001All right. Um, let's see. so much. board grows. I need you to know that what reaches you is only a fraction of what I resolve myself or I resolve with others or I attempt to resolve myself daily. Successful conflict resolution pockets do exist throughout the district. Please know that if any given issue reaches the board, it has often been developing for months or even years and has broken down for various different reasons causing the issue to grow larger and wider from Drummond as to the role of school boards in Maine to ensure schools are well operated by setting policy. They are accountable to the community they represent with a focus on prioritizing the needs of children and ensuring the district meets state standards. Stepping back, I see this increased engagement with the board stemming from
002an overwhelming crisis across the district of trust born from places within the PPS where different parties have been trying for a long time and where communication has essentially broken down. And from where I sit, I see the blame for broken down communication being pointed at from every angle. The blame we throw at each other derails any progress. It waves us to us from the corners just to remind us that trust is broken and it can feel like the heavy metal doors of a storefront locked for the night double locked at the bottom leaving no entry point. Uh can I put out a suggestion to everyone in this room that we start talking to each other in an effort to clarify our core values not in any kind of develop schedule PD kind of way and
003not asking anyone to lead that work but in our casual conversation starting tonight. What are our shared core values in the Portland public schools? When do they apply and to whom do they apply? On the strategic plan under people, one goal stated is to refine and implement recruitment, selection, and support systems to enhance the quality and demographic diversity of our staff. I read this as a core value, a shared core value. But regarding the mention of support systems to enhance the quality and demographic diversity of the staff, does that apply to all staff or just to some? Is there an internal hierarchy determining who gets support and cannot? >> May I have one more minute? >> 30 seconds. >> Okay, I'll read fast. All of this, the seeking of shared understanding of the core values
004of our district and who they apply to is of course in the service of prioritizing student needs. Students watch how we as staff communicate and how we support one another. how we resolve conflicts, how we listen to each other, what and who we prioritize, and what and who we do not. Students are our observers and recordkeepers. The most powerful curriculum we teach is the example that we set. A couple of months ago, when speaking to you all, I asked you to pay attention to when many people approach the mic or write to the board about any given issue. Tonight, I ask you again, when many approach the microphone or write to you about any given issue in our schools, be they staff, students, parents, or community members, please listen. Please, please pay attention. Thank you.
005Thank you. Yeah. Yeah, we just are having a Zoom issue, so um we're going to fix that really quickly. Thank you, Greg. >> Okay, you can come on up. Good evening, uh, board members, Vice Chair Bondo, Chair Lent, Superintendent Scallan. I'd like to introduce myself to you. My name is Josephine Tibbitz. My neighbors in district 3. To my neighbors in district 3, I'm a resident. To my students, I am simply Miss Tibbitz, or as they have affectionately dubbed me, a goat. I am the descendant of stolen Ghanian Africans and Irish immigrants. I grew up in Michigan, but I've called Maine my home since 2008. I'm a I am a musician, a cyclist, and a basketball player. A pretty good one at that. But at my core, I'm a helper. I began my career as a
006social worker and worked in that field for 17 years. But four years ago, I finally found the courage to pursue what I know is my true passion, teaching. I completed a rigorous 9-month M's program while interning at Lyman Moore. I didn't just work there. I became a part of the fabric of that community and I was hired to be a part of the team. My background in coaching, mentoring, working with residential settings, youth detention centers, and now to add to that list, being an educator has taught me some fundamental truths about leadership. I only have time to share a few. Leadership is relational. Psychotherapist and Holocaust survivor Estair Prell once said, "The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives." In a classroom, this is the law of nature. If a student does
007not feel seen, heard, and understood, it is difficult for them to learn. Leadership is trust. It turns out that trust is in fact earned in the smallest of moments. It is earned not through heroic deeds or even highly visible actions, but through paying attention, listening, and gestures of genuine care and connection. Leadership is vulnerability. Vulnerability is not weakness. It is the most accurate measure of courage. Leaders must engage in honest, often difficult conversations, have the courage to take accountability, and lead with integrity. Audrey Lord writes, "It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences. Leadership embraces diverse perspectives. As a district, we speak off often of diversity and inclusion. To me, those aren't just line items in a policy handbook or a highlight in a
008strategic plan. It is the grueling daily work of identifying and dismantling the barriers that keep our students from seeing themselves reflected in their teachers. It means creating spaces where every voice is heard, especially the ones that have been historically silenced. This brings me to the concept of power. Leadership is not power. In education, we too often see power over a rigid hierarchy that stifles growth and demands compliance. and not just in the classroom. I choose to use my position of power to cultivate an inclusive, empathetic, loving culture alongside my students because power at its best is love. I have given my heart to this community, often wondering in the quiet moments if the impact I hoped for was truly being felt. In this current moment, though, receiving so much love and support and advocacy means
009everything to me and has prompted me to reflect many times, how did I get so lucky? Can I have 30 seconds, please? How did I get so lucky? It is a powerful and humbling reminder that the impact I've always wanted to make is real and aligns with my deepest value, reciprocity. This moment is not a game of who holds the most power to use against another. This is not a political maneuver. This is my life. What I've learned most of all is that my integrity is the only power that I need. I have grown immensely at Lyman, not just as an educator, but a human being. My students aren't just names on a roster. They are my kids and we are a community. We are more together. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Please refrain
010from responding in the audience. >> Okay, go ahead. >> Superintendent, board members, student representatives. I'm David Hilton. I live in district 3. I'm a longtime social studies teacher at Lyman Moore. I've collaborated with more than a dozen student teachers. For the past decade, I've been involved in the district's efforts to recruit and retain teachers of color. There have been major achievements, including the Teach Portland internship program and the hiring toolkit, which guides interview teams. We've dedicated ourselves to making pathways for black teachers to succeed. According to the toolkit, 50% of our students are students of color while 9% of our staff is. The toolkit says given the demographics, PPS has an acute need for teachers of color. And it says our strategy begins with an equity hiring approach and equity oriented onboarding, support, and retention.
011We've made strides. Many of the educated educators of color on our staff are here tonight or watching on Zoom or worried about retribution. They all want to insist that we move forward. In that vein, I'd like to take a moment to honor the great Mayor Gerald Talbet, who passed away this weekend. My former student teachers and I have used his work and his words in our classrooms. He was devoted to teaching and preserving black history in Maine. Can you imagine the embodiment of Gerald Talbot's legacy? I can imagine a teacher who impresses with her competence, a trained therapist, someone who chooses our district in our school as a place where they can make their biggest impact on students. Imagine their complete devotion to Lyman Moore. Imagine them excelling in their social studies classroom, loving our
012students. David, you are very close to talking specifically about an individual. So, please take out the specifics >> and making their classroom the space where they are most at home in the world. Imagine their work and inimitable voice resonating with students. Imagine the rigorous class where student learning excels, where they hold students to account. Imagine they connect to students broadly and deeply and their colleagues come to love and respect them. Imagine that losing them from our staff would be a deep cut to the school community and the heart of the district's equity work. Imagine their leading role in developing and piloting black history curriculum. Imagine them as descendants of enslaved Ganaans, someone whose deeply felt lessons have the power to reach all learners in a way that most others cannot. Imagine they model comp confidence
013and humility and are accountable for their words and actions because honorable leaders admit their mistakes. Imagine making it possible for her to carry on Mr. Talbot's legacy. My former student teacher is she who must not be named tonight. All the speakers here will try to follow your policy, but make no mistake, we are here to seek reinstatement. I would welcome the opportunity to speak with anyone here in private to discuss this matter. Thank you. >> Thank you. We're going to go. Please refrain from responding in the audience. Um we're going to go on to Zoom now and then we'll come back to the um uh live podium. So Chloe, go ahead. Chloe, are you there? >> Yes. Can you hear me now? >> Yes. Go ahead. >> Hi. Okay. Hello. My name is Khloe Hier.
