to adjourn
002to executive session to re review the employment history of a particular individual? The board plans to return in about 30 minutes. >> So moved. >> Second by Chris. All in favor? I >> I pass 6. >> We'll be back. Uh we're starting with open to the public. Uh does anyone have a public comment they would like to make? Seeing no one, we will move on to our first workshop which is our presentation on Rambout Middle School from Principal Saltish. Come on down. >> Oh, those are yours. I won't read them. Uh hello everybody. Uh good evening. Thank you for having me tonight. I'd like to start by introducing my two assistant principles. Amanda and Marissa are both here. They have been working very uh diligently on this presentation as they are much much better with
003the technology than I am. So I thank them greatly for all the time and effort they put into uh the presentation. So, first up, we want to just talk about academic excellence. Just to give you an idea at our enrollment numbers for some of our uh advanced classes, our region's bio is 55 students. Algebra 1 55 students. We opened a second section of advanced art this year. So, we now have 27 students in there. I know that might seem a little uh low with the 27, but those class sizes are typically more in the teens. Uh we're really excited to have a second section because we've been able to uh accommodate all requests for students that have submitted portfolios that have been up to the expectation of the class. We were in danger of not
004being able to do that this year and we were able to get a second section and we're very pleased with how that's going. And then for the high school language credit, we had 195 students enrolled in our program last year between Spanish and Italian. 179 of them uh received their high school credit by the end of the program. So that's last year uh for the language credit. Those are the current ninth graders at BHS. Honor roll. So honor roll is typically something at Ron Middle School that you'll see a lot of students on. I'm not breaking it down uh by the different levels of honor roll just the all students who are on honor roll. So this will show you quarter 1, two, three for last year and the honors t and then the first
005quarter this year but typically our honor roll is uh above 50% in every grade level. um our honors T last year and though for the honors T those are students that maintain that honoral status for all three quarters of the first marking period in any capacity. So we were at 60% for sixth grade, 49% for seventh grade and 43% uh for eighth grade. So we're really proud of the number of students that are able to maintain it for the whole school year and we are off to a really good start in quarter one this year. In terms of uh state testing, uh we have the 24 25 ELA math state testing. Uh we do realize that we fall below uh the state average in those categories. Uh so if you look at that you will
006notice that we are below we have improved uh in ELA uh over the past years but math uh is an area that we are looking to improve in. Uh we do want to also improve in ELA don't get me wrong but we've we've seen some growth in ELA over the past two years. Math is an area where we really want to focus some time and effort to try to get those numbers up. When you look at the math slide, uh, ignore the combine six and combine seven. It's the way it shows up on the report card. Not really sure what they're combining six and seven with because sixth and seven just have the state test. But in eighth grade, uh, you will notice it looks like there's only 7%. Uh the reason that you're seeing
007that low number there is because we do not have our region students uh sit for the state test in math. Other districts do. It is a local decision. Uh my personal belief is if they're in the advanced math class and they're taking the regents already, it seems like a lot to ask them to also take the state test in math. So, when you look at combined eight, that does give a more accurate representation of what it would look like if all of our students were taking uh the eighth grade math assessment because uh those regions kids would have been in the eighth grade number, which they're currently not. So, all of our eighth grade math students did pass the regions. And when you look at the combined eight, you would see more of a 49%
008proficiency rate between the region's students and the remaining students who did take the state test. One of the areas with the state test that we are very concerned about is our participation rate. So on the next slide, uh we have our ELA state test participation rates. I mean, we should really be up in the 90s for participation rate so that when we're looking at our data, it's accurately reflecting the students. For for a while at Rambow, uh it has been, you know, an area where students will just opt out or refuse. But we've had a lot of talks this year. Uh we've we've talked closely with the district about trying to put different things in place. you know, the state test is a mandatory test. Um, when it was linked to teacher uh ratings, we
009had a lot of students opt out and it seems like that trend just hasn't gone gone back yet. So, like kids would come in with notes. I mean, we're getting notes morning of the test and we just have to take those kids and we put them in a in a non-esting room. Uh so we have talked about changing that process for this year um and requiring uh students to test and not just to be able to come in with a note to not test. So these are our ELA numbers which you'll notice uh you know nothing's over 80%. So we we have a ways to go to to get that up. Uh and in terms of math you're going to you're going to notice the same thing. There's years We'll look at our our numbers
010and we'll go, "Wow, why is that number lower or higher in sixth grade between math and ELA?" The reason is if the ELA test was first and the math test was second and kids realized some of their friends refused the test, then when math when it was time for math, kids just didn't take it because there were other kids not taking it and so they just come out with a note. Um, we do have uh >> Brian, can I ask you a question? >> Yeah, sure. But we had talked about um really sending in information home to parents about how the test is no longer associated with the um teacher ratings and has was that done last year or >> No, it's um not like we wanted to and that's partly on the district side
011of things. So, because I do feel like that and then when you have all the parents in the room just saying I think it's something that's going to need repeating for sure. >> Yeah, we were just going to send something really simple from me. Um that just says um it's not you can't write a note. Um if you want if like sort of if you really want to explore this, you need to meet with Brian or Saggy. um some version of that because I do think it's really more about peers than it is parents even at this point. Um our elementary participation rates are in the high 80s, low 90s now, if not even higher. So it's not really like a it's not like a community thing anymore. It's more like a middle school peers
012thing. Um, so we're just going to end it basically like you like if you want to discuss testing with us or something like we'll meet with you to talk about it. But um and I'll like I think that it made a lot of sense for us to do that from um the district level and we didn't do that like I wanted to last year. So this will be the year >> if anybody looks at a number just so you're aware uh where you see our participation rate looks different in 8th grade. You see it on a report card and it doesn't look like the 58% were advertising. We we adjusted our numbers because the region's kids were not required on our end to take it. So we kind of removed them from the number. So
013if you you see something and you wonder why our number looks a little different, we adjusted and removed the uh the 55 algebra students out of the population um before we put that number there. Okay. >> Then we go to science. Uh and in science we've actually uh had some better results on our state test. I'm not going to say our participation is where we want it to be there either, but uh if you look at between the regions and uh the grade eight science, which is uh only 6% off of the state percentage, um we are actually uh uh above the state average for the combined regions and uh grade 8 test. So, I still would like to see all of our students taking the eighth grade science test because it would give me
014a more accurate ass uh look at where we are. We do have a number of students that also opt out of the science test. >> Um, can I ask a sure >> potentially very dumb question? Um, so on here the first two numbers you've got school and district and those are always going to be the same, right? Because there's only one >> middle school in the district. So instead of that, is it possible and I don't know if this is measured in any real way to to to measure it against the national average for these kind of state tests? I know not every state does this tests like this, but is that even a viable >> state average you mean? >> Yeah. Like >> well we have the state average. >> No, not the state
