001Can you say something for us to see if we can hear you in the boardroom? >> Yes. Can you hear me now? >> Yes, we can hear you. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. I'm trying to unpredictable [Music] that [Music] Welcome to Muscogi County School District, where learning, innovation, and global opportunity come together. A community committed to excellence, diversity, and preparing every student for a limitless future. [Music] The heart of Muscogee County School District is our people, the educators who inspire, the families who believe, the students who achieve, and the community that supports us. Together, we've created opportunities since 1950, shaping not only students, but the future of Columbus, Georgia. Our mission is to inspire and equip all students to achieve unlimited potential. Our vision is to be a beacon of educational excellence where all
002are known, valued, and inspired. [Music] With approximately 29,000 students, 5,500 dedicated professionals, and 56 schools and programs, we serve a richly diverse community shaping the next generation of leaders, innovators, creators, and problem solvers. From state-of-the-art classrooms and digital learning to award-winning arts and championship athletics, our students excel in every domain. Few communities can say their school district stretches beyond classrooms. In Muscogee County, education means more than schools. It means culture. The Chattahuchi Valley Library System and the Columbus Museum are a part of the Muscogee County School District, making learning not just a lesson in a book, but a living experience in art, history, and discovery. Today, under the leadership of the Muscoi County Board of Education and Superintendent Dr. David Lewis. Muscoi County students are reaching all-time highs in achievement, graduation rates, SAT, ACT, and
003advanced placement performance. With innovation, equity, and excellence as our guide, we remain committed to equipping every child with the tools to succeed in a changing diverse world. [Music] We deeply value cultural exchange and global partnerships. Building bridges that connect Muscogi County with the world. Muscogi County School District. Inspiring minds, building futures, and creating. We [Music] Muscogee County School District is celebrating a remarkable achievement, a 96.1% graduation rate. This milestone reflects the hard work and perseverance of our students, the unwavering support of their families, and the dedication of our educators and staff. Together, we are building brighter futures for all of our students. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Good evening and welcome to our October 20th board meeting. I am Lauri McCrae and I am the vice chair sitting in for the chair tonight
004who is on our phone and along with Miss Marggo Schlly. They're both on the phone listening to our conversation. So y'all bear with me tonight if we have any hiccups, but I will do my best. Um I get to start us off with our inspiration. As you can see, we have a lot of pink up here in honor of um breast cancer awareness month. And so what I would like for our inspiration to do is to take a moment of silence to think of those who are suffering with cancer, those who have loved ones that they are caring for with cancer, medical staff that are treating and researching for um cures and treatments, and then also for all that have lost people to any kind of cancer. We will take a moment of silence. Okay.
005And next we'll have the pledge of allegiance. Welcome Darthothy Height Elementary School students. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The character word for the month of October is respect. Showing regard for the worth of self, for others, or for something. My name is Darnell Passmore and I am in the fifth grade. My name is Michael Benson and I'm in second grade. My name is Abigail and I'm in second grade. >> My name is Dalton Fulmore and I'm in first grade. >> My name is Daniel Fulmore and I'm in fourth grade. >> My name is Ashlin Lee and I'm in fourth grade. >>
006My name is Johanna Burton and I'm in fifth grade. >> My name is Sami Johnson and I am in fifth grade. My name is Joe Burton and I'm in the fifth grade. >> My name is David Fulmer and I'm in the fifth grade. >> My name is Nara Murray and I'm in first grade. >> My name is Ariana Zachary and I'm in fifth grade. >> My name is Zire Isabelle and I'm in the fifth grade. Good evening everyone. I am Miss Trussell and I'm the math lab teacher and I do math intervention. >> And I am Miss Hill and I do math intervention. >> And I see the princip principal, Miss Meredith Adams. Anyone else? >> Good evening. I'm the proud principal at Dorothy Height Elementary members. Good evening. I'm the dean at Dorothy High
007Elementary. >> Thank you. >> Uh my name is Christopher Brunson. I'm sorry. Oh, and please um any parents of the students please stand or wave or friends. >> They did a great job. Thank y'all. He's going to change. >> Madam Chair and board, uh we have a couple of changes to the agenda. I'd like to add one item that I'd sent you an email on over the weekend asking to add that item uh for consideration regarding the purchase of Progress Learning. And then we are taking off, just for your information, we're taking off the East Plots committee list. We're revising that. We'll bring that back next month. >> Little bit of an echo. >> So with that revision, then entertain a motion. >> Yes. >> Okay. Moved by Dr. Chambers, second by Miss Jackson. All
008in favor? Or we hand vote this one, don't we? Yeah. All in favor say. Any opposed? Motion approved. So, I'd like to take this moment too to welcome our visitors tonight. I know we have usually with us Alan Harkness with the library, Maryann Rickner with the museum. >> We have um I know we have some me people here. Um Andy Lucer, Mike Welch, and John Hester with re me too. Anybody I'm missing? >> Jeremy. Jeremy coming. Thank you. Um any um building administrators or leaders, please raise your hand or wave. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you all the parents and supporters that are here as well. And with that, we will move on to our recognitions. It's red. Okay. Good evening. I'm Kimberly Wright, director of communications, and these are your October recognitions. Um,
009congratulations to Cadet Clag of Hardway High School on earning his National FAA Part 107 remote pilot license [Applause] in the middle. Um, it's a major milestone in the lighthouse brigade brigade drone STEM program. Under the mentorship of Major Vernon Williams, Cadet Clag demonstrated exceptional knowledge of airspace regulations, drone safety, and operations. reflecting his dedication to excellence in academics, leadership, and aviation. This achievement highlights both Cadet Clag's commitment to growth and the program's mission to prepare student for future careers in STEM and aviation. His success brings great credit to Hardaway High School, the Lighthouse Brigade, JRTC and CTA programs, and the Muscogi County School District. Again, congratulations [Applause] to Dr. Lewis School Board. Thank you for allowing us to do this in front of you in the community. This is an extremely exciting and special moment
010for the Lighthouse Brigade, for Hardaway High School and for Kaden and his family. uh his achievements are very special and they mark you know the only the future holds what we can do as far as our program going forward. So I'm extremely excited for him and his family and his achievement. We have this certificate of appreciation signed by Dr. Lewis for you and Lieutenant Colonel Sanders for your achievement here. And I also have one more special thing to present you with, which is your FAA pilot badge. >> All right. So, I'm gonna pin you with that right now. So cadence the cadet a few words but I am going to give them the opportunity to just say something. >> I am very thankful for all of the opportunities that I've been given through Hardway's JRTC
011program and it it has changed my life completely. Definitely. >> And I and I see some family over there taking pictures. If y'all would stand, too, because we know it takes everyone to accomplish these. Congratulations Reese Road Leadership Academy. Miss Long. Thank you. The Georgia PTA and the Muscogi County Council of PTAs proudly recognize Principal Katrina Long and the Reese Road Leadership Academy for their outstanding accomplishments. For 15 years, Miss Long has lived the PTA mission to make every child's potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities. Her leadership and commitment have touched the lives of countless children, families, and staff, serving as an inspiring example of what it means to truly put children first. They received the national PTA recognition recognition of ex school of excellence, reach road academy. Uh they received
