School Committee - June 25, 2026

001Uh, good evening everyone. I will go ahead and call the meeting of the Milton uh school committee uh to order on June 25th at 7:02 p.m. Uh we will move into item number two, approval of the agenda. Is there anything on here that we should remove? The only question I really had, Nathan, was are there vendor warrants that we need to announce your signature? >> There. Yeah, there's a couple. Okay, great. There's nothing else. I will take it as the agenda is approved. We'll move to item number three, which is public comment. Read my spiel. Uh, in accordance with school committee policy, we welcome members of the community to share their perspective with us during public comment. We've set aside up to 15 minutes for this part of the meeting and individuals may speak for

002up to three minutes each. While the school committee does not respond directly to public comment, there may be opportunities for members to address issues that are raised over the course of the meeting when relevant topics are on our agenda. We strive to engage in respectful discourse during our meetings and ask that public comment speakers keep that in mind. Speakers should introduce themselves and provide their address for the record. If you are online and would like to participate in public comment, if you could please use the Zoom's raise hand function, that way I know and I can recognize you. Just one more chance here because I'm not seeing any hands. Anybody who is here only see two attendees at this time, but either of the attendees are interested, please use the raise hand feature. Going once,

003going twice. Okay, seeing no hands raised, we will move on from public comment into item number four, executive session. Uh, I will go ahead and make a motion. So well before I make the motion just for the public we will adjourn into executive session uh for purposes of discussion and agreement with the MEA uh teachers union and then we will be back. So I just want to make that clear. We will be returning from executive session to continue within our agenda. Um, so I will make a motion to adjourn into executive session in compliance with chapter 30A section 21A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining with Milton Educators Association unit A if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the committee and the chair so declares and

004to return to open session following executive session. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Great. Uh, we are remote. This would be a roll call vote anyways, but all votes today are a roll call. Uh, so we'll go around the horn. Uh, Stevie, >> yes. >> Nathan, >> yes. >> Lizzy, >> yes. >> Ba, >> yes. >> Anna, >> yes. >> And I am a yes. >> Excellent. Uh, I will call our meeting back into U order into session here at 7:43. We're returning from executive session. Uh and back in the agenda, we are now moving on to item five, which is the chair's report is the approval and vote of the collective bargaining agreement between the Milton Educators Association and the Milton School Committee for the period of September 1st, 2026 through August 31st,

0052029. uh for the purpose of public uh we just had an executive session where we uh discussed the bargaining agreement with the MEA. The MEA took a vote uh and um accepted kind of the draft bargaining um agreement earlier this week. Uh and so now we will take a vote on that. Before we do, I'll just take a moment to thank the MEA, the union leadership who was a part of the negotiation session, but all the members as a whole just um obviously the schools don't work without teachers. That just is I think very obvious, but needs to be said within these moments. We're very lucky. We have some phenomenal teachers. Uh and so we're really lucky also to have really strong partners within the MEA throughout the negotiation process. They were um again very

006prepared, respectful, and just great partners kind of as we we talked through how we make this district better um through working conditions and other things with with that unit. So appreciate that. Want to shout out uh Superintendent Failen and his team, Carl and Kosa, uh Katie Blake, um Karen McDavid, uh Bill Fish, uh and many other people who kind of contributed to the negotiation team and and provided input and made sure they were kind of providing insight and guidance to to Lizzy, myself, and then also want to really thank Lizzie as the chair of the negotiation team to um kind of carry us along. So, um that was was great. So, thank you all. Uh any other public statements that folks want to say before we go and move to vote? >> Maybe just um

007maybe just making sure for the record for the community understanding that um there is part of the process where town administrator Nick Milano has opportunity to weigh in um which he has he was able to do in the executive session. >> Yes, great point. Yes, Nick luckily was in the executive session. We've obviously also been keeping him a breast throughout the process a bit, but he was in that when we discussed it. Uh had the opportunity to come and vote with us as part of kind of mass general law, but decided not to, but uh had a good conversation and generally agreement on this as being good for for the town. So, not to speak for Nick. Uh all right, with that then I will take a motion from someone because I don't think I

008can make this motion. Joe, is that right? I'll make Joe Emerson who's on here as our legal counsel. >> Yeah, you should ask for a motion, Mark. >> I will ask for a motion this time. There is a motion document if somebody wants to make it. >> Okay, I'll make the motion to approve the collecting bar collective bargaining agreement between Milton Educators Association uh unit A and the Milton School Committee for the period of September 1st, 2026 through August 31st, 2020 2029. Is there a second? Second. >> Second. >> Any further discussion? Hearing none, we will do [clears throat] a roll call vote. Belle, >> yes. >> Lizzy, >> yes. >> Stevie, >> yes. >> Anna, >> yes. >> Nathan, >> yes. >> And I'm a yes. It's unanimous. Thank you so much. Thank you,

009Joe. Really, really. >> Thank you all. Have a great night. All right, we will now move to item number six, superintendent report. >> Thank you very much, uh, Mark. Good evening on this, uh, first day of summer, uh, school committee meeting. Uh, wanted to give you a couple of quick updates before we go into, uh, two of the items that are underneath my u, agenda item. Uh first I want to thank all of our educators, families, and students for a great school year. Uh the last day of school on Wednesday uh had a lot of celebration. It was quiet up here at the high school with finals, etc., but it was busy at all of our elementary schools and our middle school. Um I want to let folks know that um uh we have a

010lot of year- round things happening. So our educators are gone and our school year folks are uh on their first day of break, but we have a lot of year- round staff working very hard. our custodians, our business staff, um and um special education full-time folks. Uh we're starting up two camps. We have ESY uh and also uh Milton Summer of Enrichment along with our Milton Community Schools work. So, we are starting our summer school year uh actually sometime next week for those three programs. And just a really big shout out to our administrative assistants and folks that work year round uh that everybody thinks has has a summer off, Lori Dunn, Charlene Roach, all the folks, the secretaries that work in administrative assistance in your schools and folks that work in offices. Really want

011to thank them for their hard work this year as well and their work over the summer in preparation for September of 26. We're we're already communicating to our educators about what their schedules are and when the PD looks like next year, reinforcing the calendar. So, uh, very thankful for all their work throughout the school year and thanking our custodians and facilities workers in advance for all their hard work. Uh, this is the busiest time of year for our custodians to to get the schools ready. So, thank you to those to those folks as well. Um, also want to provide an update. We have been onboarding our new director of finance, James Mallerie. I want to thank Katie Blake for being in the in the office uh on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Uh James

012uh and Katie spent a good 16 hours together talking about uh the budget um winding down FY26 in preparing and identifying uh the lines of our FY27 budget. Uh we met together as a group of three. James also met all the other key people uh from different groups throughout the district that uh he will be interacting with and Katie did a great job uh bringing that information to him in a way that uh was truly a nice handoff uh from one director of finance to another. We also started out our onboarding for our new director of human resources. Um, uh, Chris Lions was the former director, I mean, the former assistant superintendent for human resources in Lexington and comes to us with a wealth of experience that we, uh, truly, uh, need and appreciate. Uh,

013and we look forward to, we work with her today, and we look forward for both James and, um, and Chris being in next week on July 1st. Um, as well as our new director of um, technology as well. So, all good things happening. all the works moving forward and we're very uh very happy about already forward looking into the 2627 school year. Um the next thing on my agenda is an update on the uh bias hate incident response protocol working group. Uh I do have some slides here Mark if you want to put those up if that's okay for the public watching. Um this uh a letter went out to every single school uh community member today along with all of our staff and the school committee outlining uh the work behind this group and

014why we are here and and how we're going to move this work forward. Uh this is a great opportunity by uh having this meeting right now to verify and vote on the contracts will give us an opportunity to make sure that we're explicit with the public about why we are moving this work forward and what it will look like and uh what our timeline is and our outcomes uh will be uh over the next uh several months uh over the summer and the beginning of the school and fall. So in the second slide, uh just a little bit about um identifying a gap that existed uh that was very apparent that uh an incident that arose at the Tucker School a few weeks ago. uh really identified that the district did not have in place

015uh in their in our handbooks collectively across all six of our schools a consistent approach to dealing with hate speech uh issues of bias, racism, etc. Um, we do have schools doing their own work at individual schools, but it was not consistently put in place and it was absent, not in our handbooks, which is a really big systematic hole at the central office that we needed to fix and we need to do so in a very timely way. So that gap that was identified uh through this uh incident at Tucker was actually uh fortunately identified and now fortunately being addressed with uh more urgency and uh we look to have this work be done uh in terms of a protocol uh by the end of the summer, beginning of uh the fall season and then

