001all right it is recording excellent okay thanks a lot i'm gonna go ahead and invisibilize myself but uh have a good meeting thank you sure thanks mr ew well thank you for the painting i'm terribly excited about seeing it she's been very busy extorting me artists have to make a living yeah i know it's that's what she keeps telling me i don't know where um 12 year olds spend all that money but artists and entrepreneurs you know i know maybe she's saving it and when college time comes she'll be good to go right she'll pay for all of her books there you go i like it i remember saving all my money until college started and i thought i had so much and i think i spent all of my savings that first semester on
002books it's absolutely yeah it's it's shocking yeah it's shocking i keep hoping that trending will that will it will stop i mean it just seems insane yeah you know it seems like when electronic texts came out that the promise to k-12 schools and i assume higher ed was the same as nobody will need books anymore it's going to cost so much less and i don't think that's actually happened at all yeah i don't think so and i worked at the campus bookstore so i did the campus store buybacks the text buybacks oh my gosh people would get so mad so i i never thought about them having student workers do that that seems really unfair yeah and then they shipped me out one one semester i worked at brown university doing it that was really
003bad they were really mad at me yeah we'll give you seven dollars for that four hundred dollar text right and usually it was because their professors hadn't ordered their books for the next semester yet and so there was no value for that for the company to buy the book back but if if the if the professor signed up then we wanted to get those books back so we would pay you'd pay money for them but if it was just going back to the publisher they'd give you like five bucks i never so i used to put it back on the professors i'm like talk to your professor oh boy oh hey guys quick question actually just before we go live um we've got a on the agenda here you guys are going into um executive
004session after a certain point yep and then return for a vote um how is that how is that gonna how does that uh work when we're sending zoom directly out of our tv broadcast like i know when you used to do it on youtube uh rob would stick the big red g up for the duration of the executive session um but what happens uh what happens with regard to me does the zoom the zoom meeting just end and i get uh kicked out of it no it's actually what we have a executive session zoom so this zoom will stay up and continue recording nobody um and then we'll come back okay can you be on two zooms at once you can't um so we will all have to leave the meeting we have to be
005really careful not to leave and end the meeting in theory stacy is joining us and i will make her a co-host and she will stay that way the meeting will continue and hopefully we don't accidentally end it you work this all out yeah that's tricky okay so if we continue broadcasting this meeting um when you guys leave and go into executive session it'll look like um will it probably look like um [Music] i'll be the only one left it'll be the blank square that says jack criddle could we do um i was wondering if we could like i'm sorry it's a little late to think of this but like to do anything it's like a screen share of something that's that says school committee is now an executive session or yeah i mean i think
006in the future we could probably whoever is going to be left in the meeting in this case it's going to be stacy or you know sometimes it might be joe bergeron we could probably have a mount greylock school district logo um as their um head whatever i don't know what you called i don't know what the technical term is for that but that would make sense or we could screen share um something i guess yeah i guess the probably easiest thing to do is like whoever is remaining will just have um just make even just make something up on microsoft word or powerpoint that's like school committee has now gone into executive session and leave that up as uh as we're sitting here yeah that's a good idea and we will do that next time
007because i don't think we're capable of doing it this time yeah no no worries ours is a little um as far as live broadcast goes ours is to be a little bit improved too because we're on a um we're on a terrible chromebook right right now i am um that just says it has no way of hiding myself i can i can take the video off but it still gives me the square this is jack criddle which which goes on the live broadcast which is annoying but we're um we're getting a sweet new computer soon which will have the zoom interface like make myself visible completely um yeah onwards um okay well anyways um good to know i'll put a note here for deb uh don't make myself invisible again okay thank you stacy you
008don't happen to have a mount greylock regional school district logo that you can just screen share when we're an executive do you yeah i know we'll we'll do that next time hold on i'll go i'll go look for one great i had a feeling that stacy even with like 45 seconds would figure this out or try real hard too uh okay [Music] you think we'll carry over the waving thing when we get to see each other in person bye bye it's been a long j day joe can attest to that already i'm a little punchy we may end up waving still because we're not shaking hands or hugging right you know i was never a hugger to begin with so that's all right let's see where is everybody where's carrie joe do you happen to
