Quincy School Committee Meeting (April 10, 2024)

001good evening like to call our regular order meeting uh regular agenda for Wednesday April 10th a school committee to order at this time I'd ask the superintendent please call the role Mr boli pres Mrs kahill Mr grro Mrs huble Mrs Libo Mrs perdios pres mayor Coke present North quiny High School student representative and thank you for joining us tonight this time I'd ask everyone to please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance Al United States stands na indivisible you remain standing uh one is would ask for a moment of silence remembering our men and women who Ser in uniform defending the peace around the world and uh also tonight we have some Memorial I'd ask the superintendent to speak thank you tonight we have three uh memorials if you could keep in your

002thoughts and prayers the following individuals and their families these are individ individuals who worked for the quinsey public schools and recently passed away the first is Phil Burke who was a custodian at quinsey high school for two years next is gay Caro music teacher at Snug Harbor aenh how parcker Point Webster Middle School and Broad medals middle schools for 21 years and last is Margaret Peggy Walker an English teacher at North quiny High School for 27 years again if you could keep these individuals and their families in your thoughts and prayers thank you at this time we'd open up for uh open Forum opportunity for Community input limited to uh quinsey residence and I have 4 minutes so anyone for open Forum name and address please Lois Terrace quiny mass as I address you again

003for the third year with the hopes of establishing Luna new year as a school holiday it brings me back to when I was an employee of the Brookline Public Schools where they realized that the majority of their population was of Jewish faith and they obtained the Jewish holidays for school holidays because of low attendance they even toyed with the idea to having no school on opening day at Fenway Park because the kids used to march from middle school and high school to Fenway Park for opening day that never happened however and then I think about the city of Boston March 17th is off it's not because it's evacuation day where the British left Boston it's because all the Irish Catholic kids stayed home for St Patrick it was a day of low attendance if you

004think about all the cities and towns across this state as well as across the country where there is large Asian population they established Luna New Year so families can celebrate with their children on that day if you think about that and you think about what's happening here in the city we too should do the same I want to thank the mayor I want to thank Courtney for your stand on this issue for being in touch with your community Doug Kathy Emily Paul I ask you to reconsider your vote on this if it's the right thing to do thank you anybody else open for again name and address we could keep it to four minutes my name is Kate Campbell I live at 37 Cranch Street I'm here to also ask you to please reconsider Lunar

005New Year I so appreciate the mayor's comments last time where he said it's a heart decision of the heart mic is that one which mic is that one on panel I just opened all the public on day was my husband is Chinese I have two older daughters we may not feel this day as but it's a day feels so valuable to those Cate Lexington vote school committee voted this day in about a week ago and I think that says something their numbers are about 30% um but they still saw fit to put this day in place and I just ask you to please reconsider oh sure sorry Ryan sure Ryan I just ask you to really reconsider which one it was pretty important and pretty meaningful to me when the mayor said it was a

006it was a decision of the heart and the mayor you are so good at what you do and I think that if you I really implore you to ask your colleagues here to stand behind you you on this issue it might not be what they feel as what they want to do but I strongly ask you to encourage nudge whatever for them to stand in support with you and give this day this really important day off to the students and families so they can celebrate thank you anybody else open Forum come right up again name address yes I'm K Mishra and I'm resident of 1015 Southern Ary so I'm standing here to support Luna new year as an official holiday in QPS calendar acknowledging Luna Luna New Year is an official holiday in QPS not

007only allows a large number of QPS families to partake in important cultural Traditions but also sends a powerful message of inclusivity and respect for the Asian-American community in quiny by officially recognizing Luna New Year the school committee would demonstrate its commitment in honoring the cultural heritage of its QPS families and fostering a sense of belonging for all the members of the community especially the Immigrant community so s by acknowledgement the acknowledge such acknowledgement it goes a long way in promoting understanding unity and appreciation for the diverse culture that enrich our society and community incorporating cultural celebrations into official calendars it helps promote cultural awareness and understanding which in turn strengthens the community by fering connections and mutual respect among its residents it is a it is a step towards building a more inclusive and harmonious

008Society where everyone feels they belong they are valued and are celebrated thank you so much anybody else open form trick li 24 Clive Street imagine a holiday where you've put out the light you decorated your tree you have new outfits you make traveling plans to go visit your family you have gathering with friends you make plans to have dinner with your friends friends giving um go going to the bank going to the store to buy presents to give to people Luna new year is that it is not just a new year it is not just one day it is entire celebration months of Celebration people who celebrate Luna New Year in Vietnam China and Korea take weeks off so they can travel to be with their family similar to what we do for Thanksgiving family

009makes travel plan they go on a plane they visit their family we have have come homecoming together Gatherings Christmas same thing we people travel far away just to be home with families Luna new year is that for us so I hope that you really consider adding Luna new year as a celebration as a holiday for our students to be with their family to celebrate and I think there are arguments that if we do one celebration we have to celebrate every everyone and I think there is a quote that says that if we We rise by lifting each other so if we celebrate this culture and this holiday and recognize it maybe five years from now when the population changes or 10 years from now we look back on it and it's a different group of

010popula a different population we also will support that student and will step down and give that culture the holiday and the acknowledgement that they deserve so I do hope that this that you will add this to your calendar and Courtney and mayor I do really appreciate you standing up and supporting this holiday it really means a lot I've been asking for this for the past three years and I really hope that everyone on the board could really think about this you're making a change and making a difference and you will look back on this day and be proud of this moment that you step up and made a change and made a difference thank you anybody else please step right up hi good evening Susan chinen 21 lyen Street um I was here last year

011in favor of uh Lunar New Year as well and um didn't really want to come up and speak today because it just feels a like uh I don't even have the energy for this um last night I participated in a panel um on China us relations it was part of a national Forum that um was featured by uh deputy secretary um Campbell and I was on a panel with other folks um who also represented one person was uh the Newton Newton school committee another gentleman was on the Lexington um committee it was like a specific committee tasked to actually look at their calendar um as the prior speaker had mentioned um they passed both having uh dwali Eid and Lunar New Year as part of their calendar for this year for next year excuse me

012um and they also mentioned when they were sharing that announcement that they are the second largest population um in the state including Asians with Quincy being the first and it was extremely embarrassing to think that I actually chose I grew up in Newton I did not want to raise my children in Newton I wanted to raise them in a community where they would feel more respect and decency to be able to feel comfortable and proud of who they are I feel so much that this committee if you do not listen to the parents and the responses I I will thank you all for taking the survey that you had all committed to last year but I also wanted to ask you to take a look at that data more I wanted to actually come from

013a place of um abundance and thinking about okay so what were people really wanting to have as holidays so I split the neutrals into half so half went to you know four and half went to not and this is what I came this is what what I came up from for the parents of the 1249 responses 59% were for Lunar New Year 49% for Good Friday 41% for rashash Shana and diali they were tied 39% for yam kapore and 36 for Eid for the staff for the 695 that took that survey 55% for Good Friday 54% for lunar near that's a difference of 1% next would be 31% for Eid and dewali 29% for rashishana and yam kapor those were tied and for the students even though we all have recognize they all want more

014days off of school 93% ask for Lunar New Year 70% oh sorry nope yep 93% for Lunar New Year 79% for dwali 77% for Eid 76% for rashishana yam kapor and 70% for Good Friday I'd like to recognize also that you have a new uh voice on the council and I'd actually really love to hear um from their opinion in terms of uh know what happens on the school day if that is a day that you um do attend I've heard from other parents that their kids come back telling them um you know from basketball we spend lots of time hanging out on the bleachers together that the kids go in and it's a day that they don't do anything because half the kids are missing um so I really hope that you would reconsider

015consider who your constituents are these parents are voting members taxpaying citizens here in the City of Quincy and you it's your duty to represent them and that's really what I feel you need to think about what your job and responsibility is here thank you anybody else open Forum open Forum last call okay I'm going to ask the Indulgence of the committee we have a video that came in for open forum and we got a number of letters that have come in for open Forum I'd like to play the video the superintendent has reviewed it um so there's nothing offensive that would be surprising with and then I'd ask the committee perhaps we could wave the 13 letters because that could take about a half an hour we can post these on the website we all

016have them in the packet and certainly understand the sentiment does that seem okay with the committee I prefer to read them but prefer the what I'm sorry I prefer to read them if um I actually haven't read a few of these before coun I haven't read that preer to them just so I can make that read all these some of thement us I did not as so to be honest I'd like to hear their their arguments for it because I haven't had a chance to okay well we'll we'll start with the video and uh I would have done that without objection but if we have an objection then we'll read the letters so with that uh let's play the video to it's a time to um teach our youngster that that grow up didn't have

017the perspective of the New Year we're sharing that with them so they can pass on to the next Generations New Year means a lot to me uh as a kid growing up in Hong Kong is one of the major Festival um a lot of Joy a lot of uh great memories um remembering the the parents uh Withings um gathering with uh relatives cousins uh St St up very very late uh have a lots of R Pockets with like feeling Rich because with all the r Pockets with all the cash um I mean the year being so like cash flow droughts all the cash flow and buying all the snack of candy so it's all happiness great memories in Chinese is many thousand years Trad you know basically family get together and we have a dinner

018and giving the lucky money to the children and which everyone have a healthy and prosperity Year of the Dragon so it means a lot of traditions that my family and I kind of participated in so my parents actually are Cambodian um ethnically or nationality wise but my grandparents are from uh China so a lot of my TR conditions are really mixed and I'm not exactly sure New Years at this point so it's when I was growing up I didn't really know what it meant to celebrate New Years but now it feels like a lot of the Traditions I grew up on are kind of coming back to me so it feels very um like I'm coming home and it feels like although I don't really celebrate with my parents anymore um coming to events like

019these feel very like I'm coming back home to a new place where um although it's new to me um feels like I'm being welcome back to a place where I belong lar New Year means um a time where all my family can get together because there's no really any other holiday where it's important enough for everyone to come together it means family that we can get together as a family celebrating together and um since I came from Taiwan and this is an important day and growing up we never got a chance to do so because we were in Minnesota but now we are here and we would like to celebrate it also gives uh my children time to go to elderly's house and wish them happy New Year which is actually very important in the

020canese culture um because my paren in I think that we have 30 more percentage in qu Asian population that we should have new year as a school holiday and many other town in Massachusetts that already have this holiday they even less Asian population and New York city has the new holiday I don't understand why the school committee not supporting this it's very surprised to me and really disappointed I think it'd be really good for all like the students because when they get home they can spend their time with their family enjoy all the time that they have it's only going by once a year so let's us like and like build that connection over time and also give students a break to enjoy that time of family when they can before off College I think

021um if um they can get at least a half day or one day and it's not just getting out of school but for them to learning about our culture uh that is an education for them so they can pass on to the next Generation I think it be a great thing with uh with the population in Quincy especially for the Asian community um I think it's something that is a representation uh it's a great fostering the culture uh between East and West I think more importantly is like a lot of generations of family in quiny um they work hard U and many times kids coming in maybe either they warn gear or you know uh in the younger age so this Continuum about um connecting to two generations and making sure that weing that you

022know where they from especially from the par side to the kids because there's a gap uh especially between children's and and parents especially children's that you know born you know in Asia is really going up here so that is something that is a conector bring the two generation together if it was an old school day I would probably try to recreate all the rituals parents I remember waking up on um Lunar New Year and all the all the new year that I celebrate we always had like a table set up um early in the morning so that we would always PR through our ancestors and like have the door open and everything so we would put our fruits on the table and everything um so that way um we could let the ancestors in um

023and probably if I had a no school day this is what I would do instead of school to be honest because it's an all day event um so if we had no school I would be doing this the entire day it's also important for uh the students to recogniz that that they should have because this H is very important to all Asian Community around here this way my family can be together we can enjoy food together enjoying relaxation together but most importantly to go to the elderly home and visit them and um wish them a new year happy New Year fin okay going to ask uh Mrs Z to begin to read the letters that have been submitted okay the first letter is from City councelor at large Nina leang first and foremost I deeply