014I'm a row parent and I'm an art teacher for the district currently on child rearing leave. I am speaking in solidarity. Um I wish I were there in person, but I am very much there in spirit. I am speaking for educators who exemplify what a PPS educator should be. Passionate, somebody who puts students first and who stands up for what is right. I'm speaking for educators who like in the district's own words are educators who quote make learning engaging and import empowering. When I read a recent article in the Portland Press Herald, I was shocked and disgusted. But I have to say I was not surprised. I was not surprised because this is a pattern a pattern of passionate equity focused and often bipac and or queer educators, staff and leaders either moving away from
015or being or push being pushed out of PPS after after listening to hours and hours of countless stories back in November. I hope you can see this is a pattern too. What I was surprised about more recently though is how emboldened the action of a district leadership was. To have an educator um not be renewed be after boasting about this educator um with an award and on a public forum is unheard of. Leadership's lack of fear of accountability is utterly transparent. This is a clear case of retaliation. I only the only appropriate act appropriate action by the board would have been to take action immediately. But since we are past that, I'm imploring you to figure out a way to take action now. While I believe some of you on the board seem to be
016explaining things away or acting to protect instead of acting to make change, I do see that some of you are clearly invested in making change to support our teachers, students, and the public's interest. This brings me to a concerning another concerning pattern I have seen. What I see is that when someone attempts to propose an amendment or a motion that counters or pushes against district leadership or the board leadership, the board member is faced with condescending questions about their purpose. The job of a board chair is to facilitate the meeting and to recognize the motion or amendment not to pass judgment. This fact leads me to doubt that the board has properly onboarded new onboarded new board members. Robert's rules of order are complex. >> 30 seconds. >> I know this. You know this. So
017why are you not supporting more? Um can I have an extra 30 seconds as well? >> Yes. >> Thank you. So why are you not supporting board members to properly learn parliamentary procedures in order to empower them to make change instead of instead it feels like they are belittled for not knowing the rules well enough. So, board chair Lince, this is a specific request for you. Please, rather than just sending board members to more outside meetings, create your own system for onboarding board members so that they are adequately familiarized with Robert's rules order so that they are empowered to make the change the public is asking them to make. And if an amendment or a motion is not properly presented, work with that board member. Don't dismiss them. We all want meetings that are fair
018and efficient. Finally, I want to remind you that the reason you have not heard from me more these last few years is because I also fear retaliation. I the concerns I share tonight and that you hear from others are not isolated. As you were told in November, let me remind you that there are countless voices that you are not hearing because of a culture of fear and a broken trust. Again, it is time to take action now. Thank you. >> Time, Chloe. Thank you. We'll go in person now. >> Hello. Hello, board. Uh, my name is Mo Nunees. I live at 42 Chesley Avenue. I'm a 25-y year education veteran. I've taught high school and higher ed courses. I'm a former administrator. I'm an executive coach to principles and superintendent across the country. I train
019pre-ervice teachers and coach firstear educators also nationally. I'm the co-founder of Baxter Academy here in Portland, Maine, and I've had consulting contracts with PPS. I currently teach courses at UNH and Vermont Graduate Law School on education equity issues. Recently, I participated in a study with the New Hampshire Department of Education, several education nonprofits, and the University of UNH to study the effects of bipac teachers and bipac staff on high school and uh rather on K to2 uh students. Uh, one of the things we found was just one educator in the 13 years that a student has, if that one educator is of color, just one out of all the teachers they have, it has profound effects postgraduation. That just one out of 13 years. I just want to highlight that. Um, I'm here to speak
020on behalf of PPS students and PPS educators. Um, imagine a teacher that has never been the subject of a counseling memo, never received a letter of reprimand or any kind of formal warning from their administrators or the district. Imagine that this teacher is also described by their colleagues and students as amazing and dedicated and has actually puts action behind those words. Imagine a teacher that is featured on the PPS Instagram account with a post that might begin, "We are PPS celebrating incredible teachers." Here's one of them. And concludes with, "Thank you for your commitment to your students, hypothetical teacher." Between March 17th, 2025 and May 11th, 2026, PPS Instagram made 576 posts. 200 of those 29 posts featured classroom teachers. Five of those 229 posts featured an award for set teachers. One of those awards,
021imagine that it featured our hypothetical teacher who is so fantastic that there were one out of five that PPS chose to highlight. When I put on my admin hat, my consulting hat, my coaching hat, I find this hypothetical situation troubling. either Portland public schools jumps at the opportunity to highlight BIPAC staff members and talk at length about their commitment to equity and then fail to advocate for said BIPOC staff and educators in any meaningful and authentic way thus only benefiting themselves or PPS drops the ball and highlights a teacher who is doing a terrible job highlighting its own incompetence and negligence among administrators and others. I've consulted with many districts where bipac classroom educators are expected to be the ones to take care of and advocate for bipok students with no support and no financial
022incentives. And yet again, I'm asking for 30 seconds. Okay? >> And then again, these districts have the gall to turn around and say, "Look at our commitment to said, you know, to the marginalized folks in our community." I would hate to find out that PPS is following that script. PPS cannot and should not have it both ways. Retaliation is when whistleblowers, those whistleblowers being those who critique and call out those in power, uh, often face retaliation and fear retaliation. Um, I would hope that PPS supports educators who do speak truth to power and stand up for their students and get reciprocal respect and admiration uh, and not just be used as tokens for PPS's uh, back padding around their commitment to DEIG. >> Thank you. >> I'll ask again. Please do not respond in the
023audience. That protects us. So if we have alt-right people or conservative people here that come and want to cheer for hate language, it protects that. That's why the rule exists. So I would ask you to not respond. Coming up. >> Uh good evening. My name is Tan Twig. I'm a teacher at Lyman Middle School. Um I did forward this public comment to you uh earlier today. Um, dear members of the board, uh, diversity is not an idea that we aspire to in public Portland public schools. It is a material fact. Our students do not choose their zip codes. They arrive in our buildings crossing lines of class, race, language, and experience that many will never cross again after they leave. That involuntary proximity is not a problem to manage. It is the most educationally and
024civically valuable condition we produce. and reproduce it nowhere else in public life at the same scale or with the same stakes. That condition does not sustain itself. It requires adults in the building who bring different relationships to power, different ways of reading a room, different knowledge about whose experience gets named and who gets ignored. Educators of color are not in our buildings to represent an idea. They are here because their presence changes what is possible in a classroom. what gets questioned, what gets seen, what students navigating race, class, and language understand about who gets to ask hard questions of the world that they are inheriting. This is not a symbolic contribution. It is a pedagogical one, and it is inseparable from excellence. This board unanimously approved a strategic plan committing this district to quote, refine
025and implement recruitment, selection, and support systems to enhance the quality and demographic diversity of staff. It commits us to being a district that, in its own words, vigilantly supports each student to achieve their potential and roots out systemic inequities. It commits us to expanding outcomes for chronically underserved students. Students for whom a trusted educator who shares or understands an experience is not a bonus, but a condition of access. If we cannot commit to retaining outstanding educators of color who serve those students every day, then what exactly are we pursuing with the strategic plan? Tonight, this board will vote to approve the probationary teachers list. I ask that you consider what the composition of that list communicates about this district's actual commitments because that list and your vote is a document that will tell this community
026what this institution is actually willing to defend when defense requires something. You can say the right things about equity and every district does. The question is what you will fight to protect when the cost is real. Thank you. >> Thank you. Go ahead. >> Hello, my name is Jacob and I live on Night Street. I was a special education teacher and then special education coordinator at Lyman Moore for nine years. Right now, we have a major problem in Portland public schools. Over the last month, multiple amazing teachers from one school have reached out to me for letters of recommendation or and or to ask advice on how to leave. Now, this may not seem like a big deal to you all, but if you remove a few of the strongest teachers from one school, the
027effect is going to be immense. There's so much that happens at a school that relies on teachers who go above and beyond. You want to have a dance, there's about 10 to 15 teachers who are willing to actually put in the effort and spend their personal time to make that happen. If you lose them, there won't be a dance. Field trips are amazing experiences for students. They take a lot of time and energy and teachers willing to put in the leg work to make those things happen. They are the ones setting the culture of a school and mentoring young teachers so that they can flourish. They're the ones leading teachers leading other teachers and teaching them how to create a safe space where all students feel welcome. According to a study from the learning policy
028institute, high teacher turner teacher turnover undermine student achievement and replacing teachover teachers consumes valuable staff time and resources. Additionally, losing teachers has a tremendous impact on teacher shortages, as most teacher vacancies are due to teachers leaving the profession before retirement. They found it costs an average of $25,000 to replace a teacher when recruitment, hiring, and training are all factored in. And when teachers leave within a few years, you lose out on that investment. This means what's happening in Portland public schools and especially at Lyman Moore is negatively impacting students and costing the district thousands of dollars. So my question would be when would the school board get involved? I want to quickly highlight some of the most troubling events I witnessed during my last year at Lyman Moore. I emailed the superintendent these concerns last
029July but with heard no response. The LGBTQ plus club was consistently treated as inferior to other clubs. For example, their decorations were taken down hastily and thrown away. Having guest speakers was an exa exhausting process. Field trips had to be justified numerous times. When other club leaders were asked, their experience was vastly different. Additionally, students with IEPs went and continued to go without special education services and case management. There was a major anti-semitic incident and there was no response from administration when a teacher to and a teacher was told via text message they were not allowed to get the Jewish students together to have a sense of community and support. So when are we going to hel hold leaders accountable for providing a safe environment and ensure schools are following the law? Can I have
03030 more seconds? I love Portland. It was heartbreaking when I was treated like garbage by a district I gave so much to. A parent told me she was worried about sending her daughter to Portland public schools. And sadly, I couldn't disagree with her. I want Portland schools to be a place where we can be proud of and tell people they're crazy to send their kids elsewhere. So, I ask of you, please stop the retaliatory practices happening in schools. Then create a system for teachers to have open and honest conversations with board members so you can have a true picture of what is going on. And lastly, please get involved with what's happening at Lyman Middle School. I would encourage you to talk to the teachers who aren't the ones that you hear from on a
031regular basis because they're busy teaching. Thank you. >> Thank you. Is there anyone in the room that would like to give coming up? Thank you members of the school board for this opportunity to speak. My name is Adele Efron. I am from Portland and I am an eighth grader at Lyman Middle School. I am concerned about how decisions are made about whether or not to let a teacher continue working at our school. The current process is not clear. I want to make sure that the Lyman community has been heard by the school and district leadership. We have teachers in our school who are kind, fun, safe, and encouraging who make who make our school a better and more welcoming place. I want to make sure that our school and community are supportive of these amazing
032teachers. I hope that you and other Portland leadership will take into account what the Lyman family has shared and done to support our families. Thank you, our teachers. Thank you for your attention. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the room that would like to give public comment? If so, please come up to the podium. And if you are online, please raise your Zoom hand. Hi, my name is Natasha Alexv. I'm a special education teacher at Lyman Middle School. Um, I want to start by expressing that I'm genuinely quite afraid of retaliation uh for speaking right now and for wearing this shirt today. I love my job. I love my co-workers and I really love my students. Um, and I have a nine-month old daughter at home who relies on my health insurance. Um, based
