001okay thank you um thank you we're back this is weird we're back from exective session um and thank you and for posting during our no week we finally get to wear our shirts we haven't had a meeting during no Guff in like three years uh so we'll start with the pledge please join meiv liy and justice for all thank you ter you want to start us with the mission and vision sure thanks found Public Schools creates world class student learning experiences our Clippers are empowered to pursue their goals with curiosity integrity and resiliency are creative inquisitive and engage leers parti as socially responsible citizens Clippers effectively commun and solve problems that impact the have them thank you so much um before we begin tonight um I just want to address a few of the comments
002that have been made during public comment during recent school committee meetings um to important that our community be well informed of the facts um first we've received confir confirmation from the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care which is the EC when we're using abbreviations and the Attorney General's office said there's no investigation whatsoever regarding fou Public Schools um as well FAS Public Schools per Mass General law has regular audits done and there's absolutely no misappropriation of funds the school committee does have one open meeting law complaint filed uh this fall and that is still ping and I just want to acknowledge the exorbitant amount of time and energy required from District staff and school committee members as they review misleading claims although it can feel like these distractions are trying to impede the work
003of the district I'm really grateful that we're keeping our focus on students and we remain steadfast in our commitment to every student every day um we are going to take our student uh advisory and then if there's no objections we're going to jump right to the presentation of T ticket School Pilots there's no objection all right Isabelle fill us in um this week as we know is no G week so all schools in the district are participating in the same themes um yesterday was pajama day and today was twin day so and then we're halfway through and then the June or the freshman class is planning this febru so that will be on um when new sports is wrapping up into the spring season um although each team is in the tournament or qualified at
004the moment so that's great and um girls basketball had a great game last night they lost but they've really improved throughout the season I made it to first and last game their home game and so that was great to see spring sports are starting the triy outs week is March 17th Monday and then meet the coaches nights March 6 um there was an all cap jazz festival and found send many students in both the jazz band and the big band and that was a great success our SAT practice happening in guidance for juniors still so if that um if they get enough people they'll start doing that in the next coming weeks and then H families there have been many exchange students this year in Palou and they got to not only experience found with
005the United States so that's great to see and I feel like in the past years we haven't um had that opportunity for a lot of students so it was awesome you can be friends with people from different any questions for Isabelle the exchange students it's only at the high school I'm not sure but I know the few students that came to the high school that were um but that they hadn't like ran that program before yeah please what countries you all the exchange students do you know where they come from um a few from or my good friend romaly she was from the UK and then I think this girl was from um it was like Brazil and Thena I believe yeah okay thank you four years ago my um son and daughter-in-law hosted one
006of those foreign exchange students and that that Italy and two from Germany so if anyone has the opportunity to host a student for the year it's it's a relationship that will be never ending for this family I had we hosted when I was a kid and I'm still close with the people we hosted they came to my wedding it's an amazing experience well thank you so much for joining us we really appreciate it thank you thank you okay I'm gonna turn it over to Morin for our highlights thank you for us your setting is beautiful pardon me thank you for the beautiful setting like the nicest view we ever have yes um I have to say our art teacher Julie duffany and some students made that beautiful for our winter season and also behind me
007you're going to hear more about the uh phenomenal Dragon that's here behind me on the stage so I'm wearing land I'm the interim principal here at T tiet and I'm very honored to um introduce you to one of our kindergarten teachers Robin green and one of her students Jay Lee who is here and they're going to talk with you a little bit about the amazing Lunar New Year celebration that we held here at T T ticket a couple of weeks ago and we also have some still pictures and some video to share with you um around all of the celebrations that happened in kindergarten and honestly in the whole school so um awesome I think it enjoy it thanks thank you so we are part of the kindergarten Here at tea ticket we have two
008classrooms full of students students and we kind of change up each year what we do for celebrations depending on who's in our classroom so one of our families Mr Lee is here tonight he came in to share with us What story did he share with us he shared us cutting papers yeah why were we cut paper the stare away the monster do like red that's right the monster didn't like breed and he and what were we cutting out of the paper some shapes some shapes right he us to cut out some shapes from the paper and you'll see that in the video in a minute he told us the story the Chinese story about about the monster right and we going to scare it away right so we once the kids knew what they were
009doing he showed them how to fold the paper and cut the shapes what else do we do for Chinese New Year we use chopsticks to eat Ry hard hard stick but did you try yeah did you get any noodles in your mouth sure did sure did we worked at that um what else did we do for Chinese in here what's this I made a dragon you made a dragon did it take one day to make the dragon two days yeah at least two days right we had we had to put all pieces we talked about what we wanted it to look like and then they made the parts we put all the parts together right it took a few days right so what did we do with the dragon somebody hold the head somebody hold
010the body show them red shapes cut so these have been hanging in the window right scare away the monsters all right and what else what year is it the year of the year of the snake the year of the Snak so we show you'll see snakes the kids had had poles and they had the snakes on the poles and um you'll see you'll see me son he was who was very excited because he had his own Chinese dragon on a lantern right and we hung up lanterns in our room and he was so excited and every kid in school had to high five him all the way down the hall very it was just a great celebration to share one of the things we do with our Dei program here in fouth is really to
011try to to to celebrate everything to celebrate who who are we and so we learn about other people we learn about ourselves um and I and I think we do a really great job here in F with that we're very fortunate to have a diverse community that we can share these things and that families are willing to come in and share their Traditions with us their Traditions their cultures and things that they do one of my students um was in our classroom he and and and he said to his friend he's like I'm gonna play with my Chinese friend today and it's we've come so far in that you know we we came from a place that where we used to say oh we don't see color and all children are the same and thank
012God we've moved beyond that we've moved to a place where no who are you where do you come from what do you bring that is a huge growth that we've had here in fet rather than trying to have all CH children assimilate and become what is in the class it's it's so much nicer it's so much more fulfilling it's so much more authentic when they can share who they are with each other so for a student to recognize that and another student can honor that it is really growth for all of our students from from from preschool all the way up and so we appreciate the room and the and the support to be able to grow in that way so right J should we show them the video beautifully thank you thank you for
013that you stay right there all right go push a button okay so this is not the music that this gave me but is music that Ryan was able to download what we where I get nervous that it's not g to work yours oh looks like they got noodles there were some noodles on sticks [Music] making sure we're all is anyone else the table they're working on the techy just take a minute to share kind of the experience of having our kindergarteners parade through the entire school so um for the um celebration all of our students came out into the hallway to um celebrate to provide high fives to clap um for all of the students and we went around the entire school um the third and fourth graders like it was you know it's one
014of those heartwarming things when you you have an entire School of kids at all ages so excited to cheer on the youngest students in the building to cheer on the the uh our two kindergarten classes Mrs br's class and um Mrs R's class as they um walked through the school and we did have music playing on the um the intercom uh Don Williams had had music playing for us all so um it was it was a really special afternoon for all of us and um I I really appreciated the um older kids really supporting and celebrating the kindergarteners um and I I imagine that the kindergarteners got to kick out of it too to help kids cheering for them and high-fiving them as they went by and um just generally being really excited about the
015event so um it was it was a really you know how you have those days sometimes and um you walk away and it's like that was that was a feel-good uh Feelgood half hour of um of the of our youngest kids you know our kindergarten kids um and you get a sense J and her conversation with Mrs Green and see that we had two of these you'll see in the video once it gets going that we had each class had their own Dragon um that the students went building ruged they are they really held together pardon me they really held together around Halls Y and even after the fact right Jay so any questions any comments while we're waiting to get the technology rolling again oh this looks promising oh it's a uh it is
