001Fred, you ready? >> Yeah. >> Great. I call to order the meeting for the Cleveland Heights University Heights City School District work session for Tuesday the 21st of October, 2025. Miss Laam, will you call the role, please? >> Mr. Hines, >> here. >> Miss Lewis, >> here. >> Missini, >> here. >> Mr. Tremble, >> here. >> Mrs. Krenshaw, >> here. >> I would like a motion to entertain the consent agenda, please. >> A motion we discuss the consent agenda. >> I second. >> Okay, let's discuss. First things first, Tamar Gray is retiring. This is like the end of the universe >> for some of us. Both my kids had her and I mean obviously we will replace her with another music teacher, but it's a it's the end of an era. She has brought joy
002to children as they find their feet in music for a very long time. And she has built such a great creative um environment for kids to do something that's not always comfortable. And um God bless her for it. She is one in a million. >> You're here. I agree. >> Yeah, I'm going to miss uh her work with just all of the performances, particularly bringing the young kids to the musical when she's done that. Um music camp that she has done. Just amazing, phenomenal work for our children. >> H I wonder if her retirement from the district means she's also going to retire from working on the Reaching Heights Music Camp. >> That's up to her. >> I sure hope not. But they're not they're not >> they're different entities. >> Yes, they're different entities,
003but >> sigh. Okay. Well, you know, everybody gets the right to retire eventually. So, yes, we wish her a long and happy retirement. We thank her for her service, but we're really going to miss her. >> Yep. >> Absolutely. >> Anything else? Um, no. >> The pool agreement is not part of that. >> That is a separate separate object. >> Separate item. >> Okay. So, if we're ready, Miss Leam. >> Mr. Heights. >> Yes. >> Miss Aini. >> Yes. >> Miss Lis. >> Yes. >> Mr. Trimbo. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Krenshaw. >> Yes. And next we will take the new agenda item under business services um which is a shared use agreement between the school board and both cities the city of Cleveland Heights and the city of University Heights making the high school pool
004available to the community when it is not being used by our students. There's one more item um under personnel that doesn't >> Hang on. Did I miss something? >> The first reader of the board of Ber policy >> 5336. >> Why am I not seeing this? >> It's 11 under personnel. >> And okay, I need to refresh because my board docs isn't showing it. Sorry. That's why I'm crashing down there. Uh Okay, hold on. Let me get out of here and somebody else take the lead. >> So, this is a a good addition to a uh board policy 5336 regarding students um with diabetes and the care of those students that um you know, diabetes needs to be managed constantly and and monitored constantly. And this um opens up the um administration of diabetes medication
005from only the school nurse to people who other school staff who are appropriately trained for it. And it lays out the specific trainings that are required for that. And that's great because um the more people we have around our kids with um with diabetes, etc. Uh and the correct training to help them through that, the better off the world is. >> Thank you, Dan. I've I have all these new things that just showed up on my screen. >> Late breaking news. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Um so this is a first reading only. We don't need to vote on it yet. Is that correct? >> Right. >> Okay. >> Um and we've we've discussed the need to have extra adults who are able to um administer insulin or other medication because sometimes the person you expect isn't
006there. So, a good thing. >> And aren't our nurses shared across buildings? >> Yes. >> So, the nurses wouldn't always be there. >> Correct. But there are other people in each building, >> right? But now policy would be able to do that. Okay. >> We've aligned our nurse assignment to students who specifically um have that need. So um but we just want to make sure we have a backup. >> Mhm. No, this is excellent. Thank you. >> Good. the um and and I'm kind of reacting to this live as well as Molly because uh it was pretty late breaking, but um a question that I'll have for Sean maybe for the next reading is in the bus driver section. Uh this is like item B on page two at the bottom. Uh it says that
007we will provide a bus driver employed by the board who transports a student with diabetes so that they'll like they'll receive training as well. My question is, does it have to be a bus driver or it could also be one of our bus monitors who's presumably on that bus at the same time? Um, because there could be cases where that makes more sense to have someone that can switch routes more easily or something like that. >> And if that is the case, it ought to be spelled out right >> in the policy. It seems okay. Bus driver. I'm going to make a note of that for our next policy meeting. So the second reading of this would take place on November 4th and then the final reading would take place at our December meeting >>
008or the following >> or calendar >> November meeting, right? >> We have two meetings in November >> because the library board changes. We have to kind of revisit the work session pieces. So >> there's some questions about the schedule. I thought I understood what was happening, but maybe it's going to change again. >> Okay. >> So, >> I just would like to see this implemented sooner rather than later. I don't want it to drift into January. >> No, no, definitely want to make this happen as quickly as possible. Um, yeah, we could conceivably do it before the library board interviews and just have a quick consent agenda on the 12th of November, but we'll nail that down soon. >> Okay, >> great. >> It's posted. >> Yep. Thank you. Okay, now back to the pool
009agreement. Um so this is for consideration and vote to approve. Um the current time frame is very early morning Monday through Friday until um February 27th and then swim cadetses takes precedence and dive team and swim team blah blah blah and then when they're all done it resumes again in March after they strike the um light trusses for the swim cadetses. >> Um there will be amendments to this >> once everybody sorts out things like Saturday afternoons and things like that, but the point is to just get in place what we know will work as the bare minimum. Then we can always increase the hours as >> scheduling permits. Um, Jody, this should look very familiar to you from your conversations a year ago, two years ago with Mayor Brennan, etc. Three years ago, four
010years. Yeah, never mind. Um, but in terms of the 25% 75% and making sure that University Heights residents have the same access as Cleveland Heights residents because they are paying taxes which went to build the pool. >> Yes. If people don't remember, because it's been a while, um, when the pool was open previously prior to the pandemic, Cleveland Heights sold the passes and University Heights residents paid a higher non-resident fee. And we would often get questioned why that was. Well, it was because Cleveland Heights paid all of the fees for the lifeguards, the insurance, the pools. University Heights wasn't kicking anything in. Um, I'm glad to see that University Heights is now paying a quarter of it. That's proportionally based on when when we work to the population. >> It's the population. Yes. It's based
011on population. >> Um, >> and I'm excited to see that. And I hope that means that, you know, I I'm not selling the passes, but I hope for the cities that means that University Heights residents will pay the same amount as Cleveland Heights residents in order to use the pool that we all pay taxes for. Yeah, that's a detail that will be worked out by um the director of parks and recreation, Andres Gonzalez, who's the Cleveland Heights full-time yearround employee who will be >> over all of this. Um, and he and our athletic director, Joe Damato, have been in conversation, email, blah, blah, blah, multiple times to make sure that we could just do this as quickly as possible. Um, and then we of course had to make sure that the city lawyers were happy
012and you know >> everything takes a little bit longer than we would like. And so I just want to um remind all the people who've been calling and emailing and texting that we really we really did mean that to get this done as quickly as possible and here we are. So I'm delighted. I am delighted this is happening. I mean this has been way too long in the coming but here it is and it's you know looking at it it is very similar to what we had talked about like you said a year and a half two years ago and uh that we just couldn't get moved forward because we didn't have support from the cities at that time. So I'm glad that we have support now. Um, University Heights struggled with it because they
013didn't have a full-time wreck department to take it on, >> right? >> Um, but they were willing to share the costs in the conversations I had. So, I'm glad to see that this is coming to fruition finally. >> Yep. So, >> I have one um I'm I'm glad to see that this is happening as well. I just have one question um for section 3.1.6. [Music] Um 316. >> Yeah. 316. >> Let me zoom up. Yes. Um do we have any idea um who these who the third parties would be or what the idea is behind that? >> The idea behind that clause is we don't want people booking the high school swimming pool for a party. >> Right. So >> so could we just say you know >> I can explain there's a little more
014than that. It's also if there's a third party swim group that wants to give lessons, there has to be a separate agreement to make sure they have insurance. So it's this is just kind of a >> Okay. >> Like >> so they're not like subcontracting with other entities besides the two cities. >> Correct. Right. >> Okay. >> Correct. So this the board the school board would need to approve any other use than community swim. >> Okay. Thanks. >> Yeah. So, it's just to prevent if a us another swim group popped up, wanted to use it, say, to give lessons or >> um competitions that somebody wouldn't be using our pool without us knowing about it and making sure that they have the insurance that they're going to do the cleanup and all the things that,
015you know, are involved with running a pool. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you for the clarity. >> Yeah. the uh my now 13-year-old daughter's first swim lessons were in the old Heights high pool. Uh and it was >> where mine were, too. >> Yeah. Yeah. And I think it was uh you know, under the guise of mommy and me, although daddies were also allowed in the pool, but yeah. >> Okay. May I have a motion to approve the agreement between the cities of Cleveland Heights and University Heights and the Cleveland Heights University Heights Board of Education around pool shared use. >> I make a motion we approve this agreement. >> Second. >> Miss Leam. >> Mr. Riny. >> Yes. >> Mr. Tremble. >> Yes. >> Mr. Heights. I have been waiting for years to vote.