015average, but like how like where we fall within the 50 states for this kind of testing at this grade level. Is that not possible? They don't >> for science. >> Not for science. There is um a national way that we can look and it would have to be the state New York state volunteers information and New York State has not volunteered that information for two years. >> Okay. >> That information has not been available in the last two years. I know what you're talking about. >> Yeah. >> And that's before. Okay. Okay. >> Yes. So that actually that data is actually two years behind in New York state that's not offered that information the last two years. >> So currently there's no way to compare. Okay. Thank you. >> So if you look at our
016participation rate in eighth grade science it is low. So the when you see like 24 25 the 63 out of 135 again we're pulling the regions kids out of that number. So, they're not in there anymore because they're all taking the regents. Uh, of the the students eligible to take the eighth grade science test, uh, we're only get we only got about 47% of them to take it last year, which is, you know, not, you know, we want to see the kids all taking it. But again, this test now comes third. So, you had ELA, math, and then science. So if they didn't refuse at least one of the first two and they find out their friends didn't take it, it just grows by the time you get to science. >> And we're not doing
017any benchmarking with our own programs on these like for science. We don't have that ability. >> We don't have an eye ready for science, >> right? In the way that we do for reading and for math. >> Correct. The only thing we, you know, we have the fifth grade scores from when they're in fifth grade. Um but that's all we have in terms of the science. The uh next thing up is just some of the academic support. So earlier we talked about some of the advanced classes that we're offering. Uh but it's also important to talk about our AIS math and AIS literacy just because those are the areas where we're looking to support uh some of our students who may be struggling. uh we have our 24 25 numbers and our 25 26 numbers
018in grades six, seven, and eight. For both of those, you're looking at uh groups of any usually somewhere between 20 to 40 50 students uh per area, per grade level. Any questions? just on the AIS. Why are there fewer does this mean there are fewer kids getting support this year than last year or how >> I mean it's also I mean so kids can still go into AIS right so these numbers were what we had ended the year with uh so you can still see students go into AIS math and ELA as the year is going on so those numbers could increase I mean we're looking at it early on but through uh for a variety of reasons they could end up in in those classes before the year is out. >> So that means
019in in only 12 students from the elementary schools were recommended for AIS, >> either recommended or currently in it. I mean sometimes when they get up the parents don't want them in it because they don't want them to miss the elective. Uh so we get some of those conversations where they want them to be able to take everything. So, if you're taking everything we offer, there's no room for AS literacy and AS math in your schedule. If you take AS math and AS literacy, you are going to give up one of your mandated electives other than PE. So, you're either looking at uh art, music, or technology. For some kids, it's both if they're in the uh the math, and the literacy. So, it can be a tough uh it can be a tough sell
020for for some of the parents. I mean, the numbers are down this year, but last year, you know, last year they were a little bit higher. >> Ready, Amanda? >> I'm ready. >> I'm gonna let uh Amanda speak for a minute about some of our stuff. >> I'm missing the slide. >> Yeah, there it is. All right. A little out of order. It's signed. Um, so I want to talk a little bit about the MTSSI program. So the New York State Education Department offers guidelines to help students um to help schools with a ESSA, the Every Student Succeeds Act. We have a team that meets every Tuesdays and Thursdays. Um, it's the students teachers, the school psychologist, sometimes a social worker, um, the students guidance counselor, a volunteer teacher. I have one for Tuesday, one
021for Thursday, and then myself administration. And basically students go through different tiers. So the tier one is universal. It's offered for all students. It's based on best practices in the classroom. So this is something where it might be repeat of lesson or they might need reteing of a certain item. So these are things that are offered to all the students no matter their academic profile. Sometimes, as we know, we saw with AIS, um students need more targeted instruction. And with that targeted instruction, the teachers might fill out a referral that say, "Hey, I want to bring this student up for MTSSI." It also used to be known as RTI. That might sound a little bit more familiar. Um New York State has changed the letters multiple times. So, we're on MTSSI. It's multi-tiered support system
022integrated for academic behavior and um So, the teachers will fill out a referral packet. In this referral packet, they'll talk about the strengths of the student, what they're really good at, some of the tier one stuff, the best practice stuff that they did in the classroom. Um, but they're still struggling with the student. The student is still, you know, they're they're struggling in certain parts of math or in ELA. Um, it might be a motivational factor. Um, so there's different things that they're bringing to the table that they fill it out for. And then as a team we kind of go through what is the student's strengths, what are the things you've already done and then we come up with interventions that would work for the student. The teachers decide what the interventions are. So
023we discuss some of the interventions that are out there. It might be front-loading vocabulary. It might be smaller group sizes. It might be um more PPS support, so more guidance support or school psychologist support depending on which category it falls under. Um and then we reconvene in six to eight weeks. So the teachers would take that intervention, they would collect data on the student. It's not an everyday thing. It's something where they might once or twice a week, usually AIS teachers are really great with it because they have the smaller class sizes, collect the data on them, and then we meet in six to eight weeks. Hey, did these interventions work? Did they not work? And then we cycle through and say, we either come up with new interventions or you know what, these interventions
024are working for them. We're going to create these building supports. We're going to kind of push them back into tier one and cycle them out. um six to eight weeks it didn't work, we're going to come up with some new interventions, try again. Um meet on that child again. If it's still not working, we might move to tier three, which is the specially designed instruction, which is more individualized support. Could be assisted technology, direct counseling. Again, depending on what it falls under, there are times where we do get parent requests for MTSSI. Um could be for social emotional support. they notice academically they're struggling. It could be something for they want a 504. It's important when parents are requesting 504s for some sort of medical um struggle that the students are having that we have
025this in place because we need to know what strategies are working for the student and to make sure that they're having access to their education that that medical um is not taking away from that. Any questions on the process before I go over some of the numbers? I actually have one real quick. I'm curious to know how the parents of students know how engaged they are in this program. In other words, like if if you like you said, parents will come to you, but if they don't, >> I so I reach out to the parents after our meetings and we just say, "Hey, some um your ELA your child's ELA teacher was really was having some concern because they seem to really be struggling in comprehending some of the non-fiction text that's going on. These
026are some of the the strengths that they talked about that your child has. and here's something that they're going to try over the next six to eight weeks and then I'll follow up with them. That's a great question. It's on my notes. I didn't mention it. >> Um, so last year just to kind of give you a whole picture and then I'll talk a little bit about this year. So the beginning of the year we had four students from the prior year that we carried over. Just because the year ends does not necessarily mean that the, you know, the student is, you know, no longer needing those supports. So we carry over four students from the previous year. We had eight teachers fill out the referral packets. Um we had 11 parent requests. Um so