016a short little video but um it would be fun yeah that's right and we appreciate Ryan Weber's help with us as well um because we were just all of us sending videos and photos and everything else and then he magically puts it all together on our behalf so we really appreciate that so Ryan just so you know it does look like it's up on the zoom [Music] make [Music] B she she B she Shey [Music] back [Music] you [Music] thank you so much that was that was great looks like a really fun if you do it next year thank you for coming okay um next up is public comment um members of the public are welcome to speak about items that are not on the agenda comments should be limited to two minutes and length
017and I do remind uh remind you that failure to lead to the chair violates Massachusetts General law do the open meeting law uh the committee cannot act on public comment for items on the agenda the chair May accept comments following the committee's discussion you can always send us feedback to school committee fk12 ma. us any public comment just make a statement that um trying to be mindful that people are really passionate when they speak about public comment and during public comment um I've sort of been reflecting how I can make it um uh so people don't feel like their shut off exactly at two minutes so I have a first uh timer set for a minute 45 and then an additional timer set and then that will be like your 15c warning if that's okay
018so that everybody because I feel awful when it's like two minutes and then people are still trying to get their thoughts up so that's hiel Russell and I will start with um the Attorney General criminal review is not with the found Public Schools it's directly with the superintendent and I have an email it is still very much open and a verbal confirmation as of yesterday that the criminal review is still open with the attorney general there's actually two Nows I filed an additional one for personal reasons this one the first one is directly related to the Grant and for months I've been requesting the records from the district three separate times everything is right here these are the files the district has presented me each and every time regarding the Grant I made one request
019the eec these are the files and I'm going to submit these for public record if anyone needs to request them they're here there's an eec and a district and they're very different most notably the budget workbooks in each a budget is required to be submitted the district has to account for every single dollar of the $372,000 that they applied for the eec wants to know where every single dollar is going to go this is the budget workbook that the district sent me three separate times lots of zeros and it's for $61,000 the eec has no record of this I have an email confirming that they don't know where this came from someone has altered and falsified a public record which is a felony in the state of Massachusetts this is the correct budget workbook which
020is included in the eec pile okay and in this it shows that there was a $62,000 request to add a classroom to the YMCA the classroom does not have a preschool in fouth that they listed as a Cap Cod fouth Learning Center that's not even the name so was not awarded These funds what if they were where was that money going to go I'm going to leave these here thank you for your time I have 15 seconds but I want to leave these here I would like them submitted Sharon I do have them on a USB for you if that makes it any easier um but the budget workbooks I want everybody to take a close look these were sent to you in November maybe in the midst of all the emails you may have
021overlooked them this budget workbook does not exist this is what the district has sent me three separate times this is the correct one accounting for every single dollar of the $372,000 this is serious you guys [Music] okay I'm going to use my two minutes at the public comment during public comment for any meeting going forward to highlight more areas of concern such as the faults and misleading statements within the narrative thank you hi can I just start yes my name is Kim pford and my daughter is in kindergarten at East fouth Elementary as a certified teacher and reading specialist who chose this school for its incredible staff whose warmth and dedication truly go above and beyond their energy inspired me to join the PTO in the courtyard Garden committee which is what I'm here to
022talk to you about today um our work in the garden has been amazing I've worked a second third and some fourth graders in small groups sharing my love of nature the kids love when we discover Critters and learn if they're beneficial or harmful to the Garden many are now eager to start their own Gardens at home so it's so important to continue this type of work for the future of our environment thanks to the mass Farm to school initiative that the superintendent is involved with in partnership with farming Falmouth and Outreach to edible Landscapes to Cape Cod we're expanding the garden to grow enough food for all students to try my priority is planting fruit trees and I've been working with the town's public works department to find the best location we're lucky to have
023generous donations lined up including paaw trees ball Harvest raspberries and vegetable plants from local businesses pawas are fruits that look like mangoes and taste like a mango banana custard so I've been told I didn't know either um because of their short Harvest period they are not carried in grocery stores so we will get to try something new another little business will donate other types of trees based on their availability near the end of winter this is just the beginning we have big projects ahead including repairing and building new beds and we'll be reaching out for volunteers in the spring I'm excited to continue this work at East Falmouth Elementary School and we hope to get the whole Community involved thank you thank you keep us on our list in case we need free labor hi
024I'm Camille Hamilton fourth grade teacher here at T ticket and F president just have two really quick uh comments number one I just wanted to say that I'm continuously every year surprised and disappointed that in your evaluation of the superintendent that you are not asking for feedback from the teachers we're the ones who are teaching the curriculum we're the ones enacting the initiatives we are the ones living this every day it seems like to really get a true evaluation of what's going on in the district you should be getting feedback from us um second really quick point which I just noticed when I walked in I've been to a few quite a few of the school committee meetings this is the first time that I have sat in the audience and HED back to it's
025weird right it's weird I don't love it it feels very exclusionary especially during November yeah it's weird so that's thank you [Applause] I my name is Amanda mcal to quote chairwoman Kelly Welch in an article published after the last school committee meeting she said we need strong leadership especially through difficult times I'd urge this committee to consider whether or not we are holding standards for strong leadership considering what we learned after the last evaluation subcommittee meeting for those that don't know the admin's evaluation process has a significant limitation feedback is only considered if it directly connects to the superintendent's predetermined goals why does this matter it means that no matter how serious or impactful an issue is whether it involves decisions affecting students families or Educators it is not reflected in the evaluation unless it
026fits neatly into a pre-ordained set of objectives what message does this said to our school Community are we really saying that important issues no matter how significant don't matter unless they've been itemized on a checklist imagine how it must feel for our Educators and families to know their concerns won't be addressed unless they happen to align with a limited list of priorities if something impactful happens that doesn't tie back to the green sustainability initiatives as an example the committee cannot reflect on it in the evaluation are we prepared to say that these issues related to school safety teacher retention or student well-being don't matter because they weren't listed as a predetermined goal this kind of regid rigidity feels entirely disconnected did you know that giving the administration an unsatisfactory rating is virtually impossible unless they've
027already received a needs Improvement in a previous evaluation think about that for a moment we're holding our students and teachers to a higher standard then we hold the very office responsible for leading them if a child receives a four on her report card in the next semester turned in no homework and did no work would her teacher hesitate to give her a one because she hadn't received a two first of course not teachers reflect real-time performance honestly with the goal of spurring Positive Growth and accountability why should this process be any different standards exist to ensure the individuals in trusted with shaping the lives of our children are held accountable it's time to ask the hard questions is this evaluation process protecting our students Educators and families or is it protecting leadership if an educator
028wouldn't need to score and needs Improvement first to face meaningful accountability why then are we allowing different standards for those the very top of the system we need strong leadership in this isn't it hi Diana Wilson um I'm a parent of four children in the school system under this administration's leadership children are suffering they are being traumatized victimized and their education is being impacted and staff are going through the same and the navigating the future proposals when you add to that and all that families have gotten is more stress but these proposals are just the most recent in this administration's series of blenders focusing on the future F and projected data assumes that we don't have issues we need to address right now that couldn't be further from the truth families shouldn't have to consider
029whether it would be better to pull their children out of District than have their education neglected here and I want to be clear this has nothing to do with the teachers our staff in all the schools are amazing they love our little people and they do the best they can to protect and take care of them within the school's four walls they cannot control the lack of resources and support that they are given though how can we focus our attention on resolving a potential future enrollment problem when we aren't giving our staff and students what they need right now we teach kids that when you do a project you read up on the topic do the research educate yourself and then formulate a plan time and time again this superintendent has come up with an