012the Muscogi County uh state awards uh council of PTA's outstanding state principles second place can alone outstanding local unit PTA Reese road leadership academy the model PTA award Reese road leadership academy uh Hurst family school partnership award standard for speak up for every child best idea award parent university university and outstanding state school nurse Andrea Kimber Reese Leadership Academy. Congratulations [Applause] Congratulations, Georgia PTA 2024 2025 reflections winners. The National PTA Reflections Program is open to all students from preK through grade 12. The program offers opportunities in six arts categories: dance category, literature, music composition, photography, film production, and visual arts. This year, students from Columbus High School, Reese Road Leadership Academy, and Brit David Magnet Academy participated with 33 submissions across the categories with the theme accepting imperfection. We proudly recognize these students. Some weren't
013able to be here tonight, but we'll give the microphone so they can introduce themselves and tell you what they want. Hello. Oh, hello. My name is Carar Chinand and I'm currently a junior at Columbus High School. I'm very grateful for to CHS for allowing me to participate in PTA and allow me to get as much success as I have. And I would just like to say it's an honor to be recognized for my PTA achievements. Thank you. [Applause] >> My name is Sam Shehan. I'm the district director for Georgia PTA and on behalf of Georgia PTA and our board of directors, we are so grateful for the participation of PTA in Muscogee County and we're so proud of these students and the principles who help encourage their art. Thank you. >> My name is Jasmine
014Badella. Um I go to Eastfield Leadership Academy. My home room teacher's name is Cece and my grade is third grade. >> Hi, my name is Janelle Evans and I am from Miss Wilcott's class in fourth grade. [Applause] >> I'm Andrea Kim. I'm the clinic worker at Reese Road Leadership Academy. [Applause] And I'm Katrina Long. I'm the proud principal of Reese Road Leadership Academy. I'm extremely proud of all of our students um for their work and their reflections this year. We are looking forward to some upcoming winnings and um I'm ecstatic to be up here with our students where and at Reese Leadership Academy where great happens every day. And would the family and supporters wave their hands or stand, please? >> I'm sorry. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> I now yield to Mr. Corey Neil
015to present the power of we award. Good evening. The power we award for this particular month is none other than David Keeman, bus driver for special education. Give him a hand as he comes forward at this time. [Applause] And the submission goes as such. Mr. David Keeman makes a difference every single day. He's always fair, respectful, professional in how he treats and handles students and co-workers alike. He takes pride in his work and doesn't hesitate to ask questions to make sure he's doing things the right way. Mr. Mr. Keeman embraces equity and diversity no matter the situation. He leads with kindness and understanding. He holds himself to high standards and encourages those around him to do the same. Showing his strong commitment to growth and leadership. He continues to press forward in any situation. Mr.
016Keeman takes challenges in takes challenges in stride. Always looking for ways to improve and lending a hand whenever someone needs help. His positive attitude is contagious and he finds a way to make every situation better and keeps a smile on his face no matter what the day brings. From greeting students each day to making sure they arrive safely at their destination, he does all that he can do for each and every child he comes in contact with. Mr. Keeman's job requires patience, understanding, and a heart. And he brings all of that and more to the table each and every day. Therefore, we're proud to recognize him for the difference he makes every day in the Muscogi County School District. Once again, bus driver, special education, Mr. David Keeman. Let us celebrate him again. [Applause] That
017concludes the board recognitions. Thank you. Oh, family and supporters of Mr. Keeman, too. If y'all would stand. Thank y'all. >> Madam Chair and board members, I do have one additional recognition like to mention. U the Red Ribbon Week Fentanel Awareness uh and prevention kickoff will take place on Saturday. us this Saturday, October 25th, 2025 at GW Carver High School Auditorium from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This event is designed to educate students, athletes, civic groups, mentees, and parents about the dangers of fentanel, how to recognize the signs of overdose, and ways to protect themselves and others. As part of this important initiative, the Muscoi County School District will introduce a resolution proclaiming that Thursday of Red Ribbon Week each year shall be designated as Fentanel Awareness Day. On this day, schools across the district are
018encouraged to engage students, staff, and families in educational activities, discussions, and awareness initiatives that promote prevention, compassion, and safety for all. This is a flyer uh that's being sent out and published across our community. And again, I just want to take a moment to recognize Kayla Green. Uh she is doing this as part of her Girl Sales Golden Award uh program and we are very proud of her and this is her initiative. Uh but nonetheless, it's one that's going to have a predominant uh and very important impact on our community. So, please again if you're available and want to encourage all of our schools and committees uh student committees to come out and support that this uh Saturday, October 25th at GW Carver High School auditorium from 11 to 1:00 p.m. Thank you. >> Next
019on our agenda is the public agenda. We have one signed up. Mr. Marvin Broadwater, are you here? Okay. and we will move to the next item. Um, first item on our action agenda is item E1, appointment of the director of school nutrition. >> Don't I need to read it? >> Yeah. Brad Johnson is a professional with over 15 years of experience with corporate accounting and school administration. Mr. Mr. Johnson has worked with the Harris County District School District for over five years and is currently serving as school nutrition director. Mr. Johnson holds an MBA from Tory University, a BBA in accounting from Georgia Southern University and a Georgia school nutrition director certification from the University of Georgia. Beyond his professional achievements, he is deeply involved in community outreach, serving in leadership roles for your youth
020athletics and recreation boards in Harris County. So, we had a motion to approve by Dr. Chambers. You did the second >> second by Miss Jackson. Um, so we can vote. >> Yeah. And we also Do you have a way to capture Margo and Pat's? Okay. my family members, if you don't mind. Um, I have my wife and my daughter. Um, I have my in-laws, my father-in-law, mother-in-law, and my mom, dad, and um some more of my family, my church family, if y'all would stand. And [Applause] um I also have um although I'm from Harris County, a lot of my family did grow up in Muscogee and I also have a lot of family members that are currently working in Muscogee. Um, so, um, as y'all know, Muscogi is the city for Harris County residents. So,
021we kind of take part in claiming Muscogee in part. Um, >> okay. U, but I also want to thank my current boss right now until Miss Shalia Baker. She has really meant a lot to me in my development as a school nutrition director and the leader that I've become within the school system. So, I really wanted to point that out for her. Um, and I also like to thank Dr. Anderson um for entrusting me with this opportunity. Dr. Lewis, thank you for your entrusting me for this opportunity. Um, I know I know how important food is for the development of our kids and it's not something that I'm going to take lightly or I have not taken lightly even where I'm at now. Um, so again, thank you all for this opportunity. Um, I look
