001show that all five board members and both student board members are present and we will begin with the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Are there any communications this evening? >> Yes, there are. The Greenell Global Academy submitted a grant proposal to the Department of Public Instruction last week Wednesday with a request for $900,000 over three years to support the implementation of the Greenell Global Academy. The application for enrollment for students at Greenell Global and twoformational sessions have been is opened and the twoformational sessions have been held with two more coming up in the next couple weeks. Budget projections include enrollment of 75% of capacity and applications are
002coming in at a good pace. Greenell Global Academy is now in the drop-down menu of schools in Greenale and uh and live on the website. The current strategic plan adopted in 2021 is near completion. Dr. Ridzik, that would be me. Um am working to identify a potential consultant to lead the next strategic planning process. At this time, I've connected with Lee Pritzell at Elevated Performance and Joanne Sternkey at Excel Leadership. And over the next week, I'll engage with each for proposals. I shared MC responsibilities for the pops concert this weekend, and the students had amazing performances. I really uh enjoyed the preview of the musical Chicago Teen Edition. The spring musical opens Friday, March 13th, and runs five performances through March 21st. Tickets are on sale now through the Greenell School's website. And that concludes
003my communications. All right, thank you. And then we'll kick it over to the students for their updates. All right, so last week, DECA students competed at Lake Geneva at the state career development conference. [clears throat] Taking both tests. Oh, wow. [cough] My bad. Um, taking both tests and assess role plays to determine their place among other state qualifiers. Congratulations to Jack and David for qualifying for the international career development conference in Atlanta through the student business enterprise project. Robotics nears the end of the build season, finishing the robot for the Lake Lakeland district competition this weekend. They competed at the Sussex Scrimmage last week and persevered through complications in the robot to solve programming issues. Uh student equity team hosted a Black History Month community connections event with members helping to run stands and activities
004as well as set up and clean up. Uh and then as well, student equity team is preparing and distributing materials and resources for women's history month as well as the student advocacy board is meeting this week hopefully in order to discuss some potential opportunities for students and reflecting on the success of the first semester exam exemptions. >> Ending their season over the weekend, the Palms team traveled to Wisconsin Spirit Championships, taking first in debut prom and kickline and third in hiphop. Educators rising students are preparing for competitions and breakout sessions this Wednesday in Stevens Point. Juniors are continuing to prepare for the upcoming ACT, utilizing flex sessions to prepare for specific sections of the exam. And yearbook surveys for each grade level have gone out and clubs have started taking pictures to include in the
0052025 2026 yearbook. >> All right, thank you. And uh we will move to comments from visitors which it looks like there are some. So I will just read what I have to read here. [clears throat] Welcome to the uh to all those who will be willing to speak this evening. We would like like to remind you that the school board meetings are for the purpose of carrying on the business of the district. They are official business meetings held in public through school board bylaw 0167.3. The board allows citizens to make comments by scheduling two opportunities on the agenda to receive citizen comments. Persons wishing to address the board are asked to come to the podium and state their name and address for the record. Comments are limited to only one time. Individuals who will be
006speaking will be limited to 3 minutes. Citizen com comments are limited to a period to not exceed 30 minutes. In accordance with the intent of the open meetings law, please be aware that although the board of education welcomes comments from the public, it cannot discuss or debate items brought up during public comments. Board bylaws require that all comments are directed at the presiding officer, who is me. Comments must also refer to items within the legitimate jurisdiction of the board. As the presiding officer, I may interrupt, warn, or terminate comments when the statement is too lengthy, personally directed, abusive, obscene, or irrelevant to the business of the board. If the presiding officer exercises his or her right to terminate the comments under the above guidelines, written comments may be submitted to the presiding officer instead. And
007with that, we'll take comments. Good evening, Brett Meyer, 5313 Me Road. I first want to begin by thanking the board and the administration for the dialogue over the last few weeks. You have seen a bit of me. I have been a loud critic of the middle school schedule and your response illustrates that this board is listening. Retaining our encore requirements and programs such as those in music are a significant win for our student belonging and I appreciate that commitment. However, I encourage you to look for clarification on the following after tonight's presentation. First, the math. The proposal to shift math and ELA into 83 minute blocks, 53 minutes of tier 1, and 30 minutes of tier 2. This change still imposes a tax on the rest of the schedule. Because of encore protections, the tax
008now falls squarely on science and social studies and some encores that remain. We are still robbing Peter to pay Paul while leaving 3600 minutes of morning meeting time untouched. Second, the justification. The upcoming presentation relies on SEAL research that is 15 to 20 years old. That is not to say it isn't valuable as it is some of the hallmark research in aha moments for education. But there have been some shifts in that time. Modern research supports integrated SEAL. The UVA Curry school study, which is referenced in that presentation, found that responsive classroom worked specifically because teachers changed how they taught, not just what they taught. Modern research has shifted towards teacher well-being. Modern studies show that if a teacher is burnt out or lacks their own adult skills, those techniques will feel performative to students.