024regret that due to a family commitment I am not able to attend this evening's school committee meeting regarding the recognition of Lunar New Year as a holiday on the quiny public schools calendar although I'd prefer to be there please accept this letter as notice of my support for this important recognition the Traditions that my Family Practice in celebration and honor of Lunar New Year have also instilled in me the values that connect us deeply to community culture and life they have shaped who I am in appreciating the importance of togetherness respect and gratitude this time of year is more than just a holiday it is a defining integral part of who we are as a community and people at its core however the important things that families are afforded the time to focus on celebrating

025and observing the Lunar New Year the majority of the population in our schools identifies as aapi and the students have made their voices heard Ad nauseam on this matter they are the future of this city and we have a responsibility to them we are elected to represent the voices of the people and the people the students have spoken who are we to ignore them what message do we send if we tell them no to a simple effort at respect and Equity although it's been referred to as a holiday in both religious and cultural perspectives there is no single term that can adequately capture what Lunar New Year means to me and other members of the aapi community with each passing year I have a growing appreciation for this as a time to reflect celebrate and

026gather together with family and loved ones it's easy to keep things status quo but it is our job to listen and respond when that status quo needs to meet the moment of today I respectfully ask that you listen to the voices of those you are elected to represent and ask that you vote Yes in favor of recognizing Lunar New Year as a holiday on the calendar thank you for your time and consideration the second letter is from grace young J and it's co-signed by Susan chinson and Samson Lee ma du TR Li and th Leong for the past two years we have been requesting Lunar New Year to be a school holiday last year a petition was started by a North quiny High School student which generated 1220 signatures even then with the petition and

027signs held by supporters from quiny the committee still look past their resounding voices now here we are two years later and a survey was sent out with no explanation leaving the surveyor confused causing fear with so many questions unanswered traditions and cultural Customs are passed down from generation to generation if you do not Embrace these Traditions they will all be lost to the Next Generation children learn best about their own culture and traditions through Hands-On practice and doing memories are best forged through learning and upholding our family traditions Lunar New Year is a global event America is a Melting Pot made up of different races ethnicity and multifaceted culture we cannot achieve harmonious equality without first recognizing the inequities in our city asian-americans should not be treated as second class citizens we are not here

028to win your Awards or make you proud we do this because of our work ethic of our strive to succeed and yet you reap the reward rewards without seeing who we are what our identities are as whole students who believe in celebrating Lunar New Year with all its traditions and Customs giving a cultural excused absence is not the same as having a day off for all students did Rosa Park say it was good enough that she was on the bus no she wanted to sit wherever she wanted as such that every student in quiny should have Lunar New Year as a school holiday just enough to have a cultural an excuse cultural absence is not enough no let me explain psychologically peers May react as though those who celebrate this as their culture sets us

029apart than to embrace it together to celebrate it together to be able to have the day off for all of Quincy Public Schools staff teachers and students we should embrace our embrace our differences and join together in celebration not set us apart research has shown that students who feel connected to their cultural identity are more likely to succeed academically and have better mental health outcomes celebrating w new year as a school Community can help aapi students feel more connected to their cultural heritage and identity which can intern benefit their academic and emotional well-being other peers may also want to celebrate and understand the customs and stand in solidarity with their friends who do celebrate these traditions and Customs we need to look into the eyes of a young Asian student and ask do you know

030your cultural Traditions who taught them to you yes be proud of who you are there is no compromise do not let or forget any of these traditions we need to uphold and continue to demonstrate these traditions for our next Generations to come so they're not forgotten furthermore acknowledging Lunar New Year as a school holiday can have positive impacts on aapi students academic performance and overall wellbe when children aren't doing things together even a school holiday in unison it gives a me message of Separation warrant judgment a divide when you give all students this holiday as an equity focused objective you bring in a BAL balanced Harmony to pursue and embrace the diversity of the entire student body representing all of the whole student at quinsey Public Schools identities are fragile we need to embrace every

031student's unique cultural identities Asian families want to celebrate Luna new New Year Without missing school especially when their peers are in school with strong worth work ethics infused into their way of life why would this committee think to put that decision on the family when most would want to go to school even just to have them babysit at school than to harvest the opportunity to teach their own child about their traditions and Customs about Lunar New Year we need parents caregivers to connect with their children not push them back to school just to serve as a babysitter shame on them for thinking of shirking off the most vital piece of communication and bonding time with their families please do not put our position families in a position to choose between academics and celebrating the Lunar

032New Year we strongly urge the quinsey school committee to show support for Asian and aapi families in quiny public schools New York state has already mandated Lunar New Year as a school holiday Washington state has now followed suit adding Lunar New Year as a day off would demonstrate quin's commitment to respecting supporting and welcoming all students in their families the Asians in this community have been contributing so much to the city with teachers nonprofit organizations staff and local businesses Asians have done so much contributing and have weaved into every part of life here in quiny thank you for your time and consideration of this holiday the next letter is from Jill Sabin I am writing to express my support for recognizing Lunar New Year as a school holiday within our educational institution as a member

033of the quinsey community and a concerned parent I believe that it is imperative that we acknowledge the cultural significance of this important celebration to a significant portion of our population according to the latest data from the US Census approximately 28.9% of quin's population is of age and origin furthermore recent enrollment data from the Department of Education for the 2023 2024 Academic Year reveals that 39.5% of our student population identifies as Asian these statistics underscore the underscore the considerable impact that Lunar New Year has on our school Community affecting almost half of our students while providing an excused absence for students celebrating Lunar New Year is a step in the right direction it is simply not enough many of these students will miss valuable instructional time and important lectures putting them at a disadvantage in their

034studies moreover it places an additional burden on teachers who are expected to provide resources and catchup materials for students who Miss class by officially recognizing Lunar New Year as a school holiday we demonstrate our commitment to inclusivity and cultural diversity it is an opportunity for our community to come together to celebrate alongside our Asian neighbors honoring Trad itions paying respect to ancestors and ushering in the new year with hopes of prosperity and good fortune additionally it provides an opportunity for cultural education and understanding enriching the educational experience for all students I urge you to consider implementing Lunar New Year as an observed School holiday taking into account the cultural significance and the impact it has on our students and Community by doing so we uphold our values of diversity inclusion and Equity fostering a more

035supportive and inclusive learning environment for all thank you for your attention to this matter I look forward to seeing positive changes that reflect the cultural diversity of our community the next letter is from Vicky sha I am writing to express my support for the inclusion of Lunar New Year as a recognize holiday and day off on our school calendar my family is part of the white Christian Community who can already expect that holidays important to us are covered by existing days off school however I believe it is important to recognize the significance of this holiday to a large population within our community and would prefer we model inclusion and cultural celebration instead of Simply prioritizing getting out of school one day sooner Lunar New Year is a time of great cultural and familial significance for

036many Asian communities it is a time for families to come together and celebrate their Heritage by recognizing Lunar New Year as a holiday we demonstrate our commitment to inclusivity and diversity values that are integral to our school Community having lived as Pats in China for a bit my family has personal knowledge of how Central this holiday is within Chinese culture recognizing Lunar New Year as a holiday would allow quiny students and families the opportunity to observe this important tradition without having to choose between school and cultural practices I love the ways that quinsey public schools already teaches Multicultural celebration but this would also give us the opportunity to model it by including Lunar New Year as a day off on our school calendar we would be taking a positive step towards creating a more inclusive

037and supportive environment for all members of our school Community I hope that you will make Lunar New Year a recognized holiday in our school district thank you for your time and consideration this letter is from Samson Lee I hope this message finds you well as a member of the quiny community I am readying to express my strong support for the recognition of Lunar New Year as an official School holiday and to request your favorable vote on this matter on Wednesday April 10th 2024 Lunar New Year is one of the most significant cultural celebration observed by millions of people around the world particularly those of East Asian descent it marks the beginning of the lunar calendar and it is a time for families to come together reflect on the past year and look forward to the

038opportunities of the new school year next school year the Lunar New Year will be on Wednesday January 29th 20125 in our diverse and inclusive School Community it is imperative that we honor and respect the traditions and cultures of all our students staff and families by recognizing Lunar New Year as a school holiday we not only acknowledge the importance of this cultural celebration but also demonstrate our commitment to fostering an environment of inclusivity and understanding I urge the school commit to evaluate the full calendar to find a resolution that does not marginalize one of the largest populations of quinsey public school students according to 2020 Census Data 30.8% of quinsey population is Asian making it the state's second most Asian City quoted from the Patriot Ledger the 2023 quinsey school district report card enrollment data sites

03939.6 Asian and Pacific Islander your support in this matter would not only be greatly appreciated but also a testament to our shared commitment to embracing diversity and celebrating the richness of our Multicultural Community let's let's make history and do the right thing make this move to be Equitable thank you for considering this proposal I look forward to your favorable decision the next email is from Joanna Chow I am writing to you to express my support in having Lunar New Year as a holiday for quiny public schools I am apparent and have a first and third grader there was not an option on the survey but I would also support removing Good Friday and adding Lunar New Year if that makes negotiating teachers contract easier thank you for your consideration the next email is from from

040Amy senson alawad I am writing to voice voice the strongest support possible for adding Lunar New Year to the school calendar as you know Lunar New Year is considered to be the most important holiday in Asian culture it is widely celebrated in many Asian countries such as Vietnam China South Korea Japan Malaysia Thailand Indonesia and more all of which are represented in our beautifully diverse School Community with 39.5% of students in enrolled in quinsey public schools identifying as Asian and 54% of those students at North quinsey High School and another 30% at quiny high school the QPS School committee's decision to recognize Lunar New Year as a school holiday would affirm our community and the district's commitment to cultural diversity and bringing QPS on par with other diverse public school districts in the country including

041a growing number in Massachusetts that are actively cult cultivating cultural awareness and acceptance your recent survey asked for input on all holidays provided an excellent opportunity to assess student parent guardian and QPS staff preferences on this topic thank you for taking that important step to engage us all the survey provided valuable results when asked about a variety of cultural and religious holidays Lunar New Year was a clear standout with 43% of parents Guardians who represent 20% of the student body across quinsey Public Schools agreeing are strongly agreeing with adding it to the school calendar and another 26% of parents Guardians responding neutral an overwhelming majority of students in grades 8 through 12 who responded to the survey 88% strongly agreed or agreed with adding it with another 9% indicating they are neutral of the 695

042QPS staff who responded to the survey 42% agreed or strongly agreed and another 21% responded neutral as the QPS school committee it is your obligation and responsibility to be responsive to your constituents us the students and families and staff of Quincy public schools you asked for our views and we shared them with you the results are without a doubt in favor of including Lunar New Year as a holiday on our school calendar now it is up to you to show us that you care about and will honor our voices in this decision-making process on a more personal note I am not Asian I identify as white of Western European descent my husband is African-American originally from Sudan and we are a Muslim family Lunar New Year is not our personal or familial cultural holiday but

043I am advocating for it as a matter of equity and inclusion I believe that this effort will not only benefit the Asian members of our community but the QPS school system as a whole in recent years we have seen recognition of Lunar New Year flourish and grow in our schools and in our community in the form of festivals celebrations and other activities this recognition has deeply enhanced educational value in our schools by increasing students cultural awareness and fostering global citizenship which is aligned with the QPS diversity equity and inclusion goals and priorities I also want to emphasize that no one is asking for holidays from all cultures and religions as days off that would make things equal but we aren't asking for equality we are asking for Equity equity in this situation is approving a

044holiday for inclusion on the calendar that is representative of the largest minority group in our city and school system to ensure that Asian American and Pacific Islander students teachers staff and administrators are not forced to choose between missing classes or a day of work in their culture and to further the QPS mission to recognize and celebrate the diversity in our community with intentionality and meaning I respectfully request that QPS recognized Lunar New Year as a school holiday this message is um um is from Ben hirers who is from the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center I hope this message finds you well as the leader of an organization serving many Asian families of the Quin of the quiny community I'm writing to express my strong support for the recognition of Lunar New Year as an official School