022forward to earning your trust in this opportunity in this role and I appreciate it. Thank you. [Applause] Next item number two, the board of education has proposed a stipen to be paid from the fund balance reserves of the general fund to the following Muscogee County School District employees. monthly paid employees actively working on November 1st, 2025 and semionthly paid employees actively working on November 9th, 2025. Exclusions include board members, community coaches, employees on leave without pay, um certain part-time employees not regularly working, outsourced workers, and the Columbus public libraries and non-district Columbus Museum employees. Wait, I gota when when it will be paid. Monthly paid employees will be paid on November 30th, 2025. Sem monthly paid employees will be paid December 15 to 2025. And the fun part, um teachers benefit eligible will receive $2,000.
023Non-benefit eligible, which is part-time people, will receive a th000 teachers. All other employees benefit eligible receive $1,000 and non-benefit eligible receive $500. Motion made by Dr. Chambers. >> Second by Mr. Cantrell. Um, all in favor, please vote. Okay. Yes, very excited about that and thank y'all. When will it be communicated? I guess pretty soon. >> Yeah, great. Thank y'all. Oh, now my not want to close. Okay, next up is Item three, legislative priorities for 2026. Motion approved by Miss Freay. I'm not gonna read all this. >> Second by Miss Jackson. And we can vote. As a reminder, most of y'all know we discussed these a lot at the work session. I apologize. I don't know. We're having some issues tonight on the baby. Are we missing anybody? Are we This is going to hurt my
024record. I usually run a really quick meeting and the one the one other one that I've run She may have had to drop off cuz I know she's attending something. Here we go. And that passes. Okay. Next item will sit on the table for 30 days. That's a revised policy. GBM professional transfers. So to item five, revised student policies. We took off number six. So that brings us to number seven, Progress Learning LLC. And I believe we're going to have a little presentation on that. Okay. Good evening. I'm Christine Hull. I'm the executive director of curriculum and instruction preK through 12. And I am pleased to bring this to you tonight. But it is, even though I'm the one standing up here delivering this presentation, it really has been a team effort with the division
025of teaching and learning, the division of student services under the leadership of Dr. Lewis, also with our region chiefs and several of our school administrators who have contributed to bringing this exciting progress learning proposal to you tonight. So before we begin, I just want to mention some considerations that we were very well aware of over this past budget cycle and some things that we knew we were that were coming and we were searching for an answer and a solution to some of the items that we knew we would need to support instruction to support our students and our teachers. So some of those items have of course been the blueprint which you've heard a lot about our teaching and learning blueprint and the course builds that our teachers are working very diligently to provide across
026the district and all content and all grade levels particularly looking at our GMass state assessed courses. We were also in search of a possible supplemental math resource. We know we have incredible robust learning plans that are provided by the state as well as highquality instructional materials across all contents. But we were looking for something that might provide additional skills and practice. Teachers were asking is there something we can get for our students that if they are not on grade level and they do need those interventions and supports, what can we provide for them? So we were looking for that, seeking for it and planning for that in the budget as well. We also have been working with our Rollins partnership for the past three years. We're in our third year of that and we knew
027that we would need to pull in our phonics diagnostic which is pretty comprehensive. It's a onetoone for students to assess them at their point of need with their foundational skills and literacy. And we needed to digitize that in a way that makes it more efficacious for our teachers to use that one-on-one with students. We also have new ELA standards. We've known they were coming for two years, but this is our first full year of expected rollout and implementation of those new ELA standards. And with that comes, of course, a new format for the Georgia Milestones. And on that new assessment, students will be grappling with some multimodal text on that state assessment that they have not encountered before. So, we've been planning for that, looking for something that would allow us to give them more
028exposure and opportunities to practice with those tech enhanced items that include the multimodal text, include the listening portions that they have to practice with before they actually encounter that on the assessment. and then also with an eye toward calibrating across the district across grade levels with what we're providing with assessments, our instructional framework, looking closely at pacing and realigning some of our classroom practices. So, we had considered all this in the budget. We had not yet found a solution, but we're very excited to say tonight we do believe we have found that. We know we found that in progress learning. So, we're bringing this to you tonight for a proposal and just to explain a little bit more about progress learning, how it works, and what it will afford us. Progress learning is a complete
029suite of not only standards aligned assessments, but content, intervention, classroom resources, personalized pathways for students all in one platform. And that's really what we were looking for is something that had accessibility not just for teachers and administrators and for the district but it had access for the individual student as well. So there are two separate platforms. One is a teacher administrator districtf facing platform that will really help us inform where we are with our instruction inform where our students are with their mastery and their progress toward that proficiency that they're expected to perform at the state assessment. And then most importantly is the studentf facing platform that provides students with additional assignments, additional assessments, most of all multiple opportunities for practicing with the types and of content and interactions they're going to see on the
030milestones, but also with the instruction that they should be getting all along the way. So that student platform does have assignment and assessment dashboards. It has remediation built in for them. And not just remediation, and I'll explain this a little bit more later, but it also has acceleration and enrichment. So those students who are above grade level have the opportunity to extend their learning experiences beyond. It also has personalized practice items and a personalized pathway for each student that follows them grade to grade so that they can keep that for themselves and set their goals and see their mastery all along the way. It focuses on skill gaps, but also like I said, the enrichment piece. It also provides students with videos, feedback, tutorials, games, and challenges for engaging students in their learning while also
031informing their teachers and us of where they are toward progress mastery. So, what you see here is just a snapshot of the suite of tools that are available within progress learning. I'll explain the liftoff piece in just a minute, but what you see here is both studentf facing and educator facing. So, we have the ability to utilize their progress monitoring tools as well as their instructional resources and their assessment and assignment builders on the educator side of it. And the students have access to their supplemental phonics program, their remediation tools, liftoff, which is adaptive intervention that adapts with the student as the student learns and grows. It says for reading and math, but they also now have science. And then that independent practice was which is really critical. It gives the students additional practice outside