009Adult SEAL is a prerequisite to student. Third, the quality of the 30 minute tier 2 block. Let me be clear. I absolutely support intervention for the third of students who need it. However, we must remember that asking one teacher to provide highquality intervention for some while the rest need enrichment is a risk factor for the burnout that I just mentioned. The onus for making this work is being placed largely on our teachers. We have a veteran staff and quite frankly, they don't need professional development on basic lesson planning. They need support in instructional efficacy. Continually updating how they deliver highlevel content. Forcing them to manage a bell-to-bell logistical puzzle instead of practicing their craft is an unsustainable task on our best best educators. Finally, I am cautious regarding teacher feedback. My conversation suggests that staff's
010perspective may be more nuanced than what is reflected in tonight's report. be thoughtful about asking staff to set sail on a ship they may not feel completely safe on. And I think that's probably more for our core teachers. I see progress and I thank you for your willingness to listen and adjust. I request you consider these points and concerns as you ask questions following the presentation tonight and before your vote. Thank you. >> Thank you. if anyone else wants to speak. Good evening. Um, Joseph Glorioso, 6824 Magnolia Court. Um, my name is Joseph Glorioso. My wife Keely and I have two children here in the Greenale School District. Fiona, a junior here at the high school and Jeppi, who is currently an eighth grader at GMS. Back in 2022, with a seventh grader and a
011fourth grader in private school, we began an exhausting search for a private high school for our daughter and eventually our son. Our criteria were straightforward. The school needed to be in the right location, offer a strong academic experience, be a place that our son would one day want to attend, and most importantly, and according to my daughter, have a real theater program. This last requ requ requirement came from nine years of Catholic education where despite best intentions, the arts, particularly music, were barely emphasized. It wasn't that they didn't offer anything. It was that there was little encouragement, little investment, and little room for discovery. Their school had a business model, and unfortunately, music and theater were low on their list of priorities. By 2023, we were nearly committed to a private school. Then on uh
012the very night that we were selecting Fiona's classes, we got cold feet. Suddenly, we were facing a reality that our daughter might not have a school to attend in the fall. So, my wife did something simple but life-changing. She bought tickets for us to see Foot Loose here at GS GHS. We knew Greenell had a strong reputation in the music and theater, and she thought maybe, just maybe, we would consider giving it a chance. The curtain opened and my wife and I looked over at Fiona, whose jaw had dropped wide open in that moment, just steps from where we stand today. We knew we made the right decision to sell our home in Milwaukee and move into an apartment and build a home here in Greenell. That single night changed the entire course of my
013family's life. And here's the point of the story. At their previous school, our children's talents in the arts were completely unnoticed. No one knew Fiona could sing. No one had the chance to encourage her, to nurture her passion, or to show her what she was capable of. It took uprooting our entire lives, literally moving communities to find a place where the arts are valued enough to ignite something in our daughter. And my son's choice has been shaped by this as well at GMS. Next year, he'll be uh coming into a choir here at the high school. What we have here in Greenale is special. It is rare and it is intentional. This doesn't happen by accident. Changing what we have now would be a mistake, one that risks losing exceptional staff, weakening the programs that
014set Greenale apart, and letting the next Fiona slip through the cracks of a system that puts test scores and creativity and expression. Um, I'm sorry, Greenale apart and letting uh the next Fiona slip through the cracks of a system that puts test scores above creativity, expression, and opportunity. If we believe in educating the whole child, then we must protect the programs that make our children whole. Because greatness doesn't come from what students are required to learn. It comes from what they are inspired to love. Thank you. And sorry for going over. [laughter] >> I can tell you're about to finish. Thank you. >> Anyone else? Good evening. My name is Fiona Glorioso. I live on 6824 Magnolia Court and I am a junior here at GHS. I'm here tonight to talk about something deeply personal
015to not only me but this community. My family moved here in 2023 and for the first year we lived in an apartment. My mom, dad, brother, myself, two dogs, and a fish. My parents made the sacrifice of selling our house to provide my brother and I with better opportunities we weren't given at our old school. Since then, I am proud to say I have been actively involved in the Jerry Awards program, GHS theater, GHS Jazz Band, GHS choirs, and various other art programs. I also recognize that having these opportunities earlier in middle school would have been greatly beneficial towards my individual growth as a young person. And I'm grateful that my younger brother, who is currently in eighth grade at the middle school, has the opportunity to not only explore his interests, but find himself.