030idea and run with it without any forethought this is and ultimately damaging to our children enough is enough the community is so concerned about this yet the school committee chair was quoted as saying the committee thinks there is great leadership is that really how you all feel we are paying attention and will take action at the polls the community needs to hear your voices we are watching and listening are you hearing [Music] us you okay hi my name is Sarah bu and I have three students um in the schools three different schools good evening members of the school committee I stand before you tonight is a voice for a community that no longer trusts this committee to act children your actions contradict the very me Mission or values you claim to upold if you are
031truly committed to the foundations for excellence outlin then it is time to reflect on where you were falling short how can we trust this committee when your actions fail to reflect District's core Valu partnering with families strengthening our community and creating a safe and secure learning environment right now families do not feel like Partners our community does not feel strengthened and many no longer believe that this is a safe environment for the children phally emotionally or academically that is why the same Community Representatives at every meeting and lot of subcommittee meetings we keep showing up not because we want to be but because we have to because trust has been broken and we will not stop holding you accountable to be seen change this quote is also on your website making decisions to fulfill the
032educational needs of children is the primary responsibility with which the citizens entrust the school committee trust is built through actions not words if you truly Stand by Your Mission then prove it listen to the families respect their voices and start making decisions that reflect the values you claim to uphold our students deserve better our teachers and staff deserve better and we will not stop fighting for them thank you okay moving along um can we move like half of us move I can help you yeah I was just worried about how long it's gonna take to we'll bang it quick right here one of those tables over here we mess everything e e e all right okay all right Mike all right land acknowledgement fouth public schools acknowledges that we are gathering on unseated ancestrial land
033of the Nation we recognize and respect the people including those of sess seit t chort as original stewards of what is now known as as the town of Falmouth and honor their enduring relationship with this land this land ackowledgement is an intentional act to counter the Erasure of indigenous people and to demonstrate respect for their Sovereign rights we are committed to educating ourselves and our students about the longstanding history of the people in alignment with the core values of public school we pl to BU an ongoing partnership with the w thank you so much and if you back out Tracy and ready Tech okay thank you guys for joining us thank you for having [Music] us no I think I just did PDF so hi hi um joining us tonight are of course d g
034the secretary extraordinaire we also have um eileene mcll our College mentoring program leader over there um and Dave sugar our financial literacy programs leader along with some board members uh Terry madas our school committee L on Kitty M Susan Roman and car Shan so thanks guys of being here okay yeah uh so this week we happen to also be celebrating I love VIPs week um this is the fourth year we've done the I love VIPs week and we always do it do it leading up to Valentine's Day this is an opportunity for VIPs to showcase our volunteers our programs and our Partnerships and those are the three things that served as the foundation for VIPs when we were created back in 1982 uh each day uh for I Love's week we share High on social
035media as well as email and we encourage you to not only check them out but also please share with your networks um just to show uh all of the great things happening in the schools so in the 10 minutes um we've been allowed for our presentation I'd like to just share some observations and also to issue some challenges um we don't really have time to go in huge depth about all of the programs that VIPs runs but I encourage you to uh check out our website and also have us back so we can talk a little bit more about some of the um work we're doing in the schools okay so observation number one as a nonprofit created to support found Public Schools we have built a program that other districts want we are an
036asset to the community and to the school district Brandon that is my observation but I think it's pretty good um observation number two we have a great board of directors this is a picture of us at our Retreat last spring up at the noska Lighthouse which is a phenomenal um they've done a phenomenal job up there so if you haven't done up there yet please do it's amazing um but the board of directors is represented by people who are in this community who bring a great mix of skills um perspectives and experience to our board and really helped R and I um and our program leaders um look to the Future and be very strategic about uh where we want to be and what we want to do we've also assembled an awesome team uh
037our staff members and program leaders work together to recruit volunteers train volunteers and support volunteers and these Volunteers in turn deliver programs and provide opportunities for our students that other districts do not have um all of the folks couldn't be here tonight but this is a great proof um so I'd like to make sure you give a shout out to all of them uh fourth observation is that we have prior prioritize four Focus areas um for VIPs this allows us to concentrate in areas where we can make the greatest impact while also meeting student needs these four areas I'll go through them quickly and also just go through some of the impacts I guess these are more the uh sort of quantitative impacts but of course the qualitative impacts are the stories that we really
038like to share um and we'll do that this week for I love bips um but the four areas are mentoring uh academic support and enrichment financial literacy and along with financial literacy that's our short diversion but it's really financial literacy life skills and career preparation and then health and wellness as well so in the almost 43 years that fou VIPs has existed in this town I believe that the key to our sustainability comes down to one thing and that is relationships um I'd like to now issue a few challenges one and this is for everyone in this room and anybody that might be watching uh at home or listening at home and that is to get involved VIPs provides meaningful opportunities for volunteers whether you have one hour a year or one hour a week
039or anything in between and I just wanted to point out to that no matter who is initiating the request for volunteers your involvement makes you a BP volunteer and we welcome you and love to have you uh Challenge number two bring a friend we tell this to the high school student volunteers all the time it's a lot more fun when you do it with a friend or a spouse or a neighbor or a colleague uh so please think about that as well um and then Challenge number three stop procrastinating we can match your skills your time availability and your interest with something that will really make a difference in the schools you will not end up doing something you don't like um we're pretty good at this we've been doing it together for a long
040time and we promise you that we'll be a fun and meaningful experience and then lastly um by being part of it you'll be something part of something that's positive and needful so thank you and we'll happy to take questions we do have a few extra minutes I think so thank you so much questions mine's loaded so you really give a soft's very softed okay as someone who's been volunteering once a week for hour my daughter's class doing their Garden time didn't sign up with VIPs but I have all these hours that we already done can I come to you retroactively they never it's never too late they we take them retroactively um if you're signing in at the school we're probably getting them but just be sure okay oh that little signment sheet it says
041are you bips and I didn't I never check it because I don't know what that means yes we will take all of those hours okay so start checking that start checking that box but also you can you can estimate and GI number so I work in nonprofit so I know what it means for the hours but can you tell everybody why that yes so the reason we are so annoying and ask you to log your hours with us all the time is that um so one of the things about bips you may not know is that 100% of the programming that we do is funded through Grant private donations and philanthropy so every time I write a grant one of the questions tends to be especially from the foundations is how much of your you
042know how much support are you getting for what you're doing so our volunteer the number of volunteers the hours um our volunteers um contribute and all that so it really does matter we do really use the numbers so thank you okay I was wondering how many volunteers do we have we we used the number 800 it's probably a little low right now um before covid we were over a thousand um we're we're building that number back up slowly but surely but we're we're at about 800 which is still a pretty impressive yeah that's why the people in the audience this is an incredible group to get involved with um started in 1983 with 12 people maybe uh eight and now all these years later there's 800 these are people in your Community um it's a
043it's if you don't know anything about VIPs you really want to investigate it what you can do it as I'm sorry I'm taking over your said it one hour a week or it can be one hour a month or more hours just everything and our children are the ones who benefit and our teachers because um so you can help them for this great organization and I don't who's the student of the month this we week or this year this month where we at right now anuka mcginness yeah I didn't write I didn't bring my notes with me another awesome student yeah and they're just amazing so for those of you you who don't know um every month we recognize a family with high school student volunteer of the month and it's it's amazing I mean
044these kids like when they send it they fill up the Google form and we're always like whoa it's pretty and a great um mix and variet of things that they do it's not just um School related a lot of these kids are doing things out in the community um and and with their all with their interest which is what we try to tell our volunteers do something you love but you have to take some credit for that because kids learn by example and they've grown up in a system filled with volunteers yeah and so they they learn that that's part of community yeah I I think it's interesting I mean our kids don't bat an eyelash when people are walking down the school hallways with those big you know tags um that's just how it