027we had 23 total in our MTSSI program last year. 14 of them cycled out. It means that they found supports within that tier 2 and tier three that really worked for them and we created the building supports for them and they kind of cycled out. Um two of the students received 504s. uh six students were carried over to the next year and we did end up having one student needing um a special education referral. And then this year, beginning of the year, we had two that carried over. Uh some of the other numbers that didn't necessarily carried over, they came to the high school. Teacher requests, there were four. Parent requests, three so far. So, we have nine currently in our system. We haven't cycled anybody out. Nobody's gotten a 504. We're still kind of
028in the beginning process of it. But we do have one special education referral. It is a student that's obviously been carried over from last year, not somebody that we just received a referral for. >> So that's a lot less >> because we're still kind of in the beginning of the year. A lot of times what I notice the pattern um at Rombout is that the teachers will have them for the first quarter kind of get the feel for them and then they're like you know what I'm noticing that this is happening now and it wasn't like this in the beginning of the year or they're coming up to new content and they're struggling in that particular content because it's can be not necessarily skills it's skills based a lot of it. So, if they did
029really well at something and now word problems they might be struggling in, now they're going to refer them to it because they tried all of these things, but you know what? I need help. I need to know what other interventions that I can apply to help this student. I just really want to thank Amanda for uh taking that on every Tuesday and Thursday when she's doing that. We didn't have a lot of buy in ahead of her doing that. We we'd have meetings where we're always pe people missing and we're trying to get a random teacher to come. So, she's really created a committee that is focused in on the needs of the students and she gets it all done on Tuesdays and Thursdays so that people aren't missing their classes. So while all the
030students are coming in, she is full speed ahead having meetings and trying to make sure that we're meeting the needs uh of our students before the day even starts. So I really appreciate everything you're doing there. >> Is this just the second year that this system is in place or was this already >> this is your >> So this is my fourth year at Rambow. I know they had it before. Um I have a lot of experience in what was previously RTI in my former district. I used to do it in my building there and I ran it there. I took a lot of the components there that I felt that we didn't have quite at Rombo and filled it in and it seems to be filling in some of those gaps for some of
031the teachers to get more buy in for the program. >> You're getting a lot done in 40 minutes a week. >> So, next up we have uh community engagement and involvement uh our Monday message which uh Miss Benson has taken over. How many viewers have we been getting most of the time? >> Over a thousand every time. So over a thousand people are are looking at that which is really great for us. It means that the information that's going in there is being seen and shared. Uh and it gives parents a look in at the building and also keeps them up to date on what's happening. Uh we obviously have our Instagram. We had a a really nice turnout for our caregiver comp uh conferences. We're continuing with the Elks Club who support us by
032doing student of the month. It's a really really nice ceremony. It's very personal. We used to do it in our big assemblies that we had in the mornings. Uh we don't have those anymore. So we invite the families in for the students who are being honored and we do it in the library. It's very small. We find that the kids who are being honored seem to like it because some kids don't like to be recognized in front of all their peers in a big crowd. So it's very small. It's nice. Uh, and the we just thank the Elks Club for continuing to support the students at Rombat with that. Our National Junior Honor Society this year did a food drive and this year they donated the food to uh St. Andrews food pantry. Uh, St.
033Andrews is a spot that uh I have a very close person. Mrs. Lacier uh I was best friends with her son growing up and so I spent many many nights at Mrs. Lacier's house uh and she sent us a thank you letter uh from from the food pantry. They had no idea what they were getting when they said when somebody called and said we'd like to donate the food to you guys. And she said all of a sudden they showed up and she said the the generosity just overwhelmed them. Uh and it was so appreciative to have it stay in the community for them to assist people. the we collected over 400 items uh that were able to go to their food pantry and everyone that donated uh everything we had was in date. Nobody
034was donating expired items and different things. So, she said that she's never seen a donation where everything that was actually donated was something they could use uh and give to the community. So they sent us a really nice letter uh thanking the school for our participation and you know that's what we'll look to do in the future uh to keep keep it in the community. We were also involved with the toy drive. Uh we have a Black History Month assembly that I've been working on the it's called the Blues and Beyond and it's going to be on February 18th. So we're putting together a program with this company. they uh it's basically almost like a a musical group that will come in and they're going to go through the history with almost like a concert
035for the students. So, we are having four daytime uh assemblies with the support of the district. So, we're going to get uh a high school performance, a middle school performance, two performances for the elementary schools. I believe we're going to target grades three through five on that. Please don't quote me. Uh, and then there's going to be a a community show that evening. I am anticipating it will be at 6:30, but uh, I have seen what they do. They we I've been in touch with them. The assemblies are something that we haven't had before uh, with the with the musical component they bring. I'm really looking forward to it. They do four different uh, options or chapters they call them. And uh we haven't selected what we're going to do yet, but we'll be working
036closely with them as we get close to that date. It's it's new. We're excited about it. Uh I hope that as we get there, uh the community comes out and takes advantage of the opportunity. Next up, we we had no drama club production last year, but we are back this year. So, we had two teachers, Miss Gonzalez and Miss Sims, both sixth grade teachers, step up uh with an interest in in running it. and they are up and running. They are going to do Dare to Dream. We are doing it was it is it March? >> March. >> The performance will be in March, which is fine. We're going to have a show and we're really excited to see how they do there. I am now going to step out of the way for a
037second for Miss Benson. >> So, naturally leaving the science room, I was like, I have to do something science related for the whole school. Um, I've always wanted to have a science fair at Roundabout. It's hard when you're in the teacher role as many of you may know. So now that I'm in this role, I figured it was a good time to to put on our first annual steam fair. It's going to be on March 19th. Um the past few years I've partnered with Katie Bjordi at Sergeant. So I got my feet wet a little bit with kind of what works, what doesn't. Um the plan is it is optional for students to do. Um they're working on it outside of school. We're going to try and offer some inschool workshop times for kids that
038maybe need more support with more of the process. And I know some of their teachers are offering it as extra credit, so they're also going to be giving them like extra help time to work on it. Um, we figure a steam fair kind of opens it up for kids, too. Like a lot of them aren't into doing like a specific science experiment project. So, um, incorporating technology, engineering, math, the arts. Um, it gets a lot of kids really excited to get involved. So during the school day, they'll projects will be set up in the library and classes can come down. Students can come down during lunches to check them out. Then we'll have students um that did participate present to a panel of judges, which will probably be some of my science and technology teachers.
