001I'm going to call the meeting to order and I want uh I would like adoption of remote participation. Uh a m movement move for that. Um as written in the agenda, please. >> Maggie Sh. So moved. >> Second. >> Okay. Roll call vote. We start with Pam, but she's not here. So we're starting with um Linda. You're first on the list of people who are here. >> Linda Hervson Bolton. Yes. >> D is next. >> D. Ortner conquered. Yes. >> Maggie Sharon Dover. Yes. Jaron Mto Lexington. Yes. >> Jeff Stan. Yes. >> Alistister Lucasto. Yes. >> Great. Okay. So uh as uh I mentioned uh in July there would be a chance we would need to have an August meeting. We have this meeting because there are three documents that need to be revised prior
002to the beginning of the school year. The revisions that are necessary are for the we're going to hear more about this from Alice in a second. The student parent handbook, we had to have the lawyers review it, which is a prudent practice. And for the other documents, changes had to be made because it changes the admissions and uh graduation requirements. One of the documents and I apologize for this has very extensive revisions. That's the admissions policy. Um and uh our uh the administration and the policy subcommittee have done a incredible job of bringing this to you in a form that we can I hope vote on this evening. So I'm going to turn it over to Alice as chair of the policy subcommittee to introduce and to take the votes on these three documents. individually
003I think. >> Yeah. Okay. So, the policy subcommittee met on August 5th and the 18th. We met with Superintendent Driscoll, Principal Delea, Assistant Superintendent Perau to work on these three policies which are critical to school opening. Um, and some of them required a response to DESIE changes that have been pretty recent, right? The superintendent's administrative team has also been working on this and the school council and others. across the year, the whole year. Um, so we all share, we have a shared interest. I want to emphasize this, the administration and the school committee in improving clarity and quality for district documents. Um, we are not just creating documents to check a box and we're not shuffling papers around. Um, we really want the guiding documents to be useful to students and their families. And [clears
004throat] as and just reminder that as Jeff has many many times said um there will be doubtless changes recommended as the year progresses especially in the cases where these um the new rags require logistical and operational complexities to the implementation of them. So you know we'll undoubtedly find things but we're we want to get going on them if possible tonight. Um, we don't usually recommend approval without the committee having seen major changes at a prior meeting. And we have in the school committee meetings all across the past several months been discussing these issues and the subcommittee meetings we've been discussing them too. And we've seen the material before with the exception of one section of the admissions policy. Um, but that's only a five-page document. Uh the policy subcommittee is recommending approval of the three
005policies and um the handbook as Jeff mentioned has been reviewed by council. You saw the changes highlighted in green and blue and we went from over 80 pages to 35 pages. So this is a very significant edit of this document. Um, and we should put a motion on the table to approve the 2025 2026 student parent handbook to so we can discuss it and then I'll tell you about the comments we've received. >> So moved. Second. >> Okay. So, let me just tell you about the comments and then you can discuss. Pam asked about section 5.9. Um, if a parent disagrees with the eligibility for special education decisions, and I'm going to refer that to the superintendent, >> um, we follow I the IEP process um, which is in the special ed handbook, special ed
006law. It is not something um, that is like a 504, which is actually for regular ed students. So, um, parents can actually, um, uh, stay on a stay put IEP. They can, um, reject an IEP, and those are a whole set of regular processes. And our lawyer who we had review this is, um, that's her specialty um, and we trust her implicitly. >> Thank you. Um, under 5.9, the word sex was removed from the grievance procedure. Um, and that is um, as suspected by the person who made the comment, that is something that is handled in another section of the document. Um, >> correct. >> So, the next one had to do with the removal of the grievance procedure complaint resolution that only the superintendent is mentioned. What if the grievance is against the superintendent?
