001Good evening everyone and welcome to the SACO school board committee meeting for Wednesday March 25th 2026 at 502. would like to make recognition of all members present with the exception of school board member Richards, school board member Roach, and school board member Truman this evening. And we do not have Superintendent Ray, but we do have uh Assistant Superintendent Parkhurst with us tonight. Item number two, would you please join me for the pledge of allegiance? Thank you very much. Moving on to item number three. We do they have the approval of the schoolboard meeting minutes dated March 11th, 2026. Is there a motion? >> School board member KDER. >> I move we approve the school board meeting minutes dated March 11th, 2020. >> Thank you very much. Second. >> Second. >> Motion made by school board
002member KD with a second by school board member Johnston. Any discussion or comments on the minutes. >> Okay. Not seeing any. Roll call vote. School board warnoff. >> Yes. >> School board member Prebble. >> Yes. >> School board member KD. >> Yes. >> And school board member Johnston. >> Yes. >> Motion passes 40. >> Okay. Moving on to item number four. There are no adjustments to the agenda this evening. Item number five, there are no correspondents. Item number six is public session. If there are any members of the public wishing to speak, please step forward, state your name and address for the record, and you will have three minutes to address the school board. >> Everybody, good afternoon. Um, my name is Nick Fuller. I'm a proud fourth grade teacher at CK Burns. um 22
003amazing SACO students this year. So very fortunate and hi to any of them who happen to be watching from home or your families. Um so uh we have um my colleagues and I have a a short presentation for you that we'd love to share with you today. And uh the reason I'm going to kick it off is because I come to SACO from a bit of a unique perspective and that I've been really lucky to teach in many states, many different schools across the country. So I've seen how a lot of schools work. And when I first came to SACO, um it was the first I'd ever heard of something called the Someday program. Um and at first the someday program uh was was very fun and enjoyed it for all the same reasons that
004that any teacher would enjoy it to have fun with my students in the classroom and to see them smiling and having a great time. But what I quickly came to see my first year was that it was also increasingly disruptive. And I was noticing in my classroom um but an increasingly loss of instructional time and interruptions as students were being pulled out for some days or going to other students some days or my class for instance missing math class um to make snow cones or missing reading to jump on a bouncy house um or miss math for a movie. And when I shared these concerns with some of my colleagues, I found that this I was not alone. This is a pretty common concern seeing a lot of loss of instructional time in our in
005our classrooms. Um, and then was really surprised to hear that these concerns had been brought up with our building administration um, not once, not twice, but every year since the Sunday program began in 2021. And then we found out the same concerns had been brought up at every building in the Sako district. Um, a real concern about how this is impacting our students instructional and academic time. And so we're some of us were really surprised last fall when there was a presentation here in the schoolboard um about the someday program because we uh had no idea that it was happening and it seemed to be something missing from it was that no student no teachers had been asked about it. Um we didn't we didn't know and no no teacher input was requested. So we
006ran our own survey among all staff. Um and that's what we want to share with you today. um is that we invited all staff to participate in the survey and we asked them what they loved about the program. We asked them what concerns they had about the program and we want to dig into the data a little with you today >> and Nick I don't want to interrupt anything but um at the beginning you did state a presentation versus public comment. Sure. Yes. >> Do you have an estimate of how long? >> Yeah, it'll be about 20 minutes. So >> Okay. Unfortunately, we're not going to be able to do that. you would have to uh approach administration and we can get you on the agenda but this is public comment and the okay >>
007three minutes I usually am allowed to give a minute or minute and a half over but not for a 20-minut public >> okay sorry not just me present we're going to share it among >> we're going to share it among all of us colleagues sharing our time >> um >> among all of us >> we can do it each person would step up for three minutes introduce themselves >> sure sure yeah >> um and again or we can bring it back and have it on the agenda if you would like the next meeting. >> I think I think we're >> as an official presentation. >> Yeah. Yeah, we're all ready to go. >> I'm sorry. >> No, >> you don't steal, but you you would each have your own threeinut lotment. >> No, unfortunately it
008doesn't work that way. Yeah. No, because each person. If you had if you were to sit down and wanted to come back up and respe, it would have to be a different subject, you wouldn't be able to stand up again um in place of somebody else and follow the same topic. And that is just the policy of the public comment. Um and again, it's just an opportunity for residents, teachers to come and speak to the school board just to give them some quick info. Um >> I'm sorry. Superintendent Ray, do you want to allow We can policy BH? I think that if they have a presentation that hasn't been shared with teachers yet, we should put that on the agenda just like we put our presentation on the agenda. So that's fine. >> I'm sorry.
