001Good evening everyone. Welcome to the board of education workshop meeting. Today is Wednesday, November 12th. The time is now 7:04 p.m. With me this evening I have Jasmine Pressie, Ashley Gulas, Cara Bakey, Sher McCriedi Pritchette, Mary Ellen Flity Lewig, Howard White, and virtually we have Janine Randolph. Also with me I have Dr. Alexander Straa and her cabinet. If we could all please stand for the pledge of allegiance. for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Our first item this evening, we have approval of trips. If does anyone have any questions? Were we able to review everything? Motion. Jasmine seconded by Howard. All in favor, please say I. Raise your hands. >> I you. >> Janine. >> I. >> Okay. I will go with everyone here um in person. Next.
002um section of the agenda is the workshop session and I'm transferring the meeting to Dr. Estraa. >> Good evening everyone. Thank you for joining us this evening um as we continue to engage the board in meaningful workshop conversations around a number of topics. As you know, um over the course of uh last year, we have created the workshop format in um triads that allow the board to listen to um multiple conversations reference to different topics and gives the board the opportunity to ask more meaningful questions because it creates a more intimate dialogue between members of the cabinet alongside uh board members. There are three topics this evening that we want to provide the board as well as uh the community with updates around. The first is around legislative updates. There were a number of legis
003legislative changes that occurred over the course of this uh last summer, this past summer that we want to make sure the board is updated on and um provide some insight in some of those leg legislative changes. The second component is um starting our conversation regarding the FY27 budget development. Just providing the board with an update of where we are in the process, discussing some of the um work that has happened thus far in preparation for our Wednesday town hall. And thirdly, as you know, AI continues to be an integral component of the work that we're doing uh in schools. And it's important for the community and board to have an update in terms of the innovative work that Ralph Alenzy alongside our digital coaches are doing within the schools, many of which are here with
004us this evening uh to share some of the best practices that are at play across the district. So uh we're going to break into uh triads. Ralph, do do you have the slide? the triad slide. It didn't do you don't have it up. Okay, that's fine. So, uh, for this evening, Sandra is going to be working alongside Rob Pennington. So, if the following board members can please join uh their group. Can we have um Jasmine, Carara, and Mary Ellen? Then we have a group with Mr. Osmani who will be um providing the budget update. Uh can we have Ashley, Diana, and let me see for now Ashley and Diana? and then um Sherry and Howard will join Ralph with the AI group. We will start with those three triads and then cycle through Just as
005a reminder, um, anyone here from the public can sit in the outer circle to observe, not participate in dialogue. Thank you. >> For having us We'll just thank Great. So, thanks for really work and how we're looking at it much more comprehensively than many other districts are. So in many cases people are taking a look at just instruction or just in safety. We've actually made sure that we're developing professional learning plans for everybody including the board all the way down to our students. And one of the big changes this year is the one one stakeholder group who we haven't focused on yet is family. So we wanted to share some of the work that we're doing right now. And that was really my goal for this year. If you remember when we talked about our
006goals with AI that we wanted more responsible use and parent engagement and how do we kind of get those things to happen. So tonight you're going to start to see some of the some of the work that's actually going on and we'll be able to tell you a little bit more about how we're moving all of that forward and stuff for everybody. So we're excited with that. So with that though, I just wanted to introduce because really all this work is happening with our own um our own coaches and our our technical staff too. Uh some of which were able to join me tonight and really really integral in this work. So I'm going to have them present a lot of this as we kind of move through the soap. First of all, if you
007haven't met Dan, Dan is one of our digital learning students. >> How's it going? >> Nice to meet you. >> We've got Amanda here. So, Amanda's been with us for for quite a while, too, as well. Steph, >> hi. >> U Maria Norton is one of our other district coaches that just wasn't able to make it tonight. And then we have Jose with us, too. >> Jose um actually has been doing a lot of work and we we all kind of cross-pollinate in the way that we do work. Um, Jose is actually on the technical side. So, he's one of our technicians, but it's >> probably yeah, your Google account. >> That's right. He's he is the person we guide you to. Um, but he's also been working very closely with Kimberly on the portrait
008of a graduate work. So all the backend work that goes on really um usually ties back to somebody in on the technician side in the case of a of our AI work um it really is is becoming Jose. So we figured we'd all be here and talk a little bit about what's going on, share with you how we're actually using AI to teach AI and then um you know just answer some questions for you. So, it's really we're going at it tonight from a 30,000 foot view. >> At the end of this, um, if you do want uh for for the public, just so they know that there's a QR code there where they can get this information, as well as at the end of this, there's QR codes for each one of the new
009websites that we've created with all the resources, including for parents. Um, so they can actually see what's going on. But we just wanted to share some of it with you tonight as a as a starting point. So, >> yeah. Hey, there we go. >> All right, cool. >> So, we're gonna actually start off with giving you one of the vid this this new website will actually be um go live pretty much tomorrow. we wanted to share it with you guys first, but this instead of us starting off the presentation, we figured it may make sense for you to see um using one of the AI tools that we use with our teachers called Notebook LM, the ability to um what we can do and how we can kind of share our messaging. So, this is
010a general public message for us right now created by Dan through pulling together a lot of our resources, our guide book right there. So, >> yeah. Yeah. No, absolutely. Yeah. So what we did is that um we took all of our resources in our guide book and the feedback that we got um from our AI advisory group that we have which is built um with teachers, students, paras and now we have parents in there now too is that this our guide book is very extensive. It does have a lot of jargon in there. And so the goal was really how can we make this digestible for the general public for our families for our students. How can we get them to better understand how we're using AI in the district? So by using AI and
011using these tools, we're able to make it digest digestible for them. And so this video is actually the opening video of our website. Uh and it gives a just that like Ralph said, that 30,000 foot uh view of our AI site. So I think we go ahead and play it. >> Go ahead, JD. >> Welcome. This is a quick intro to how we're using artificial intelligence to support teaching and learning. So, what does AI really mean for our students in schools? Let's dive in and find out. You know, at its heart, AI helps computers recognize patterns and learn from data to support problem solving. It's so important to remember that AI is just a tool. And here, it's always guided by our educators. Our goals are pretty straightforward. Enhance learning, empower teachers, and support every
012single one of our students. Everything we do is purposeful and responsible because it's all about putting our students learning first. That brings us to our smart framework. It's how we teach students to use AI responsibly and ethically. And of course, student privacy and safety always come first. We follow all the rules like Furpa and Cabba. We're really careful about the tools we approve. They all have to meet our high standards for safety. To help everyone out, we've built some fantastic resources for our entire school community. Let's check them out. We have a teacher hub with professional learning and a hub for families with resources for learning at home. New to all these AI terms? No problem. Our glossery breaks it all down in simple, easy language. Go ahead and explore the site right below this
013video. There's something helpful there for everyone. So, this is our promise. Our approach to AI will always be ethical, inclusive, and evolving with technology. Think of this site as a living resource. It'll keep growing as technology does, right alongside our community. >> Yeah. So, that that video was all AI. Um there was not yeah I no speaking involved. I gave it a prompt and I said and I also fed it our guide book and make sure that it was following what our guide book is. So it wasn't just taking from random sources because we want to make sure that it's staying consistent throughout it. >> Yeah. No, it's AI. And actually what we did with that though and like I said we use these tools with our kids for creative purposes. teachers are using it
014now to gather notes from classes so that then they can create a notebook for for students to have a study guide. Um we're really using it in a lot of creative ways. But the interesting thing about this though is our guide book is 45 pages long. This is all the work that we've been doing this comprehensive work of training different people. What does that look like? What does it look like for families? Our smart framework which we developed with the AI advisory group. um you know so all of these different components we wanted to make it in a way that it's actually digestible and usable for everybody. So we we're starting off with some videos. Um this kind of is the introduction to the site which like I said you'll you'll get to dive into