033on my own experiences with school and district leadership over the last year, especially, I fear retaliation now in my fifth year at Lyman Moore on a continuing contract more than I ever feared retaliation as a probationary teacher, despite having been elected to teacher leadership roles and being involved in schoolwide advocacy while probationary. Um, as you saw in the Press Herald, more students protested on April 17th. I also worked at Moore the last time our students protested in May of 2022. Four years ago, our students primary concerns were related to school and district leadership failing to adequately document, investigate, and respond to sports to reports of discrimination, harassment, and threats to safety. In the years since, there have been some positive strides, um, such as the addition of a culture and climate coordinator position, and we've
034added many exceptional new educators to our staff. I'm deeply grateful for the knowledge, dedication, and joy that my incredible colleagues, many of whom are here today, bring to work each day for our kids. At Moore, we have policies like a disciplinary response protocol that delineate responsibilities for staff when witnessing or responding to student reports of contextually inappropriate behaviors. This protocol outlines clear steps and boundaries for what's managed by staff on teacher contracts, edtech contracts, or unrepresented versus major issues like threats to safety that are supposed to be by school policy managed by administration. I observed that now more than ever, the majority of teacher and support staff colleagues are doing their part in following appropriate channels to report concerns. However, the followup from school and district leadership, especially when it comes to addressing discrimination and
035harassment, Title 9 reports, and threats to safety, is the same, if not worse, than it was four years ago. It is inconsistent at best and dangerously negligent at worst. A healthy school culture and our district strategic plan require students and staff be able to report serious concerns about discrimination, harassment, safety threats, and safety threats and trust that issues will be fully investigated, documented, and addressed. In order to maintain a safe and healthy school environment, staff must be able to advocate for changes without fearing retaliation. Respectful advocacy is not, as district leadership calls it, insubordination. Thank you. you can come on up. >> Good evening, superintendent, board, and student members. Uh my name is Drew Schmid. I teach at Lyman Moore. Um I want to speak briefly to uh just this pattern that I have witnessed
036over my time in four years while I'm in more of a breakdown in communication and leadership both in our school and in our relationship with the district. um where to begin. And I think this breakdown is threatening both these values of equity, achievement, and people that we put on our website. And it's showing that people in power are getting protection while those that are most vulnerable are being targeted. And I really want you to hear this message. And um I come to you not as an adversary, but really imploring you to um make this community and this district better. Um over the last few years, we've seen some of our best educators who are the best, not only because they're competent and dedicated, but because they speak out on behalf of their students and their
037colleagues, are systematically leaving or being pushed out. our special ed coordinator who speaks up on behalf of the rights of our special ed students being pushed out. Several of our most talented ML teachers whose work and whose program has been louded at Lyman also being pushed out and wanting to leave because they didn't feel respected and valued. Um, and now we have another valued member of our community, a very competent, talented educator also not returning possibly. We're hearing student voices saying that school leadership doesn't know their names, doesn't like them. We're feeling in our community a lack of safety, a lack of joy. And it's really troubling to see again some of our most talented, dedicated teachers being pushed out or leaving voluntarily for lack of respect while the proposed leader of our community, the
038role model and chief is being protected and and not being held to those same standards. And that's sending a really bad message to our students. I would hope that for a district that values people, equity, and achievement in education that you are trusting the voice of your students, your teachers to make this a stronger community. It's sad to watch at Lyman Moore that community which was so strong when I arrived eroding before my eyes. Um, thank you. >> Thank you. Uh, hi. Um, I think the district >> Could you introduce yourself first and just tell us what part of the city you live in? >> I'm from Portland. My name is Oliver and I'm in eighth grade. >> Thank you, Oliver. >> I think the district is making a huge mistake. There's no teacher more
039worthy of the certain teacher's job. This teacher has made me feel more comfortable in class and all her other students as well. She is the one teacher I know who sticks up for her students. Well, there's more, too. But she even won that basketball knockout which shows her school spirit. She understands her students and the unknown teacher deserves to stay. >> Thank you, Oliver. school. Good evening, school committee. Uh, my name is Kathy Ferrell and I worked in special education at Lyman Middle School for 21 years. I retired last year. I'm a resident of Portland, Maine, and I have four adult children that graduated from Portland Public School System. Normally, I'm here to fight for different departments when their budgets cut and things like that, but today we're here to get a reality check on
040what the heck is happening at Lyman Middle School, the school that I love, the school my kids loved. Um, my role at Lyman Moore, I had the pleasure of working with and around fabulous educators. Unfortunately, I also came across too many that had figured out the system and used it to get by as easily as they could and with little effort. There's been so much leadership turnover at Moore that it allows for staff behaviors to slip through the cracks until they are the norm, leaving us with systemic accountability problems. And since successive leadership teams, present one included, are letting that continue at the expense of good teaching. The result is bad behavior of adults is incentivizing. Scary and upsetting, but it's true. This is exactly why a certain staff person is aware of and is
041being punished for doing the right thing. Our students in our community will join her in paying consequences. As an educator and parents, we need to meet the students where they are and help them rise. Don't you agree? Amazing teachers understand exactly what this looks like. With the fluid class management and high expectations, they push our students to understand why they are learning what they're learning and help them do it in the most meaningful way. There is no set curriculum as a social studies teacher and yet they put together units that not only connect to each other fluidly, but connect to both our history and our present. And students respond. Just ask them. You've seen. They'll tell you she's tough, but they'll tell you she's amazing. Doesn't this sound like a person you would want to
042teach your own child? As a colleague, some teacher will step forward for the big tasks. Even as a new teacher, she is not afraid to do what is best for the students and support their experiences in our school. It is clear they work for what is right and just in a calm and compassionate way. When peers asked her to help with the climate culture in the building, of course she did. And this is the moment where the confusion began. Why? When one year earlier there was praise by the superintendent and principal for her work with kids and then unexpectedly her contract was not renewed. This is the second time in as many years as I've seen incredibly handson studentfocused colleagues get let go from Lyman Moore Middle School. We come here before our PPS leaders
043and recognize your ability to create a culture of student centered action, achievements, and accountability for high standards. Building leaders role is then to support their staff to maintain this mission of our school. You must be curious about why staff are being driven out. 30 seconds. How can we build an environment when someone calls out a problem with the intent to create a better situation for students? Why can't we invite all the parties into a conversation and work for a solution together? Please renew Josephine's contract. It is the right thing to do. >> Thank you. Hello. Uh, my name is Bill Blae. I'm the parent of a more middle schooler, not a student of the, uh, not to be named teacher. Um, I live off Washington enough. Um, I'm here tonight because my daughter uh is
044deeply confused about how a universally and publicly celebrated teacher can suddenly have their contract terminated without any explanation. And unfortunately uh the only answer I have for her is that this is 100% legal, which I unfortunately know from direct and current personal experience. Her response is angry and frustrated that this is not fair and she is 100% correct. Uh the situation is that this situation has fundamentally broken her understanding of the belief in a connection between legality and justice. and I don't know how to fix that. Again, please refrain from responding in the audience. Is there anyone else that would like to give public comment? Please come up. >> Hi there. Good evening, schoolboard members and chair. Um, uh, my name is Antonia Winter and I worked at Lyman Moore for 10 years. Um, I
045now work at Portland High School. I'm an EEL ESOL uh team member. Um, my two adult children went through Portland schools. I live on Peaks Island. I'm a voter in Portland. Um, so thank you for hearing these forthcoming remarks. Um, I would never give up the chance to speak on behalf of an excellent hypothetical educator. Um, I uh I feel really grateful that I have worked at Lyman Moore with some really remarkable teachers who are the beating heart of the school. Um, I guess I'd like you to imagine classroom preparation and capacity in a middle school setting that is truly unparalleled. Um, I would like you uh to imagine being a colleague of incredible people such as I was and having a really uh unbelievable capacity to have sort of an insider perspective into being
046a an emergent educator in a school setting um and and having an insight into so how someone prepares diligently each day for their classroom instruction. Um, I would like you to imagine an educator who really invites their students to be historians. I'd like you to imagine a classroom where we see primary sources, secondary sources, as well as visual and literary text abounding. I'd like you to imagine a Google classroom that is probably one of the richest resources that you will ever see compiled by an educator provided for students. I would like you to imagine that is it it is accessible to all learners. I would like you to imagine that is multi-dimensional and it offers an indivi invitation to learn that students just simply cannot resist. I'd like you to imagine an educator who is
047a remarkable communicator. I'd like you to imagine an educator who is seasoned, skilled, and mature in their planning, instruction, and preparation. I'd like you to imagine an educator coming to teaching after a longtime career as a social worker committed to working with children and families who has ample and nimble strategies and skills to connect with students across content, joy, conflict, emotion, and difference. As a longtime member of the ESAL Department of Portland Public Schools, I am aware, as I became aware of at my own interview in 2014, that the needs of long-term L's is at the crux and center of initiatives within Portland schools. This has been an ongoing uh uh initiative for decades. I'd like you to imagine classroom instruction that moves the dial for long-term L's linguistically, conceptually, and procedurally as these students
048embark upon a deep journey, a rich journey full of content, knowledge, and steeped in academic English in a singular classroom. >> Time. >> Can I have 30 seconds, please? Imagine a post civil war thematic unit lifted off in which students grapple with the social, economic, and political polarities that divided our nation. I'd like you to imagine each student writing a newspaper column highlighting the division and reparations of our nation trying to heal itself. I'd like you to imagine an opportunity to heal within the Portland public schools community. I'd like you to imagine the satisfaction and pr pride that was writ large on student faces palpable in their energy. I'd like you to imagine that these rich opportunities are available to students in classrooms in Portland and in an unnamed and unmentionable hypothetical classroom time. >>
049Thank you for hearing my comments. And if you want to submit the rest of them by email, you're more than welcome to. >> Okay. Thank you. before my time starts. I just want to uh pass something out to all the members. Hello, distinguished board members. My name is Carlin White House. I'm a math and health educator at Lyman Moore Middle School. Uh, Ella Baker said,"I have always thought what is needed is the development of people who are interested not in being leaders as much as in developing leadership among other people. I think about Ella all the time and how her philosophy of leadership applies to me personally, professionally, and also how it applies to my community and institutions. I believe that what we are experiencing at Lyman Moore Middle School right now and in the
050district at large is a crisis in leadership. I want to be clear. This is not to say that our leaders are failures. I believe that they have simply lost contact with what fuels our schools and school district and perhaps their own origin stories as educators. Through a series of ill-conceived decisions, they have painted themselves into a quarter corner. And rather than gain the council and support or consensus of their colleagues, they are stubbornly doubling down. The tension between the Lyman Moore community and its administrators is a self-inflicted wound. We feel dishonored and betrayed by the spirit that is opaque, unilateral. This community has demonstrated again and again that how we are almost entirely unified in our confirmation of a wonderful exceptional colleague and their qualities and what they represent to the education of Portlanders children's.