045is inance for Generations now we're on so it's pretty cool yeah course I had a question are there any areas where you're looking for more volunteers yes I knew somebody was gonna ask that so thank you we are always always short of mentors um so mentors we have a couple different mentoring programs but Nissa Morton's um K12 program is the one that we do ask for it's a once a week commitment and that is in a school so You' be masch with a student K12 all of the counselors have waiting lists right now um and not only is that sad and heartbreaking for us it's it just is indicative of like the fact that a lot of kids could really use that extra support I mean we all could but um yeah so we're going
046to be doing a lot of recruiting events between now and the end of March to like try to raise that awareness and that need for mentors but I would say that's our number one on date don't mad at me for not saying Financial we also need volunteers to do that work as well but um I go to metor so thank you follow um any specific grade or level uh well the elementary schools have the longest great question questions this may be a little premature but do you have any concerns about your grants and your funding oh coming here would I I'm a not on I got it thank you looking good we're looking good right now thank you very much for asking um it kind of goes back to that relationships piece we have really
047developed um relationships with a lot of the fun funders in the um mostly in the pitod and the Boston South Region so they they know us they know what we do um they see the results that we we get thanks to the community and our partners and volunteers thank you so much for coming and sharing with us love love okay next up we have uh the first read on school choice for next year 2025 26 and um you'll remember if you were on the committee last year that we'll have um our public hearing on this but this is just our first one at the numbers okay so I'm recommending uh four seats uh grades um each for grades one through 11 um we do not um recommend taking um uh Choice students in a 12th
048grade and uh that's been standard uh over time and mostly it is concerning with the the number of credits that student may need if they come in and um may not be able to graduate and unlimited seats um at uh kindergarten uh level um depending on the seats that are available uh in school on the second page um we have uh just a little uh history we have five years as you can see um this current year 2425 school year um was one of our highest years um certainly the highest in the five years of having 45 new students uh in uh school choice this year um for a total of 184 and so that's um that's been the been the highest um in the five years we did have 40 at in 2122 um
049but that's um you know the 45 is certainly High I just wanted to U talk about our students that I go out so you can see how many students uh come in uh we uh actually uh are down this year with the number of students that have left um to other districts uh we were at 57 and that's compared to last year at uh 76 and uh just a uh just fun we have 32 students um that are um have their parents a parent or parents uh our staff members in our school that are choicing in um for those numbers so that's out of the 18 and um I don't know if you have it but are we still um sort of leading the cap with the number of kids coming in yes we are
050leading to take with the number gets the choic in so um thank you for the questions so next meeting uh we'll have um the public hearing and then we will um ask you to vote on on the number of seats just a question about the dates of May 9th 12th and 16 is that earlier than past years has that always been somewhat consistent it's consistent we always do it in May so thank you very much yeah um have two questions so just to just to be clear um that I heard correctly so we have 45 students coming in this past year and 57 students that went toal 45 new 45 new so there's a total of 184 and a total of 57 going out not just from this year total of 57 out okay so
051that's what I so the 57 is compared to the 184 okay thank you and then my other question is um just to understand your the thought process um could you how did the how did the four seats um in the grades did you explain that process uh so um just being careful um that the number of uh Choice students coming in for grade wouldn't tip over to having to add another classroom trying to keep our class sizes low and so uh I know it does seem low you know low there but just looking at all the numbers and just you know making sure um we did drop um a few years ago we had six seats we never really met six seats before um so we just looking at the numbers I just want to
052be careful that we're not um in a situation where we might have to accept more students and then and make class sizes go up hi um of the 45 new this year the numbers bra how many are kidney like said there's 45 new this year so are each grade one through 11 have four in them or that kindergarten number what's that the kindergarten number is the highest um and I don't know it off the top of my head I can't see Sharon's move I don't know if she she remember remember is right off the top head I don't know uh the kindergarten number we have some grades where there may not be any students right and then you know some we we actually hit the four seats this year um we never had to turn
053anyone away imagine getting nice assume they stay nobody did you question our students do persist once they're here they do persist are siblings guaranteed to see yes yes any last questions on that all right it'll come back at the next meeting when we do the public so if you have questions in the all right we got a act on a whole bunch of stuff first is our field trip to the URI um robotics competition this request is from perela maski and Andrew cousins the event is a robotics competition for students gr 7 to 12 um there'll be approximately s to 10 uh students participating uh the actual dates have not been confirmed yet um these are potential dates uh this is out of state request only it's not an overnight um stay so they will
054be going back and forth each day in the fall we talked to you about the rep body that's it's the one we talked about so yes in January they were told exactly what they have to build and U so that they're in the process now of building and then this is their their first competition in this Arena um so okay is there a second um so my only question is whether or not they have what they need to build they do okay because you know I don't want to say they can go and not them up to succeed they do all right good any other questions on this we're all here all in favor say hi hi any opposed any exensions that's unanimous great oh unanimous I mean we have so much generosity first is
055a $500 donation from the fouth roadway to the art Department uh yeah for Jane Baker at the Falmouth High School the E ke students um voted that they wanted to use the money to have another visit from the amazing Animal Ambassadors um that is really helpful uh for their portfolios uh they do drawings of the animals my gosh uh and they will um share the opportunity with other art classes so they'll have others join in but that's the AP students selected that Mike any discuss on that one all in favor say I Opps that's unanimous next up is $1,000 from capid Cod Five for credit for life it's relevant yes so um for Janet Roa the funds will be used for raffle items and coffee muffins for volunteers um you know and other things like
056gift cards um I don't know what blocking wallets are so that you can't steal someone oh that's right yeah yeah yeah that's right I remember them they're showing that other just other student Raffles and other um some items that they they'll be using but was great thank you thank you Mike second thank you krina any last discussion on that all in favor say I post exensions that's unanimous as well and now the big money $4,000 from Jay Lim foundation for science and math y for Chris Brothers the funds will be used for student scholarships there'll be two outstanding Juniors one uh in math and one in science thanks Mike any questions on this all in favor say I I opposed exensions just say something L because I forgot to say before uh I just want
057to thank um the road race Foundation and the K 5 and the JS thank you so much for your gener thanks thank you um next is acting on the memorandum of agreement to increase the stien for band assistant and Band percussion through winter and spring is there a motion I'll make a motion thank you want a second ter unless Chris wants it Chris got it any comments on this one great all in favor say I any opposed any extensions that unanimous as well that's great okay uh next up is acting on the revised 2425 school committee assignment um so that is just the list from earlier in the year with everyone's um assignment and we are just deleting Su austa off of the negotiations committee is there a motion there's no other changes it's just
058deleting table wasn't on here correct no we deal with that one the last time oh no it was it was just an extra assignment it wasn't like a okay it didn't make the list okay all right you need to explain why I'll make the motion for discussion thank you Mike is there a second a second thanks Melissa I have discussion um do we need to add a third to that otherwise I'm fine with it so we're so far through I think it would be really hard for somebody to start so and Melissa we liked having three when the process took a really long time but we are like zipping through with FDA it's going so smoothly I that was more when we couldn't make all the meetings but fair point I think we're fine all
059right thank you any other comments all in favor say I any opposed any extension that's as well thank you so much superintendent update great um so first I want to talk about um our current preschool and kindergarten registration uh numbers um we have um in prek I'll start with prek we have received uh about 60 prepaid peer applications uh for next school year um they will begin uh reviewing applications uh right after our break um around February 24th nor uh Administration is reaching out to uh any current uh preschool three year olds just to to make you know to see if uh if they haven't already applied right they're reaching out to them right now so uh we will have um more updates later but uh to have 60 at this time of the school