009You'd like to what? >> Sure. Yeah. So we'll continue. Sorry. I I hadn't realized that. I would have been a lot. Sure. >> That's what I wanted to make sure. So at the recommendation of administration, we are asking that you present this and we will actually put it on the next agenda for the next meeting. um and you can come up and we will have an official presentation for it and you had all the time in the world that you need. Yep. No time limit or anything on that. >> Okay. So, should we like to use our time? >> Yeah, let's do that. >> Okay. So, sorry about that. So, I would have used my three minutes to just go over kind of the main concerns. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you. Yeah. So,
010um >> so you've already gone You've got one minute left on your three. >> Great. Okay. Thank you. Where you had started? Yeah. I didn't want to interrupt you right at the beginning. No, I appreciate appreciate it. Yeah. Um, yes. So, we surveyed um um you know many many members of the district um of our staff and consensus really emerged for three major concerns. One, the primary concern is a an alarming loss of academic time uh especially for our students in special ed setting and huge interruptions in the classroom. Um and we have a lot more data on that that we'd be happy to share that some teachers have collected. Um, we also found that a lot of the work that the someday program has been doing in the classrooms is very redundant in that
011classroom teachers are already doing these things. Um, having a lot of fun activities and PJ days and having a lot of connections with their students. Um, and then the third thing we found was that the goals of the Sunday program when rolled out in 2021 had a lot to do with increased behavior concerns and attendance uh and academic achievement and that we found that there had been um since the program started no improvement in attendance in the district overall um behaviors according to the data have gone up um and according to teachers in the classroom um very very little acknowledgement of any kind of academic gain because of the program. Um and so teachers are really hoping that we can work collaboratively for next school year that we can have a some kind of big
012change because for five years I've been asking for for something to change um and have brought it up to administration at every level and I've shared with Mr. Ray, Mrs. Parker some of these concerns um to try to really help our students and looking out for what's best for our students right now. Um so I will I'll turn this over to my colleagues and then I'll just hand these out to you guys. >> I have a quick question. Are they going to be doing a presentation as well as after today? >> We'll give them the three minutes as a public comment and then >> Okay. They will have the if they want to continue with the full presentation, they'll bring it to administration to put on the agenda. >> So, can I ask them >>
013to include certain things? >> Can you what? I'm sorry. >> Ask them to include certain things >> in their presentation. No. >> Nope. Nope. Public comment does not allow for the back and forth Q&A. >> So, those you will want to save um for the official presentation. >> All right. I'm Allison Gray and I'm um a math teacher in the district. And so just quickly on the beginning, the slide, the next page that you've been handed out, if you go to the next page, our survey overview, we did it in February. It was available to all our staff. There were 136 educators across four schools that filled it out. 53 from Burns, 38 from SMS, 22 from Fairfield, and 23 from Young. And the whole purpose was to summarize educator feedback and key findings related
014to the Someday program and use these results and direct educator voice. On the next slide, um, a couple of comments. We had hundreds of anecdotes and comments that were from staff members. Some of them included, I understand the intention behind the someday program, but I'm not sure the costs outweigh the benefits. I agree with the goals of the someday program, but the delivery is not effective and it takes away from academics. And another one that was key was that the someday program has turned into something not intended and it's become an unrealistic experience and it's impacted education time. on the next slide or on the next page rather. Uh some of our results reflect educator perceptions and professional judgment based on daily classroom experiences. Percentages that we showed in our data share um I'm sorry
015percentages shown represent the share of survey respondents at each school who agreed with the statement. Key themes emerged from everything. Uh there was a disruption and a loss of academic time. There was impact on behavior and attendance and the redundancy of implementation and the next steps. If you go to the next slide, we have distribute disruption and loss of academic going. I'm just going to keep going. All right. So, if you look ahead, >> you do have the timer right in front of you. >> Oh, that's right. Thank you. Trying to go fast. Um so if we look at that you can see that overall with the disruption and loss of academic time my students have missed academic time because of some days 81% 85% 95% 100% of teachers agree with that statement my students
016have missed um SDI time because of some days 50% 84 62 63 so all these teachers agree with that statement thoughts from teachers on the the next page. It may not seem like much time, but over weeks and months, it adds up to a significant loss of instruction. It's an incredible amount of extra planning for classroom teachers to fit in all some days. Kids missing instruction and then teachers having to find time to help them make up this lost time. As a special educator, I have extreme concerns with the program. Kids miss a significant amount of testi time and sometimes with little notice. On the next slide, we have academic achievement. And I'm gonna hand that right over. All right. My name is Amarie Ramsey. Live at 412 Pines Drive. I'm a sixth grade inclusion
017resource teacher as well as the SACO Education Association teacher president. So along with this survey um asked amongst all of our teachers, one of the biggest concerns was that academic achievement piece. uh teachers aren't just noticing it. They are seeing and they're worried about it as well. They're seeing interruptions every miss lesson, every missed lesson, every shortened block of instruction that is that time that the student does not get back. And over weeks and months, it becomes pretty significant. It isn't just about scheduling. It's about students losing opportunities to learn and succeed. Um Miss Gray reviewed some of that data. Um, another thing I wanted to point out was the issue became even a little bit more serious when it came with students receiving specially designed instruction response to intervention as well as ESOL services.