051Uh instead of being affirmed, we've been met with a campaign of domination, dismissal, and yes, dishonesty. Look at the turnover over the last two years at Lyman Moore. We have lost half a dozen or more wonderfully effective and compassionate educators, transformative educators who were central to our function and institutional identity. Make no mistake, we are still recovering and these losses are not coincidental. If the district displayed the wisdom to conduct exit interviews, the common threads would be made obvious. The past couple years, it sometimes feels that our triumphs and success has come not because of district leadership, but in spite of it. My deepest fear is that we will continue to lose our treasured educators. I resent staff being characterized as quote insubordinate. There is so much positive energy, expertise and wisdom in and around
052our building and it is hard to accept the fact that we are largely being ignored and invalidated. The current outcry whether student, parent or faculty protest is 100% organic and genuine. It comes from our heart. It comes from our our values. love. The PPS is not a dictatorship. The principal is uh the principal is not our commonant. The superintendent is not our sergeant- major. Yet, even in the military, there is room to disobey immoral or unethical orders. The decision to not renew she who must not be named is exactly that. We can c we can talk in circles around our efforts toward justice and equity, but when it matters most, it seems we return to antiquated and draconian styles of leadership because I said so is a crisis of leadership in the classroom. And it's
053the same in a principal office and the same in a superintendent's office. Let me highlight PPS's own literature relating to middle school design, one of our guiding principles. Quote, "We are committed to 30 seconds through." Thank you. quote, "We are committed to centering the voices of students, families, staff, and community members." With that in mind, I'd like to leave you with something that a Lyman Morris 8th grader wrote during their ongoing protests over the last couple weeks. It is proof proof positive that she who must not be named is a transc uh exemplifies the transcendent leadership that Ella Baker celebrated developing leadership among others. Each of you can have a copy so you know exactly what it means to them. It reads, "We all want everyone else to have the same experience we had with
054Miss Tibbitz. >> Yeah, you can you can sit down. Thank you. >> Please sit down. Thank you. Hi there. My name is Nori. Um, I live in Portland. I'm a Portland Public Schools alum. I graduated from Casco Bay High School in 2018. Um, I'm here in solidarity with the students and teachers at Lyman Middle School. I can't speak on the performance of this unnamed teacher, but I trust the Lyman Middle School community. Do you? I just learned about this policy prohibiting discussing personnel issues at these meetings. Um, it doesn't make a lick of sense if you ask me. And I'd like to give props to all of the folks who've spoken tonight who found ways around that. It's ridiculous policy and they're doing that because personnel issues are most important to students and teachers. That's
055who they're most relevant to. Um, I don't know who you consider yourself accountable to, but I believe your role is to serve the students. You cannot serve a population that is forbidden from discussing the issues that matter to them or who are in fear of retaliation for speaking out. In the context of a country falling deeper and deeper into fascism, we have an obligation to protect democratic systems at a local and community level. We have to take extra care to show young people that their views matter and that it is their right to make them heard. If, as I believe you are, or should be accountable to students and their needs, then these students are offering you a gift. You should be grateful that students care enough and are engaged enough in their education to
056say in no uncertain terms that Miss Tibbitz embodies who they need as an educator. It would be doing yourselves a disservice in our community, a disservice not to listen. Thank you. >> Thank you. Hello. Can you hear me? Hello. Thank you for being here. My name is Brody Wood. I grew up in Portland. Went to school, public school in Portland. Um, I went to Lyman Moore for a year. I am a former educator teaching artist in collaboration with the telling room. I've worked with more students, lots of um yeah, PBS students. Um, I feel so moved when I hear young people, adults, anybody talk about what they value in an educator. Um, and what they value about themselves being educators. And um it makes me think about, you know, all of the all of the
057things that we love about teachers are or all of the things that we love about our teachers, all the things that we love about our co-workers, all the things that we love about Yeah. about people are almost always the things that they when they get fired or feel they need to leave their jobs, they're that's what they're being punished for is upholding those values, right? Um, and I find that really devastating. Um, I imagine that like probably all of us in this room know at least one person who has been Yeah. like wrongly terminated or like terminated in a confusing way that's actually not confusing and we know what's going on. Um, so yeah, I would invite folks to like reflect on that and try to understand, well, I was going to say try to
058understand what's happening, but maybe you actually don't have to try because all the answers are being offered to you tonight. Um, I will also just share I don't know this is whatever from cbsnews.com but um there's an article it's called why are so many black women losing their jobs an expert blames three factors. So just a few sentences from this. Um the overall unemployment rate is 4.3% and in the last year it barely moved but the data tells a different story when it comes to black women and unemployment. Their unemployment rate has jumped to 6.7 >> time. Would you like 30 seconds? >> Yeah, thank you. Which one expert calls a warning sign? um three over 300,000 black women left the workforce between February and April of last year. So I guess I share that
059to ask you if you see yourself reflected in what seems to be the problem, what seems to be the root of that statistic. And if you do, I would say you can actually um do something about that to like today >> time, >> you know, like you maybe it's scary to change if >> time. >> Thank you. >> Is there anyone in the room that would like to give public comment? Hi everyone. Can you hear me? Great. My name is Dr. Aaron Beiel. I'm a Windham resident who works at Lyman Moore Middle School. Not to quote High School Musical, but we're all in this together. So, I'm going to talk to all of us together. Um, I'm speaking today out of great concern for the harmful and excessive teacher turnover events in our district and
060their measurable negative impacts on students. In my year and a half of more, we have had more than 16 separate teacher turnover events with similar numbers forecasted for this year alone. It's worth noting that from last year to this year, Lyman Moore had a 50% turnover of all ELA teachers and a 100% turnover of our multilingual department. Before I go into statistics, I value transparency and credibility of sources. I would never come to a schoolboard meeting without scholarly, peer-reviewed research that is readily accessible and available. I have several copies of my sources for anyone who's interested. Teacher turnover events are harmful to students. In years when students face teacher turnover events, math scores fall between 2 and 10% and ELA scores fall between 5 and 6%. If we're wondering why we're not seeing the gains
061in our strategic plan, might be worth a detour here. Um, teacher turnover is linked to an overall decline in student academic achievement with disproportionately negative impacts on minority and lowincome students, which seems decidedly against our strategic plan. On the other hand, increasing teacher retention reduces student absenteeism, which can contribute to long-term economic benefits to students and taxpayers in terms of special education costs and dropout rates. test scores gains uh are really only maximized when students have teachers with 10 plus years of experience, which means we got to retain them. As an instructional coach, teacher turnover events are challenging for sustaining professional learning. As experienced staff leave, institutional knowledge, shared practices, school culture, and instructional momentum are diminished. Instead, we require professional development efforts that focus more heavily on onboarding, implementation, and reccalibration rather than on
062moving student learning and stu and school culture forward. Hey friends, um teacher turnover is also fiscally costly for the district. On average, a turnover event costs the district approximately $20,000. A hefty price tag considering that teacher turnover in Maine is nearly double what it was a decade ago. Research finds that 50% of early career educators are leave leaving the workforce and the profession entirely within their first 5 years of teaching. >> 30 seconds. >> Yep. Why are teachers leaving and how can we get them to stay? Well, we've tackled the 50k starting salary and our most recent uh contract. Thanks for that. However, the research finds that one of the simplest ways to get teachers to stay is to increase the quality and quantity of feedback from administration. In my own doctoral research, participants requested
063monthly classroom observations and feedback directly from their administrators. Teachers want praise for what they're doing well, and they want feedback for what they can do better. Uh, it's my observation after working three years in two different middle schools in PBS that causing that we're causing needless teacher turnover events by administration. >> 30 seconds, please. >> Okay. not providing probationary teachers with the timely, specific and actionable feedback that they need to improve their teaching practice. At most, teachers are observed twice a year uh and infrequently in our building. The observations occur in March and in April. When we give teacher feedback this way, we are saying that we do not buy into our teachers. We do not uh invest in them and their craft and we are not fully utilizing their potential to bring to our
064schools. In the process, it is our students time achievement, culture, instructional knowledge, and the taxpayers are paying the price. We cannot afford to keep hemorrhaging teachers through preventable turnover events. Please refrain from responding in the audience. Is there anyone else in the room that would like to give public comment? I think we have one online. Let's go ahead and um move over M Lawless, please, and then we'll come back in person. >> Thank you. This evening's meeting is a perfect crystallization. >> Michelle, do you want to just introduce yourself quickly? >> Sure. Sorry. My name is Michelle Lawless. I'm a Portland taxpayer and employee in Portland public schools. This evening's meeting is a perfect crystallization of the division that exists within this district and which you, the board, as well as our superintendent, have consistently
065tried to blame on educators and their unions. You have been made aware of administrators who do not have the support of their staff, who have been retaliatory against members who dare to question them, and who have left their staff demoralized, dejected, and dis disillusioned. And yet, you voted to renew their contracts. You have also been made aware of an outstanding teacher, beloved by her students and their families, widely admired by her colleagues, and yet you have done nothing to investigate or support her. In both cases, staff have used legitimate approved forums to express their concerns, their fears, their wishes, only to have them dismissed and ignored by you in central office. And yet you still have the absolute audacity to blame us educators and our union for the division that exists. After the debacle last
066year with Jamal Murf, we implored you to rebuild trust with all of us. And yet you seem to have doubled down on communicating your complete disregard for our feedback, labeling us as difficult, divisive, and complainers. You have just heard a solid 40 minutes of an absolute failure of leadership by you as well as the district. The time has come for you to stop blaming us for the division and to do some serious self-examination. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Michelle, can you come on up? >> Hi, my name is Court Kwood. I'm a librarian at Lyman Middle School and King Middle School. Um I don't have comments prepared, but I did just want to um encourage the board to consider adopting a teacher improvement plan akin to Brooklyn Public Schools where if teachers
067are in need of improvement, there's accountability on that teacher to improve, but also on the administrator to roll out that improvement plan and coach the teacher through that improvement. I think a two-way accountability measure on both parties would ensure that the evaluations are sincere, valid, and that we can retain our teachers, especially incredible ones that we have in our building and important public schools. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. I'm also going to pass something out. uh before my time starts to tick off. Um Caroline, >> thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Dr. Skylin, you already have an electronic copy, but you want to help. >> Um I'm actually going to offer it to the one who represents me. I noticed that a representative is in the house. So I will offer a
068copy because it's based on the main freedom of access law and Harry. >> Good evening. My name's Elizabeth Capone Newton. Um, I want to say that I hope that everything that is good in the world um, blesses the people who came tonight and also the people who are with us who just aren't with us. Um and um in terms of the excuse me the document that I just shared, it's a freedom of information um request based on mainstate law. Um it has um among the questions it asks um is how many probationary teachers have not been renewed when they were the union liaison um in their district or building. Um, it's offered by a parent at Lyman Moore, um, Rich Hooks Weman, who I don't believe is here tonight, um, but happens to be the
069CEO of a local nonprofit. Um, and I appreciate, I think we all do, that he's done this, um, on our behalf, our collective behalf. Um, I I appreciate, you know, what everyone's offered tonight. I want to hold up especially Bill Blae, who I haven't had the pleasure of meeting. Um, because this rupture of the sense of what's legal, what people are allowed to somehow find a way to do and what's right, I think is maybe the key thing going on here. Um and there is a prominent leader um in our country who recently said um or has demonstrated a few times that well you know you're going to do a blockade. I'm going to blockade your blockade. All right. So, when I read an email from the school district that maybe the punishment for walking
070out would be suspension, I thought, "Oh, you know, you're going to walk out of school. I'm going to not let you be in school." Like, okay. I mean, what are we teaching? Like, what is the logic here, right? Um, also as a like every other parent at Lyman Moore, when I got >> 30 seconds, Elizabeth, >> copious communication about the student walk out using the reach my teach feature to interrupt um parents and caregivers during their day while their children are at school, mentioning safety concerns, etc. Um there was no mention in any of the copious communication of what it was about. So back to the crisis. Um you know I am I am understanding that there's an more seconds. >> Absolutely Sarah. Thank you. Um, I'm understanding that there's an agenda item tonight that