060year uh is is great um just to um remind you when Sandy was doing her presentation last time she had mentioned the pr uh is free for the peers now so all of U prek is free we have moved from uh two full day um classrooms to four full day um we are keeping the same number of classrooms at nine uh we just did a shift in you know the full day is what people requested so we're we're giving more full day options we are not expanding uh we can't expand at this time uh but we are um we have gotten more peers in at this mon so I just wanted to kind of um talk about that and then we will continue um to assess our needs for those students with IEPs and peers
061uh just to remind a little bit about the prek research and why um it's it's so important there's just when you attend a prek program it's a significant positive impacts um that are seen in children's vocabulary early reading math and social emotional skills they're more likely to attend college I have fewer behavioral issues later on including fewer uh suspensions less absenteeism and fewer legal uh problems uh later in life they are healthier more likely to graduate from high school and make more money than their peers um prepay uh we know many districts are are going to um full day prepay clear across we are still going to offer some uh half day but um just just want you to know that you know we are still within um the confines of what we have right
062now we are still being able to grow and and offer but we are not we are not trying to go be uh grow Beyond we had said that all through the fall that we're not trying to um we value all small businesses we are not trying to take away from the other but we know there are children that do not have opportunities for free oh sorry sorry I have yeah so we have 60 peers um new ones so well it could be current three year olds so how um we're gonna get total we're g get 60 new people could be current three year olds that are in the program that app to four year olds they they have to apply each year I'm sorry okay so but we have you have you have to apply
063each year so it's 6 total applications for peers sorry if I did not say okay so how many four four year olds are leaving then or is it going to be the same is next year going to be the same as this year pretty much or am I not understanding the formula so um I uh I can I'm going to talk about kindergarten numbers I can't tell you how many four-year-olds current four-year-olds will be going into kindergarten I don't have that or how many foury olds are I'm saying are they leaving yes not where just are they leaving or is it going to be the same amount this was because you were saying about it's the same as it's been I'm just curious no no the classroom the nine classrooms we aren't growing classrooms that's
064going to stay the same so we're okay yes we're offering more full day for our um in those in those nine spaces we are offering more full day okay I didn't quite understand sorry yeah but now actually uh along Terry's Point what is our number now and then what of our number do you know the percentage of three year olds and four year olds I will get that to you we have 118 students right now um of three threey olds and yeah okay I would I'd have to get the the exact breakdown for you of how many threey olds and how many foury olds that's a good number because half of that is 59 so if we can assume 59 move on and those 60 F in but I just that'd be good thank you
065very much those are just peer the 6s just peers yes when I give 118 that includes our students on IEPs okay um with the N constraints that you talked about the number of classrooms and not growing the program do you anticipate that there will be a waiting list for peer applications I can't answer that because I don't know if everyone just registered early or if we have um more registering early and then we'll still have the the continued that we've had in the past so I I don't know right now this is the new this is the first time we've ever had you know offered free so I don't know if that will mean and that's what we're trying to find out right will that mean that we have a weight list or not so
066I think since we're so new I don't really want to speculate y okay CH is you have I'm not sure if this is exactly the right relevancy but um I think it was Dominique Kirk had emailed us a while back about um a an an example of a child who goes to the half day and then stays over and has lunch in a different room and then goes back to the afternoon half day so you can have that typical peer stay through the whole day even though they're not signed up as a full day am I do you guys remember that sure I'll tell you what what families can do this year so um the ca for the So Jamie Raposa is leading us she's our um special education building administrator so she has created
067a new schedule for next year and families could on the full day stay the full day but if there are this is way we're able to to open up U more uh full day programs but if a family just wanted morning they can come in from the morning and go right but others can stay the full day so that's how we can open up two more SES okay I'm not sure she was suggesting it as a new idea that you could have that typical fear carry over from one half day into another by having them do lunch somewhere else or yeah rest time happening um the reason I think that um moving to that the families just one in morning we we didn't get a whole lot of people that wanted afternoon right yeah exactly
068so that that afternoon is always Troublesome but if people wanted morning they could but if they wanted the pool day they could stay with you day oh so they could do that they could but you don't you have a certain number of full day slots and then you have morning slots and afternoon slots people don't want the afternoon slots but they do want full day full day or Wars is what we're finding out so created a schedule so more of those opportunities yeah um I was just curious if um do we have a rough rough idea um at this point how this compares to like previous years if we have any numbers um like how our enrollment this year at this point kind of compares to what we had before it's like about the same
069or this this is H this point in here yeah like so um how many half days do we have like how many uh half day classs do we have so they won't know that until they get all the information in and so I said we'll have to give an update later so they the week of fair enough February 24th they will be reviewing all the okay how many 60 I have no idea what they've offered this is just 60 applications that come in so they they need time to do that so currently we have four C Day classrooms as of today and then how many half day classrooms do we have we don't know yet there today they're GNA do all of that oh you mean this year this school year the school year we
070have three classrooms okay I'm sorry I thought you meant today as right now we have um the two full day and we have three classrooms that are morning and afternoon half days not four full days this is we only have two full days this year right okay thank you yeah it was the confusion over today but I think we got there no that's okay okay tell us about kindergarten kindergarten um at the uh end of the conclusion of our kindergarten registration that ended on January um 31st we had 91 registered um so that was that was pretty good for our our first week um and then to date we've had um some additional students so we are close to being the same as last year as of today so that's very good news um what
071was last year just the total numbers I'm just saying that in after the first week registration and now we track it every week so as of Friday when I got the numbers we were close toose yeah close to what we had last year um yeah exactly um so I just encourage like I mean we definitely it's we can plan better the sooner we have kids start just you know if you know anyone that's turning five by August 31st encourage them to to register so that we can and I think everyone that's um came in on that first week of registration registered early appreciate that all right yes this is no duck week this is this is great I just wanted to share some of the um activities that are happening um this week we have
072uh first I just want to say the community um uh member there's always a Community member that's given the award of the no go Boards of the week and it is presented at laurren school during their ceremony and that's U February 14th um at 1:30 uh so that's a great event I'll share that first uh so some things that are happening um talking about the elementary school uh at T ticket I'll start there they're having a pajama day and donations for the FMA Service Center thank you that's very nice uh at north um they have a kickoff activity called kindness blizzard and here's their theme a blizzard starts with just one snowflake and one act of kindness can start a flurry of good um at Molen Hall they have um cups of kindness they're actually
073partnering with cofo and they're decorating the coffee cup sleeves and uh so they can spread kindness throughout the community uh and um in at East um they're doing the kindness where um students you know do the kindness uh notes and you know write messages to their peers and so everyone can they can share their kindness um similar to what we used to do with Valentine's Day and then bu the kindness so everyone can uh receive kindness there's lots of things going on at um morison in the high school those were just some of the highlights but all across the um this week we've got the flyer pass around every week they're doing something different um so I'll just pass around you can kind of see you know different shirts and dress up just you know
074Spirit kind of things but you mean every day every day something it's week every day this week oh you said every week something different every day this week sorry about that okay so I just um if I yeah so I love no Guff I loved um coach Gilbert that started it um and I just want to remind everyone that no Guff isn't just words and I feel like um it has at times turned into just words and um as of late there's been a lot of Guff all around um you can it doesn't take a lot to look to see the the Guff around whether it's uh at our our work environment our um online environment our community environment our picking environment and there's plenty of it around and I I kind of want to
075propose a little kindness reset um I prided myself on found was being a friendly place to be and I feel like we can all be better I feel like there's been ugly out there and it's up to us to reset the kindness so um I'm hopeful that everyone who is hearing uh about no go currently that these are not just words that we really we we I'll really go home and think about how we can be better because it starts with us and we can be better so those that's my thought on no good Dre um sort of a similar theme um as a person with a first grader we're going through no Guff week for the first time and I observations I've had is that it does feel kind of like a lot of