016Yes. Yes. >> Miss Lewis. >> Yes. Mrs. Krenshaw. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Can we just do a round of applause? >> Yes. Thank you. >> And a special thank you to Joe Damato and Andreas Gonzalez for working this out. and and to the community members who have been frustrated and yet patient and uh with us um and who had to go to incredible lengths to um pressure the the city of Cleveland Heights constantly and keep up that pressure for years. Um, so, uh, you know, I'm so glad that the wait is over for the folks who have been so desperately wanting to use it, and I look forward to expanding access to the pool, um, as um, we are capable of doing, and this is just, this is just great. >> Do we
017challenge both city councils to a swim competition? Us versus them? >> Um, I don't swim, so >> Well, my first job was a lifeguard, so >> Oh, excellent. We're putting you up to represent the board then. >> Except they have seven people each and we only have five. So I don't think that's fair. >> I barely float. So >> we'll see. But we might have our own little small pool party. >> Water polo. Perhaps water polo. >> Okay, good. Well, >> this is great. >> It's been a long time coming. I'm very happy about this. And now we can move on to the work session. >> Okay, >> Miss Kirby. All right. So, good evening everyone. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Um, we are going to um today focus specifically on our work in
018our office of school leadership improvement and support. I'm going to I'm going to though um kind of hijack the start of the presentation because I do want to give a very quick and I promise quick update on the report card. We referenced this in the last work session. Um, and so I just wanted to just kind of make sure the board had a strong sense. You can go ahead and hit that of our performance. Um, I have been going to all the schools and kind of doing a version of this tailored to each school. Um, you know, we're in a very interesting time in public education. And so, um, I've been sharing with our staff. Um, though we know that the report card is not the way that we measure our success. It is a
019measure that is public and used to measure the success of public schools. Also, you know, this past year, the state of Ohio decided um unfortunately instead of giving fair school funding, they did uh put in the bill language around a performance supplement, which I thought was interesting. Um and kind of a return to the days of old of tying performance to money. >> Um however, you can go to the next slide. because of our performance, we were able to um to you can stay here to get an additional $212,000 based on our performance. Unfortunately, we didn't get the $7 million in fair school funding. That would have been helpful, too. But, you know, um you know, it's helpful to have additional funds, especially in the context of how we're all leading and learning and living
020in public education in the state of Ohio. Liz, it might be good to remind the community that when fair school funding started, we started at a level that we were being punished for. >> We had already lost >> money due to this performance system. >> Yeah. So, we're multiple millions dollars in the hole even before fair school. >> Right. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and you know, that's it's challenging and it really pushes um everyone in our buildings to do I hate the phrase do more with less, but that's just kind of where we are. Um, but I do want to to talk about uh some achievement that we've that we have experienced because there's been a lot of work happening behind this and I want to make sure we give our teachers and our staff and
021our principles and our leaders and our parents and our partners, you know, kind of their due um recognition, too. So um overall we eight eight out of 10 of our schools met or exceeded expectations. We had five schools in particular that increased their overall component points. That would be Heights, Roxid, Bombgardner, Fairfax and Canterbury. Uh we had two schools that increased their performance um as related to stars that would be Heights High and Bombgardner Middle School. Two students that exceeded standards and achievement, Canterbury and Roxell. Two that exceeded in progress, Heights High and Bombgardner. one that exceeded in early literacy, Canterbury. Then four schools that exceeded state standards in gap closing heights, Canterbury Rocks, and Fairfax. Overall, we moved from two and a half stars in 2324 to three and a half stars in 2425.
022Um, which was a nice jump. Um and lots of work went behind that. But happy to see that it was because of the that movement in in um in progress that really helped support um the performance supplement this year. Um and what so I'm going to go through very quickly slides that are also accessible on the report card system in the state of Ohio, but I wanted to point out some state some state um data too just to kind of give us some context to it. So we had an overall increase in proficiency by 5.4% for all tests, all test uh all students and tests tested. The state increased 1.1 1% overall. So we definitely beat the state in improvement. When we look at our opportunity gap between our white students and students of color,
023it closed across every group. And in fact, when you look at our students by those by those performance groups, race and ethnicity, um, all groups outperform the state with the exception of Indian, American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Asian or Pacific Islander. So again, this isn't data that's like on the front front page, but it does kind of speak to the progress that we're making in the district. So moving to the next component um in progress. This was an area where we really worked hard on because in the previous year we lost a lot of ground with progress and this year we really got that back. We made expected growth when you take into account three years of data which is embedded in this. So we maintain our place in line and grew as expected but
024last year in particular was our biggest year of growth compared to the past three years. So really strong work and we see trends in particular content areas certainly the high school definitely in math as well definitely in our middle schools as well as it relates to gap closing. Um there are multiple metrics in this um as relates to graduation. We earned four of six points in our gifted services. We got points for gifted services and identification and performance. We earned four out of eight points in math progress, zero out of zero out of eight points in ELA progress. So though we did make expected gains in progress, we didn't hit the there's a target within progress that they seek for schools to hit to get those points. Six of nine points in math achievement, six
025of nine points in ELA achievement, and five out of five points in English learner progress within gap closing. So again, this was an increase from last year. We can kind of see that >> for the the ELA. Um have we made uh modifications this year to >> Yeah, some of that work Dr. Jenkins talked about in the previous work session. Um we are in particular when we do our analysis we see that it is uh some some middle school work needed in terms of uh maintaining growth from fifth to sixth to 7th grade. Um, but we have done things like introduce the OST dashboard so we can do a deep dive into our writing scores and writing performance because that's underneath a lot of the achievement in ELA. In addition, um our trends in K2,
026especially with early literacy, we're maintaining, you know, strong performance is still outperforming the state, but uh we really are trying to unpack what's happening with the use of our curriculum and then the science of reading. There's like a lot of different interventions happening now and still a somewhat new curriculum. So trying to figure that piece out. So um as relates to early literacy, kind of to that point. So really so this this is going to change this metric is going to change next year. So they are taking the promotion component out. So next year for early literacy is going to be reading subcore and improving offtrack readers. Right? So it's really just going to be our kids reading and the kids who are not reading are you getting them on track to read which is
027why we really need more like focus work just in that area to make sure that we continue to grow our kids in reading. Um so we maintained a three but it was slightly lower than the percentage of on track readers in in the year before. As it relates to graduation rate um we did also earn three stars here. We earn more component points because we had a uh the weighted graduation rate between four four year rate and 5 year rate was increased. Our preliminary data show another increase there. So we're moving in the right direction with graduation for sure. you know, for a while we were just trying to break 90. So, we're kind of past that. Now, we're trying to I mean, I'm really trying to push to 95% for the class of 2026
028because I do think um we are in range of that and our systems just every year get stronger and stronger. The next area is CCWMR. So, we um did increase this area by about 9 percentage points from the previous year. It's the first time that it counted and we have uh lots of different initiatives in place to just make sure our kids get exposure and ability to meet this metric from the credentials to pre-apprenticeships to um seals like those kinds of things. So, lots of things in the cooker with that and Bob referenced some of that in the previous work session. So, this is going to be my last slide. I really wanted to bring this up because we have been really working on our equity non-negotiables for the past several years. Uh our equity
029work is tied directly to the state report card. The state report card has metrics and goals and accountability for all those different racial and ethnic groups and students with disabilities and students who are English learners. And so these commitments here that you see um these non-negotiables that we have been working on are connected to reaching these goals. So, I wanted to put this here for the for the board's awareness. Um, and just so you know, we'll continue to work on this because we know this will support our student success. I have one comment. Um, you said earlier that we didn't meet expectation for American Indian and Alaskan Native students and AAPI students. I'm assuming that we have a small number of those. Therefore, one kid becomes a very large percentage change in one direction or
030the other. Right. >> So, statistically, >> it's very small. >> Not as meaningful in that sense. >> That's correct. Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yeah. That the American Indian Alaskan Native doesn't count um as a as a group for us in our calculation because of that >> because we don't have enough children. Okay. >> So, that just captures kind of the context of this. And so now I'm going to turn it over to Rachel Coleman and her team to talk about their specific work that they do in schools um to support this work. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um let me make sure I can switch this here. Fred, can you show me how to It's on here, but I don't know how to move forward. Oh, never mind. I got it. I got it. Sorry,