071the board can choose to in full vote up or down the list of probationary teachers. Um, my understanding is that if something is on the agenda, then you all can stay and comment on the agenda item if you would like to. Um, and more of the point, um, certainly what I would want my schoolboard members to do tonight is to vote it down. vote it down because if one if they don't have adequate information, which we know they don't, they're not prepared to make a decision. The only right decision is to vote them all down. The one exception would be, as we know, where there's a will, there's a way. Of course, can revise his offering tonight if he wants it to be voted up tonight, but otherwise vote it down. Um, time, Elizabeth. >>
072Thanks, Is there anyone else in the room that would like to give public comment? Just going to double check online. If there's anyone online that would like to give public comment, please raise your hand. Go ahead. Hello, my name is Tiffany Don. I'm a social worker at Lyman Moore Middle School. Um, I'm speaking today so that you all can't say you didn't know what was going on, you didn't know why, you didn't know there were problems. I think the staff at Lyman Middle School have been raising the alarm for the last two years. Um, that things are not all well there. Um, we have group norms for our um, PD meetings. One is keep student impact at the center. The second is allow space for joy. I'm not feeling the joy at all. And it's
073not because we're not joyful people. We're not happy people, but we are dealing with issues that I don't feel like we're actually getting real support with. Um, and there are things that a strongly worded email just can't convey. So, I want everyone to know that we are a strong community. We are a positive um helpful, supportive staff as a group. Our staff has been accused of um exhibiting microaggressions. We've been accused of ganging up on people. We've been accused of all sorts of things that are just not true. And anyone who has worked at Lyman Moore with our staff would know that as well. So, I wanted to make sure that you know, too. And I just want to ensure that we all um understand that there are reasons why people are leaving. There are
074reasons why there's high turnover. I've worked for the district since 2015. I've seen so many different people from the leadership, the administration. We've lost so many good teachers. And the problem is that over and over and over what we see is that the best people among us leave. Please don't let that continue. Thank you. Thank you, Tiffany. >> Is there anyone else in the room? Evening. Um, I am Tracy Zagger, a Portland resident, a dearing parent, and a former consultant with the district. Um, I've come to you tonight deeply concerned about what's happening in the district, as I've conveyed to you in public and in writing numerous times over the last three years. I think you all maybe you see my face before you go to sleep. I I kind of hope you do. Um,
075I also rise to the podium heartened by this community activism and this outpouring of support for great teaching tonight. Um, but mostly I come to you struck as I have been for three years by the disconnect by what you're hearing tonight about trust, about leadership, about retaliation, about betrayal, about broken relationships, and what I've seen on the board. So specifically, I'm having trouble reconciling how people in this room feel tonight or how people felt this spring with a surprise bombshell of the middle school reconsolidation proposal or how people felt when the equity team after many years of work to put it in place was disbanded and a number of BIPAC teachers were retaliated against for speaking up in the face of inequity and discrimination. and we testified that night uh for weeks or how people
076feel inside buildings when numerous top- down decisions are announced sometimes through the budget process itself. I was a part of experiencing that um without transparency, listening or consensus building. So for these years I've been struck by the disconnect between the how we feel, how we're experiencing things and how leadership in the board seems to think things are going. just looking at objective evidence. No board members elections were contested in our last election year. My fellow citizens, folks need to run. I appreciate everything you all do. It is a thankless job. I understand why people don't want to run. It takes a ton of time. It is so hard. Um but also I think we need a more vigorous debate around these issues and higher engagement. Um I noticed board chair Lent was unanimously reelected chair
077by the board. Um, I noticed last August this board and Superintendent Scallan unanimously renewed and extended his contract as the last item of business in an executive session in August when hardly anyone was here and there was no public input or notification to the press. To my knowledge, the superintendent's increased salary and benefits still have not been reported to the public, which is certainly a break in tradition. I It's always been in the paper. I think the public has a right to know that the superintendent's contract was renewed until 2030 and he received a significant raise in both benefits and pay without public facing evidence or documentation justifying such a huge raise. I am hopeful that >> 30 seconds. >> Great. I need them at last. Um tonight the disconnect is so laid bare. There
078is such pain in the room and you're hearing from a increasingly attentive and active public that we don't agree things are going so great. There are a lot of wonderful things in Portland and we can talk about the great things in our schools all the time but this feeling of leadership not trusting us um and and people leaving good people leaving is highly concerning. So um I I ask that we take the honesty of this moment and really reflect and have had deep conversations. Um as to the specifics of this gathering, I just rise in support of all the people who have spoken on behalf of a great leader and educator. Thanks. Thank you. >> Hi, my name is Jessica Crowley. Um, I've worked in the district for 13 years and I've taught middle school
079art for 20. Um, I have a very short statement that I want to share. Having been part of this community for a long time and invested in it for a long time, I'm sure you've heard this before, but please let me implore you that your greatest asset, your most passionate moments, your biggest connections come through your teachers, through the people that are there every day connecting with those students, building those relationships, deciding what to do in crisis moments, which come all the time, especially in a middle school. It's important to support them, to hear from them, to listen to them, to uplift and validate their voices. It's important to hear, uplift, and validate the community voices that are here tonight and have been reaching out. And it's especially important to to hear, uplift, and value
080our student voices. Our student voices are a gift to this community, a gift to our school, and they're the way of the future. And I feel like I need to stand up here and implore this community, this school board to take those voices and hold them and hear them and respect them and uplift them. Um I am asking us to realize that it's through those teachers, through those connections with students that is our best hope for building equity. That is our best hope for building rigor. That is the best we can do indeed to even build joy. Joy comes through those connections. Joy comes through the programs that these teachers are building. Please support the people that are here that are working every day in the classroom. Support their voices, uplift their voices, and make
081them matter. Thank you. >> Thank you. Is there anyone in the room that would like to give public comment? This is last call for public comment. Okay, I'm going to go ahead and close public comment. Vice Chair Bondo, you wanted to make a motion. >> Yes. Yes. Yeah, chair. Um, I would like to make a motion to enter into executive session procure 2145 CD to discuss a personal matter. >> I'll second it. Um, all those in favor? Okay, we're going to move into executive session and we'll be back um at the end of Yeah. >> Sometime I have to leave at 9:00 to pick my sister up. >> What time is it now? >> It's 8:45. >> You think? >> Yeah. Let him go first. Can you go? >> Yes. Thank you for flagging that.
082>> All right, we are back from executive session and we're going to move on with the rest of our business meeting. Um we're going to make a change in the uh agenda so that our student representative uh can give his remarks. Um so uh Representative Milstein Jones uh go ahead. Uh thank you chair. Good evening. There's a lot of news to cover from Casco. So I'll start with academics. Uh as we move into the final stretch of the school year, grades for progress reports officially closed this past Friday. It's also an intense testing season at Casco. Last week, our AP literature and AP US history students completed their exams, and we have more AP tests coming up this week, from computer science to Spanish. In the world of math, our math elites recently completed their
083season with an incredible achievement, placing six statewide in class C, the highest placement ever that we've had. Uh, our seniors have officially entered their final two weeks of school. They recently celebrated a successful senior prank and are also celebrating Remy and Gina, who were named class writers. We're also very proud to announce that four seniors, Sulam Manur, Abdul Aiz Hussein, Ryan Alte, and Sama Sayed, have won the USM Promise Scholarship, which provides them with a full four-year tuition. >> Yeah, >> that's awesome. >> The scholarship also includes mentorship and help with their job search after college. In addition to our senior celebrations, we're excited to recognize our juniors who have been selected for the National Honor Society. Following a selection process where students submitted applications and received recommendations from their career adviserss, the National Honor
084Society induction will take place tomorrow at 6 p.m. Our student organizations have also been active in fostering a supportive school c school culture. A major highlight was our prom last Saturday, which the prom committee successfully organized as a fun event that was 100% funded. Currently, the women's rights club is hosting a drive to create minute for mom kits for main needs. And our parent advisory group and the project grad committee recently secured a $500 donation for the senior class. Uh moving on, it's a busy season for the arts at Casco Bay, especially in the literary world. For the main literary awards, five out of the nine youth finalists in the state came from CBHS. Caroline, Tina, myself, Ren, and Avery O. Furthermore, two out of the four students named as the telling room youth emerging
085writers for next year are from Casco, Avery O and Avery H. Over the next 15 months, they'll work with a group of seasoned authors and ultimately write and publish their own book. In the performing arts, the Shakespeare in the Park production of Much to Do About Nothing will hold performances this Friday at 6 p.m. and at Saturday at 2 p.m. next to the greenhouse in the back. Admission is free. Uh looking ahead, the outing club is headed to AdventureBound in Keratunk this weekend for a whitewater rafting trip. The cost is only $20 and 12 students have already signed up. Uh finally, our second to last for the last month, the entire junior class has been interviewing immigrants who have made Portland, Maine their home and has worked a way to find their has and has
086worked to find a way to share their stories. These stories will be shared in a schoolwide storytelling piece open to the community. We invite everyone to come join us in celebrating the diverse experiences that shape our community. Come listen, learn, and support the work of our class. The performances will be Friday, May 22nd at 1 p.m. both here in the great space and upstairs in the PAS Dance Studio. Finally, I'd like to close by highlighting some of the other achievements of some of our seniors as their experience at Casco sadly comes to a close. To start, senior Isaac Weaver is heading to Washington DC to compete in the National Geography B on May 16th. He went through a rigorous process to reach his stage. First winning the schoolbe against 10 competitors, qualifying for regionals and
087now heading to nationals. In the world of technology, senior Athena Ever earned an honorable mention at the main app challenge, placing in the top 25 competitors. Athena made a color-coded app for the Casco schedule. We're super proud of senior Liam Alexander, who is our school's winner for the main principles association award for excellence in scholarship, citizenship, and athletics. And we're also very proud of senior Ludy Celestino, who is named the Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year for not only Southern Maine, but the entire state. So, in conclusion, from an awesome prom to national academic stages, from competition wins to senior successes, Casco Bay students are working hard to finish the school year strong. Thank you. >> That's awesome. Thank you for all of those updates. Um, such uh silver linings. Um, and anybody
088have questions? Board member, go ahead. >> No questions. No questions. Just awesome. And, you know, congratulate all of them, please. >> I will. >> Any other questions from the board? Is there one end of year event that you're most looking forward to? >> Graduation. I'm going to see I'm going to I'm going to see all my senior friends graduate. It's going to be bittersweet, but it's going to be cool to see. >> Yeah. I hope that um many of us are there to see it. Um, thank you so much for your remarks tonight. Thank you. >> Um, and I'm going to start my remarks um with a tribute uh to the life and the legacy of Gerald Talbet. Um, he was a trailblazer, a public servant, and a man whose impact on Maine um will
089and already has endured for generations. Gerald Talbot was Maine's first black senator, a founder of the Portland NAACP chapter, and a lifelong advocate for civil rights and educational opportunity. He marched on Washington in 1963 and devoted decades to challenging discrimination in housing, employment, and public life. His work helped shaped landmark protections for fairness and equality in our state. But beyond the historic milestones, Gerald believed deeply in young people and in the responsibility communities have to support them. He understood that education is one of the clearest paths towards dignity, opportunity, and belonging. His example reminded us all that leadership is not simply about holding office. It's about opening doors for others and insisting that every person matters. Many in this community knew Gerald not only as a respected leader but as a generous presence. Someone who
090made black who made Maine's black history visible to students, families, and neighbors so that future generations would better understand both the struggles and the progress that shaped our state. Talbot served on the main state board of education from 1980 to 84 and was its chair in 1984. To honor his contributions to education, the city and the state in 2020 um we renamed Riverton Elementary School as the Gerald E. Talbet Community School. On behalf of the board, I want to express our gratitude for his extraordinary service and extend our consol condolences to his family, including his wife Anita, his daughters, and all those who carry forward his commitment to justice and public service. Thank you, Gerald Talbet, for the example that you set, the barriers that you broke, and the better Maine that you helped build.