016within our handbooks throughout uh the beginning and middle of the fall, we have timelines for you and then for the school committee to approve as well. So, I kind of want to show you a little bit about how we're going to do that workflow with our committee members. Uh, the next slide shows traditionally you would see on your left hand side of your screen that the school committee would always create policies and the leadership team of the administration would create protocols and update their handbooks accordingly. Um, and then we would put any kind of protocols in place. Given given the fact that this was not in place and it was really kind of concerning to uh our school community of families, we wanted to actually do more of a top a bottom-down approach to letting

017our stakeholders be involved from the beginning uh of creating that protocol. Uh it was very clear that folks wanted some uh change to the building based protocol and they actually wanted the presence uh of that protocol in handbooks that was not in place systematically throughout the Milton public schools. So the reason why we're flipping the triangle over uh because we want stakeholders to have the beginning of this conversation as representatives of the school community uh first uh there was really clear concern that the current protocols a were not consistent by building b not in the handbook systemwide and not uh not evident uh in our handbooks and in our protocols. And so we want to make sure that we provide community access to that conversation. So we put together a working group and they will

018start the process uh they have started that process this past week on Monday and they will continue to work uh through the be the end of the summer and the beginning of the fall. So the next slide will show um that committee uh the goals and the protocols. First and foremost the timeline that we have here. There are three chunks of work that we're looking to address. The first step would be the stakeholder work on the protocol. Uh that committee has been put together. will show you who those committee members are and what the dates are of those meetings. Uh they will review current protocols that we have in the district, ones of neighboring districts, best practices from uh any research that we can review and also looking at desi standards. After that protocol was

019developed by that team and that working group, it will then come uh to the leadership team to put it into our handbooks. Again, we don't have a section that says here is the protocol for how we deal with hate speech. uh uh racist incidents, incidents uh against any group of folks. And so this added piece of our handbook, which will be new, will provide that consistent approach across all six of our schools. Um so people can look at it and identify this is what will happen if an incident does occur in any one of our schools. And quite frankly, when that was uh when that incident happened at the Tucker a few weeks ago, families were frustrated that they couldn't look at any document and find out what that process was. They're they have a

020very legitimate concern that we want to address in a very urgent way. The next step after the handbooks are put in place with the protocols and the updated language and consistently in every handbook, uh we would bring that to the school committee as well. uh and the school committee would then take a look at any policies that might need to be adjusted. So all three of these steps are aligned. Uh it's our job at the leadership level to provide protocols and procedures based on on the policies that are voted by the school committee. U so we want to make sure there's alignment and clarity. As you can see from the timeline and the the deliverables at the bottom of the slide, by October uh or if not sooner, we would like to have the working

021group present the draft protocol to the superintendent. Uh I am not a member of this committee. I am going to let the work be done by the committee uh independent of myself uh and also independent of assistant superintendent Kosa. Um when that protocol is is developed and a draft is provided, we will look at it as a leadership team and we will enter it into the handbook uh consistently across all six handbooks in our schools. uh any other handbook language that would need to go with that protocol to explain and be explicit about how these will be handled, these issues will be handled uh will be drafted as well. So it's consistent with the other protocols and standards that we have in our handbooks. Uh that that as well will be presented to the school

022committee. So in October we will present uh to the school committee on the protocol. In December if not earlier we'll present on the handbooks with the protocols embedded into the handbook. And then the school committee either in January or February um will then view that work and and then look to see if any of the policies that have been uh voted over time need to be changed in order to have alignment. Uh this is a very clear set of work. We have timelines. We have deliverables in place and we hope this clarity provides those folks who have been giving us feedback and worried about this process uh can see that this is a very concrete road map to make this work um uh happen over a shorter period of time that normally would and also

023have stakeholder feedback and a very clear uh communication in the public uh over that course of time. In the next slide, you can see that uh the working group uh really the goal is to review, improve and systematize protocols. You know, we're reviewing and improving uh the ones that we use building-wise, but we are starting from fresh and new protocol and uh handbook language that has not been in place. So, I think that there's been some sensitivity to the word improve when there really was no language in the handbook period. So we want to acknowledge that uh we had some working ways of doing this by school but we have not had this formally codify in our handbook. So that is the main essence of this work. Um in the end the end product is

024a recommendation to the superintendent and we will then take that recommendation and and have it put in public to the school community and the school committee and then again embed it into our handbook and then take that handbook in front of the whole school community at school committee meeting in public and then ask the school committee to align their uh policy. So uh the working group has already met they understand the context they understand the uh the goal of the working group. There's been a folder set up with materials for folks to review. Uh that folder will be added to over time with resources that are brought forward by members of the group and all of those things will be considered and reviewed and discussed and analyzed and and the new document will be drafted

025uh for our handbooks uh in our procedures and protocols. Uh next slide please. Um there was a lot of discussion when we sent the email out to solicit folks to participate in the group. Um we had roughly 45 folks apply. Uh what you're what you can see here is uh the staff that have volunteered to be facilitators and lead this group. Principal Karen Cahill at the high school, Dr. Fish at the middle school, principal uh Celeste Hog, principal of the Tucker and our director of DEIB. Uh Dr. FA Shavers, uh, teacher at the high school, Claire Younger, teacher at the, uh, Tucker Elementary School, Mary Mcgroy, teacher at the middle school, Allison Moli. And then we have two students to bring student voice to this. We have two rising juniors, uh, Chandler Sumpter and Michaela

026Aong. Uh, they were great ads. Uh, thank you to Karen Cahill for making sure that we had student representation and voice. And then we have a parent uh from uh Cunningham, Tucker, Tucker and Pierce, Glover and Pierce, Pierce in the high school, and then two high school parents rounding out that group. So the question that might be out there is how did these folks get chosen and why and how come if you had roughly 25 to 30 parents because we had other teachers that applied to round out the 45. We asked folks to fill out a Google form uh that shared with us what school they represented so we can make sure as many of our schools were represented as possible. This is a district-wide endeavor. Uh we then asked them to provide us uh

027a short summary of their experiences in uh in schools in this kind of work in their outside profession. uh any activity that they have with uh um task force or groups or volunteerism within the school district or the town or any kind of actions in in in roles that they play outside in their profession and what is their genuine interest. a lot of the um folks who put in their mini bio that they were really passionate about uh work around bias, work around supporting our LGBTQ uh students, making sure that uh they wanted to know what was going on in the school and they wanted to contribute. Uh we have folks who work in Cambridge schools, uh Boston public schools, we have folks that are in the nonprofit area. uh all of those family um

028uh parents and guardians that are on that list are truly invested and are advocating for uh students to make sure that they can go to school safely and that there is some sort of a protocol put in place by the Milton public schools that will handle these cases in a way that's consistent, clear, uh fair, and equitable. uh where all students can come to school respected and and parents will know that if something does happen that this work will be done with fidelity no matter what school you attend. So I thank um uh Jill, Kathy, Jen, Ellie, Caroline, Steven, Cristiana, uh Michaela, and Chandler as our student and family representatives. And for those folks who were not chosen, uh there we will discuss ways that we can share this work other than discussing them at

029school committee meetings on three occasions as each step is taken. If there need to be some non-traditional ways of sharing out and seeking more feedback and providing voice in the fall, uh we will do that as well. We haven't gotten to that point with the committee yet, but they do know that's something that we want to talk about as well. Um so the meetings will take place. The first was already conducted on June 23rd. The next meeting starts on August 27th, then September 8th, September 22, and October 7th uh with the hope of having that uh product delivered to the superintendent's office at that point in time. So, we're we're hoping that this feels uh to the families that were expressing concern and frustration with the process feels like uh familiar to what we ended

030our meeting with at Tucker that night where we wanted a concrete committee put together with timelines with deliverables with stakeholders being present for that work. Uh we're trying to u create this effort in a way that reflects the feedback that we received. Um, and so we're we're hoping that that that um that is clear in this presentation. And also the information that you're seeing here tonight on these slides was also sent in the same kind of detail to every single family uh via email today. Also encouraging them to watch the school committee meeting tonight uh to see this presentation. um in this work as we think about the larger work of equity um uh and bias work in the district I felt compelled uh at this point in time to also show some of the