045holiday and to request your favorable vote on this matter on Wednesday April 10th 2024 Lunar New Year is one of the most significant significant cultural celebrations observed by millions of people around the world particularly those of East Asian descent it marks the beginning of the lunar calendar and it is a time for families to come for together reflect on the past year and look forward to the opportunities of the New Year next school year the Lunar New Year will be on Wednesday January 29th 2025 in our diverse and inclusive School Community it is imperative that we honor and respect the traditions and cultures of all our student staff and families by recognizing Lunar New Year as a school holiday we not only acknowledge the importance of this cultural celebration but also demonstrate our commitment to

046fostering an environment of inclusivity and understanding I urge the school committee to evaluate the full calendar to find a resolution that does not marginalize one of the largest populations of quinsey public school students according to the 2020 Census Data 30.8% of quin's population is Asian making it the state's second most Asian City quoted from the Patriot Ledger the 2023 quinsey School district report card enrollment data sites 39.6 Asian and Pacific Islander your support on this matter would only would not only be greatly appreciated but also a testament to our shared commitment to embracing diversity and celebrating the richness of our Multicultural Community let's make history and do the right thing make this move to be Equitable thank you for considering this proposal I look forward to your favorable decision the next email came from uh

047Brian parent Brian Henderson I don't know what concerns are against a day off for the Asian community in quinsey but my high school senior comes home every time there is a lunar new year and said she didn't really do anything because so many kids were out of school so it's basically a wasted day already and it's the right thing to do to honor an important community in this city the next email is from Mary Joe barza I am writing to encourage the adoption of the Lunar New Year School Hol holiday throughout the history of our country we have adopted holidays to reflect the culture of the Immigrant groups most of these represent European Christian religious preferences however when a group becomes a large minority changes are often made I worked in several school districts that

048observe the Jewish holy days out of respect for the large minority population the Asian students and families are asking that we respect this cult their culture and allow them this time to be with their families on this very important holiday our culture already allows us privilege for those of us in the majority please vote for this day to support our students and their families um there's a second letter that was submitted by grace young J which is the same text as to I've already read the same text twice um and this letter also from Kevin Spencer is also the ex the same text um that quotes the Patriot Ledger data and um so it's all the same word and there this is the last email came from um the evi subcommittee which was signed by

049Heather McDuff and grace young J as co-chairs uh shipri Singh Scott alesandro Jenny Torres Ginger McGill Joanna Chow Don Culbertson Kristen Cahill Claudia Ortiz Donna Yang Lily Chan and Carlos Rod Rodarte the EDI subcommittee of of the Citywide PTO again requests the school committee to recognize Lunar New Year as an approved holiday for the 2024 2025 school year the EDI subcommittee continues to be a stead be steadfast in supporting the voices of parents caregivers students teachers and staff in their efforts to recognize Lunar New Year as an approved holiday in the school calendar we continue to support their efforts efforts as we fundamentally agree this holiday should be recognized the EDI subcommittee is overwhelmed with the efforts made not only by parents caregivers and other community members but by the student voices themselves speaking out

050in overwhelming numbers to recognize this as an observed holiday students from North quinsey High School and quinsey High School student councils last year and this year students from Southwest Middle School stepped up and said this is the right thing to do they want Lunar New Year for themselves for their peers for their teachers and for their staff you have been presented repeatedly with facts facts in the form of data on the current ethnic and racial population in quiny public schools and data about the current Asian-American Pacific Islanders population represented in quinsey as a city who by majority in numbers celebrate Lunar New Year having heard this data repeatedly in various meetings some school committee members talk about being fair and equal to other racial and ethnic groups that make up the QPS population and the

051community at large Equity is not about being equal but if you are being Equitable you are being fair giving everyone the same size stool to look over a fence is equal some people however will still not be able to see over the fence now making sure all all those wanting to see over the fence can that is equity providing them with the size of stool that will allow them to see what others are able to see with a smaller stool the stools vary in size so it can be fair that is what we are asking for Equity when a group of ethnic and racial peoples are not recognized even when they make up the majority it is hard to even rationalize if you are being equal never mind whether you're being Equitable let's change that

052tonight let's be a community that recognizes the difference and demonstrates it we ask the school committee to do the right and Equitable thing vote for this change in the school calendar so our AAP Pi students parents caregivers teachers staff and Community know that we see them and that they are recognized and valued thank you for your time and consideration of this request that's it okay that concludes the open Forum section of the meeting for those that may not be aware uh open Forum can be comments related to an item on the agenda or any school particular issue the item is on the agenda but it's an old business it'll come up later in the meeting so with that I'd like to go uh to the next item on the agenda which is the superintendent thank

053thank you and good evening everyone hope everyone is doing well our first item on the superintendent report is our student recognitions for high for our high school science fair winners if we could have our science uh Department chairs CLA Buro from North quiny High School and Megan Murray from quinsey high school to present our science fair winners thank you both and again congratulations to all of our science F student winners good evening um good evening mayor kooch superintendent moldy and members of the school committee my name is Megan Murray and I'm the science department chair at quinsey high school it's an honor to be here tonight to help celebrate the work of some outstanding students on Thursday February 8th approximately 70 students presented to nearly 50 volunteer judges and many more spectators at the 15th

054annual quiny High School stem fair Our Fair featured 65 projects from grades 9 through 12 across the fields of biology chemistry environmental science physics and Engineering these projects were completed both individually and in teams they were scored by community-based judges from a variety of backgrounds research scientists College professors Engineers nurses physicists and finance directors and included Mr morani and Dr Perkins accompanied by Mr M judges used criteria based on scientific approach reasoning and presentation skill from our quiny high Fair two students went on to compete and the mass Regional Region 5 Fair last month at Bridgewater State University where Maya tile our Fair's second place winner earned honorable mention tonight I'm honored to recognize our top three finishers from the quinsey high stem fair Nathan Nan Maya tile and Sage gaspie our third place finisher

055Sage isn't able to be here tonight as he's on our school's trip to Europe currently it departs this evening um so Sage provided me with a summary to share with you Sage's project investigated how temperature concentration and binder affected the dying process natural dyes are a less toxic and more environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic dyes but it's difficult to get them to stay in Fabric in this project Sage wanted to test how different factors in the dying process affected the outcome of the color using black tea on cotton knit fabric Sage decided to test the temperature of the D bath the concentration of in the D bath and the addition of a binder to the fabric before dying his hypothesis was that the samples dyed at the medium temperature in a higher concentration with the

056binder would result in the best color to test this Sage conducted sample test as well as four others with varying conditions the temperatures tested were 70 and 90° C with 70° expected to provide better results based on research the concentration of Dy were 22% T and 5% te with the higher concentration expected to result in better color for the binder the fabric samples were pre-soaked for 24 hours in a soy milk solution before dying and this process was to help the dye molecules bind to the fabric and therefore result in better color in order to measure the color sage used a gray scale to assign values to the samples his original hypothesis was proven correct although not all changes to the dying process had a significant impact as expected neither the temperature nor the concentration

057had much effect however the addition of the binder had a very significant effect Sage concluded that the binder was the most effective variable in increasing the color of the fabric however there were many things that could still be tested including various dyes fabrics and other methods of dying I would now like to welcome our second place winner Maya tile to present her project on investigating how different sugars yeast growth thank you good evening my name is Maya tile and my project was on Sakura serisier yeast and how it metabolized different sugars and which sugar was the most effective at getting yeast to grow I wanted to identify the sugar that would be most effective for use by in the baking industry this project is a continuation from my project last year I really focused on

058understanding the science behind what I was observing in this year for example last year I used liquid substances for my sugars but this year I used pure sugars because I didn't want added ingredients to affect the results of the experiment the sugars I used were sucrose fructose Mose glucose and galactose I had to controls no yeast and no sugar before I started my trials I had a initial sugar experiment to see how much sugar was needed to continue the yeast growth throughout the duration of the 2 and a half hour trial period I also once I found my result from my sugar trial I used this to make stock solutions for each of the sugars this minimized the error made the errors made when measuring out sugars then after each stock solution was made and

059measured out for each trial I added it to the bottles used um for the experiment and then added yeast in a balloon on Top This balloon was measured its horizontal and vertical circumference was measured every 15 minutes in order to get my data points as in the end after experimentation I found that moltos was the most effective in getting yeast to grow this was interesting because maltos was also the slowest sugar to grow initially I think this is because moltos is a disaccharide and as disaccharide the yeast has to break the bond between the two glucose molecules before its sugar can be utilized another interesting phenomenon that happened during this experimentation was galactose it did not act like a sugar it acted more like one of the controls due to the lack of growth over

060the trial period I found that due to the type of galactose it was and the non-constant supply of oxygen the yeast could not metabolize it for two different sugars in two separate trials the connection between the bottle and the balloon appeared to have leaked thus after each experiment where something went wrong I took the balloon and I filled it with air to ensure the carbon dioxide the yeast produced during the experiment was not leaking from the balloon after both of the balloons retained their air the other issue was measuring the balloons as you can see in my photos um the balloons do not have a very spherical shape they're not perfect by any means and while I did average the vertical and horizontal circumferences to try and make up for this it still was a

061difficulty in the experimentation if I did this experiment again I would definitely try and find a different more accurate way of measuring the yeast output but I believe this experiment is incredibly revolutionary for the baking industry because if maltos were used instead of sucrose and glucose the two current sugars it would provide a better quality product that could be made even faster than what is being produced now thank [Applause] you and now I'll welcome our first place winner Nathan Nan good evening my name is Nathan new Yan um my project is uh determining the effect of an oxidizer pH on chemiluminescence um and to understand that we need to understand what chemiluminescence is so chemiluminescence is basically the emission of light through a chemical reaction and this typically involves one substance oxidizing another and it's

062present in substances such as luminol which is used for forensics or in this case glow sticks so for my experiment basically what I did was I dissected glow sticks and I poured out their Solutions and inside a glow stick so there's the out Outer um plastic tube which contains a base Catalyst and a D and inside of the plastic tube is an even smaller glass tube which contains an oxidizer which is typically hydrogen peroxide excuse my voice um and when a glow stick is snapped signaled by the typical um cracking voice that you would hear um the solutions would be mixed and the solutions would ultimately produce the light that you see so for my exper expent I adjusted the adjusted two groups of my glow sticks by adding 1/4 tablespoon of lemon for my

063acidic group and 1/4 tablespoon of baking soda for my alkaline and ultimately I predicted that the alkaline group would have the greatest rate of reaction which would be characterized by the greatest um emission initial emission of light and also the quickest decline in brightness so for so I would mix these um groups of solutions together and for every five minutes for 30 minute trial period I would um take photos of the groups on my cell phone and using Digital Color values I would be able to put a numeric value on the brightness of the group so what I found was that typically in all of the trials the hypothesis was supported with the Aline group having the great uh the brightest initial reaction and also the quickest burndown of brightness um which you can see

064in the graphs I'm not sure if this is too far but and um a common Trend throughout the trials was also that the acidic group was the um had the lowest rate of reaction characterized by a low brightness and also like a steady brightness all throughout the 30 minute trial and there was one exception in the group or the trial where I used yellow glow sticks um I noticed that instead of the acidic group having a dimmer glow than the rest of them like they usually would in the two other trials it had a brighter glow than the control group which was not affected in PH and this could have been either due to the translucent nature of the solutions or it could just be the fact that chemiluminesence is circumstantial and it's a lot

065more complex than simply like alkaline is a higher rate of reaction and acidic is a lower rate so why does this all matter um even though it's a typically glow sticks are associated with fun and parties they were actually developed by the US Navy if I'm correct on that and they're used for military use and by emergency First Responders and by knowing how pH affects chemiluminescence in these glow sticks manufacturers can formulate these glow sticks uh tailored to certain needs so for instance maybe an eer emergency first responder May prioritize a brighter signal with a shorter um lasting time so in that case they may want to go for an alkaline solution in the glow sticks whereas maybe a military use May prioritize something that lasts longer but may not be as bright and in

