Quincy School Committee: October 22, 2025

001Okay, good evening. Like to call our um budget and finance subcommittee meeting to order. And um this time we'll do our update. I know we have two items, Mr. Millennium, the staffing reconciliation and the quarterly budget update. And the floor is yours. >> All right. Thank you. Um the uh budget uh report for the first quarter for the three months ended uh 9:30 uh 2025 is in front of you. Uh this um fiscal year 26 budget uh represent is a $146,734,627 budget which was an increase of $4.2 million over the previous year's budget. Uh the mayor's appropriation was 138,384,627 or 3.13% increase. Projected circuit breaker funding was uh anticipated to be 8 uh,350,000 which we budgeted for a million dollar increase in tuitions. Um these increases allowed us to meet all our contractual obligations uh

002as they currently stood at the end of the year uh and provided $3.2 2 million uh so we could increase um and build our budget. Uh we had some good news and bad news on the circuit breaker funding. The actual reimbursement for this year is 10,522,000, a $2,172,000 increase. Uh the bad news is uh they reduced the reimbursement for transportation from 75% to 61%. Uh so that's um a reduction of 592,000 or not a reduction since we had an increase but there would have been another $600,000 available to us. Uh so for the first page the salaries as of September 30th there were two payments made for teachers for the new school year. Uh this would result in approximately 8% of uh the salaries being expended and you'd want 92% remaining. And you can see

003for the academic classroom teachers uh $3.6 $6 million was expended. Uh 44 4.2 $42 million is available which is just at the 92% academic program. Same with the teachers in that area 92.3% is available for future uh expenditures and under academic support uh the instructional line uh 92% remain. So we're in good shape as far as those go. Uh currently uh for the 52-week employees, there were 13 uh payments. So we'd want approximately 25% expended and 75% available. Uh they were all uh pretty much within that line. Uh with the exception of the directors, if you'll notice, uh instead of about 74 75% remaining, uh 53% is remaining. Uh and uh that was specifically due to the retirement of uh one of the directors, uh Allison Cox. Uh there is a payout for uh uh

004three years of un unused uh vacation time and uh 30 days of sick time for uh retiring uh administrators. Um so that's why that is off. Uh the principles are in fine shape. Uh the aids uh we had an increase in the aids line and the uh part-time um professional line. Uh so we're in good shape with those currently for the non-academic support. Uh clerical uh is right where we want to see it because it's a combination of 52- week and 40 uh week employees. Uh custodial is below that 75%. Uh we uh budgeted less than 4 $400,000 less than we needed in anticipating of getting that from the food service uh account at the end of the year. And that's what we did last year as well. So, uh, we're in good shape as

005far as that goes. Um, security, aids, attendance, drivers, we're all, uh, right on, uh, schedule with those. Uh, the overtime line is, um, a bit concerning. We've had a, a large number of work done, a large amount of work done on our school buildings uh, by public works, which does require us to use custodial services. Uh so um the overtime for um our custodians is extremely high right now, but it it's well worth it with what's what's being done in the city. So I don't think we can complain about having to spend money when we see what we're getting for the uh for the investment. Uh so that's uh the salary budget in a nutshell. I don't know if anybody has any questions before we go on to the expens. >> Any questions? Anybody? >>

006Keep going, Jim. Okay, for the expenses, um uh we're pretty much in line with most of our expenses uh with the exception of um the uh educational software that's fully expended. Uh we had a large increase in this because a lot of this was funded by ESSA money the previous years. Uh we had a great amount of um uh sub subscriptions uh and uh text and learning items and that. So, that's fully expended now. Uh, as well as um some of the um instructional equipment uh for purchasing because we bought uh some Chromebooks to help maintain our um uh levels at the schools. So, we particularly at the high schools and the middle schools. Uh so, we had a fair amount expended on that. for the non-academic expenses. Uh natural gas and electricity, they seem

007a little bit high, but uh that's mostly uh funded. Uh we we put up large purchase orders and work off them. So, it's it shows that it's incumbent here, not spent. So, we're in good shape with those. Um transportation, we're in good shape for this year. Again, we put a million dollars extra into that uh because it was running in a deficit the prior year. Uh and all the rest of the expenses are right in line. Again, it's very early in the year. um only two pay periods for the teachers, but uh as of right now, I think we're in pretty good shape. So, I don't know if anybody has any questions. >> Mrs. Pios, >> thanks, Jim. Um so, for the athletic supplies and health supplies, um those seemed a little bit um low

008as well. How are you can you just comment on how you're feeling about the um athletic supplies being at 25% left and the health supplies being at 38% left? Uh the health supplies, we we spend most of them in the beginning beginning of the school year to stock up uh the nurses uh inventory and supplies. And the uh majority of uh athletic expenses uh supplies come from the revolving accounts. So the the uh amount that's in the budget typically gets us through the fall sports. Uh the winter and spring sports typically are paid for out of the revolving accounts. >> Okay. Thank you. >> So it's it's very normal for it to look like that. >> Okay. Thank you. I appreciate the context. >> Thank you. Yep. >> Uh going to the staff reconciliation. Um

009there's going to seem like a lot of uh changes in this um more than usual. Uh and part of that is uh due to uh title one uh funding with title one. Uh not that we've had a reduction in title one funding. We actually had a little increase. uh but they've um changed the way we can put certain people into uh uh the title one account and be funded by it. And so for the past uh four or five years we've had two curriculum directors who were paid out of the title one funding uh and they said we can't do that this year. So they bounced it back to us. So um we will be having two uh curriculum directors who are in title one coming back into um our budget. So there will be

010a deficit in the director's side, but we have some savings uh that's coming from the teachers here. So uh to keep that in mind. Um we had a reduction in and the reductions that I'm going to tell you on this, they're not less people. They are just not in our budget. They got moved into the title one budget to make up for the two directors who came out. So if you look at our title one schools, we had 29. Lincoln Hancock, there was 29 in our budget. There's only 27 now. We did not lose two teachers. Those two teachers are now being funded by the title one account. And uh so it's a reduction in our budget. Uh Marshall, the same thing. We have 28 teachers in our budget. Three of them are now coming

011out of title one. Uh Parker, uh 16, two more are coming out, so it's 14. Again, these are not reductions in teaching staff. Uh they're still in the buildings. They're still being paid. Uh it's just a different source. Uh Atlantic Middle School was up one teacher. Uh that was for class size needs. Uh Central was down a 2. Uh Sterling Middle School went up again for class needs. I believe it was a fifth grade teacher went up one. >> Southwest, excuse me. It says Sterling here. I apologize. Um uh Southwest, I very sorry for that. Another beautiful building that we have. Um Quinsey High School was up a.3. Um academic program staff uh a special education uh teacher was up 1.1. Again, this is not a new position. This is one that came out of

012title one. And the same if you look at guidance of 1.0 came out of uh that was in title one. Uh and again, they were saying that they wanted them in the schools uh in the teaching position. So uh we did not get rid of any teachers. Uh they just funded in a different source. So the net is a reduction of 2.8 in our budget FTEES and that will cover the cost of the two curriculum directors. So um we're still in good shape uh as far as budgetary. Uh it's just going to be there'll be a little bit surplus in the teaching lines and a deficit in the directors or coordinators. >> Any questions? Anybody? >> Okay. Uh thank you. Just for the purpose of the public um this is a large budget. there's a

013lot of moving parts. So, um you know, we make we make those changes as needed and the adjustments as needed. And of course, year end, just like on the city side, we do year-end transfers to, you know, where we have surpluses, we fill in the deficits and uh so it's this is nothing uh really crazy or different. It's typical of the school budget. So, >> sure. Mrs. Huby, >> I might be looking up. Um, can you tell me why why on here on this one we have different amount than on this one that you gave out for um for the 25 budget 26? Yeah, 25 budget. The line like I'm looking at natural gas and on here >> I'm on page 33 in the booklet. I understand it says electricity. It says that there's a

014decrease because of solar program. Um, but I was trying to figure out why the the different number on on those would is is that supposed to just be representing something differently and I'm not looking in the right place. >> Natural gas uh >> just seems like a much lower amount than what's in the expense budget that we're looking at on the actual real time. On page 33 under the natural gas is uh >> so is that >> 1 million. The final column is 1,484,000 >> and that's the same amount that's in the first column on the budget. >> Okay. I guess I was looking at the the line item for it, not particularly the >> it's a it's the total of all the individual line items. >> Okay. I'm probably just looking at it wrong.

015I can ask you later and maybe you can point at it for me. Let me just see to clarify how I'm looking at it incorrectly. Thank you very much for your time. Appreciate it. >> Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. Melanie. >> All right. Is there now budget and finance subcommittee? Thank you. >> Good evening everyone. I'd like to call to order the um school committee meeting for October 22nd, 2025. Um call to order. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Mr. President, >> preschool student representative MJ. >> Thank you. Stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> We have some memoriams. >> Thank you. Good evening

016everyone. Uh tonight we have two memoriams. If you could keep these individuals and their families in your thoughts and prayers. First is Joseph Marino. He was a custodian for 30 years at Quinsey High School and Point Webster Middle School. And next is Dr. Common Mariano. Uh Dr. Mariano began his 27-year career in the Quinsey public schools as a math teacher at Sterling Junior High School and was later assistant principal of Sterling, later director of personnel and assistant superintendent. Again, if you could keep these individuals and their families in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you. At this time, we have open forum, which is an opportunity for community input regarding the Quinsey public schools. Community in this context is defined as a resident of the city of Quinsey, a non-resident parent of a student who attends

017the Quinsey public schools or a non-resident employee of the Quinsey public schools. After giving his or her name and address, each speaker may make a presentation of no more than three minutes to the school committee. An individual may not exchange their time or yield to others. Residents or non-comm community persons may submit written statements of up to 300 words to the school committee at QSC open forum at quincseyublicschools.com by 400 p.m. of the day prior to the posted school committee regular meeting. Written statements will be posted on the school committee section of the Quinsey Public Schools website by noon on the day of the posted school committee regular meeting. Is there anyone here for public forum? I guess I met Bill Zamsaw, 46 Children Circle, Quinsey. My comments this evening are directed at school committee

018chair. School committee chair and Mayor Ko's recent comments about the sexual abuse of children are rife with ignorant and outrageous statements. in particular how teachers were far more great far greater abusers of children than priests as well as that he felt his Roman Catholic faith had been unduly taken to task and is still held in ill regard as he views homosexuality is behind the Boston arch dasis horrific child abuse scandal so what apparently for how it became clear when the abuse saw the light of day that the arch dasis had long enabled the abusers by moving them about allowed the abusers to hide behind the sacrament of confession and so did not report abusers to law enforcement and paid off victims via non-disclosure agreements. Further gobsmacking were M chair Ko's tortured comments that clearly suggested

019that he views pedacity with adolescence is on at least occasion entailing consent and thus less than less bad than pedophilia. Respectfully, the abuse of children is something that cannot be ranked as a mortal sin as a mortal sin as well as statutory rape is rape. And for a further example of his ignor ignorance, the overwhelming consensus of professionals is a child ab sexual abuse is better seen as an abuse of power with sex a reinforcer of the abuse rather than the driving force behind it. Granted, the chair is free to believe and say what he may personally. However, as chair of the school committee and mayor of Quinsey, his statements have consequences. For example, if he were the superintendent of Quincy's public schools when he said what he did, he would he would be gone

020or at least in soon short order. Similarly, if he were an applicant for the position of school superintendent and his views became known along the way, he would not be hired. Most especially so not by a Catholic arch dasis school system. Even worse, Cherokee added fuel to the fire with his subsequent non-apology apologies, including refusing to duly apologize to Quinsey school teachers as well as those not strictly heterosexual universally. In short, he should not be anywhere near a rule with the operations role with the operations of any school. Accordingly, the honorable thing to do would be for him to resign from the school committee. However, I know him to not be an honorable man. As such, the schools committee should call for a vote of no confidence. Granted, committee members expressed their sentiments about the

