001CLI on it did you find the meeting we are if it isn't open when you click on it then click on agenda and then go scroll down okay and sometimes on a phone it doesn't necessarily open but if I go to print it on my phone then I can see it okay great like prints PDF and then you can anyway okay great all right seeing the presence of a quorum I'll call the hel school committee meeting to order on Tuesday April 1st at 5: or 6m um this is an in-person meeting the live stream is available on the Arps Tu whoops I lost my ARS tube YouTube page um and public comment can be emailed to school committee public comment at ars.org by 3M on the day of the meeting public comment can also be
002left by voicemail at 413 3621 1891 by 3 p.m. on the day of the meeting and those should also be 3 minutes or under um want to say first that Dr Z apologizes for not being able to be here tonight um I we've changed the agenda a little bit um and before we start I would like to welcome Rachel figur Smith is that the way you okay who will be on the committee through the rest of this year Year we're very appreciative having another person yescome um so we will go on we have two sets of minutes tonight um one is from our meeting at the beginning of March the other one is from our budget hearing on the 26th so um let's start with the one the 0304 25 minutes um if anybody has
003any additions or Corrections no I mean I write them so you do a great job I really appreciate it all right uh then I move that we accept the minutes of March 4th 2025 I second and I discussion no all those in favor all right thank you and then we will go to the minutes from February 25th 24th 25 February 24th 2 2025 yes okay um and that was the budget hearing um is anybody have any questions about this set all right well I will make a motion then to approve the minutes of February 24th 2025 second all those in favor all right that was a 47 minute record just noting finish that meeting in 47 minutes with a lot of people on um for anyone who wants to see them we have four warrant
004reports from this month from the past month they're post to hear um they're also posted on my town government where we post for the town um we have no gifts chairs update uh I guess the only update I have would be the last PTO meeting um and they're doing very well they their budget I mean their financial situation seems to be good um and the spring fair is coming up that will the 5th of March May May 3rd it's a Saturday May 3rd um and I went last year it was a lot of fun um anybody else on the committee have any announcements I went to the family fun time yes and it was good it was fun I guess really big turnout yeah it was a really bu big turnout I saw other people
005that were there great um but it was a good it was a good vibe and I think the kids were enjoy it so good I appreciate all the effort that everyone put into that boy I the people on the PTO work really hard they really do um principal's update Mickey emailed me and said she wasn't feeling well so she wasn't going to make it tonight either and we don't have a superintendent update so we'll move on Tanya is going to do the report on AB absenteeism and I appreciate being here because marcha couldn't make tonight either so really appreciate your filling in for her you're welcome um I put together some information for you and I did it in a handout uh for the public the handout will be available on board dos it is
006I see it there yeah all right um just uh couple caveats when we talk about absenteeism we won't be into specifics because P's so small and identifying one particular child might identify them in a very public way so I am going to talk globally about chronic absenteeism okay um as you all know regular attendance is vital for Student Success and student achievement and showing up for school every day on time helps kids make sure that they're there for the lessons that the excellent teachers prepare for them and helps get them ready for uh understanding content thinking globally thinking critically those kinds of things things making connections uh when students Miss uh School whether it be excused or unexcused they miss out on the opportunities for uh communication with their peers around particular topics and the
007lessons that are provided for them those kinds of things and it's important that um we understand that absenteeism is not just academic but it has effects on students full well-being their whole s and so when we talk about chronic chronic absenteeism I make sure to kind of put a little debt in there for you we're talking about absences that they miss 10% of school or more and so if we think about 180 days that is 18 days if they missed 18 days or more they're considered chronic uh it's important also to know that we are not waiting until they get chronic to do something about it um for instance here at pelum D way works with uh students I'm saying students that uh might be absent or might have an issue around absenteeism so he
008works with the family he reaches out we try to be proactive about that um because it's something that we all can be supportive in and on the back of this hand out I talk about how caregivers at home can support that but it's important to know that there are levels of support um for students at pelum as well as in arts as a whole uh to the right I gave you just some brief information about tier one supports when I talk about tier one I'm talking all students every student in all of our schools are are able to get this kind of support where we talk about uh understanding and expectations so we make sure we communicate that to both students and families we talk about routines we make sure that they understand and they
009they really get an idea especially in the younger grades of what it means to be in school how being the school citizen means we show up those kinds of things um it's personalized if there is a student that's abent we make sure to connect with the families not in some generic way of oh we need you in school it's personalized uh let's talk about what's happening with Rachel and her absence so that they can really understand that it's not just about some generic or foreign thing is specifically we care about your child being in school and being present and how that will help them succeed as well as help their classmates hear their voice so that we can hear from them and then we also whatever we expect we want to make sure we celebrate
010as well if they're reaching those marks so we recognize and celebrate good attendance if improve the tendance those kinds of things and um as one of D Wayne's uh main functions is connecting with kids we want to make sure that all kids have a trusted adult in the schools that they attend that they can go to if they're you know just feeling shy about coming to school or have any kind of issues that way and so outside of the full body student body whole St old school all students we have what we call tier two supports which are targeted supports for kids that might have specific needs around attendance issues and so um we try to proactively work with families to figure out what those barriers to coming to school are could be the student
011is feeling nervous about school or maybe they're having friend issues or maybe their stress of some kind or maybe issues in the home uh we want to make sure that we're proactive about that and make sure that the family feels supported as well as the student uh we sometimes have to develop success plans for students uh and as you think about I and our students with special needs or disabilities they might have attendance strategies put into their plans to ensure that those students are making the mark there um and then we have a variety of mentoring groups I think Dwayne talked last time about mentoring group that he was starting um there could be intensive tutoring what we call check in check out where a student gets to school and they just come up and