066that case it would probably they would probably want to use the acidic formulation and that's basically it thank you [Applause] quy High School science CLA bu present I also do want to recognize principal of North quiny High School Dan Gilbert is here with us tonight to support our students as well as assistant principal from quinsey high school Edward Smith is here to support our students so thank you both thank you Mrs budo good evening thank you for inviting our stem fair winners here tonight recognized North Quincy High School held the 65th annual stem fair on February 6th and we had 128 students present their projects to 55 volunteer judges students began working on their projects in September with the support and guidance of their incredible teachers and spent countless hours researching experimenting analyzing and presenting

067their results from our stampare we sent 10 students to the Regional Fair at Bridgewater State University in March and we had seven students receive Awards including Anna Lee who won the first place and earned a spot at the international stem fair in Los Angeles next month we had six students progressed to the state stare which was held this past Friday at Gillette Stadium where Anna Lee again won third place and Marco Mano won a second place award tonight we extend congratulations to the winners of the North Quincy High School Fair we're so proud of all the students who participated and in particular we want to celebrate the dedicated curious and passionate scientists here tonight elar Chang a sophomore was our third place winner for her project on bioplastics which was conducted with the support of

068our chemistry teacher Mr Patrick Kesler [Applause] good evening I'm elmarie Chung a student at North quiny High uh my project was an environmental science project focused on the decomposition rate of bioplastics specifically star spased bioplastics so if you don't know what bioplastics are they're an alternative method of plastics that are made from natural resources and most of which can fully decompose so these are the bioplastics that I made and eventually within I believe three or 3 to 6 months they will fully decompose meaning they'll just be like gone and other their um natural resources that were used to make this will um be going back to the environment so first to make my Star based bioplastics I used um household ingredients including vinegar water three different types of starch um one for each type of

069starch-based bioplastic I made so corn starch tapioca starch and potato starch and I also use glycerin so to make these bioplastics It generally takes 3 days the first day you have to gather all your materials mix them all in a pot and use an oven to cook them the next 2 days you have to wait until they fully dry and in my project I made the star space b Plastics in a similar size and shape um you can see here they're all around 3x3 in and for the next 8 weeks I decomposed them and for every week I measured the decomposition rate and the percentage of remaining um in weight so I also measured it in grams too my hypothesis was that tapioca starch-based bioplastic would decompose the most generally because it's the most used

070starch in bioplastics and um this was unfortunately proven incorrect however this is good because most of the bioplastics um decomposed in a similar rate so at first they decomposed a lot like 20% dropped but generally over the last 3 weeks they only decomposed a few percentage so overall only 47% were remaining and this is good because bioplastic Productions companies can use this to their advantage in marketing to people who are environmentally aware so if they want to use a a bioplastic that decompos the most in packaging such as food packaging and any other packaging um they can choose from a wide variety variety of starches and this is also supported by a research done by um wiano who who um studied the bacterial dynamics of a cassava starch-based bioplastics which they found that only 51%

071remained so this is supported and um I also compared my bioplastics to Saran Wrap because it has similar usages in food packaging as my bioplastics and compared to the cin wrap um which did not decompose because it's made out of plastic it um had like around a 50% reduction so that is all I have to say [Applause] and El Marie was one of our students who was at the State Fair on Friday so um we also have Maggie Chen our second place winner she is a freshman her project was on oxidizing apples and it was supported by her biology teacher Miss Julia boin [Applause] good evening my name is Maggie Chen and I'm the second place winner of the North quinsey High School stem fair so have you ever noticed your apples turning brown well

072this observation is the result of Apple oxidation a chemical reaction that causes apples to rot and turn brown so you might be wondering why am I mentioning such an elementary topic well Apple oxidation was the topic of my stem fair project and I was able to measure the Apple oxidation of Fuji apple slices not by looking up not by looking at how Brown they were but by measuring the apples vitamin C concentration to illustrate when an apple oxidizes or rots it turns brown but it also loses vitamin C so in my experiment I tested whether or not an apple seeing the rate of oxidation based on vitamin C concentration using salt water lemon water and honey water on the apples so using this piece of information that when an apple oxidizes it loses vitamin C

073the independent variable which are salt water lemon water and honey water I was able to test how effective that these natural preservatives were on Fuji cut up Fuji apple slices over the span of 3 hours so my goal was to see which natural preservative would work the best for slowing the process of Apple oxidation using quantitative data and I obtained this data by measuring the vitamin C concentration of these apple slices after 3 hours to see which of the three natural preservatives would be the best when you want to preserve your apples for a longer amount of time so for the results of my experiment I concluded that using salt water as a natural preservative is best for cut up Fuji apple slices compared to lemon water and honey water because from my measurements of

074the concentration of vitamin C the group with the salt water had the highest amount of vitamin C concentration so this means that this group of apples oxidize the less the less compared to um lemon water and honey water so whenever you're packing like a school lunch or just on the go remember to use salt water over lemon water and honey water thank [Applause] you and Eli epter also a freshman was our first place winner with his project on hydroponics which was supported by his biology teacher Dr Nicole cissus thank you [Applause] um hello my name is Elijah eper and I am the winner of the 2023 North quiny stare I am 15 years old and I am currently a freshman so you might be wondering what actually is Hydroponics Hydroponics is a form of plant

075growth in which you grow plants and only water and you don't use soil because you're doing this you can control the conditions of the plant's growth much better such as the nutrients they need the pH of the water the amount of sunlight it has and the humidity of the room it is grown in because of this Hydroponics can be a much better form of growth so I wanted to test if we could use this on a smaller scale such as a house for my experiment I built three small scale Farms I gave them nutrients using A and B nutrients and I provided oxygen using an AirStone through my research I found that Hydroponics um had a similar if not better growth rate to traditional soil which proves that Hydroponics could be a better alternative however

076one of the only setbacks to Hydroponics is the price point it is much more expensive but with few further research in my experimental topic further research with further research in my topic scientists could find easier ways to provide and pay for this Hydroponics and it could be used at a larger scale in the next 20 to 30 years however I'm young and I don't know how that change thank you for your [Applause] time great job great job students um what we'll do next is we'll call um each student by name first with quinsey high school if you could approach the podium um the school committee would like to greet you and we have a certificate for you as well and if you can remain at the front of the room so that we can get

077a group picture uh with both schools and I would also invite the department chairs for the picture to come up as well as the principal and from North quinsey High School and the assistant principle from quinsey high school so our first student is Nathan nen from quinsey high school Nathan if you could come come [Applause] up congratulations Maya tile [Applause] and we will make sure that Sage Gillespie receives her certificate as well uh the next student from North quinsey High School is Elijah ether Elijah no problem Maggie [Applause] Chen alira Chung and if you could come into the center as for a picture if our department chairs could join us and if our principal and assistant principal is still with us if they could join us as well see okay great congratulations congatulations and I'll

078open the floor to this committee if they have any comments excellent job very very well done I know the future's in good hands uh thanks very much for sharing your projects uh any May colleagues have any comments Mrs Pros just want to add my congratulations and great job uh to all you guys I really love the application not only the project itself but the application to the real world that you guys connected it to and really made it real um which is the point of the stem fair right so um and the science fair so great job I've known I know three of you for a while now and you guys are just super smart but also really great kids so thank you for making us all proud this Leo so it's a true joy

079to have kids here it's the best part of school committee is when we can hear from the kids and see the kids and see your accomplishments they are incredible incredible projects just uh it took a little bit for me to understand some of them but just hear you how easily you can speak about them and you really know yourself and that how young you are and how we're going to be in great hands you're going to be in great hands you'll probably win the whole country by your time you guys are see is take a bre any else okay well thank you I think we'll do a brief recess at this time and our students and families to uh depart uh be right back okay okay we're back into session i' ask superintendent to continue

080with his report uh thank you next on the agenda is our Allstar program writing an art contest the Celtics Allstar program recently competed the annual completed the annual art and writing contest congratulations to Central Middle School student Angel rayor for her first place writing award 49 quinsey public school students were also recognized for their art and writing entries and congratulations to all these students next is congratulations to the North quiny High School grade 11 students Hannah Mariotti Alexia Lacy Melanie WIA and son aolo for winning the CGI it girl challenge in this competition the students competed against other high school teams to innovate design and Pitch an app of their own they developed an app called Falcon Focus this app is for helping high school students improveed their concentration and mindfulness which was awarded first

081place and a $20,000 scholarship this is amazing this is the second year in a row that North Quincy High School students have won this national competition so congratulations to all of those students uh next is the uh April is autism acceptance month recognition uh which is just not about uh awareness but it is about understanding inclusion and embracing differences it is about acknowledging that every person regardless of their narrow type has value potential and a voice that deserves to be heard as we commemorate autism acceptance month let us recommit ourselves to recreating a more inclusive society when when individuals are valued respected and given equal opportunities to thrive let let CH challenge stereotypes break down barriers and Foster environments that Embrace neurodiversity and all its forms and work towards a future where every individual regardless

082of their neurotype can live their life to the fullest and at your places uh are the uh Autism Awareness pins I'm wearing one here um you certainly um free to U take them home share them I have more here if anyone wants them um tonight also we'll be presenting on our uh Richard De Richard De christofaro Learning Center which is a great uh tribute to the work that this committee has done in supporting uh students with autism and I just want to thank our the committee for their full support in this initiative as we honor uh the autism acceptance month which is April of course so again uh thank you to everyone who helped assist with this awareness initiative next is the student representative to the school committee I just want to kind of review

083with the committee um how this process works uh the goal of the student representation at school committee meetings is to ensure student voices in the decision-making process of the school committee of course this is enshrined in state law student Representatives May bring news and updates from their schools raise issues of concern relative to an agenda item or offer their own views on matters before the school committee the quinsey school committee recognizes student representatives from each of our two high schools at Reg regular meetings three students from each High School elected annually to serve no more than two school year terms so as to give opportunity to multiple students to fill this role over the course of a school year students May alternate attendance through the school year as needed to meet their school and extracurricular

084uh extracurricular schedules uh the students serve of course without compensation which I know is a disappointment but a student representative orientation has been conducted with students from North quinsey High School and is scheduled for quinsey high school students after the April break the focus of the orientation is for the student representatives to understand the role of the school committee school committee meeting protocols which would include the order of the agenda parliamentary procedures around discussion deliberation voting and executive session to name a few and of course their role on the committee this orientation will be repeated next fall with the newly elected student representatives and of course we want to thank all of our student Representatives who have served with distinction over the years as you know prior to covid uh we had a robust uh

085program with regard to student Representatives coming to this committee um we um obviously had to suspend that because of covid but now we are back on track and looking forward to continuing our work with future student representatives of course I want to thank Mrs Libo um for making sure that this remains on our agenda and continues to be an important part uh of our uh uh ability to relate to our students and to understand our student needs throughout the district so with that I believe Mrs Lio may have a question wondering if we could find a way to um have our student advisory Council incorporate all the students from both high schools and that way we would be covering our legal responsibilities as right as yes abely we could do that when they meet in

086the fall and they pick who's going to be the on it we could we could form that so they could all continue to have a voice but some of them would come and represent on a scheduled basis it's a great idea thank you we can do that question I was also just to thank all of the uh Representatives that we've had um they've all done such a great job in bringing up so many different um perspectives and points than we see because they see it day-to-day um I'm just wondering is there any way that we could um you know have some type of opportunity to meet them in the beginning of the school year just to you know at least just introduce ourselves and um any anything like that so yes absolutely we can do