031work that was happening in the district. So Mark, if you could uh go to the next slide. Um in the moment of having uh this work happen, what got lost a little bit is some of the work that was done in the 2526 school year that I really want to make sure our entire community knows that uh this work uh continued this year. This work will continue over the summer and this work will continue next year. uh these things that were happening during the 2526 school year uh were started in August, September, and October. Uh we've had affinity groups for our staffs of color all year. We've engaged in a membership with the teachers lounge which is a uh diversity group that allows us to support they support us in hiring uh a diverse staff

032creating pools for interviews uh creating hiring teams that are that are wellinformed about bias but also providing our educators of color a space to have an affinity group with other districts. Uh this group is based in Boston and we had published in one of our superintendent updates the the work that they took part in with the teachers lounge uh in their uh end of the year social. Uh we've also created a pipeline of hiring with the teachers lounge. They give us candidates that we know are vetted and um and could help diversify our staff. Uh we have two grant-f funded opportunities that we took advantage of with the DESI grant that Dr. Shavers applied for and received. We were able to give some of our unit D members and unit A members funding to take

033lensure tests to take courses towards their uh teachers lensure or psychologist lensure or licensed social work classes. Um that money came from the state. We were able to meet with folks, identify what their needs were, and we actually gave them the money to take those courses and take those tests, which was a big step for increasing our own staff, existing staff of color uh and and who are diverse to move up the scale uh in our current system and support them. We also have funds available for our full leadership team to take courses uh over the summer that we will pay for in order for them to bring that work back to their buildings and their teams. All of our leadership team will begin training uh this year on antibbias training from the leadership uh

034from the teachers lounge related to our hiring for uh this school year. We did it and we'll be taking that work over the summer for the next school year. Uh and we've already implemented exit interviews for all staff to make sure that we're listening to what folks are saying on the way out. So, if there's things that we can prove uh in relation to how we support our staff uh especially our staff of color who we're trying to retain and recruit more of uh this summer we'll have all of our equity leads trained in July and August from the teachers launch. That's part of a grant. Uh we'll be rolling out our new protocol for reporting uh incidents of hate in uh hate language and bias uh that will be ready for the 2627 school

035year. That protocol has been worked on by Dr. shavers throughout the the late winter, early spring. And we have uh put into our new teachers contract that all new educators in Milton will be uh trained in antibbias training before they enter our classrooms at our mentoring days that happen in August every year moving forward. Uh which we believe is a good way of setting some longevity in this work. The next slide shows that what we're looking forward to doing in next school year. Uh in the 2627 school year, all of our leaders will be trained by the teachers lounge in a second part of our mindset and practices related to hiring to diversify our staff. Uh the working group uh will continue to meet through the early fall uh to complete the bias protocol work

036and the handbook work. Uh we have some potential training ideas to support our teachers at Tucker who uh during this process over the last three weeks have expressed the need for extra skills in level setting for how they can work through these incidents in their classrooms that we will pilot at Tucker at their request. And um we will continue to work on some of the post incident lessons that we put in place if an incident does happen. we do go into classrooms and work with students to ensure that there's some education that goes along um after the fact with uh these incidents and we are have always been looking for the following school year when the new superintendent comes in. We're hoping that the baseline work that we did this year over the summer of

03726 and the work we're doing next school year uh creates the foundation for more deep uh deeper work with our entire staff on issues of bias and equity training across the entire district uh and review and strengthen the role of our equity leads as well as strengthen the role of our DEIB committees across all six of our schools and uh strengthen those committees uh and align them into more of a district approach to um what are some of the main issues that we would like to address across all six schools from a parent DEIB and partnering schools committee. So lots of work uh has happened this year, lots of work will happen over the summer and next year uh and we are hoping to provide a foundation uh in this area of work in the

038district that uh any new superintendent that arrives uh a year from now will have uh a good starting base to springboard into the next level of work. So, thank you very much. If folks have questions of this dialogue about this process or any school committee um dialogue, I know we have not been able to meet as a group and even though we've been connected by phone and trying to work together through the last month, uh this is our first formal meeting uh where you're seeing this in public and in a public document in a public way. So, I'm open to any feedback uh related to the process that we've been putting together over the last few weeks. Thank you, John. Moving up to member questions or comments. >> Yes, Anna, >> I just question and

039this could be because uh we didn't have any enough applicants, but I was just curious. There was no representation from Kolycott. >> Correct. There was no no one applied to be uh considered from the Kolkat school. Stevie, >> thank you. Um, uh, I guess so questions about the working group, um, in general. Can you share more information about how, uh, so you know, you and I talked, uh, about how the group was formed because I I had those questions and you explained, um, what you explained here about, um, how the form included, you know, personal statements and things like that. But from there once you had the forms with the personal statements can you explain how you came h what body was responsible for selecting who was going to be on the group what criteria

040were looked at if there was any if there was any waiting and how you all um were able how you tried to I don't know how did you go about trying to get a demographically appropriate group for this for the town and was there and was there like some sort of target of ratio for POC people of color versus non-people of color for you know things like that on this group. >> Um so thank you for that. Um the the team of people that ultimately decided the folks who would be on the committee were Dr. Shavers, myself and Kakosa. We consulted with several of our principles to make sure that we were aware of the background um uh of each of the of the folks that applied because uh you could learn a lot by

041the bios but you couldn't learn everything. We wanted to make sure that we were creating a diverse group um not just people of color but people from different schools, people from different backgrounds, people who represented different interests. Uh it was really important that we had several people who wanted to be uh uh part of the group to make sure that for example our LGBTQ population was part of that discussion of feeling like they have protections and that this would work in their favor as well. So we did ask questions of our principles. uh some of that was explicit in the materials that folks gave us. And then we also wanted to balance voices that have been taking part in Milton Public School PTO or DEIB committees uh or work that was in the district and

042also new voices. Um so we tried to differentiate between inside folks who we know have been working on issues like this within our district uh who are who are parents and guardians, but also a couple that might be new voices to this. Um, and it was interesting. We did have a an email from someone who's been involved in this work, representing a group, and and they were just wanting to make sure, is there anybody on this committee who's expressly interested in representing this group? And we were able to say, yes, there there are. We we do have what we feel um a diverse group of folks who represent uh as many geographic spots in the community that we have related to our schools in the levels of our district who have a high interest. And

043I think that was the first thing they have a they everybody had it but we were looking for folks who had a high interest in this work because it was important to them that they felt that this was an important missing piece of what we did not have in the district and they were uh really clear that they wanted to be part of a conversation that made sure that there was going to this was going to happen in the right way. So ultimately Kyler and I and FA chose the final uh parent group. Uh we had an initial list that changed overnight because if you remember there was uh this went until 10 p.m. So the next morning we actually had a few more people come in that we did consider and we shifted it

044around and allow us to have five of our six schools um represented and um and we feel like we have a a well represented group across the community across all the groups that we feel these kind of protocols support and and protect and uh would be uh related to. and uh and we think we have a wide variety of voices from what they do personally or professionally um and what they might contribute to the schools in general. So uh but in the end it was the three of us who decided >> and um just as a followup do you think that you would that uh the committee would have their their bios shared or anything like that? So, where I'm coming from with this is, and you know, I'm I think a few of us

045have heard some concerns about, you know, the process of how people were chosen. Um, whether there was some sort of rubric. What I'm hearing you say is that, you know, there was information shared in uh in these forms that people could fill out to whatever degree they wanted to. Most of the stuff was in this personal statement piece. And then um you all sort of leaned on um school staff like principles and said that said who's this person? What do you know about them? Who's that person? What do you know about them? And and and then what right? So like at that point what were you looking for I guess what were the targets I suppose is is what I'm trying to understand. the the um the the targets were a diverse community of people

046who represented the diverse people that would be uh impacted by this work. And I think that if you know the people on that list, uh it represents different cultures, it represents black and brown people, it represents LGBTQ folks, uh it represents school administrators, it represents uh our educators. Uh it does have a wide range. So we think that we accomplished that. Uh and what we were really uh uh had a healthy conflict with was we knew that there was urgency uh that was placed upon us that this needed to get up and running by the end of the year. Uh and we also knew that if we were going to have a productive group, it had to be a certain size that was probably a little smaller than the one that we have, but we