012say hey Mr Dwayne I'm here today and so that that student knows there's an adult that's in that building that cares about them knowing that their presence that day is going to make a difference um and then it could be small groups could be restorative uh conversations or sort of discipline when a consequence has happened those kinds of things so this is an overall um just some information for you to get a better idea of what's Happening um around the school district around absenteeism what happens when we have special supports around that but also um to ensure that everyone understands attendance matter it is vital that kids are in school and are in school on time so they don't miss any instruction um so I hope this gives you a brief highlight of H absenteeism
013and if you have specific issues maybe um because P so small there might be some things I talk about in a wider context if that's okay so thank you understand I'm just curious what's going on at pum in terms of chronic eism like what we're what you're seeing in terms of numbers of to share that well let's so for instance let's say there's one student that's chronically absent I can't tell you that there's one stally because that would be young student however um we have it is not a larger issue um when you think it's not a know 50% of the students or 30% of the students so it is relatively small however it's important to know that because it's so small those one or two or three for students matter intensely so working with
014those families and those students to ensure that we're capturing the needs if there's need for additional supports or Family Resources um Dr gar was going to do this presentation so you know about the family center and how they support families it is that kind of thing so if there's an intensive need we make sure they have the resources and the uh support um guide fam through that are you feeling like the supports you have in place are being effective I'm going to say yes uh I are you saying specifically around pum yes I will just say that um again trying that because of the population no I'm just asking like widely these supports feel like they are doing what you want them to do yes these t to help students they they are have been
015shown um through research and just best practices to be those that makes a difference with uh students and families I think the most important thing is to remember that a student being absent is just not a student issue which is sometimes we just Target on a student but that's also something that might be a spot opportunity for us to reach out and connect with families um families uh being centered around attendance is important and so it's important that at every schools and P as well that if we have a student that is chronically absent that we reach out to families and find out how and what kinds of supports they need to get their child here because sometimes you find out that the issue isn't just the child that's absent it's I'm having difficulty with
016rent or um paying bills or just even Transportation so if those are the issues that are stopping the student from coming then we start to work the family center does it you know extremely well working with that family to find resources for them I was you going to say with transportation is it hard because a lot of our population is choice in so they don't they're not provided Transportation do that become a stumbling block and then do we have any resources to help choice in families with Transportation so I can't speak on that but what I will do is I will write that down and I'm just curious no no I'll write it down and find out um to make sure I don't misspeak but also to make sure I'm not um overstating the problem
017I think I I had heard some conversation around the tardiness being the thing I imagine that the choice and is related there because kids are not taking only half of school is taking buses that's that um so yeah I would be curious about that as well okay and and that's one of the reasons why I made sure to note that when I talk about attendance it's just not getting here but getting here on time so I will um reach yeah that that is actually something that I've been asked so you know if I get here and I can't get my kid out of the car on time to not be late what does that mean in terms of their attendance record that that was a very specific question I was asked I I'll find out
018they're I know that like yes but there's a there's a difference between I think between being tardy and being late you know being cons late as in perhaps reporting to the state because I think that is maybe something that we have to track so I we track both tardiness in absentees any other questions no okay thank you really appreciate that um Dwayne let's just move right on to you well thank you um first I just want to thank the pelum school committee the pelum community um celebrating my six Monon uh anniversary I would say in this role so I'm very very pleased and happy with where we are um appreciative to our superintendent and restructuring and having that student and family engagement directly at the school which I think has been very beneficial and tonight
019I will be brief but I do want to say that for the next meeting I will have a PowerPoint presentation and update just for what my role has been here what I've been doing primarily dealing around student um behavior and family engagement enhancing staff development and operational efficiency and also uh professional growth with um observational opportunities with IPS 54s and of course School committees and walk through so I want to just give a nice report to the school committee which I will have ready for the next meeting but I want to highlight and update um one initiative that we uh started and we talked about at the last school committee meeting we we talked about um the initiative the pelum family connections and this initiative uh when we talked about it last time we were
020just spearheading it but this initiative is really there to uh work on a collaborative relationship between families and our school communities and basically and I love the part where it says meaningful and consistent communication because my role uh affords me the time to do that to really connect with families um making sure that you know they feel valued heard and that they are integral parts of their child's learning in their school community so uh from our last meeting uh we've reached out to all of our pelum families uh where doing another round where we're doing individual invitations as well I was able to talk to a lot of families during the pum family fun night which I think was absolutely amazing and in particular like you said because we have so many families that are
021not local we had a great turnout um I saw you know the gym and the school in a whole another light so it was good to really connect with families Ono one and you know of course oh I saw your name I heard about you but who are you right so it was a good getting to know you event and since that event um along with our individual invites we've completed uh as of today four uh actual sitd Downs with families and we have four more confirmed that are uh that are coming up in the next couple of weeks and I'm actively reaching out to families as well and I would say uh from the meetings that we have had and the conversations that I've had with families you know one it's great to get
022to know you you know who is the person in the building particularly with students that I'm working with on the mentoring groups because I think they're going home and they're starting to talk so I got a couple of oh I I heard your name which is that's gonna going to end my highlights tonight by um sharing some feedback that I got from the sixth graders and it was really heartfelt because I just celebrated a birthday and they made me a nice birthday card and they told you know how they felt about me and I think it really you know I was telling Miss Tanya it really summed up you know for me this work and what we're doing and the value that engagement really has with students so uh so we've completed four we have
023four more confirmed which is uh really good and uh with those confirmations um I'm going to put a goal for myself I know I might not get because we have about two months left you know but I want to get to at least half of the families you know at least sit down and talk to half of the families and this is an initiative that I will continue next year um with getting