087that thank you granta okay thank you next is our QPS music department update student musicians from both high schools competed in the recent Massachusetts instrumental and coral conduct as Association concert Festival competitions the qnq symphonic band and the Q andq Wind Ensemble competed and the coner band competition with the symphonic band earning a silver medal and the Wind Ensemble earning a gold medal this is a first in the program history so we're extremely proud of our student uh winners and the Quincy High School junior choir also earned a bronze medal in the coril competition congratulations to all of our students in the music department staff under the direction of Mike dako again congratulations uh to these impressive students and our instructors uh next is our recent and upcoming quiny Public Schools events calendar invitations will

088be sent to the school committee of course on Tuesday there will be a dedication there was a dedication in the new athletic fitness center at Atlantic Middle School uh um yes at Atlantic Middle School thanks to the Boston Celtics and Boston Scientific for their Grant to create this space for our students uh I participated in that event with assistant superintendent Perkins and other members of the SLT yesterday uh the room is fantastic the equipment is top-notch and uh they did a fantastic job so if you have an opportunity to view that uh fitness center I'd be certainly happy to uh show it to you uh next is the high school spring concerts are underway this week with the combined chorus performance last night quiny High School in the combined band con concert on Thursday April

08911th at 6 pm. at the Chism auditorium at North quinsey High School the high school spring recital will be held on Wednesday April 24th at 6m at North quinsey High School the annual Central Middle School World Language fashion show will be held on Friday April 26 with two shows at 6 pm and 7:30 p.m. The Snug hob community school PTO is hosting a touch a truck event on Saturday April 27th from 10:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. p.m. the Southwest Middle School stem fair will be held on Tuesday April 30th at 5:00 p.m. the north quiny high schools cultural Fair will be held on Thursday May 2nd the annual cvte women in the trade Summit will be held at quinsey high school on Friday May 3rd at 9:30 a.m. in the president's Cafe and of course

090clean Arina will be held on Saturday May 4th from 9:00 a.m. to noon at school sites and pox throughout the city thanks to our students family staff and principles for helping to beautify the city almost done uh the Citywide mly cultural Festival be will return to pageon field this year on Saturday May 11th from noon to 4m and Southwest Middle School drama presents in kto Friday May 10th and Saturday May 11th and lastly if I could just take this opportunity to recognize assistant superintendent doctor Aon Perkins on earning uh her PhD congratulations Dr [Applause] Perkins so Dr Perkins over the last several years has been working diligently and very hard not only to run uh the school system here with myself and the SLT but also working on her dissertation and uh it's a excellent

091and great accomplishment not only for you but for the district obviously we're honored to have you as our colleague and I just want to congratulate you on this great achievement so congratulations with that that ends the superintendent's report okay any questions of the superintendent any of those items Mr boli just just a quick UT with the um cvte women trades is there any way to uh include any uh young ladies from across the city in that Summit yes we can certainly take that all right good thank you okay next item of the agenda uh on to Old business item a is the 2024 2025 school year calendar as has been discussed uh Mr gutro your committee uh we did have a sorry one moment there we go we did have a policy committee meeting recently

092and we cast the vote unanimously to take it out of policy committee and vote on the school calendar so it's before the committee right now she recognizes Mrs huble i' like to make a motion that we accept the calendar that was brought out of subcommittee and brought to our main committee second the second by Mrs Libo motion on the motion Mrs Pros thank you um so the version that was uh voted out of subcommittee did not include Lunar New Year um so I know we've had multiple discussions on this and um I've stated my point that I think that it should include lunar new year I think we've had 45 minutes again this this earlier this meeting sorry um hearing from members of our community about why this is so important thank you Mrs Owens

093for reading all of those letters um and indulging me in that um in the last three two weeks since we've had this discussion I have not had anyone reach out uh in opposition to adding Lunar New Year the only concerns I have heard have been in this room by this committee um I have not heard anyone else articulate any concern that giving moonar new year off would alienate or devalue other cultures um and while we make EDI a priority in many almost all of our facets of our planning and our uh our SLT work um continuing to not observe Lunar New Year to me says that we're continuing to show that we do not fully truly know how to be inclusive and Equitable so I am going to um make a motion that we amend

094it and include Lunar New Year to Second um I'd like to speak on the item um with all due respect to my colleagues um I too have listened over the last few years on on this uh on this issue and it took me a little while to warm up to it and the reason for that was looking at the calender and looking at the snow days and going into late into June and perhaps July the last uh part of the first part of July uh the last two years call it GL climate change whatever it may be we're not experience the snow days last couple years that we've seen uh in Prior years and so to me that takes a little pressure off from my perspective on on the calendar issues as far as the

095days going get deeper into the year I know there's been a lot of talk both tonight other the open forums uh and I've been out and about and talked to a lot of folks of various backgrounds about the issue of respect uh and I do believe that this city respects all cultures I think we do a remarkable job not only in the schools but across the city in respecting all cultures I think it's more of an issue of honoring the Asian culture um they've been a big part of our city since the 80s it's been a huge immigration to the city and and I remind everybody that quinsey has always been a city of immigrants going back 150 years any particular year you pick in those decades about onethird of the population is immigrants uh

096Italians Irish Germans of the early days fin Scots more recent years uh certainly chinese vietnamese heavily Asian Albanian Eastern European um it's remarkable and our schools have responded to that so so well so I I do believe we respect everybody uh in the city but it's that it's that issue of going that little extra mile about honoring uh the newest immigrant group to our city they are here in large numbers they're contributing to this city and so many ways and um so with that I will be voting against the calendar as it's proposed because it does not include uh the Lunar New Year so we have a motion and second on the floor Mr gutro just a question through you to the superintendent parliamentarian is the vote on the original calendar or is the vote

097on the motion to amend I believe right now the vote is on the original calend ation I made a motion to move the question okay and it was seconded and it was second okay so we can then take a roll call vote to uh End discussion and move to vote so a yes vote will be that the discussion is over and we go to the vote can I I have Point clarification so we're voting now to end the discussion but does that mean we can take a a vote on a motion to amend no this would this would be a vote on the calendar as is okay and why can we not make a motion to amend because it hasn't been seconded correct could I ask for a second the the motion supersedes that uh

098if this motion fails we can take that up okay wait so just I'm just trying to understand everything and I thought I knew parliamentary procedure pretty good but um so there was a motion in a second to move the calendar was Mrs Mrs peros in order to make a motion to amend at that point or do you have to vote on the calendar first before you seek an amendment I I I think that um an amending amendment can come at any time we're voting tonight on the calendar we could vote next week to make a motion to amend the calendar so it doesn't end discussion about amending the calendar is Mrs libo's vote basically that all all of a sudden done there's no vote on on the amendment that's C moves the question there's no

099discussion or just it's just a vote yeah I'd at least like to give my piece as to why I'm voting the way that I'm voting whether it's now or subsequent you know whichever it works so you can vote no on on the motion now to End discussion keep discuss going so I I don't quite understand because Mrs pero spoke and you spoke can I not speak or is was it because she interjected she interjected with a motion in a second to move the question that now is before us so if we want to keep discussion going vote no on the motion and then we can continue the discussion yeah I'd like to at least say my piece okay so call a rooll Mr superintendent Mr boli yes Mrs k Mr gacho no Mrs huble yes

100Mrs Lio yes Mrs peros no mayor Coke no the motion fails so that we're back on to discuss so the chair recognize Mr gutro yeah so I mean we've talked about this for the last two years folks pretty much know where I stand um you know my view is that we've got a hundred Flags in Quincy High School for example recognizing different countries and cultures represented in the school uh you mentioned Mr superintendent and we have many Multicultural celebrations in many of the schools respecting all cultures the proposed calendar that's before us allows for EXC used absences for rashash Shana yam kipur Dali Hanukah Quanza Three Kings Day Lunar New Year Holi edifer and Passover so the purpose of the calendar before us is to treat all cultures religions ethnicities and backgrounds the same without

101bias or preference the Jewish Community celebrates rashishana yam ker and Passover the African-American and Caribbean Community celebrates Quanza the Hindu sick and Buddhist Community celebrate dwali Christian communi Celebrate Three Kings Day Hindu communities celebrate holy the Muslim Community uh I think it was yesterday celebrates Ed uh and and the Asian community of course celebrates Lunar New Year but you know my feeling is that if we choose to Value one culture or religious holiday over another that we should make it a Citywide holiday so an entire family could celebrate I don't understand how valuing you value a culture if the student has the day off but the parent who works for the fire department Police Department Public Works Department parks department treasurers office and so on don't get the same day off so those employees go

102to work while their kids are at home they need to pay someone to watch the kids or use a vacation day what's a vacation day in quiny public school's language it's an excused absence why wouldn't we treat parents and children the same across city government and it was mentioned in the testimony earlier during U open Forum about uh the city of Boston and March 17th that's that's a city-wide holiday that is a a Citywide holiday so um that that's you know I I respect all cultures I support the calendar as is I understand uh through both the letters and and testimony uh that Good Friday remains on the calendar it's treated differently and you know others on this body have said and I agree that it should not be treated differently at the next school

103committee meeting I intend to make a motion that we we the body ask the superintendent to add it to the list of topics in the next round of negotiations with the school unions about potential removal of the Good Friday holiday if we are to treat all of them the same in the school calendar um then we need to make that consideration so I I just wanted to speak my peace on why I'm voting the way that I'm voting for the calendar as presented Mrs Lio since since we're speaking sorry since we're speaking I will speak also and the most recent Community um notices that Miss Owen sent out to the entire Community there was one thing that stuck out to me is that on May 5th um quiny is going to present its first ever

104celebration of the Spring Festival holy the first time ever that we've done it I can remember when we first time we did Luna New Year or or the August Moon Festival I can think of those days so this is the first time we're doing that and it's going to be a celebration for our Hindu um population it's going to be a big deal um holy is a popular and significant Hindu festival SE celebrated as the Festival of Colors love and spring it's Additionally the day signifies the Triumph of good over evil as a commemorates the victory of fish now in arishima so it is a very big holiday in the in the Hindu community and we have a population in our city that is celebrating it and I think to all of the letters that

105I heard I kept hearing the same phrase that was copied in all of those letters that said in a diverse and inclusive School Community it is imperative that we honor and respect traditions and cultures of all of our students staff and families and I agree with Mr gut that I would like to see I would personally not have to discuss this again and say our our policy is that we're going to follow the state and federal holidays because we're making holidays up here and so why I should we make holy a holiday for next year because we have a population in quinsey that's celebrating it and is asking for some cultural recognition so I am confused about that and uh and that's why I'm going to vote to the calendar the way it is the

106cheer recognizes Mr peros so um we have an EDI subcommittee of the school committee that has not met since January of 2023 it has been 14 months that this uh 15 months now that this uh body has not convened the EDI subcommittee and it really does feel like we're struggling to we as body are struggling to understand how best to um support diversity while also not ignoring all the minorities I don't think ignoring all of our other cultures officially in our school calendar does anyone any good so it feels to me like having a larger discussion in the EDI subcommittee um would be uh something that I would support um I know kahill is the chair Mr boli and Mr gutro are uh the members on that I know that it's up to the three

107of them to convene that meeting um I would urge the three of you to uh to set a date and we can meet and discuss maybe some you know factors that would go into creating what would be a holiday for us whether it should be as Mrs Lebo said whether we base it on federal um I know that the people who are uh setting up and organizing the holy Festival they actually support having Lunar New Year off so I don't think that just because one culture you're not one culture it doesn't mean you don't support another so um I think that this is probably a larger conversation that we should have um and that's probably why we have an EDI subcommittee um so I would just encourage us to do that thank you any other

108discussion I would uh I just like to remind the public that these holidays uh there is a state holiday and the have Patriots Day U these holidays are baked into negotiated contracts uh not all the unions have all of them uh many of them do so uh I'd also be mindful just as we're talking about a lot of people being out the day of Lun celebration which creates an issue um if we take one away there folks are going to be out that day that we're going to have concerns uh about classroom not only for the students but the teachers uh who may be celebrating that and as you know we have challenges filling Subs spots now uh for that so just uh something to be mindful down the road as we continue to discuss