021mayor's actions and statements at the last school committee meeting. However, formal sanction is in order and voter no confidence is the minimum level of censure to approve impose. I thus leave it to you all to now or at least soon do the right thing. Oh, and one last thing. You all should plan on lean budget starting in 2027. As is in his role of mayor, the school committee chair has made a mess of the city's finances going forward for years, if not decades. Thank you. >> Anyone else? Okay. Thank you. >> Stuart, superintendent's report, please. >> Good evening again, everyone. Um, the superintendent's report. So, first on the agenda is the emergency medical training. So, special thanks to the support of the Quinsey Police Department and Lieutenant James Green of the Quinsey Police Department, of

022course, um, and Quinsey Public School staff members who have had the opportunity to participate in a casualty emergency medical aid training called Stop Bleed, a course specifically designed for civilians. our athletic directors, assistant athletic directors and athletic trainers all took part in the course along with members of the security staff and our custodial staff. We tried to get as many in school uh staff trained as possible. Our school nurses have already received an advanced level of training in this course that is geared towards medical personnel. In conjunction with the training, the high schools have also issued been issued individual first aid stop the bleed kits. Again, the Quinsey Police Department is really amazing with regard to the additional assets and professional development that they give our staff. So, thank you to Chief Kennedy and his

023staff for making that possible uh for the Quinsey public schools. Next is the Quinsey Public School Music Department recently held their the rental nights for both the elementary band and strings program. Over 335 grades four to eight students have chosen to be a part of the band which is amazing. This is an increase of over 50 students from last year. 56 students are joining the strings program, an increase of 11 from last school year. Instrument lessons are underway at all elementary and middle schools. And I'll pause here um for Mrs. Partios who'd like to say a word uh under this section. >> Thank you. I just wanted to say how proud I am of uh the music department that we have here in Quinsey. Just the um level of opportunity that we give students, you

024know, from the earliest ages all the way up and our um music teachers at the elementary level, the middle school level, the high school level have are phenomenal and uh and give our kids an opportunity to do something more than just the academic curriculum to learn an instrument and find their passion um musically as well. So, I just wanted to thank them uh and just say how proud I am of the music department. Update there. >> And I believe the student representative would like to say a word. Try your mic. Is it on the top? >> Okay. >> Just you have to speak close to it. >> Um I've been doing band since the fourth grade. Um it's definitely my passion. Um I'm just going to focus on marching band and my comment here. Um

025it's a great program. I've met all my friends there. Um it's very very time consuming. >> Just we spent over 200 hours last year in the course of four months from October to from August to November, excuse me. So you really have to love it. I love it. Um it's a lot for those who just see it as a hobby who aren't as serious about it. Um I'd love to see more accommodations for the people for those kind of people as in like not needing to do marching band just doing concert band. Um but generally very educational and welcome experience. I love it. Anyone else? >> Thank you. Uh, in your packets, you have a list of this fall's Quinsey school community partnership donations totaling over 120,000 dollars. Again, our partners are amazing. These donations

026will be accepted by school committee as part of the consent agenda later in the meeting. But I do want to highlight one donation in particular. Stop and Shop once again is providing $15,000 in groceries for families in the Quinsey Point neighborhood. Families can confidentially request food support through their schools. For diff for additional information, parents and guardians can reach out to Clifford Marshall Elementary School principal Heather Patch and Point Webster Middle School principal Christine Barrett for further information. And again, thank you to all of our business partners. They really are amazing. Thanks again to the Quinsey Police Department and Chief Mark Kennedy for enhancing communication safety protocols at our two high schools. Security officers at both schools have been equipped with police radios that have been programmed with QPD channel one only, allowing security officers

027to contact the police department directly in urgent situations. Again, thank you to Chief Kennedy for this. Thanks to QAV for once again sponsoring the Christmas poster contest for students in grades 1 through five. This year's theme is Historic Quinsey celebrates Christmas. Submissions are due by November 6th and winners will be invited to ride in a float in the Christmas parade along with having their posted posters featured in the Quinsey Sun. So, good luck with the poster contest. Upcoming Quinsey Public Schools and City of Quinsey events. Many elementary and middle schools celebrated unity day today with schoolwide activities to promote kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. Students and staff were invited to wear orange to show their support for fostering togetherness in the school community. The Quinsey High School Drama Club is hosting the annual Haunted Hallways event

028featuring ghoulish activities for elementary school families on Thursday, October 23rd from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Quinsey High School. The Quinsey Special Education Parent Advisory Council is hosting their monthly caregiver group on Thursday, October 23rd at 6:30 p.m. at the D Christophara Learning Center. The meeting is also accessible online via Zoom. Information about the meeting was emailed directly to parents and guardians via Aspen. North Quinsey High School football invites all local veterans to attend their salute to service event on Friday, October 24th at 6:30 p.m. prior to the game against Setu High School. The pregame ceremony will recognize members of the community who have served our country in the military. So, thank you to everyone involved in putting that event together. Our Quincsey Public Schools marching band and color god will be among 15

029bands competing in the Massachusetts Instrumental and Coral Conductors Association, better known as Micah competition. It's a state marching band uh championship uh competition on Sunday, October 26th, beginning at noon time. There will also be special performances by the 215th Army Band and the UMass LOL and UMass Amherst marching bands. Lincoln Hancock Community School is one of the winners of the Boston Bruins Foundation Be Fit to Win It contest. On October 28th, the Bruins Foundation will host an interactive assembly for Lincoln Hancock students that focus on healthy lifestyles through nutrition, perseverance, and physical activity. The Bruins Foundation will also make a donation to Lincoln Hancock Community School. Further information on the donation amount will be provided at our next school committee meeting. Quinsey 400 and the Adams Presidential Center are hosting a national security symposium on

030October 30th at 5:30 p.m. at Quinsey High School. The public is invited to attend this informative and comprehensive discussion about US national security spanning from the American Revolution to the present day. Virtual registration is available at adamspresidentialcenter.org. And with the end of the first quarter coming up next week, high school parents and guardians will have the opportunity to attend report card conferences on November 10th and 20th at North Quinsey High School and November 13th and 18th at Quinsey High School from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. These conferences are an excellent opportunity to meet with your students, teachers, and gain insight into their academic successes and challenges. I urge parents and guardians to take advantage of this important opportunity. Quinsey Public Schools annual financial aid night for grade 11 and 12 students and their parents and guardians

031is Thursday, November 6th at 6 PM at Quinsey High School. And lastly, the City of Quinsey's annual Veterans Day parade and remembrance ceremony will be held on Tuesday, November 11th, beginning at 10:30 a.m. at Quinsey High School and ending at Mount Walls and Cemetery. With that, that ends the superintendent's report. >> Thank you. Oh, um, Mrs. >> Sure. It ends at the Adams Walk stadium. >> Okay. Correction. The parade ends at the >> Adams Walk Memorial. >> Adams Walk World War II Memorial. >> Mrs. Peruse. >> And I just wanted to add um thank you uh Superintendent Melvy for mentioning the Micah competition, the marching band. Uh I know that uh Mr. Kavanagh was still looking for some volunteers on that. So, if there's any parents watching that um are connected to the marching band

032or the music program in general at a younger grade, you um you could definitely volunteer that day. It's Sunday, October 26th again at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Um and you just reach out to Matt Kavanaaugh if you uh could volunteer for that. Thanks. >> Thank you. Um, under old business, we have a proposed revisions to the school committee policy, section 9115, high school promotion and graduation requirements. Mr. Gutro, >> thank you, Madam Vice Chair. We had a uh discussion about this at the last meeting. We um we took up the draft the high school promotion and graduation requirements some time back. We made amendments and changes. Apparently, Desi had new regs and rules and Dr. Perkins incorporated some of the changes uh based on the Desi. We talked that through and uh I think there might

033be a couple more modifications and through you to Dr. Perkins. I would defer to her if there's anything new to share. >> Um Mr. So um yes we did after the last policy subcommittee meeting uh based on the committee's feedback we did make a couple of changes so the changes are in bold. Um so one of the the changes was I believe um we were asked to provide a definition of promotion and so that is uh bolded under the definition section on the first page. Um, in addition, we were also asked on the second page to clarify uh how some of these things would be communicated. Um, and that we that you'll see in two different places that we updated that. So on the bottom of the second page, we did put in terms of

034opportunities to recover credit and make up coursework, we did put a sentence there that talks about these opportunities are communicated to students and families by the guidance counselors dean, assistant principal, and or principal throughout the school year beginning in 9th grade. Um, and I think that was a request to kind of clarify the timeline in a couple of places. And then on the third page again we did also uh tighten this up in terms of the um timeline and I think Mr. I think that was something that you had requested and so um we just clarified the language a little bit under the appeal process and you can see that bolded there and then also an additional bullet that says when students will be notified by the end of the first quarter of their senior

035year by the guidance counselor or dean that they have not successfully met the competency determination requirements needed for graduation from the Quincy public schools and then then therefore they could request test um an appeal and the rest of the items are bulleted there. Um and I believe there was one other spot where I just added the phrase at any time based on feedback. Um and it is bolded in the document. >> Page four. >> H4. Thank you. Um and those were the the changes that were requested and um happy to answer any additional questions. I'm sorry. >> Erin, I'm on the third page where you put that new statement in bold. >> Yep. >> I I feel like it should say students and parents and guardians. Okay. >> I think we have to make sure

036that we're telling the parents and guardians that not just the students because they might not relay that information. >> Absolutely. Thank you. >> Yes. All set with that, Mrs. Partios. >> Thank you. Um, so I know myself, um, Mrs. Hubley and Mr. Begley weren't, uh, weren't at the subcommittee meeting, weren't allowed to speak at the subcommittee meeting where this was discussed. So I have a couple questions that sort of might have to go back for you a tiny bit. Okay. >> Um, >> so, uh, but I am happy with the the updated copy, the updated version here. Um so on page sorry for two. Thank you. On page two uh we have paragraph here. Students who do not meet the satisfactory coursework completion and mastery requirements in the above prescribed courses may enroll in one

037of the following options to meet the same mass curriculum framework standards. Uh summer school evening high school goals credit recovery courses or additional coursework by their guidance counselor. How do we know? Um, so if they've if they didn't uh meet those mastery in those classes, how do we know that the way they make it up is going to show that or prove mastery of what they missed? Not just I was here, I did a credit recovery class. Maybe it wasn't in math. How do how do we know that they mastered the things that they didn't master? Um, so the the the items that they would participate in have to be aligned to the standards that would have been assessed in that course. >> Okay. >> So I can certainly add a sentence that clarifies that

038if that would be, you know, >> okay. >> Yeah. So, any course that they take has to be aligned to, and again, this kind of goes back to the MCCAST, it has to be aligned to what would have previously been assessed in the Massachusetts MCCAST um for ELA, math, and science in uh from based on the 2023, I think, MCCAST test. >> Okay. I just wanted it to be clear that we were making sure that those students got that got those standards. >> It has to meet that requirement. Yep. >> Um, excellent. And then on page um three actually, that uh Mrs. B brought up my um my exact same point about adding parents in there. Um page four um you have um let's see is that no page four uh we have in addition

039the district will conduct a status review of um CD and graduation eligibility for students who attend an industry audit district special education program. Do we want to put when they will um conduct that status review just to kind of go to Mr. Guter's point in subcommittee just to allow parents enough time or students enough time to rectify the situation before it's impacting their graduation chances. Um so maybe we just add in the same time frame as we did in that other area. I think that might be helpful. >> Absolutely. And then under diploma eligibility review for previously enrolled students. Um when that MCCAST uh vote came out that we didn't have to have that have them anymore for uh graduation requirement, one of the first things that came out of that that I was really

040excited about was that some of these students that you know hadn't previously been able to get their diploma would be able to. So I'm really excited about this. Are we making them do this? Are we making them request an appeal or are we reaching out to those students um kind of proactively? >> Yeah, that's a great question. So students, we actually ran a report of anyone. I can't remember how far back we went. We went, you know, like at least since COVID, right? We went back and we did reach out to them for the the students that we knew that met the competency based on their coursework and what they had passed or not passed or um looking at their transcripts. we did reach out to them um and have been continuing to do that.