032the classroom as they need it or inside the classroom whenever they need additional time with a particular skill or a particular standard. And then the interactive learning piece is also student facing with the engagement. This is what we are proposing that we purchase as a district. It's the full package. It's everything they offer. And the nice thing about this is there's not a single grade level or content left out. We are focusing on ELA because we know the lift there is very rigorous particularly for this year with the new standards. And it this is one of the very few platforms that also incorporates that foundational literacy piece which is so key. But as you can see just from the high school list, the comprehensive high school list, they also include advanced placement, includes college and
033career readiness, ACT, SAT prep. So this is a full suite from kindergarten to 12th grade, every content, every subject. So we have two different types of reporting. And when we talk about reporting, it's not just on the assessment. It's also to inform instruction and to be able to change that instruction quickly as necessary. and as needed and do that in a timely manner so that we're not waiting for students at the end when we're giving a formative assessment leading all the way up to a summitive and then we say oh no they didn't get it and we now we should have gone back two months ago to correct this. This dashboard helps us to track real time across schools within schools across classrooms and within the classroom and the reporting on this is very educator
034friendly. It doesn't take a lot for us to be able to quickly see at a glance exactly where a school is, exactly where a teacher is in the instruction, where where they are in the pacing, and then where the students are. It gives a very clear what they call a dot system, red, yellow, green. But the beauty of it is we can drill down past the domain into the specific standard and target the skill gaps in a timely manner and then act to inform our instruction to correct misconceptions to realign assignments and pacing as we need to as teachers need to and as students need the help. So this is the district reporting and then the nice part too is teachers have access real time real data at their fingertips. They have an item analysis
035that they can pull which we have not seen before and we're very excited that progress learning has this we can drill down into even the types of items. So if students are struggling with a particular type of item, maybe it's a multimodal text where they have to compare and contrast multiple pieces of text and the definition of text now has expanded. It could be a podcast, it could be a listening to a an interview. It's not just written text anymore, but they can dig into those types of questions and see where students may have some misunderstandings. They can also look assessment to assessment. They can look at growth instead of just summitative data to see where students are along the way and then offer them multiple opportunities to practice where they find skill gaps or
036misconceptions and realign their instruction to match. We have a lot of great stuff. We've got really high quality instructional materials, core resources. We've provided all of those things. So what does this give us? It gives us enhanced access for all of that under one platform where especially I'm thinking about elementary teachers. If they are teaching all subjects, if they're teaching ELA, science, math, social studies in a second grade classroom, they don't have to go to multiple sources for all separate contents. This would pull it all under one platform. So the increased access to being able to deploy those assignments and assessments, get back the data from those quickly and effectively so that then they can help set goals with their students. Students can set their own goals because they get their own personalized platform where
037they can track where they are and help them set their own goals along with their teachers for progress monitoring. And then from the district standpoint, we also can see where everyone is in terms of their pacing, what do they need, what are they not getting, and how can we provide that for them. And it lets us know where we are as a district in terms of standards mastery and progress across all of our grade levels and our content areas. The platform also has multiple accommodations for students who need those accommodations. So if they need text to speech in English and Spanish, it's there. If they need to change something for ADA adaptations, they can do that. But even if they don't, it still provides our students with multiple tools like a highlighter, a notepad, the
038Desmos calculator, which they use in math on the GMASS, is there already embedded. We don't have to pull it in extra. Our students have access to all of those things. If they're struggling with elimination of responses, it will give them something called a response masking tool, which helps students figure out why one answer was better than the other. So those tools are embedded within the platform as well. From the district side, we can secure the assessments as we see fit or release them as we need to and on a schedule. So we don't have to allow schools and teachers to see the assessment beforehand. We can do one cold blind to get a reading of where we are or we can let them preview it ahead of time. We have that customizable option. We also
039have the option of an item bank which is tightly aligned. We've never seen one this tightly aligned to the state standards with the right DO at the right level of rigor for our students. We have that item bank available, but we can also customize the questions and so can teachers. Teachers can customize the questions for a gradual release of that content and what where their kids should be from what they've taught and then add in questions as they grow. We also have the ability to deliver both formative and summitive assessments within the platform. The nice thing too and I've mentioned this already is our phonics diagnostic. That is a one-to-one assessment that is usually paper and pencil with teacher and student one- on-one and we have not been able to capture that digitally and this
040is a way we can do that. The platform already allows us to be able to do that because progress learning has built that for us. So that is key for us to have that able for our elementary schools to really pinpoint where the gaps are in our foundational literacy skills. Some of the technical components, it integrates with Canvas and with Clevver. They are already a vendor of ours. Several of our schools already use Progress Learning. So, we've already worked with our DIS team. They we know how to do the rostering. We know how to get them onboarded and into the platform. And it will work with our teaching and learning blueprint can be embedded. It's not extra outside of it can go right into there with our blueprint with Canvas. And they also have those
041milestone tech enhanced items that are critical for the multimodal texts in ELA and for the techen enhanced items that they're expected to perform in math. We have about 12 schools right now that currently use progress learning and we've listened to them. We've heard what the problems are with some of our current tools and how this has really helped those 12 schools and what they like about it. So we have testimonies from those building leaders, from the teachers in those buildings to say it's easy for us to use. We understand it. We like what's there. We've vetted it and we trust our folks. We also have seen the engagement from those students. If you look on the left hand side, that's just a snippet of what a student might see. The nice thing about this is
042a kindergarten student, a sixth grade student, and a 12th grade student do not see the same interface. It does adapt with the age group. for their engagement. So, our younger students are going to see a little bit of a different engagement platform than our high school students would see. So, it adapts to their age and their grade. So, this is the urgency why we're bringing this to you tonight. As I said, we had already been looking for these things. We'd already known that we needed something and we budgeted for that and we found the platform that we believe can do it. It's built for educators by educators and that is key. So when we're asking our teachers to use something to do all of these things on top of and in addition to that's not