015a little bit more on your own uh to learn more about it. But it's our first step in really engaging parents and getting us to that point. So the the next step in this though too is really much more of a focus around parents. Um, and with that, I'm going to Oh, am I going You're going the wrong way. There we go. And then one more. There we go. There. >> Yes. So, very similar to the uh video we just watched. Um, this video as well is powered by Notebook LN. Um, and it's a more extensive look into the family resources that we have available. Um, and it's available in the family hub portion of our guide book. um two main focuses really in that uh family hub would be just to be able to
016share with you um daycare security for students utilizing these AI tools um what AI tools have been approved for the district and help you get our tools as well to make sure that they are compliant. Um in addition to that as Ralph spoke to earlier we are um our goal is to help engage the community. So, one thing we did do was um send a survey out to principles and administration and buildings and ask them, you know, what are the key topics surrounding AI that you think your parents really would benefit from or um embrace. And then in addition to that, we um are going to work in tandem with the parent center, the family center to provide um targeted AI events and workshops. >> Yeah. So, we've we've actually we we've um we've like
017I said surveyed the principles to be able to give us information on what types of workshops they want, what do they need it in. Um starting in January, we're going to be working with our partners. The first thing that we're going to be doing is doing an airing of screen agents to really talk about screen time and the changes with AI and things that we really need to be looking at. Once again, focusing on responsible use. So, um, that that'll be aired alongside with, uh, some of the PTAs helping us as well as NEF. So, it's kind of a co-sponsored event for us to really get family engagement in and get started. And each month, we want to make sure that whether it's virtual or in person, that there's some other element of some AI
018opportunity for parents to learn more about what's going on and and get their questions answered. So, >> can you get this off the website? Just go on the website. Grab it. >> Yep. Yep. So, yeah, we'll show you we'll show you at the end exactly where where it is because it's actually uh it's already live on the on our NORPS website. So, you just go to a you start searching AI at NORPS and it'll actually bring up the site. You can click into each one of these different areas. Um, so but we do there's a lot of components to this and we're we're really just trying to like I said give you a quick quick intro but uh JD can you just click this this video is like five minutes long for parents. We're not
019going to watch the whole thing. We're just going to watch like the first 30 seconds or so just so you can get a a snippet. >> Yeah. >> Hey everyone, families and students. So artificial intelligence or AI is becoming a really big deal in our schools, right? and we want to team up with you to make sure we're all using it safely and smartly. Think of this as our guide to this exciting new world of learning together. Okay, let's kick things off with our most important idea here. We believe AI is a tool to help us learn to make things more personal and efficient. It is not here to take the place of the incredible work our teachers and students do together every single day. It's a helper, plain and simple. All right, so what
020is AI anyway? It's one of those terms that gets around a lot and can sound super complicated. But you know what? The basic idea is actually pretty simple. Let's break it down. So at this is huge. This is the one rule that is absolutely non-negotiable. The one thing you have to remember always your privacy is a huge deal to us. And it all starts with you protecting your own personal info. Okay. So what do we actually mean when we say personal information? That's a great question because it's a lot more than just your name. Let's take a look at a few examples so it's super clear. So PII, it's a fancy term for any little detail that can be used to figure out exactly who you are. We're talking your full name, your address, your
021birthday, your phone number, and definitely definitely your passwords. That stuff is for your eyes only. Period. And for all the parents listening, I want you to know that the district takes this incredibly seriously. We follow really strict federal and state privacy laws. You might have heard of Furpa and Kappa to make absolutely sure that all student data is locked down and secure. So, what's the solution? How do you stay safe? It's actually really simple. You only use AI tools that our district has already checked out and approved. This kind of gives you an example. It's really geared towards the parents. It tells them how we chose our tools, what we chose, what are things you need to be looking for, and then it gives them as you scroll down the page, it actually has those
022resources there for them. >> Um, so this in partnership with them looking at what do they want to learn more about or how we're going to offer these opportunities for them to come in person to learn more as well. >> Ah, that's a good question. So, actually, it's it's on the website and actually there's a definition in our glossery. I don't know off the top of my head. The fed the federal education rights protection act is furpa and cop and copa is I I know they pronounce as a cappa I guess too. So the children's online protection act protection and privacy act. Yeah. >> Yep. And the other the other one that we know about from the health services is HIPPA which falls into the same. So >> yeah. So uh yeah. So this this
023kind of gives you an idea of like what we're doing with the parents and you know thank you Amanda for that too. Um and we've actually already started meeting with our bargaining units. So um in meeting with NFT we're trying to figure out how do we scale this? How do we make sure that we can actually talk to all of our teachers and make it so it's digestible? And Mary is a a great partner when it comes to being on the AI advisory board too. One of the things she suggested was let's start off with just some simple one-pagers for teachers to use. So, uh, actually Mary's just reviewing this right now and then we're going to be releasing this to all our teachers. So, once again, an educator's guide for them. These are the
024rules that we follow. This is what you should do. This is what you shouldn't do. These are your guard rails. Again, we want to keep going back to that. So, we, like I said, once again, we're looking at it comprehensively in every area that we're touching with. So, um, and, uh, like I said, this all comes back to that. It's all in that guide book, but it's just it's it's not a format that really anybody can use coherently that would make sense for most people. So, and then Steph, I don't know if you want to. >> Yes. So with this they create a one major for teachers so that they understand what they can do as a teacher what they can use for AI platforms and what they can use for their students also because
025we do want to start to see them using AI with their students in classrooms. We do have some platforms such as Canva, Magic Spoon and for the older students brisk chat chatt that are already age appropriate for the students so they can actually start using tools also and learn how to use it with privacy rights being safe when they're using and implementing AI with our teacher hub that we do have which is an entire part of the AI website. Also, we have all of the real world scenarios. What could they do? What should they not do? We also have all of the platforms listed for them along with other training material and they know they can book any of the digital learning coaches to go in and actually integrate the AI technology in their classroom.
026So, we will go in, we will model for them. We will teach them how to use the tools so they're doing it the right way right off so that they can use it and use it the proper way. >> So really just to kind of recap you know our story in the district we started this process back gez in December of 2022 and if you remember really chat GPT kind of launched November of 2022. We had a if you remember we had a conversation at a board meeting just saying this is a new technology that's out there that we really need to be aware of and we started moving forward with this you know with you know Dr. Dr. Ray really leading the charge of making sure that she knew that this was one of
027the things in the forefront that we need to make sure that we keep on top of not to get into the same situation that we did with social media and with other technologies so that we can at least try to keep ourselves ahead of the game as much as possible because it is moving so quickly. So we did a lot of planning that first year. From there we received a lot of feedback. We've used the AI advisory board. We've done surveys now with a a number of different groups. We've also through the workshops that we've been offering have gotten feedback as well. You know, we started then training and we did a lot of training over the last couple years and we continue to do that. We keep picking different groups that we know that
028we really want to focus on. Um as well as training our trainers. So, you know, getting uh uh different AI certifications is something that you'd see amongst our coaches. Um you know, getting different AIerts, too. I know that Jose's been working towards those as well as, you know, on the technical side. So, we're trying to make sure we have all those components in play. Um to make sure that we're prepared. Um we knew we had to create some resources that and the resources started with the stuff that's in the guide book. making sure that we had trainings, making sure that we had literature that made sense, making sure we had safe platforms, you know, putting all those together. And that's kind of what you're seeing the culmination of right now is this ongoing work now.