041This appeal is more for someone who doesn't fall in that bucket. So, based on what we looked at in their transcript, they may not have met uh what we would consider to be the competency determination um standard. However, if a parent wants to appeal that decision um then they absolutely can. >> That makes that makes perfect sense and I'm glad that we've reached out to them. Um, do we have any plans of going back further? Um, I know that this sort of indicates from classes 2003 um through 2024. I know that's a bit of work, but are we do we have plans to keep going back further? >> We absolutely Yep. We absolutely can. We started with just the COVID kind of time frame, but >> course. Yeah. No, and it's going to take some

042time to to reach out and do that for sure. Um, and just a couple others. Um so I have um this is my notes from the subcommittee meeting sitting back there. Um under academic credit requirements um we have that you need to have uh history right on here social studies. Um, does that so when you're in this country, it would be US history, but if someone's moving in from another country, would we be able to take their history class that they've been taught? >> Potentially, as long as we that's why the principal ultimately can have final like has final decision making in that if they can show us that that course was aligned to the standards that would have been covered under a US history course. >> Okay. All right. Um, semester. Okay. And then

043the credits to graduate, the points to graduate for each school. I just wonder if you can I know um I've asked for this sort of explanation before in other places, but I think it's always good to just again explain why you need more credits or points to graduate Quinsey High School than you do North Quinsey High School. Um, and I know it has to do with the number of periods, but if we could just describe why, you know, we're not expecting more or um, something different from each high school to graduate. If you could just talk about that a little. >> Right. It is it is because of the number of periods because Quincy High School has an eight period day and North I think has a six or seven. >> The seven. Um, yeah.

044And so so because of that there are it has to do with the CVTE programs as or the CTE programs as well. Um and so because of that they they Quinsey High School does have a higher course requirement. >> Okay. I think that was it. Thank you. >> Madam Vice Chair. >> Yes. >> I'd like to make a motion that we accept the draft high school promotion and graduation requirements as amended on page three by Mrs. Mrs. Lebo and page four by Mrs. Pertios. >> Motion by Mrs. Lebo, second by Mr. Bgali. Um MJ wants to make a >> motion. Sorry. >> I'm sorry. On the motion. >> Question. >> Sure. >> Now that MCAST is not requirement, what are we doing to make sure high school students try their best on the MCAST test?

045>> That's a really good question, MJ. Um, so I think, you know, we're working with the principles, we're working with the teachers. I think that that honestly is going to have to be like a cultural shift, you know. Um I think in the in the as you know in the elementary schools and the middle schools, kids do try their best on the MCAST even though it isn't a what has never been a high stakes assessment. So I think that you know through like kind of creating that culture that recognizes and celebrates students success when they do do well and that this is a measure um you know that it impacts scholarships, it impacts so many things. So just kind of reinforcing that and and hoping, you know, hopefully that eventually that it will just be

046part of normal practice like it is in the eighth grade or the seventh grade or the fifth grade where um students do try their best and you know even though it isn't necessarily associated with high stakes, but I think that that is going to take a few years, you know, for that to actually happen. Um and I think it's going to be a work in progress. But so I think we're just going to keep trying and pushing it and letting when you know kids come in and we just I was at the in elementary school today and saying like have an MCCAST rally, have teachers standing outside like everybody like let's go like you know it's a silly little thing and it might sound a little elementary but a lot of kids will respond to

047you know like te seeing their teachers kind of cheering them on when they come in the door to do MCCAST, you know, um and just kind of creating those opportunities to celebrate how well students are doing. >> Well said. So, we're going to take a vote on um approving of the policy with a couple of amendments. Okay. >> We have a motion. >> Motion's up been made and uh roll call vote, please. >> Mr. McGull, >> yes. Mr. Gill, yes. >> Mr. Gatro, yes. Mrs. Hubley, yes. >> Mrs. Lebo, Mrs. Pardio, yes. And Mayor Coke, yes. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, next on the agenda, we have new business. Um, QPS 2025 MCCAST and accountability data by Miss by Dr. Perkins and Mr. Morani >> and the whole team >> and company. No,

048you're good. >> We'll go quick. Um, so thank you. Thank you very much for having us tonight to uh talk with you. This is our annual um presentation that we give to school committee on our uh data and accountability um information. I am so fortunate to be here tonight with the curriculum team. Um so we have obviously Mr. Morani, the curriculum director, Chris Tierney, the assessment and um accountability coordinator. We have Kim Quinn, the math coordinator. New to our team is Cara Picarik who has taken over the role of science coordinator and Bridget Vaughn um our ELA and literacy literacy coordinator. And um you know before I begin or we begin we just wanted to share a couple of um highlights things that are kind of trending around the state. Um and so you know

049I think that tonight I will start with by saying I think that we have a lot to celebrate. We've seen a lot of good improvement in some areas and then obviously as with everything there's areas that we need to continue to work on and focus on. Um, but I really do just want to celebrate the fact that this year for the first time in a very long time or at least in my memory that I can remember. We have two schools of recognition in Quinsey and we are I mean we're if you can't tell we're beaming about this and the principles and the school staff, the teachers, the educators should just be so proud. And so one of those schools is Beachwood Null Elementary School and the other school is Southwest Middle School. And so

050that is like actually kind of an emotional thing to say because they've worked so hard to um to get there. Um and so we're just so proud of them and the work that they put in and the staff. They really committed to it and obviously, you know, it's paid off and I know that it's just motivated them to keep going. Um and so with that, we also, as I mentioned, do have some areas that we need to continue to work on. And so we still do have two schools um that are remaining in need of assistance. One of those schools remains Snug Harbor and Mr. Morani and I were there today working with the staff and the principal and we have a new school that has joined that mix which is Point Webster and again

051we also stopped by there today for their a day. Um and they're they're digging in and they're motivated and they all know what they need to do and I have no doubt that we'll be seeing more schools of recognition in the future. Um so but in terms of the state um you know in grades 3 to 8 the MCCAST results across the Commonwealth um have um in ELA have increased from 2024 while mathematics has remained mostly flat. And I think that you know you see that a little bit um in our in our data. We have some areas that are that have really done you know relatively well and some areas that we still need to work on. Um and in general the MCCAST data is lower still than prepandemic levels. Um so and um

052in 2025 um we have made some nice progress towards our targets and so you I think you will see that um and one of the things I just want to highlight is and I want to just actually thank you for this because one of the things that we were talking when we've been working with schools working with principles that has come up and I really think that this is a direct result of your support uh as a school committee is that because you increase the substitute pay. We are now able to do things like have curriculum team meetings, have vertical team meetings, and nobody ever wants to leave the classroom, but that those two hours a day paid dividends in that educator's practice, you know, when they attend a curriculum meeting or uh a vertical

053team meeting. And so, um I know Carara was able to run a really awesome and I think the teachers were very excited science meeting and pull the science teachers together. These are things that we have not been able to do since pre- pandemic. And a large reason for that is because we just did not have the coverage to be able to do it. So, it's your your support in that area has gone like I just can't even say how far. Um you know, it's really made a massive difference. And so for that we we greatly thank you. And uh just in terms of um science, there were really no significant shifts across the Commonwealth in science. Although um grade five in grade five in grade 8 and 10 when compared to 2024 there they were

054a little bit lower but also as you're going to see in the school improvement plans and also you know in our data as I think no surprise grade 10 results to MJ's point grade 10 results were down but I will say we we did receive some data from the other urban um you know groups that urban uh school systems across the Commonwealth in our data is higher in almost every area than the other urban districts. And so I think that that is a credit to our staff. So although we saw also saw dips in 10th grade, it's not as low as some other cities and towns. Um and so I think, you know, we're we're really we're really proud of that. So just to review um what we'll be covering, we'll be covering accountability. We'll

055be covering the math data, the science data, the ELA, and the civics data. And we do know that this is a lot of information. We'll try to give you what you need while also going uh not going too too slow for you. Uh and then so going into the accountability data, I will now turn it over to Christopher. Actually, go back one. No worries. >> All right. Thank you, Dr. Perkins. Uh tonight I'll be walking you through our accountability report. To give you some background, both state and federal laws require that the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education or DESIE uh need to implement a statewide accountability system. The goal of this system is to provide clear, actionable information about how schools and districts are performing. It is designed to keep families, community members,

056and the public informed while also helping Desi direct resources and support where they're most needed. This accountability framework allows the state to identify schools and districts that may need assistance or intervention and also recognize those that are making strong progress. It's a system that aligns with Massachusetts priorities and meets federal education requirements. The accountability report is based on two key measures. The first is the accountability percentile, which reflects a school's overall performance compared to other schools that administer similar statewide assessments. This percentile is calculated using up to three years of data across all accountability indicators. It's important to note that accountability percentiles are calculated only for schools, not for districts. The second measure is progress towards targets, also referred to as a criterion reference component. This looks at how well a school or district is

057meeting specific improvement goals. The department uses the data from all the students in a school or district to assess overall progress. This is now the third year since the pandemic that progress towards targets has been measured. Again, providing more of a complete picture of how schools are recovering and moving forward. The accountability system is comprised of these five indicators which you see here. achievement, student growth, high school completion, English language proficiency, and chronic absenteeism. Desi awards between 0 to four points for each accountability indicator based on how much progress has been made towards the target. It's worth knowing that in some cases, student groups may still be awarded points even if they don't fully meet the target depending on their level of improvement. Student growth points are awarded differently from target achievement points. The goal

058or target set forth by the state for all districts, schools, and student groups is to achieve or exceed an SGP of 50. Please note that SGPS are not calculated for science. The points earned for each indicator are combined, weighted, and then calculated into an overall percentage. This percentage gives us a clear picture of how we're progressing towards our targets. With that said, I'm pleased to share that our district has been classified as not requiring assistance or intervention. Additionally, we've been identified as making moderate progress towards toward meeting our goals. This reflects steady movement in the right direction and highlights the collective efforts across our schools. The first data point I'd like to note this evening is the four-year graduation rate for high school. Overall, we did see a decline in the graduation rate compared to

059previous years. However, it's worth highlighting that our Hispanic or Latino student subgroups showed notable improvement, exceeding their target by 5 percentage points. Please note that this data is lagged a year, which is why you're seeing the 2024 graduation rate. However, as we look at the annual dropout rate, we're pleased we're pleased to report that we exceeded our target for all students overall, which is significant achievement. In addition, we also met or exceeded the target in eight out of nine student subgroups showing strong across the board progress. Just like the previous slide, keep in mind that this data is lagged by one year, meaning it reflects the previous school year's performance. All right, moving on to advanced coursework completion. While we did not meet our overall target, we did see notable improvement overall along with gains

060in three out of nine student subgroups. This indicates progress even though there's still work to be done to reach our full goal. In high school ELA, students overall demon demonstrated typical low growth. However, there were some important exceptions. Our Asian, multi-racial, non-Hispanic, and English learner student subgroups were each awarded three points for achieving typical high growth. This shows promising progress within those subgroups, even as we work to improve our overall performance. For high school math, students overall demonstrated typical high growth with five out of nine subgroups also meeting that benchmark. Notably, our Asian student subgroup exceeded typical growth, continuing a strong upward trend in this area. Now, turning to ELA growth for high school grades, we were awarded three points for achieving high growth overall, which reflects a strong performance across the board. All of

061our student subgroups showed growth with our Asian student subgroup once again exceeding typical growth, which is a great trend to see continuing. In non- high school math, we're pleased to report typical high growth overall. Additionally, six out of 10 students subgroups also achieved high growth, which reflects strong broad-based progress in this area. Lastly, we have our MCCAST participation. We continue to have strong participation in all grade levels. This is encouraging considering the competency deterine determination change last year. Uh with that said, I will now hand the presentation over to Dr. Perkins who will speak about chronic absenteeism. >> Thank you, Christopher. So, I won't uh spend too too much time on this because we did just do a presentation um at the last meeting on attendance matters. However, just to uh refresh your memory, our

062goal last year was to reduce reduce chronic absenteeism by 2% from a base of 9.9 in grades K to 8 and and 3% from a base of 25.1 in grades 9 through 12. And we did not um meet the goal in the non- high schools, which would be our uh grades 1 through 8. However, we did meet the goal in high school. And this is going to be a little confusing where we'll talk about there's different numbers now from our baseline in 2024. Um, and we'll talk a little bit about that in a second. Um, but just so you can see the breakdown in terms of subgroups in general, I think we did really, really well at the high school level. Um, and uh, we're hoping to continue that growth. We are only a few

063points away from prepandemic levels for chronic absenteeism at the high school. And uh in non- high school, you can see that we did improve in some areas. Um although al although we below target and in some areas we did decline um and this is something that we are working with the um elementary and middle school principles on. And so just in terms of a new goal uh for this school year, we do have that um the chronic absenteeism will uh reduce by 3.3% in the elementary and middle schools from a base of 10.4. And we did that because that will actually put us back at prepandemic levels. Um and that it will reduce by 3.2 from a base of 21.2 in grades 9 to 12. And again, that will put us back to prepandemic levels.