016I remember middle school as a very rocky road. I was an easy target for bullies, and every day felt like an endless battle. It wasn't until I found theater that things started to change. On stage, I wasn't just the kid who got picked on. I was someone else, someone with a voice, someone with worth, and someone who mattered. The theater program became my home, a place where I could express myself, build confidence, and connect with others and make friends. I can only imagine myself as a young girl in middle school feeling so lost and needing a teacher like Mr. Jones or Mr. Rifenberg or Miss Merkel or even Mr. Schetsky. The arts do so much more than just entertain. They foster creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration. They provide a safe space for students to explore
017their identities, build confidence, and most importantly, find their voice. These programs kept me going, gave me opportunities to grow, and taught me the importance of self-expression. Cutting them would be like taking away a lifeline for some students who need them most. I hope for the sake of these middle school students, you will reconsider your newfound epiphanies. Not only for the kids, but for the amazing teachers who will be risking their jobs because of these cuts. I would like to thank my teachers for always being there for me. Mr. Jones for helping me through my different solos and keeping me sane. Mr. Rifenberg for letting me sing and be with his amazing jazz band. And Mr. Chetsky for guiding me to be an amazing actor and being the first face a scared freshman girl saw walking
018into the Greenale Auditorium. I appreciate you all. Thank you. >> Thank you. Hi, I'm Jeff Shetszky. I am a fourth year teacher here and theater director and lived in the S O D and H sections once long ago. Uh Fiona, I remember that day that you walked in and thank you for being so brave. You were alone. Um but you had come for something and you've made it worthwhile. I want to thank you board for your discernment um with the scheduling and with the thoughts and the proposals of the last five or six weeks. I really appreciate it. I appreciate what we've heard about scheduling, about your commitment to curricular music, um to commitment to continuing to help students uh get their academic support and finding that balance. I am a proud alum of College
019Park, of Greenale Intermediate School of Greenale High School, and I am a benefactor of curricular music. I got that during the day. I was too busy after school. I had sports to go to. I had other things to go to. And I had music during the day and not always when I wanted to have it. I remember um in seventh grade and I wasn't always as wonderful as I am now and had a teacher, a music teacher that we had odds with quite a bit and somehow still she had learned that I played the piano and she was the first person to put a piece of music in front of me and say, "Don't you play? Would you play this for our concert?" I have um in my 29 years in high school and professional
020career played over 200 shows and that was the first time that someone said here you should play this for the choir and I think at the time I was just trying to impress the girls but it was a chance for me during the day to share my gifts and to explore a side of me that I didn't know that I had. I liked being in choir and I'm glad I did it during the day. But also that part about playing that experience stuck with me and it was the first time I was on the other side of the table and I think years later that always I always come back to that. I was still a jock. I was still too busy but I had time during the day when I got to high school.