029So, now that we've gotten these pieces in place, we're launching. We still have a lot of work to do. >> Um, you know, the sites are actually launching. They have the ability to change from English and Spanish. I I want to say it's like I I don't know if the videos are there yet. just transcriptions. Correct. Yes. >> So, we're working on having the videos in Spanish as well, but that should, you know, give us a couple more weeks and like I said, we wanted to do a soft launch right now, >> let you guys know what's going on. But this was really our goal in AI this year is to continue doing this work. Um, >> and these are the three different areas that you can kind of find that information on. So, um,
030there's the regular website, so the public can actually see it now. If they click on the QR code, it brings them right into norps.org, right to the website. Um, we have a guidebook web uh, piece which Dan has developed. And in a second though, um, JD, I don't know if you can kind of um, DJ a little on this. Can you click on the interactive AI guide book so that we can just pull it up? just to kind of give you an idea and this is really Jose's work in actually taking AI and developing using AI to be able to kind of guide us. So you can see it starts off with our our video across the top you can see different topics where there's different areas you can find more information about how do
031you use the site but there's also actually AI built into it. So I mean Jose, what would be a good question that maybe we could ask it? >> Yeah. So Ralph mentioned try to use AI to actually show and uh share with the community what we're trying to do with the AI guide book. So if you go to a different tab uh let's say let's go to the smart framework. Um and there's already topics on the right that you'll see are pre generated for anyone who has questions about the smart framework. U so you can click on a topic you'll see it'll go down you see it'll it'll uh great for you now if you click on the icon you send the message you see on your lower uh right side underneath that one >>
032oh no yeah uh the little >> or you can press enter to >> the little arrow >> little arrow the blue arrow there we go like the guide as well as this is very similar in >> if anyone has any questions um you'll see it'll come out with a context based on the AI guide book. So in case you don't want to uh scroll around um search for information, you can actually ask um the AI for that information. >> And it also you can see in the top this one's actually set to go back and forth toggle between English and Spanish if you'd like. So I I think we we've got our 10-minute you know um cut off. So we wanted to leave it open. What are your thoughts? Any questions you have for us
033right now? How would a teacher, maybe this is not even the right form for that, how would a teacher use an AI tool to help a student improve their reading? >> No, this is this is the this is the the area task. >> So, one thing that a teacher could do with different um reading that they if they have like a different reading topic or if they have a passage, they could actually take that passage. Let's say the passage is for a different level, right? >> And they need it for three different levels. They could take that passage, copy it into one of the platforms, chat GBT, Brisk, Magic School, and it will actually differentiate it. It will change the level of it for the different students that are in the classroom. And they could
034actually use it for scaffolds. So, the students might need different scaffolds for what they're doing with taking the reading into writing. They might need sentence starters. And it could actually create all of that for those students, for that teacher when they're planning. One thing to consider too to piggy off what back off of what Steph said is the portrait of a graduate. Last year we focused on critical thinking and this year is effective communicator. So we could put the passage in and then ask for suggestions on questions to help um guide those competencies in the classroom. >> And we should say in that each each um coach a lot of them are working more specifically on certain platforms to help offer support. you know, uh, Amanda and Steph are both now like I'm trying to
035remember the exact term for Magic School. >> Magic School Ambassador >> Ambassadors um, so that they're actually out there working with our eight schools that are using Magic School as their platform to make sure that they understand how to incorporate this and supporting the teachers on a regular basis. >> So, Magic School, is that a a typical specific AI tool for elementary? I guess what's I think a magic school bus. What's >> a lot of people think easy to remember, right? educators, but it also has a student side. Okay, >> that is very easy for students to use and for teachers to monitor. Okay, >> because once they do send a student to a room on Magic School, this they will see every prompt and every interaction that the student has with that room. For
036example, we've created with teachers escape rooms for students to test the knowledge of a unit that they're doing. And so they might get riddles, they might get different things that they have to solve and the teacher will see every single interaction with that. So it is for adults, there's teacher tools >> for creating graphics, for creating anything that they need, emails, presentations, but then there's also that student side for it also. >> Yeah. One thing is that it with all the tools that students use, they have signed our student data privacy agreement. So a lot of a lot of times when you're using an AI model, it sends what you prompted it uh back to its server so it could train more and more on it. As long as that privacy agreement is signed and
037we're part of their enterprise license, all that data does not train their models. It stays within our NPS bubble. So student student data and privacy, their information is safe and we feel confident in that. and that so if a teacher wanted to say call a student by a name within a chatbot they are allowed to do that because it's with within our web of privacy >> and some of them like Dan said with the privacy and the agreements we have some of the platforms AI platforms are for certain ages where the ones that some of the ones that we're using for the elementary are for students of the younger age and they have tested everything to make sure they're appropriate for their age also. Yeah, it's it's pretty wild because um using AI uh I
038compared our student data privacy agreement from Newark public schools to the Connecticut State one. >> We're actually stricter when it comes to student data privacy. Yeah. >> So it's you know we're it yeah we feel very confident that our student information is safe >> from the educator standpoint. My issue is how will this help in the homes? Yeah, >> you know where is that going to be conducive to your parents you know because you have some parents that may not be they may be computer >> when it comes to that part of it but may not be able to read however they may be able to function a lot of people function by that computer they can be able to do however how can they how can we help as far as the concern >>
039yeah so I think that's what Um, oh, I hear himself. Um, I think that's what Amanda was saying is that, you know, we are going to be offering those family workshops and how can we support AI at home and through our family hub, you know, we we have some starters there. How can you start conversations with your child about AI and but also too, you know, like we were beginners with AI at one point, you know, so that might be a workshop that we offer. He's like maybe just for parents, how can parents use it online person? >> I think ideally we would probably do it in person. Um, but we could hoping for >> Yeah, probably do a hybrid. >> Yeah, we're trying to actually figure out ones that we're going to do each
040month. Some may make sense, you know, like online. But for the most part, you know, when we surveyed our principles, I would say they were kind of about 60 70% were saying we'd rather see the workshops in person at our schools >> and they'd like to sponsor them at their schools. So that's exact. So they're pulling us in to be a because we you know sometimes it's a little bit easier to >> parents feel more comfortable at their school than other places. So we want >> what I'm assuming >> transportation some parents >> maybe difficult is going to be difficult. >> So they so you're saying they should have an online option. >> I was just saying they should have that option as well. >> I can do that with the with the resource with
041the guide book though just like there's a tool for teachers to be able to help a student improve their reading. I'm assuming there must be a tool that's available for for parents, right? >> The same >> to to teach to to to to support >> reading at home, right? >> Yes. Like back in the day, you know, your teachers gave you all these tools and things to, >> you know, utilize at home to help your kids read better, do math better. So, I'm assuming there's probably something like that. >> And as time's going on this year, we do feel like the key piece with parents is really how do you support, right, >> in this new world, >> right? And um you know just recently we've actually met with um if if you go on
042to Google's site Google for education there's a gentleman that actually at Google creates these types of videos for families. >> We're going to be working with him a little bit to be able to help create our own customized >> versions of that as the year goes on. So these are this is planned for the whole year as we move forward. But um but like I said, this is really our launch of just getting started and getting everything out there and getting >> I mean I I think overall this AI product really really going to help the parents. It really is because you know from educational standpoint like you know there are some things that may not be good in that. However you talk to but they will guide them and direct them right to the
043parents to be able to focus and understand >> and help us compared to not being able to help them at all. even knocking down language barriers as well. Live translation, you know, we wouldn't have to try to get a translator for, you know, if if a teacher wants to talk to a parent, you know, and maybe the parent doesn't speak English or vice versa. So, yeah, >> absolutely. >> The great thing about all the platforms, they all have a free version, >> so parents can they all have a free version. So, parents can be trying them out. parents can be seeing what to do, what can they do at home where it's not going to stop them because there are the free versions to try everything which is the great part. >> Yeah. And we
044we all know that like I mean our our vision and mission everything here that we do is really focused around equity >> and this tool will be able to help bring equity to many students that did not have that opportunity in the past. Absolutely. We just have to figure out how to kind of harness that >> and do it well. And it once again if we do it where >> we don't kind of like make sure that all the stakeholders are involved and we keep iterating with it, we we'll we'll miss that we'll miss that opportunity. >> Yeah. >> So, well, just like everything else in the beginning is, you know, it's it's something else. It's a um plus or minus, >> right? you know, so you know, it's going to take them some time,
045but once they adapt to it, they're going to be able to function. >> Yeah. >> And that's able to help the kids, >> parents, teachers, >> all across the board, >> everyone, you know, once we show them the wonders, just in general, this is the future. >> Yeah. Represent. >> We're building the plane as we fly, learning how to build it as we go, right? I mean, that's basically learning learning as you develop and put this thing together. It's unfortunate that they're going to take away a lot of jobs. But >> yeah, actually we talk about the human in the center, but I you know, I keep saying this and and I think we keep we keep understanding this. >> People many teachers at one point where where it's like, well, we're going to lose
046our jobs because of AI. And it's like, no, I I don't think any teachers will lose their job because there's human impact. teachers that don't know how to use a that don't know how to use and utilize AI will be the ones that will probably be the most impacted by this not it's not the AI tool itself >> and I know it said it in the video too but we we really wanted to emphasize that it is a living document this guide book so that this guide book could look different from a couple months from now because AI is ever changing >> and it's so rapid so yeah so >> there'll always be updates >> yeah I I I was given the cane I But thank you though. So yeah, we'll be happy to share
047anything else, but check out the QR codes and stuff Exactly. >> My goodness. >> Here we go. So, section 32 of public act 2593. It requires us to share with the board of education yearly and this is a new law that was passed. Three main components. The first component is to share some of our community-based organization partnerships that we have. and what that entails. So when I s share that piece of it is what are they working with? What are they doing with our students? So that is the the first part. >> The second part is a workforce development update. what are we doing as a district to what offer programs to students to promote workforce development cooperatives, internships, job training programs. And so that's really the work that Carol has been working on the
048last three years. And she'll be able to talk a little bit about that component. The last piece is our attrition data for certified and non-certified uh staff disagregated by school and subject. So it doesn't include someone. An example, we had a PAR educator who resigned as a PAR educator because they became a teacher in Norwok. It doesn't include those um people. It does include someone who either retired or has resigned and went somewhere else. >> And so we're going to talk about those three pieces to because this is a new legislative requirement. We tal we've talked about some of these things. So, it might not be all new information, but we're going to share this update. So, we'll start with community- based organizations and then we'll move into workforce development and we'll finish with the
049retention. So when we look, we have a lot of different community-based partnerships and we I will say that there were a few more, but over the last few years, we have reduced some of those partnerships due to funding and cost >> and grants, >> right? >> Yeah. >> So, we start with the Carver. Uh the Carver serves 3,300 of our students. They are in all of our buildings. They offer before and after school care in elementary school. In middle school, they offer after school care and in high school as well. So they are one of our largest providers. They also offer summer to our students. So we have students that will be in this building in the summer um or a different building in the district. >> Transition programs >> transition transition programs in the
050summer. So, fifth to sixth grade students and also 8th to 9th grade. We know that the transitions are hard. Yeah. >> And they've built a model where students coming from elementary school can spend five weeks at a middle school and learning about the middle school and >> it's really grown over the last five years that I can remember. It started with a high school transition, then they added a middle school transition. >> Stepping stones. So with their Ellie program, they uh they support public schools. We have three preK programs, early start programs, and they they're run by Stepping Stones at the NCC building. >> So they have three classrooms, and they are serving roughly 56 students at the NCC building. They also have two summer classrooms for students who don't who or didn't attend preK.