064So, we are very close and we are very proud of that. Um, and you know, we talked a lot about the the attendance matters campaign, the work that the district is committed to doing, the work that the schools are doing. We're just going to continue doing that, continue adding as much positivity to this campaign as we can. Um, and just, you know, keep spreading the word that attendance is important. We want consistent attendance. We we want your kids here. um we love when they're here and we miss them when they're not. And um just I just want to just for a second though talk about the difference in the base. So you'll you'll notice that in this slide right here um in the elementary school uh in the goal the base is 10.4 but in

065this slide back here our base was 9.9. And the reason for that is because um initially in 2024 they counted the recovery days. They took those recovery days and you know those were counted as actual school days. So those came off of the total number of for chronic absenteeism. Well they have now added that back in and they have changed our base. So they have gone back in time and added those days back which means that we now have a new base um of 10.4. four. So although our goal we didn't necessarily make progress actually we did actually decrease a little bit uh based on the data because the the base has now changed. And so in for English language proficiency you're going to see the same thing. They they updated the base from 2024

066to 2025. They just did that with the release of the 2025 data which made it very difficult for us to assess and kind of you know feeling like it's a moving target sometimes when you set goals. Um but so our goal here was uh to increase and this one we do want to increase our English language proficiency progress progress towards targets and it was 7% in grades 9 through 12 from a base at the time of 23%. And 7% in grades 1 through 8 from a base of 51.7%. These were very ambitious goals um and we did not meet the goal in um non- high school in our elementary and middle. However, we did meet the goal in high school. And so we're really proud of that work. Um we're going to continue to focus

067on the um all of the grades, but in particular the um elementary and middle schools. And so here you can just see that breakdown. And this is where you see that the rate is actually different. So our base so what happened here is in 2024 they initially did not factor in the students who had taken the alternate access assessment. So students with disabilities who needed an alternative testing method just like we do alternative assessment for our port portfolio students for special education on the MCCAST. They did not factor those children in. they now have factored those children in to the 2024 rate which is why you see there's a different base from what we presented to you last year. Um so our new goal for this year is that uh for English language learners in

068grades um 9 to 12, we would like to see an increase of 5% from a base of 33.9. And in grade uh 1 through 8, we would like to see an increase also of 5% from a base of 55.2. This will allow us to meet our targets and obviously make progress towards proficiency standards. And so just um to review some of because this is a district and superintendence goal. So um a proposed goal. So some of the the ways the benchmarks and action steps that we will be focus focusing on. We have reviewed the 2025 access data. Uh we've set goals and um interventions. The principles have reviewed the data both with us and with um Heather Wjek, the EL department uh chair and also their EL staff. Um and then we have looked at

069reviewed three-year trends in this area. So some of the things that we're doing and will continue to do is we draft student success plans. Those are required by the state. They're similar to an IEP. you have to you set goals on their proficiency targets and they've written a goal in either oral language or literacy with an identified intervention. Um we have reviewed or they have reviewed um the student success plans. They're continuing that work right now. That's what they're working on actually right this very minute. And um that we will be sharing the student success plans with families at by the end of October. And then also providing parentmmies to address any concerns parents may have with the student success plans when they receive them from their EL teacher. If they have any questions or

070don't understand what they are or what they mean, um we'll we'll be offering some opportunities to explain that information to our families. Uh some of the other things we'll be doing throughout the year is keeping documentation such as writing samples, running records of things like that of interventions that have been implemented u to move us towards their proficiency targets. Um and we'll also be looking uh this is something the EL team will be working on and as you know we did just purchase a new curriculum last year for elementary and middle school ELEL. So we we're hoping that that is also going to help in the um K to8 area or the 1 to8 area to improve some of these scores is that the fact that we have some new curriculum updated curriculum. But what

071they would like to do is look at progress monitoring tools. So we have a lot of progress monitoring tools for things like ELA, math, we have the map, but something specifically for our EEL students that looks at the progress that they're making towards their student success plans and progress towards proficiency. Um, and we are also going to uh work with our EL teachers and our schools to make the student success plans more of a living breathing document that is discussed at ILT meetings, PD meetings, uh, department meetings, and really make sure that not just our EL educators, but our general educators also know what are the goals for those students, how are we all working together on those goals, you know, to make sure that we're moving that student forward in their proficiency targets and

072then as I mentioned we have new curriculum so we are going to continue to work on um you know the implementation of that curriculum by providing professional development and we'll continue at the middle school and high school level they have um national geographic the elementary has vista and um also we will be the e teachers will be participating in the writing revolution which is something that we rolled out to our middle school educators um last here and some of our elementary educators as well. And then at the high school level, they are working at working on as you know as part of um NIASK developing curriculum maps um for our EEL classes. And finally, just um at the end of the year, we'll review the new access data. We'll meet with our teams to discuss

073how the students did on their student success plans. and then we'll share that that information with families. And I will now turn it over to Kim Quinn for mathematics. >> Good evening everyone. So our district MCCAST math goal aimed for a 2% increase in the constructive response questions. When we look at the data comparing each grade to itself, we see that we met this um goal um only for sixth grade with a significant 12% increase. But if we take a look at it by cohort, we achieved our goal in every grade ex with the exception of fifth grade. In 2024, our fourth grade did extremely well on constructive response questions. So it doesn't surprise me when we went down this year when we look at it by grade. Anytime we have this sort of outlier,

074it corrects itself the next year. So when we look at grade um four, their scores are consistently 3 to 5% higher than the state. So when last year they were 64% on constructive response questions, the state came in at 61. And these are the kind of trends that we continue to see. Next, we have the overall percentage scores of meeting and exceeding compared by cohort. You can see that we have a significant increase in grades four and six while grades seven and eight decrease slightly and a more cons um significant decrease in grade five. And this is something that we've seen um at the district and state level. This next slide shows that this shows the same data, but this time we're comparing it by grade level. And you can see that we're up in

075grades four and five with grade five having a significant increase of 4%. We remain the same in grades six and seven and a decrease in grades three and eight. The district also outperformed the state in grades four and seven with our fourth grade showing a significant improvement when compared to the state. This colorful chart provides immense insight into math MCCAST by dividing data into two sections. We can look at it by question types and by domain. Back in 2024, the fifth grade earned 37% of the possible points in the fraction domain, while this past year increased to 52%. Grade six went from 38% in 2024 for statistics and probability to 55% this past spring. And 8th grade was at 46% for number systems and increased to 58% in 2025. So looking at the data in

076this way allows us to prioritize domains by grade level. This breakdown gives us a focus that will be useful for teachers in preparing students effectively for the MCCAST and to help us achieve our MCCAST goal. So the top of this slide highlights the trends we see each year in comparison with the state and particularly grade five. Historically, as a district, we are a few percentage points higher than the state. The data shows a trend of students improving in grade four from our baseline in grade three, followed by a decline in grades 5 to 8, and that recovery happening in grade 10. You can see that this trend happens at the state level as well. And last year when we did a deep dive into fifth grade results from last year, we found that the fifth

077um excuse me that the fraction domain had dropped significantly in both state and um district. As a result, we made this area a focus and as I mentioned before this spring we saw a recovery in that domain. We can also see that in 2024 the fraction domain was an example of an outlier. Historically, we score around 50% in that domain. That dip happened um on in 2024 at the state and district level and both state and our district recovered this past year. So, when we take a closer look at the released test questions, we see another possible reason for the dip that happens after grade four. The majority of the fourth grade released items tend to be more straightforward computation questions like the one at the top of the slide. In this example, students are

078asked simply to find the perimeter. While the fifth grade example focuses on the conceptual understanding of order of operations, students are not asked to solve the expression. They're asked to explain the relationship between the numbers. These types of questions are what we start to see more of in the upper grades. These trends that we see at both the district and state level suggests that some of this fluctuation can be attributed to test factors. Now, as we look at our MAP results, it's great to see that the students not only met but exceeded their Rick goal at every grade level. And again, you know, just to mention that this is this shows growth versus achievement. So, we're we're seeing that students at each grade level are making consistent growth and actually we're seeing growth greater than

079um that norm growth that's expected, which is exciting. And then no matter what trends are happening, we are always looking to increase student growth and achievement. This year will be no different. Given that we exceeded our rate growth at every grade level, we made adjustments and increased our goals for this coming year. 15 points in grades 2 to four, 10 points in grades five, eight points in grade six, and six points in grade seven. Eighth grade will be looking for a five points of growth from fall to winter given that they won't be taking the map in the spring. Constructive response questions will continue to be an area of focus. However, for this year's MCCAST goal, we have decided to look at the bigger picture and to show evidence of achievement by an increase of

080two percentage points in the meeting and exceeding um expectation achievement levels as indicated by the PE 303 MCCAST results by achievement level. To help us achieve these goals, we have Molly Voki returning to continue her work with Snug Harbor. Math consultant Annaise Record has already worked on math fluency with our math interventionist and our K to2 teachers and our grade three to five teachers have already um also begun work on fluency as well. Amplified Demsmos will be providing support as we implement our new middle school math curriculum and the professional day of learning will include topics on math anxiety and discalcula. We will work to increase perseverance and problem solving with StMath and happy numbers. With the addition of Athetherton how we now have seven elementary schools and three middle schools util utilizing StMath and

081happy numbers is being used in our four remaining elementary schools. The math interventionist team will continue to provide t target targeted small groupoup instruction. They'll also support classroom educators by sharing games and activities based on classroom needs with a continued focus on supporting fifth grade um students. And to assist in the implementation of amplified desmos math, I will work with principles to offer in-house PD at their schools. Sessions will be geared towards the individual needs of each middle school. and I'll now pass the presentation over to Daka Carik. Thank you, Kim. Good evening, everyone. Um, in terms of our science, technology, and engineering data, um, our first goal from last year was on the MAP test. And as you can see from the chart, um, we exceeded or met all of our targets with, um,

082very nice growth above the target in both, uh, fourth and, uh, sixth grade. So, it's very good information there. Uh, in terms of our MCCAST data, uh, you can see that, um, our fifth grade had a positive change with grade 8 um, and grade six um, dropping um, lower instead of showing any growth. Um, and I'll make a note that this was prior to the question two decision. Um, and as a teacher who just left a classroom for the biology MCCAST, I can tell you I did hear many conversations about how that did impact their motivation on that test. So, to the point that was brought up earlier, um, I agree that there is a need to emphasize the importance um, for whatever we decide that importance might end up being for our district. Uh

083that's a good a a good comment to make about that test. Uh this is the results by standard. Um and I just want to point out um one thing because you will see it come up um in the goal for this year. Um the constructed response, you can see just a slight dip between grades five and eight. Um and then a larger jump to grade 10. Um, and I'll also point out in terms of the separation between the fifth and eighth grade test to the high school test, the high school test just concentrates on life sciences. So, you can see the life science categories from grade 5 to grade 8 um 61% then down to 50% and then most of those grade 10 categories rise again with the exception of the molecules to organisms domain.