031Fred. All right. Good. Good evening, members of the board, and thank you for allowing us the opportunity to share the work of the Department of School Leadership, Improvement, and Support. Our department's work is deeply connected to the district strategic strategic plan goal one, and also plan goal two. Goal one reminds us of our responsibility to ensure that every student graduates fully prepared to thrive in college, career, and life. And go two reinforces that excellence must reach every student in every classroom through equitable access, empowerment, and multiple pathways to success. These goals shape how we work and collaborate, ensuring that every principal, every teacher, and every school receives the support needed to deliver high quality, equitable learning experience for all students. Tonight, along with myself, I would like to introduce you to a wonderful team of
032people. And I'm going to let them introduce themselves. So I'm going to pass it along. >> Dr. Lashanda Abducatar, director of SEAL and academic supports. Kaitlyn Sabbo, coordinator of culture and climate. >> Lisa Hussein, instructional specialist for culture and climate. >> I am going to speak for Jim Ben who's absent, instructional specialist for prevention and early intervention. And I am Anna Gregory, instructional specialist for prevention and early intervention. >> Welcome all of you. >> Yeah, thank you for being here. Sorry you guys, there's a little lag. So, our mission in the department of school leadership improvement and support is to build the capacity of our principles and our school teams, integrate academic and behavioral supports through our MTSS systems, and cultivate a safe, inclusive school climate. By partnering with our families and community organizations, we
033create meaningful connections that strengthen both learning and belonging. Our commitment to shared leadership and datadriven improvement ensures that every student, staff member, and family experiences a connected and achievement focused community. And now we're going to talk to you a little bit about our um organizational chart. I'm going to pass it along to Dr. Abdul Satar. So under the department of uh and academic support, we have two instructional specialists for MTSS. Um their official title is instructional specialist for early intervention and prevention. They're responsible for establishing systems of supports across academic and behavioral domains. And then un under the PBIS side or the behavioral side, we have our climate and culture coordinator and our climate and culture instructional specialist. and they manage and implement PBIS framework behavioral MTSS and SEAL and attendance. These are all completely
034funded through grants and federal funding allocations that I'll talk a little bit more about here. And through our grant and federal funds, uh they were um established or designed to strengthen school culture, climate, and student well-being through the continued development of PBIS and MTSS frameworks. Thank you. Can you guys hear me? >> Okay. Uh project uh funded through the federal grant project care focuses on creating safe and respectful learning environments. The grant funded the hiring of a coordinator and instructional specialists to expand implementation of PBIS behavioral MTSS and practices across all schools. These positions help build school team capacity to improve climate, increase attendance, and deepen student engagement. And then under state funding, through um the state prevention and early intervention funding, the district hired um two instructional specialists for prevention and early intervention. This
035role supports schools in developing tiered systems of academic, behavioral, and social emotional supports aligned with state and district priorities. The goal is to monitor interventions, strengthen team-based problem solving, and ensure consistent support of all students. Together, these grant-f funded roles and initiatives enhance districtwide alignment, provide sustainable supports for staff and students, and reinforces CHU's commitment to safe, responsive, and inclusive school environments. Also listed here are school counselors and our social workers. They also make up a part of our team. They are integral members of the school support team working collaboratively to ensure students success. Our school counselors lead um the implementation of the comprehensive school counseling plan which I'll talk about a little bit more later and then universal supports for students and families. Our school social workers provide more intensive support for students and
036families experiencing barriers to attendance, engagement, or well-being. They are key members of our MTSS and student support teams, offering case management, family outreach, crisis intervention, and referrals to community- based services. Their work bridges home, school, and community, ensuring students have access to the resources they need to succeed. Together, our counselors and social workers meet regularly to review data, align practices, and provide consistent in-person support to schools. Ultimately, the work of counselors and social workers is not separate from school improvement. So, that's why it's listed here. Um, it is the heart of it. By addressing barriers to learning and promoting social emotional wellness, they help ensure that every student is supported academically, behaviorally, and personally so they can thrive. So at Cleveland Heights High School um in all of our schools, so we have seven elementary
037schools which you're aware of. One of our elementary schools has an assistant principal, Melberg Heat. That's a Noble Elementary and that's simply because they have the highest population of students. Then we have our two middle schools and of course they have a very traditional model of principal, assistant principal and I don't want to leave out our dean of students. And I do want to pause here and say that my work is only possible because we have probably I believe the best principles and assistant principles um in the state. They are hard workers. They are not compliance driven. They are compassionate people who care about students and staff. And so in this role, if you don't have a group of people who are willing to get down in the dirt with you and really like roll
038up their sleeves and work hard for students, it would be impossible. So before I go any further, I just want to acknowledge them and their very hard work. At the high school this year, we did change things a little bit in alignment with our one plan. So at Cleveland Heights High School, we've implemented an alpha approach to student support and leadership alignment. Under this model, students are assigned to an assistant principal and counselor based on the first letter of their last name, and that relationship stays consistent throughout their time at the high school. This approach provides leadership consistency and stronger school family relationships. Families know exactly who to contact for support and assistant principles have the opportunity to build deep long-term relationships with students following their growth from freshman year through graduation. In addition to
039this structure, the school operates under a shared leadership model that allows each administrator to take ownership of a specific leadership focus area that contributes to the overall success of the school. So, Dr. Brandon Towns as the head principal leads the work on school culture and shared leadership. He's able to ensure that every staff member contributes to a positive, collaborative, and inclusive environment where students and adults thrive. Stephanie Thomas focuses on instruction, supporting teachers and strengthening instructional practices and maintaining alignment with district standards. Courtney Gardner, who is new to us this year, leads the work on behavior, ensuring that expectations are clear, restorative practices are used consistently, and systems of support are in place for students. And last, but not least, Taylor Smith and Karen Hansen focus on attendance, working to improve engagement, monitor chronic absenteeism,
040and ensure students remain connected to school. This structure allows each assistant principal to develop depth and leadership in a focused area while maintaining consistent relationships with their assigned students and families. Together, this model promotes collaboration, accountability, and stability, ensuring that every student at Cleveland Heights High School is known by name, supported by a consistent leadership team, and surrounded by adults who are committed to both their academic success and overall well-being. We have a long list of glosseries uh terms. So I'll let Landanda speak to that. And Dan, she will not read each one. I promise. >> I will not read each one. >> We have a glossery for that. >> You have a glossery for that. So uh in education, we use a lot of alphabet soup. So we wanted to make sure that we
041described all of those terms here. Um as well as any other terms that may be presented throughout this presentation. But as we are presenting um with the team, please um at any point if you need to stop us for clarification um we would love for you to do that. >> And as we learned last month or two months ago, the big change is we don't have to say blap anymore. >> You do not go to that. You do not have to. >> We can say one plan because that sounds much better. >> We just say one plan now. And I do want to pause here and just thank my partner um uh Dr. Jenkins for the hard work that he did with the one plan um this year. And so inside of that one plan,
042there are now seven goals. Uh our department is tied to five of those seven goals. And so I'm not going to read them, but if you please just take a look at them, you'll see that we're tied to attendance, behavior, instruction, literacy, and shared leadership. For the rest of this presentation, alongside along with sharing our alignment to the district 1 plan, our team will also share the following. Number one, our progress and accomplishments. Since the beginning of the year, we've done a lot with uh building staff capacity, implementing key initiatives, uh and aligning our building um one plans to our district priorities. Also, um we'll talk about our key data or evidence of early impact. Um here we'll reflect on just some measurable progress um and then strengthen implementation across all of our schools. And
043then finally, we'll talk about how we support um schools in person on a regular cadence. Um our term that we use in our department is boots on ground. And so we want to be boots on ground. We want to be in the buildings and that's all of our happy places. So uh we like the opportunity to share to work alongside teams um to um have an impact and just so the kids and the staff know us. Thank you. So, I'm going to just start off again just thank you for the opportunity to share this. Um, as chief of schools, my work this year has centered around several key district goals, attendance, behavior supports, instruction, literacy, and shared leadership. Each of these goals connects directly to the daily work happening in our schools. Goal seven will