051And so last year we had those two classrooms at Jefferson. It it changes depending on what buildings are available to us in the summer because we've been doing a lot of summer work, but they're they're a partner that we work with in our early childhood space. Odyssey is another partner. They have one classroom at the NECC space, but they also provide both before and after care at the Sono School. Because Carver cannot provide before and afterare to pre preschool students, their license doesn't allow it. We were lucky that we were able to partner with Odyssey because we currently have two preschool classrooms at Sono and we're going to be opening a third classroom at Sono in the next month or so. And so the fact that we can offer students before and after school parent
052families, it has been really beneficial. Now, is the funding the same at that as it is at Carver? Like we're like a pass through for them or how does that like? >> So, for the um early start prek, Norwalk Public Schools receives the grant. >> Okay. >> And we subcontract with >> for the preschool program. Um it is not it was a program that we've had grant funded, >> right? >> And now it's not grant fun. >> Now it's not granted. So, but we still want to offer that service to our >> Mid Fairfield, one of our biggest partners. They have multiple programs in the district. So, we have our link program and that's in a handful of schools. We'll see those that program. It's really they have by um bilingual clinicians that are at
053the school supporting students. We have our clinicians that support elementary school schools. And then we have clinicians that support our middle and high school as well. And then they also provide consultation and training across the district. But if you were to look, this is our breakdown, you can see Brian McMahon has a clinician and the link program. Norwalk High has the link program and a clinician. So, it really is built, it's been built over time based on need. Uh, it doesn't mean that they have someone there every day all day. We at one point had a clinician in every middle and high school. >> Uh, but over time, grant funding has >> dried up and so now they're split where they'll spend two days in one school and then go to another school for two
054days. But we are still servicing for tons of tons of students in schools and a clinician from Mid Fairfield is working with um a student who may need a little bit more support family and children's agency. So, we have a partnership with the city of Norwok and FCA that where we are working to support 30 disengaged youth in our high schools. And Carol's our point person to that uh partnership that she can talk a little bit about. >> Um so, with this particular program, we're very um fortunate to work with our 30 um disengaged youth and also their families. What we've set up is a case management approach where we bring in all of the different um entities uh of support for our families and their scholars. And we really help oversee credits, we help
055oversee disengagement, we bring in opportunities, um we connect them with counseling. And so it's really an approach to meet them where they are. Um and we've been really um lucky to work with the 30 um students this year that we're working with and we hope to increase that number in the future. >> How are these kids affected? >> Great question. So what we did was we looked at data. We looked at chronic absenteeism. We looked at disengagement. We looked at um discipline data to see who our students were because it's really a tier three plus approach in terms of that really tiered service that they need um and providing them the specific services that they and their families are in need of and that's how we chose them through data >> 30 is all cut
056off >> right now. Yes. >> Yeah. >> We need at the high schools. Absolutely. And it's only it's focused on the high school. >> So it's very strategic partnership >> kids in crisis. So we have the teen talk counselors. We have one at Norwalk High School and one at Brian McMahon High School. And they are specifically trained to identify at risk students or students flying under the radar around depression, anxiety or substance abuse. And so that is a program that I think Norwok has had for many years. Um and so that's something that we continue to partner with them and it provides another level of support at the school level. Norwok Axe. So Norwok Axe, we have a lot of different partnerships with Norwok Axe. We have the early childhood partnership. We have the mental
057health partnership. But in terms of actually working with students, one of the great partnerships we have is if a student doesn't turn five by September 1st, then they have to take an assessment to be able to start kindergarten. It was a new law that was passed a couple of years ago. And our our assessment is the ages and stages questionnaire. and Norok acts it goes to the family center and supports us uh providing this assessment to students and families and so that's a really good partnership. They actually train the family center and how to to give the assessment but then they also come and support us at with um administering the assessment as well. So it's a really good partnership. They also give us transition data for students entering kindergarten and that's through the early
058childhood initiative and that data helps principles and schools to really group kindergarten students because you have lots of data grades one through ever but in kindergarten you don't have a lot of that data. So this data that's pulled by Norwok ads really helps schools to um make classes and they use a lot of different factors for that. The human services council mentor program is a program that we've had with us wow for a really long time and um we I was corrected earlier they actually have 412 mentees um over a 100 mentors and the way that the mentees are chosen it's that they're referred to usually by a social worker or a counselor and for various reasons whether Whether it is because a child is displaying a certain need or because of absenteeism or because
059of something that a family member may have shared, but it's through a referral process and there's an application online. The child and the family completes the application and then they're paired with a mentor. These mentors are not school staff. So, these are mentors that come from all over Norwok. Um, and they've done a pretty good job at just keeping the mentors coming. So that I've never seen them actually be um much fewer than about a hundred mentors and a lot of them have s maintained those relationships throughout. Yeah. Um I was Jasmine actually >> she runs it >> runs it but she was also a mentee and so then she had a relationship with her mentor throughout um her academic career here. Um and so you know as you could see it's about half female
060half male and um and then we just basically uh take advantage of the human services council to do this program for us. >> This program started by Susan Weinberger. You I don't know if you know that. >> Yes. Dr. Dr. Weinberger's um wife because you know he works with us >> right my kids >> Dr. Hamburger she called him. But anyway, she used to work in the district and she created that program and I actually took it over for a while and I ran that program and then HSC I think it transitioned over to them like maybe in 08 or 09 or something like that. Okay. But I think she still has like a a foundation. >> She has something where she does. Yes. She used to work for Dr. Stone. >> Yeah. But so
061um yeah, they've been with us for a really long time. Yeah. Um, Human Services Council also provides uh two of our school-based health centers. They're called the Applebee School-based health centers. Um, initially they were the original school-based health centers that we had in the district and they were at Norwok High PE and Brian McMahon CGS. So, they were at the two large comprehensive high schools. three years ago or two years ago, we put out uh a request for proposal and in that request for proposal, we actually ended up partnering with Norah Community Health Center, which will come after this. However, Norark Community Health Center didn't have enough physicians to be able to take on all of the buildings that we needed. So, we asked Human Services Council if they could still keep Norwalk High. >>
062Yeah. and PEK and if they could then move the Abria McMahon facility to West Rocks, which they did, and so that we could maximize the partnership. The one thing about the Applebe Schoolbased Health Center is that they're only operational during school hours with only some services available after school for mental health um care. Um, and the reason why it's because they're not partnered with like a Yale or a or NORC um hospital. So they don't have like a medical home but they do provide things at the schools that nurses can't do >> like vaccinations, exams, physicals, all that can take places at the schools and if you would advance. Thank you. And so NAR Community Health Center is a fairly new partnership for us even though they've been around for a really long time. It
063really came out of uh us putting out a proposal to have these um school-based health centers be more comprehensive. And so we wanted somebody that could actually provide a medical home. And what that means is even though I'm a Brian McMahon student, if I go to Nor Community Health Center, but I if I have a problem on a Saturday, you can now go to their um Connecticut Avenue um location. So it doesn't matter like where you are um located, you can go to all of their various clinics because they are a standalone clinic. And so then their hours are much more comprehensive. They have evening services. They have um uh counselors um and they are located at Brian McMahon Ponis CMS. They're also located at One Park Street. the One Park Street location actually offers
064family services, not just for the students. So, you could just go there. Um, and then, um, the Kendall Elementary, we've built it out, but we're still waiting for licensing because of the federal government has just not been giving out these licenses, but we do have the grant and the funding for it. We're just waiting for the license. Um, and we're looking to see if we can expand our partnership with them even further. like we did a pilot program for dental at Jefferson and so we're hoping that they'll take that on for us. Also, >> Darlene Young was one of the founding members of you know that >> he was one of the founding members of the community. >> Yes. >> Ability and beyond. It's located on East Avenue. They partner with our 18 to 21