084Uh I'll also comment that molecules to organisms contains the most standards and they are the most challenging of the standards that are um given to biology students. So they include a lot of the biochemistry um and other um content that can be very challenging for students. You can also see that we are relatively consistent with science practices and I'll again um comment on science practices here shortly. uh the goal for MCCAST particularly focused on grade 10 and again we just mentioned um that decline of 6% um we were still equal to the state um uh percentage points in terms of the outcome for the test. So, for this year, um, I'm going to do the MCCAST goal first because this MCCAST goal looks a little different than it has in the past because it is

085not about an overall test score. The reason for that is because particularly in the grade 8 MCCAST, it is making a shift towards the performance-based task test. And so, that is going to be a little different in terms of not having the multiplechoice questions that we would expect to see um in the other tests. So because of that I thought it would be important to look at what is consistent between all three of the tests which are the constructed response. So constructed response which basically means students have to use evidence to support their reasoning will be found still in all of the MCCAST tests. So I thought to target that particular domain of the test in order to show an increase in writing style, not writing style but writing um ability as well as the

086use of evidence. And you even heard that comment before about constructive response. This will then carry over and be cross-curricular in in its support um for students. You'll also notice that these percentages look like a very large increase. So I just want to take a moment to explain why they look like a big jump. constructed response only makes up 16 points of the entire MCCAST. So when we're talking about uh a base of 37% that means they were able to get maybe six points or seven points anywhere between six and eight of those constructed response questions. So when you add one point you actually add quite a bit of percentage when you're looking for that goal. So that's why those there is that jump that you see there. So, in terms of the grade five,

087we're looking for basically a one to one and a half point increase, which would mean a student either took the time to answer an additional question or perhaps took the time to increase evidence into their answer or their reasoning, which would take them from maybe a one to two on that score, which shows improvement in their abilities to answer that question, maybe from a two to three or to a from a three to a four. Um, in terms of the, uh, MAP goal, we had some exceptional growth in most of our grades. Um, so we wanted to push that just a little bit more, which is where those RIT scores that you see come from. Um, so we're looking for eight for grades four to five, a sevenpoint growth for grade six, a sixpoint growth

088for grade seven, and then we usually go with the three, but we thought why not give it just a little push um to that 3.5 um just to see if we can get some of that increase. We do understand that the middle school teachers are piloting more o uh open sed units um which I'll speak to in the action steps here in a moment. So these the higher grades in middle school might be a little conservative, but we do see long-term value in them using those units um and continuing to increase student um reasoning abilities. Uh for the action steps, we will help to provide professional development on constructed response and as I mentioned, open sad as a curriculum includes those abilities to be able to take that evidence and incorporate it into the reasoning.

089So we do have um Bonnie Nevice from Educate on purpose is coming to facilitate professional development on the professional day of learning as well as on the systemwides in order to help support our middle school teachers as they move through these curriculum implementations. And then um a new curriculum that's being explored by our three to five teachers is discovery education which is also based on this idea of sensemaking and answering questions and using evidence in order to support their reasoning as they work through those units. Um we are expanding the implementation of openside curriculum um and increasing the number of units in middle school. This year every teacher will be doing at least one open sided unit. Some are doing two and there are a few who are also doing three openside units out of

090the five that can be offered for our middle school. Um we will promote that discovery education textbook um continue updating our curriculum maps. This summer we had another round of curriculum map um updating and now we have uh 11 total curriculum maps um that are done for our science uh curriculum at the high school level. Um and we are also going to facilitate and move towards the adoption of advanced placement or AP physics C at the high school level to replace physics 2. AP physics 2. This will be a more calculus-based um curriculum. Um the other thing I'll just point out here is I would like to facilitate um no the next one. Sorry. I would like to facilitate the development of some constructive response resources that complement um the MCCAST practice tests and DESIE

091released items as well as um student exemplars that are released by DESIE. And this will provide sort of a um benchmark that can be used across the district for teachers to be able to look at progress over the course of the year. Um and also it can be used as we have these um uh grade level meetings or even vertical team meetings to look at what skills do we need to focus on in different grades as we move forward thinking about these constructive response questions. Um, and then the others to point out are just obviously our STEMfair project, which is where they're definitely using all of those um, science and engineering practices um, and continuing our partnership with our early college high school to help um, promote that type of um, curriculum in our high

092schools. And I'll pass it on to Bridget. Thank you, Carara. It's nice to see everyone. Um, and I'm happy to be here and present to you our ELA data and reflections for last year and our goals moving forward for this year. So, the first slide you see here um is a reflection on the 2425 ELA map goal. The slide refle reflects our district's progress toward the superintendent student learning goal for ELA in the 24-25 school year, focusing specifically on reading growth as measured by the NWA MAP assessment. The goal summary here is that students in grades 2 through 8 were expected to show growth in their reading scores measured in RIT points from fall to spring. The district set differentiated target growth expectations by grade level. Specifically, grade two 12 RIT points, grade three 10

093RIT points, grade four five RIT points, and grades 5 through 8 three RIT points. These targets are aligned with national norms and growth expectations provided by NWA for typical academic progress over a school year. So, um, an overview of these results show that the average RIT scores for each grade level in fall, winter, and spring along with the total growth achieved, um, and whether or not the goal was met. You can see that, um, seven out of seven grade levels met or exceeded their growth targets, indicating strong district-wide performance in reading. grades two and grade or grade two and three rather show particularly strong gains surpassing their already ambitious growth goals. Um overall this data demonstrates that the district has ma made um achieved and surpassed the superintendent's ELA goal for 2425 with clear evidence

094of reading growth across nearly all grade levels. Next slide please. Um, so now a reflection on our ELA MCCAST goal for 2425. Um, this slide reflects progress toward the second ELA goal, which focuses on student writing performance as measured by the MCCAST. For 2425 school year, students in grades 3 through 8 were expected to show improvement in writing as measured by the increases in percentage points in the writing domain of the MCCAST. two different views of student pro progress are presented. Our year-over-year data in the chart on the left and our cohort data on the right. Um, so the year year-over-year chart there compares the same grade level from one year to the next. In reflecting on this, uh, while grade six was the only grade to meet its year-over-year writing growth target, uh, the

095data across other grade levels still provides very valuable insights. Some grade levels experienced a decline or did not meet the minimum expected increase. Uh however, we view this not as a setback but as an opportunity to sharpen our instructional focus. In looking at the chart over on the right, it compares how a cohort of students progressed from one grade to the next. For example, students who were in grade three in 2024 and in grade four in 2025. Uh, building upon what I just mentioned about improving student outcomes over time, cohort growth is much more positive. Most grade level cohorts met or exceeded their targets with growth ranging from plus 2% to plus 6%. So, an overall summary of goal two, the year-over-year comparison shows increases in three grade grade levels and decreases in three grade

096grade levels with grade six meeting its target. The cohort analysis reveals stronger growth with three out of five cohorts meeting or exceeding goals. And these results suggest that while some grade levels struggled compared to last year's performance, students are making progress over time, especially when considering their individual growth as they advance through the grades. This dual perspective year-over-year and cohort helps us better understand student progress and tailor supports accordingly. While year-over-year comparison highlights systemwide areas for improvement, cohort data shows instructional strategies um that are positively impacting impacting students long-term writing growth. So, for our colorful um ELA overall um MCCAST question types and standards chart, this slide provides the breakdown of student performance on the spring ELA MCCAST, highlighting how students performed across three different question types, constructed response, essay, and selected response. And the

097three content domains in ELA, language, reading, and writing in grades 3 through 10. Students in grades six through 10 performed particularly well in selected response questions. The SR column right there uh with scores ranging from 64% to 69% showing strong comprehension and multiple choice strategy skills. Across grades 6 through 10. Students also demonstrated consistent consistent strength in reading and language domains, both reaching up to 71% of possible points. Writing scores steadily increase from grade three at 23 point percent to grade 10 at 54%. This reflects clear growth in writing skills as students progress through the grades. Essay uh performance improved significantly beginning in grade 5, peaking at 62% in grade 10, indicating that students are developing more adv advanced written expression over time. These results show that while early grades are still building foundational writing

098skills, upper grades are achieving at higher levels across all domains, signaling the positive impact of instruction over time. And this slide represents the overall cohort data for ELAMCAST, focusing on the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations from 24 to 25. Overall, the data shows that encouraging progress in ELA performance across most grade levels. The most significant gains were seen in the cohort moving from grade 5 to six and grades 7 to 8, each showing a plus 13% increase in students meeting or exceeding expectations. The grades six to seven cohort also improved with a plus 2% gain, while grade four to five saw a plus 1% increase. These results highlight positive growth in ELA achievement as students advanced through the grades. Only one cohort from grade three to four showed a decline of minus4% but

099the overall trend remains upward. This data suggests that instructional efforts and stu student progress in ELA are yielding positive results for the majority of students. and our um year-over-year MCCAST here. This slide um displays the ELA MCCAST for 2425 in year-over-year performance as well as QPS results versus the state averages. This data highlights several notable gains. Grade seven showed the most significant improvement rising plus 8% from 41% to 49% and plus um and performing uh plus 7% above the state average. Grade four also had a plus 5% increase and outperformed the state by plus 2%. While grade six improved by plus 4% and outpaced the state by plus 9%. Grade 8 ma maintained strong performance with a plus two increase and was plus 10% higher than the state average. Grade 5 remained steady at 38%

100matching the state average. Although grades three and 10 experienced declines 7% and8% respectively, grade 10 still remains above the state average by plus 1%. The overall trend suggests strong district-wide performance particularly in the middle grades uh with multiple grades outperforming the state by significant margins. And so for um our new district and superintendent student learning goals for 2526 school year, uh goal one targets growth in reading using NWA MAP data and students in grades 2 through 8 are expected to demonstrate measurable progress with specific Brit growth targets. Um many of these growth targets were increased over the last couple of years. Um but we decided to bump up grade four a bit. So you'll see in bold um we're expecting grade four to grow seven points from fall to spring. Um and grade eight is

101expected to show a twopoint gain from fall to winter. This is what the national norm expects over the course of an entire year, but we're going to um we're going to shoot for that goal from fall to winter since grade 8 won't be taking the map in spring. Um and our second goal there focuses on achievement measured by MCCAST. students will be expected to show a 2 percentage point increase um overall on uh the PE303 MCCAST results by achievement level report. And together, these goals show a strategic commitment to both growth and achievement in reading and ELA, supporting students across all performance levels. for our action steps for this year. Um the district ELA action steps for 2526 offer a bright path forward for literacy success. Uh the first one focuses on strengthening early literacy

102skills. The district placing a powerful focus on the foundational years in grades K through three by conducting regular literacy screenings and progress monitoring. This ensures that every child receives the right support at the right time. By understanding each student's unique skill level, teachers can deliver both personalized instruction and targeted intervention that that inspire confidence and academic growth in all learners. The second action step there um is about empowering educators with targeted professional development. Teachers are being equipped like never before through engaging professional development in all areas of language arts, reading, writing, listening, speaking. Um, educators will grow their skills and strategies with support from top tier partners like Lexia, the writing revolution, national literacy experts, um, so that teachers can feel more confident and capable ultimately leading to more meaningful and effective instruction for students.