043what we want to ask them. We want to make it easy for them to be integrated into this platform in a way that's accessible and makes sense to them. So it's important that it was created by educators. We do have again the ability to drill down to specific student data at the skill and standard level rather than just the domain level which is what the free state platform allows you to do is just at the domain level. It's also able to give us very timely and targeted points of intervention and the plan to interact with that intervention in the student. We have spoken to our GDAU school effectiveness specialist as well as the state u curriculum and instruction specialist and they have backed progress learning. So we have run it through them asked them and
044when we point blank asked them what do you have because to be quite honest we they did not give us from the state and ELA what they gave us in math and so we said well then what do you have what do you recommend and they said progress learning and Beacon. Beacon is the state free assessment tool, but it's only three times a year and it only gets us to the domain level. We also know that we needed to build in multi-modal questions and we did not have the ability to do that. This offers us the ability to put in those multimodal text. We can pull in podcasts. We can pull in articles. We can pull in interviews. All of that is able to be facilitated under this platform. And you see the multiple types
045of questions we can do there. They are also going to personalize professional development for our teachers and our administrators and our district level staff. We have a lot of professional development going on right now and it's all good but we have so much time and so we have asked them and how much does it take for a teacher or a leader to be able to use this platform and how quickly can we get that professional development? They will customize it for us. Their product designers will also custom build to our needs anything that we want to see in the platform. So that is certainly something we're looking for. We're looking for a good quality product that does the things that we need it to do, but also the ability to customize it for what we
046want. And so that is a basic overview of progress learning, but I'm happy to take any questions that you have. >> Thank you. so much, Miss Hull. That sounds like a very comprehensive um tool for the teachers to use, but it does sound like in addition to what they're already using. You mentioned that this particular company was going to take responsibility for the professional development, what does that look like logistically um and timelinewise because testing is coming up pretty soon. The other question I have is what does the training look like for the new ELA standards? So, they're learning the standards. At the same time, they're learning how to use this new software. Um, that is aligned to the standards, which is a good thing. Great thing, >> but can you talk just a little
047bit about that? >> Sure. >> Um, and then I have one more question. Go ahead. >> Sure. I'll start with the ELA standards training first. We've been doing the professional development on the new ELA standards for two years now. Last year it was a comprehensive overview which all of our current employees, anyone who teaches literacy from K12 as well as administrators got the overview last year. This year we're digging into each of the domains that are more indepth for all of our teachers and those are being rolled out by the content specialist ever since June, July, August, all through the summer. We have multiple options for them to come to those trainings. They can either do two whole day trainings where they get everything all in those two days or we've broken it apart for
048them in Zoom sessions. So there's some flexibility. So all of our English teachers, literacy teachers, intervention teachers for literacy administrators are getting that chunked out over this year when they got the overview last year to help them go a little deeper into everything that the new standards are are requiring of them. And that's true across the state of Georgia. That's a a process that the whole state knows that as we're rolling these out, we have to chunk it because it is a lot of change and a lot for them to understand how different it is from last year. So to answer that question, >> we got the overview. We're now digging in deeper providing extra support and resources for them in that with this the basic frame which is what they usually offer but we
049can customize is one full day of training >> can either be in person or on Zoom. Nobody wants to sit through a full training on Zoom, right? So that's not a good idea for any of us. But we they usually recommend a full day of training and it can also be a train the trainer. So we could have an academic coach, an administrator, a dean, a lead teacher, a department chair come in for that full-erson training and then redeliver. But we also can have many Zoom sessions that are chunked out with each different part of the platform. I almost see it like a Chinese menu of options. Here is everything that this offers. And if you want to go deeper into the liftoff portion, here's a training for that. So, we will have to look
050at our professional development calendar, find multiple points of access for our teachers to get the professional development they need, whether that be through train the trainer, somebody from their school comes and gets it and gets it and redelivers it to their school. We'll look at all of those options. They also have a a coach that is working with our teachers as needed where they can get on and ask questions virtually or they can have the assistance from the the staff at Progress Learning to help with their questions. All the content specialists will be trained and we'll make sure that our district staff is trained so as they have questions we can answer their questions as well. We also have a district specialist that is working solely with us. She was handpicked by Progress Learning to
051work with us only to help us with our roll out and implementation of this because we know it's a big change and we have to make sure that we're managing that change in a way that's reasonable for teachers, that considers their time, but also gets them into the platform as soon as as we can. We do not want to wait. We want them to get in there. We want them to use it knowing that we'll still have to do some professional development along the way. It's pretty intuitive. They're going to be able to pick up on some of it really quickly. >> Sure. Um my last question, well my next question is you mentioned that there were 12 schools that had already implemented progress learning. Um was that a sort of a free trial? Um
052that's that's the first part of that question. And then I'd like to know which 12 schools um and what was their feedback. I know you said in general they enjoyed it, said this was a good product. Was that across the board for elementary and it doesn't go to middle school? >> It does. It's K12. >> Okay. Y So across the board, was it the same um sentiment in elementary, middle school, and high school? Can you talk a little bit about that? How did the teachers feel about it? >> Sure. So, I'll have to defer to Mr. Dryman for the exact schools that have purchased it, but these schools have purchased it using their own funds. And so, that should also tell us something that if they're willing to spend their school funds on this and
053we had vetted it previously and said, "Yes, that that's allowable. It's aligned with everything we need it to be. you can use your funds on progress learning. Then they jumped at the chance and some of them have gotten it in different package forms. So I know that Kendrick High School, Carver High School, um North Columbus Elementary, they've gotten the full package and I don't I'm probably leaving somebody out. I'm gonna have Mr. Diamond come up here. Shaw High School and it is the same feedback from all levels, elementary, middle, and high that they have been asking us to purchase this and we have said until this point, sure you can do that with your school funds, but we've seen and we've heard the feedback. Do you want to give them the full schools? >> Yes.