109these issues but so at this time Mr superintendent will call the role so this is on the calendar as presented by the subcommittee which does not include the lumary year can I make that motion to amend to include can can we do so we cannot do that motion okay superintendent Mr moli yes Mrs kale Mr grro yes Mrs Hubley yes Mrs Lio yes Mrs peros no mayor Coke no next item in the agenda old business Item B uh policy book section 7.5.2 Mr guto uh we had a policy committee meeting at the health coordinator has joined us to propose changes to a number of health related school committee policies my mic try now okay I said uh we recently had a policy subcommittee meeting uh that the health coordinator Mr huart uh reviewed proposed changes

110to a number of health related school committee policies uh edits deletions and so forth and uh we we have a number of them here today 7.5.2 Health based Public Access on Def fibrillation that was recommended to remove so I don't know if you want to take these up one at a time Mr Mayor or yeah so motion to remove that one second is there a sec discuss oh oh These are all sitting for two weeks I'm sorry okay um what's the point go ahead yeah no so I and this is the same thing as the policy readout that I would give at the the end of the meeting as well but 7.5.3 CPR training abdominal trust section policy book section 10 .11 student health and services requirements policy book section 10.1.1 physical examination of students

11110.1.2 immunization of students no changes 10.1.3 communic dis communicable diseases no changes policy book section 101.4 administering medication to students those are all up for a vote in two weeks that is um through you to Mrs Owens is will the um policy subcommittee um be up on the website for folks to look at it is it is up on the website so and and is there is there a link in it to the actual policies as written or amended I can put those I can add links that would be helpful okay so that that will sit for a vote in two weeks Mr Mayor thank you um so because we uh amended that um because the uh subcommittee wasn't posted as a meeting of the whole I wasn't um I was in attendance at that

112meeting but I I wasn't able to ask any questions so I just had um a couple questions if I could miss who um there was a discussion a little bit about um the expenses occurred uh as a result of emergency ambulance use um and I know I can definitely see how that's difficult obviously a student needs an ambulance a student needs an ambulance right but for that for having you know had a child in an ambulance I know how expensive that is as well is there something that we could add on that yearly um that annual heal form that goes home for families that they check that off so at least we have you know maybe not everyone will check it off but we do we will cover ourselves a little bit by having um

113families say yes I give my permission to you know have that ambulance called or would that create more confusion I just wanted to get your thoughts on would that be something that would be helpful or n use their skills and their assessment skills to determine if there's an emergent need for a 911 call um so sure is that better sorry so I would say like an RN uses their assessment and their skills to decide if we need a 911 called we it is not our first go-to that's kind of our last option that that we really need that ambulance um parents are notified very quickly after an ambulance is called and any parent that arrives before an ambulance has a right to sign refusal um but we can't sign that refusal if that assessment is

114made okay all right I was just trying to think of some way to just kind of you know articulate that we understand that that's a difficulty that that could be a real financial burden on many families um for that so I was trying to brainstorm on that and I just wanted to also add that I um appreciate your uh reading through these these policies and really kind of going line by line like this it's really um I really do appreciate it I know a lot of this stuff's outdated and um I'm glad that that's uh being brought up to speed in more modern terms and aligned with the mask um recommendations so thank you for doing that work thank you thank you it was just there in I think in a situation where there's no

115changes because everyone on school committe didn't have a chance to comment at the subcommittee this is their opportunity and then it doesn't have to appear for the next meeting okay for the vote y that's fair okay uh going on to new business Dr Perkins floor is yours Aon okay well thank you very much for having us here tonight I am thrilled to be joined by Jennifer Larry and Julie Graham and we're just going to give you a quick update on where we are in terms of the Dr rck to christofaro Learning Center obviously you know that this is a project that we are extremely excited about and proud to be a part of and we thank the mayor and the school committee I'm just and you'll hear us all Rave about it tonight but we're

116just so thankful that we have this opportunity we have this space and that we're going to be able to provide this worldclass service for our students so so we're just going to quickly go through um some of the these different components tonight just remind you about our design team that we've been working with uh talk a little bit about uh where the pre kindergarten approval is um where the initial application is for grades K to8 some of the decisions that we have made which are the curriculum unique Learning Systems the behavioral Safety Management System well some of the Partnerships that we have been working with and you know uh getting together with so that we can be ready to go in the fall and then our next steps so just I just put this in

117here just to remind you that we have been meeting with the design team it does include representative parents and staff members um it also includes Carrie Conley who is sitting behind me who I am very thrilled to announce has been selected as the principal of the Dr RoR christofaro Learning Center and we are thrilled to have [Applause] her as you know Carrie has an extensive background in special education and early childhood she has a master's degree in special education and she has been running the amelo Dela just absolutely beautifully for the last I don't even know how many years but a while um and uh so we are we're just so excited to have her become the principal of of our new building so the design team has parent staff um we have worked uh

118extensively with the CPAC um and I have to thank them they have assisted in the planning and development of the programming the curriculum choices the behavior management system Choice their thoughts and opinions Have Been instrumental in making these decisions um they have reviewed the newsletters that we've sent out they've given feedback on uh components of the application and also um we have been working on um a procedural manual which Jen will talk about and they have actually proof read a whole bunch of the parts for us in particular the application section um you know what would be our process and procedures for new applicants uh and you know the different things that we want to make sure we're we have in place and also just making sure that we're using familyfriendly language that addresses any

119questions or concerns that parents might have so we really appreciate their collaboration they are so quick to respond whenever we send them things to review and uh we're very thankful to have their support So pre kindergarten approval um as you may remember there are two different approvals there's the pre kindergarten component and then there's the the K to8 component those they are two different things so pre kindergarten we need approval for a name change and a move so we are proposing that amilio Dela the the program that preer pre kindergarten program that is over there and the point pre kindergarten will require a name change to the Dr Victor Christopher Learning Center and a location change so there's a bunch of paperwork that is required to go with that we have um completed all of

120that location all of that information and we have submitted it to the Department of Ed for review and so we're just waiting for that final approval so that is again for the location and the name change for those two programs and now I will turn it over to Jen who will talk about the extens extensive initial application process all right so a lot of information on this one slide um so the initial application process for the public Day School part of the program for the K to8 program um these are the 20 general areas um that we put on the list here and each one of these categories has several individual items that need to be sub subed as well um our instructions from the state are about 80 pages long with all of the

121very specific information that need to be included in each of these areas so we didn't put all of those details in here for you tonight um but as you can see by what we checked off we've actually completed many of these 20 overall categories um notable areas that are still in process a big one that I worked on a lot today was finalizing the policies and procedures manual um we're working on proof reading and fixing formatting and making sure that all of the required components are there in that document um we're also currently working a couple of the the things here that are in progress are just going to take some time so one of those areas is Staffing um we're current that's currently in process the part of the Staffing that's required is the

122list of names of Staff members and their license num so as we're working on hiring staff and updating that list we can um update that and submit it um similarly a student list so we are currently in the process of proposing this placement to our families during IEP meetings and so once we have accepted placements from families we will update the student list um that's all confidential information it's only initials not student names that go into the state um but we do need to provide them a specific list so we're updating that as the as the information comes in we do have a Google form to submit to the state um so as we've completed these areas we've been uploading that information into the Google form and AR Le is on from the state has

123been getting back to us she's been very responsive sending us feedback so if there's any corrections or missing information we've been able to go in and make those adjustments um kind of on an ongoing B uh basis um the other oh the other main um area that's still in process is working on the professional development and training um so we are working on scheduling those trainings for staff so that we'll be ready to go for September one of the decisions that we worked with the design team to make um is the curriculum resource materials that we're going to use for the students so um after Consulting with other schools in the area and speaking with parents and listening to some demonstrations from different companies we've decided to go with the unique Learning Systems this is

124a differentiated standards aligned um content curriculum resource for English English language arts math social studies and science they also have a component called news which some of our teachers currently use and that's more current events based so it's very um more like newspaper articles um where students get to learn more about current events this is theme- based instruction which includes um printable activities web-based activities and Hands-On activities so I put a couple samples of some math lessons here um that first one on the left which is the counting activity Learning one to one correspondence up to the number 20 um you can it's hard to see here because it's small but um as a web- based activity the students can slide um those numbers up into that the square at the end there next to

125the stars um and then there's directions on the top that says if you use this as paper based you can print it out laminate it um and the students can velcro the answers up on there so there's lots of different ways to use the different activities um there's integrated assessment and data collection tools as part of the program so we can do ongoing assessment and data collection to see where students are and every lesson is differentiated so we can be teaching a whole class lesson on the same theme where each student in that class has actual activities that are differentiated to their educational level um for the reading curriculum if students are able to read they can have a whole paragraph in front of them to read if they're not there yet they can have

126picture supported um paragraphs to look at and but they're all reading about the same topic so they're learning the same general information but at their level um and there's an example of that down the bottom right where you can see the picture supports um for students to read the questions than so one of the other um really significant decisions that we made with the support of our design team is which Safety Management program we were going to be using in this building um currently as a district we use CPI which is The Crisis Prevention Institute um so we did consider that as one of our models we also looked at safety care which is used by another a number of other um school districts in the state um but in the end we went with

127a program called well the well Behavior manage a Safety Management program um and listed here are the reasons why we went with well we had um live presentations from both safety care and well um and ultimately we as a design team really believed in the philosophy of well um for these reasons first and foremost that well truly focuses on strengthening skills that may be a deficit in order to decrease the frequency and intensity of behaviors so say for example there is a child who displays um disregulated behaviors it's really up to us to figure out why and to strengthen those skills so not only are we preventing the frequency and the intensity but we're also really building those skills so that it can decrease the likelihood that it's going to happen again if you have

128a child who's really struggling with functionable communication what can we do to strengthen those skills so that we can decrease their frustration and really decrease the likelihood that they're going to have challenging behaviors um similarly it's really looking at a prevention-based program what can we do in our environment are there things um we've kind of done a lot of them already do we have softer Furniture do we have light that can be dimmed are there ways that we can posture our bodies are there ways that we can physically be in child uh proximity to really prevent the likelihood that children are going to have disregulated behaviors um one of the things that we also really liked about well is that it off offers a tiered training for all staff so there's a picture there that

129shows you that it's three levels of training um the bottom level is the fundamental training and that will be for every single staff person in the building that will include our custodians it will include our office staff it will include our cafeteria workers every single person in that building will have the foundational training for well and that's really about building common language um the second one is the standards base which is going to be for all of our related support staff um those folks that do are face forward with students but may not NE necessarily be with them all day every day and then the third one is the advanced which are our classroom teachers our bcbas our building principal um our pair professionals our rbts those staff that are truly with our students all

130day every day they will have the most intensive training and by having these three tiers it really allows for common language common respect and really building from a strength of what can we do best to support these children so that we can maximize the success that they're going to have all day every day um the other thing that we really loved is having access to a local master trainer so they do um a master trainer and then they do a train the trainer model and then our trainers will then continue to train our staff on an ongoing basis it is a one-year training um the master trainer is based at a Franciscan children's hospital um she happens to live on the Southshore and drives through quinsey every single day um she is somebody that myself

131and Katie car have gotten to know really well over the last couple of years through her work with the social educational collaborative and somebody that we highly trust and really value our relationship with her and so if and when there are incidences that arise we call her she sets a time to come and see us and it is seamless and effortless and with somebody that we truly uh trust and respect um and then thirdly is that well is used at the social educational collaborative in came highly recommended by their staff and families um and then talking a little bit about the Partnerships that we've been building specifically for this school um so first first of all we've been doing a lot of work with sore autism they were so kind and generous and worked with

132myself and Jen and Carrie over the last year to do program assessments they started with Dela and gone through all of our cares programs to really look at what kinds of things do we need to do in order to continue to build and develop our program they have come in and done ongoing coaching with us they've come in and done um doing staff support with us they actually have some of their behavior texts that are supporting some of our pair professionals and that's a partnership that we know is going to continue and grow um Jen and I meet with them on a pretty regular basis um we met with them just last week to really map out what is that going to look like moving forward um the other one that's really exciting for us