103The third piece there um is that we're expanding our learning through local conference opportunities like the Massachusetts Reading Conference and NELMs, which is the New England League of Middle Schools. Um and our fourth action step there is about boosting reading fluency and comprehension for all students. We expanded greatly. Thank you to um the swoop committee and um the entire curriculum team. Um with expanded access to Lexia core 5 and Lexia powerup, students at all levels are gaining u powerful or have access to powerful tools to improve their reading skills. These platforms are researchbased, engaging, um, and they have the addition of the native native language support which ensures multilingual learners receive instruction that meets them where they are, making literacy accessible to everyone. Finally, we've added um increased access to high quality texts. Students will

104now enjoy even more opportunities to dive into rich diverse literature through a curated subscription to Sora and Overdrive with ebooks and audiobooks just a click away on the clever platform. Um read your reading is now easier, more exciting and more accessible um and igniting a lifelong love of learning and literacy. So in summary, these action steps represent a bold and thoughtful vision for literacy in 2025-26. By empowering teachers, supporting students, and expanding access to tools and resources, the district is building a stronger, more inclusive ELA program that ensures every student thrives. And I will pass over to Mr. Morani for civics. >> Thank you, Bridget. And good evening, everybody. Uh before we discuss the civics results, I do just want to remind everybody that the spring of 2025 was the first operational year of the

105grade 8 civics MCCAST and it was only for grade 8. That was the only uh civics-based MCCAST across all grades. Uh I am very pleased to report that we exceeded the state results by 5%. So we uh managed to earn uh 44% of our students achieving exceeding or meeting expectations whereas the state was at 39. Uh and one item not on there but worth mentioning is when you look at our score of again 44% of the students getting exceeding or meeting and you compare that to urban districts we actually doubled them. So their average was 22% ours was 44. So when you compare us to urban districts, we're looking even stronger. Uh and then uh as we look at the question types, the domains and the civics practices, uh definitely the theme is you know

106we're above the state across the board. So in all of those categories, uh you'll see that though we're close, uh we're managing to exceed the state by two or 3% depending on the specific uh category. I do just want to highlight civic knowledge and analyzing sources as our strongest results uh at this time with civics-based questioning being our lowest which is also the state's lowest results which is why it's going to drive a focus of our goal uh for this upcoming year which is uh ultimately what we're looking for is a six percentage point increase in the civicbased question uh questioning practice. So we hope to increase that 6% that'll put us in line with those other categories in terms of how we achieved and the action steps to do this um you know the

107first uh around instruction and assessment. So that first step embed daily source analysis uh practice into uh the instruction. So, we just want students to have as much opportunity throughout their classroom experience uh to get comfortable analyzing primary and secondary sources. We're also going to make sure that students uh encounter classroom assessments that uh align with the assessments that they're going to see. Now that we have an operational test, we're just going to make sure that our questions uh show some consistency so that when our students sit down to take that civics exam, they're not walking into questions um being unfamiliar with those questions. Uh and I do just want to point out uh that we are going to focus on developing a QPS, so a district-wide civics project guide. And ultimately uh the goal

108there is to create some alignment across all five middle schools. obviously in compliance with the Massachusetts uh requirements uh but at the same time making it Quinsey's uh a district-wide initiative. I'm very pleased uh to report that we were uh we the recipients of the Desi Civics teaching and learning grant which is on tonight's agenda and that's going to help us do that in a way that doesn't compete with their systemwide PD time. So we'll be able to focus on building that outside of that systemwide PD time. And then when we look at the last two uh we want to create a cohesive pacing guide. So uh one of the issues is making sure that though the topic the range of topics when you look at students in grades five six seven up to eight

109uh there's a wide range of topics that our students are encountering during that time frame. And so we just want to make sure that as we look at our pacing guides we're creating opportunities for students to encounter civic based questions. So, we just want them to be practicing uh understanding civic-based concepts. Even if it's applicable to an ancient civilization, there's still a lot of common terminology there. And so, what we want to do is make sure that we're creating as many opportunities to prepare our students for that eighth grade civics assessment well before they encounter eth grade. Uh and then with that, that last step, crossgrade vocabulary and concept alignment. So looking for those common phrases that are replicable regardless of the type of government that's being studied and making sure that students have the

110opportunity to get comfortable with that terminology so that they can build those skills those civic based skills uh no matter what standard they're covering whether it's you know down in elementary and then up uh through uh through middle school. So with everything that you heard and we understand it's a lot. So we thank you for your time and attention. Uh we have a lot of work to do. This is really the starting point. A lot of planning has been taking place, will continue to take place. As Dr. Perkins mentioned, we were at uh assessment days today at both Snug Harbor and Point, but that across the board all schools were focusing uh on their data today. Department meetings, vertical and grade level team meetings, uh etc., etc. These are going to be focuses in driving

111our planning and our decision- making. Of course, we all have the uh program improvement plans and school improvement plans to look forward to. So, those are underway. We'll have those ready for you in the next few months. Uh and then of course implementation, the most important part. What those educators are doing throughout the city to help our students and everything we discuss today is to help drive that and facilitate that in the positive way. And of course, we reflect and progress monitor along the way. So with that, again, thank you for your time and attention, for all that information. We welcome any questions that you might have. You guys tricked us because we thought there was only two people going to present and now there's like 10. Um, okay. Start with questions. Anyone on this

112side? >> Okay. >> Very, very impressive on the absenteeism at the high school. Yeah, >> that's that's a big nut to get over. I really think it is. That's that was amazing to see and hopefully that will just continue. I was also happy to see in grade five in math >> looking pretty good, too. >> Much better. Yeah. Yeah. I think we have a lot of reason, you know, to celebrate. We're heading in the right direction. You know, we definitely still have work to do, but I think in general, we're we're really heading in the right direction. >> I think so, too. Yeah. Thank you very much. Do you want to go? >> Thank you. Um, yeah, definitely. Uh, I remember last year we were, it was a little dismal. Um, I think was the

113feel and I feel like this is a little bit um, better. We're going in the right direction, especially, and I don't know if I remember, maybe my memory is not serving me right, the year overyear versus the cohort. I really liked looking at it like that. I don't know if we did that last year, but I really like seeing that. That's where you can see the impact we're making is in the next grade because it's those kids. It's a different grade three this year than the grade three last year. So, it's hard to compare um that, but I really like the cohort way of looking at it as well. And I think that that's um a positive way to look at it as well. >> Uh so, you know, still work to do, which I

114think you guys acknowledge, which is good. Um >> uh so I'm just going to probably start at the beginning. I'll try to get through them really fast. Um, so, and I'm going to start way back where you had the graduation rate. >> Um, how many seniors do we know? So, I know this data is you said it was 2024. Do we know if it got any better for 2025? >> Uh, we don't know that. Um, no, we don't know that yet. and they won't they won't release that until the end of the year like you know the um at this year but whatever 2026. So and the one thing I would just point out about that although the four-year graduation rate wasn't as good as it typically is for us. I think that the thing

115to just point out is that the dropout rate um the annual dropout rate was actually pretty good um for that year which means although they may not be graduating in four years we are still engaging them and they are eventually finishing. >> Okay. >> So that I just want to just point that out you know um but we don't I we don't we especially the way that they look at it right now we don't have that information. We certainly know who the kids are that didn't graduate, right? That's >> But I don't know. Um I mean how they do their math I I I sometimes could not tell you. >> Yeah. I was just trying to get a sense of if last year was better than that year before. >> I definitely think it's going

116to be better. I think that this some of this was we knew because of COVID, you know, because this is lagged a year. So this is even though it's 2024 data, it's actually really 2023 data, you know. So I definitely think we knew that between say, you know, 22, 23, 21, we definitely knew that there was some concern with um the the four-year graduation rate for sure. But I absolutely think it we're it's going to start we're going to start seeing it improve again. >> That's great. Yeah. I just worry when we start dipping into the 80s, you know what? We do too. >> Yeah. That's so that's why I'm hopeful that we're going the other way. We are looking at who are those kids, right? Who are those kids that didn't graduate? We have

117a dropout prevention team. We, you know, we try if if the students aren't engaged with us, you know, and they didn't graduate, then we're we we make outreach all year long, we try to get them back. We try to, you know, as creative as we can get to get them to finish and graduate, we do do that, which is why the dropout rate is much is is pretty good, you know, um because of that reason. But we're definitely watching that and we're going to be working on that. >> Okay. Thank you. Um and then the advanced coursework completion that data um it it disappointed me a little bit. I was hopeful that would be a little bit better. Um I am excited about the new advanced pathways program improvement plan that um we're going to

118be allow us to take a deeper dive into some of those advanced courses. So, I hope that that will actually help with this slide and help with this data and maybe help us identify some areas in the advanced courses that we still could um do even better with. Uh so, I'm hopeful so I'm disappointed on one end, but I'm hopeful that we have a way to address that kind of moving forward. Um great to see as Mrs. Lebo said about the uh high school uh chronic absenteeism rate. I mean, that's obviously a direct result of the amount of effort and attention you all and the high school principles and everyone at the high schools has put in. So, um hopefully we can stop reminding kids to come to school and like it used to be

119the old days, you just went to school, right? >> Um >> and so just going into math, um I uh mentioned that I love seeing the context between the year-over-year and the cohort. That really was helpful. Um why is ST math being used for some schools and happy numbers being used for others? >> Great question. So, um, StMath we get through a grant through, um, the 18 Foundation and the way they roll that out is a couple schools at a time. So, we've slowly rolled that out starting with schools that were interested in it and as it's kind of picked up, then more schools have been interested and we find that that works better than just saying, "Hey, you all have to do STMath." So, that's why. But at the same time, we wanted to

120make sure that everybody had something in terms of a digital supplement. So that's where happy numbers comes in for those other schools. >> Okay. But we are looking sort of as STMath is the one we prefer to have sort of and we're sort of just getting there with the grants that are happening. >> Exactly. Yeah. In terms of um Yeah. Like I said, I think it's Athetherton that's um jumped on this year. >> Great. Okay. Thank you. Um, and then the uh science. Um, welcome to the curriculum team, Mr. McCarthy. Um, I appreciated the explanation on the MCCAST goal. The way you're looking at it a little bit differently. I really um do do uh that's helpful to to see. Would it be helpful at all to look at I know because they I feel

121like that 10th that um you just don't have as many data points for the science MCAST to look at. Would it be helpful to look at AP science test scores and sort of see I know that that's really a subset of kids but seeing how how they're scoring on the AP science test the AP physics test and just seeing you know would that give you another data point to sort of say um that kids are getting those uh standards kind of at that level or would that be something that's uh too too out of this um >> not not apples to apples enough >> I I think it's definitely something you can look at, but I think you also need to take into consideration that then I don't think you're getting the whole picture of

122the entire grade band, right? So, with the MCCAST, you're at least looking at every student having taken that test. It would also be nice to see our students taking AP courses then meeting those standards, but I I think it would be a different I I don't think it would be the type of kind of cohort thing that you're thinking about or or show that growth that we're looking for because it narrows so much when they get to the AP level. >> Yeah. Yeah. I was more just brainstorming on that because just trying to find another data point where there's so many for the others absolutely um the other subjects. And then lastly on um physics just I think our gosh our eighth grade team is just so strong in physics and civics sorry civics not

123physics um uh Mr. Pavo and Miss Principy were fantastic for my kids going through on the on civics and just they they enjoyed it um in addition to learning a lot. So um just I'm so proud of our civics program and our our teachers there as all the teachers but um certainly on those. So thank you. Thanks for your patience and all my questions. Thank you. Um, great presentation. Uh, appreciate doing a deep dive in in each of the different areas. Um, so these are Oh, for Dr. Perkins, my questions. The, um, so a couple of times you just said they won't release it the way they do the math. >> Whose data is this? Is it ours or DesI's or somebody else's? So, the Department of Education takes what we give them and then