039We'll pick two winners per grade level. We did uh put a prize on the line, some $50 gift cards to get the middle schoolers um a little more engaged. They love a good prize. And then at night, we're going to have a um like an opening for family members, community members from 6:00 to 7:00. Anyone that wants to stop by, whether your child or someone you know participated or not, it'll be open to the public to come check it out. So, I'm excited to get that started. Uh kids have been given the applications and teachers have been working with them to get them started on it. Um so, I'm excited for that on March 19th. >> That's cool. uh experiences and opportunities. We have our our eighth grade uh trip to DC, our seventh grade
040trip to Boston. Those are both uh reaching the end of their enrollment process. We're going to get it close to roaming and going. Um we are working through our scholarship students as well right now. I'd like to thank the Roundhouse in uh Beacon for supporting us again. uh they donate 5,000 to our DC scholarship fund and 2500 to our uh Boston scholarship fund. It's really generous and kind of them to give back to the community and it's a huge help uh when I'm planning this trip with students. So, thank you very much to them and we look forward to those trips and great experiences. I could go on all day about those, but I won't. Um, if you ever want to talk to me, I'd be happy to to share my love for the opportunities
041that are presented on the trip to DC and Boston uh, with you. Sixth grade is going to go to Balance Adventures again this year, and that's a a ropes course uh, which is of a neat experience for them. We had our seventh and eighth grade Six Flags trip. We had our uh uh sixth grade, our seventh and eighth grade band went to the elementary schools to perform, which is a nice little thing for the elementary students to see as they're coming into school. Thank you to the transportation department because I know it's hard for us to get a bus while they're still trying to drive uh the elementary students in, but they made it happen. Eighth grade chorus went to Radio City again this year. Our ENL uh class got a trip to Fishgill Farms
042for apple picking. Our PD departments ran the hiking, swimming trips. They also have done their bowling trips. And we're looking forward to the Blues and Beyond, which I talked about earlier. I could talk about these all day. Does anybody have any field trip uh based questions for DC or Boston? Okay. Extracurricular activities. They're all listed there with some nice pictures. Uh very nice job. But our uh fall modified sports enrollment was 128 students and our fall club enrollment we had 369 students involved in different clubs and activities. So, thank you for your support uh in allowing us to have all different uh clubs and activities. Two of our clubs that were not up and running right away in the fall were the chess club and the kaleidoscope club, but they have been advertised now in
043the school and we're looking to see if uh students are taking advantage of those next. That's me. >> That's you. >> Um, so for those who don't know, the four elementary schools have rolled out the positivity project at this point across all grade levels, all four schools. It's been really successful. They've been pushing for us to get it into the middle school to some capacity. Um, so we were able, we were excited this year to get the support to implement it in sixth grade ELA. Um, you can see in yellow there's all the positive feedback. Two of them are student quotes, two of them are teacher quotes. I'm not going to read them to you, but overall the feedback has been really positive. Um, the positivity project is really just about character traits and honestly
044figuring out yourself as you navigate middle school's a crazy time. So I think that um it was a great idea to incorporate it with the sixth graders. Um, so every teacher is kind of doing it a little different right now as we're piloting it. Some of them are doing it once a week for like a 30 minute block. um and they kind of hit all five days and others are breaking it up. They do it once a week for five to 10 minutes. Um and they kind of have a specific set time for it in the classroom. Uh the kids are really receptive to it now that they've done it at an elementary school. It wasn't something that was brand new that was kind of like pulling teeth to get into. They're really it's kind
045of just effortlessly flowed um into the middle school. And the character strength uh survey that they do at the beginning, which is what that computer picture is, is really well liked by the kids. They basically do a questionnaire and it tells them which character traits are strengths of theirs, which are weaknesses, and then at the end of the school year, they're going to revisit it and see if those traits carried through all of middle school or considering how much they changed throughout their time there. Um what's kind of changed about them at the end of sixth grade. So, we're really thankful that the ELA teachers were willing to take this on this year. was kind of short notice and we know that their schedules are jam-packed, but they've really found a way to uh implement
046it into their curriculum and we're thankful for that and the kids are really receptive to it. So, we hope to continue it. some of the professional development that we have going on in the building. Uh for our staff, we have building thinking classrooms which has been happening uh inside our math classrooms and you can see from the pictures a lot of that is about the students standing at stations and working in the standing position. Uh and the teachers have been uh really receptive to it and they feel like it really they've seen they've noticed a difference in the students more engaged when they're up and in in standing at the door doing things. So we've had that going on. We've also had uh thank you uh to to Heather. We've had GNR inclusive group uh
047happening at Rambow. So they've gone sixth and seventh grade over the last two years working with our co-taught classrooms with our teachers uh on station teaching lesson planning. So that has also been going on. Then uh I think it was the the best PD that was possible. But so I'd really like to thank anybody here that made it possible. John Antinetti came to us uh in the November PD day and Rombout to stay at RomBout and it he he truly is an amazing presenter. Uh his message resonated really really well with our teachers. We are looking forward to uh future PD with him. But we had, you know, very rarely do you have a PD and then you have teachers right after the PD going right in on the strategies that the presenter showed and
048working in their classroom on them. But he showed some strategies to them that we've had several teachers explore in their classrooms and are looking forward. So we actually have a video that Mr. Joyce put together of his class doing the different strategies. the slow reveal happens to be like the one that the teachers just fell in love with at the at the conference at the training and he showed it to him in a way that they realized right away they can make this happen in their classroom. So we're going to show you a video uh from Mr. Joyce and thank you Mr. Joyce, if you watch us at any point in time, the time and effort that went through for him to create this video um just to share with you what it looks like
049inside an actual classroom, I can't tell you how many hours he spent doing it. Um we just got it today from him and it's uh it's truly thank I thank him a lot for doing it. All right, guys. detail. Is there anything? How far? He's going >> jump. This is why it's called the slow reveal. 1 2 3 4 5 I would like to people. >> Wait, wait. basics deal. Everybody other still >> right. 5 minutes 10 minutes. How long? started in the 1980s. >> It did not exist in the 1950s. online. So, uh hopefully you enjoyed that. But it was just it was really nice to be able to look at a classroom. Uh, and that's him doing three different lessons, merging them all for this video. So, that's not a teacher who's tried
050it once just to give us a video. He's using it regularly inside of his classroom, uh, as well as a number of other teachers. And so, we we really appreciate the opportunity that we were presented for that PD. and our teachers are looking forward to any additional opportunities to work with uh Mr. Anthony. He's talked about helping uh them with their lesson plan to set one up to actually present one with them inside of their classroom to just observe their classroom. Um so for for a lot of the teachers they are just waiting for us to say when they might get another opportunity to meet with him uh in a smaller setting to work more on their curriculum and how they can make it happen in their classroom. RMS vision and growth uh just a
051couple of things uh things that I would love to see. I would really love to see uh us create a wood shop uh course as a teched elective for our grade eight students. I feel like it's something that all students could use. Uh, and we haven't had it in forever, but I feel like when they get out of high school, they should have had some hands-on experience uh to be ready for the real world. And that's something that I would love uh to look into trying to create at Rombout Middle School. We've also discussed a lot about the transition to a nine period school day. that is something that would alleviate some of the issues where students that take AIS or support classes have to give up uh their mandated electives. So, it does pull