047wanted to make it big enough so we could include as many folks as possible, but also small enough to be productive. So ultimately, we are getting some feedback by saying,"Well, I want to know who's on there because I want to know why I wasn't." I've had a couple of those emails that I've responded to. Uh or I just want to know who's on it, which we sent that letter out today and made sure people were aware. Um and everybody can't be on it. Every, you know, unfortunately, we if we had 45 or 42 folks, we can't have a group of 42 and be productive. So, um and folks felt like it was a little rushed. Uh but we also wanted to be respectful of the timeline that was given to us uh that we've agreed

048with that there have been urgency and and also um also the time of day. People were like you know gez 3:30 to 5 doesn't work for me and why are you setting the dates so early what if what if dates change? Why can't the group change the dates? Uh the reason why we did all those things is that when people decided that they could apply that they knew that they could in the in the present time make themselves available with their schedules at that time and also trying to be respectful of the students who probably would be more of an afterchool early evening group uh and the educators as well. So there was a lot of competing interest that that that kind of went into this that I think people had questions about and I

049I understand all those questions individually. But when you put them all together, we were trying to assemble a team for future work with date certain uh folks who were invested in this work stated why they were invested in this work and came across all the different populations that make up our community. And we feel like we've done that and um and that's why we wanted to make sure that we shared the names because I think people want to know that as well. Lizzie, >> thank you. Um, yes, I definitely, you know, appreciate the balance. Um, it's a it's a tension I'm feeling, but I think it is a balance that we're striving for here between the sense of urgency, you know, the recognition that um it is it is frankly like overdue um to be

050doing this work. I mean, I I definitely I feel that and and for that reason, I'm glad that we're looking at such a concrete plan, you know, that this is a um this is a plan with numerous action steps, very clearly laid out um timelines committed to um the the balance of the urgency um is the as you've also stated, I think accurately, is the need to do do the work intentionally, strategically and well so that it has the intended impact to make an actual difference um to make things better over time and to be sustained. So I I I just want to name that because you know um I think um it's just not easy you know to sit within that tension particularly on a painful like issue and situation such as this. Um

051I speaking about the time frame piece, I did just want to raise um you know I think a a wonder that I have which does come back to the school committee role in this work. Um and I do I do understand the need for clarity. So I appreciate how you did a little bit of that to kind of help not just us but the community also kind of think about which pieces of this work are happening at which levels with you know which folks. Um, I I just want to put out there that um, you know, I [clears throat] I appreciate the timeline that has been presented and I'm also at the same time wondering what can potentially could potentially be started slightly more proactively um, on the school committee's part around beginning a little

052bit parallel path like some of the work. Speaking about the handbook for example, recognizing that you know clearly the um protocol and response to incidents of hate and bias like that is the clear deliverable that the working group is is you know focused on. Um and that is a clear missing piece from the handbooks which we will ultimately midy year as soon as we're able to update the handbooks accordingly with that piece. But I'm not assuming that there aren't additional ways that the student handbooks could benefit from updates um pertaining to, you know, these larger goals of um just making our schools welcoming, safe, and supportive um for our diverse community of students um and staff as well. So, I I guess I'm just wondering about that. Um, would there be a way that the

053policy subcommittee, for example, could begin some preliminary review of student handbooks to anticipate or at least begin to identify like what what might be other areas um to do some revisions recognizing that the uh there are a lot of stakeholders who need to be involved in that process, leadership um you know and so on. But um I'm I'm asking this recognizing you know the need for a clear sequence and I'm also saying you know if there are parts that we can begin to sort of anticipate or just not wait I guess until the end of a lot of the work has been done especially given the fact that you know we do not have a school committee member actually sitting on the working group. Um, and I think I do understand the rationale for that,

054although I could also make a case that that would have made, you know, would make sense to um, have a school committee representative potentially on the working group. But either way with that, you know, I it would really depend, I think, on what other members think about that and what our app, you know, what what we are able to um think about doing. But just want to put that out there. >> So, so thank you, Lizzie. I I think that um uh several things. First of all, that let's talk about the normal routine of how handbooks work and then talk about what we may want to overlay because of the situation that we're in. The normal routine for handbooks would be for our handbooks to be updated. Um, most of it's administrative. Sometimes there are

055new laws that come into place. Sometimes there's new legal guidance that comes into place. And all of our handbooks will be given to our legal team as they are every summer. And they will go through them and make suggestions that there might be language shifts that need to be made based on recent uh legal uh cases or legal uh language that we would want to implement to make sure that they're there. So that's the normal routine. Those books are then prepared for the first meeting of the year before school starts and then the committee votes them and then we send that uh handbook out to every family uh in the first week of school and then they have to sign off on it that they understand the new or the expectations for the school year.

056Uh for the work that we're doing this year, I think that we may need to be creative. uh we may need to go through that similar process in the sense that we do need that legal uh pressure test of the current handbooks annually that we would want to make sure that we do but we would want to let our families know that even though they may be signing off on that in the first week of school in August or September that we will be coming back to them with an updated handbook that we'll expect them to uh to sign off on at whatever point in time the administration and the school committee can facilitate that work and that that review and policy. So, I I do believe that um it's achievable to start the year

057in a traditional way uh because it is, you know, June 25th and we're not going to be able to get much different work done between now and the opening of school, but be very very explicit with our families and staff that the handbook will change and we will be asking folks to review it again in January or February or whenever it comes out and they the the the new pieces of our handbook and protocols that we put in place, the staff and the families and the students will be accountable for that work moving forward at that point in the year. Um, so I think that we can do both and I think that that just seems like a realistic uh way to kind of get the work done without having you know the other alternative

058would be can we get all this work done by uh August 27 and we realize that we can't and we also don't want to wait for the beginning of next year to introduce all this language uh at the next review of the handbook which would be uh at the end of the current the school year that we're going into and then wait for the following school year. So, I think it's okay to just split it in half and when it's done, we'll re we make the revisions and we'll add the components that are new. Um, the public will see them uh in the course of work that we've already outlined and the school committee can vote them and we can have folks resign. Uh, as it relates to uh those three steps that we described

059will all be done in public session. Uh but if in fact the school committee uh would like to have some other component of this work represented either being on the committee or any other reporting out mechanism that would feel more comfortable that the school committee is aware of how it's working or taking part. Being on the committee is an option if that's something the school committee would like to take uh um uh a discussion about and have that be put in place. Uh they're welcome to join. um if there's another uh pacing of this work that can be done where the school committee wants to look at policies uh right when they get back in late August in preparation for that so maybe we can accelerate uh the work and have it done sooner. I

060I would recommend that to be a good idea as well. Uh, and I would expect I would um accept any of those as friendly amendments to our plan uh that we presented earlier tonight and shift make those shifts that make uh the school committee confident that they can be part and have voice um and also make sure that we're very clear with the public about your role, the administration's role uh and in this case most importantly the stakeholders role which is uh something that we we're trying to make a priority as well. Um yeah, I I think if we can for at least the purpose of the conversation right now focus on that question that Lizzie you're raising and I think was raised by Stephen an email of just the school committee's role and where

061do we see ourselves in this or what John has presented where don't we see ourselves that we think we do if I can just kind of focus our discussion a little bit there so maybe we can get to kind of a a pinpoint um Stevie you have your hand raises maybe about that point if not then I'll let you put it down but um >> yeah I mean that was part of it uh there is another u uh question that I had but for now for the purpose of focusing on that yes that was one of the things that I was um going to ask about because yes I I had sent the email and had you know uh essentially expressed that I think it would be appropriate for a school committee member to be

062on the committee um especially because I feel it's it's very likely that we will need to adjust uh policies to um you know to include uh the stuff that comes out of there, the recommendations that come out of um out of that committee. Um, you know, I think all of us have looked at the policy uh in section A and it was surprising to me how much detail like it that it went into in terms of you know, Title 9 protections and discrimination and things and in terms of uh um you know, harassment uh for um uh in in the case of of disability complaint process and things like that. And there wasn't anywhere near that level of detail about um race and bias and things like that, you know. Um there was no specifics

063about like who you contact or [clears throat] who the point person was or anything like that. And that was really surprising that it it was pretty much just in section A like discrimination is bad. Don't discriminate. And then it went into a lot of detail for all these other things. So, I think it's pretty clear that we're going to need to do some adjustment of uh of the policy and it would make sense to have someone from the school committee along for that ride to um at least be prepared for what's you know what's coming down. >> What are other members thoughts on that proposal? I'm sorry I didn't raise my hand. Um but I'll just go. You know, I'm supportive of that idea. I think there's um there's some real advantages to having school