076words um just in terms of my six-year-old's understanding of what's Happening she was awarded um a peace builder of the week or something and she got a piece of paper but she couldn't explain to me why she was given that she didn't understand why anybody else was given that she didn't know what it was so perhaps that's just my six-year-old not knowing but um to me it feels a little bit like flashy actions and um one of the things that I the reason I ran for school committee was that I think we need to have treat ings for the teachers and the staff about nonviolent Communications um I think we need to have more indepth approaches to learning how to embody no Guff if that's something we're really going to be doing in the schools
077I think in the older grades it seems to have stuck more and people understand what's happening and it's a little more um coherent but for a first grader she gets these things and she has no idea what it means or why she's receiving an award and she doesn't understand how it impacts her life or um or what the goal is you know she's trying to be a nice kid but it doesn't doesn't necessarily come through and then if you have a bus driver or a teacher who yells one day they're not embod new G in that moment and so some school districts like Cambridge have non-violent training for their staff members on an annual basis I think and so that's something that I would be interested since we're talking [Music] okay so uh I just
078want to give a shout out for the root Club um they are um they do recognition of our students and so uh the Rotary Club has a close relationship with our high school guidance uh office and so there's service projects and leadership awards so uh shout out to Alan Aran for working with the rotary and assisting in um the awards so this is a monthly event where a student is selected and then recognized at a Rotary meeting um I'm going to read this so far um this year but I was at um the last Rotary meeting I just want to give a shout out for Jacob lari and his connection to the the VIPs that were're here tonight uh because he's part of the mentoring program the found High School mentoring and he literally uh
079mentors four students uh so he goes two of them are at one school and then he goes so he goes to three schools every week to to see his um his mes and I know he's going for but I I just thought that was so we're talking about mentoring here and uh so he was just incredible kid but uh every month they're recognizing someone so I think it's you know it's really special um Amy Leonardi uh is the one that organizes the presentations and presents them with a certificate uh and a uh gift part from a local business so this year so far um Theodore alanby uh Emily um banka uh Chase Briggs Rory Brown uh Jackie Collins Brody Costa Ben Dean Jordan uh Depetro Rowan eses Christina femino uh Charlie Hostetler Maggie um McManaman
080Connor scar Pini Robert simpin and then Jacob um Lori were recognized and I just I I think it's a a great that we have uh a organization in this uh town that that connects with our schools and recognizes our students um rotary also has uh Riya which is Rotary youth leadership awards and so um there is a h conference that this um I'm going to name the the students that are going to in the 16th and rotary is actually going to pay for their registration and uh the students this year that uh were selected was Sophia Collins Olivia dagel uh Jack fro Frost home Samantha Irving Lil Lillian Carl uh Eva rud and Matthew trut so I just there is a connection uh locally and I just wanted to give a shout out for our
081our our students that are being recognized okay um so um the other things are the article U for town meeting to uh assess H for us to access the special education stabilization fund for the 200 $75 that you had voted on was voted unanimously to move forward by thcom with no questions uh so now it'll go before count meeting uh Mass U the Massachusetts Association of school superintendents is joining a coalition to support increased funding for K12 education most uh specifically to address the um inflation Gap special uh special education Transportation uh and so uh in this letter I just wanted to uh to read a little you're probably going to hear more about it so I just wanted to U make sure that um that you're aware that this is happening there's a group
082trying to uh help with the funding it say Massachusetts is facing a perfect storm of factors that make it nearly impossible to balance budgets without reductions that will have a negative impact on student learning enrichment and support um goes on to say despite Massachusetts reput tion as a leader in public education Public Schools across the Commonwealth are facing devastating budget cuts to student programs and staff due to Rising costs that uh far outpace available funding with higher costs in special education tuition and student transportation and the unique Financial challenges faced by the rural and re Regional Schools um I just want to say here again we are so fortunate um that we the town of fouth recognizes the need and again I just want to restate that uh you voted on a 5.5% uh increase
083in our budget that the town supported and uh it's we going before fincom at the end of this month um so I just want to um you know whenever you pick up a a paper in any town across um the Commonwealth I mean you see prices from uh districts asking for overrides uh cutting staff and programs closing schools and I just feel like we're very fortunate again that alth is uh understands that the cost to all this and that they are they're supporting us uh Paul um has shared numerous times about the rising cost of special special education and other non-salary items that we have been facing the um the fact is everything is just more expensive um so we have a Strate uh strategy um that we have started a couple years ago in
084making sure that as we reduce staff with enrollment going down that it's only been through attrition that it has not we have not inbound had to actually cut staff and I think that's really important but this is this was a strategy that was started several years ago and we have been just diligent about uh being able to um reduce staff along with enrollment without making cuts and without the rising of uh classroom sizes so again this year um looking at uh next year in our budget uh we do not have to have cuts to our programs we do not have to reduce stuff staff other than true attrition so once again this is three years in a row that we are able to do that within our budget and that is an incredible feat uh
085with what's happening uh I still agree with um you know that funding is necessary it shouldn't always have to fall back onto our town so um trying to figure out something at the state level to help is important but I just wanted to share that that there is um and and that our and that our budget in the standing that we've had and it's been the amount of um strategic planning that we have done that we've been able to do that in January uh moving on sorry unless there's any questions about that in January the school attending report um is due and it's based on the October uh 1st uh numbers and so I usually report on uh where B students are attending school right so we know who's in fouth um there are State
086private schools um we have um the high in the uh last five years was 210 students attending State private schools we are the uh lowest in five years right now at 162 uh the charter schools the highest in the last uh five years was 124 and this year we have 117 uh home school um high in The Last 5 Years was 88 this year we are at 47 and virtual uh we have the high in the last five years was 91 we have uh our lowest this year uh is 51 students attending virtual school now also in the um this student attending report um it's also includes our out of District placements through the stud um student services that they report as of the October 21 um October 1st we had 33 students out of
087District placements 23 of the students are uh in Cabas and five are in private uh private schools uh just so you know that our current number of outed District this remember that's based on October one the reports due in January so the numbers when you look at numbers that's the the problem when you you see so right now just say you you know we have 41 students out of District so when you hear one number it's because of when the state requires the numbers to be reported it can get somewhat confusing so we are 41 uh students out the district at this time um also reported is for the upper cake Tech uh so our numbers have grown over the past five years for upper cake Tech the past two years uh specifically as uh
088upper Tech has expanded their programs and the number of students uh they accept this year we are at um 205 students attending uh for kch we also had 21 students returned to us this year six students from found of Academy six students from sturis and nine students from upper Cape question did so when you say return they were at this location they started um not that they started here at some point then they left went somewhere else and now they've come okay thank you I just want to make sure I do all right uh so moving on uh the Harvest of the month is butternut squash uh this month and the taste testing will be a mustard honey mustard lace Butternut bit I'm going to pass this around so you can see paper I think
089that was was it was a nice article the paper I don't know if you got to read it but U our Chef Laura Higgins B it's great I mean uh this the connections that she's making with our food Justice initiative and Ben Harding and then also um all of the Farms the local farms and she's just really connect so it it's fantastic but um anyway so I'm going to pass this around and then the so we always do a tasting of whatever the Harvest of the month is and then we do a actual meal and the lunch uh this this time is butternut FK and Fajita chicken pizza bread and that will be served on February 27th but I'll I'll pass this around and then just a shout out we were able to get all
090of the squash for the fire district that we needed um from Silver Book Farm in darkness so thank you again for all of our connections and I'll pass pass that around so uh last week was school counselor's week and so um I'll pass this this way just uh so we uh every year uh the school counselors It's a national school counselors and we do a proclamation uh so you can see you can see and and as superintendent I have the honor of signing that our counselors are just so kind and caring they're talented in their Craft um they work with students they work so hard with our students and just offering those Mental Health Services addressing student and family concerns and engaging in everyday just events in the schools are just a part of of