052them in those areas. I do also recognize there are obstacles to a nine period day. So, I don't want to just say yes, it's so easy to do, but there are definitely pluses to doing that. We would we've uh been looking at adding an agility course with climbing apparatus in the recess area. So that is something that we have uh proposals for and we're hopeful within the next year that might become something that joins the Romell Middle School recess area and uh it would look a little different than what we have right now. So we might have to move some of the hoops around. But uh an agility course I think at our our age group would be something that the kids would use a lot as opposed to like a traditional playground. Um so
053there's some really neat designs that we've been looking at. And then uh I think inside the building we could really use an increase in the number of singleuse uh student restrooms. We you know as as time is evolving that is where the students are at a comfort level. Students like that opportunity to use the single-use restroom and we need to find ways to create more of them throughout the building so that it's easier for students to get from where they are in class to to those types of uh bathrooms and then get back to class. >> Thank you. >> Any questions? >> No, >> this was um very uh thorough. I I appreciate it. I I was also really interested in seeing the um the application of the professional development in the classroom. That was
054that was super interesting to see. Um did anybody have any specific questions? >> So um I know you were talk you talked about the um the decrease in classroom or the participation on the state results and ways of addressing that which um I have an idea that I'll talk to you afterwards at Arlington did but nice >> and it worked. But um you deal dealing with I Ready um based on the state results um are there any initiatives like taking place like with the ELA department, math department, science department um to like um looking at areas that students are deficient in uh may need assistance with uh like are there certain things that those departments may be working on to um attempt to close that gap. >> Yeah. Uh so ELA they have been working
055closely and I thank Sagi for her work with our ELA department over the last what two to three years she's really put a lot of time and effort into uh getting different books in the classroom and working with them on strategies and we have seen those numbers start to rise. Um math what we're looking at this year uh talk with Dr. Orlando, we're looking to do some some work ahead of the state test offering uh almost like a a before school class. We're going to try to target our students that uh we feel like are in that at risk zone and we're looking at targeting like an AM class where they could still take the high school bus in. So we'd have transportation if they're a bus student. Uh they'd come in. We're looking at
056running somewhere between like 12 and 16. It's almost like four weeks worth of classes where they could go Monday through Thursday to work on the skills in the background. Uh for students that the morning isn't something that they can do, we were going to look to do like an online evening session as well where they could log on for either uh work with the skills or just even if it's working on their homework with one of our teachers on that could help them answer questions. So those are just two of like the short term with the math but the math is also working through um the professional development that they just started recently with Duchess Boseies which is the station teaching uh in the standing position. So that is ongoing uh professional development that we're
057doing with the math teachers through Boseis. >> Yeah. Um I I know the nine period day adds time or adds money, but um that would be a another thing if we had that besides the AAS >> is that ability for the teachers to have some time um possibly during the school day um with a grade level lunch that they'd be able to collaborate um and uh work together on um strategies and uh different things that you identifying areas that students are struggling in because you know all the schools are attempting to find that you know the the golden ticket. Um but u that would that is another big advantage because right now having worked there um they just don't have the time to work collaboratively and it would be a a nice thing if we
058could do it. I know it's it's going to be a struggle. I understand that. But >> yeah, it's difficult to free them up on just a random. You know, subs are subs are tough to come by and uh the nine period day definitely helps with the idea of teacher collaboration and time within the day to work. >> Yeah, I just think those are great questions and um seeing how many students are not yet proficient at math or English like the the extra class or the MTSS are really really good, but they're not getting obviously to all the students who need help. Um, I was curious, you know, we're halfway through the year. Do you have a sense about how we're progressing? Like how this year's results might be different than last year's? >> I mean,
059we've we've only had one of the I Ready benchmarks so far. And to be honest with you, the benchmark is pretty similar to where we were uh last year. you know, it's tough if you can compare it to where they were at the end of the school year to see how many uh but when we go back from this point this year to the same point last year, the numbers are are kind of similar in the ballpark. um you know and so we're hoping if we can get our participation rate up for the state test uh and really emphasize the importance of doing their best on it uh that we can start to see some more accurate results there of our entire student body and really get a better sense of where where students are.
060>> When is the midyear I ready? >> Uh February 9th. So, um, we can put together for the board just a really simple summary of like the midyear results just so you can see it. Part of the struggle with this isn't a big deal, but when we're sort of putting uh these presentations on different dates like like where the presentation lands >> means like there's different data to be able to share. But I think um the board's wanting to look at more data this year. So when we get like the midyear eye ready data, maybe we can put together like a just a summary of kind of like trends that we're seeing, some strengths and some challenges and that could be something that we share with the board just kind of, you know, internally. Um
061because that's something the math the math part is something that I know the school's really been trying to focus on with the PD and we're trying to add this extra layer of tutoring in. Like math is obviously a huge gatekeeper subject for future success in school and um anyway that's one we're just trying to put a lot of energy on this year. kids would do on the state assessment at that point. So assessment take >> just one thing too about the nine period day. Um, last year I, you know, I'm always trying to sort of think of different ways to do the budget process and I talked about it a lot and then we didn't do it right. We didn't have the funds. So I my reflection for this year is I'm not going to
062talk about it a lot in a board meeting until I feel like we're confident that we can do it. Um, Brian and Eric kind of, you know, pretty well laid out what the issues are. Um but we have kids kind of at different um on uh different parts of the academic spectrum that are missing out uh on you know either extra support or um electives or both sometimes. And so um so this just something that we're really working pretty hard to try to figure out for next year. Um it's one of our top priorities. I also think if we're trying to be more data based in terms of like uh budget decisions this year um you know I think the data out of the middle school like we're seeing some improvements in some things we
063want to see more I really do think the nine period day would be a way to do that. Um, so back and just quickly about the math tutoring thing, I I want to be clear like the math teachers at Rambout, I I saw this professionally but also as a parent like they, you know, contractually there's a line in the teacher contract about having a certain amount of time for extra help every week. And the math teachers at Roundabout are extremely dedicated to that and really offer quite a bit of extra help. running like a tutoring program would just be like kind of one more uh way to do it. And we'd be able if we're if we're able to do the online evening thing would probably get some kids that maybe can't do it because
064of a sport or something. Uh or maybe the early morning would get some kids that normally couldn't do it. So, so anyway, we're just trying to look at different ways to address it, but the nine period day one is huge. And I'm breaking my vow. I'm talking about it before I'm certain. But like we um I think the governor is talking soon, right? She's giving her speech soon. So uh uh so anyway, we and I know there's a lot that goes beyond the governor's speech, but it's a high priority for us with that because there's just a lot of things we're not hitting fully with the A period day. >> Is that it for everyone? >> All right. Thank you so much. That was helpful. I just want to thank Amanda and Marissa for jumping
065in and doing uh showing some of your work for the presentation. So, thank you uh for that. >> Yeah, that's >> I'll thank you later, Brian. >> Okay, next up uh we are getting a bud budget update from uh Matt and Amry. >> Emry is going to do it from there and I'm just going to like chime in every once in a while instead of me standing next to her and like >> lurking the whole time. Thank you. So, we are in the beginning stages of budget season. Um, so these are just a couple of uh quick highlights just to kind of tell you where we are and things that we've been noticing. So, I started out the year trying to do an estimated tax cap calculation. Um, so couple of variables. I already know