007And um this is a process that involves a civil rights coordinator and there is an extensive due process. Um this was your question D. >> Yes. >> Um there is extensive due process and um the superintendent can comment further. >> Correct. >> Um so the title two coordinator is specifically about disability discrimination. Um so it is a different brand. um that would never that would not go to the school committee. That would go to the superintendent or the designate because it has to do with student services. Um we typically can't even actually not typically we can't even share private student information. Um if there was a disagreement about a particular accommodation or um process with uh disability um they would file um a regular claim through the state >> and then what happens at that
008point >> if it's filed with the state >> um there's another they they investigate. So, let's say someone files a PRS complaint, which is a project uh excuse me, uh problem resolution um system complaint. The state asks us for information and they investigate and they have a determination themselves. >> So, it's all managed at the state level at that point. >> It is. And that's not typical. Um but there's >> Right. Yeah. >> Lots. I'm sure. But thank you for doing that. >> You're welcome. >> So we can open it up for any comments at the moment. >> My only comment is that I am uh surprised that there were so few changes made by the lawyer which to me indicates the quality of the job done by the administration and the policy committee. That
009was my major comment. >> Thank you Jeeoff. if you don't I was floored that we actually got it back when we did and um the person who we had review it is not known for being um >> with with feedback. So um I the work and time that Alice and Sharon have put into all three of these is just >> I I I can't say enough about it. I I guess my comment is just to be appreciative to Alice and Sharon and Heidi and whoever else has been sitting at these tables because I've done the policy revisions before and I am very astonished at the expectation on the part of the state especially with regards to admission that that these things would be able to turn around in such a short period of time and
010like the reality that you can't start school without it. So I I really appreciate you guys and your work and from reading it the last you know days it it's really thorough really well done. Thank you. >> And that's why we're here in August because of the turnaround time required by the state who cannot write a sentence properly and some of the regulations trying to interpret them is in incredibly challenging. Are there any more questions on the motion on the table? Shall we bring it to a roll call vote? Alice, think that's a good idea? >> Yep. >> Linda, you begin again. >> Um, Linda Herbison, Bolton. Yes. >> D is next. >> Okay. Deorner conquered. Yes, >> you're on mute. >> Is on mute. >> I'm on mute. Maggie. >> No, I I was
011D. Maggie Sharon do. Yes, >> Sharon Masto Lexington. Yes, >> Jeff Stan. Yes, >> Alistister Lucasto. Yes. Okay, the next one is Thank you very much everybody. Thanks to everybody who worked on it and so on. Um, the graduation and CD policy IKF had two elements added in green and you will also recall there were elements highlighted in yellow in the last version that you saw which have been removed because they are later. So, they're gone. added green. Um we and that the the green stuff has to do with um the way that this document must be submitted to the state has to go through a system called GEMS. And there's a questionnaire and the administrative team went over it and they made sure that this is compliant with the questions that they have to
012answer to submit through through the GEM system. Is that correct, Superintendent Driscoll? >> It it is. >> Okay. So, um, the school the subcommittee recommends approval of this item and note again that you saw it before and if you choose to approve it in September, it would not impact the administration schedule. We're recommending that you approve it um tonight if you can. Um, let's get a motion on the table so we can discuss. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. Um, okay. So, go ahead and discuss. I have no questions submitted on this one. >> Well, start and that's all it is. >> Yeah, there's there's one piece that I want to note and I will be presenting on this um at a regular school committee meeting. There is a state um a governor's
013commission on graduation and they will be defining what a Massachusetts diploma is supposedly by December. I'll share that timeline with you and that information that will be my report in September along with my goals. Um and uh I think I do appreciate that we have just a foundation to move forward so it doesn't um affect our students um or make us backtrack. Uh, and that being said, with any of these that we have to submit to the state, there is always a chance that they'll give us feedback and say, "Here's a suggestion or here's a requirement." And I I just want to make sure I say that out loud as well. >> Any further questions for the superintendent? >> We can vote. >> Linda Herbison Bolton. Yes. D Ortner conquered yes. Maggie Sharon do yes.
014>> Aron Mto Lexington, yes. >> Jeff Stanen, yes. >> Alistto, yes. Thank you again. >> Thank you to everyone who worked on it. So, the last one is to approve the graduation requirements, which is policy IKF. And again, the school committee already had a policy IKF and we're revising it. >> Graduation or admissions? >> We just did admission. We just did graduation. And now we >> Oh, I'm sorry. I've got the wrong one. >> I have >> You like that one so much you want to do it again. I understand. >> Sorry. >> You got fond of policies that you've created. So you you want to >> Okay. It's policy JF. >> I make a lot of notes before our meetings and I got screwed up on my notes. Okay. So um the admissions policy
015is five pages and it has significant changes based on the superintendent's meetings with MABA and her administrative team. Um there were also changes um asked for by the policy subcommittee for clarity on Monday. There was some rearranging of material so that it flowed better um that it it tracked better to our eyes as we hadn't seen it before. We're trying to uh make sure that when parents and guardians and students read it um that they just can understand it exactly and so on. Um they're written uh the regulations as they are written are not very clear um and they are untested. So there will be operational and logistical challenges and surprises as districts implement these um admissions policy based on that language. And that's often the case. We've seen it before. Um and the district
016will adjust and make policy recommendation as this unfolds and I don't like to use the word unfolds um but I am using it in this case because I feel it is unfolding. So we should get um a motion on the table to discuss policy JF. >> So moved. Second. >> Thank you. Uh so we've received no questions. Um, anyone have any questions? >> I I have a a question and I apologize. I have just the black up on the screen for my initials. Um, but I don't want to touch it in case I get bounced off again for some reason. Um, I just wanted to um, where were we? [laughter] I lost my train of thought. >> Admissions policy. And I'm I'm wondering um how is that distributed to all of our communities? Do we