124they create then they give it back to us, but they do I I honestly I mean I don't know if we could answer the question as to how they end up tabulating or getting those numbers. >> So, is this their presentation? Because it doesn't say source, Jesse. >> It's so it's all from the Department of Ed. It's all public information. It's on the district profile page. It's it's all so it we through our state reporting we give them data from Aspen and then so for the ones that you're talking about the department of ed then takes that information compares it to other districts and schools that are of the same size that are the same grade level and lots of different things and then um gives it back to us. they take. There's some kids

125that they don't count. There's some kids that they do. Um but they have a whole it's you know it's comp they have a whole procedure that they follow uh and way of doing things in terms of the accountability data. They they take you know three years of data on some of these things but 2023 is only worth 15% 2024 is worth I don't know 20% or something and then 2025 is worth 60%. So it's it's it's complicated. >> It's agony. Um so do you ever go through what they submit and analyze and say, "Hey, that's not right." >> Yes, we do. >> Okay. >> And where did you find discrepancies? >> Um sometimes we find discrepancies and sometimes it's not that we necessarily find discrepancies, but we don't think things look right. Um and so

126one of the areas um you know we've we've called and questioned for instance the baseline changes in the EL data and in the chronic absenteeism data. We had one set of data and then all of a sudden they changed and that happened in a couple of places when they released when the department of ed released the data um in the fall this year. And so you know Christopher calls and asks you know what's going on. Um, we actually called uh last year because we didn't think the advanced coursework um looked correct. And so we called to make sure that they were counting all of our students. And one of the things that so it wasn't that it was necessarily wrong. It's that if I'm a student and I take five different forms of what they

127would consider to be advanced coursework, which is, you know, CVTE, it's AP courses, it's um early college high school. There's a lot that that goes into what they constitute as advanced placement. However, I could be in five of those things. I could be in one of those things and that only counts as one. So, even though a student may take five courses, it only counts for one data point. Not all of the they don't count it by course. So, we had to um we had to look into that and figure out, you know, what was going on there. We feel like we offer so many things. Why was that not represented in the data? But it wasn't necessarily that the data was incorrect. It's just how they how they figure it out. So, we've called

128on a couple of things like that. >> Wow. That's painful. >> Um, >> got it. >> Yeah. So, um, and this gets to the the point I think that, um, Mrs. Lebo and Mr. Pertas were talking about the and and what were you saying about the numbers? Because it says 2024. Are you saying they might be 2023? Is that what we >> No. No. So the 2024 numbers on um chronic absenteeism and EL proficiency. When we initially came to you last year with a very similar presentation and we presented the goals, we told you that in chronic absenteeism, the elementary school chronic absenteeism base according to what the department of ed gave us was for us was 9.9. That was the base. So any improvement that we were making, we were making from a base

129of 9.9. And that has been true all through school year 2425 and then enter into school year 2526. We're in school. School has started. We still think our base is 9.9 and lo and behold, we open up the website one day, you know, one lovely fall day and the base is now 10.4. And so when you say you won't like for graduation rates or chronic absenteeism or dropout rates for last school year 2025, >> you know what you submitted. >> We know who the students are. We know we I don't know off the top of my head how many students were >> they're gonna do some other kind of math >> that do you like if you had to anticipate what their math is to Mrs. Piosa's question where where are the numbers? I mean

130I know like I some who it it sounds like there are five people in the state that know how they calculate this or it's just some crazy like we can't anticipate and project based on what happened last year. >> Yeah. I think we always hover around we're act our um four-year graduation rate is actually really good although we did dip this year. That's the first time we've seen a dip in a very long time. And so I we typically hover in the 90s, you know. Um so I think, you know, although I will say we did definitely notice a concern like we're not surprised that we saw um >> for 2024. >> Yeah. For 2024 because we we knew what had kind of been happening in the world for those years leading up to 2024.

131Um you know, and so we knew that there were kids that were struggling. Um and so and and you know we see that in our data but I would anticipate you know the next year's data I think we're going to start seeing that tick back up because we have been you know re-engageing students working really hard to you know get kids to graduate. You also have the new competency determination um regulations which I also think are really going to potentially change that fouryear graduation date uh data. So, but when I say that they they do, you know, I don't sometimes they count students and sometimes they don't. It depends on how long the students are have been in the school. It like there's a whole bunch of things that they and that's why it takes

132them so long to get it out to us is because they're validating their data and you know making sure that you know every they're doing it I guess fairly and that um you know that it makes sense. So, two two final questions and I I thought I only had one question, but I apparently I have more. Um, so the chronic absenteeism and the dropout rate showed improvement across the board for 2024. >> I mean, those were good numbers. Those were improvement. But then the graduation rate, the graduation rate was a monstrous disappointment in certain segments. Mhm. >> like blown away by how those two things are happening at the same time. >> And then the final question I have is the promotion and graduation requirements that we just put in place >> for next year

133or you know will this change that graduation rate? >> I think it's going you're going to see an increase in the graduation rate. Yes. >> That well that's what I'm asking. >> Yes. because of this and and and the communication or or some other variable that we don't >> I think because prior to it they had to pass MCCAST and a lot of students didn't pass MCCAST or didn't pass it within four years. So graduation rate is a is a fouryear that's a fouryear thing right >> to see that overlay right there. Yeah, I mean we can definitely pull that for you, but that graduation rate is a fouryear. Um, so not all kids graduate in four years. Some kids take five years. Some kids actually are even with us for longer than five years,

134>> you know, but in the end they graduate. So that's why you see the dropout rate is so low. They might not do it in four years, but they do graduate. And so that's the connection between the two. Um, however, would we love to see that number? We want that number higher. We want more kids graduating in four years. Absolutely. And and and historically that's been a huge strength for us. In fact, probably one of the highest graduation rates in the in the state. Um you know, by far I we've been we've been actually like um the state has actually commented and recognized us for uh for for things like that, the dropout rate, the graduation rate, because big cities like us don't typically see graduation rates like that. Even in an 80% it's it's

135still very unusual. >> But not to make you speculate, but for the 2024 graduation data, what percentage of those folks that did not graduate were MCCAST related? >> Well, I don't think I could actually, but >> would you say it's 50% 5%. >> Um, I I would say I think it could be significant. It could be higher. I would say it's probably more than five because again it's it's it's um students who didn't graduate in four years. Doesn't mean they didn't eventually graduate. They didn't graduate in four years. So if I didn't pass the MCCAST in 10th grade and that was the competency determination that was what I needed to graduate then I'm not going to graduate. So >> just saying if if it's 50% MCCAST >> then that's a different followax. But if it's

136something else, I I would be curious to do the analysis of what and how that won't repeat itself next year. >> Yeah. And we definitely can look at that for you. >> Just curious. Thank you. >> Just some data. >> Could you put the superintendent's mic on? >> Oh, sorry. Sorry. Sorry. >> Just real quick. >> Just some important data just to kind of put it in perspective for the committee and for the people at home. QPS is still number two statewide in urban district graduation rates with Newton number one, Quinsey number two and uh Quinsey is 7% higher than the number three district. >> Fascinating. >> So just to kind of put it in perspective for you. >> It's just crazy stuff. >> Yeah. So thank you. >> Thank you. Well, I think I

137think we need to think about demographics and kids coming into school system later in their academic journey might be coming in, you know, late in middle school or beginning of even high school, some of these students. So, there's all these other factors we have to think about, right? >> Um and and I and again, you know, I think we're doing pretty well in comparison to our counterparts out there in the state. Um my only question is I know we want attendance to be 100%. Right. But historically, I'm I'm going to assume there has to always be a certain percentage of students, let's say pre- pandemic, 10%, 8%, like is that like a standard number that throughout history is is always going to be there. >> Do you know? >> I definitely think you're always going

138to have a percentage of students that probably are chronically absent. Yeah. We'd like that number to be as low as possible. And you know, and it's in for us, you know, when you're thinking about chronic absenteeism, kids are going to be absent, students are going to be absent. That's okay. It's when you get to the point that you're absent, you know, over the course of the year more than 18 days, you know, that's when you fall into the chronic absenteeism. Being out, I have the flu for a week, you know, that that happens. Yeah. Um but but but there are kids who and families who struggle and they are there's always going to be we would like that number to be as low as possible but there definitely is always going to be um that

139that percentage of the population. >> Yeah. Not kids that are sick like for a week because of of illness or something. But I'm thinking, you know, we we're working really hard to get the number down, which we're doing a you guys are doing a great job with that, you know, but uh but in my mind, I'm saying there's probably always again that baseline before the pandemic that will always probably be there. No matter how hard we work at, there's going to be families and students who maybe don't, you know, it's just not um right, it's not going to be happen. >> Um okay, that's it for me. Anyone? No. Thank you. Thank you everyone for your work. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Oh, sorry. Oh jeez. Oh jeez. Sorry. Sorry. >> So I understand

140that high school wasn't the true focus of the um data that we just went over, but it was briefly mentioned and it caught my attention when um the AP physics Curriculum was brought up. So, I'm really happy about that because there are a lot of classmates that I have that are really excited to do especially calculus based physics which is really good. Um, but my main question is um the possible implementation of AP classes at the lower grade. So, um 9th and 10th grade. So, I'm aware that there are other schools who do AP classes starting from nth grade. Um, and even not if it's not possible to do it at ninth grade, maybe 10th grade would be great because I do understand that there are some students out there who are already worrying about

141college even though like two years might be already too early. Um, and so my question is like how long would it take if that would be implemented if it's possible? I think we have to look at, you know, scheduling and staffing and all of those things, but we definitely can take a look at it. Um, you know, we do offer just a distinction which which I think you're you're saying, we offer advanced classes in 9th and 10th grade, but they're not connected to the AP exam. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. So I think you know we can we can take a look at that and see what we can do if there are any areas that we could offer you know to be able to take an AP exam at the end of the course. >> Yeah.

142>> Um my other question about AP classes is that um why there should be a um grade lock on some of them. For example AP biology and AP chemistry. you would already have to pass or complete certain biology or chemistry courses already in the ninth and tth grade. And so I was wondering if that could be switched down for example and other AP classes in other courses that could be offered such as like AP seminar or AP macroeconomics which there's a complete der of at the school because it's um mainly STEM focused and I do know there are a lot of people who are interested in doing like business for example and that's not really touched upon and they're mostly offered as electives and not even advanced level courses. Yeah, I think we can take

143a look at it. I'll let um our science coordinator answer the question about the requirements for the uh the AP courses for um science. Um uh I think that part of the reason is um traditionally AP courses go into a lot more depth and so having that background allows you to move through that curriculum at the pace that is expected of you. I do know that there are some school districts, as you said, who may offer AP biology earlier. Um, with the way it was set up at our high schools, it made sense to have that preemptively in order to give those students that advantage as they moved into AP Bio. Um, it it is certainly something that we can look at how other school districts do that. Um, but this is just how um

144it was set up for our high school pathways in order to give you those that background. Um, AP Bio I I know also relies heavily on having some chemistry background as well. And so I think that was the intent was to be able to give students as much of the background information as they needed to move forward and be successful in there. >> I do have one last question. Um, so this is um something entirely new that I thought of while you guys were talking about this, but the standardized testing for colleges such as like the ACT and the SAT. So, of course, there are a lot of high school students, probably the vast majority of them are planning to take standardized testing, and I was wondering if that could be like slightly implemented into

145the curriculum because as um someone who did take standardized testing myself, um the first time I took standardized testing, I was um greatly shocked by my strangely lower side, especially on the MA um the English section, sorry. And that um was puzzling to me first time I saw that because I am a native English speaker. And so I was wondering if it'd be possible to reintroduce earlier um subjects even such things like um sentence structure which a lot of people do struggle on um without even knowing it in the earlier grades uh sorry in the later grades because sometimes what sounds right is not actually right. So I was wondering if that brought up again in later grades like ninth grade even. Yeah, we we can talk to the department heads about that and take

146a look at that. Um, you know, I think historically, previously, we did used to offer some AP prep um not AP SAT prep courses and things like that, but that's definitely something that we can take a look at and see how we could incorporate it into the English curriculum or the math curriculum, things like that. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, comment on the project. I did it in 8th grade. We started it but we didn't like continue with it. We never finished it. So I think it's good to see like an actual timeline. It seems like a really interesting project. >> Great. >> Appreciate that. Thank you. >> You are dismissed. >> Thank you. Well set, superintendent, your goals 2025. >> Good evening again, everyone at your place are the superintendent's goals for 2025 2026.