054So the additional one as well for the full package was veterans and then Eddie as well >> and then other schools have bought pieces of the bundle. Uh whether that be certain grade levels or certain content areas and we can get you Mr. Dman and I can get you the full list. Very positive feedback from those schools who have had it. all schools, all grade levels, all content areas rather than doing this in pockets and that also gives us access districtwide now in on the district level as well. Uh thank you Miss Hall for for the presentation and I just want to make sure that everyone hears this is for mastery of structure mastery of the content not teaching the test but this is so that our students are getting the standards or or or
055accomplishing and mastering the standards that have been put forth by the department of education. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you for reiterating that point. >> Um, I had a question for Miss Green. She had texted me. She asked, "Is there an additional cost for the actual trainers from the company to train directly?" >> That is the all-in package. >> And I know you mentioned earlier that we had budgeted for it. So, some of these funds were already in our budget. >> They were. We were looking for the right solution. >> Okay. Miss Beckner. >> Yeah. My question is very quick. I was um what um at one point you were saying about the teacher assessment part and teachers I know like to um look down and glance and they uh and look how uh look at
056the assessment and and get a quick view of what's going on. Okay. So this is just for me. Uh could I see um I couldn't see that I couldn't see that assessment part. the writer was little and I just want to see um >> what that actually looks like. >> Skills. Yeah, because I saw some skills and I saw some numbers. I saw some red, green and yeah, I want to see what it looks like. So I >> I can provide you all with a sample of every report and you can look at it on your own. We actually have one school that already has live actionable data. So you can see us without student information. you can see exactly what each of those reports would look like from a teacher side and what they
057would be able to see. I'll be glad to provide that for you tomorrow. >> Thank you. >> Sorry. >> Thank you. Um I think that's one of the things that's important about this product is it has dashboards that make it very clear visually in terms of looking at that. You can look at a quick assessment and see your entire class roster and see if there's a predominance of red or green or yellow or whatever it might be. And then you can drill down to the student level, but it give you a very quick visualization of the dashboard versus numbers and and that kind of thing or bar chart. >> Any more questions or do we have a motion? >> Motion from Dr. Chambers, second from Miss Furry. We can vote. there. And that passes. >>
058Okay. The consent agenda is next. Um I believe we will have a presentation or some more discussion on item 12, EMF, >> the works program. Yeah. and he asked me to come in his absence to clear up some um questions that may you may have about the program and hopefully I'll be able to do that. >> Thank you. >> Well, I think so. Do you have a presentation or you want us to ask the questions? >> You can ask the questions if you want. >> You go ahead and tell your spill first. >> I'm sorry. Say it again. >> Oh, okay. Okay. Um, the first is our mission statement. And I can um say that to you very quickly. Our mission and our goal is to get kids back in class so that they're not
059missing valuable instruction time. That's our number one goal of the program. We implement it in two ways and it's up to the schools how they want us well what they purchase. Some schools purchase the student sessions, some schools purchase the parent sessions. Some schools will purchase both. We are very flexible in how we implement what they purchase. They may want sessions two days a week. We are working presently with one school who just have student sessions one day a week. Even though we are on their schedules, we are still on call. When it comes to the parent sessions, the administrators will contact us if they have an altercation or something going on in the school and they may say, "We offered the parents the opportunity to come to an intervention session in hopes that we
060can reach a reasonable conclusion or get to the underlying issue of what happened in order to reduce or eliminate out of school time or in school suspension time. The ultimate decision is left up to the administrators. When we have our sessions, we do talk to our point of contacts after those sessions. But again, it is ultimately left up to the administrators whether or not those days are reduced, eliminated, or whether if the session is not successful because everybody doesn't want to be saved. So if it is not if we don't reach a reasonable um resolution sometimes the kids will go back home on that suspension. So on our um if we can go do I click it or can I move it? I was trying to get to where the student sessions the information about
061the student sessions which is the next uh one more. There we go. Um with the student sessions, the administrators select those students who come to us when we do our student sessions, administrators, counselors, and sometimes the academic coaches and deans, discipline deans are involved, but they select those students. And at the middle and high school level, we try to go in small groups from six to no more than 12. Elementary sessions are sometimes broken down a little bit smaller. Our sessions at the middle and high school level normally run from 50 minutes to an hour based on their um bail schedule. Um elementary, even though we may be contracted to be there for two hours, the elementary sessions, they may break it down into four 30 minute sessions because of course it's a lot, you
062know, more difficult to keep the little kids involved for a longer period of time. So again, even though we're contracted with the schools, it is left up to those administrators how they want us to implement the sessions. When it comes to the parent sessions and any sessions that we do not have, the schools do not pay for. They may be we may be contracted for parent sessions. We may not have a parent session scheduled for that particular day. That school is not um invoiced for those sessions. And with the parent sessions, again, the principal set up the to talk to the parents and try to convince them that what they're trying to do is get the kid back in class. So, they set up the sessions. When we have those sessions, after we speak to
063those administrators, again, the mi the administrators decide on that final punishment or consequence for those students. Sometimes it's favorable again and sometimes it is not. Now, we do have extenduating circumstances sometimes. I've had sessions where a parent was recently out of a hospital and of course she could not come to that session. I did the session with her via Zoom. So, we do try to work around extenduating circumstances. All of the sessions are held during the school day unless again in special circumstances we'll hold them on after school. We just recently had sessions at Spencer to try to get those kids who were involved in a weapons um consequence I mean something happened with the weapons. So we had sessions on Saturdays. Those parents came from 8 to 12 for three Saturdays in order to