064committee member um on the committee or on the on the working group or observing the working group or something like that. I think there is um what what I what I what I haven't thought through what I don't know what my opinion is is whether there's something this isn't exactly what I mean but some sort of um power dynamic by having a school committee member on the working group that we would want to avoid. And so I could imagine something like a school committee member just observing the working group or something, you know, I don't know, maybe that's not a maybe that is not a real maybe that worry is just abstract, but there's there's something there, right? Like we're elected officials and um the other people on the on the committee. We're all we're

065all parents, too. So, um, but we're elected officials and the other people on the committee are, um, employees who we, um, have some sort of authority over or are families. Um, and so there's there's just something there. But I do agree with the with the overall point. I think it would be a shame, you know, gi I think this timeline it is it is a long timeline to like get to February where we're approving policies, but I also think the timeline just given that we're now in summer and we only meet every two weeks like is still, you know, I I think I think it is it is not slow given that this is, you know, this is a this is a district with a lot of people in it and a lot of things

066going on and it would be a shame to get to February and be working on our policy and realize that a policy rewrite or or a new policy has implications for the protocols or for the handbooks that have just been approved. Um, I think there is a reason why the pyramid is as it usually is, and I I get why we're inverting it, but the reason the pyramid is as it is is because the policy is the is the cornerstone document that is guiding the rest of the work. >> Do you mind if I respond to that? Uh I I I think given the um given the dialogue when we start to think about what school committee involvement could be uh and also in an effort to expedite some of the work um in parallel

067uh it very well could be that the policy subcommittee liaison whoever's on policy could just be that person in the room with the with the working group and then policy could be meeting kind of in concert with the dialogue that's happening over the course of September and October. Um and if that could if that work could be done in parallel and then the handbooks could be done in parallel with that then uh to your point Nathan there would be full involvement and understanding of what what the school committee could be looking at for potential policy changes actively as we go through. I think they'll be pretty identifiable in the first couple of meetings and that that language can be already started to be crafted because it wouldn't be technically to the detail of the protocol

068as much. It would be the the overarching guidance in legal standard of the protocol. So I think that doing some sort of a parallel approach with um policy members liaisoning to the group or being on the committee uh would expedite this timeline a bit. Uh and it would give us a little bit more room for clearer communication channels and um and a and a product that would be you know fully understood by everybody which is what we want to have happen and happen sooner than later. And so it might achieve both of those goals. TV. >> Yeah. And I I think that's [clears throat] so Yeah, obviously I'm in favor of someone uh being on the committee and Nathan, I wanted to um acknowledge that you're, you know, concerned about the power dynamic. That makes

069sense. Um I hadn't thought about that. But then I also realized that within the committee as it stands now, there's also some power dynamics. You know, you have principles and the teachers that they oversee. you have principles and the students that uh attend the school. So there's already some of that. Um so I feel like that's something that we can I don't think it it's unusual or an outlier um you know in this case. I think we can navigate that. >> Just to say out loud that that is why I am not in the group, right? So, I want to make sure that I avoided that as well because I want the I want those folks to be able to work and talk and and figure all this out without the pressure of quote the

070superintendent in the room. But I do not believe that that leverage will be impactful for a school community member who's leaisoning from the policy committee. I I think it's all doable. It will all work and people will understand why you're there. They want the work to happen uh at a certain pace uh as well and people want this to be uh done thoughtfully but also done in in expeditiously. And if that works and I think it will all work out. It's a great group of people. I think they'll be welcoming to that idea. >> I think my general thoughts on it was like I was originally in favor of us not being on the committee and I think mostly that comes from uh what I think is our positional privilege we have that we we

071get to provide our voice on these issues every two weeks. like just our influence on the outcome of this is going to be much greater than any other community member because of the position we have as elected members on school committee. So I think in general my thinking was like we already have the avenue of directly speaking to the superintendent asking for the superintendent for updates on these things as we go through our agendas. That's something we could prioritize as a committee within the agenda setting and so have other ways of doing it. I do find it very um persuasive this idea of keeping that connectedness between the policy subcommittee and this working group in order to allow us to move more quickly and not just kind of be connected at at the end point.

072So that to me is persuasive. I totally agree John with your point. And I was thinking the same thing that whoever the member is, I do think having the member be from the policy subcommittee because I do think that is where the initial work from the school committee lens will lead right as we kind of talked about within governance of like how are we really trying to effectively use our our committees this upcoming year. What are the goals? And so having that group send somebody um uh in order to kind of be have that connected tissue. So that that is persuasive to me. But yeah, it was less a power dynamics. I think that one is there and that resonates a little bit too, Nathan. But more just u honestly like commandeering the microphone too

073much, right? Or like air, our air time and our ability to influence things and providing avenues for other folks to to weigh in on, I think, was the one place that I was um more hesitant to have a committee a school committee member on this working group. But um any other thoughts? Anybody who is opposed to this idea of having a school committee member on the commit working group hearing none. Assuming that that means we have general general consensus that this is something that we as a group might want to do. I guess the next question is how do we want to go about doing this? I think we could think of it as like we do the other subcommittees and folks can let me know who wants to be on it and as chair

074I can pick. Uh I also could just I mean I guess we could just kick this to the policy subcommittee too and ask them to meet and select somebody to be on it. Obviously the next meeting of this group is not until uh August what is that 22nd something like that. um or if there are other ideas, but those are the two that that kind of come to mind. Okay. I might purposely propose that we uh personally propose that we given that this is work I think as a committee we should be kind of tasking to the policy subcommittee to carry forward that I would put this as a question kind of the policy subcommittee members which luckily we got three great ones here with Val, Stevie and Anna. Uh so like to already put

075something on your docket here but um that would be my proposal. I don't want to put that group on the spot though and force them to make a choice for all of us. So feel free to push back but otherwise would I would be very comfortable with whoever which given it would need to be one of the three of you as we've kind of discussed it. Uh I feel very comfortable leaving that to the group to say who is available obviously to attend and who has interest to attend and you know who who's going to kind of be that connective issue. Yeah, I think we can. I know. Um, sorry I didn't have my hand raised, but I I we haven't really discussed our we didn't really like reaffirm the new members yet. So, I

076we haven't really met just with the new members yet. So, um I think that's a discussion we might need to have sooner rather than later. Um and I will um you know try and schedule something with Stevie and Bow um to figure out and then maybe at that time I don't want to put anybody on the spot now about volunteering unless people are um open to it. So um however however the rest of the uh committee wants to proceed with that. >> Yeah, it seems like the next meeting for this working group is August 27th actually. So you know we'll pick back up kind of our regular cadence of things. So, I'd assume it as long as y'all have somebody selected prior to August 27th, >> that seems like that's the the next date and

077that that should fall within our regular schedule meeting cadence. So, I don't even think we need some emergency meeting to assign somebody this week or next week. Uh because I don't think that will will make a difference given that the group isn't meeting. >> Great. >> I'm seeing some head nodding, not hearing all a ton of just like verbal voice. So I just want to generally get a sense of like we all consensus on that's kind of how we'll move forward on that element of committee involvement in the working group. >> Thank you. I appreciate the conversation and the openness to think about that. >> Yeah, same. I'm I'm I'm good with it and uh I volunteer for everything. So >> you volunteer for too much listen [laughter] get along all the committee now you're

078just taking it over. >> I got no life. We appreciate Jim raise [laughter] your hand. Um uh all right to the broader question then we obviously honed in on particularly the working group. I think John talked a little bit about our involvement obviously on the policy standpoint and we talked about kind of the policy subcommittee again being that connected tissue. But I guess the broad question is are there any other ways that folks are feeling like they see a role for school committee that we're currently not discussing and would like to discuss it here? And we'll name this is ongoing work and so we can continue to think about this and see how the things are playing out and course correct in August and September and October like we can we have those opportunities. This

079is a not a static process but want to make sure to open the floor for any changes right now. Feedback. Yeah, Lizzy. This is not a change just maybe a suggestion that you know I believe given um the level of urgency and you know action that's now in process with this. I sort of see this being almost like a standing agenda item for us um when we're meeting while this is underway. you know that we're um not just for us as a committee to be receiving updates and discussing the progress um and adjustments that need to continue to be made potentially, but just it's also an important way to keep the work visible and transparent for the community um through that through that way. So that's just one thing I'm thinking about. And you know