091our school so I just a shout out to all of our counselors um they deserve our praise and recognition so just wanted to show that okay um guess I've got a few more I War me but um so Ed I'm going to be a panelist at the educating all Kate Cod children the title of the conference is celebrating the Mosaic uh continues it's uh next summer uh the MLK education task force of paod is sponsoring the conference the panelist portion of the conference is called highlighting Kodi I will be sharing the initiative programs and uh curriculums focused on equity and inclusion for all students I will be sharing um just um just many ways we include and engage all of our students uh every every St every day um and how they belong in found
092public schools and then Henry St Julian will also be presenting at the same conference and his title of his his area is path to the Beloved Community so once registration opens I'm going to send you the information in case you would like to go I'm really excited this year usually this conference is the same week as the superintendent um uh conference in the summer and they are on separate weeks this year so I actually get to to go to this one for the first time so I'm excited little leag Fields um I know you read the newspaper and all as soon as I heard that the children's spring season uh could be cancelled I immediately um picked up the phone I called the town and I offered our school Fields I think you know I
093don't want to see any families or children to miss out so um we this past week Jeremiah Pearson from DPW big shout out to Jeremiah for all he does uh for our schools all the time but right now he's uh gone around and identified three fields that um are close to the size that he can make uh regulation for whatever regulation is for uh little L and um so the moris pon lower field the Lawrence smaller field and the fal High School JB field um are can all be used and so I'm really excited um they currently have two Fields we'll have three Fields um so they'll be able to work out a schedule so very happy for that we can help out our kids that are in little Le okay try a try in
094music award so did something very different this year instead of at the high school and being very formal the uh it was held at the Flying BRD and the uh students at jazz ban played and the uh student vocal uh sang and so it was a very uplifting event it was fun I asked some kids afterwards if they if they liked it better and they were like it was a lot more fun it was kind of more a little bit more informal and so they enjoyed themselves uh Steve Edwards along with Andrew helwick the new instrumental um music director and Chris REI the coral director did a great job in leading the program program uh there's 11 new students that were inducted and 12 continued student members recognized um as seniors um that um so
095it was great night and then Jennifer Edwards was presented the newest honoring member um for all that she has done to uh work and support the music program in balas public schools so that was nice and then immediately following that I attended um the farewell to Jennifer Edwards reception um and this was last Thursday night so um I just want to publicly thank Jennifer Edwards myself um she has been a fantastic uh support and working with us I mean her she puts on great races she you know as the executive director but she also has offered opportunities for our students mostly our Sports uh students or students in certain activities if they help out with the race money goes to their their organization right so whether it's the football team or whatever that come out
096then they can earn money for that and organizing all that's been great but she also has helps facilitate our f um Public Schools grants like playground equipment sports equipment uh the scoreboards she was instrumental on helping us get the new track at the high school she's just done so much so she's a friend of family public schools and we're gonna miss her so just a shout out for for Jennifer she's already on we'll uh maybe hear more about how she's going in her next job okay uh last Friday uh the acting Commissioner of Education Russell Johnson sent a letter to all superintendents titled uh supporting all students including lgbtq uh students uh and I'd just like to read and make a few remarks about the letter um and just I won't read the whole letter
097just just some portions but it's the department of Elementary and secondary education educational Vision remains unchanged in its simplest form it is to create a public education system where every student is seen heard and valued and where all students have the opportunity to thrive I think that embodies exactly what balance Public Schools believes um and I'm I'm glad that the state came out it is uh matches our values for every student our mission um uh and so we we want students to know and feel that they belong here every student every day the letter continues um this work remains for ly grounded in Massachusetts General Law chapter 76 Section 5 which prohibits discrimination in public schools based on race color sex gender identity religion national origin um or sexual orientation Massachusetts schools remain responsible for
098providing uh safe and supportive learning environments for all students and I just want to remind everyone all the work that we've done under safe and supportive um schools and um you know we put this out last year um I am sure that we could um you know update this so people can see all that we're doing it's under the the desie framework and um and what we're doing to make sure that our kids feel safe and supported all kids feel safe and supported here and one more section of the letter if I may research consistently demonstrates that when schools take proactive steps to Foster inclusivity through strong policies affirming practices and supportive Educators students experience improved mental health academic success and overall well-being and this letter was sent to all of you last week I
099I received it thank you all right the um next the next uh Fresh Market will be held February 13th in two days right here at tet school from 3:45 to 4:45 in this cafeteria excited about that um we uh got some uh Flyers to send around to you we have um valet High School back to the lighthouse art show art show um it's open until March 5th at thouth high school the reception is planned for February 27th from 2:15 to 3:30 um the show will move to the kna lightkeepers house and open from March 27th to April 11th there and the reception uh will be on March 27th from 4:30 to 6 um so you have that flyer and then one more flyer one more I'm going to stop after this one always have to
100give a shout out every every time I can to the FDF um they again huge supporters of um the palous public schools there our Education Foundation they raise a lot of money um to support our teachers in their Innovative uh ideas and programs that all benefit our students the gala uh is a way to raise money it is um will be held on March 22nd at the seest so um I hope you join us it's a lot of fun at the SE I know it's changing it up I know Martin Luther King junor breakfast was always at the SE and we had it the tun this year and now the G has always been at the I know it went to the SE exciting okay thank you so much for giving me the time there
101was a lot this time but we only had one meeting everywhere no I know I yeah um okay routine business uh is there a motion to approve the minutes from January 28 thank you Mike second thanks Katrina there any questions or to them awesome all in favor say I any oppos yep abstention for Chris the motion passes um committee reports I have one I do too go ahead um so Margaret and I went to student advisory oh yeah um and some of the things we had a great meeting with the kids they were really really talkative it was really fun and um it was nice to hear some more from them uh first we talked about the belief that's their feeling about mcast no longer being a requirement to graduate and mostly they said it
102was because biology and sophomore year if you fail it you have to take it again if you feel it on the mcast so they they were like feeling embarrassed about that and stressing about it so they felt better um uh some of them that day were participating they had just come from a QPR training for freshman for the PO Squad to learn the Hope approach to teach the freshman and then several of them were about to go for the reunification drill later that day so they're like very very busy um we asked them Margaret and I asked them what success would look like for them personally and they all kind of across the board had a similar theme of feeling like they want to take high level classes but in things that you're interested in
103and enjoy um having a balance and fun electives not too stressful so they can maintain their grades um but be that be happy and keep a balance and set attainable with challengeing goals for themselves they were just so mature and thoughtful about it um uh the other question was how was how would you describe fouth High School to a kid in another district and some of the things they said where they thought that fouth high school had more choices of classes um great Community Connection not just in the schools but it really feels like the whole Community is is participating I guess they mentioned gu no Guff week as an example um they really talked about principal Parris playing music as they come into the building in the morning and if you're late and you're
104running towards the building he'll do a countdown for you with how many seconds are left they love their principle um and then we talked a lot about how they really feel like um specific teachers for each of them but a different teacher for every single kid it was really remarkable every single one had a different teacher that really had supported them personally taken time out to notice when they were having a bad day and like sit down and talk to them it was just amazing every single one had a different teacher and then they would chime in and be like oh yeah I love um and so that was really heartwarming um just the difference the teachers are making for them um I I kind of wish that we could also have representation from kids
105who are not in the honors classes not at the you know doing like the top to your things in the school that would be nice to hear from them as well so I don't know we can change it up sometimes have like a different student advisory I don't know if that's a possibility um the other report I had was from the teach for learning Tech group and our meeting last week um we took a report a document from the Department of Education that Andrew had physically printed because he wasn't sure if it was going to remain on their website um that was talking about um AI um and resources for teachers and we kind of went through that document turned into a slideshow presentation summarizing that and some points we had come up with as