065program. So they provide two employment specialists and they work with our students who go to CT State Norwok and Norwok Hospital. >> And so that is a partnership that we have as well that is supporting our 18 to 20 >> program. The Maritime Aquarium is one of our larger partnerships. We there support our marine science pathway which is at Jefferson Elementary School, West Rocks Middle School and Brian McMahon. But it also supports our summer programming. Our elementary summer program K through grades K through four. Every student goes to the aquarium twice and then we have a showcase at the end of the summer where their project is usually focused on an animal um marine life and then they display them at the aquarium and it's a family night and we've had 600 people attending that
066end of summer celebration. So that's one of our other partnerships and that's through the marine science grant as well. Norwok Education Foundation. It's an interesting partnership. Three years ago, we started a partnership with them around the Reading Buddies program. And so, this partners with student uh families, adults from residents from the community with our uh third grade students. And they go in and they read to our students and they work with them. And we actually provide a training to all reading buddies so that they can focus on readaloud strategies or best practices and many of the reading buddies are retired >> and they come back and get back and we started with a handful of schools and now we are in all 13 elementary schools. So it's a really nice partnership that we have and
067it is not something that has a cost financial cost to it which we we like and that principles have shared students look forward to their reading buddy coming and working with them. Okay. Well that that was our partnership our community based organization piece. We're now going to transition to Carol and workforce development. So, I'm just going to highlight some of the workforce development programs that um we've built over these few years in our ecosystem. And so, this is just an overview of the programming that we're going to talk about in a little bit more detail. So, the first uh program is the CTate Norwok partnership we have where our scholars are able to take certification courses. our uh our program piloted back in fall of 2023 and this is an open opportunity for all of
068the high schools for our students to go ahead and apply. They're able to take a variety of courses and what you can see up here on the screen in front of you is actually the course catalog that we started with in fall 23 because we make a very specific and tailored course catalog for our scholars each semester and you'll see it run all the way till fall uh of 2025. The nice thing about this particular program is scholars can take enrichment courses such as learn to meditate such as gardening and uh conversational beginners Italian and Spanish. But they can also take IRC courses which are industry recognized credentials. Amazon web services, Microsoft Office, um CT personal voting for example, those are industry recognized credential courses and and EMT course as well. Um, and so you
069can see them all listed there. Um, which is really exciting because before our scholars walk across that graduation stage, they're building their resume with one or more than one credential that they're able to show um, you know, the world of work, what they have earned prior to graduation. The next program that I wanted to speak about tonight was our internship program. We have a paid internship program which is funded through uh grant funding and our interns are paid minimum wage 1635 per hour and they are uh placed in a variety of internships um about over 20 between 20 and 22 different placements and so in the application um if they decide to apply for an internship they're actually now asked their first second and third choice for the best match. I want to ensure that
070they're matched in a great place where they're going to thrive and succeed and in an area that's of most interest to them. >> Carol, what are some of the internships? Because you're always looking in to expand. >> I am always looking for internships. So, if you know of any partners or anyone that are interested in interns, please have them contact me. And what I will share is we've placed them and in our preschools in the city, also in some of our classrooms at MPS, communications, our finance department. Um we um are diversifying now into retail. So we're having some retail locations we're able to place them in um information technology >> and we pay them. So it's at no cost to whoever is the host. >> Right. >> So the partner really benefits because they
071have a scholar who they they work with and it's it's a longevity program I like to call it because we start placing in September all the way to June. It's not a couple weeks. It's a really um you know a nice partnership between September and June. And what often happens is the partners will contact me and say can I keep the intern for the summer and I say absolutely but the program's ending so you'll want to pay them and then they can reapply next year. So it's really exciting. >> So do we have any banks? >> It's a wonderful wonderful program. >> Do you have any banks that we kind of place to? >> Um not yet but very open to because our interns uh our internships are in person. They are remote and they're
072a hybrid of both. So really a lot of flexibility there. Our next um program to highlight is our pathways to construction trades workshop. Um one of our main partners is HMTX and we've offered this program now for three years in the fall. We offer it in October. The uh first course that is offered on the weekend is an exposure course, an all day course for our scholars and they have all of the trades come in and they have a complete exposure. Then the following Saturday, um, our cohort comes back and it's more a demonstration, um, type exposure with the same partners that come back, with our same trades partners that come back. Um, so it's really exciting. We're actually in talks now about doing our first spring cohort uh, this spring. So we're really excited
073to put together another class if possible. Um, our red fashion school is a school that we have partnered with now for some time. Um, if you are familiar with the show Project Runway, um, the president and owner of the Fashion School, Ireina, uh, she is a professor at the Parson School of Design in Norwok. And if you've seen Project Runway, uh, her classroom that they show, uh, with the light on and off and all the sewing machines is actually her classroom. Uh, she has a wonderful program that exposes our scholars who are highly creative. As you can see, this is their work on the screen that you can see their drawings that come to life. They work with fabrics. they first do their drawings and then you'll see um one of our students there on
074the runway because they take their fashion ideas from drawings to the actual runway um in doing a runway show. Also, this particular program also attracts our scholars who are business-minded. They might not want to work on a sewing machine, but they might want to um be the entrepreneur that puts the fashion line together and builds the brand. >> Is that the lady you had at the office at the train station? Right. >> She still has it though. still has. >> Yeah, she still has the train station and now she's here. >> I wondered. I was like, "Oh, that's got to be the train station." >> Yes, it is. But, you know, she's new. She's the >> No, she's No, she's been there. She's been there for a long time. >> Yes, >> absolutely. >> Um,
075something else that we wanted to highlight this evening is a new actual trade series that we launched this year in October that we're very excited about. Um we really looked at the data of our senior scholars to say what trades and technical school programming are they most interested in and uh one of the feedback pieces we got was that of an electrician. So we hosted in October at the family center a day in the life of an electrician with our industry um partners our electricians from our local union and we had a full house of over 35 um families and students attend who are interested in pursuing the field of electrician. Um at the end of that particular seminar that we did, we had 15 people in total, scholars and families that were committed to
076visiting the school, potentially starting to apply for their apprenticeship or enroll in courses. So this is a real um impact program as I as I call it because um our scholars and our families are making actual decisions that evening or shortly thereafter to pursue uh their trade or their fields. So, what we're going to be doing is this will be a year-long um academic year-long series and the next one will be in December. So, I'm just looking at the data now to see which trade I should pull for December according with the numbers um of what our scholars want. And so, that's being worked on now. So, my vision is to do one every other month until June. Um this programming has gone on here for many years. This is kind of dual two programs
077you're looking at on the screen here. The one to the right in the pink flyer is for our MPS families who are 18 and older. Um and so I do a um workforce development workshop for them at the family center. One in the fall, one in the spring, connecting them to apprenticeship, trades, jobs, um meeting them where they are, seeing what they need. So if I have a family member that comes in and says, "I would like a CDL, a commercial driver's license." Okay, let's start the process and let's get you to a CDL. How do we get that credential for you? Um so that's kind of the tone. um and tenant of that particular workshop series for our families. And then the other two flyers you're looking at is the high school work workshop