009remember if jose is coming tonight i believe so okay he had said no on the doodle poll yeah i thought he said no in the doodle poll too that's another thing that stacy would know but i will look up the doodle poll right now thank you how do you guys remember that he wasn't he wasn't known for for this evening there's curtis hello hello happy thursday so i think because jose cannot come we are all here and it is six o'clock so we can call this meeting to order i would like to call the mount greylock regional school district school committee to order it's thursday january 28th 2021 6 pm we are meeting remotely via zoom uh if you're a williamstown resident you can watch this meeting live on willy net channel 1302 for governor
010baker's order suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law mglc 30a section 20 the public will not be allowed to physically access this school committee meeting at mount greylock regional school district our mission is to create a community of learners working together in a safe and challenging learning environment that encourages restorative based processes respect inclusive diversity courtesy integrity and responsibility through high expectations and cooperation resulting in lifelong learning and personal growth next up on our agenda is the anti-racism resolution and a commitment statement from the school committee the committee uh planned a meeting tonight to handle solely the later agenda item but given the nature of recent events we felt it necessary to at least offer this statement tonight to assure the community of the committees and district's commitment to the anti-racism resolution that we
011unanimously supported on october 8 2020 this statement was crafted by the administrative team with input from committee members after i read it i'll welcome the committee's reaction to it as was reported to our school community and the school committee on january 21st a racist act was committed by an individual during a high school class over the course of the past week we have fielded questions about the hows and the whos understandably many people in our community want answers people want to know how this could happen and who did it what we can say is that this specific incident is now in the hands of law enforcement and we cannot comment on the ongoing investigation while we understand this answer is disappointing to some we caution that it is easy to hold on to details of
012a situation and lose sight of the critical bigger picture in this case the reality that january 21st act is symptomatic of a broader and deeper problem the problem of systemic racism that is pervasive in our country and our community in some ways we live and work in an idyllic area but we are not immune we are not immune to the kind of hate that was perpetrated against our mount greylock student and we must not be complacent in its face not only was not only was this a personal hateful attack against an individual student but it was also an assault on our entire community ibram x kendi writes the only way to undo racism is to constantly identify it and describe it and then dismantle it the mount greylock regional school committee condemns in the strongest
013terms this act of racism and we want to make clear that as a community we will not tolerate it we condemn not just the act itself but any attempt to dismiss it or diminish the reality that acts like these have horrible far-reaching impacts and are symptoms of a long history and practice of oppression and injustice we have to do better words are not enough dr mccandless has spoken recently of the district's commitment operationally financially and from a strategic planning perspective to make the work of diversity equity inclusion and belonging a core thread of everything we do at mount greylock in the coming weeks the school committee will review all applicable policies to make doubly sure that we are taking every possible policy step possible we must also ensure that every future policy decision and budget
014approval we make as a school committee should have at its core the question how is this decision contributing to a culture of equity and belonging as a community we have hard deep long-term work to do our students are talking we have seen deeply passionate statements from our student council greylock multicultural student union and peer team also condemning this act once again young people lead the way and we vow to join with them in a unified commitment to the work of accountability anti-racism and a collective good carrie that is an excellent statement and i really appreciate the folks who crafted it would you like a motion to uh support it or approve it what is the hope i don't know if we need a motion or just um you know just general approval from the entire
015committee or support from the committee well i support it thank you and thank you to all the groups that you named who have spoken out the students in particular michelle uh i think it's an excellent letter as well um and i just would also like to recognize um the administration for i believe swiftly acting um and not trying to um cover it up in any way um i i think that um i think that we've we've moved in the right direction and i love this statement totally support it thank you anyone else julia because we don't have a vote i feel like i need to at least be affirmative in my response and echo what michelle and kerry have already said um that i am deeply grateful for our administration's quick response um thorough response
016i am i certainly grateful for those who crafted this statement and for the students who are speaking out and speaking up um and i am really excited uh for us to do whatever we can to support this work going forward um so thank you thank you to everyone for for laying it out this way but also um i know this committee will work well together to do our part uh to fight against racism all right this is steve i'll echo that statement and christina can you email me this statement so i can include it verbatim in the minutes so yes it's also in our packet okay okay then i'll just paste it from there thank you jose yeah i mean i think uh um when events like what transpired last week you know happen you