091The Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition has confirmed um that there is a spring rise in ICE and DHS activity uh with a sharp increase in detentions across Maine over the last two weeks. Uh the main immigrant rights coalition um reports these actions are specifically targeting um black and brown immigrants in and wellestablished neighborhoods threatening community stability and lo and the um local tourism economy. Um, if you are someone in the community listening tonight who was engaged in school watches or other protective actions in January, I would invite you to pick those actions back up again if you are not already doing so. Additionally, please visit um the Merc or the Main Immigrant Rights Coalition website for information on how to use the ICE hotline um to report any sightings and for a full resource hub on
092immigration, knowing your rights and legal support. Um, and finally, I just want to remind everyone that in-person absentee va v voting uh started yesterday and will remain open until June 4th. Um, uh, then after June 4th, you will need to vote on election day, which is June 9th. Um, and on that ballot will be both the school budget um, and the primary races across the state. Um, right now our budget has been passed out of the city finance uh committee um successfully and the full council will take that um the full vote on May 18th uh on our budget. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to the superintendent. >> Good evening. Thank you, chair and community. I have a few updates to share with the board and the community this evening. Uh
093I have them broken into sort of three sections. First, just recognitions and celebrations. Uh, teacher appreciation week was last week. Um, it's a huge thank you to all of our educators for the work that they do supporting our students. Also, thank you to the PTOs and others who poured out the staff for uh poured out the support for staff last week. Uh, April 28th was school bus driver appreciation day and May 1st, school lunch hero day. Our transportation and service teams play a central role in keeping our students safe, healthy, and ready to learn. I want to thank them all for their incredible work. As student representative Milstein Jones shared, a huge congratulations to Ludy uh Celestino, a senior here at Casco Bay, who was selected on May 6th as the Boys and Girls Club
094of America 2026 Main State Youth of the Year. This is the highest honor a club member can achieve, recognizing leadership, service, academic excellence, and dedication to empowering others. Ludy heads to New York in early June for the regional competition, and he carries our full support with him. Thank you also to Boys and Girls Club of Southern Maine for being such a strong partner to our students. There was a gubanatorial candidate forum at Row Elementary School on May 4th. Thanks to Dr. Dr. Venuela and her team who hosted this public forum with 10 candidates from across the political spectrum. What made it especially memorable was that our own students moderated the discussion and asked thoughtful probing questions of the candidate. Again, a sincere thank you to the team and to our students who demonstrated strong leadership
095and an impressive ability to use the gavl effectively to keep adults on track. Now, a couple of community opportunities. So, the student art show is at city hall through May 15th. I encourage everyone to stop by and see the fantastic work of our young artists and the middle school design process. So, on March 24th, the board passed a resolution charging staff with leading a participatory process to reimagine the middle school experience for our students. That work is now underway. In addition to communitywide surveys and focus groups, we are seeking people interested in serving on our guiding coalition and in our work groups. Information is available on our website in the most recent community newsletter and you will hear some more about that this evening uh at the end of the meeting and then some operational
096updates. First, on the Lincoln Middle School HVAC project, we have received both encouraging and challenging news. On the positive side, we may be able to stage this work over two summers, which would potentially reduce disruption to the school. On the more difficult side, the project is currently anticipated to cost $2 to$6 million more than originally budgeted in our capital plan, depending on which option we select. Dr. Warren will share a fuller update at our next board meeting on May 26th. A reminder that the end of school is coming. The last day is June 18th, and it will be a half day. And then, it's hard to believe, but we're also thinking about the start of school. The start of school for the 26 27 school year will be August 31st for grades 1 through 12
097and September 1st for pre kindergarten and kindergarten. The full calendar is posted on our website under the news and calendar tab or by clicking on the banner on the homepage. And just one last plug on that. Um the policy committee looked at a potential calendar for the 2728 school year. Um and it will actually come to the board uh hopefully in June so that we're able to forecast more than a year ahead for our community in terms of planning. Those conclude my comments. Thank you. >> Thank you, Superintendent. Um, do you want to Yeah. introduce Andy? >> Yeah. Great. Um, I always forget to do this, uh, but quarterly Andy Weissman Summers, the executive director of the Foundation for Portland Public Schools, uh, shares an update and so excited to have her here tonight to
098share that update. >> Thank you. And, Superintendent, can you share those slides? Thank you. Okay. All right. Sorry, I didn't realize that I need to click through those. Great. So, I'll just briefly uh speak tonight. The as I often share, it's not a true quarter. The last time I presented was early in January. Uh so, this is an update from January through the end of April. Uh we'll do a few highlights and celebrations, an update uh on our families in crisis program, uh and then our donations to the foundation. Uh so since January, just a few of our highlights of what the foundation has invested in or supported. Uh we've established four new scholarships for graduating seniors. Um I it's been quite some time since I've shared on the Edfeni Athletics Fund. Um but we've
099purchased sneakers, spikes, lacrosse sticks, baseball gloves, tennis rackets, lift tickets, and more for 56 unique students. um since January. Uh we're continuing our partnership with Greater Portland Health, the school nurses, and an organization called New Eyes for the Needy to ensure that students uh who are flagged by school nurses in vision testing as needing a full optometrist visit and potentially prescription glasses get those services. Uh so we have paid to have 45 students get screenings and receive glasses since January. Um and we're continuing our support of Black History curriculum and Wabanaki studies fieldwork. Few more updates. Uh I'm not going to read through all of these, but um just last week we celebrated our third annual distinguished alumni awards and those are our four remarkable awardees. Uh their sharing was joyful and emotional and tremendous.
100Uh so it was really wonderful. Thank you. >> Uh we also have recently made an investment. Um, one of the reasons the foundation exists is when we hear there's a need, um, when we can and when it aligns with our strategic priorities, we try to meet that need. Um, and we know that in the summer there are elementary school students who get academic enrichment in the mornings and that programming ends after lunch at about 1:30. That schedule is very challenging for families who work um, who need a full day option for their students. So, when we heard that um the foundation's board voted to support uh side by side and potentially another local community arts organization to come in and provide afternoon programming for any of those students whose families choose that so that they
101can have a full day that is fun and enriching but also a learning opportunity in the afternoons. So, that's something we're going to be doing this summer. Uh similarly, when we heard the amazing news about the Dearing Science Olympiad um team making it to nationals um and that they needed to fund raise quite a fair amount to bring their entire team there, uh the foundation matched that fundraising effort with $10,000 to bring them to LA. Those are just some photos. Thanks. Uh, and then I'm going to just move us in. I know um that Representative Bondo always asks about this program and so I thought I'd give an update uh because the families and crisis program uh grew tremendously in the last few months. Um we have uh for the last several years had a
102budget of $60,000 a year to help families who are facing eviction or having their utility shut off um have a little time to stabilize so that kids could focus on school and families could stay housed. Um during the immigration surge in January, the community was unbelievable in their giving to that fund. Um, so we have been able to instead of 60,000 for the whole year through June, so far this year, invest $226,000 in family stability of for Portland students. We've made 247 individual payments. Uh, twothirds of those were rent and about a third of them were utilities. Um, that has served 397 Portland school students and 843 total individuals in our community. That includes the other members of their households. Um, and so I just wanted to give a shout out to the donors who
103made that possible. Their intent was obviously to help these families during that time. So, we got rid of all of our barriers and and budget limits and approved all of the applications that came in during that window. Um, and so I also want to thank the multilingual team and school social workers who do the on the ground work of of running that program. And then finally, um I always share um major donations to the school district in this time. Um I have for the last year been reading the names of the gifts in kind. We have finally reached a tipping point that I'm not going to read them. Um and I so if you want to jump to the next one, but I do have them all listed so we can go through uh the
104slides, but I will not read them this month. Um, and we because we received 105 gifts in kind um, in this quarter. And I want to just shout out the King Middle School team. I don't know who was doing the asks for their auction at their talent show, but it was dozens and dozens and dozens of donations. So, uh, the next multiple slides list those organizations and what they donated. They're not all for the King team, but um, that comes through the foundation, but many are. And if you're interested in looking at those amazing community organizations that support our schools, it's it's on the board, you know, on the board web page and you can you can look carefully at those. They do deserve a shout out, but um I didn't want to read through
105hundreds of names, so it keeps going. I think that's the last one. Uh, and then finally, uh, business donations and grants. We received 58 total gifts from businesses or foundations in this quarter with a total value of $26,000. Um, I'm also not going to read those names. Um I think it's two or three slides, but we can we can go through them and they're available for you to see. So these are these are businesses um who donated uh actual funding or or you know monetary donations to benefit the district. And finally, uh, what I think of as the heart of what we do, we received 630 donations from individuals from January to April, totaling 331,145. Um, that includes the over 250 donations to families in crisis we received, but also a range of other gifts.