078series. So I go into future ready and all four high schools and I do the same type of workshop but um developmentally age appropriate for juniors and seniors in the fall trades training technical post-secary planning internship and jobs. And then in the spring is for freshman and sophomore um volunteer experiences, uh internship exposure, um and really matching them with um more the freshman sophomore experience. Also, um enrichment experiences, maybe things they're looking for to try to figure out um what they would like their path and their course to be. And then uh lastly, we have a trade day coming up on December 10th that is being hosted and coordinated by our college and career specialists um at each of the career centers uh for our seniors that will be attending who are um in their
079post-secary plan indicating to us that they'd like a trade, that they'd like a technical school. They're not sure yet of their plan or not really knowing or in the exploratory phase. And so that's coming up on December 10th. All right. Any questions for Carol? >> So, what do we do? Because somebody had asked me about so some of our students who are who are not metriculating in our regular school day. >> Yes. >> Um I assume they could participate in this, right? And and and do we do something in particular for that >> for students that have like uh disengaged during the day? >> Correct. Because I somebody had asked me about this, a constituent had asked me about that. She's like, "Oh, what are we doing for?" And I said, "Well, we do have
080large workforce development." But she said, "Well, what about >> these particular kids? Like, are we doing anything specifically directed to them and guiding them more or whatever?" So, I don't know. That's my question. >> So, you know, these programs are built and offered for our scholars at Nor Public Schools. So any high school that they're in, for example, our future ready programming, for example, any of our students who come back to the family center who are 18 and older, I've had workshops I've done and I've had alumni come back um and sit in the workshop and it's available. Yes. >> And and that's why there were a lot of modalities created around this ecosystem so that it wasn't just for one segment. It's really for everybody. Right. >> The tough thing is is once you've
081disengaged, you you sort of kind of lose touch with what's out there and available to you, right? Because you're not in the know. Exactly. >> Um Yeah. >> But >> and I think the city I think the city doesn't the city do they don't they do something to workforce development? Does the city >> the city has connected programs to work for work force development? And actually we also connect um a lot of our staffs to those opportunities from the city. The school counselors are one of them. they are connected to those programs and so they're having conversations and they're able to share the city programming as well to really speak to who you're thinking about. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Two things I one to go back but a specifically state scholar. So for those kids
082that does not to them in their head like Sherry is talking about you know that's that's still separate them how when you're saying that it's opened to all the students >> workforce development at NPS is open to every student I will tell you something I call every student a scholar so when I say scholar there is no GPA associated with that there is no you type of type of postsecary plan I've always since I become a school counselor K to2 have always called them scholars, >> right? >> And that's fine. >> Yes. >> For you. >> Yes. >> However, >> on the outside looking in, >> for some of those parents and some of those students, >> they look at it from a negative standpoint and they don't see it from that standoint because I
083hear what you're saying. >> Yes. >> Right. Um, mechanics, no one approach you in reference to mechanics. >> So, auto mechanics. Yeah. >> So, you know, auto mechanics is an area that I would like to explore. I have explored it with the Department of Labor. The tricky part about auto mechanics, and I'm still looking for a workaround. I know that anyone who works with me will tell you that I don't ever see a closed door. I'm always going to try to open that door no matter. Um, one of the um things that the Department of Labor says is that we don't have a technical high school, so we don't really have those types of environments and those types of safeties and precautions built in. And so I did look into placing interns in auto body
084shops and I'm not able to from a safety perspective. So how do I bring it in in a different way is what you're asking. >> No, because I'm in a process I've been talking to someone >> that's willing to because he approached me and Kendrick's been >> Yes. >> You know has this business, >> right? and approached me about that part of it that he wanted to become more involved and really expand that piece >> in the city. >> Wonderful. You mean a great student? Like if we >> absolutely I mean right now we're we're discussing this. So we're just looking at you know once he can get his partner to add in we already have a building that we're trying. So that's why I'm asking you. >> Wonderful. Once this is all finalized, you
085know, I'm gonna end up we're gonna have that conversation. >> Please, please contact me. Let me know. Yes. >> It could just be where a person who owns an auto who owns a store auto auto mechanic shop. If he or she were to just partner with the district, just like we've got internships and things set up, >> you could maybe have it where that student would go to work, do an internship with that auto body guy if it's >> He's willing. Yeah, he's willing, but he's not he's willing. what they're basically looking to do. They have a building >> and that building need to be finalized before they can >> I see >> move forward with it. So, >> and and you're right. That's what he wants to do, but he wants to expand that.
086>> Well, I'd love to speak with him when he has the opportunity. >> I'm sure you probably thought about H, right? >> Yes. Yes. Thank you. >> I I think one of the other projects that we really looked into is an opportunity for we have a a building for HVAC. Yeah. where students could go during the day and take courses, but financially it it was $5,000 per student. >> Yeah. >> So, every student was $10,000 for a year. I mean, and that's not even including transportation because we would want to get them from school. But it's it's a if we can figure something out, I think it's a great opportunity where they take their they take classes two three classes in the morning and then their last class they would go and take it at
087this facility which is right in Norwok. So I mean it it's there's an opportunity but there's also >> a cost to it. >> Yeah. I guess AI AI can't get to electrical and HVAC, right? >> No, that's where and that's where the jobs are, right? Our last our last share is around um staffing and the attrition rate from last year. So this is if you look at the left the first column is the school or the department. The second column is certified staff. So we're talking um certified teachers and the second column is non-certified para educators, secretaries or unaffiliated individuals. So last year you can see we had 137 certified staff and this goes from July 1st until um >> yes July 1st to July 1. And you can see different schools had different um
088pieces. We did have 36 vacancy uh 36 retirees because this does include people who retired. It's not just people who have resigned and left. So I just want to make that statement. Is there anything here that jumps out or any questions that you have or I mean I I I think Brian McMan is the highest. They're also our largest >> largest facility. >> They have uh over 1750 students. >> So and then the second piece is looking at it by department or subject matter. So if you were to look, we can see administrative support administrators um different departments that pop up in >> special education. Special ed not surprising that >> special education special education is the um the highest if you look at both both certified and non-certified >> I think then the next
089two would be science and mathematics >> which are all um >> hard to staff areas correct >> I will say um some of the administrator piece were based on budget. >> Yeah. >> And and so that was we we and we did see people that resigned after the budget last year. So I I do want to share that piece. >> I'm surprised elementary is >> well we have just remember though we have 13 elementary schools. >> All right. >> So when you look at 14 schools >> yeah it's not you know it's not that many. The other ones are more concentrated because when you look at math and when you look at science, they tend to be in the secondary schools. >> Well, I saw in the beginning like in the first page >> at
090the bottom. >> Do you want us to go back? >> Yes. >> Would you be able to go back first? Okay. >> No, no, the beginning. The f the first page one. >> Okay. Give me a second. I'm going to have to scroll there. Well, I can just ask. Okay. I saw the numbers. >> Yep. >> So, that total was that 11 million >> for Carver. >> Was that Yeah, you saw that. >> Oh, for Carver. That's their budget. Yeah, >> that's their budget. >> Yeah. But, you know, the Carver does something interesting because they they seek out funding >> this one. >> So, we give the Carver um some grant funding. So, for instance, for some of their summer programs, we we help fund some of their programs. We help fund um but what
091we help fund is nothing close. >> I just want to name that. Nothing close to what their actual budget is because >> I don't know is that their total operating is that? >> Yeah, that's their total. >> It pertains to us. Okay. That's just their >> No, that's their total operating budget. >> But they really service. >> You go a long way. Carver used to have a budget like half that. Yeah. >> And they used to only be located at the car. >> Absolutely. >> They're in all of our schools here. They're also in other communities. >> Yes, they are. >> Yeah. >> So, >> and they never served that many kids. That's a big number. 3500 kids. That's a lot. >> No, it is a lot of kids. >> It's a lot of staff.