018These here services, some of them are uh required by law to provide and some of them are required for for students to help with their transition into the community. with that, the exposure to those specially designed instruction interventions or ESOL strategies um help make those students be successful and they lose that opportunity uh this year. So thinking about next steps, we wanted to be very intentional about bringing forth that teacher voice in a structured way. Rather than asking simple yes or no questions, what we did is we gave a range of possible options for teachers to choose from. As as a teaching community, we do realize that recognize that there are there is value to this program. Some of the options are um let's see some of the options are already being used here in
019SACA while other ideas reflect from different models or from other from the original program goals. The most commonly selection op selected option was the discontinuation of the program altogether. However, at the same time, many teachers weren't just asking for it to end. They were offering thoughtful ways on how it could be improved. And one of the most supported alternative alternatives was shifting to a classroombased model similar to what's being done at SMS saco middle school. In that model, students remain in a more structured environment which helps preserve instructional time while still allowing for meaning meaningful student voice and choice experiences. Another option teachers supported was a more controlled student model which included student choice and family voice from Bifford where students chose from a structured menu of some days uh someday activities. This approach provides
020this approach provides choice within clear boundaries that make the day more manageable and predictable for all students. We would welcome the opportunity to explore any of these options more deeply with the board and work collaboratively towards a path forward that better supports student learning and student experience. >> Thank you. So administration will be in touch if you would like to pursue going forward with it or any >> I think it'd be helpful to get survey results because I >> I see that some people I haven't seen people that liked it but the data doesn't show that. So if you could share with us the survey data that you collected in raw form. I'm pretty sure that u I was told that there was no names on that. So it seemed like something we could share.
021And I also think, Meg, it would probably be a good idea for the board, if we're going to consider this, to send a survey to parents and see what they think. Um, because I've had a we've had a lot of parents here >> uh over the time talking about that and we'll get a survey out uh for parents uh before the next board meeting so we can see what the community thinks. >> Absolutely. Um and uh refer reflect back to the association regarding those that raw data piece. Um, again, this is just the voice of the teachers within the district, >> but can we get the raw data from that? >> I'll let you know. Thank you. >> So, you're not So, I just want to be so clear. It would be >> let the
022board know whether we could see the data that was presented or yes, we can see the data. >> I'll have to get back to you on that. I don't have an answer for you. >> Interesting. >> Thank you very much. Oh, unfortunately, yeah, it's not a Q&A traditionally in the format. Yeah. Any other members of the public wishing to speak? Okay, not seeing anyone seeking recognition. Moving on to item number seven. That is uh item number eight, excuse me or I'm sorry, it is seven, superintendent report. And that is superintendent Ray. Are you okay? >> Uh have a bunch of things that been going on. First and foremost, anybody who's watching, we are in need of crossing guards. If you are interested in becoming a crossing guard, please reach out to us. We um is
023a situation where that is hired through the police department. Um but we've got to try to help support that situation. Secondly, uh, PreK math and literacy night. They were a great success in our schools. Uh, and their families attended the first ever combined math and literacy night at CK Burns where students showcased their learning through engagement, hands-on activities. This event was a great opportunity to bring our elementary community together. Um really the principles are working hard to make sure that we try to bring our schools together as much as we can because we know where we're going in a couple of years. Uh Best Buddies program. This week both Fairfield and Young School officially launched their Best Buddies program, creating meaningful opportunities for connection from the early grades. We're proud to see this work expanding