017have is there a a formal document that goes out to all of our communities about admissions at the high school? >> Superintendent. >> Sure. So, if you're wondering about um the allocations for each town, um that's something that is based on a 4-year rolling average and that's some that's also how we do our assessments. Um and if if the question is recruitment, um we do have an admissions director um who works with all of our sending districts to do a at least one presentation in person. And um also um we have what's called a showcase day where we send buses to the schools. those students who want to come and experience Minute Man for a day come to learn about it. Um that's primarily our process. Now that's not the policy. The policy itself explains
018how um students are admitted, the timeline of applications, how we um prioritize member students um over anyone that's out of district. um we have to run a lottery if we have more applications than seats. Um this year and last year and the year prior, we accepted every student who applied um from our member towns. >> So um with the recruitment presentation, who is that made to in each of the towns? Well, I'm going to uh I'm going to uh I'm going to say that this uh discussion is only on the policy. It's not on the bigger issue of recruitment, which is a two-hour discussion uh because it's a big topic. >> When is that scheduled? >> Well, we uh that's something that you're going to have to uh learn by diffusion because it's uh something
019that we've been living with for a long time. We will be talking about it throughout the year. uh the EMAC subcommittee is going to be discussing it. It is an issue that we discuss every year and that changes every year. But what we do have to do now is uh the very fun discussion D that you have missed over the last two years and I put that in uh sarcastic quotes is this decision by the state to uh micromanage how students are admitted to the career technical schools. And we are we are not happy about the decisions made by the state but we have to obey it because it is now a policy that we are under the thumb of. So the discussion now is does the policy that we've created to the best of
020our ability serve the best interests of Minuteman and its students and come under the law of the state and we have to dis have this in place before the start of the year so we can start admitting students. So that is what the discussion is about. The larger issue of how students are are admitted and how do we increase recruitment is something that we will be talking about extensively uh later in the year. >> Okay. >> But for now it's just this policy. >> De I'm happy for you to reach out if there's any of those deep deep topics that you want to get into the weeds with. I encourage you to make an appointment. Come spend a couple hours with me and we'll catch you up on that institutional knowledge. >> Thank you. Does
021anyone else have any questions on the proposed admissions policy? >> Maggie, >> sorry I'm toggling back and forth between the policy. I from my reading and this is just a clarifying question. This doesn't change like when we're talking about if we have to have a lottery, we're talking about for within each town for the number of students from that town. Is that accurate? Yes, we this would not dismantle our allocations. >> Okay. Because like for me as a tiny little district who has like what 11 allocations like there's not going to be a world where zero kids from do get in >> because we gave all the seats to all the kids from you know >> no that is something that we've been um very clear on in the school committee. That's why we have
022the slot allocation because your town like all our towns and I do want this in the minutes put the full faith and credit of our towns against the building project and so we feel that all of our towns are entitled to some seats >> and that's it's done with the fouryear rolling average as the superintendent said and it is something we have been doing for years. >> Thank you. Maggie assumed from my reading that that was the case, but I just wanted it on the record to clarify that. >> Yeah. >> Initially, initially the board the board did not take into account that fact at all and won the lottery >> because they in their they had no idea at all about what the idea of a regional agreement is. Right. >> So you figure
023this body is making decisions for us when they don't have a clue as to fundamentally how we even operate. And it's only after extensive comments and pressure and look at these documents that they relented on that issue. >> Yes. And Maggie, if you look on page four in the chart where it talks about the the timeline, the second box specifically talks about that that if there are more completed applications than seats, a public lottery will be announced at least one week prior to its commencement in alignment with our regional agreements, resident student allocations. So, we made sure that that was in there so that people knew that you would still get the number of seats that you're allotted >> at a minimum. that that is what I read, but I couldn't leave this meeting without
024just getting it on the record. >> Yep. >> Thank you so much. >> Been doing it for years. >> Uh yeah. Well, and you know, to Jeff's point, I think that the state is not being, in my opinion, sensitive enough to the fact that for a for a town to participate in one of these regions and o year overyear support with their monthly budget or yearly budget with their um participating in capital requests to support a school of this magnitude that the idea that they wouldn't be able to access they are taxpaying students families wouldn't be able to access the school is not consionable. >> Nope. >> So thank you to all the policy people for all especially I know I know a number of you I know Alice I'm not sure Sharon I know
025some other folks on the like went to these meetings like stood up and spoke over the course of the year. It's just it was a heavy lift and I appreciate it. Thank you. Um, Linda, do you have any questions? >> Nope. I'm all set. >> Okay. Doesn't that's it on questions? Can we take a vote? >> Linda Herbison, Bolton, yes. >> Dorter, conquered, yes. >> Maggie Sharon, do yes. >> Erin Mauto, Lexington, yes. Jeff Stulan needen. Yes. >> Also Lucas Joe. Yes. >> Great. And that is the end of the superintendent's leadership report which brings us to the end of business and just a couple comments. Thank you all for showing up at this unusual time on short notice to get this done. Once again, thanks to the administration and to the policy subcommittee for
026putting all this stuff together and D, you will be brought up to date on all these issues more than you want over the next year. I can promise you that. >> Gee, thanks. >> Thank you. Very welcome. >> Thank you so much. Everybody >> should have a motion to adjourn. >> Yes, please. >> Maggie Sharon. So moved. >> Dorder. So moved. Second from D. Roll call vote. >> Linda Herbison Bolton. Yes. >> D. Or conquered. Yes. Maggie Sharon over. Yes. Most Lexington. Yes. >> Jeff St. Nem. Yes. >> Altow. Yes. >> Have a good afternoon everybody. Enjoy the rest of your summer. >> Thank you so much everybody. >> Bye everybody.