106a group so that we would have that to reference later um so that's an ongoing conversation about AI in that committee um I have a couple things uh first negotiations as we all know is ongoing and going extraordinarily well amen um policy is also ongoing we've had a few things uh come before us that that we have since put in front of the committee and I think that that's also um I feel like we we're moving along yes policy okay um I also wanted to mention um I had the pleasure of being invited to the condition of Education put on by the Ry Center um I've been invited before and I was invited this year and this year it was at um the UMass Club in Boston which was a different uh venue usually it's
107at the OM Parker but they are under renovation so it was really exciting to hear people who were really excited about education uh not that our group is not but it was nice to hear from other uh people in education there was the director the executive director of The Running Center that opened things up and he was sort of the leader of the um how the day progressed there was a keynote address from the Massachusetts Secretary of Education and Executive Office of Education Patrick teiler I think I last and then we also heard from Chad damont who's also the executive D same gentleman I spoke up before uh Alexis Leanne who was the director of policy and being a policy nerd I found her uh thoughts very interesting and then uh this year was kind
108of a new they had a panel discussion from Amy Kershaw who's the commissioner of Massachusetts Department of Early Education care Russell Johnson who um you had mentioned he's the acting Commissioner of desie and no Ortega who was the commissioner of uh Mass Department of higher education so we had the littles the middle and then the um after graduation uh from represented and hearing their conversations and um how they kind of work in concert together and how just you know following children and it turning them into successful young people was it was a really nice discussion um I hope that I am invited again and I'm happy to um I specifically brought this back for Margaret but I'm I'm happy to share anything else and there was a data dashboard QR code which was very exciting
109I'm happy to pass on as well as well as an action guide so some of the slides you think we can get if we we could definitely get the slides y um so there's that and then another thing I wanted to mention um the back to the lighthouse reception I was um happily on that chaperoned that um art trip that we had gone down here for that was a very exciting day and I love to see uh the creative that the artists um bring from the day so I hope that everyone has an opportunity there's two opportunities to attend uh the reception at BTA high school and then Super exciting at the L house Keeper's House up at noow which uh will go on for just under a month so I really hope that everyone
110has an opportunity to go check out uh the amazing artists that have worked so hard for this and uh be sure to give a thanks to the amazing Jade Baker who puts these together um and I think that my last thing that I was going to mention was if you haven't got your tickets to the gala please get your tickets to the gala it's super fun if you've not been it looks like um you're going back to the old style where it's going to be um all evening so um I'm like a dinner and dancing and cash bar hasn't been like this since before Co so if you don't have your tickets Please get them and I will see you there um my update was about evaluation so we met um last week as you
111know if you've been on the committee before we have to follow the the Desi guidelines and so we're in we just completed the midcycle and then we were prepping for um what comes next which is the summited so um this meeting was Lori reporting on her midcycle conversations with all members of the school committee on how things were going so far um progress toward all three of her goals um was on track and there weren't some big changes that that were suggested by U members to make edits to the goals so everything is the same the rest of the year uh there was a noted praise around goal two which I call the green Bal because I can't remember what it's actually titled but it's the one about our green sustainability our green stuff and
112then um then we talked about about the guidance document that is used to create the summi and what that summi process looks like at the end of the year so we you know we have to use the um pieces that desie gives us like that horable chart and um we were going back and forth with following their rules for how we have to how we have to do all the pieces so we made some edits to clean up the conversation at the process from last year because it was new last year um so we tried to like basically take some of the places we ran into hiccups and clean up the language so that it's more clear so um Glenda and Margaret are proof reading and we're going to double check make sure it's all
113good and then it'll come to the scholte so you can read through that um when we do the next step is that everything did I get it okay any other Comm yeah just to follow of I I wanted to uh follow up with the student advisory um every student had a goal that they knew this is what they were going to do and they felt they had learned that at the high school because the opportunities they had at the high school to really follow what their interests were to do that the other thing maybe it's minor is I did write to Jane Baker today because when I got this in my email March 27th is the date of the head health fa and I'm not sure what time the health fair is but it's very
114hard to be at nka and at the health the and so that's why I did write to Jade Baker I just mentioned that it was the same date as the health it's open to because the reception at no you can go at any time during that time like you 4 six that's why yeah I just thought she may want to know that that's all I just mention all right any other uh oh I mean are we done with the committee reports reest for follow um so faring fouth which I used to be on the board of and um Carmel myki of the administration have been collaborating to come to write some grants for money for East bouth school garden and Mullen Hall School Garden so we completed um I forget how many four applications for
115different grants before the last deadline was January 31st and collaboratively we wrote some of those grants and they're sent out and we're waiting to see what money we can get back but we're hoping that we can um renovate and rebuild those two School Gardens at East of Mullen um over the spring but probably more the summer so we'll be looking for volunteers and like Kim pulford had said during the public comment that's going to be an upcoming thing with a lot more volunteers needed but exciting with this it's great actually can I um respond to that so I was on the um original um Courtyard so I'm happy to volunteer and I'm also happy to reach out to a few other um volunteers that were part of that um we have some fun old pictures
116from that as I think when you're talking about rebuilding them um yeah that's a good point because I was part of the Mullen Hall when it got started and if we can like tap into the people that did the first I have a round we might get a lot of vol well another another point that I was going to mention is that they have binders of curriculum at Mull and Hall every teacher has this curriculum and we should make sure that that goes at least to East since they'll be getting this renovation but it should go to Every elementary school and it's curriculum for the elementary schools but yeah we should get copies of that to I can tell you so actually have on my list that I was excited to um hear Kim's um
117what they're doing at East so I'm super excited and I'm happy to and because they Dida are we on the next agenda item or still onit nope we're done we're done with committee okay um so just a comment and a recommendation so I am mindful of the fact that we can't act on specifics of um public comment because of open meeting loss um but yet every meeting we hear um frustrations of of a particular group and I understand their frustrations because we aren't able we aren't able to acknowledge what they're saying um we can't do it through email we can't we can't discuss it during executive session we aren't discussing it during um school committee meetings because things aren't on the agenda so how do we acknowledge that we're that's not to acknowledge the validity
118it's just to acknowledge that we are hearing um things and um my colleague mark maret has recommended a couple of times the possibility of having a forum because we wouldn't be so constrained by open meeting laws and so um I don't know if that's something that we perhaps can't discuss now perhaps you have to discuss it at another meeting but I just feel that we have to do something as a committee to acknowledge what we are hearing after week after week just I want to clarify it wasn't just my idea when I was at the conference I talked about um the the amount of time that people talk about their frustrations and the U the woman who was I guess she wasn't she's not our representative but uh she was oh giving a workshop I
119gave you her name yeah uh she basically said said that you know um the time to talk should be 10 minutes and if it's more than 10 minutes she said it's not an open it's not just hearing people but if you have people who will need to talk that long that you should have to for so it wasn't my idea came from Mas that you should have a for and at that for we could have a so I I just don't want to take credit wasn't my idea it came from the conference for okay thank you can I make your comment through you is that okay yeah I mean we're not going to have a discussion about whether we can have about scheduling a form because violate open meeting but mean no that wasn't it
120but I I'll hold yeah um I touched on this earlier but can we get the numbers for the preschool in kindergarten last let's say five years so you can see the three the foury olds and how they progress we have a better visual understanding of what I know it's hypothetical might happen at least we have I don't know if that's possible I think you put it into three fours yeah and yeah and then we probably have to update because like when we look at the past ones we'll just have to keep updating as people register right yeah yeah yeah makes sense um quickly I was going to say the uh our goal have listening sessions our school committee goals include listening sessions I don't know if that's um the same thing they're asking for I
121would like to make a request for a breakdown of the mcast scores by school which I think was asked for when we went through those and um I just wanted to officially request a school by [Music] school it was right after it came right after that so okay is there a motion toj everybody second it all in favor all right oh youing