017know they make clear what is ever clear for for many many folks you know in our community um families of color students of color and and many persons of you know marginalized identities i think it's important to to recognize that this is this is a challenge an ongoing challenge and one that perhaps always will be and i i appreciate the and i'm sure many many of us in our community appreciate hearing our uh our you know school committee and district reaffirm the values and and and aspirations you know that describe who we want to be um jake i think was off the screen just for a second but i i'd welcome you know a brief statement from from him as our our superintendent if he feels like he's in a position to to share his
018his words you might have had to step away curtis i also of course fully support this statement i think it's very well said and i'm also very uh happy to have seen the outpouring uh in our community both in in and around the school in the families that are involved in school and from members of our community who don't have that direct link to our school at this time but are still aware of what's happening uh how everyone has sort of rallied to find ways to dig deeper into our understanding of uh how our kids are interacting with each other in this digital era particularly around differences in race gender gender identity uh and uh it's it's really reaffirming to see how the community is coming together around this thank you curtis jose and then
019sorry jake i think you had to step away briefly i just i just wanted to invite you to make sure you you had an opportunity to uh to stay your perspective and and uh yeah i i apologize uh jose and everybody and and i thank you yes we uh i mean obviously this is this this starts with a a very hurt individual and a very hurt family who was a victim and then that that that hurt extends to a classroom and that herd extends to a school and then a whole community and certainly i i am in touch with many people from all over berkshire county and i think that the entire uh there's many other communities outside of our own two communities of lanesboro and williamstown that would join with all of you and
020join with certainly the the williams college community which which very swiftly expressed support and offered help as well as our other uh educational entities within the within the community uh in saying that this this uh this incident must be addressed we must communicate transparently uh the the uh montgomery the the student union from mount greylock presented a letter uh that will be included in in our next school committee meeting in february they those students in putting together that letter i think very wisely said um that we we cannot stand and say this is not our community that this is an anomaly this is um this is it it doesn't define our entire community but it certainly is this this level of of hate and um and disrespect for for a fellow human being is is
021sadly a part of every community everywhere and i am very grateful for and very grateful to the community for for stepping in and stepping up to say uh that that that will not define us and we will learn from this and we will do better and we will support everyone from the individual victim to uh the entire school community and the entire community at large so thank you for that statement that that you all have supported tonight thank you okay we will move into our next agenda item do i have a motion sorry christina yeah can i just say something sure so you also included in the packet the um resolution and we have several members of the committee that weren't on the committee when we voted that resolution and i just wonder if we
022want to re-vote it with the current committee we certainly could do you wanna read or have people had a chance to read it has everyone on the committee had a chance to read the resolution from october i've had a chance to read it but i wonder for the purpose of anybody watching if we might want to read it again just so that if you know everyone knows what we're reaffirming sure um would somebody like to volunteer to read it jose yeah thank christina and thanks to the previous committee for uh previous iteration of this committee for um affirming uh the these values and aspirations um from what i have in front of me um this is listed as the mount greylock regional school district school committee anti-racist racism resolution and it states in several parts
023whereas as schools have the responsibility to equip students with that with their civil right of obtaining a free and appropriate public public education it is the responsibility of each school to ensure that we create a welcoming community for all students and whereas it is the responsibility that every district provide to all district staff including school committee members annual professional development on diversity equity and inclusion and whereas every district will commit to recruiting and retaining a diverse and culturally responsive teaching workforce and whereas every district will examine their policies for institutional and systemic racialized practices and implement change with sustainable policies that are evidence-based and whereas every district will incorporate into their curriculum the history of racial oppression and works by black authors and works from diverse perspective and whereas we as a school district we