066what the tax base growth factor is. It's a little bit less than it has been in the past. Um but still high enough in the county. So it does let our our levy grow um a bit. Allowable growth factor is 2%. That's kind of a standard now because the CPI is much higher than that. So we can't go more than 2%. >> So we're estimating the maximum levy increase um which includes another um another increase in the debt level to kind of pay for the fac for the uh capital project. So we're we're about 3.63%. So that's an estimate and I'll talk more about it. Um I do want to mention one aspect of it. Um one of the ads and the subtractions have to do with the payment in lie of taxes the pilots
067that we get. Um I have reached out to the city to ask where Maribou Spa is. Um because if they come off the tax roles and they become a pilot then it affects my calculation a little bit. Right. Um, the city told me that they had to have their certificate of occupancy by March 1st, otherwise they would stay on the tax roles the way they are and not go into a pilot situation. Matt and I talk about this all the time because I'm following them on social media and they're taking um reservations for the spring. So, I'm like, wait a minute, you know, so this may change right before March 1st and and the cap is due March 1st. So, I just want to make sure that we maximize the tax cap in the right
068way. Um, I can I can grow this to closer to 3.8% if I know Maribou is going to give us the pilot. And the important part of that is that that comes off the tax roll. So, you want to be able that levy would be spread over um a different population of things. So, that's kind of where we are with that. I just wanted to kind of mention that to you. >> If if we start receiving the pilot, does that change our like our revenue amount, our budget planning? Does it change our >> It thinking much or is it really just like it affects? >> It will increase the It'll increase the pilot um revenue. It's not a lot, >> but the first year was pretty low. >> Right. It was like >> a little
069over 100 thou. Yeah. >> I don't even think it was that much, but yeah. >> So, just to >> So, you think the that maximum levy increase I know you're not saying that's what it is. That's what we're projecting. What do you think the variance could possibly be? Just out of curiosity, >> it'll be in the high threes. So 3.89. It's not going to be um as high as it was. >> And last year we were 509. >> 509. Yes. And the taxbased growth factor is slightly different. So that does impact that. >> Okay. >> And there and I have an estimate for debt. So as we get closer, I can fine-tune it a little bit more. So, our health insurance, our health insurance in in the district here runs on a calendar year. So,
070we have when you're trying to do budgeting for a school year, you have half half a year at one rate and the other half. So, we just got our premiums in in January. Um, so our bigger plans um increase between 9 and a half and 10 and a half%. Which is kind of high. Um, just so to give you some kind of context, health insurance costs are about 12.7% of the total budget. So, it does have an impact um >> on on the whole budget when you're talking about raising the levy 3.6% and you have 10 and a half% health insurance cost. So, um that's just something for us to to kind of monitor. >> What is what was it last year? >> Um last year was between 8 and a half and nine. So,
071>> okay, >> health insurance and I'm I have another slide talking a little bit about health insurance, but health insurance is >> unfortunately a major driver. It's not something that, you know, everybody kind of knows um that's going up. Um TRS and ERS, teachers retirement system and employees retirement system. So um for the employees here that are certificated staff, teachers administrators, teaching assistants, they're all in the teachers retirement system. Um and employees retirement system are all our civil service employees. So the good the good news, that's why I made it green. teachers retirement system percentage is going from 6.59 to 8.75. That's the biggest payroll as well. So, it's got the biggest impact. So, if I use last year uh last year's payroll and I applied the percentage, we'd save about $250,000 which is helpful
072like when we're doing the budget. Um employees retirement system of course um is in the red so it's going up 16 and a half to 17.6. Again, the payroll is not as high. Um, so with that increase, we would lose about maybe 120,000 if you're doing it roughly. So we're still net net we're still in a positive situation. Um, basically that just helps us use that money to pay for other things in the budget when we're going forward. >> And Marry, sorry, what do those percentages represent? >> It's a percentage of payroll that the school district has to pay into the pension plan every year. So, um, if you're taking the employees retirement system, you take all of the payroll, all the salary that's pensionable, there's some salary that teachers and administrators get that doesn't
073go into their final average salary. So, you would take that total payroll and you multiply it by um 8.75% and that um has to be submitted to the state in the retirement system >> and the percentage is determined by someone else. We have >> Yes. outside of right the controllers's office is the employees retirement system teachers retirement system is a separate pension fund um they've been they're usually really good about investing so a lot of times you'll see that their percentages is tied to how well the market is doing so the market's doing pretty decently um and it's really mainly invested you know independently through them >> I wanted to mention Medicare reimbursement to retirees because there's something in the budget. So, because we belong to the Empire plan um in the district, uh the
074district's required to reimburse our retirees for the full amount of their Medicare Part B premium. So, you're a retired um employee and you get Social Security. Um you get your Medicare Part B um taken out of your Social Security payment. >> You uh the retiree then submits to the district for full reimbursement. So years years ago, everybody got the same Medicare reimbursement. Um, now it's based on income. So some people get the minimum, some people get more. The reason I'm mentioning this is because like health insurance, Medicare is going up as well. Um, so it's just something to kind of keep an eye on um, for us when we're doing the budgeting piece, but we've seen it systematically go up um, every year. I did question whether the district was responsible for doing the full
075premium and we are um you know just based on the law and and doing that because I thought that would be a way for us to save money but we are required to do that. So um just some kind of tied to health insurance just to kind of put it on your radar a little bit. We have 10 teachers uh maybe 11 retiring in June of this year. Um, so I wanted to kind of quantify savings. So, um, if we were assuming that all of those teachers we needed and needed to be replaced, roughly we would save about $350,000, um, in breakage and salary, it it could it should be more. The reason it's not more is because we're losing two science teachers at the high school. One teaches physics, one teaches chemistry, and we
076are losing two uh world language teachers at the middle school. So, just to be just to be conservative, I'm not using my usual MAT step five to replace them. I'm making that a little bit higher because the market for those teachers is going to be difficult for us to recruit and we may have to get and we may have to pay them a higher salary. Um, so that's kind of where it is, but we still with 10 teachers retiring at top step with their longevity and even a replacement at a higher step, we're still saving about $350,000. Again, helpful in the whole budget process. We're putting it out there. Matt and I are trying not to get really excited about this, but Governor Hok hope hopefully we'll talk more about it tomorrow and maybe be
077a little bit um easier. But as you know, Beacon does a full day program inhouse for preK. Probably one of the few school districts that does that. Um, some of the general fund has to pay for that. That universal word that I know um she keeps talking about. Um, it doesn't cover the full cost of the program. So for us, it would be fantastic if the uh funding increased because it would help us offset some of the cost that the general fund is paying for to have the program um full day inhouse. Um I know other districts are struggling even providing a universal prek or providing it inhouse. A lot of them sub it out to community- based organizations. Um but we don't. And so this is kind of exciting. And so I'm I I
078want to listen to Governor Hokll tomorrow because hopefully she'll say some things that we'll know. So that's just kind of a placeholder. It's just kind of a happy note. We're not getting too excited, but um we're hoping that >> I mean she's she's been sort of specific. I know there's a lot to happen between now and the final budget, but the current allotment per student for UPK universal prek is $5,400, which you know I've been ranting about for years. that that number hasn't changed in over a decade. >> Um, which you know obviously doesn't make sense to anyone but this she they are >> pretty clearly saying that it it I not quite double but like somewhere it would I it depends on the district but somewhere between 8 and 10,000 I think per student.