044be shared at a future board work section, but mo much of the progress this year lays the groundwork for that goal as well. Since the start of the school year, our focus has been on strengthening instructional leadership and coherence across our schools. A district-wide system for low inference walkthroughs aligned to the Ohio principal evaluation standards is implemented. This system allows us to collect clear objective data on what's happening in classrooms and ensures principles are providing timely evidence-based feedback to teachers. A tiered monitoring and support structure for principles is established so that coaching and accountability are differentiated based on data and need. Some schools receive weekly support, others bi-weekly or monthly depending on walkthrough results and feedback quality. In addition, a district walkthrough template aligned to OTS 2.0 was launched creating shared expectations for instructional observation
045and feedback. our alignment across our teacherbased teams known as TBTs, our building leadership teams which are which is our BLTs and the district leadership team which is our DT has been strengthened with the Ohio improvement process. This ensures that classroom level conversations about teaching and learning connect directly to district key um district level planning and support. These systems are already showing positive results. Principles are conducting walkthroughs with greater consistency and providing mo more actionable feedback to teachers. They're using their walkthrough data in TBTs and BTS to adjust instruction, which is exactly what we want them to do. A centralized shared drive for walkthrough data has been established, which supports transparency, progress monitoring, and datadriven decision making across schools. We now have shared data tools, aligned agendas, and a clear cadence for grade reporting and building
046support. These structures make our work more predictable, collaborative, and responsive to the needs of our schools. I maintain a consistent presence in buildings through monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly walkthroughs with principles. I'm boots on the grounds when these visits are paired with coaching sessions, leadership team meetings, and on-site support when challenges arrive. I also facilitate monthly principal meetings and quarterly leader hubs, which our first one is this Thursday. And these sessions provide shared learning, crossbuilding collaboration, and opportunities for principles to grow together as instructional leaders. Last year, I was not able to connect so much with assistant principles. So the quarterly leader hubs allows our principles to come together with our principles. We know in education we have a shortage of educators. So this is allowing us to build our assistant principles to take over buildings
047in case that ever arises. Okay. All of this work is closely aligned with our academic services department through the CHU evergreen core instructional priorities. When we talk about instructional leadership with principles, these priorities guide our conversations and focus areas. They outline what highquality instruction should look like across every classroom in our district. And there is a clear commitment to increasing student agency, making learning relevant, I'm sorry, to agency. Our evergreen priorities are woven into every walkthrough, coaching session, and leadership conversation, ensuring our instructional focus is aligned, measurable, and consistent across all schools. Through this collective work, we are building stronger systems of support for our principles and teachers, creating coherence across departments, and ensuring that every student in CHU has access to rigorous, engaging, and equitable learning experiences. The alignment between the departments of school
048leadership improvement and support and academic services woven through our evergreen core priorities continues to move us closer to our district goals and our vision for student success. Are there any questions about my work and alignment to our goals? Okay, thank you. At this time then I'm going to pass it over to Dr. Leseanddar. Okay. So, part of my work directly supports the district one plan by improving attendance and behavior outcomes through a comprehensive coordinated system of prevention, early intervention, and student support. Every initiative that's been launched is grounded in equitable datainformed practices that ensure all students are connected, supported, and ready to learn. Since the start of the school year, we've made strong progress in sever several key areas. Uh our trauma-informed action plans have been completed and started to be implemented for each elementary
049school. These plans are aligned to both building and district priorities and focuses on improving trauma responsive strategies for our students, our staff, and our families. Collaboration with Metro Health. Metro Health has expanded through our care coordinator who serves as a mental health care navigator connecting students and families to behavioral health resources. This position is funded by the Heights Foundation of Heights Foundation grant um to Metro Health. through the what works in schools uh surveillance grant uh we were able to receive $3,000 um to fund staff wellness rooms at both Fairfax Elementary School and Heights High. I believe Fairfax is having their grand opening of their wellness room next week. They should have received all the supplies and Heights will have theirs sometime uh the beginning of next month. I actively monitor and support MTSS systems
050uh K through 12 ensuring consistency in how schools identify and re respond to student needs. And then a comprehensive school counseling program has been launched which provides a clear framework for equitable and datadriven counseling services. And again I'll talk a little bit more about that in the next slide. Um, and then we're in the second year of implementmenting our SEAL curriculum. Um, at the elementary level, lessons are taught by school counselors and at the middle school, lessons are delivered by our classroom teachers. And then as a school social worker and counselor team, we started our book study of the year, which is anxious generation. And if you haven't heard of that, um it's to build staff awareness and strategies, um to address student anxiety and a lot of um the student hardships that come with
051technology. Um every year we do a book study and this is our this year's study. >> I was getting my haircut by Alex Canana and he said, "Uh, have you read anxious generation?" And I got it after that on his recommendation. I was thinking about exact same conversation I had with Alex Kentucky as I was getting my haircut. >> Okay. Obviously, we all need to go get our haircut in the same place. >> Get better, I tell you. >> I have a quick question. Um, how will the changes to Metro Health's >> severance campus affect your work with the care coordinator and our student mental health? >> You know, can I I was reading that. I'm not sure if it will because they will still have their behavioral health component. My understanding, they just don't
052have the psychiatric. >> It's the 10 bed emergency psychiatric >> components. Yeah. It's not the full It's not the the full building that was the addition. It's 10 beds that are I think can be reused for >> other purposes. But >> yeah, and I'm hearing I'm hearing different different stories about that. So, I think that this really might be a time that's important for us working in collaboration with our host cities to get a really clear understanding of what our community can expect because that's a really important facility um for the health and wellness of our citizens. And um really I hear a different version of the story all the time. So we need to button this up and and I think perhaps hear from uh the county council and Metro Health themselves. I don't
053want this to be a WCSB moment where it just goes poof and it's gone. >> What's WCSB? >> The radio station at Cleveland State that was >> that just got >> had a had a disappeared. >> And I wasn't in the middle of the radio station that just disappeared. >> Yes, it was a hostile takeover by Idea Stream. >> Oh wow. >> Bad news. Anyway, um more importantly though, I think it's very important for us to know what to expect and to know what resources will continue to be available and which ones won't. >> Nancy Pepler look into that for us. I'll make a note of that and I can connect with Nancy tomorrow. And then with our care coordinator, one of the things that's uh critical in her role is to seek out every
054alternative resource or referral that she could provide. So that's something that she'll have to take into consideration. >> Thank you. >> Dr. Abusatar, I have a quick question. Um the staff wellness rooms, what did those schools apply for those grants at two schools on their own or did the district do it on their behalf? How did that two school situation >> Yeah. So the district did it on their behalf. Um we're um Nancy Pelfflar, myself um and a couple of people from our instructional team are part of the what works in schools. So we go to their monthly meetings. Um so we were presented with the opportunity to apply for a certain amount. Um originally it was only $3,000 that we could give to one school and then they were able to secure a second
055funding source. Um we did recently find out that they may have additional funding. So it may there may be another resource room popping up in another one of our schools. >> Wonderful. >> I had a my question is in regards to the grants um that fund some of our staff members here. Um what is the grant cycle with that and and is is it renewable? Um you know and is it should we be concerned about any of it? >> Yes. Okay. So, that is a great question. The current grant cycle is a three-year grant. Last year was our first year, although we did hire staff. So, this is our second year. So, we have one more year on the federal grant. Um, for the state funding that we use, that's something that we look at
056every year to secure. Um, as far as resubmitting or reapplying for the grant, that is to be determined. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Any other questions? >> All right. >> Can you just I just just cuz >> I just can you speak to the grant management >> and the just the things we have to do just to make sure that we remain because there's a lot of work to that and I think it would be helpful for the board to understand. We're so happy to have the grant but you've done a really good job of managing it to make sure we stay connected to the funds. >> Yes. So I just actually submitted a grant modification for one of the grants. So, one of the things that we have to do once we
057receive the funding is we have to allocate it and we have to justify the way that we're allocating. And so, you have to write a statement. You have to provide um oo invoice, not invoices, um >> budget. Yeah, the budget. You have to provide um quotes if if it's available to determine or to um show where you want to place all the money. And you have to balance it. The balancing for me is the harder part because I'm not a financial person um that way. Um so um and then you have to balance it and then throughout the grant cycle you have to then monitor as things come in. So you have to apply for requisitions, get purchase orders and balance things along the way. And so all of that takes a lot of knowledge.