092>> Yeah. >> Yes, it is. >> Yes. And and what I think is great is that the staff that they employ are our staff. >> So, they hire MPS staff. So if I'm I'm a teacher at insert school, Nathan Hale, >> then I can work the Carver after school program. >> I can see we don't do that much of the housing authority, right? I mean, we probably I know they've got the after school center, but it's not enough that it would be on this because I know one time we were >> and then uh and and these are partnered with us, meaning they do a piece of the fundraising and we do a piece of the fundraising. But most of these partners um you know we benefit because they they help actually go after some
093grants that we couldn't qualify for alone >> and then we partner with them. >> Got you. >> Yeah. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> Last one. >> Waitings. >> My god. I used to run just out of CP. No, I'm about to find out. >> That's a little budget update. So, sure you um you heard All right. Well, how's everyone doing? Good. >> Good. All right. Um, I just have a couple of updates I want to to give you with respect to where we are with the budget process. I'm going to be looking there and you guys can be looking here and see. Um, so I'd like to begin with an o overview of just um of the district and where we are. We take enrollment counts on the 1st of every month. The
094official enrollment count we take in October, but this was the enrollment on the 1st of June of last year, uh, which showed that we had a total enrollment of just over 11,600 students. We had about a little over 2,000 employees with 80 new employees um on boarded last year. Uh we brought in about 1,300 new K through2 students. Uh we had 26 students uh graduate with an associates degree while graduating with our high school diploma. Uh primarily through PEK. Uh we have 51 languages spoken um in the district. And so this is just kind of an overview of who we are. I will wait. >> Oh, the wrong way. Here we go. Um, again, this is just uh you've seen this before. We're just talking about how our budget comes together. Right now, we're just
095beginning the performer budget development. We've sent uh the performer budgets to the central office department for them to start putting it together. Essentially, what we look at, we look at our current staffing and project what the salaries will be for those staff next year based on the contractual agreements. We know some of their fixed, not fixed expenses, known expenses, transportation, security, the contract. So we plug in what our contracts are. We factor in what those expenses are going to be next year. So we begin by looking at the things that we know. And so then with that we send that to our department and then we ask them tell us about the things that we don't know that are we need to start accounting for. So as an example if the state is changing the
096English curriculum for example this year and therefore we need to invest in new curriculum materials. These are the types of things that we will see um in this in the request as they come in. We know for example the South Norox school each year is has been increasing a class. So we know next year South Nor school will have the fourth grade. So with that we need to have fourth grade teachers. We need to have fourth grade par educators. So then we will begin to gather all of those requests which is what we're doing now. And then at your next work session, the superintendent will present to you a draft of the superintendent's recommended budget, which is essentially looking at the information that we know um some of the initiatives that may be coming on
097next year. And then we'll be asking the board of ed for you to give us your input. Where do you want us to be? Um are you okay with some of these initiatives? And then once the board approves um the tentative budget, then that budget gets submitted to the city and we go through that whole city process um until June. Then we get the final budget. So that's kind of where we are with the process. But right now, we're at that level two phase of budget development. As far as where the budget is, and again I shared this um last month at your board meeting, our initial budget that was approved was 242.6 million. that third column. Then we received the additional four and a half million appropriation which was primarily to reinstate 52 positions.
098So you'll see of that 4 a.5 million 3.5 is salaries, 890,000 is benefits and 20,000 is is a contract at Brian McMahon for a kids in crisis program. That contract is actually more than the 20,000 but they were short 20,000. So we applied the $4.5 million for Brian McMahon and that's how the $4.5 million got distributed. The amended budget then was $247.2 million. That's the budget that we're beginning with. And so when we start building the budget for FY27, that is our starting point. Uh we're going to start with 247 million. This is the position that we have. And then we will just factor in the incremental um cost on top of that. So that's what we'll be presenting to you um next month and you guys will give us input and we will know
099what we submit um to the city. I wanted to spend some time and talk about changes. We've had conversations about the food services fund and the C program uh that we that we're in. You recall that when we approved the budget in June, the initial budget approved in June had the district participating in the C program. Then when we had to make the $2 million in reductions, we opted out of the CP program. Then there was some additional conversation. the superintendent engaged with the mayor and we received funding from the city from philanthropist and we were to provide some additional funding on the board side to reinstate that program. So we reinstated that program with the understanding that we now had the revenue to manage that program. Subsequent to those conversations, there were a number
100of grants that we had applied in the school of lunch program that we did not get that have caused the revenue assumptions to change in that program. Primarily the fresh fruit and vegetable grant. Historically we had 10 schools that qualified for this program. This year only four sites were approved. They did not approve six of our sites uh for that program. It's based on a number of criteria including income. As a result of getting four out of the six programs, we're losing about 145,000 in revenue for this year from that grant. That grant also, well, not that grant, the same methodology is used to fund our supper program. And so again, only four sites of the 10 that had historically been approved were funded. So, we're losing 280,000 uh from that uh grant. And then
101there was a small grant that's a reimbursement grant uh that we lost 40,000. So, between those three grants, we're losing $460,000 in revenue that funds the food services program. So now, in addition to the funding that we were fortunate to receive from the student philanthropist, we now have to find this additional funding to make up for that gap. Do we know if those grants were impact because of the current administration, right? >> Well, they're federal they're federal grants. Um, but I'm not sure. >> There's nothing in there that would say >> no. I have to double check. I'm not sure what what caused us to not get those grants. I do know that they were in >> too many black and brown kids getting fed. Hate to say that, but I mean it's not even
102it's it's >> all about Democrat states. >> Yeah. >> Anywhere Democrat state to >> part of it too, I would imagine. >> Unfortunately, >> that's a big chunk. That's not >> Yeah, that's a lot of money. And then on top of that, >> because we had initially communicated that we're not in the CP program, we have seen decreases in the number of meals that our students Yeah. are taking because students parents have started giving their pack packed lunches for their students. So we met with Chartwells who provides our food services contract. They're actually seeing a decreased meal count this year compared to that time last year. The decreased meals impact our revenues because we get reimbured for the meals we serve. And so right now, Chartwell was estimating that we would potentially lose $420,000 in
103meal reimbursements because we have fewer students taking on these meals. However, uh we have been communicating with parents that they can go come back to the meal program. We've been sending out flyers. Uh we've sent out videos of the meals program. So, we're hoping that as the year progresses, the number of students taking school meals will go up, which will allow us to get claim reimbursement for those meals. But if nothing changes, right now we're looking at an impact of almost just under over $800,000 in additional revenue that we have to find just to break even with a school lunch fund program this year. >> So, that is something uh we're monitoring. Um and we'll have some additional conversations throughout the year. Um we also wanted to spend time sharing with you as you know
104when we went through this budget process there were a number of physicians that we eliminated and so we're operating without those positions but we just wanted to spend some time with you just talking through what does that mean and what are those impacts. So for example uh we have you know remember Maryanne and Allison worked together we have not yet filled one of those positions. So that means the bulk of that work now is being done with one individual. We have a leadership development cohort which is our aspiring leaders. We provide training for that. Uh this year we will not be able to provide that training just because we don't have the manpower uh to do so. You recall that as we went through the budget process, two schools eliminated their assistant principles. Jefferson and
105Nathan Hail do not have assistant principles right now. So those principles are operating with an additional workload and they're filling the gap of those meeting the needs of the students whether it's instructional social emotional initiatives um and so forth. Um and so those schools are operating uh without that and we did eliminate the social worker in residence position and the data analytics positions um as well. And so we're that work has been reassigned um to other individuals in the district. With respect to digital learning, uh they eliminated one technician and one administrative assistant. There were also two uh directors in the future ready programs that were consolidated to one. So that program now has had to kind of change the way the program with virtual academy has shifted to an inperson model. no longer the
106virtual model and then the twilight program has also been changed as well. These are the programs that are now housed in this building. So those have changed as well. Um uh the assistant superintendent because of those additional leadership positions eliminated in the department he's also taken on some additional roles. Ralph Valencis uh with regard to digital promise with AI library media specialists and overseeing our digital coaches. So he's taken on those um those tasks and so there we are seeing increased workload uh many of the finance administrative duties that were done within the department those duties are being redistributed within uh within the department and then finally um with our data support we did eliminate a data analyst position. This position these roles were absorbed with other roles within uh the deputy superintendent's office. But