133is that we've been working with Sarah Morrison to have a site for quinsey after school right at the D christar Learning Center um so Sarah will be working with um some of the local elementary schools on their waiting list and bringing some of those children to the D christar center after school so it will be children from our elementary schools that will be there with students from the D christar Learning Center and then we will utilize um the D christar Learning Center staff to help support those students whether it's staff training or having direct support um but really having that opportunity um to have you know lots of community things happening in the building and then finally one that I'm really excited about because it's such a growing field is that I've been working with

134um the field placement office at Curry College um to bring students to the D christar Learning Center who are getting their Ms in ABA um and are truly looking to work primarily just with children with autism so really allowing them to come in at the ground level do their student teaching with us um with the hopes that they'll stay on a staff at some point um one of the other things that is so incredibly awesome I mean you all have seen the work of Kelly power so Kelly has um added a d christofaro page to our website um it has um you know ongoing pictures and information and she has been updating it kind of I would say probably every month to six weeks as things you can see you know Furniture is in that's

135what the cafeteria looks like the outside of the building and Kelly um will continue to be adding our newsletters on there as we um you know bring them out and then eventually it will start having pictures of students in the building which is so very exciting um and then one of the things that Kelly helped us to do that was really fantastic is she um worked with our um students over at our um our Visual Arts programs to create a logo for the building so um myself and assistant superintendent Perkins uh superintendent Maly Kelly and a couple of other folks um kind of went through all of the designs and really picked the one that we felt embodied um what we wanted for the D christofaro Learning Center so you can see the design that

136was chosen here here um and congratulations to quinsey high school senior um ly maroo um whose design was her design was chosen for the rdlc and we'll be seeing it everywhere um and then finally kind of next steps that we have to do so again I just want to point out to you this is the cafeteria that our students are going to get to eat in um it's just so incredibly exciting the the different chairs are colorcoded for the size of the children so you know we could have our our prek students in there all the way up to our our eighth graders um the table Heights are also adjustable to meet those needs as well um so we will be doing professional development as Jen mentioned one of the things that we're working on

137is creating that PD calendar because we do need to get our staff trained in uls in in well um and so I've been working with those programs to get that training in at some point over the summer um we are also working with our Paras um through our partnership with Southshore autism to really make sure that they are highly trained um in working with children with autism we have set up tours for our families currently we have four tours scheduled um with I would say probably six to eight families um that will be joining us for those tours and then we'll continue to offer them as many tours as they need um we certainly want to offer anybody the opportunity that wants to see the building um to certainly come in and do that um

138we're working on submitting the final application our goal is to have it done by next Friday um I think we can get there um summer programming we are going to be moving the prek to start there in the summer to um give them the opportunity to kind of break the building in for us and that will allow our um kindergarten through grade eight staff to come in and um do some of our trainings there allow them to get their classroom set up um allow families to come in allow our CPAC to set up their space um for full opening in Fall of 2024 um so that is it so much exciting stuff happening it it's really exciting and I do just want to thank we didn't mention her in here but this application as you

139can imagine is quite a mammoth task and Simone Buckley has been also instrumental in along with Julie and Jen and Carrie and the parents on the design team in helping us um stay on track and get this work done so um I just want to Simone's not here tonight but I just want to thank her because she has done a lot of work on the application and we're happy to answer any questions okay any questions my colleagues Mrs Pros thanks um great work um seriously this is It's really super exciting um I saw the the building you guys um Dr Perkins and M SC you guys gave me a tour um it's fantastic you guys have thought of almost everything that I could think of um address so many different needs brought in the parents

140uh which is fantastic um I'm really excited to see where where this goes how it goes um the Staffing is a huge piece um and where are we on that as far if you could say percentage of you know 100% fully stuffed where where do you think we are at this point I would say we're about 75 to 80% there we have just a few minor things that we we've done a lot of initial interviews and now Jen and Carrie and I are going back and doing second rounds of interviews we really want to make sure that we are picking the highest quality staff that we can um I feel like Jen and I have interviewed oh my gosh easily up to 50 applicants for all different roles and really have been um super meticulous

141and picking out which staff we feel are are the most highly qualified for those positions okay that's great um and how could you speak a little bit about of that percent that you think are in place how many of those are existing that are moving over there or how many are um new to our district so far or in the end it is going to be about 5050 okay yeah that's great um and then final approvals when do you the timing of like starting the summer programming versus when we have all the approvals from the state in place do we need to have all those approvals before the summer programming starts we do yeah yeah okay so that so that the final approvals all of them are expected before we have any any students in

142there correct y we we actually that's um one of the written assurances especially in the prek uh you had to say that that you would not move them until it was approved by the department but as Jen mentioned the woman from they've already done their site visit they did their site visit on October 4th I mean there is literally not one thing that they could possibly say about this building it's absolutely gorgeous and I think everybody that sees it is probably jealous that you know they wish they had a building like this but in their District but um so I and she has been excellent about giving us feedback immediately responding so I really don't anticipate um having any issues and we certainly know the commissioner if um if we need to but I don't

143anticipate that that's great um great great on that and um my last question um Miss Graham you mentioned about uh the Quincy after school care I'm glad that they're going to be offering something there um you had mentioned a piece kind of and maybe my brain didn't process it quite quick enough but did you say some of the elementary school children would be that are currently being serviced at their elementary school will be brought there to join so it's students um that are on their wait list so students that have not had access to their schools yet because say for example wallston school which is in such close proximity they have an extensive weight list that qare has not been able um to kind of dwindle down yet and so this is going to offer

144them an opportunity for us to transport some students from walliston to the D christop Faro Center okay that's fantastic so we're increasing the amount not moving them from no increase that's great and parents would have that opportunity to kind of say I don't want my child transported or I do okay that's great that's fantastic okay thank you so much sorry for all the question Mrs hu what's the capacity for prek over at the decrop Learning Center it's it's 350 for the whole building some of those classes are half day prek um Carrie what's your enrollment 195 so one so it would be 195 plus Point Webster which is about 60 more so we'll have at least that there okay so do we have any additional space for any more prek coming in or we'll only

145be at Capac will be at capacity when we bring over the two from the two schools well well with the the the K to8 program no just the prek I'm right but the but so they all are in that same building so it it will be it will be pretty full you know I think we have two classes that left right now now we're planning on that we'll have two classes that we are hoping that we would open in 25 26 you know as we continue to talk parents into now you've had a year or you've had a few months of seeing how awesome this program is although I will say the majority of parents are want to go so want want their kids to go they're excited about it we have people asking that

146are not actually should not maybe be there necessarily um but you know so the the parents are really excited about it I think and the families but with um everybody that will be in that building right now as it stands right now for next year we would have two classes that we would have to play with okay all right thank you anybody else uh you know I just want to extend my gratitude I know when this started a few years ago Emily I know we had a lot of discussions about doing this went to the city council I never thought in a million years would be this complicated uh and I say that respectfully I know the that means that a lot of work had to be done on this so um I am pleased

147actually I was anxious to get in there but I am pleased that we are transitioning in such a a good way uh I think it makes sense for the families uh as moving them in the summer and and we didn't rush things we want to get it right and I certainly didn't understand the the depth of the paperwork with the state although I should know by now the fourth branch of government bureaucracy um so I just want to say thank you to the team to every by the superintendent uh for job well done and and I know to my colleagues this is going to be a little bit of a transitional years budget wise so we got to figure out uh we talked about there's going to be some savings here we don't know yet

148what the savings will be we want to be fully equipped and staffed so there may be some adjustment during the course of the fiscal year um as this thing uh comes to life so uh with that thank you all very much thank you thank you next on the agenda is Mr melany around Mrs Leo asked uh for this to be placed an agenda item we all have heard U some of the Grim news on the Chapter 70 funding this year and no ojim can expound on the the depth of the impact uh on the numbers at this point so Mr mainy okay um and uh excuse me just to preface this uh we had a meeting uh myself Eric uh Mason over on the city Side as well as representatives from um our entire delegation

149with the four top Financial people in the um Department of Education just to uh find out why things are as they stand for quinsey and um what they could do about it was basically told I can interrupt you Jim that was put together by Senator ke Kean yep yes it was uh because he was concerned about the uh the lack of funding that we were getting the uh basically we were getting $30 per student in additional funds this year um and there's basically nothing that would change in without changing the entire Chapter 70 formula what uh I think um Miss Leo was bringing up was the uh proposal by uh hail about uh increasing the amount of Chapter 70 funds uh to more better reflect the rate of inflation that uh has been occurring over

150the past three years uh there's two proposals in here one is by the uh aft the American Federation of teachers the mass Association of school superintendents Mass Association School committees and the MTA which would be a 4 and a half% increase in the foundation formula and the one the havil is looking ail's looking at is a 7.3% increase uh it would require an additional 5 to 700 million added to the Chapter 70 money which given the tight restraints on the state right now I don't think would be happening uh they'd have to add that to the budget and uh just looking at the situation we're in if if they did go can I mean can I interrupt you for a minut since you brought up holl just for comparison what do they get in chapter

1517 uh city of I went I went through all of these uh groups um hail um they get $87 million in Chapter 70 fundings we get $ 45 million uh dollar uh they get um 62% of their budget funded by the state we get 27% funded by the state um if this formula went into effect uh it would increase our foundation budget by $5.2 million based on the calculations and we would receive an additional $140,000 uh because of the uh District's required contribution uh and that's really where where quinsey uh gets uh say the shot end of the stick the short end of the stick when it comes to this we're the fourth our contribution the required contribution for the city in dollars is the fourth highest in the state behind Brockton I mean Boston

152Newton and Worcester and then it comes us we are the um 11th largest district and we get only the out of the large districts with 31st in the amount of funding we get uh it's it's a it's a you talk a little I know this is complicated and nobody wants to touch the formula because there's always winners and losers we need to deal with the formula but can you maybe talk a little bit about what hurts us I mean it when when Welsley gets a higher percentage increase in Chapter 70 than the city of quinsey and we're viewed as a affluent Community there is something wrong here right it's it's the funding the local contribution is based on two things the wealth of the community which is the real estate values and then there's the

153income in the community which is all the tax returns that are filed from uh your your post office District so it's 02171 70 and 69 uh we have very high real estate values is assessed by the department of uh Revenue it's nothing that the city of quinsey is doing it's the Department of Revenue who requires these evaluations to go on uh if you're look I'm not gonna argue those numbers J it's all good things but I mean and the problem is we have a lot of Disconnect in some areas that some of the people who are high earners aren't in the properties that have the high values you have a lot of workingclass people who are living in homes that have a huge value that really couldn't can't really afford to pay the additional taxes

154and it's being put on them because they're looking at the entire city so if you look at the peninsulas how neck germant toown you've got a lot of Working Class People living there who have extremely high real estate taxes so the the state saying now let's not get cared no no well it's been going up uh it's it's the wow views you know it's anybody who has as a water view gets it's a really high tax rate and quin's got a huge Waterfront um we've got four times the valuation of of havil in uh real estate tax real estate wealth and we've got five times the income and that's where we wind up in new you said we're number 11 in the district with size uh we're we're the um 11th largest District okay do

155you have the 10 in front of us yep can you read off each of them or what they get sure in Chapter 70 Boston um is the largest obviously they only get 20,000 but they also get other funding from the what's the raw number total number uh they get for the aid two uh 232 million spring gets 500 million wer gets 377 million Lynn gets 287 million Brockton gets 256 million LEL gets 243 million Lawrence gets 285 million New Bedford gets 236 million Fall River gets 200 uh2 million Newton gets a poultry 27,000 and then we come in at4 $45 million then it goes back up Framingham gets 85 million havil gets 87 and these are all smaller districts than we are uh Rivier 117 Everett 102 so we only receed 27% of our budget