058So, I'm learning a lot about funding sources, line items, um, processes in order to be able to manage the funds. And for me, because our the grants pay for people, I want to make sure it's it's a little bit stressful to make sure that I'm doing everything in a timely manner because we have to pro also provide um quarterly reports as well as um reports uh about how the process is and provide them with data. And so I depend on the team to provide that data source, whatever it is, as evidence that we're doing what the grant wants us to do. Um, and then making sure that we submit everything on time so that people get paid. >> Well, I appreciate all the extra work you do, especially as we, you know, are experiencing these,
059you know, shortfalls um for public education. So, thank you. I think it's also really important for the community to understand because you know we have this uh there are people in the community who think that we are very heavy very topheavy administratively and um I think that it is valuable for us to talk openly about the fact uh that you know we receive quite a few grants and some of those grants require an an administrator and pay for the administrator and so um you know I think that some of the really good work that we do is facilitated by those grants and it can lead to misunderstandings. Mhm. >> Um and so it would be great if if we had some way of educating the community about those administrators who are are with us working
060hard for our kids, but who are actually funded from, you know, funding outside of the tax, outside of taxes. >> Yes. >> I think that that would be an important thing for us to educate the community on and to educate me on. We haven't added any any administrative positions um since I've started six years ago. Everything that has been added um on the education side has all been grant funded. And in fact, we've been able to reduce >> consolidate >> positions and consolidate positions um over the years too as well. It would it would be really interesting to to actually just create even a visual of these these >> administrator a you know A through L are >> actually not funded by your taxes >> and I think it's it's also great to note that
061it's fully funded. So through the grant we pay benefits uh we pay um the extra whatever whatever it is we make sure that everything is fully funded is not a a cost to the district. >> Okay. But is it is it also accurate that principles are considered administrators and that? So I think a lot of times when people um say administrators, they are only thinking of this building um and don't really realize that principles are in that administrative number as well. >> Exactly. Good point. or people like uh Nancy Pepper and Lisa Hunt who do spend time here but are also at the Heights Family Resource Center and other places throughout the district >> everywhere. Yeah. >> All right. Well, I will continue to talk about just some key data um or evidence of early
062impact um to sustain the this progress of we built systems that keep our teams aligned and accountable. We maintain um team agendas and meeting notes to document collaboration and follow-up actions. Uh student support documents help us track interventions and communications. Counselors and administrator um have their yearly agreements and they meet to discuss and clarify roles, responsibilities, and priorities for the school year ensuring alignment and accountability. Uh we use universal screeners that allow for early identification of student need and schools are implementing tiered SEAL lessons, small groupoup counseling supports and post-secondary planning for secondary students. We continue to strengthen staff capacity through ongoing professional development and trauma-informed restorative and practices. The best part about being able to expand the team is that we're able to expand that um opportunity to build that staff capacity and provide
063professional development. Um it was almost like I was duplicated, so I love it. Um in-person support and regular cadence um is being provided on a consistent and handson um basis throughout the year. So, we hold monthly meetings uh with counselors and social workers, uh weekly meetings with instructional specialists to coordinate coaching, training, and followup on school needs. um visit schools um on a regular rotation to be able to observe lessons, meet with principles and support teams and provide on-site feedback and meet with individual staff and school teams to assist with uh individual student uh support and help schools problem solve in real time. All right. So, I do have in front of you guys the uh comprehensive school counseling program. So, I wanted to talk about that a little bit more. This has been a
064two almost three-year um endeavor um working with um a few amazing school counselors and Dr. Dakota King White um to be able to present this plan for the district. and I'll highlight just some key components. But before that, I do want to thank the school counselors that were a part of this. So, um, elementary counselors Pam Olinger from Noble, Heather Hyum from Gity, and at the middle school, we have Rakita Pastor from Bombgardner. And then at the high school, we have Taylor Bryant and Tander Miny who is sitting in the back back there. Um, we worked um to review um other district plans to talk really um in depthly about what we want to accomplish here and how we wanted to present our plan so that we can post that so everyone's aware of what
065the school counseling program does at Cleveland Heights University High School District. So you guys can um take a second to look through that. So the purpose of the plan was to provide a district-wide framework for comprehensive developmental and preventative school counseling program. It supports academic achievement, social emotional development and college and career readiness for all students. It also ensures um it also ensures alignment with Ohio Department of Education standards and the ASCA national model. A couple of years ago, we were we had the opportunity to attend uh one of the ASA conferences um in I believe it was Atlanta and one of the things that they talked about was ramp school status and having a comprehensive plan in order to make sure that your stakeholders are aware of everything you do. And that's where we
066wanted to make sure that we were in alignment with that. Uh in this plan, uh counselors, uh it is evidence of how counselors use data, attendance, academics, behavior, and stakeholder feedback to identify student needs, track progress, measure outcomes. This approach ensures accountability and responsiveness to our students. My favorite part of the plan um is our annual calendar of initiatives. and it's outlined by elementary, middle school, and high school. So, it's very clear about the different things that they provide to students in the in the way of direct supports or services, indirect supports and services, and then the planning um for school. Um in the back of the plan, as one of our appendices or right before appendices, we have our community resource list. Uh and this is in partnership with community um organizations. Um, our
067counselors connect students and families to support services including mental health agencies, family resource centers, and mentoring programs. Um, addressing barriers beyond the school walls. This plan is a fluid living document. Um, it's um, we're able to review it regularly um, and reflect on any new data or emerging needs or any stakeholder feedback. So if you guys do have feedback, that is something that we can take into consideration. Um and then um we our goal was to keep it relevant to our community. Um I talked a little bit about ASA and our plan aligns with ASCA's ethical standards which guides professional conduct, confidentiality, confidentiality, equity and advocacy to ensure ethical student centered decision making. Everything that we do um is through a trauma-informed lens. So counselors apply that trauma-informed approach recognizing the impact of adverse experiences
068on learning and behavior and creating safe, supportive, and healing centered environments. Um also, um there's the MTSS integration and support systems that's outlined here. I won't go over that. You guys can look through that. But just um noting that it is a tiered approach. Our counselors really um do a lot of work that that universal tier um and then they also support team the team and provide some targeted interventions in the way of small group and individualized check-ins and coordination with those outside agencies uh with the counselor and administrative yearly agreement. every year um they meet and I'm a part of some of those meetings and we talk about what their plans are for the year um their goals for the year as it aligns to the school's one plans um and how what evidence
069they need to collect or um provide in order to show progress in those goals. And then finally um our student success is a shared responsibility. Counselors engage parents, families, and community partners in meaningful ways, promoting communication and collaboration to reinforce the district's whole child approach. All right. So in summary, our updated comprehensive school counseling plan provides a structured data informed and trauma responsive framework that supports academic achievement, social, emotional growth, and college and career readiness for all students. >> Question. >> Do you have any questions about the next? >> I do have one question. Um, looking at the counseling program on page three, we have the approximate ratio of each of the counselors to students. >> Um, I just wondered if and if we don't have an answer, but at some point if we could
070benchmark that against other districts, especially when you get to the high school, it seems like one for 385 students or one for 362 seems like a really high case load. And I just wondered how that compared with like say a Shaker or Warrenville or any of the districts. It just that's a lot of kids for one counselor to try and be managing particularly when I mean I know we do have like gear up and other programs to help with college enrollment. But I mean we've got a lot of families that you know their first time first time going through that process and they need all the support they can get. And um >> you know even looking at some of the other ones you know 1 to 331 to you know 318 it just seems
071like those that ratio might be pretty high and I was just curious what that would look like when we compared it to others. Okay, that's a good question. >> I have my glasses on the case student calling that a comma >> or or even even beyond benchmarking neighboring districts or uh if ASCA has any best practice or any ratios that are suggested at the national level be interesting. >> Yeah. Or if we wanted to get really cheeky, we could look at the top schools in the state. I mean, Hudson, Solen, uh, what's the one down around Columbus? That's Dublin. Dublin City always >> Worthington. Yeah. I mean, just curious. Just >> And it's it's hard. Again, we always struggle finding apples to our apples. >> Yes. because our students have entirely well not entirely but
072a lot of different needs from the students in Solen and and Upper Arlington. >> Well, exactly. And and if those ratios are much lower and students maybe not have as many needs. It's just interesting. It it would be interesting to see. >> Now is a good time to do that, especially as we go into, you know, like budgeting and planning for the next year, too. That's we'll definitely follow up on that too. >> And we do have um for for ASCA there is a a guess a recommended ratio. So it's like 1 to 250 per the ASCA model, but every district toggles up and down. >> Well, and I'm sure it's in flux because student body is in flux. you know, some years you have a large kindergarten population that, you know, travels through the
073district and other years you have a smaller one and, you know, it's tied to birth rates. It's tied to county population. So, I mean, I do know it fluctuates, but >> one question kind of going back several slides when uh you showed who was at assigned to what buildings, the uh and you don't have to go back to it, but you could. Yeah. Uh, but I I did I did notice that there are some people who are essentially driving across town versus going to the nearby elementary school. Is that by design? Is that just because that's how it's been? Is there a reason behind not having like say Noble and Oxford share because they're f, you know, 3 minutes away versus 12 minutes away. >> Yeah. So that was for the social worker assignments. Social
074workers split buildings >> and a lot of factors went into that. So it was the size of the building, um the need of the building. Um so they really didn't take into consideration the drive across town. Sometimes comparing two schools, they could be across town. >> I think they go like for a full day like when they split too typically they do like a full day. So it's not then the day they necessarily drive. >> Yeah. So they split. Usually they do two or one day at one of the schools that are like that tier one and four or um three or four days at one of the schools that may have a higher need. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> Equitable approach. >> Mhm. Wonderful. I have one last comment on this part which is
075um you talked about whole child approach and I'm assuming this is the same as the governor's whole child framework but maybe I shouldn't assume what is a good answer for that is a yes and no. Um, well, that's why I'm asking because, you know, much has been made about the whole child framework in public education in Ohio and then, oh, oops, we're not going to fund it. Um, so that's >> Yes. So, yes and no. So, part of what we do as MTSS is a whole child approach because we're looking at behavioral, academic, um, and social emotional learning and well-being. So, that's that whole child approach. And then our personnel, our school counselors, our school social workers help deliver that as well as our other teams that are in the schools. Thank you. >> Okay.