106And that was it. I tried to be brief tonight, but are there any questions? >> Are there any questions from the board? Um Andy, do you have um just a comparison to last year for the families in crisis fund? >> Yeah. Uh so for the last couple years, we've budgeted $5,000 a month. Um and we had the limit for a single family to receive $1,000 in assistance in a school year. So we increased that the amount per month as well as the li uh we increased from $1,000 to $1,500 per month in late January of this year. So, I don't have the exact number of beneficiaries help uh helped, but it's over four times as much um of an investment this year compared to the last couple years. >> Thank you for that. And just
107a follow-up question, are we are we hitting the seal? Like, is there still more demand that we cannot fill? >> Yes. So, we're back we're back to more demand. Um we have budgeted uh an increase through the rest of this school year. So, we um invested $20,000 in this month of May and we have a similar amount, but we are out of funds. Um so, that's been closed as of about a week ago. Um and there are additional requests and the social work team is is putting those on hold and we'll have 20,000 more uh for June and we'll have to work out our budget and see. We have the 60,000 minimum reserved for next school year already, but we're hoping to raise more so that we can increase from the 5,000 a month. Um
108hopefully to at least 10,000 a month for next year. >> Beautiful. And if anybody in the community wanted to support that work or other work, they should just reach out to you. >> Absolutely. Or go to foundationforppps.org. >> Thank you. Any other questions? Oh, board member Ali Elli. >> Yeah. Um, kudos first off. Um, thanks >> to all the the work you guys are doing at the foundation. Um, and I mean that's a big number. It's a big jump. Made me smile. Um, and I'm really proud of the the city and how um, people are coming together and our organizations are supporting um, seeing all those lists um, hearing about all the um, the the caregiving that's that's happening within our community. Um, and I just want to say I'm this is a this is
109good news and I'm I'm really proud of our community. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anything else from the board? Okay, thank you so much for the update. >> I have a point of order. Um, there are no paper agendas that I've seen. So, I don't know where the 40 or so people who have to work and go to school tomorrow and parent their children. We don't know where on the agenda um the voting up or down of probationary teachers is. So, could you tell us and then if could you confirm that I'm understanding correctly that the one representative from Casco Bay, you changed the agenda so that he could give his report and go home early, but you want us all to stay here. So, I just want to confirm that anybody on the board
110could move to have us go next. Thank you very much. So, we have uh two items uh that are um uh sorry, one item. We have the report of the secretary and then um uh the personnel votes will be up. The um report of the secretary is um very quick. Um so for that uh we have the consideration and action to approve the meeting minutes of March 31st. Are there any corrections to the meeting minutes? Okay. Uh then the meeting minutes are approved as distributed and then we have the consideration and action to approve meeting minutes of April 16th, 2026. Um are there any corrections to the meeting minutes for that date? Then those um uh meet uh minutes are approved as distributed. Um so now we have personnel items. Uh Jennifer Slaybank is coming
111up. Thank you. Our first um item that we're seeking board's vote on is the uh 81 a slate of 81 teachers that are being recommended for continuing contract effective for the 2627 school year. >> Thank you. Um Jennifer Slaybink. Um is there a motion for the consideration and action to approve the personnel items listed the election of teacher candidates continuing? Thank you board member Upperman. Is there a second? Thank you, board member Noir. Um, are there any questions from the board? Is there any Oh, I apologize. Um, um, go ahead, board member Sautel. >> So, just to clarify, this vote is on this slate of teachers as presented, either um that we're voting to advance it or voting not to advance it. Is that correct? Correct. The list that is linked is the is the
112list that we are voting on. Does that answer your question? >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. Um is there any uh general discussion from the board? As this is a personnel item, we do not take public comment. Um so by roll call vote, please indicate whether you are in favor of the consideration and action to approve the personnel items listed. Election of teacher candidates continuing. Uh Dr. Warren, will you please call the role? >> Board member Ali Ali, >> abstain. >> Board member Ysur Ali. >> Vice Chair Bondo, >> abstain. >> Member Briden, >> yes. >> Member Lena, >> yes. >> Member Noir, >> yes. >> Member Operman, >> yes. >> Member Sautell, >> yes. member uh sorry the student representatives have gone uh and chair lent. >> Yes. So the motion passes um with
113six yes votes and two ab abstains. Um up next Jennifer Slayblank. Do you want to explain the next item? >> Sure. Uh the next is a slate of 57 teachers who've completed their first year of probationary and are being recommended for a second year probationary. >> So I'd be looking uh for a motion for the consideration and action to approve the personnel items listed. Election of teacher candidates probationary. Is there a motion? Thank you, board member no. Is there a second? Board member Ali Ali. Um are there any questions from the board? Uh any general discussion from the board? As this is a personnel item, we do not take public comment. So by roll call vote, please indicate whether you are in favor of the consideration and action to approve the personnel items listed. Election
114of teacher candidates probationary. Dr. Warren, will you please call the role? >> Remember Ali Ali? >> Yes. >> Member Yusra Ali. Vice Chair Bondo. >> Yes. >> Member Brighten. >> Yes. >> Member Lena. >> Yes. >> Member Noir. >> Yes. >> Member Opperman. >> Yes. >> Member Sautell. >> Yes. >> Member uh sorry, Chair Lent. >> Yes. So, the motion passes. Up next, we have uh new business um which is our first read of revisions to policy GB, which is staff conduct with students. Um this is the first read, which means that we will have the second read um at the next meeting. Um but uh board member Lena, I don't know if you want to speak to that um the policy revisions that are coming up for us. Point of order. Board chair, could
115you please pause the meeting for one minute? >> Vote. If you agree that Elizabeth, we have to continue with our business. >> Stand and say yes if you would like. If you would like to standard member Lena, >> you may say yes that you would like her to. >> Thank you, Chair Lens. Um, I'm going to talk about policy GB. This is a policy that we did look at as a full board. It got sent back to the policy committee. um board member Sautell and I worked with Dr. Warren um to get feedback from our union members um a lot of the feedback that we had received originally was that it just didn't sit well and people were feeling that there was a lot of um emphasis on what was not to be done and
116it felt almost impossible in a way to uh follow the policy. So, we wanted to make sure that it was worded in a way that staff felt comfortable and that they could go about their jobs and follow it. So, um when we went through this revised version, the committee felt really comfortable with it. Um >> I apologize. >> I I just encourage you all to go through and read it. Dr. Warren, I don't know if you would like to add anything. >> No, I was just trying to call it up, but for some reason I'm disconnected from the not >> seeing the meeting now. It's up on the screen now. >> Great. Thank you. Um, no, I would the the things I would just note for um for people to to look at this is
117a clean version um because it was easier I think for for people to see and digest. Um, but I would just note uh, you know, the concerted effort that I believe was made to um, to really start off with the positive framing around what we want relationships to look like um, and how important uh, and central adults are in students um, experience. So, it's um it's it's sort of a flipping of some of the language, changing some of the language, and then trying down below to get a little bit clearer um about some of the uh the prohibited conduct and the um the things that that the board is asking staff to consult with their supervisors on before they do it. Um, so I I think uh just hope that people will sit and and
118sort of digest the changes because I think as a whole it reads differently now and and it was responsive to what the board had had requested and sending it back. >> Thank you, Dr. Warren. Are there any questions at this time on on that first read? >> Okay. Yeah. Board member um for Nor >> um not about the policy, but where can I find the redlinined version? It's just easier to see what was changed. >> Um, we'll have to work on getting that for you because there were so many different changes um that I'm not sure the last one actually was a red line. Um, I think it was a just a rewrite. So, we'll we'll figure it out and get it to you. And as a reminder, this this policy didn't exist before. So,
119we have been building it from scratch, but we did have a version that got kind of like down the pipeline and then had to go back, >> right? But yeah, I think if we could get the red line to the board, >> the prior version, but but right, this this is a new policy for us. And as a reminder as well, it's a necessary policy, not only is a general idea, but also because it's been referred to in policy ACA. Um, and so there's actually a reference in other policy to nowhere. It's the the sort of bridge to nowhere. So we do we need to get it done. >> Can can I ask a clarifying question? Um because we can get you the redline version. We can also post it online for diligent and put
120it in the board update. Um is there a preference on where you want it redlined to? Because one of the challenges is the fact that it didn't exist before. Do you want the one that wasn't previously sort of >> Yes. came to the board and then we sent back even if it's not red line just that copy it' be great. >> We can do that. >> Thank you. Okay. Um and so up next we have um our middle school update. >> Yes. I'm happy to welcome up Dr. Proctctor and uh our director of secondary innovation and outcomes and everything in between uh Pomelo Utunu. Um, and Mela and Dr. Proctor, let me know if you want me to pull this up on the screen. >> Yes, please. Right. Um good evening um superintendent and board.