079>> Yes. Um it might be phas in over a couple of years which might make the impact a little bit less dramatic on us but um it it would it would it would be a huge uh positive for for the budget >> about a per student aotment not like a lump because we had also advocated for more of like a a lump sum and let us use the money how we you know >> um I think they're sticking to the I mean the the early speaking is there's sticking to the individual per child thing because obviously I think they're trying to >> get more >> use a carrot or whatever to get more kids in it. I mean the flip of this is we've been doing it so we won't have an implementation bump or
080anything you know because we've already been doing it. Uh so so I think I I just got really excited because so often these things happen and perhaps it will change. we need to do advocacy. Um where districts that aren't doing it get rewarded, right? Like, oh, this district's not doing it, so we're going to give them more money. And so the way they at least are framing it right now, it appears that like districts that are currently making the efforts that we are will get, you know, more funds too, which um so anyway, this I think has a lot of potential, >> right? Uh >> this will be very helpful um just because there it will open up additional funding in the general fund for us to to do the budget if we could put
081more to um this grant because it's considered a grant that comes off the state run. >> Um >> this is just uh kind of a draft budget calendar because I think we're already we're going to change athletics to February 9th. Mhm. >> Um and so I will we just wanted to lay out when the different presentations would happen. We we may make a couple tweaks and then we'll uh share it with the community and you all but it's just kind of laying out uh Boseies. One change this year we're actually having uh the folks from Boseies come down to present on their budget on the 28th as part of the voting. Right. They're so we haven't had them come in a few years. So, they have a new district superintendent and really a whole new
082team. So, I think that'll be good for us to meet them. Um, and then, you know, that's just the board side of it. Uh, from March to April, I'll I'm probably going to do like a budget town hall in each of the schools. Um I may do one or two kind of community uh ones as well just to talk about uh different aspects of the budget and everything we're planning for next year. >> Okay, >> some more to come. This is just the beginning. >> This is a this is a very helpful and clear uh layout of sort of >> just what we're worried about. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly what we're worried about. worried about it. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Um All right. Next up, uh we are going
083to hear from our student representatives. Nadine, do you want to start? >> Sure. Um I don't really have anything to say except that I hope you all had a great winter break. >> Oh, thanks. That's very kind of you. I hope you did as well. um that the Mr. Sulttish and staff from RMS the presentation was really informative and interesting. I enjoyed it. >> Nice. All right, moving on to superintendent report. Matt, >> just one um thing we wanted to share uh tonight is uh you know after a long process our two electric buses uh have been on the road uh for all of 2026 and uh which hasn't been a lot a long time but uh we you know this was something that we've been working on for a few years. a lot of
084different people um have been involved with it. Want to give a huge thanks to the transportation department obviously they um have been the main folks but then also a lot of people behind the scenes too. Uh but uh it's been going really well and we want to uh do something. We we'll probably do something next week for social media or my updates or andor my updates. But we wanted to figure out a time or maybe a couple of times um where maybe like a half an hour prior to a board meeting or something like that we we can uh do a little uh quick drive with the board on the one of the um EV buses um to experience it. I we're hearing positives from the drivers like the drivers are really enjoying um that
085we have some of our drivers went through some special training to do it and they're enjoying uh driving them. So um you know it's like something that the public voted on like quite a while ago and uh takes a process to do this. Just one note about transportation. At the next board meeting, we want to get into um the what's on the propos the transportation proposition on the ballot. Um just to maybe foreshadow or forewarn depending on um you know how you view it. Um we do just have the capacity for two electric buses right now. Like that's what we have the charging capacity for. to increase that we'd we'd have to go out and uh do some sort of small capital project to add to the bus garage and the infrastructure there. So, we
086will be talking about, you know, um at that we don't have all the details yet, but we'll be talking about some um gas buses. Um but that said, I think the positive experience so far with the ebuses means we'll also be um figuring out ways to increase that over the years, too. So, um, and then lastly, um, did we land on January 22nd for the >> Yes, I was going to I was going to mention that in my, um, >> so just comments, >> um, Anry and I are going to share probably like Thursday of this week, just a tenative here's all the information we're pulling together for you all. And then, you know, I'll text you when I send that email out just to remind you. And if there's other things you want to
087see, then we'll have like a week and a half to pull that together, too. Um, so, um, so I just wanted to share that >> 7 to 9. Does that is that adequate time, you think? >> Yeah. >> Okay, great. >> Yeah. >> Well, I could, uh, get like dinner ahead of time and, um, Yeah. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Okay. >> Is that it? >> Thank you so much. All right. We will move on to um board comments and committee reports uh of which there are probably no committee reports. Um Katherine, you want to start? >> Sure. Um bus ride fun behind that idea. Pretty exciting. Um I want to share my gratitude for the middle school presentation. Extraordinary amount of detail and information. Really psyched to hear all about that. And also the budget.