021I was still in sports but I had time during the day to take choir to be with art to do all the different things that we did there. And I want to thank you for the continual discernment about keeping curricular music at the middle school level, at the high school level. It's so important in the middle school when everyone's still figuring out what they want to do. I will say our beloved Greenale, we're good at labeling people. You're a jock, you're a this, you're a cheerleader, you're a palm girl, you're a band kid. But at the middle school, they're still trying to figure it out. And I hope that we can continue to offer those opportunities. It did for me. I want to thank you for supporting all of the arts in all of our
022schools. Hello everybody. Tom Rifenberg, 1942 chord grass circle, high school band director and parent of a seventh grader. When I spoke back in January, I attempted to answer the question, what is Greenale? Focusing on the many incredible student opportunities the district offers. Over the past five weeks, I've witnessed other examples that further answer that question. Greenell is a community coming together to hear important dialogue. Whether it's 120 people discussing Trimborne Farm or YouTube views of that January schoolboard meeting, Greenell is an administration who respects and values parent, staff, and community feedback and is willing to work together to find solutions that meet the needs of all stakeholders. Greenale is a school board taking the time to read every email, listen to every parent, and talk to every concerned teacher regarding a schedule proposal that will
023have a longlasting impact on students from the class of 2031 to the class of 206. The changes over the past five weeks and the modified middle school proposal from a music standpoint represents a significant improvement from the outdated current schedule. By keeping music and encore classes separated, students still have the opportunity to explore multiple areas without having to make those hard choices as an 11year-old. Music rehearsals remain three days per week and the seventh grade music requirement remains in place. Now, students will now only be pulled out for music lessons during the tiered support time. That means no music student will ever miss core academic instruction. No core teacher will ever have to retach something due to a music lesson. and students will have the exact same lesson day and time all year long. That's
024huge. That is truly a creative solution that provides the needed academic intervention time, keeps all kids in every minute of every class, and protects valuable music lesson time. That is Greenale. A team that comes together, has difficult yet productive conversations, listens with an open mind, does not rest on our laurels, and above all else, puts the total student experience first and foremost when making decisions. Thank you to everyone in this room for your time, for continuing to value music, the arts, and all electives, and for your continued commitment to Greenell schools. All right. Thank you. Anyone else? >> Kevin Sabot, 7220 Horizon Drive. Uh, I just want to thank you all for responding to my emails, listening to me uh, talk with you and meet with you. I have also talked with a lot of
025parents and other community members as well. Um, it looks like what we're going to see today from Mr. Curry looks to be quite a result of that engagement of conversation that that you all have heard and I appreciate that. Um I do still have a little bit of concerns about the science curriculum and a little bit about the social emotional learning piece. The only thing that rings in my mind as it comes to that social emotional learning time is I don't know and I haven't heard anybody come up and talk about how amazing uh experience a student had because of going to a certain assembly or going to a certain conference as adults. Uh what really matters in school is the teachers and the experience that the teachers provide or coaches. So I just want
026to challenge your thinking on that social emotional learning piece. My understanding is that it's only about 50% of the teachers that are engaged in that this year. So, I just want to be cautious on hanging our hat on that social emotional learning piece uh at the cost of doing some other uh opportunities. Um other than that, thank you for for your time. I'm very excited to hear what Mr. Curry has to present today and uh hopefully we're moving in in the right direction and uh thank you for your time. >> All right. Thank you. Uh do we have anyone else [music] that would like to speak? All right, I'm not seeing any. So, with that, we will move on to approving the meeting minutes from the February February 23rd meeting. Looking for a motion. >>
027I move approval of the February 23rd, 2026 regular meeting minutes as presented in agenda item 1.1. >> I'll second. >> All right. If there's no questions or concerns, we'll do a roll call. >> Yes. >> And I'm yes. Motion passes. Uh moving on to approving the policy updates with the second reading. >> So you had an opportunity to review the policies at the first reading. There is one policy missing. Policy 9215 was rescended but there was no replacement for it yet. So that is not on there for rescending. Um it will be um addressed in the next round of policies and it is focused on support organizations for the school district. So that is not in your packet but all the others remain and administration recommends approval of those policies. >> All right. Uh looking
028for a motion to approve the policies. >> I'll move approval of the policy um updates second reading as outlined in agenda item 3.1. >> I second. >> All right. If there's no questions, we'll do a roll call. >> Yes. >> Nam. Yes. Motion passes. All right, moving on to the middle school program changes. >> Uh, over the last month, Mr. Curry and Miss Copitz have worked with staff and parents on middle school program modifications and a number of iterations of the resulting schedule. I've actually labeled the document version 672. Uh, at the January 26th board meeting, Mr. Curry presented a proposed schedule revision. It is important for the board and the community to understand that the board does not take action on the schedule. Board policy 8220, school day and school closure, states, quote, "The
029board authorizes that the school day be arranged and scheduled by the administration." End quote. However, board policy 2250, innovative and pilot program, states, quote, "If an innovative pilot program is to become a permanent part of the district's educational program, it must have board approval through the regular curriculum approval process." End quote. In 2021, the board clarified expectations in the levels of engagement, which is a document that we use to clarify roles and responsibilities of the board and administration by indicating that significant programmatic changes are recommended by administration and approved by the board. Therefore, the schedule is not being brought forward for approval, but rather the introduction of a dedicated tiered support time in English and math, as well as morning meeting brought forward for approval. In January, there were three program revisions proposed and framing