024across our schools and appreciate our dedicated staff for making it a reality. Seventh graders on team Sebago, Alagash, and Acadia recently attended a three-day, twoight uh overnight program at the ecology school where they explored ecology, sustainability, food systems, and did some hands-on learning. Um, that's a pretty important thing for our kiddos, those first overnight trips on school staff, uh, with school and the staff. Uh, it's a lot of fun and, uh, get immersed in their learning. Um, congratulations to Fairfield and young uh Fairfield Schools, Nancy Marston, who is named among the 20 outstanding women of 2026 by Coast 93.1. Uh, she's our literacy interventionist and was recognized for paying it forward uh for the hoops for hopes. Uh, you can see the full radio interview on their website. That was great. And I believe it's
025Friday afternoon. We have our unified basketball at XL playing against some other teams uh from Burns School. So, a little like roundroin event. So, it should be really fun for them. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you very much. Any questions or comments for the superintendent? School board member KD. >> Uh just for the public's understanding, the crossing guard positions, are they volunteers or are they paid? >> Those are paid positions. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, not seeing anyone. Moving on to item eight, that is the chair's report. Uh, school board member Truman is not here this evening. Item nine, there are no staff reports. Item 10 is the board subcommittee minutes. Item A is the pro policy and personnel committee minutes. They are listed in your packet. And the next meeting is April 8th
026at 5:30. Item B is the finance and infrastructure committee meeting. Next meeting is was today March 25th at 4:30 and item C is the curriculum committee and the next meeting was March 23rd at 4:30. Is there an April meeting for the curriculum committee? >> There is I believe it is April 27th >> at 4:30. >> We had one before that. Sorry. April 27th and April 13th. >> All right. So, the next meeting is April 13th. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Item 11, there is no old business this meeting evening. Item 12 is new business. Item A is new hires. Is there a motion? School board member Johnson? >> Thank you. I move we approve those listed in the stipen section and issue a stipened contract for the 2025 2026 school year. Motion has been made
027by school board member John. Did you read item A, the new hires? Did you list the name? Did you read the full motion? >> Oh, there's probably been something added to it. Pardon me. >> Okay. So, this has been changed since the original document came out. So, are we looking at um >> item A, new hires, >> A? Right. Okay. So, I move we approve the nomination of Sarah McSherry Brown, prek special education teacher, and issue a contract for the remainder of the 2526 school year and approve those listed in the stipen section and issue a stipen contract for the 25 26 school year. >> Thank you. Okay. A motion has been made by schoolboard member Johnston. Is there a second? >> Second by school board member Prebble. Any comment or discussion on that item?
028>> Okay. Not seeing any. Roll call vote. School board member Waroff. >> Yes. >> School board member Prebble? >> Yes. >> School board member KD? >> Yes. >> And school board member Johnston? >> Yes. >> Motion passes 40. Thank you. >> Okay. Moving on to item B. That is the resignations. There is a memo in your packet as well. And is there a motion? Madame Mayor, >> school board member approval. >> I move we accept the resignation of Erica Swift, young school special education teacher, effective at the end of the 2025 2026 school year and Donna Powell, K through2 IEP coordinator, effective immediately. >> Thank you. Motion has been made by schoolboard member Prebble. Is there a second? >> Second. >> School board member Johnston. >> Any discussion or comment on that item? >> Okay,
029roll call vote. School board member Warnoff. Yes. >> School board member Prebble. >> Yes. >> School board member KD. >> Yes. >> And school board member Johnston. >> Yes. >> Motion passes 40. >> Okay. Item C is a building update. >> Superintendent Ray. >> Okay. We have been working on several different things on the building. Uh the biggest one is the intersection has been a hot topic lately. just they're ready to kind of bid out that work uh from a DOT level. Wanted to do some of that this summer. We are trying to finalize certain easements that are needed there. Um we have you think me we're going to be they didn't start the concrete this week or they were going to start this week the footings. >> They have the footings put in and