107the challenge with that is you know when we we started doing a really good job of focusing on the data and that's what that position did. So maintaining that school specific data is being done now but is being done with with fewer resources. Uh but we're continuing to do that. Uh we were starting to do one-on-one data dashboard reviews with each school. uh that work is now being done uh but not being done at the level that it was done before because you don't have that support position there. And so to help manage that workload, some of these work uh functions have been incorporated into the school improvement uh position um as well. The assessment coordinator has also now taken on the functions of supporting our um MBK and our MSK program because what we
108were doing with uh with those programs we were trying we were starting to manage the data and the performance looking at outcomes my brother's keeper my sister's keeper programs and seeing are we seeing changes in attendance are we seeing changes in outcomes in performance and so that was data that this person was tracking for us. We're still doing that, but that work has been reassigned um to other people. >> We also want to keep continue the work with the portrait of a graduate. Uh we're doing that work, but again, the work that Dr. Ericson was doing on portrait as a graduate, she's also taking on some additional responsibilities in these other areas. Um and so this is just to kind of show you how these changes have impacted us um operationally. Um moving to the
109FY27 budget. Uh the first thing that we do obviously as you know 90% of our positions are in the schools and therefore what we look at in the schools when we determine how much a school gets funded we begin by looking at the enrollment of that school because that is a driver of the funding for that school. We look at the student demographic and needs of that school because each school has different needs. We look at the collective bargaining because it determines what our mandated class sizes. So once we determine the enrollment, we look at the number of sections in each school and then with that we determine the number of teachers to go into each school. We have looked at how many multilingual learners are in that school because we know those students require
110additional resources. So depending on the MLL needs of each school, we identify the resources needed for that school. We look at special programs. We have specific programs like the Montasauri program, uh the silver mine program. We have magnet programs at our school like Wolfpit. So we have to staff our schools to meet the programs that are offered at that school. And then finally and importantly, we also look at the number of specialized needs students that are in that school. So we have to identify resources for that school. So in looking at uh developing the FY27 budget and all budgets in prior years, we start looking um at these at these items to start getting feedback. We are actually um issued a budget survey uh about a month ago or so. We closed that survey on
111Friday. I will be sharing the results of that survey at the community town hall next week. We had 514 families respond to the survey. The survey was in English and Spanish. 85% of the families um responded in English, 15% responded in Spanish. Uh we had 74% of the families were elementary school, 27% middle school, 23% high school. This is typically what you would expect because we do have more students um in the elementary school. So we'd expect to see more more parents responding there. uh one-third of the families have children at multiple schools and that's why those numbers don't add up to 100%. Feedback we received that we're looking to apply and use next year that I'll be sharing next week. Um they gave us input in terms of budget priorities. They gave us input
112of programs that they thought the district should continue to invest in. They also had some suggestions for cost-saving considerations because we were tracking their levels of their children. We have some good grade level specific feedback that we got from that survey. They had good suggestions for us in terms of parent engagement and we also provided the opportunity for open-ended feedback. And so we've gathered quite a bit of open-ended feedback. And so what we'll present to you next week are some of these results uh that we hope will inform our budget um as we begin to put it together. And then finally just looking at what are the drivers for next year's budget. I began the presentation by talking about the $4.5 million appropriation that we got to bring back those 52 positions. Um our request
113this year uh will include maintaining those positions. So that's going to be a driver of the budget. Special education continues to be a need and so we're going to include that in our budget factoring in what the needs are. Uh this year the board of ed is required to start funding our limited liability auto and property insurance. Historically that had been funded by the city and so this year we are taking that on and so we have to factor in that into our budget. We talked about our school meals program. Um, as you know from the summer, uh, many families have wanted the district to continue funding that program. Um, that program comes at a cost. As I shared before, we have lost some grant revenue that offset funding for that program. So, as we
114present to you next year, the budget, uh, you will see that as a driver. Um, in order for us to continue to fund that program, there are costs associated with that. Contractor salary increases, employee health insurance costs will be a driver. We are adding fourth grade at Sono and so with that we would need at least three teachers pared educators um to maintain that fourth grade classroom and then we just have some other service contracts that are also increasing. Uh the city recently changed the rate of contributions for a 401A used to be 5%. >> It's gone up to 6%. It's a retirement plan for those that are not on the pension. >> I've heard of 45 457. Yeah. So 401A is for public sector. So it's similar to 43b or 450 401k. >> So
115we're now contributing 6% as an employer share from 5%. >> So there's an incremental cost um to pay for employees that are participating in that. >> Yeah. >> So that'll be part of the driver um for next year. But we kind of wanted to just kind of share with you uh what the drivers are for next year. And um if you have any questions >> I do. >> Yes, please. >> So what's the drive? what's the reason for the city turning over the the uh liability auto and property? So that goes it goes back a few years and Sherry you may remember uh this was an item that was always funded uh by the city for a number of years I don't want to say always I went back I think at least 10 15
116years funed by the city back in thereabouts the auditors came in and they found that that fund had acred significant um positive positive balances. So then the auditors recommended rather than the city continuing to fund that account, let's deplete that account fund balance until it gets to a low level and then restart contributing to it. So for a number of years, the city stopped contributing to it and we drew down that fund balance to almost zero. When we got to zero, those contributions never resumed and so we continued to pay the bills out of that account, but there was no contribution to that account. So then that account started acrewing deficits. So about 2 three years ago, the board of ed and the city started conversations about how do we move forward with this account
117and making sure that it is fully funded. And so we were debating whether should the city continue to fund it as it had done in previous history or should the board of ed could start funding it as part of its operating budget. Well, last year when the city gave the board of ed the 6.5 million, the conditions for that 6.5 million was that we would fund this >> and therefore we were now in this agreement where we have to fund it. So now we're on the look for it. >> Exactly. because we had agreed to do it. So, yeah. So, that's that's how it got it got to us. >> It was a condition for the six and a half. >> I knew it. I knew it was had to be something behind it. >>
118Yes. >> You know, cuz technically they should be funded now. >> Correct. >> And they had been for quite for a number of years. >> I mean, even to the point where they could have said, "Okay, we will reimburse you." >> Yeah. >> You know, but I knew it. Okay. I just wondered how did we get to that? Um, so we'll see a line item this year for that item and it will be part but it's a new item that we've never had before. So it's going to contribute to it's going to be a driver for >> to see how they react now because now okay that's fine but we're going to budget for it. So >> right >> so remember this is something you were doing. >> We didn't have the money but we
119have to add this to it. So >> that's part of it now. So that's good. So we'll take over and that's what they want. We'll take over. So this is what we're going to do. Okay, good for me. >> So when you look at this, this is really not anything to, you know, it's not necessarily any improvements here. There's nothing new. >> No, this is this is really maintaining what we have. There are no new initiatives. Um it's just maintaining the status quo and adjusting for the cost >> which >> of it >> which you really look at it which is good moving forward because you know any money that we're asking for is is what is really needed. >> Correct. >> You know you want to maintain where we're at. You know, hopefully, you
120know, we got a new mayor, so hopefully they don't play that that game, you know, because Harry could have taken care a lot of this stuff before he even got to the end of it. So, let's see what Barbara does. Well, thank you, Onward Yep. Sorry. So, thank you everybody. That concludes our board workshop. We had three different presentations and um I with that I'm going to pass it back to you madam chair. >> I just want to say thank you to the teams. I mean, the information today was very positive. There was a lot of information, but very, very positive. And I look forward to seeing what else um this district comes up with. Anyone else want to say anything? >> Just wish more people were here. >> I just wish more people were
121here. you know, uh, one of the things that came up was, um, we weren't being, uh, transparent enough and folks didn't know what was going on. And I would love to have seen more people here, but we'll see you next week hopefully on the 19th when we have the town hall. Okay, so the next item of the agenda is public comments. There's no one here. Is there anyone online? Okay, no one online either. And with that, I'd like a motion to adjurnn. Jasmine, seconded by Ashley. Thank you everyone. Have a good night.