024as school district leaders can no longer remain silent to the issues of racism and hate that continue to plague our public and private institutions our resolution is that the mount greylock regional school district and all the school districts in the commonwealth must guarantee that racist practices are eradicated and diversity equity and inclusion is embedded and practiced for our students families faculty and staff we must ensure our own school culture that of every and that of every district in the commonwealth as anti-racist that acknowledges that all lives cannot matter until black lives matter thank you jose do i have a motion to support the mount greylock regional school district anti-racism resolution steve miller i will so move miller moves do i have a second second second i'm not sure i think julia i got you michelle
025whatever any further discussion all in favor roll call vote alphabetically please bo and i connery i constantine i opened by an eye green i johnson i thank you that motion passes okay moving on to our next agenda item to have a motion to move into executive session with intent to return to open session pursuant to mgl chapter 30a section 21a3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining magea as an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigation position of the public body steve i so move miller moves do i have a second second carry seconds any further discussion all in favor we'll call vote alphabetically o and i connery i constantine i often buying eye green eye johnson eye miller i thank you it is 6 16 and we are
026moving into executive session if everyone on the committee could leave this zoom and enter the executive soon um zoom that would be great i'm not sure there's curse sorry guys i just wanted to make sure everyone was back in i lose track of steve um it's 6 52 and we are back in um open session next up on our agenda is discussion and approval of the memorandum of agreement with majia julia yes um i would like to move that we i accept the updated memorandum of the new memorandum of agreement with majia um as discussed and will be read steve i will second okay julia move steve seconds discussion and um i will start the discussion by reading a summary of the agreement this is an agreement that reflects months of the two parties working
027together to understand the detailed and sometimes unpredictable challenges that we face and how to best approach them in the coming months in legal terms it is simpler while in human terms it is more complex it places more emphasis on local context and relies less on state-provided metrics it is what we need in order to navigate covet together across our schools and within our community if you tear away the legal terminology the agreement boils down to this one we are forming a committee that consists of six members three from the school committee and administration and three from the union the committee will identify and include two medical and public health advisors in its conversations two the committee will meet at least weekly and review the public health situation as it relates to covid and our school
028district any decisions that it makes will be by a majority vote and it will make every effort to make sure its decisions are timely and give the school community time to adjust to shifts between in-person and remote learning three there is a simplified metric that guides the district in the absence of a majority decision by the committee to override it that metric is this a if either town is red per the state's color coding metrics on a given thursday the district will move to remote learning effective the following monday b if both towns are yellow or better for two consecutive thursdays while the district is in remote learning the district will move to hybrid learning effective the following monday c the committee has the ability to override that metric with a majority vote the agreement
029comes into effect at the end of next week following the agreement the earliest that we could return to hybrid learning is monday february 8th but it's entirely possible that we could remain in remote due to coven numbers this week next week and the decisions of the committee families and staff need to be prepared for both possibilities and we will provide as much preparation and advance notice as possible we are grateful to all involved in getting to this new point in our work to provide the best education we can to our children in the midst of a pandemic michelle uh no real discussion on the um agreement itself just wanted to publicly thank the administration and um all the members of the uh of majia who work together to come up with an agreement that um
030i think is is fantastic thank you any other discussion and comments jose as usual michelle has inspired me but i just wanted to acknowledge as well the hard work of our teachers and each of our campuses and you know they've had to navigate in incredible challenges in support of our children and uh and i think we as a committee can can speak with one voice and express sincere gratitude for all of their efforts thank you jose any other discussion okay we have a motion from julia a second from steve all in favor roll call alphabetically please bowen i connery i constantine i elephant by an green eye johnson i thank you that motion passes thank you very much everyone i do not have any other business um so do i have a motion to adjourn
031christina do you want to just mention that the agreement will go up on the website if anybody wants to see it yes when that will happen that joe when will that happen uh i will make sure it gets up there tonight under district info district documents so if you're looking at the menu bar district info and go down to district documents i'll make sure that it's there tonight thank you very much thank you carrie for that reminder okay do i have a motion to adjourn [Music] makes a motion do i have a second second curtis seconds any discussion all in favor o and i connery i constantine eye elephant eye green i johnson aye miller in under one hour congrats aye okay thank you it is that motion passes it's 6 58 p.m and this
032meeting has adjourned thank you everyone thank you hey jake guess what another snow day tomorrow for lennox