088This is going to be fun. I can't wait to ask a million questions and happy new year everybody. >> Happy new year from me. >> All right. Thank you, Chris. >> Yeah. Uh not much. Thanks for the presentation. I did as a former math teacher especially appreciate the video know that it's uh takes a lot of time to put together and um I think the more we can hear about like instruction and like how are we achieving I know I asked about the results and how are we doing but I think getting a peak into um what the classrooms actually look like was really was really great. So thanks the teacher who put that together and thanks for sharing that with us. Yeah, that was great. >> Leavonne, >> again, just thank you for the
089presentation. It was very informative. >> Eric, >> do do we have facilities or >> Yeah. >> 5 5:30. >> When is it? >> Are you able uh before the next board meeting? >> 5:30. >> Would that work? >> Uh 5:30. >> 5:30 >> on the 26th. >> We can order a pizza or something. Uh would that work? Well, I wanted to say I think that um so Katherine had brought up that she remembers being added to the committee but then she's not listed on there. >> Okay. >> Um so you would that would that work for you Katherine? >> Yeah, that's fine. >> That's fine by me too. Great. So what the what we want to do at that meeting and actually we wanted to I if we can do this we wanted to it's
090not required but we wanted to open it up to members of the finance committee too. Oh, right. >> Because there's a a financial aspect. Help me out with this a little bit, Jo. We're We're um >> has it has to do with filing the final cost reports talking about, you know, working with our contractors and maybe having some of our building later on and how make up. >> Yeah. So, it's it's kind of complex. It doesn't really impact our own like budget process, but I just think it's something that would be good to understand. So, it's not like everyone has to be there and we can we can then talk about it in the board meeting itself, but we wanted to open that one up to if like a finance committee member wanted to, you
091know, to come to hear that part. The other part of the meeting will be just the team really just laying out we have quite a timeline ahead of us. We have a lot of work starting this summer um at all of our buildings. Again, we swore we weren't going to do that. We're do we are doing entryways at all the buildings. That's not quite as big as all the other stuff we were doing last summer. Um we have a lot starting this summer. We have a lot with the air conditioning getting kicked off this summer and the team was going to roll through all of that. So, we have a lot going on. So, um I'll just again like it's not required for finance for the finance committee. It just felt like it'd be good
092for those members to hear that too >> if they were free. >> And then at the board meeting itself on the 26, we can get into that a little bit too. So that's good. So 5:30 on the 20 >> 26 >> on the 26. Great. >> That works. >> Uh thanks Brian. Uh thanks the assistant principles. Thank I think uh science fair is awesome. I'm glad you're taking that over, Amanda. Great. Thanks for doing those meetings before school. They're vital part. Appreciate it. Uh I just want to mention I did go to the um Hall of Fame uh athletic hall of fame on Friday night at St. Rockos. Uh it was really great evening. There were about seven people inducted, one team. Really put together well. Mike did a great job uh running the whole
093thing. And um it was really nice to see. It was a lot. I think there was almost 80 people there. So, it was a nice gathering of the community and um it was really really Eric Romanino was the MC. So, it was really nice to uh to see that as well. So, that's it for me. >> All right. Thank you, Meredith. >> Um yeah, thank you for that presentation. It was awesome. And I did also really I I always loved having a window into the classroom and it was great watching the body language of the students kind of perk up as they became more engaged. and you can see how that tech technique really works. Um, I was also really excited about the steam fair. Um, I put it in my calendar. Um, two things.
094I I'm having some trouble with my computer. I don't know if it's the internet or my computer, but um, I'm going to pass that letter um of support for the climate curriculum onto the larger board. I think we can just approve it over email if people are up for that. Um, and then we really could use a policy meeting. Um, Katherine and Leavonne, is that you guys? >> Um, I wonder if the um, let's see. Okay, we have the retreat next week. So, and we have board meeting the week after that. So, I don't know if either the 21st or the 28th would work for um, you guys. Either one's fine. >> Either one's good for me, too. >> Same. >> Uh, do you have a preference? Maybe, maybe we should make the 28th so
095we can prepare the policies. >> Yeah, 28th. Okay. >> 28th. And should we try to have a Pearl meeting? >> I think so because we should probably start talking about our newsletter. >> Yeah. >> And then, um, >> that's Catherine and Seamra. >> Yeah. >> Um, so let's ask Summer if she could make that night also. Okay. >> Um, >> let's make Yeah, Paul second because I think Sra maybe it's better for her to do later if she can make it. >> Yeah. Wait, what date? The >> 28th 28th. >> Okay. So, the budget should be offered. >> So, if we need to advocacy will know. >> Exactly. >> Okay, cool. Um, yeah, that's all for me. >> All right. Um, sorry, I'm just making a note here. I uh also wanted to echo the
096thank you for the um presentation. I have a son in Rombo and um I feel like every year uh things are getting um more better and more engaging and I'm like I think he's having an even better experience than my first son had. I love the positivity project. I love how it makes kids think about like their social emotional like experience in a way that's more um in a way that is just really engaging. It's not um being done to them. They're really thinking through it and I think it's great. I love the idea of the steam fair. I'm going to deeply pressure my son to participate. Um, and I also like to see all of the academic supports and the way that you're really thinking about this in terms of like what level of
097of um, attention and care students need. So, thank you so much for making it such a great place for my kids to be um, and everyone's kids, of course. Um, I also I wanted to mention the retreat, but it sounds like we've got that squared away. And then I had um, a random question. So now that the food pyramid has changed, apparently that's supposed to change guidance for school meals. Is that right? Like do we have any sense of how that's going to change what we have to do with school lunches? >> Not yet. How does I mean how does that work? Is does it like trickle down? Do they like say you you have you guys have to all do this now or >> I I I mean I think it's quite a process
098to go from um to go from uh some press conference to then like what schools buy with FDA guidelines. So I I wouldn't see like a change to what we're doing for probably quite some time. Oh, really? >> Yeah. I mean there's a lot that goes into meal planning for schools. >> Uh so like you know >> so they I from my understanding they had like a press conference right or like they announced it like there's a lot that needs to then happen. >> Okay that's good to know because like yeah >> we didn't start swi and I'm not saying I I don't know much about it this particular thing. I've been probably focused on other things in the news, but um I don't think it has like an immediate impact on us. >> Okay,
099that's good. >> Yeah, I I think it sounds like it would probably be like the kinds of milk we have offered and like I mean there's a lot of math, you know, with with this meal planning and it's like the percentages of what we use and what we don't use and that kind of stuff and that I think that'll take a little bit of time. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Okay, that's good to know. All right, that's all I had for tonight. Um, moving on to the consent agenda. The use of the consent agenda permits the board of education to make more effective use of its time by adopting a single motion to cover those relatively routine matters which are included. Any member of the board who wishes to discuss individually a particular piece of
100business on the consent agenda may so indicate, and that item will be considered and voted on separately, thus preserving the right of all board members to be heard on any issue. Are there any items that any board members would like to have removed from the consent agenda? No. Hearing none, can I have a motion to approve 12.01 through 16.04? I actually have a question. Sorry. That's on the 1202 the calendar in the action it says February 18th, but in the actual calendar I believe it says the 19th. So, I just wanted to clarify. What are we doing? Is it the >> Oh, for the meeting. >> For the meeting. >> I think it's supposed to be the 19th. >> Cool. >> Good catch. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. >> Thank you all for switching that. >> Yeah,
101of course. Um, so just to be uh technically correct, do I need to make a motion to amend it or like a typo. >> Okay, the calendar itself is completely >> okay. Then if we acknowledge it's all it was >> I only have a steak in it because it's my birthday. >> The 18th. >> Oh, I'm the 19th. >> Are you really? Oh, that's crazy over it. >> We'll bring cupcakes either way. Um, okay. >> Gluten-free. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, can I have a motion to approve 12.01 through 16.04? >> So moved. Leavonne second. >> Second. >> Meredith second. Comments or questions? All in favor? >> I pass 70. >> Good night. >> wait, what did I do? Oh gosh, I am rusty. I am rusty. >> Oh, just we're only six people.
102>> 6. >> Uh, okay. Um, motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Second by Chris. Comments or questions? All in favor? I I passes six to zero. >> Now, good night. >> Good night. >> So, Matt, what's the need to do?