076All right. I will pass it to Caitlyn Fable. >> All right. Thank you. Good evening. Um, I have the pleasure tonight of being able to share a brief update on one of the areas of our work in culture and climate um, by speaking on our district-wide attendance efforts um, that are driven by our attendance goal on the one plan and also how those efforts align with our positive behavioral interventions and supports or PBIS framework. So since the start of the school year, um we have made progress in establishing and creating opportunities that foster belonging, engagement, and connection within each of our schools. Our efforts have centered around building consistent tier one practices, strengthening team collaboration, and aligning attendance with our PBIS framework across all our school buildings. Um, one of the areas that we launched
077this year was our attendance campaign uh around three simple but very powerful actions. Rise up, which is to prepare for learning by establishing strong daily habits of our students. Show up um asking our students to be present and engaged every day. And then level up that our students would grow academically and socially through consistent attendance. This campaign emphasizes that every day matters, not though just for grades, but for belonging, connection, and student success. To ensure we're meeting the needs of our students at every level, we meet regularly with each school team through a tiered attendance meetings. These meetings follow a tier multi-tered system of approach or MTSS approach by helping schools analyze data, identify strategies and then that the align to that tier 1, tier 2 and tier three supports. Tier one is focusing on
078those schoolwide systems. So making sure that there are clear expectations, positive reinforcement, and consistent routines established. And then those tier two and tier three uh involve more individualized strategies often connecting families to additional supports. And lastly, our attendance work is fully aligned with PBIS through consistent tier 1 implementation in all buildings. Schools are building environments where expectations are clear, communication is consistent, and positive recognition drives student motivation. The attendance campaign is embedded embedded within each building's PBIS focus, creating one unified message that links behavior, belonging, and attendance. Through this work, we're already seeing strong results. Um during the first 6 week campaign, uh we had the opportunity and you were part of that to celebrate um the invitation of 1,098 students with perfect attendance districtwide for those first 6 weeks of school, which is equal
079to 23.8% of our students. Uh which is a huge accomplishment. >> We were so excited >> to have the problem of moving a board meeting to the high school so we would have room for everybody. It was it was wonderful. Um in addition, nine out of 10 of our schools are currently below their targeted chronic absenteeism rate for the 2526 school year. So this is just a tremendous early indicator of the progress that we've made towards our district goals. Um to sustain this progress though, we maintain regular in-person support across all our schools. This includes attending um and leading attendance team meetings which are tailored to a school's tiered data and needs. So for uh buildings that met their chronic absentee goal for the 2425 school year, we meet monthly with uh to review current
080data, support practices, celebrate success, and address barriers. And then for those schools who did not meet their chronic absenteeism goal for last year, we meet every three weeks again to review their current data, support their practices, celebrate success, and address any barriers. We provide coaching on PBIS tier 1 systems, ensuring fidelity and consistency districtwide. And lastly, we provide guidance on best practices to school teams for fostering belonging, engagement, and connection. Because we know when our students feel seen and supported, they show up. In short, our focus on attendance through rise up, show up, level up campaign is more than a slogan. It's a commitment to every student success. By aligning attendance and PBIS practices, we're not just improving data points. We're strengthening the culture of consistency, connection, and care across all our schools. Are there
081any questions on attendance? I have one. >> Yeah. >> When it comes to chronic absenteeism, what constitutes a day? >> A day. >> So, if if um Andy is absent from Rock's mid because of a dental appointment and he comes in fourth period, is that a day or is it incremental? Is how how does that work? So Ohio operates on hours actually. So we say chronic absenteeism is 10% of the school year to give parents an understanding of if we told them hours it would make no sense. Um so really it accounts for 18 days which if you account that times the 7 and 1/2 hours or the six whatever the student school day is that's how many hours and so while we talk about it in days it's really based off of hours. So
082those hours that student um once they hit a certain number of hours, that's how we identify chronic absenteeism. Okay. Is 10% of the amount of hours that they have missed throughout the year at this point in time. >> And so we really do clock it by time. >> Yes. >> Because there's a lot of partial day absences. >> Yeah. At Oxford, Miss Perry just had a huge um celebration for her students and she repeatedly said, "Come every day and stay all day." And >> so we really think about you took your child out early for a dental appointment. Um, so those are things that add up over time. So I really love that she stressed that come every day, stay every stay all day because it it resonated with kids. And so I think we
083need to continue to share that message throughout the district >> and every minute counts, right? So, if you do have that dental appointment, um you know, the the goal is to educate our families on >> if it's a 10:00 dental appointment, have your student come, go pick them up, have them come back to school, right? And and understanding transportation, all of those other factors, but that every minute in school matters because every minute you're not in school is instructional time that you're missing. >> Yeah. If you'd like to write a letter to every orthodontist in a 10 mile radius, I would happily co-sign it as someone whose daughter just had her braces removed because those are such hard appointments to not have fall during the school day. Uh but yeah, we're we were always rushing
084back to >> drop back off. >> Mobile orthodontist, the mobile dentist. >> And which is the uh one school? >> Um I will have to look into that. I don't know offhand. I'm sorry. Well, thank you and the whole team for all the amazing work that you've done in this area. As uh Jod and I were walking into the last meeting where we were celebrating everyone coming out of executive session and walking into the auditorium, Jod said, "Look at all the people here." And I said and I said, "Of course, they have perfect attendance. They're not going to miss. This is this is what they do. They show up." You know, it's been one of my my goals with through OSBA is to get an item added to the Ohio School Board Association's legislative agenda
085to push for opportunities for kids to make up miss time. Um so if a kid is is absent but they attend you know an afterchool program or some time on Saturday that they would be able to if this is really about missed instruction and missed academic work time missed academic time and we structured some some academic time outside of the traditional school day. Then wouldn't it be great if kids could get credit back for that? And if this is really what the state is after and not just beating up schools, um then then we ought to be able to do that. And I also think that it could be something if we were creative knowing the incredible writers that we have, grant writers we have, we might be able to find some generous grtors to
086help us incubate that idea. So it's really something worth pursuing. >> And the state does have credit flex. So they there's which is a recognition that they're they have non-traditional ways also of of um educating students and that attendance is also you know credit flex there's flexibility you know right >> written in their own structures that the state has for schools >> this also >> but on the other hand the district is punished >> if you're not in credit flex if you're you know right >> if you don't have too much right >> that's also underscores the importance of things like the clinic, the mobile dentist that we have, >> right? The clinic at the high school >> because, you know, even if you if me as a parent goes to the clinic to be
087there with my child, it's less time than if I have to pick up my child, drive them to a doctor's office, go to the appointment, drive back. It's just it makes it so much easier for the family and it helps kids be in school longer. Not to get overly technical, but what how does our attendance team handle that? If someone goes to the if a high school student goes to the clinic at the high school, are they marked as being out of school or are they >> Well, if they miss the period, I'm sure they are. >> Oh, yeah. >> Retract my previous question. But I will say that I know they do a really nice job of trying to schedule appointments >> either right after school during somebody's lunch or you know a period