030they're looking at beginning some of the walls in the basement either later this week or early next week. Still a lot of mud. >> 14% of the way done. >> 3% more than the last meeting. >> Any questions or comments for the superintendent. >> Thank you. And um we are working with a couple of the businesses on the easement from the city side regarding the other DOT projects around it. Madame Mayor. >> Yes. >> May I just ask Superintendent Ray to give us just a little bit more inter information about the intersection question? >> Yeah. So, the the DOT wants to do put that work out to bid and do some of that this summer. Um, when you look at the intersection, if you are heading north at the light, that road expands, would you
031say, Meg? Probably about 3 ft. And there will be a sidewalk on part of that. So, the curb needs to come in, which then talks like you're moving telephone poles by a foot and a half on that side. Um, and that's it's really that whole side of the street that they're working on right now. And once they finalize the easements, then they can place that that out to a bid process. And they were looking to do a lot of that this summer. >> DOT is going to be doing a paving project along Route One this summer and hoping to get >> this in the same >> in the same process. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Anyone else? Okay, not seeing anyone. Moving on to item D, and that is a budget update. Superintendent Ray. >>
032All right, so there's not a ton to report right yet because we haven't got health insurance numbers. And so we presented to the city council last week. The budget hasn't changed since that number. Once we have health insurance numbers, we'll have a better idea of where we can go and what we'll need to do. This is a budget that is no additions. Um, and so if we do have to bring that down, um, we know we'll have to make some tough decisions about um, what we'll do, you know, whether it be staff, supplies, those types of things. Our fixed costs are pretty high. I definitely have some concerns about rising u energy rates. I mean, we're locked in, but still um when energy rates go up, that means the price of everything else starts to
033go up. Um and so you have to think about where you can pull back from whether that you know just like for us when gas rates are higher food goes higher, paper towels go higher, regular paper goes higher because all those things are transported that way. Um so we're going to have to be mindful of that piece. Look at those pieces of what we can control and what we can't control. Hope for a good health insurance number. I know the city uh is hoping to present theirs next week. >> We will be presenting on Monday night and that will be a complete number county school but of course it will not be the set number because the city we will have some changes as well as council goes through the process and then anticipating um
034the school board changes as well. So, I think one of the things that um you know, there still isn't a budget in Augusta uh at this point. So, maybe something positive can happen there. Um if there was any additional funds, certainly we'd be looking at that as tax relief. Um because that's where we're at and too early to really make until we get to the next change. There's really not much we can do right now. >> Thank you. Any questions or comments? School board member KD. >> Um I just remember last year when we were looking at the school calendar, we had two options and one of them, the one we went with highlighted that we would save some heating and cooling costs because of the vacation days laid out and I know this year
035we just have the one option. Does that have that in mind or was it made before all these changes? >> Well, the holidays in a very tricky place this year. Um, and what it does is it pushes us so far back that I don't know that we have the opportunity to do that the same way this year as we did last year when it was that one step two days earlier in the week or wherever it is. Um, and so I don't think we have that same calendar lining up in the perfect form like it did last year. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, moving on to item E. That is the second reading of the 2026 2027 school calendar. Is there a motion? School board member Johnston. >> Excuse me. I move we approve
036second reading of the 2026 2027 school calendar. >> Thank you. Motion has been made by school board member Johnston. Is there a second? >> Second by school board member Purbble. Any questions or comments on the calendar? Okay, roll call vote. School board member Waroff, >> yes. >> School board member Prebble, >> yes. >> School board member Kder, >> yes. >> And school board member Johnston, >> yes. >> Motion passes 40. Okay, moving on to item F. That is the winter NWA memo. And is Megan, is that yours? >> Thank you. Thank you. Um, so as you know, every winter we take a look at our NWA scores just as kind of a surface level dive and then we do a little bit of a deeper dive. in the spring when we have those endofear results.