147You've heard already some of the student learning goals and the district improvement goals. Those are um there for your review. Obviously, as we have done in the past, we typically move these into the teaching and learning subcommittee so that you can do a deeper dive on the goals, make tweaks to them, suggestions to them, um, and so forth. One of the goals that I'm proud to see in there, um, this year around is the Quincsey Public Schools administrative mentoring goal, uh, which is really the professional practice goal. uh that is obviously has many components to it, but two of the key components I think that will extremely benefit the district is our administrative leadership pipeline, seeking out future administrators uh who may have interest in uh becoming an administrator, a principal assistant principal within the

148district. It really is important to build that bullpen um so that in the future we have uh competent and highly qualified administrators in the district to pick from as we move forward. It's something that I know for many many years we've tried to do and so we're moving forward with that this year. In addition to that, we're also focusing on in building leadership, f focusing on on um administrators ability to uh better perform in educator evaluation, focusing in on streamlining it throughout the district. Making sure that the claim evidence impact judgment format is being used not only for our observations but also for our formative and summitative assessments. Again, when we streamline this and put those uh that, you know, claim, evidence, impact, judgment format in for administrators to use, it makes it easier for

149them. It makes it easier for our um teachers and educators to know going in what the expectations are and they know that from school to school, the process will be the same and the expectations will be the same and that the feedback is clear and concise so that they're always improving uh in their areas of practice. So, this is definitely a goal that I'm very excited about. The leadership is very excited about. And I do want to take the opportunity, of course, to thank the SLT, who you've seen here tonight, as well as all the others back there who really have worked to help develop these goals um to make our district overall stronger and do the very best we possibly can do for our students and families. So, with that, the goals are there

150for your consideration. I look forward to any feedback that you may have. I just want to comment on one thing you said about the administrative mentoring. We heard from the summer programs all of the teachers in the district who stepped up >> to lead things and I think it's so great that we're going to give them opportunities to really get those skills. Um I think it's wonderful. I think that really is a wonderful goal all parts of it. >> Thank you. >> I'm wondering if um I have some comments and um I I also love that goal. Um, but I have I have some comments and some questions, but I'm happy to hold those until teaching and learning. But I just like to ask if we do um when we when that does come up

151in teaching and learning, could that be a committee of the whole meeting? Thank you. >> Okay. Okay. Next, we have um MSC conference resolutions um for voice a voice vote. Mrs. Hubley. >> All right. Thank you. On November 14th, I'll be heading to the Mass Association of School Committees delegate assembly and um I'm pleased to say that this year we only have one resolution to u go over with everyone. Um and then I can make it to the open meeting law update session which I'm very excited to be able to go to that. Um so the first resolution is um removing the BMI testing from schools submitted by the Grafton School Committee. Uh just briefly there's a lot of whereas but I'll say um whereas students are required by law to have updates of physical

152exams by their health health care provider upon entering school and every 3 to four years thereafter uh and any serious health conditions should be managed by a medical professional 105 CMR200 um therefore let it be resolved that Mass Associate School Committee urges the removal of the BMI screening requirement retirement from all public schools. Um I did have a chance to talk to um Andrea Huwa, our QPS health director, who said that she was 99% on board with us voting yes for this. Um she did state that QPS does do height and weight checks um that are mandated screenings by the state department of public health, but QPS does not do BMI and they do not report these numbers to anyone. Um what they do report is the actual number of screenings that are done. Um

153but they do not report the height or weight. Um she said this is only done in grades um 1 4 7 and 10. Um her concerns were over um whether this um not doing the screening would result in a and and loss of funding for the schools. And I uh did have a call in to um Glenn Cusher who's looking into that. Um, and I did and her other concern was that there can be an exception for times when a provider may request that the nurses do heightened weight assessments as part of an ongoing medical care um, per the request of the students medical provider, which I told her I could make in the form of an amendment to the u to the resolution if we so voted yes and had me make a amendment

154to the resolution. That would be her um her suggestion and she was she was good with that. So I would vote yes with the amendment would be my recommendation. >> So was she saying that if a child's or students medical professional is going to ask her for the BMI of the of a student? >> She felt that it might not the BMI the height and weight she doesn't do the BMI. She said that she would do the height and weight for the medical provider is what she was saying that that she would want the um the assessment to the amendment to read that if if asked by the um medical provider we would yeah as part of an ongoing medical um care provider um being provided by that >> but that would be her recommendation.

155>> Thank you. Um thank you for that detail and for talking to Andrea about that. I actually also called her um and my uh my first question was about the funding. If uh if we didn't do it if if are there monies that are coming in for health initiatives, is that what they're using? If they're collecting height and weight from all communities and they're noticing some are, you know, struggling with childhood obesity, are they giving those areas more money um to combat health and or to to increase health initiatives? And so I wouldn't want to lose that funding if we did. So, I'm glad to hear that you're looking into that. >> But we're not giving them the heightened weights. We are only telling them how many kids we screened. >> Okay. >> That's that's

156what she said. She said we do not actually give them the numbers that we take for the heightened weights. Those are kept in our our own personal. We have those. >> Okay. Um and Andrea did mention that she gets, you know, every child has to have a a um physical anyway. So, they already h so the the child and the family is already getting that information. So, she was comfortable with it. Um, and my only other concern would be just to make sure um that we maintain our focus on health, nutrition, and the importance of moving and exercise. Um, and I'm sure our health department, you know, our health teachers do an excellent job with that anyway. I just want to make sure that we don't drop back on any of that priority and focus.

157And Andrea didn't seem to think that she would want to do that in any way. So, as long as we're still um just putting that uh that message out there to our students to just be healthy and active um and make good choices that that I'm fine with that, too. >> Yeah, that doesn't have anything to do with this resolution, >> right? I just I was wouldn't want us to say take out BMI and then no one pays any attention to health anymore. So, >> yeah, like I said, we're not calculating the BMI anyway. So, >> yeah. Okay. I make a motion motion by Mrs. Present that >> motion by Mrs. Lebo, second by Mr. Goalie. Um, voice vote. Do we just All in favor? >> I >> Okay, thank you. >> Um, the other

158um actually the other uh resolution on here is not actually one resolution. It's a compilation of all um there are six resolutions that we already voted on that they are working on that they need us to vote um to continue working to just continue with the progress that they're working. So, we just need a vote as a um consent agenda for all the all of them. They will not be broken up. They'll be voted on as a as a packet. So, I need a a motion to vote yes on being able to let them continue their work. >> Can I ask a question? >> Yeah. >> So, do you have information about how we voted on each of those previously? >> Um I do not have that with me. No. >> I mean, did we

159vote for some and against others as a body? Um, possibly, but they were all voted in by the membership. So, they were all voted in already. So, I don't know how we voted before. Some of these were actually over the last three years. So, >> I'm done. >> Just as a clarification. So by voting yes, we're allowing mask to just keep advocating and working on these things. We're not saying yes to all of them. We're just saying keep working. >> We're saying yes to keep working on the six things you guys have currently been working on that that association school committees group has already said. >> I can make a motion that we vote yes to have them continue their work. >> Can I ask one more question? So, if these were all at a

160prior year, >> affirmatively voted. >> Yes. >> Why did they need to be voted on again? >> That's part of the bylaws. >> They're old. >> Yeah, >> they're old. >> After a while, you have to have right there. >> Yeah. >> Prove them. It expires at the conclusion of the assembly in three years. >> Yep. >> Okay. It's just a condition of the bylaw that they have to be revoted. >> I have a one. I need a second. Second by Mrs. Leo. >> Uh voice vote. All in favor? >> I I thank you. >> No. No. All in favor? All in. No favor. No. Put them down as a no. >> Thank you. Um okay, next we have school committee policy section 917 for student personal electronic device pol policy. Um I would like

161to um move our policy into um the policy subcommittee hearing from teachers and parents and um what our policy has made things a little bit better but it's really still not great. And um so I'd like to put this back in and we can look at some options to make it a little stronger and have more teeth. Um taking away the the responsibility of teachers as being the the cell phone police. So um I'm going to ask to move that to into policy. >> May I ask also if that does go back into policy, could that also be a committee of the whole so we could all have that conversation too? You all set? Um, next on the agenda is consent agenda. Um, >> to approve. >> Okay. >> What? Oh, yeah. Um, you want

162to speak? Go ahead. What? >> Sorry. Uh, I know we haven't we've haven't done the consent agenda where we've asked for something to be pulled out before. So, I don't know the exact mechanism to do that, but I just wanted to ask a question on the um donations item. Um there was about first of all this is fantastic and I'd like to just even if I could just read the um donations these these numbers are staggering you know the Hail family YMCA for $20,000 granite telecommunications the QEA for $15,000 Bayate Financial Quinsey Mutual Group Stop and Shop as um Superintendent Mulvy mentioned Terrell Room Premier Promotions American College of Education Quinsey Lodge of Elks and Manet Community Healthcare um in addition to the backpack and school supplies uh corporations that helped with that, organizations that

163help with that is just fantastic and I just really appreciate that. I want to give them a special shout out. But also, I wanted to ask about um there's a couple on here that total about $54,000 that it didn't seem like they were earmarked for anything. And I'm just wondering if someone knows what what happens to that kind of general donation money and what can that be used for? Um so generally when it goes into our partnership it can be used from anything from supporting professional development for staff. A lot of the money is used for the um full PD day for our teaching staff. Um it could be professional development also for our professional staff. It can be for instance buying um statues the statueets for our professional teacher status reception and that sort

164of thing. But it's all geared towards obviously education and supporting our teachers and staff. >> Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you for letting me take it out. >> You can put it back together. >> I was going to say take it out or put it back in. >> You can put it back together. I just had a question on one of them. >> So, we're all set there. Roll call vote. >> Okay. >> Mr. Begley? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cahill? Yes. >> Mr. Gatro? Yes. Mrs. Hubley? Yes. Mrs. Lebo? Yes. Mrs. Berios? >> Yes. >> And Mayo? >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Additional business. There is none. Um, communications. We have all meetings in the Cardington building building school committee room. Upcoming school committee meetings 6:30 p.m. November 19th and December

16510th. And upcoming subcommittee meetings November 17th would be policy, teaching, and learning. November 24th will December 1st and December 3rd are teaching and learning. December 8th, teaching and learning, special ed, and EDI. All starting at 6 PM. Um, reports of subcommittees. We have Mr. Gutro to report on the October 8th, 2025 policy subcommittee meeting. >> You um I think that's the matter that we covered today. Um, which we just recovered it. Thank you. um which was the uh the high school promotion and graduation requirements which we covered. Desi essentially uh suggested didn't suggest mandated revisions. We went through the revisions today. We made additional amendments and we voted it in. >> Very good. And um there is no executive session. So motion to adjurnn. Emily second by Mrs. Hugley. >> All in favor? No, we

166don't have to vote. No room. >> What's that? >> You just do an all favor >> to to adjurnn. >> Yeah. >> All in favor? I Okay. >> Thanks everybody. >> Good night everyone. Thank you.