064in hopes of their kids not having charges pressed or not going to alternative school. But again now we cannot force a parent to come. It is offered. Our sessions are not a punishment. They are a reward because kids are going to be kids. And that's why we call our program a second chance works. Working on redirecting, refocusing, and realigning kids successfully. That's our acronym. Kids are going to be kids. They're going to make mistakes. But what we do is come in, give the parents a chance to be heard, give the students a chance to be heard, try to reach a reasonable um conclusion that's in the best interest of all that's involved and to get the kids back in class as soon as possible. >> Time for questions. >> Uhuh. Go ahead. >> Well, I
065did notice a couple of things. I believe sorry y'all having allergy issues. But um one of my big questions and you've somewhat answered it, but my biggest concern was the idea that a child whose parents could not come to a workshop or might have a single parent home might not have a parent they're living with that is not then coming to one of these sessions would end up with more punishment than a child whose parents could come. Um do you know kind of and that's more probably a question I guess for the administrators but um have you seen what they've done in those type situations? Yes. Okay. Say for example you have two kids involved in a physical altercation that warrants a five-day suspension for both kids. The parents are invited to the sessions. You
066may have one pair and ideally we need both parties involved there so that we can get both sides of the story. You'll have cases where one parent may not come. That administrator decides whether that kid is going to keep those five days suspension or whether that kid is going to do out of school suspension and then come back and do in school suspension. That's totally left up to the administrators. But we're not going to punish the kid whose parent is able to come and try to reach a resolution. We're going to try to get those days decreased and get them back in class. And you know, for lack of a better word, sometimes we have to inconvenience the parents if that child is inconveniencing that teacher in the classroom and keeping the other kids from
067learning. So sometimes we have to inconvenience the parents, but we let them know we're trying to do what is in the best interest of your child. It sounds like there's a lot more and sorry I am a lawyer at trade so I kind of looked at the contract and I was only looking at the contract. >> This does help to give a little more because the contract kind of reads that you know you've got to have a parent come to kind of have some of this um decrease in punishment. But it sounds like maybe there are other ways that administrators will work with someone who >> it is >> who whose parent really cannot >> right. >> Oh, there we go. Got it. Uh I think one of the key components here is trying to
068get the parents to be part of the solution along with us and to reinforce what we're doing at school. It's really important that we don't ask a child to live one way for six and a half hours and then another way the rest of their their days. So I think it's uh the rest of their day. So I think it's really important for us to recognize that we do we talk about all the time about wanting parents to be part of the solution, be partners in the child's education. This is actually part of that education. Um, we want to make sure the parents are involved and know how we're approaching this and asking them to reinforce some of those same things at home. I think that's a positive. >> Okay. Um, actually, it still sounds
069to me the same way that um, the consequence for the parent not coming to the meeting. And I understand that we try to get parents involved and uh and the parents should come. I'm not saying that they should come. They absolutely positively should come. Um but uh what I'm thinking and the occasion where the parent was in the hospital uh you said that uh you did it via Zoom. >> Yes. >> Okay. So whose decision was that? Because you said the principal's decision in terms of it seems like you're saying it was the principal's decision to do well to decide how many days or if they receive the full out of sus uh out of school suspension or if it's modified but whose decision is it to identify special circumstances in which parents cannot come
070to a meeting? For example, that was a good example. It was the administrator's decision. >> It's always administrator. >> It was administrators. Yes. And that she could do Zoom. Okay. And I was just want to see because sometimes somebody have parents working at McDonald's, working at different places. And for me, you know, they make I don't know what they make out. I know right now the minimum wage now is like 720. I don't know. They may make more than 720. But what I'm saying sometimes um circumstances like that should be considered you know in whether a parent you know that's a lot lot of income because it's not like you can drop in your job and drop out >> and um >> yes ma'am and that's um why when we have our I'm sorry when
071we have our sessions >> with the students in those cases where the parents do have to miss work and come to a session we ask the child your actions affected who just misses work. Your parent is missing work in order to come up here and see what's going on with you. It not just affected you, but it affected that classroom that you disturbed. It affected your parents who had to come to that meeting. And then we also have um excuses >> on our letter head that we give that some parents need to take to their job to show that they were coming to the school to see what was going on with their child. >> Sounds good. Sounds better. >> I yield to Miss Cheryl Flowers. >> I am Cheryl Flowers. I am um also
072the co-founder of a second chance to This works. To answer your question, um when we get to the school, we have a list of the parents that are going to come, which means that we have not talked to the parents to do anything. And so the whoever is the point of contact, whoever is the principal, they say, let's say this is Karen Flowers. Ken's Flowers did this, she did that. We actually see u what else do we have any more offense? basically to know what we are dealing with or they come in and they would say well so and so parent is in a hospital can you do a zoom or can you do this or do that so we don't know um basically what we're dealing with until we get there we have some
073schools with building those personal relationships that they would give us a heads up like the day before you're going to be or send us a roster this is what you will be dealing with because if it's two or three cases where all of them are fighting Then we had take on all of those at one time. Um so again we at that point we have not contacted or spoken to um a parent. >> Okay. It sounds like it that starts with the principles. >> And the parent session is not the end all because after we have our parent sessions we follow up with the parents and the students. >> Yeah. I was just talk about that that one little piece. >> I was just trying that was the only piece. I think your program is