080on that point like I think I'd um reserve the right to continue thinking about this as well you know um and appreciate the opportunity John to like stay in communication with you to keep iterating um this including in response to feedback that we're receiving from the community. Um so yeah that feels important um as like part of my mindset as we are at this point in the process. Um, but I I I will just say the su the student handbook piece, you know, you provided additional clarity, John, and I appreciated it. Like the school committee will be in a position um in a mid August. So, you know, in 6 weeksish, uh, we'll be in a position of voting the the current updated handbooks which pertain to a wide swath of issues, you know, that

081touch all aspects of of this the district, not only this very important set of issues. We will have to approve those handbooks even knowing that they are very much still imperfect at that point in time because they will not yet have received these updates. So I think just I'm you know that that will not feel I don't think easy at that point in time for me. I'm just anticipating that. But it it's helpful knowing that we're looking at some very clear um you know goals within the near future still um and that we're not we are not content to just kick the can down the road with this. I think obviously we are all understanding through through what happened that that's it's never been acceptable. It's it's even more unacceptable at this point, which is

082why we're not doing that. So, um yeah, I appreciate the opportunity to have this dialogue tonight. >> Yeah, John. >> I I am also uh thankful for the dialogue tonight because it's been very hard in between meetings to stay in touch, right, with how we want to organize this in a way. So this this feedback uh in uh collaboration is really helpful to me and to Ker and to FA as we begin to you know we've already begun to think about the work. We thought we you know we think we have a good plan moving forward. We think we're answering a lot of the the concerns that were expressed in with the timeline and the condensed nature of the work. But uh I'm very thankful for this dialogue with the school committee. Uh I appreciate

083your involvement in your advocacy of the work. Um and uh so whatever modifications and iterations we have between now and when this work begins again will be all welcome in working together. We appreciate it. And I think to your point about the the handbook, Lizzie, I think the, you know, we can very easily say out loud during that motion and vote that this handbook is, you know, is being voted to start the school year, but we will be back uh at a certain date to revamp uh and retool the handbook with this uh section that is now missing that will be in it. And just be very clear. I think it's important for the record uh to to say those things out loud when we do take that vote just like I think it's important

084for our policies and our handbooks to be codified that these things stay in place uh for current groups of folks and educators and families and future folks uh to have in place. So uh we can codify that and I I think this is a plan that will work and we can you know modify and collaborate as we go. Nathan, >> thanks for using your hand this time, man. >> Yes, learned my lesson. Um, I have uh So, I have a a question I wanted to ask earlier and took my hand down. And so, it's on a it's on a it's on this topic, but off of school committee involvement. Is that I don't want to shift gears if people want to. >> No, no, I appreciate that naming that, but yes, that's fine. >> Yeah.

085Okay. Um, one of the things that these last few weeks have got me thinking about is um the district's bullying protocols and policies. Um, bullying incidents and incidents of bias and hate um are not twins, but they're cousins, I guess. Um, and I've wondered if if our if our bias and and hate protocols protocols for managing those incidents are inconsistent or weak. I it's made me wonder what our bullying um protocols look like. Uh, I know we have a bullying prevention plan. I know we have a policy on that. There's a law obviously, but I've wondered what it looks like in practice. Um and it is this has also got me thinking that if we develop uh protocols for for responding to incidents of bias and hate um it uh I've it it will be

086important to ensure that those somehow relate to our bullying protocols um in whatever way it should. And so I guess I just um we don't have to go like way down this rabbit hole because the work is just starting here, but I think I just wanted to u make a request John for you to just for you and the team to think about that and maybe uh communicate back to us at some point just number one confidence level on the districts um and our schools sort of compliance to bullying protocols and then just the intersection between these between these two issues. >> So, thank you Nathan for the question. I'll just try to provide a brief answer just so the public understands as well as the school committee how how we've been looking at that.

087We we have u FA uh shavers, Dr. Shavers and I have been looking at the tool that's currently in place that I think was re revamped somewhere around 22 23 and and I and I uh and we were struggling with um a process issue and also a technical issue. The technical issue first was we have to report out on discipline, we have to report out on bullying and we don't have to report out on hate. Um uh bias issues. Uh we were hoping to try to with our new student information platform to combine those three protocols and have the the the data that we enter when we're going through this process into one system so we could store it in one place. That really stalled us. It really like the tech the technical part became

088the challenge that was that was you know bumping up against us getting this work done. What we've realized over the last, you know, month and a half is that we just need to give up the fact that we try to make one size fit all and have our discipline information done in a way that's reported to the state like it always is and having that engaged. Our bullying protocols need to be, I think, revised back to where they should have been without any of the bias stuff that they tried to embed because it was confusing and it's not clear. And I think ultimately we'll end up with three different systems of data that we'll collect and it will be related to our discipline uh issues that we have and we report to the state. We'll

089have a clean bullying form and protocol that we'll go through that we've been using, but we've been trying to embed other things into it, which I think has led to some um confusion. And we'll have this new uh uh bias and hate protocol that will be separate. And and that's okay for now because we really want to clarify what the data looks like. We want to know how to put those reports to good use. And we do know uh in the world of a middle school or a high school or even sometimes unfortunately in our elementarymentaries that when a case is presented to you as a principal or a teacher or an educator that you don't know what kind of case it is until you start to collect some data and investigate. So we will

090rely on folks to pivot because some of these cases might be bullying and hate speech. They might be uh discipline and bullying. So that we already as practitioners we're aware of that. So we're prepared and have already discussed that we're thinking of having three streams of information and data collected that we can look at each one of those streams and in in the data involved in those so we can present that and I also believe and have said this to several folks independently that it shouldn't be a surprise how many uh hate incidents we have a bully incident and we should report out on that to the school committee in the community like three times a year or quarterly. So when someone says, "I wasn't aware that we had any hate incidents in schools. I

091I didn't know what happened." We don't need to go into the full detail of everything. But people should know that these things happen in our schools and that we're working at it and that um the reason why it's important is that no child should experience the first one, not let alone the eighth one that may happen by January 3rd. So we think we're going to have three streams of data to collect, three different protocols to implement. We're going to have to make that clear to the students and the families that report it externally into our system and also have that process internally uh utilized by our principles, assistant principles, and other folks that work through these incidents in each of these categories. So we can have really clean data and know exactly what's happening and

092have it be less confusing and more clear to our families who and students who report them uh and who to contact to Steviey's point. I contact this for a title N. I contact this person for bullying. I contact this person for title six. You know, we need to be clear about that. So our handbook needs work and we've already identified that. Our website and contact information that align to that needs to be updated. Um, and there's a lot of there's a lot of work to be done. And I think whatever worked happened in 2022 23 by embedding it probably felt like the right thing to do. But then when you tease it out from the backside and you actually start to operationalize it. We're just learning that it it's not working right now. And that's

093okay. We'll just pivot and try to be as clear as possible and streamline this in a way that makes sense. Uh, and if someone can figure out the algorithm to make it all work in the future, being the guy that still uses a, uh, legal pad of paper every day, uh, we'll let that technology person come in and figure that out after I after we get this work done, and they can kind of mel them together and align them, uh, at some point in time. And, and if that happens, that would be great as well. >> Great. Um I do want to be a little bit mindful of time and we have other agenda items but uh I know this is a very important conversation which is putting on members minds. Um Stevie. >> Yeah.