156most of these communities are getting 90 to 85 to 90% of their budget funded by the state I mean it's it's so in a sense the formula punishes the city because we' been so successful correct um and it's a lot of it is based on the potential growth Mrs Leo and and I get I sort of get the property value thing I think there is a lot of wow factor and I think it's a great place to live so I get and I know that it's not all based on the city it is on the assessors um but but what I don't get is the income I can't believe there there are communities that people make way more money than the people who live here I mean I know tons of people like myself living

157in these big expensive homes that could not buy them today don't have that kind of income and that's across the city lots of my friends and that's I so I just know how how I don't who's who's making all that money that we're making more money than Brook line well the other piece is do is and I didn't hear maybe you said it but the demographics that we serve and the amount of immigrants and the amount of languages and all that additional resources and burden is that a calculation in the formula it's built into the formula and what that does is it increases our foundation budget but then it has the offset so they say oh yes because of this you have uh a large uh they have sub groups for special education uh English

158language Learners uh economically disadvantaged and we get all this additional amount that they build into our budget but they don't give us the funding for it so they come up and say okay quinsey you're um you should be spending $167 million for education for your foundation budget and we're going to give you 45 million you've got to come up with the other 128 million um kind of them yeah that's and and the proposal that was put forth was to try and say hey inflation has gone up much higher and particularly in things like the health care and all these things which we're fortunate enough that aren't in our budget but it's all when you add up everything that we do we we spend significantly more than the foundation budget because when you consider the debt

159service from the city uh the police uh presence the everything that the city does the Parx Department um the the retirement for all our all non- mtrs people uh there's significant costs and because of us basically doing well we got the minimum $30 per student go not only doing well but doing the right thing when I think about the fact that the city pays for our crossing guards and if we need to call a policeman at one of our schools we call a policeman we don't have to pay $575 we get a policeman there so I just think the cooperation between the school site and the city site of everything is amazing it's just amazing that that that relationship because otherwise we'd be if we if we were taking care of these buildings ourselves we'd

160be cutting teachers all over the place or not taking care of our buildings so I just think we have a very special relationship but it seems like we're penalized because we do the right thing um I don't know what to do about the formula so maybe the inflation thing is not going to help us at all it it really it only it that just that the rich get richer with that one 4% on 240 million is a hell of a lot more than what right is on 45 million so I I think we need to really push respectfully our legislators because they've been they've been worked well with us over the years but this has got to be looked at this just does make any not make any sense at all but unfortunately it's like

161you said they're not adding to the pie to make everybody get a bigger piece they got to take it from somebody else and there's a lot of there winers and loses when that happens Mr guto um along the lines of what Emily was saying um and collectively the school committee needs to be grateful to you Mr Mayor for the parks department for Paul Hines and the building department for all of those Investments is there anything in the formula first of all I don't know how many other cities have have the benefit of on the city Side taking care of the schools I I don't know and is there anything in the formulator formula uh Mr melany that allows them to calculate that in uh in terms of benefits to the schools because it seems to

162me that at least if that's added in if if we could somehow reflect that to get the legislature to reflect those Investments it would yield some benefit is that taking into consideration it is when we do our annual report uh the end of the year report because there's a a schedule called chap uh schedule 19 that has all the city expenses on it so those would be the things like the city it department and it doesn't help it it it helps us in meeting the net School spending require minimum requirement but it does not increase the amount of funds that they're going to give you in any way shape of perform what what levers are in there because I know we've had communities that have been taken over by the state we've had communities that

163have been in trouble uh so it seems to me that you know that the bigger hole You Dig the more the money they throw at you it yeah there's no justification or uh really accountability I guess is the better word I would say the kind of money the state's investing and I'm not trying to pick on other communities but it just seems so upside down well it was I mean it goes back to that uh student Opportunity Act uh and they said we have to present you a budget and go forward we didn't get any additional funds for the student Opportunity Act and most districts didn't it went to the the the big poorly run districts if you want to look at it that way I mean Brockton and is in a definite position and

164they got an extra $15 million you know we got we got uh 297 I I do I do want to say to delegation all we've also done well with the school building authority very well you know we're in our fifth school and I I don't want to let that unsaid but uh this to me is not sustainable for us certainly so I I I think maybe we should draft a letter from us to DC to uh the speaker the Senate President for what it's worth to let them know where we stand on this that it just isn't fair and and I I appreciate what what uh you know John Keenan get the ball rolling on that meeting we had to to actually have the four highest people in in uh the department of Ed sit

165down Financial to sit down with us for a meeting and included our entire delegation just clarified how bad it is I though but they said there's nothing they can do Mr Geo I I was just going to second that motion to to do a letter and have the superintendent Mr melany work through you and then you bring why don't you make the motion as chair I can't make a motion so I'll make a motion that we uh the superintendent Mr melany and whoever is appropriate draft up a letter for us to send on to the legislative delegation all those in favor I post the eyes have it thank you Mrs Pros I was just going to ask um oh sorry um I don't like to identify a problem without having any type of um solution

166or or idea to kind of present so I know that Hao was asking for us to kind of support their idea I think that was the the gist of that email that uh we received but what do you suggest that what could work what what do you think would benefit um what solution could benefit us our district um that would be something we could put forward as an IDE jump in I I think what uh what will happen after this meeting in the coming days we'll sit as a team Eric Mason Minister of Finance with Jim superintendent his team and we'll look at all of that we'll come up with a draft and circulate it to the to all of you and then we can take it from there does that make sense yeah absolutely

167thank you anything else on the Chapter 70 it's enough thank you Mr mlan little okay uh next item on the agenda item C school committee subcommittee operations Mrs Leo I think I have to put this in the policy subcommittee we need to have a discussion about this about um we cannot have we have to post our meetings at meetings of the whole if we want everybody to be able to speak at them otherwise only the people who are on the subcommittee are allowed to speak on them and I there is some discussion about whether which of those would the best way for us to go and why and when or if we should do it piece by piece but I think should that be in the policy subcommittee do you think yeah I I I

168really that concerns me a little bit me too I understand it but it it doesn't make fully sense to me because they with a we can ask questions but we don't vote if you're a non-member it's really taking action that that the whole issue of I don't I don't get it either but he was pretty clear that we were breaking the law yeah so I think we need to have a discussion about it sense we'll have that discussion so I'll just put it to the policy subcommittee meeting we can talk about item D oh Mrs Pros um can we make sure that that policy subcommittee meeting that is about that is posted as a meeting of the whole so we can all talk perfect sense thank you good idea next item is the superintendent's goals

169we just I had asked for an amendment on those goals they were already before us but now we need to vote on that because we changed them to include the uh chronic absenteeism okay just a Voice vote Voice vote okay you making the motion make a motion to Second all those in favor I oos the eyes have it item e superintendent thank you um tonight I'm recommending that the quiny school committee withdraw from enrolling non-resident students in the quinsey public schools for the 2024 2025 Academic Year for the following reasons the level of current and projected enrollments at all elementary middle and high schools and adherence to the quiny school committee policy on class size motion by motion by Mrs Leo second by Mr gacho Mr call the rooll Mr boli Mrs kahill Mr gutro

170yes Mrs huble yes Mrs Lio Mrs peros yes Mayo yes thank you all okay next item on the agenda item six consent agenda so we have the regular meeting minutes of March 20th 2024 and we have a grant from the mass skills capital 18852 7 for quiny high school automotive technology so uh roll call covers both of these any questions motion to accept second by Mrs huy Mr M Mr boli yes Mrs Cahill Mrs Mr grro yes Mrs Hubley yes Mrs Lio Mrs peros and Maya Coke yes thank you additional business seeing none Communications upcoming upcoming school committee meetings regular meetings May 8th and 22nd June 12th obviously 6:30 here upcoming subcommittee meetings the carington building qualy budget and finance is April 24th and teaching and learning is also on the same date at 6:15

171policies at 7 the same evening any questions on that Mr boli um my understanding is one of those school committee meetings is going to be at uh City Hall is that correct yes the May 22nd meeting for National H Society recognition it accommodates the thank you for clarification that accommodates all the kids okay um on to reports of subcommittees athletic and wellness Mr boli Wednesday March 20th the uh athletic and wellness subcommittee meeting uh took place uh athletic director Kevin Mahoney presented a view a review of The Winter 2324 uh Athletics uh at quiny high school 195 student athletes competed 12 un named Patriot League Allstars girls basketball team was the patriot League Fisher division champ and competed in the first two rounds of the Mia playoffs Alissa hops was named fish division MVP for

172the second year in a row two students uh qualified for the Indo State Track Championship meet and two wrestlers with sou sectional Champions at North quinsey High School there were 260 student athletes 13 Patriot League Allstars senior Ava Brian reached 1 th000 points for basketball girls basketball and boys hockey teams competed in the first round of the Mia playoffs senior Kenny guamas was named MVP of the Patriot League uh division in boy swimming for the second year in a row he plays first in the sou section for 50 yard fre and six to the division one States two stud students also qualify for the indoor State Track Championship uh Mrs Libo asked about the uh Nas uh athletic standards and superintendent said that Mr Mahoney will present on these at a future meeting um I

173asked about the divisional structure we have teams in one divisions one two and three um Mr Mahoney said we have entered the appeal process and believe most of our team should be in division two um I also noted that only one uh school team uh with winning records girls basketball um in this regular in this cycle and um uh I suggested uh establishing a mentor mentoring program similar to what we have for professional Educators I also asked about Sally comparisons and Mr Mahoney said that the head coach stens are competitive with other teams in the Patriot league and I think we can get a report from one of the coaches regarding that uh Mr boli I Mr Bol I asked about the terman structure um the new uh format format is Statewide and teams with

174losing Rec records are in the tournament based on the competiveness of their schedule Mr Mahoney said the margin of Victory factor is a controversial topic I'm among athletic directors and they are going to be addressing that I also asked about the use of this a summary Mr mol right yeah well those was a lot to it well we can go online and and read the rest of this online excellent idea okay thank you it's getting late I know well well past my bedtime Item B teaching and learning Mrs Libo 27th we had a subcommittee meeting of the teaching and learning group and we had three presentations the first was from coordinators of mathematics Kim Quinn and consultant Molly vogi who explains her the process has been developing over the since 2019 in our schools this

175year Miss vogi has been supporting uh Southwest Middle School as well as systemwide professional development in the techniques um she gave us a good look at the technique it was fascinating so if you have a chance you should take a look at the the um the school committee meeting the second thing on the agenda was that curriculum director Michael morani and Southwest assistant principal Susan Foley presented the update on the mcast Civics pilot which is going to have our students taking different sections of the Civics test for the first session and then a whole inclusive test for the second session um this the the sessions have been assigned by topic there are SE five topics I believe for the seven schools or seven total topics for the five schools so every school's been assigned topics

176and so we'll see how our students did on those topics um it's great uh most both Mr bold and I were thrilled that Civics is back in the curriculum I think it's an important part of what students should know and uh the third thing that we discussed was the Early College High School program uh which was pretty exciting news that they are looking to actually um award associate degrees in Leb lots for students who go through the Early College High School so that's a pretty exciting thing um a lot of us had the opportunity to meet at the Symposium and to see the parents Advisory Group there was amazing and to see the pride those parents had in their students and these are some of the students that we talked about our most adver students

177involved in the early college high school so it was a great meeting and the minutes are posted online thank you Mrs Libo Mr guto item C policy uh on the 27th we met uh earlier in this meeting we talked about the eight uh Health um related issues in the school committee those will be subject to a vote next meeting we also brought the calendar out is uh through you Mr Mayor to Mrs Owens is there anything that we need to act or pull so yes items 14 and 16 are eligible to be removed from policy subcommittee and and well so because they've been completed school committee policy oh an archived essentially yes okay yeah so uh so I make a motion that items uh 14 and 16 be removed uh from policy subcommittee and essentially

178archived because they've been completed all those in favor oppos thank you thank you any next item executive session we have nothing in the executive session adjournment motion to adjourn made by Mrs Leo second Mr boli all those in favor iOS I have it thank you and good night than well run thank you Mr