074good. I was just thinking about that one piece and trying to see >> uh the uh fairness of how it applies and I just know some parents can't um some parents, you know, that they're in that poverty thing and they just can't afford to lose that income. And then I had another parent a parent called me on the phone. She was out of town for three days and some principal was making her the the she still had to come. So that meant the students sat out four or five days. These stuff happens at schools and and so I was just trying, you know, it's just >> okay. So and I think I can answer that question as well. Let me help you out. And so let's say if I got in a fight and they
075said um Sher Flowers was going home for 10 days. >> That's the automatic. I'm automatically going to get those 10 days. I fought Lisa, she's going to get those 10 days as well. They may call a second chance in as opposed to 10 days that you're going to get >> and say, "Well, if they come in and y'all reach a resolution, then opposed to 10 days, you may get seven or and in school." Okay? And so if the parent does not come because that parent did come opposed, you may say, "Well, you come back and you're just going to get five or they've already done five." But yes to your question is a lot of times or oftentimes if that parent does not come they still get what they were going to get in the
076very beginning. >> Okay. >> I was just trying to see >> uh if there was any flexibility but it's not your >> right. It's not my decision. Right. And that's what we I always when I'm doing a parent session I always ask what can I offer those parents? What is going to be the deal? We come to a res resolution again because I have no say. So it's not my school. So the um principles or whoever that point of contact will if everything go well they can come sometime it's they can come back today they've already been home two days they can come back today or they can go to in school but again that's not our decision. >> Thank you >> Nikki. That's not going >> and I think you said it very clearly
077what I felt like this is a reward program for somebody who is trying to have a second chance to show initiative. They want to take responsibility for their behavior. So it's not an extension or a harsher punishment. Absolutely. >> It is a way for them >> to be guided and to be taught how to do it better next time. So it's not a repeated offense. That's the way I took it. So that's why I just you you stated it very well at the end. Thank you. Right. And that's why with the data that we collect, we keep the data and we collect on repeat offenders for the same offense, repeat offenders for different offenses. We collect all this data. >> I just want to say to Miss Johnson and to Miss Flowers, thank you for
078coming to explain it in detail to the board. Um, I think most of us or all of us feel good about the program. We we keep voting yes over and over again for this program. Um, and I think it's a great opportunity for the kids. But both of you said something key that stood out to me. Miss Johnson, you said this is an opportunity for the kids and so they have an opportunity for their parents to come to the school not as a punishment but an opportunity for that parent to get involved. an opportunity to understand exactly what happened, how their student was feeling, how it affected the family, and an opportunity to reduce the the punishment. And Miss Flowers, you said something that resonated with me, and it was personal relationship. That administrator has
079a personal relationship with that family and with those students. So, I'm happy to hear that the administrator is making that conscious decision on um what to do so that the child isn't caught in the middle um if a parent cannot attend. So, great job ladies. Thank you guys for coming by and I love the program. Dr. Lewis, >> Miss Jackson, you have a not popping up. That's part of my >> Yeah. I just wanted to say I love this program. I just wish it was in every school. This is an awesome program. I've always felt that way. And um just kudos to y'all for coming and pre presenting to us. >> Thank you so much. I miss you. >> Um let me say also it's good that you um you and your husband you know
080you have the insight to create such a program but I want to speak to opportunity for example I have an opportunity to buy uh to buy a Porsche but I can't afford it. So sometimes when we present opportunities if there is no way for a person to uh reach the opportunity or have any access to the opportunity then that in that case is not fair. For example, in a classroom, if a teacher will give uh five points for bringing um a box of tissue or bringing and they do for bringing a box of tissue or bringing um extra supplies for a student where there is no money, he has missed that opportunity because he that is an opportunity that he cannot reach. So, as I said earlier, you have a good program, but uh special
081circumstance should be and it's not you because when y'all come when y'all come up there, they give you this and it's already done. So, I'm speaking to access and I'm speaking to sometimes there are cases where kids uh people need to be more flexible. And I thank y'all for y'all's program. Like I said, I like >> I got one more. >> Sorry. And I was one of the main ones that kind of brought up the questions and from what I've heard, you know, I do feel better. You know, my big concern and one of the other hats I wear is involved with the Methodist home. So, I've got a heart for the children who do not have parent support that are in homes where, you know, there's not somebody there to step in. So what
082I've heard and and on those children it sounded like it was going to have a discretionary impact but what I've heard I mean a scrim discriminatory impact but I have heard tonight and where I'll put my faith in is that administrators will recognize those situations and help try to keep it fairly again because that child may show just as much remorse in the situation but does not have a parent you know to come and attend but it sounds like there are other offerings for them too. So, thank you. And I got to quit talking because it's making my throat worse. Thank you. >> Just briefly, the proof is in the pudding. When we see the results in terms of the recetivan recetivism rates, which are extremely low uh and then the number of days restored
083for in class, I think that is kind of the proof of the pudding for me. and getting more kids in class. Good things happen when kids are in class, not so much when they're out on the street or someplace else. So, if we get reduce recidivism and increase in classroom instructional time, to me, that's a win-win. >> Thank you. >> Okay, so that brings us to the consent agenda. >> Motion by Dr. Chambers second by Miss Spray. We can vote. Yes. Pat and Marggo both expressed yes. That passes. Anything else we need to say? Thank y'all for bearing with me. Um, I know we have a executive session for a student appeal tribunal. So, do we vote ourselves? Oh, and well, and Miss Wright doesn't want us to go anywhere yet because she wants a
084picture of us in our peak, but so everybody's Stacy did for a minute, but um so motion to go into executive session by Dr. Chambers. Second by Miss Tiller. All in favor, raise her hand. Thank y'all and have a good night. I ran a fairly quick one. [Music] Everything. [Music] Oh [Music] Try to get away. [Music] I know. I know. [Music]