121Uh it's great to be with you to share an important update uh regarding the middle school um study and um design that came through the board resolution. And so we have been working diligently with our steering committees in designing exactly um what our engagements will look like, time frame, etc. And we have um given the border update last month and you'll see the progression in this update with specific dates uh times, loca, you know, um locations and definitions specifically about our group. So our agenda is going to cover uh briefly the background, the scope and updates. Um we'll talk about the applications um that are now available and uh meeting timelines for uh both guiding coalition and workg groups. Um we'll share uh initial survey and upcoming community engagement opportunities and then uh summary and
122next steps. And so the middle school uh design resolution directs the district to take a couple of actions, right? And so it is really about building a communityinformed uh process to really examine the options for middle schools. Um and so the scope of work is really to develop the recommendations and implementation options informed by research best practices and community voice. So tonight's update again is going to look at workg groupoup applications, workg groupoup meeting times and community survey and um engagement events. And so the applications are now open and opportunities to participate and a timeline. We have a website uh with the information uh set there. We're seeking educators, families, uh school administrators, district leaders, and student alumni and community members. Um students will be selected based on principal recommendations along with um student interest
123and um availability. Applications can be found currently on our middle school design page uh which is on our district website and applications are open through Sunday May 17th. Uh ro work groups will be meeting through May uh from May through October. and to go a little bit uh and to double click on the specifications of the workg groups and also um our guiding coalition and other opportunities we are opening to the community. I invite uh Pamela Matuno to come forward and to share more details. >> Good evening everyone. So good to be here with you. Um so really to um to do this work we're we've created workg groupoups to focus in on different areas that the resolution really calls us to study and look into. So we have um one work group that's going
124to be focused on the academic program programming and student supports and belonging. So within that group um the members will be exploring oh just zoomed in out we'll be exploring um rigorous programming um student experiences belonging supports um and all sorts of different opportunities across our schools and then there's going to be another work group that's going to be focused on enrollment and operations. So this group is going to be looking at uh facilities transportation uh operational um considerations to bring forth to the board. The third work group is going to be focused on finance and staffing. So this work this group is really focused on the sustainability long-term sustainability um of the design of our middle schools and thinking about resource allocation um and supporting um future models. And then we have the guiding
125coalition. So this group is really going to be sort of um connecting all the dots uh and the work that's happening within the various work groups and they're going to bring together the work and synthesize everything that's been looked at and propose options for the board um to select in how we move forward. So uh the work groups and the guiding coalitions will be meeting regularly. It's not just a one-time meeting that's going to happen. So it's going to happen um throughout it's going to happen every month from May to October uh 2026 as Dr. Proctor shared with you all of you. So this slide is really just to share with you u when transparently when those meeting dates are. The guiding coalition will be meeting the first Tuesday of every month starting July 7th
126um until October 6 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in person. And then we have the three work groups. The academic programming and student supports and belonging will meet Thursdays um during the various dates named there um 5:30 to 7 pm in person as well. And then we have enrollment and operations and finance and staffing. Both of those work groups will be meeting every other Friday from June 12th to October 2nd 8 a.m. to 900 a.m. and their meetings will be virtual. Okay. Now, um we also have what so we want to make sure that there's multiple ways in which uh we're engaging the community and we're getting input from various people. And so we also have an initial survey that has been launched. Um so this survey is really open to everyone, family, students, alumni,
127staff and community members. And the survey itself focuses on various aspects of u middle school design. So, student experience and sense of belonging, the academic programming supports and extracurricular opportunities, um the operations um aspect of it as well, which includes facilities, transportation, and the long-term sustainability of our schools. And this input really um is going to help um the work groups and the work that they'll be doing, which is informed through research, discussions, and recommendations. Um and future comm community community engagements will also sort of we'll create f future engagement based on some of the feedback we get from the survey. Um and from there also we'll develop the options that will be presented to the board. The survey link um as was mentioned before is on our website as well. We have a middle
128school design website right now which all of these things live in and so the link can be found there. That survey is open through Sunday May 17th as well. Now um in addition to the survey um and uh the workg groups and the guiding coalition, we want to make sure that we also have sort of ve again right multiple ways in which we're getting feedback from folks. So um we're going to have two community engagement sessions that are coming up. The first one is going to be on June 1st. That one will be virtual. It's from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The link can be found on our middle school design page. Um, and then there's also an in-person session that will happen the next day on Tuesday, June 2nd. And that's going to happen at
129uh Ocean Avenue Elementary School from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. as well. We wanted to make sure there was an inperson as well as the virtual option because not everyone has the flexibility to be able to attend events in person. And the purpose of this is to gather input and and again guide the work that's happening within the work groups and um influence next steps. There's no need at all to sort of sign up or tell us in advance that people are going to come to the inerson or virtual. Um just come as you're able to. So um just to to summarize really right so we have the application for the workg groupoups um and the guiding coalition the three work groups and guiding coalition that are open as well as the survey that is also
130open right now. Both items are on the um middle school design web page and both close on Sunday May 17th. So just if you could help spread the word as much as possible. We want to ensure that everyone hears about these opportunities and has the um the opportunity to apply. Um and just another quick plug, not everyone that applies will necessarily get in because we're looking at various um background, right? Um interest, people's availability and other factors and making sure it's a diverse group of people within each of the work groups and guiding coalition. So, please apply if you're interested. We'll let you know if you get in and if you don't get in, that's okay. that we've got all these different ways in which we're still getting input from people as has been named
131the um survey and community engagement. So again, community engagement, the first um two are happening June 1st and June 2nd. One is virtual, one is in person. Um again, the information if you forget, it's okay. It's on our district website. Uh you can easily find it there. uh the work groups and guiding coalitions um will begin meeting as early as this month on May 28th is when the uh academic and student and belonging work group will meet for the first time and we'll the groups will meet uh into October. Just want to emphasize again the middle school design page that is where key information is going to live regarding this work. So, please go back there and look at updates. Um, if there's any surveys or community engagement, um, it'll all be listed there. Any
132updates will also be placed there. We will come back and share with the board for sure on a regular basis, whether it's in the curriculum committee or with the full board. We'll keep the board updated on our progress, but as well, we'll make sure all that information lives on the web page. I think um, that is it. Thank you everyone. Yes. What questions do folks have? Oh, go ahead, Vice Chair Bondo. >> Thank you, chair. Thank you both for the presentation. I have uh two two questions. So on the on the community engagement. So I'm just I saw then we have the survey on link in our website. So I just wonder uh do we expect to have a good representation and uh inclusivity about families who cannot access the to the link? Do we
133have a different uh avenue where they can they can they can complete the survey? >> Yes. So the survey is on our district website and it's being interpreted in all the various languages. So that's the beauty of having it live on the website. Um, and so the other thing is we've h we have all of our schools sending out communication to families via newsletter as well as emails and pasting it on their uh social media sites as well. So we're trying to get so we're doing it as a district but also asking all the schools to do that as well. We also have our um community specialist um team reaching out to families to ensure that they're able to participate in one way or another. So we'll for instance for the uh community engagement we
134are going to have space with interpreters available for families to engage and sort of um give feedback as well. So making sure that's tailored to meet the needs of our various uh population. >> Okay. Thank you. And uh um how often are we going to do those community engagement sessions because I see we have only two dates June and and uh those going to be the only one. We just those are just the the beginning. >> Those are just the ones we're starting off with. We're we're working on planning one for the summer. Okay. >> And we're definitely going to have one in the fall when we come back before we present options to the board. So once we have everything um all the research and the work done too, we're going to present it
135to the community, have them weigh in, take that um right, incorporate it into the the options we're developing and then bring it to the board. So this is just the beginning. We'll have some in the summer as well as in the fall, early fall. >> Yes. But you have your work group from May to October, right? So you're going to meet more often than having the community inputs. So did you see >> I see your point. So within So we're going to have work groups meeting monthly, but within those work groups, we have community members being part of those work groups. >> Exactly. >> Yes. So we'll have families, we'll have students, we'll have alumni, we'll have community members. So yes, they're going to be included as part of this. >> Exactly. Okay. That's why
136makes sense. Thank you. Thank you, chair. Other questions? Yes. Board member Sautel, go ahead. >> Um, because I pushed very hard for this, a few of us have pushed really hard for this. I uh would like to ask you to have at least one, if not multiple staff engagement sessions separate from the community engagement sessions. Um, I think that's really important that you give them an opportunity outside of a survey, outside of of this. >> Yes, absolutely. And and so one of the things we're going to look at and uh schedule is sort of staff engagement at each of the school levels. Whether we we'll figure out the details whether that's during Wednesday PD or a virtual session that's just for staff to give input, but we'll we'll make sure that that's incorporated. >> Can
137I expand on that just one piece? um because it made me think about board member Sautell, a conversation I had with King's staff uh a month or two ago about this and I think that one of the things that we anticipate in this process is that there's going to be a need not just for feedback but engagement and work around this. And so I think it'll feel and look a little different than just staff feedback. uh but that I do anticipate that there are teams working at the school level that are helping to inform and shape what are the academic plans and others and so I think that that's where it'll look and feel a little bit different than just around the feedback. Um, so it's gonna be about helping create >> and just to
138add and give a little bit uh more detail there, it really will be through those workg groupoups because again as uh Pamela shared, we will have not just only community members as we were uh responding but also staff uh deeply engaged in the development and uh through the workg groups as well >> in addition to your request. cuz not all staff could commit to those meetings, but I want them heard. Thank you. >> Thank you. Other questions from the board? >> Um, I just want to uh thank you for the clear website. Like I think it's like a really great and essential uh information that was there from this the start of the kickoff, which I really appreciate and it um I'm excited to see how it will build. Um and I've gotten just a
139couple of questions from the board in terms of what role you would like the board to play and just wanted if you could speak to that. >> Yeah. Um so definitely we'll invite um and look at how we can invite board members to uh participate via a guiding coalition. Uh that is um a entry point for uh just you know taking surfacing the information getting uh everything that's happening in the workg group through the guiding coalition and then driving conversations in that in that coalition piece. Um um and then also you know as community members and as uh as your time permits you know there's also the ability to uh join a work group if there's a particular area that you have um you know deep interest in. So for example, um our facility uh
140work or our um academic programs and student supports may be of particular interest and you want to uh drive a little bit uh closer to that work through the work groups. And could I just add there's um it would be really helpful I think just to to know who's interested in what work group and who's interested in the guiding coalition if you could also fill out the application on our website and and uh express interest in which work group you'd like to be a part of and that way we can make sure the communication goes out directly to you about when meetings are happening right agenda items so that understanding that you know you're able to attend and keep updated as well. >> Awesome. Thank you for those uh directions, Ali. Was that a hand?
141I couldn't. No. Okay. Sorry. I just want to make sure. >> No, I know you are. Um Okay, beautiful. Uh then I don't see any other questions. Uh thank you so much for the update. >> Thank you. >> Um and so now board, we have one, two, three, four executive sessions that we're going to enter into uh backto back. Um, I'll make uh the motion for these four and then I'll be looking for a second. Hold your second. Not yet. Um uh the motion for the consideration and action to enter into executive session pursuant to one MRSA 40560D to discuss the benefit association of school employees which is base uh negotiations. the consideration and action to enter into executive session pursuant to one MRSA 4056D to discuss the Portland Administrators Association, which is the PAAA
142negotiations, consideration and action to enter into executive session pursuant to 1 MRSA 4056D to discuss the special education coordinators negotiations. And finally, the consideration and action to enter into executive session pursuant to one MRSA 40560D to discuss the multilingual specialist negotiations. Um, is there a second? Thank you, board member Brighten. All those in favor of entering into um executive sessions. All right. So, we will do that and come back um when we're done. >> I say yes. Yes. >> Jumping death. >> I know. >> Anyone have any >> Dinner. Dinner. Either. >> They had early dinner. >> My early My early dinner trick is working. I ate dinner at 5 p.m. >> Got dinnerack meal snacking. >> I love snacking hungry at six and then the meeting strategy. >> It's a smart strategy. >> I
143steal it. Go with a big bag of snacks. >> I quit. I just came I quit >> with the microphone bit funny. Um, I can when we talk tomorrow morning, let's just >> Are we going back? >> I'm just gonna I'm gonna put everything in my bag. >> Yeah, me too. >> That's good. Just give them a look. I didn't appreciate that Oh, no. >> Okay. I mean, I just It's all very >> and I but I'm really distressed about but I just it's not my preference to >> not all Yeah. Um around and are digging through and you know really looking at What happened? The mic it's Thank you, Greg. Um, I would make the motion to adjurnn. Is there a second? Thank you, board member Noir. All those in favor? One, two, three,
144four, five. That is unanimous. Um and uh we are adjourned at 10:55