001[Music] n [Music] n [Music] n [Music] n [Music] n [Music] a [Music] n [Music] good afternoon I hope you you've had a great morning learning and collaborating with your peers a lot has happened since the last staff Training Day in September first I want to give you an update on schools of success I will then talk about some of the legislative and political developments that have happened over the past few weeks plus I have a cold so I'll try to get through this as well so let's start with the good news schools of success is rolling on class of 2028 has made it through the first semester and students have submitted their choices for the school of success they will enter next year by Spring each High School will have a reveal celebration where freshmen
002will learn their placement now these students are more than halfway through the Freshman seminar where they experience 3de case challenges and learn how to make the most of their high school years this foundation will set them up for a long-term success in high school and Beyond at least that's our hope over the past five months numerous staff members have par have participated in professional learning with Ford NGL to establish a prek through 12th grade schools of success system at the elementary middle schools you should see the keys of success from the portrait of the Explorer and portrait of a connector in every classroom not just on the wall but in instruction now the guaranteed experiences at every grade level are designed to begin students on a path from the time they enter the classroom to
003understanding how and what they are learning in school connects to life outside of the school walls mastering the six core competencies collaboration creativity Innovation critical thinking cultural agility engaging communication self-direction those six core competencies begins day one and continues through graduation it is these skills that will truly set our students apart from others as they enroll in higher education and list in the military or inner Workforce as an employee or entrepreneur so I know a lot of this still seems nebulous especially at the lower grade levels but we will continue to work on it and find ways to embed these competencies and the keys to success and everyday instruction we're all going to get there together so speaking of together first of all I think this was Whoever thought about having this day professional learning
004the day after Super Bowl thank you thank you thank you this is uh I think it makes a huge difference uh again we didn't have to worry about too much of Transportation this morning some of the roads were slick so uh also having drivers availability so great idea maybe we should do this next year anyway so speaking of together we'll have some exciting news to share in a few weeks about work we are doing with local higher education institutions can't go on to detail just yet but the partnership will provide free dual credit to more students and guarantee that those credits are accepted by the college or university right now too many of the college credits our students earn are not accepted when they enroll in college while the experience of a dual credit class
005is valuable no doubt about it it is far more valuable if it saves time and money in college so we are also continuing to develop our Partnerships with the business Community next month I meet again with the CEO Champions a group of top level business owners and Executives in the area who have committed to working with us having these organizations as partners means our students will have access to work place experiences with top companies in our community before they graduate from high school this is a tremendous benefit to our students and to the n and to the economy of our region so again dual credits that hopefully stay within our community as well as work-based experiences within our community with hopefully keeping our students connected and staying in Northern Indiana so let's talk about some
006national issues it's been a whirlwind since January 20th and we are doing our best to stay on top of issues obviously the concerns about immigration and deportation as it relates to our students and their families continues to be a source of anxiety we have procedures and place and I've worked with office staff and school administrators to ensure that we are following our legal obligations at all times this means keeping our students safe and providing a welcoming environment for all but it also means complying with court orders none of this is a change from past practice we do not anticipate our schools being the site of immigration enforcement but we do know there are many fears in our community and we'll continue to reassure our families as best we can that we care about them and
007their children that goes for transgender students and staff and their families and we expect in the coming months that there will be other specifically named classes of individuals who may have reason to be fearful that their rights may be at risk Fort Wayne Community Schools welcomes all and we firmly believe our diversity in all of its forms is our greatest strength we might all we might not always have answers right away for how new executive orders affect our schools but we see you and we are glad you are here the other source of concern is the future of the US US Department of Education and federal funding right now we are being cautious in all of our spending we are in communication with our contacts in Washington DC daily and will continue to monitor the
008situation from a state in regards to state issues of even greater concern is the action proposed osed by the governor and state legislators to cut funding to schools and municipalities in an effort to reduce property taxes under the governor's proposal our operations funds would be cut by nearly 15 million in the first year and increased to a $20 million loss by the third year what that actually amounts to is almost a $55 million r reduction in operations funding in the next three years as you can imagine this would be devastating to say the least but on top of this cut the increase to the education fund would be minimal or non-existent and you may hear about a 2% increase to schools but that's an increase in total funding which also includes non- pubs as well
009expanding vouchers to All Families regardless of income so Universal Voucher Program which by the way last year in vouchers alone Fort Wayne commun schools gave to its families who reside in our district but attend non-public schools $41 million so more money for private schools means less for public schools there's only there's a bucket of funding and how you distribute that those funds from that bucket we are working with our lobbyists and several other organizations to fight for the resources our students need but it's an uphill battle and what I mean by that is we have to show show how this is impacting our kids how it impacts elll students how it impacts special needs students how it impacts our students who are trying to move them so they are reading at grade level and that
010doesn't just mean third graders it means prek through 12th graders so we need to start to think how this is impacting our kids and quite frankly how it may impact you as a classroom teacher as instructional assistant or whatever function you have where you're connecting with students how is that going to impact you so if you have some thoughts and ideas on that send me send me an email I want to hear your input in regards to how these types of fund fund reductions are going to impact you I've made this known at greater fort wayi I've made it known in a lot of the groups I'm part I participate that this is a Monumental impact and I've never heard of quite this kind of reduction in all my years in education so make sure
011you reach out to elected officials and let them know how you feel about the decisions they are making do it as a parent and do it as a community member always be respectful of course when you call her right but be honest about the needs of your students and the importance of supporting what we do on a b daily B basis what we do on a daily basis because of these funding concerns both that federal and state we are taking a deep look at our budgets make sure you're Mindful and spending requests is this a need or is it a want is it something that has to be purchased now or could it wait if you see an area where you can be more efficient while still being effective let us know again send suggestions
012through let's talk and we are open to any and all ideas so send me your ideas input through let's talk I know this has been heavy I know that we are following all these issues and or please know that we are following all these issues and fighting for you and our students people in our community and in our state are taking notice of the work being done in Fort Wayne Community Schools so please be proud of what you do and know how greatly I appreciate each of you and I know our board does as well and again so glad we could have this opportunity to have some have some of this dialogue send me your thoughts and ideas through let's talk it's very very important I'll be going down to Indianapolis next or this coming
013Wednesday morning with legislators for legislative meeting so I'd love to have your ideas in the next 24 hours well folks thank you again for all that you're doing and have a great afternoon [Music]