088that or before class starts. I mean I know that as a parent because we experienced that. >> They actually did a study that showed that um schoolbased mental or schoolbased health centers uh save 3 hours of seat time for a student uh for appointments. So if you figure you know over the course of >> um you know >> incredibly convenient. >> Exactly. >> Yeah. Exactly. Well, thank you. Any other questions? >> All right. Well, thank you for continuing to work with us in this endeavor. Um I'm now going to hand it over to Lisa Hussein. So, I'm pleased to share an update on the progress and accomplishments of the Department of School leadership improvement and support since the beginning of the school year. Our focus has been on PBIS, social emotional learning, and our district-wide
089commitment to creating safe, supportive, and engaging school environments, all in direct alignment with our district 1 plan. Since the start of the school year, our team has made significant strides in both systems development and early outcomes related to student behavior and engagement. Our efforts have centered on building strong tier one foundations, strengthening team collaboration, and aligning PBIS and social emotional supports across all school buildings. All buildings now have active PBIS teams that meet monthly. Each team follows a structured agenda focused on data analysis, reinforcing expectations, identifying barriers, implementing consistent tier one practices, and determining next steps. Professional development and collaboration has also been key priorities. At Heights High School, for example, staff engaged in August professional development centered on building collective commitments, a unified set of expectations and actions that guide how staff, students, and
090families work together. These commitments directly connect PBIS and are helping create consistent, predictable, and cons and supportive learning environments across classrooms and grade levels. Alongside PBIS, we continue to build and strengthen tiered supports for behavior and social emotional learning across the district. Our character strong curriculum continues to guide tier 1 SEAL instruction for grades K through 8 with grades 9 through 12 cor currently in progress for implementation. Beginning of the year professional development provided elementary teachers with resources and tools to integrate SEAL lessons into their daily instruction. Our team also developed a scope and sequence tool for middle schools ensuring that weekly advisory lessons using character strong curriculum are implement are implemented efficiently and effectively. These efforts ensure that students receive consistent instruction in empathy, self-management, relationship skills, and decision-making, all of which directly support
091a positive school climate and stronger academic engagement. We've already seen measurable results. Districtwide discipline incidents resulting in out of school suspensions are down 28.7% compared to August and September of last year. Even more encouraging, 31.6% fewer students have received out of school suspensions compared to the same time frame last year. As mentioned earlier, all buildings now have PBIS teams meeting regularly, further strengthening consistency and shared accountability. This data reflects not only improved student behavior, but also a deeper focus on prevention, relationships, and restorative approaches. To maintain momentum, I along with Caitlyn Sabbo continue to support schools through a regular in-person cadence of coaching and collaboration. I attend monthly PBIS team meetings to provide guidance as schools review data, celebrate successes, and address barriers. Every building has completed a baseline of quality survey, allowing us to
092measure the fidelity of PBIS implementation and identify next steps for growth. This ongoing cycle of coaching, data review, and reflection ensures consistency, accountability, and continuous improvement across the district. In summary, we're seeing clear evidence of early impact, reduced suspensions, stronger team structures, and consistent systems for teaching and reinforcing expectations. Our focus on PBIS and social emotional learning is truly making a difference. Not just improved behavior data, but in stronger relationships, safer learning environments, and students who are more connected, confident, and ready to learn. Thank you for your continued support as we build on this foundation and work together to ensure that every student feels safe, supported, and set up for success. Any questions? >> How often um do students have a character strong lesson? Is it a weekly event? >> It's weekly. >> Okay. And
093there's enough resources for teachers to incorporate them more than just uh weekly. They have daily activities that they can go into the platform and pull out for students. >> Thank you. >> And we're using Character Strong across the district K through 12. >> K through eight. Currently, we're developing the 9 through 12 high school portion. >> Okay. So in theory, this should help when kids transition from fifth to sixth grade, they still it's the same set of expectations. They're familiar with it. It's not learning something new. Or if a child for whatever reason moves, you know, they move from one place to another and they're from, you know, now noble to rock L. It's the same system that they understand. >> That's great. Thank you. It also seems based on the data that you've provided
094that there has also been like a culture shift um in in the buildings um that there are fewer incidents that are leading to uh out of school suspension. So absolutely >> great job >> and and I also think that to that point the some of the other stuff the kind of holistic approach not just this slide but things like having the alphabased uh >> yeah the teams at the high school Yeah, like the the you're not getting passed from one staff to the next year over year is going to I think really pay dividends. >> Yeah. When I was there, we did units. You're in unit A, B, C, >> and you would be in the same unit with the same guidance and the same administrators all the way through um for the same >>
095I was going to wait till the end to comment on that, but since uh since my colleague has brought it up already, I too think that it is a great modification with the alpha split um and with the assistant principles having their own uh focus um their own leadership focus. Um because it it it strengthens the relationship between um you know that administrator and student and family um and it builds you know the relationship as they continue and progress through the high school. Um as someone who experienced a different principal it's like okay who's who's your principal this year you know um this is this is much better. Or or if you're a family with multiple I mean I have an only child but multiple children I mean to have a point person that's your
096family's person. >> True. Assuming everyone has the same last name then you've got the same person right. >> Yeah. >> Think about relationships. If there is a hardship in a family they hold their dignity cuz they're not they don't have to share it every year. You have that one person who's going to walk with you from your freshman year to the time that you graduate. And it just build when you have to call that parent and say hey we have a problem. they they've known your baby since freshman year. It's not going to be so much resistance to listening to you. So, we're really hoping that we see a lot of growth with that. They have the same counselors. So, we're invested in making sure that you graduate, that you go into a career or
097military path or the college. So, we we believe that this is the right model for student success. >> Cool. >> There aren't any more questions. I'm going to turn it over to Miss Anna Gregory on behalf of Jim Bennett. >> Thank you. Good evening. >> Good evening. >> Uh I am excited to share how the multiple systems of support align with the district's one plan. Uh and so goal one, attendance, goal two, behavior supports, goal three, instruction, and goal four literacy. When it comes to progress and accomplishments since the beginning of the school year, we've brought together key stakeholders, district speech language pathologists, school psychologists, ELA leads, and principles to align efforts around MTSS and literacy based supports. We've developed an internal one-stop shop for all MTSS related data, giving schools easy access to attendance,
098behavior, and academic information in one centralized location. We've strengthened alignment with the curriculum and instruction team to ensure that our intervention practices directly support classroom instruction and literacy outcomes. We have a updated MTSS tools and the district MTSS handbook has been updated although it's a living document to ensure consistency in the process language and expectations across all schools. In connection to key data and early impact evidence, schools have begun creating and maintaining documented intervention plans in educing student support with fidelity. Buildings have been tiered based on their MTSS implementation levels themselves, allowing us to provide differentiated support, meeting each school where they are. We've also tiered the support for those buildings, meaning that our highest need schools receive more frequent targeted coaching, while those demonstrating strong strong implementation receive periodic periodic check-ins and refinement support.