094Uh thanks Julie noted Mark. Um just a a couple of follow-up questions that are related to the data piece. Uh thanks Nathan for surfacing that. Um so uh right now there there is a a website of sorts for for bullying uh reporting. Um and then incidents of uh race uh you know um racism and bias and and things like that. Those are reported in a in a different way or they're meant to be reported through that same form. Um but then the data is the data teased out if it's reported through that same form. um so that you can get granular information about how what you know how many incidents of this happened, how many incidents of that happened etc etc as of right now or is it all just under one big bullying umbrella

095when we do data collection >> the uh so right now the the the bias and hate speech was tried was embedded into the bullying language so it would say bullying with race bullying with LGBTQ and not every case of hate speech has a bullying element to it that's why it doesn't Right. >> And combined with that, just like the district system for having this kind of protocol and information in the handbook is not present, >> that that tool is not being used to the fullest effectiveness. So the data that we're collecting is probably inaccurate or not full or not complete. So, as I've said a couple of times this year, we have many systems in the district that need to be strengthened or put in place uh that have uh been um those routines and

096expectations have not been in place. And so this that bullying report example Stevie is one example of not only do we need to put the explicit language in the handbook and the explicit protocols in the handbook and collect the data. We also need to make sure that our leaders and staff understand that this is exactly the tools that we will use and we will collect the data on and we will have to do it with fidelity because it only works if we actually put the data in it and can report out on it. So uh we we have failed in both of those arenas quite frankly and that's part of what's shining a light on this uh as well. So we're ready to kind of encompass that work into it as well. >> Okay. So

097uh when we are saying that you know there's a a reporting tool and data collection process that'll be finalized for this upcoming school year. It's almost like starting fresh in terms of the data. So you know there there will be old data but it's kind of dirty I guess in a way and you know >> it's not comprehensive. Correct. Okay. Um and so with that data collection in mind and with the the context that the existing data is um you know not clear and potentially not even accurate with this working group and the work that uh it's embarking upon. What is the criteria for success? Like how do we know that this worked that we're going in the right direction? what um you know I I guess um how do we know how do we

098measure the success of this working group and I feel like the data comes into that a bit. So can you can can you talk about the plan for that? >> Yeah. So I think that the success for the working group will be presenting uh a protocol that they feel that that group feels addresses the explicit representation of what the process will be when these incidents occur. the clarity of which it's communicated, the timing of the communication, the who of the communication, the decision points that the leaders will have to make during that process, and then the tool will be something that Dr. Shavers can introduce into that group to say this is what we've already been working on. And that tool is going to have to be separated from bullying and then this protocol and

099we'll let folks know how we're going to collect that. The so that that will be the success of that working group. If that's introduced into that process and we have an explicit tool, the tool matches up with our our ability to have folks report it and how we can create the mechanism to report the data back out to folks. The success of it will be how well do we human beings use it and with the fidelity that we collect it and we also respond to the incidents that occur by using it each time that those responses happen. And I think that I would reserve the right to say that despite the fact that this group will do a great job, maybe by the end of June next year, we'll say, you know what, the tool

100needs like three updates or we need this something to happen that's a little different or we've learned after executing time and time again that there's a a missing piece here that we want to adjust. And I think we should leave ourselves open to that discussion after we have that, you know, after we execute um after we utilize the the tool in the process. And I think it's always good to challenge your assumptions at the end, take a look and then uh make edits where needed at the end of the year. >> Yeah, absolutely. Uh that's that's great. Um because for me it's um you know I' I've seen a lot of situations not necessarily here but where you know with all good intentions a problem is identified you know a process is put together things

101are put on paper group is put together and then it is forgotten and I think every process needs to be uh reviewed and revisited and and measured for you know whether or not it's still um effective um and uh and so I think it'll be important um for the school committee um to to continue this work once this is done to continue, you know, doing a check-in, have some milestones, where are we in, you know, x amount of months or what have you, where are we in x amount of quarters, um and being open to coming back and and and revisiting it and and redoing it and changing it if need be. So, yeah. >> Nice. Um I had all my stuff to leave. I have just two things I questions or comments on. First

102is I appreciate you talking about the selection criteria for the families and the desire for these different backgrounds. I guess I had a question about the staff selection. I see that you tried to get variation across uh campus and obviously you have both the the school leader and then you have the teacher. um which again I think is great to get both those perspectives uh and how they engage with these these incidents. Was there any um consideration of the staff demographics or identity of bringing that lens into the work? Especially how we know how over relied upon our you know staff members of color can be in responding to these incidents of hate as being somebody seen like that they can um even in this scenario right as like somebody who feels like they can

103talk to it and and leaned on. I think there's a balance there of not over relying on those staff members for these types of things and putting all the work on them and also ensuring that perspective and voice is is brought in and so I understand that balance as you're you're thinking about this but mostly just wondering you know how those kind of the principles there's obviously a small pool right there there's the principles are the principles and so I understand and unfortunately we do not have a a very diverse district and that's something we're working on and you you've talked about that with the um teachers lounge itself and so that naturally kind of narrows the gap further. Um, so I'm rambling a little bit here, but yeah, mostly saying from the teacher selection

104perspective, was that a consideration? And just walk me through that a little bit. >> Yeah, we didn't have that big of a turnout for folks looking to get involved. We had to do a little bit of recruiting and we were trying to recruit folks who felt passionate about the about the work in general. And we believe that the folks that we have on there are connected to the work in a way that they feel strongly about uh how these situations manifest in school and how they feel strongly about wanting to make sure that they're done on behalf of the students that they serve in the right way. So uh we we didn't have enough folks to be able to be as uh descri you know to look at it in a way where we could

105had a pick and choose. We actually had to actually go out and and ask some of the folks who we know that are actively involved in some of the work with students around these issues to to to jump on board because we know that they're passionate. So, they gladly stepped forward in the end and um that that's how they were chosen. >> Great. I guess that brings me to the second point which is voice outside of the working group. I think I appreciate you said originally that you know this is something the committee itself will think about of like how to bring in parent voice. I just say for myself I think that is a really important piece of and you said it before of like you can't have everybody on the committee. That's totally

106right. you can share the work with everybody right through like other avenues whether it's the Google surveys or PTO meetings or other community meetings specifically targeted to kind of feedback on this issue and I think that's something that I'd be you know I'm excited the committee to talk about I I certainly think that group can get good ideas of how to get kind of larger community input but I just think that that is going to be really essential to say you know let's take this this very um smart intelligent group put together kind of a pro protocol and then bring that out to others, share that to get other great ideas and mindset similar I think to the protocol you were trying to use at at the Tucker event that you put on which again

107was really appreciative of of like share that get some additional feedback go back to the committee this earth or this working group and have them iterate that personally is something I'd like to make sure happens before kind of the final draft even comes to the full school committee just so that there's more voice because that is something I think is is just really important especially for those folks who raised their hand volunteered and again agree it's not going to be a productive group if you have 50 people it's just not um but giving them opportunities to to share voice and then even within that staff perspective just understanding that the staff there is probably not a very diverse group and so is there touch point with the affinity group or other ways in which we

108can make sure we are pulling in kind of um the few diverse staff members numbers we have and get that voice or the just that ensure we're getting that lens and perspective in on whatever this protocol is to your point just to make sure we're building as strong a tool as we possibly can from the get-go and then certainly agree with you that will be this thing will need to be iterated like any policy kind of to Steepy's point >> okay >> sorry I mentioned time and then I went Uh any other final thoughts, feedback folks want to share on this topic? >> Expect that this will be on an agenda when we return in June. I'm sorry, in August. Uh all right. If not, then I will um we can move on to the

109second item of the superintendent report, which is the letters of sport for the town of Milton. >> Sure. Thank you. Uh uh Mark, um we were asked by uh town administrator Nick uh Milano uh to support um the and you have in your packet a uh climate leaders municipal decarbonation roadmap. uh not not being part of the road map in this work with our town partners, but understanding that when folks are putting this kind of work in to ensure that all departments and all community uh groups are buying into uh this kind of work that they need votes from certain folks in order to then go out and reach for grants. And so, uh, we have a they have a June 30th deadline to be able to get some, uh, approvals in place that would,

110uh, show and demonstrate, you know, broad support across the town of Milton in order to get, um, some grants, uh, filled out and hopefully get funding for things that could happen uh, that benefit the town of Milton from a sustainability perspective. uh when they pres when I when this finally got to us, we didn't have any more policy meetings nor school committee meetings. So, we were trying to figure out a way that we could support it within the bylaws needed, but also not say it was a school committee policy because we haven't voted it as a policy. So, the language that we're using in this letter of support that we ran by Nick and the members of uh the uh the uh climate group that he's working with was for me to write two letters

111that have been put in your folder. uh one to the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources to say to whom it may concern as superintendent of the Milton Public Schools, I'm writing to confirm that the schools have approved the town of Milton zero emissions vehicle policy. Now, we don't have to have a school committee policy on that, but we can share our support and intent to support that work moving forward. and if need be uh come the fall uh we if there's any policies that we would need to incorporate we can do so at that time. The second letter uh uh to Nick uh from me was to whom it may concern as superintendent of the Milton public schools I'm ready to confirm the schools have approved the town of Milton's municipal decarbonization roadmap. Uh so

112this is just getting uh and putting and codifying and putting on paper that the school department supports this work so this team can go out and apply for grants and if there's any further commitments or policies or support we can provide moving forward especially when we get together in late August mid August uh we will gladly do so in order to support the effort. This is all uh good work in the town. This is why we have solar panels on our schools. This is why we have no idling signs outside our buildings. This is why we use certain types of cleaners uh that are sustainable and and and clean etc. So uh we are always wanting to support this work and uh given the time frame that we have uh these letters would suffice at