037Um, seeing really good things in both math and reading. The growth percentiles show strong performance across most grades ranging from the 38th percentile at the lowest to the 63rd at the highest with the majority of grades falling in that band between 53rd and 63rd. And if you'll remember, those percentiles are as compared to normed groups across the country. Um this is showing that we have performed above the median for as compared to our winter 2025 scores when achievement ranged from the 45th 41st to the 56th percentiles and some fell below the 50th percentile. So we see that there's some significant growth compared to our scores in winter of last year in math. Moving on to reading, we're seeing um consistently strong percentiles with growth percentiles ranging from the 46th percentile to the 63rd percentile with
038most grades clustered between that 56th to 60th range. It represents a positive trend compared to last winter when our range was in the 35th to 62nd percentiles with a couple of grades falling notably below the median. Uh we also see that those achievement percentiles meaning just the one time not the growth from last winter to this winter range from the 59th to the 63rd percentile with every single grade level performing above the median which is a good improvement from winter of 2025 when our range was 42nd to 55th percentile. So overall we're um excited about the growth that we've made. look forward to presenting some of the ELA results in our next memo and making a recommendation and also to seeing what this uh shows as we look at our spring scores. Happy to answer
039any questions. >> Thank you. Any questions or comments? >> Question. >> Um, >> uh, do you Thank you. Do you um have any idea what you can attribute those successes to? I mean, kudos to the parents and the teachers obviously for working with their kids, but >> there are so many different factors when it comes to assessments that we really tend to look for broad patterns. I think our math and literacy coaches have done a really good job in math to look at building mathematical fluency in our lower grades, looking at our placement process in the middle school. I mean, I can think of lots of really great things that our staff is doing across the board. Unfortunately, we haven't quite figured out how to tease out exactly which of those initiatives is or isn't
040contributing, but um we did do some comparative data between our pilot teachers and our non-pilot teachers for the ELA program that we're presenting this evening. And we feel that that data did speak for itself and we did have some level of comparison even though we can never see like same kids, same day, same test, two different learning pathways or learning environments, but we're hopeful that that data kind of fed into some of the reading results at least that we're seeing here. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. Anyone else? My question school board member Johnson >> my question was Carolyn's question essentially but um I just also do want to say that it is really good news and I'm very glad for the progress that kids seem to be making. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, moving on
041to item G and Meg. That is the ELA um or English laws English language arts curriculum recommendations. >> Yes. So um a lot of acronyms in here, but I'll try to spell everything out so that everybody can stay on the same page. The curriculum committee has been kept in the loop on this work for about the last two years. Um, we have spent that time with our committee of staff members looking at a number of different resources. We started with over 40 resources and used kind of a three round process to whittle that down to a recommendation for a group of pilot teachers this year, which I believe I shared with the board about this time last year that we would be recommending that pilot for two teachers per grade level and four at second
042grade as well as a pilot of K for me and first for me. Um, just to highlight a couple of the items that we saw. We looked at RIT score growth from our pilot group and from our non-pilot group and we saw a pretty significant increase in the growth between those non-pilot classroom students and those pilot classroom students. I do want to kind of acknowledge that I there is not a single factor involved in assessments. So, it's not a silver bullet here. there are different kids in each of those classrooms, different needs, etc. But it is promising when we see those differences. Um, furthermore, our pilot teachers visited classrooms in area buildings to talk with teachers who are already utilizing each of those curriculums to observe students in action. Our non-pilot teachers had an opportunity
043to observe our pilot teachers. I again want to give a really big shout out to all of our pilot teachers who worked exceptionally hard to not only learn something new in the throws of the school year, but doing so when they're kind of the lone soldiers on their team to be figuring out what works and what doesn't work. Some of the things that we would like to stress that folks may see as differences in this curriculum versus past curriculums is one that it brings together a whole bunch of different peace meal things that we were doing. As an example, we've used a phonics curriculum, reading units of study, writing units of study, handwriting without tears, supplementing that with University of Florida literacy initiative phonics work, different vocab and word work things. This kind of ties
044that all together in one neater package to bring make that more cohesive for students. The other um big and noticeable change is that this shies away from having students read within leveled readers at what they can read and pushes students towards reading on grade level and then scaffolding for students who might not be on grade level to pre-each vocabulary. pre-teach the phonics instruction and decoding skills that are required for grade level text and then uses repeated readings and a lot of oral discussion practices to make sure that all students can access grade level text rather than looking at students accessing the text that they can currently read. So scaffolding or structuring their ability to read grade level text and then organizing those texts around a specific knowledge component. So rather than organizing around skills as