099In order to support schools in person on a regular cadence, we attend grade level MTSS meetings and midcheck point MTSS meetings to monitor progress and to problem solve with teams. We participate in individual MTSSI meetings with buildings as needs arise, ensuring direct hands-on guidance for student level support. We provide ongoing staff training and technical support for documentation in the educ platform, ensuring accurate data entry and meaningful use of reports. we process launching uh we're in the process of launching weekly grade level TBT support sessions where we're specifically focusing on smallroup instruction and differentiated strategies to improve literacy and intervention effectiveness. In summary, overall our focus this year has been on strengthening systems, ensuring that every building has tools, structures, and data that they need to be informed about attendance, behavior, instruction, and literacy. The early
100evidence shows we're moving towards a more consistent and effective MTSS implementation across the district. If you have additional questions for Jen Bennett, uh I will take those questions and I will forward those to her and then I will continue u with some of the MTSS work. Go ahead. >> So the one-stop shop is educ. >> It is not. So, it's an internal document and it ca it's coming out of Chief Coleman's department so that we have a one centralized place where we have information where we have here's the agendas, here's the information for every school. And so, we found that we had a lot of folders and Google items and it's like we have to go search and look. So, it's a one-stop shop and it's internal that particular one >> and it's a Google
101sheet. So, we also have our TBT, our BLT data. When Miss Kirby and I are looking at the progress of the schools, it's helpful to just see it at a glance and be able to immediately hone in on where we need to provide supports. And when my team and I are meeting, we need to be able to put our hands on data right away. Sometimes we have to make very quick decisions about where are we going, who are we going to support. So, we need to have that information in our hands right away so we all have access to it. were able to upload links. We're able to go in and talk right away with principles about their information. They also have access to that information along with their building leadership teams um and their
102MTSS teams. >> Okay. Thank you. >> One thing that I love hearing and it's sort of been a theme as all of you have been speaking is um how you mentioned that buildings that need a little more help in implementation are getting a little more time. that there's a framework, but it's not a one-sizefits-all approach. And I think it really speaks to our commitment to district equity, uh, both at the, you know, individual level, but also at the building level. So, that's just really great to hear. >> Thank you. U, so I'm honored to share some more about how our MTSS work is aligned with the following goals of the district's one plan. Addressing student needs through proactive tiered interventions, supporting high quality differentiated instruction at all tiers. instruction and delivering evidence-based reading intervention and
103monitoring when it comes to literacy. Since the beginning of the year, we've started the year by meeting with every school team at every building to plan early supports for students who might need help. And that's every school building, elementary, middle, and high school. We created a definition for MTSS calibration meetings. These are the meetings where we are working with schools to talk about what supports they need and how to make sure that they have the same approach and the same language. And so we created that clear understanding of what is an MTSS calibration meeting when it comes to working with buildings that have been tiered. For middle schools, we've been meeting weekly with our title leads. We know that we currently have sixth graders who have ramps. This is the first time that Rimps from
104the state have come to the middle school. So we have offered them additional support to make sure that there is consistent use for our Lexia, our tier 2 reading. >> RIP stands for >> reading intervention monitoring plan. >> Thank you. >> I'm sorry. Another another alphabet, but it's one that doesn't come up often enough for me to remember it right away. I'm sitting there going, which one is this? >> You're the maker of blaps. >> Hey, I'm so happy the blaps are gone. Okay, >> ribs. So when it comes to uh we have Lexia which is based with in the science of reading that's our tier 2 a reading intervention for u middle school specifically our kids on rimps and then language live is our tier three um as well we've created a MTSS toolkit
105that's available through Clevver and so we also have now a MTSS icon in Clevver. So if you go to Clevver, you can look for MTS MTSS and you'll find the icon in Clever and you can click and it's a lot of different resources of MTSS that you'll find now. And that was in collaboration with the data uh department that helped to make sure that we had uh that in Clever. >> So that gives students agency, right? Because they can go in and find stuff that's useful to them. >> You know what that that's a good point because the way it's designed is just a lot of information for adults. But now it makes me think about the student agency. So it's in Clever where the adults can get access to the tools, but it's not
106designed for the the students. >> Perhaps at the high school level there would be a way to do that. Just thinking about >> Yeah, that's good feedback. >> You know, children, high school students >> want to own their learning. Well, parents want high school students to own their learning because parents are tired of having to constantly, you know, so yes, absolutely. >> Okay. >> And so we've provided meeting agendas u for the MTSS meetings so that it's consistent so we know that everything is covered, the information is covered, who's attended. So if it's a member of our team, the principal and making sure that all stakeholders are a part of that meeting and those are some of the meeting agendas that are also included in that internal one-stop uh shop as well. We've been using
107real time data using tools like Acadians and elementary for our reading, Zern, Mathematics, Lexia, and Language Live. They have internal reports that also allow us to track student progress. So we've been um leveling those um reports as well. schools ended cycle one with documented plans for students who need extra support and students who need tier 2 and tier three support um in reading and some in math. We also updated the handbook to give staff and you if you go into the MTSS handbook, you see the date. So, because it's a live document, it has the most recent date that it was updated. I think maybe a few weeks ago has the the most current date. and that's to offer staff a clearer guidance on what to do and how to do it. Evidence of early
108impact. We are improved consistency in our MTSS practices across the schools. So we had a response to intervention or RTI. We've moved from that model. It is the multiple tiers of systems and support. So we want to make sure that we are giving students the support that they need. So it's a more proactive approach opposed to a reactive approach. We have increased student engagement in targeted reading interventions, clear documentation and data informed planning for tier 2 and tier three supports, strengthen collaboration between staff, structured meetings, and we strengthen the tools are ongoing in regards to ongoing support. Uh we meet in person weekly at the tier 2 and tier three sixth grade meeting. We also have a virtual meeting that we have weekly for tier for teachers who are executing the tier three um at
109middle school that's language live. So that's our most intensive reading at middle school. So we have a virtual support for those teachers. So they log in and if they have questions or additional support uh we support and facilitate the request uh by grade level meetings planning for upcoming TBTs and focus on small group instruction. And right now we have upcoming classroom visits to look at supporting real tier 2 and tier three implementation and supporting schools and school teams with that. In summary, we began the year by aligning our MTSS practices across schools through collaboration meetings, shared tools, and real-time data use. Schools completed cycle one with clear plans for students needing support, and tier 2 and tier three reading interventions are now in place. Early impact includes stronger consistency, increased student engagement, and more effective
110team collaboration. Ongoing in-person and virtual school visits and TBT planning will continue to support strong MTSS implementation throughout the year. We thank you for all of your continued support. Are there any questions? >> Great. >> Thank you. Um, as we close, it's important to ground this department's work in our district's educational equity policy, which reminds us that the responsibility for the disparities among our young people rest with adults and not the children. Um, this department in particular deals a lot with student groups. Um, we deal with students who some people may feel may be in tier three work forever. So it is our job to make sure that we are providing supports to educators, parents, whoever is touching kids to let them know like there is a way for students to increase their achievement and
111that is through the core and that is basically the the bulk of what we do. Um this belief sits at the center of our department and it drives how we um lead and coach and connect with ourselves and our um the people that we support. Uh in closing, this work requires intentional systems and you've heard a lot about the systems that we've created from the high school down to our MTSS systems to how we are really boots on the ground. We take that very seriously. We talk as a department about not being here at the board that the real work is in the schools and so we want to live there, breathe their support there. Um, it is also the belief that every child deserves the same opportunities and expectations for excellence no matter what
112school they attend in Cleveland Heights University Heights. Um, as the chief of schools, I see equity as both our compass and our measure of success. When we align leadership development, instructional improvement, and student supports to our educational equity equity policy, we create a district where every student is seen, supported, and set up to thrive. and where adults take collective responsibility for making that a reality. So, thank you again for allowing us to share this very important and intentional work of serving our students, staff, and families. Thank you. >> Thank you. This has been very informative. >> Any other outstanding questions? >> I I do have a question as we close and it's and it's been in the back of my mind as I've been reflecting upon all of this work. Um it's a little bit
113of a thought experiment for all of you. So it's not so much a question, more a challenge. Um my esteemed colleague, Mr. Hines, uh especially this year has been beating the drum for a comprehensive K12 gun safety curriculum, uh the identification and implementation of it. And so if and if and when when uh that it is identified and begins to be implemented, I think there's a lot of analoges and parallels between some of the work that you're all doing. I'm thinking of things like Character Strong, which is kind of like a pushin program that kind of goes across the district um and and sort of how your learnings in that area could apply to this other area. Um, so just something some food for thought uh as you're going through this amazing work. >> Thank
114you. >> One thing I would say is there has been a lot of kind of to your point the character strong there's like a lot of intentionality on selecting and picking and piloting and feedback and all those pieces too and then scheduling the time. So those are yeah those are good considerations to consider >> and >> you know >> it seems that there are pieces sort of aligning to help that work move forward. I know that uh County Councilman Howser has been uh very active on on this front and um I know the city of Cleveland Heights is working hard to button up their recent grant that we thought might have slipped away but maybe has not uh violence prevention grant. Um, and so this may really be a convergence for that gun safety work.
115>> Right. >> Any other questions? >> I don't think so. Thank you for an excellent, comprehensive, very thoughtful, very informative presentation with an artifact. >> Thank you. >> Forget to take your threepage artifact. that book. But I really appreciate it. It's really great to see and I mean as you say, you are very committed to, you know, being in schools and supporting. Usually when I see you guys, I see you in schools. So supporting um supporting our staff as we try to support kids. So very much appreciate it. >> Thank you very Thank you all for >> And um seeing nothing else, I will entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. >> Second. >> Mason. >> Mrs. Krenshaw. >> Yes. >> Mr. Trimble. >> Yes. >> Mr. Heights. >> Yes. >> Miss Lewis. >> Yes.
116>> Mr. >> Yes. Good evening. >> Thank you. >> This meeting is adjourned. >> Thank you.