113this point in time and I wanted to make sure that the school committee was aware that we were partnering with this group uh that it did not include a policy at this time and we can do so later. Uh but these letters would allow them to move forward. um uh in a way that would be more robust in their application process moving forward. So, we're hoping to get your general approval of me providing these documents to Nick tomorrow to give to that climate team in order for their work to move forward by June 30th. >> Yeah, to be clear, there's no vote here. It's just anybody have objections? Uh just a little bit of additional color maybe for the public at large remain for y'all. Obviously, these are things that have been discussed at town

114meeting too and uh voted on. I think town meeting voted to kind of adopt the um climate uh draft kind of climate road map something like that and obviously had to vote on solar panels things like that. So um also just naming that Alex Hasha who runs the climate action planning committee uh called me like last week or something talking about this um trying to create this closer connection. We've obviously had a a different member kind of be on that committee. Stevie is now our elected member to that committee. He is anticipating that there's going to be a lot more uh productive work kind of over the coming year. We're having kind of an active member of the school committee. It was very excited that was an actual school committee member. So um you know

115hopefully you know we'll defer to Stevie there on providing the updates and things like that but hopefully that committee has has more things and we can stay more connected so these things don't sneak up on us. So apologies for that. the members. Any questions folks have? Nathan, >> uh, not a question, just to say, um, I think it's great that the town is doing this. Our our schools are some of our biggest emitters of emissions. So, decarbonizing those buildings over the next 15 years or whatever the road map says, um, will be really important work. So um and that I' I've worked closely with the group that produced that roadmap called power options and there's there they they bring to the table a wide range of creative ways to execute these projects and finance them

116and all that. So happy to endorse it. >> Thank you. Other questions. >> Okay. Again, we're not taking vote. So any objections? Is anybody upset with the letters? Opposed to John sending out those letters. Speak now or forever hold your peace. Seeing no objections, John, I think you have your your go-ahad to send those over. >> Thank you very much. We'll send them over to town hall tomorrow. >> Great. Anything else in the superintendent report? >> No, thank you for I'm glad we're having this meeting tonight. It allows us to get some important work done. So, thank you. >> Yes. Thank you so much to all the members for your flexibility. Uh, moving on to the superintendent search committee report. Other timely update, Lizzie. >> Sure. Yeah, thanks. So, um, grateful for the opportunity to

117bring this update, um, here since we're having this meeting timed by the, um, contract ratification. I uh do acknowledge that the timing of the superintendent search subcommittee work that we've done uh we were doing up until this morning. And so, uh, we were able to share with you in the packet a draft, um, of a scope of work that we are hoping to discuss, um, and we'll need to get approval from the full school committee ultimately before we would then uh, be able to send it out um, to solicit quotes from consultants uh, that we would be looking to uh, use for running our superintendent search process over the coming months. So uh just to sort of high level summarize um this document uh we have created based on reviewing uh some different samples from

118different districts that have done versions of this process of um soliciting bids or quotes from uh contractors, consultants who are search firms essentially that run superintendent searches. Um we have also worked together as a subcommittee to kind of make sure it reflects some of the unique um priorities for our situation here in Milton. Um the document uh first starts with like the uh scope of work having several sections. general duties and responsibilities. Uh stakeholder engagement and profile development which would be like the first phase of the search work. Uh followed by the process of recruiting and sourcing candidates for the applicant pool. screening and conducting the interview process um with a screening panel uh that will include members of our s school committee subcommittee um as well as members of from the community um and

119the district employees. Um and then the process of finalist selection and followup which is when um the screening panel will deliver finalists to the full school committee. We will conduct finalist interviews from there. Um, so as we've sort of generally discussed in the past, we're interested in having this process run professionally um, so that we make sure we have the most rigorous and well-run process we possibly can so that we can end up with the best possible result in our next superintendent. Um, and the scope of work in includes details um, of what we are looking for someone to propose to us. Um something that's still in process is the research to identify firms that this would be sent out to once it's approved. Um there is also a final layer that we would work

120with the finance department to ensure compliance with relevant you know procedures and and laws around school finance as we send this out. So, in asking for the school committee's approval of the substance of the scope of work, it's really about the phases and the things that we're prioritizing the consultant will deliver to us. Um, and we are going to be happy to we we have already identified two very strong um firms that we intend to send this to. Um, and we are open to additional ones and still doing research um on who else we would want to send this to and request a quote a quote from them. So, uh, that's kind of where we're at. And, uh, Stevie or Nathan, anything you want to add on the work we've done so far? Okay. So,

121do any uh basically Bow, Anna or Mark have questions on what you see here or um feedback you would like us to incorporate. Um we also understand if you need more time to review this in which case we would set up a subsequent meeting. It would need to take place however within the next couple of weeks because we don't want to delay sending this out. Um we are hoping to identify the partner hopefully by the end of July. Um so that we can at least by early August like spend a couple of weeks in preparation to launch the s the formal process as we go back to school with the community. Um, so no pressure and you know if you need more time to review it then we would just uh request a follow-up meeting

122for a quick approval subsequent to this. But any questions that you have or feedback at this time? >> Uh I'll jump in again. Appreciate yall's work on this and moving quickly. Uh only ones that I had just questions on. I assume a lot of this is taken from kind of um other exemplars as you kind of mentioned. Uh page three, section 5, FNG. Uh those two clauses seem potentially great, but also potentially really costly for the vendor. And so I'm just mostly wondering they're they're around um them essentially redoing the whole process again in the event that somebody quits after two years or that we don't end up hiring anybody they present to us. uh and doing that with the line saying at no additional cost that was just the part that so I imagine

123that's a lot of additional cost for them and then so therefore I assume they're going to build some of that within the initial fee to cover them in case but if this is a very standard like thing within these then I assume that's not a big deal but that was my only wish otherwise it look great >> both of those points were standard included in several exemplars um but I will say we discussed this this morning. The I um in the original text that we had u sort of used to model this part, it did reference um that the um consultant could be reimbursed for travel costs associated with the need to redo the search, but that that was it. So, we did choose to remove the um point about reimbursing travel just because that

124felt uh like then we would actually not have been able to budget for that. Um and so we decided to streamline that by taking it out. Um but the rest of the language that you see here, it does appear in different versions and different um ones that appear as exemplar. So, I think it really just indicates the high bar for the search in the beginning in the first place. You know, that we're expecting a successful search, not a failed search. Um, and we are asking someone who, >> you know, that's what they're being ready to deliver. >> Yeah. If it is standard, that's great. I was just worried that that might scare some some folks off. Um, but >> it might scare some off. That's like that's true. >> I think that um >> the

125like the but there are definitely very like uh reputable firms that accept this as standard. >> Great. That was my only question. Thank you. Any other questions? Okay. >> If not, this is something we're going to vote on. So, if I hear no, I will take a motion. I would Oh, go ahead, Nathan. >> I will make a motion to approve the superintendent search scope of work. >> Is there a second? >> I'll second that. >> Great. Any further discussion? If not, it'll be a roll call vote. Uh, BA, >> yes. >> Lizzy, >> yes. >> Stevie, >> yes. Nathan, >> yes. >> Anna, >> yes. >> And I'm a yes. Thank you very much to the committee. Really appreciate your work on it. And Trev along. Uh, next up, finance subcommittee report, approval of

126vendor warrants. Any vendor warrants you want to let us know, Nathan, that you have signed? Yeah, I have signed vendor warrant 523.98, vendor warrant 50 in the amount of $657,77.72. And then I have signed vendor warrant 51. Um, but I I actually have not received the digital copy of that. Um, I just signed it while I was while I was there signing other vendor warrants, so I can report back on that next time we meet the exact amount that was that was approved. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, Nathan, could you when you get the digital ones, could you just forward it to all the members? >> Oh, sure. Yeah. >> Great. Just so there you have that. Uh, great. Uh, that is it for finance committee. We'll move right along to item number nine, adjournment.

127Thank you all so much for your time and flexibility meeting today. Um, do I have a motion >> to make a motion to adjurnn? >> Great. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Great. Thank you all again. Uh, all in favor go around the horn bow. >> Yes. >> Lizzie, >> yes. >> Stevie, >> yes. >> Nathan, >> yes. >> Anna, >> yes. >> Na, yes. Thank you everybody. Thank you, John. >> Thank you. Good night. >> Good night.