045we've done in the past like we're going to be focusing on compare and contrast or focusing on summarizing those skills are woven throughout and the units are designed around a deep study or understanding of either a novel a kind of set of stories around like biographies and autobiographies or around content like animal and life cycles or the study of as Maya, Aztec, and Incas. And it really does present a lot more of a challenging scope and sequence in terms of the content that we're asking students to understand. But our teachers have felt through the pilot process that that's really created a deep curiosity in our students and also provided kind of a common set of knowledge and reading experiences so that when students do get to the writing phase, they have a lot to draw
046from in terms of having a common experience versus our past curriculum which focused more on students individual experiences which as we know can vary in a summertime from focusing on, you know, playing Minecraft or tagging along at work with a parent to international travel which makes it really hard to kind of draw on the same experience. Whereas this builds subject matter knowledge and then moves students forward together. And as I said then integrating that vocabulary, grammar instruction, writing all around that content so that um those things are repeated throughout. Our kindergarten teachers are recommending to adopt CKLA skills which is just the phonics, grammar, handwriting portion of CKLA and then using K for me as their knowledge building reading and writing curriculum. The thinking behind that is that K for me is grounded in a
047playbased pedagogical theory for students and it aligns with what our prek does with prek for me. That's a state approved curriculum and it um again has a lot of readaloud, a lot of vocabulary instruction and also builds in a lot of center time or choice time that is structured around whatever the content is that is studied by students in that unit. So, um, as we move to new buildings, we felt like this would be a good pathway to have prek and K in the same building with the same curricular resource. PreK for me and K for me going in that scope and sequence and then having CKLA skills bridge from kindergarten to first as students move into a new building. Um the last thing I want two more things that I want to point out
048before I'll take any questions is that um one in terms of professional development we're looking to be able to purchase resources for the end of this school year so that teachers can have a chance to have their hands on those materials before the end of this school year. and then offering two different professional development options. One at the end of this school year and another during one of our inservice days next school year. Again, so that those staff members who really want to or are able to take advantage of the summer to dig into those resources will have the training to do so beforehand. Also recognizing that we have folks that may have summer employment obligations or want to look at it themselves before getting the professional development would be able to attend in August.
049And then the last piece that I want to point out is the budget overview. It is a significant cost. Those costs are um budgeted into our budget in a couple of different ways. Uh we have current assessment platforms that we would be replacing with the assessment platform that comes along with CKLA. We have title 2 funds that we can utilize to pay for and provide the professional development. And we have um funds that are within the FY26 budget and funds currently budgeted, though I realize that budget is not finalized in FY27 where we can split some of those teacher resources across. And furthermore, that initial year one investment is not a recurring investment. We're looking at kind of an annual reup for K5 at around $60,000 a year. And though that feels like a hefty
050price tag, it is pretty consistent with the year-over-year costs that we have for our Eureka Math Squared programs where all student consumable items are coming out of that for the year, which does have an impact on paper and copying costs where there are less materials that are produced in that way. So, um, the the recommendation of both the ELA staff subcommittee and the curriculum committee that met this week is to support this. I'm happy to table it for an additional meeting if folks want more time to think or process around this adoption as well as answer any questions that you might have tonight. >> Great. Thank you. Where it is not officially a motion on the agenda, we wouldn't need to table it. We would just plan to bring it back. It's written in >>
051Okay. >> Um the memo. >> Thank you. >> If it were on the actual agenda we could table. Um any questions or comments at this time? >> I would school board member Johnston. >> I would just like to say that I do as a member of the curriculum committee I do think this is a really good thing. I believe it's been, you know, thoroughly vetted and examined and I do agree with the recommendation to go ahead when we get the vote and and pass this into our um our ELA curriculum. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Yep. So, if you're okay instead of pulling it tonight and that will give the other schoolboard members who are missing this evening chance to review it. >> Absolutely. >> And have it on the next agenda. >> Yep.
052>> Perfect. >> All right. Thank you everyone. Moving on to item H. That is the first reading of policies. Schoolboard member Johnston. Thank you. I move we approve the first reading of policies CBI evaluation of the superintendent DC use of credit cards DI fiscal accounting and reporting DIA fixed assets DJ bidding purchasing requirements DJA purchasing authority DJ H purchasing and contracting procurement staff code of conduct. >> Great. Thank you very much. There is a motion made by schoolboard member Johnston. Is there a second? >> Second by school board member Waroff. Any discussion or comment on the policies? Okay. Not seeing any. Roll call vote. School board member Waroff. >> Yes. >> School board member Prebble. >> Yes. >> School board member KD. Yes. >> School board member Johnston. >> Yes. >> Motion passes 40. Moving
053on to item 13, other information. Are there any school board members with anything to share? Okay, moving on to item 14. There is no executive session this evening. And item 15 is adjournment. Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> So move. >> Motion made by school board member Johnston. Is there a second? >> Second by school board member Purbble. Roll call vote. School board member Waroff. >> Yes. >> School board member Purbble. >> Yes. >> School board member KD. >> Yes. and school board member Johnston. >> Yes. >> Motion to adjourn at 5:49 passes 40. >> Thank you everyone and have a great evening.