030it as a schedule was the most helpful for the board and community to visualize the programmatic changes. However, reflection following the board meeting, administration was concerned about eliminating or limiting student access to exploration in the skilled trades. The initial concept to move music into the encore block essentially left students without access to teched orformational technology exploration. Therefore, there is not a recommended change for encore classes and group music rehearsals. The two areas of the middle school program recommended for change are the morning meeting and tiered supports. There will be a schedule impact, but significant schedule designs are not necessary to convey the programmatic changes. Therefore, you will not see a whole schedule per se in the presentation tonight. So, before I turn it the presentation over to Mr. Curry. I'd like to express my gratitude
031for the passion and engagement of the teachers and parents in reflecting on the improvements being considered at Greenell Middle School. Change is hard and working together, we can improve the programming for students. And with that, I turn it over to Mr. Curry to walk you through um where we've come in the last 672 iterations. >> Yes, absolutely. Good evening everyone. Ray Curry, proud principal of Greenale Middle School. Um as we jump in here, let's ground in our vision. I think um as I'm hearing people speak about this um we all believe that all students belong and empowered to learn, grow, and engage. It's part of global community and uh a community such as Greenale and we are cultivating excellence in every student and hopefully you can see um opportunities on how we're doing that here
032in our update. Um, I talked about this in a video I presented and um, uh, it's a good reminder for all that, uh, what we're looking at in terms of our schedule is an elephant and everybody sees a certain part of it and each person is in this image is touching a different part of the animal and based on their perspective, they reach entirely different conclusions on what they're experiencing. We often mistake our view as the whole picture. Conflict arises not because one person is wrong, but because we lack the full picture. To solve complex problems like a school schedule, we must be able to see the whole thing. And a reminder for all, we're not looking just to change our schedule or just to have a new schedule. We are looking to reclaim instructional
033integrity and provide a school that actually supports the whole child that the group behind me was talking about instead of them uh being forced to choose between their education and mental well-being. Some issues that we um have come across with our current schedule and our problem statement. Um our current schedule has caused some roadblocks for our students. students are right now currently being um forced to choose between missing a core instruction in math or ELA, social studies or science for a music lesson. Um or they're being forced to skipped interventions. Um students literally sitting there saying, "I have to I have to listen to this lesson. I can't go to that um I have to listen to what's happening in my tier one. I can't go to that lesson right now." We want to eliminate
034those choices for those students and have both opportunities for our high achieving students. Resource time has become a misnomer with music taken up uh majority of that block. Students have no time during the day to start practice work effectively pushing to the evening and there's a lot of overscheduling that's happening and it isn't just a matter of busy calendar but it's a contributing to the anxiety levels of our students according to our YRBS survey data. So, what are the students saying about this? We had a survey on February 6 for our students, our winter survey, um our former panorama survey, and um 494 students provided written response and um Google generated a um summary of those fours. In the top one, students are looking for more support and clear instruction from teachers. So many students
035expressed a need for more support from teachers, including clever explanations, clear explanations, excuse me, help when struggling, one-on-one help, and positive critique. Some also requested teachers to be more present and excited to teach. Time and workload management. Students asked for more time to finish work in class, less homework, and helping with keeping up with assignments and getting work done on time. and students were asking for specific help in math and English reading and a few even mentioned Spanish and social studies. So our goal overall is getting the kids the academic supports that they need. That's why we're looking at the changes that were happening. Now there's two uh main points that we're going to talk about as Dr. Mizik had pointed out. The first one being tiered supports. So tiered supports are provided by classroom
036teachers, special education teachers and evangelists, our gifted program teacher and other certified staff. So this would include small group intervention reteing and or contact that was previously not mastered. We'll talk about reteing and mastering in a little bit. Focus practice on standards and the current state of unit study. independent or group enrichment that has extended to the curriculum stanza uterine study and projects and opportunities to extend our learning and have some enrichment that we're not currently having. So how do we do this in our current um proposal? This part still remains the same where we have a 53minut tier one similar to the 53 minutes that we have now. What we're asking the board to consider is a 30 minute tiered support where we have an opportunity for tier 2 invention intervention reteing with reading
037teacher math interventionist and enrichment that enrichment piece we need to keep coming back to I know when people hear tiered support in January all they thought about was tier 2 there's also enrichment opportunities here and daily support with reteing and mastery through content hitting those 80% of kids that most of our students are uh that come through GMS that we are giving reteing to mastery opportunities target is support for each class period. I put a pin in this in January. I will again. That's important. That's something that's not currently happening in our in our current model where students are getting real time support in those classes that they need. And then a staggered approach where you see ELA may start in tiered support and math may end in it. and that is to have uh
038opportunities for our multilingual learners um and our special education students to be and our gifted students to be able to get their opportunities with specific staff throughout the day. Tiered support retaching and mastery is a non-negotiable here at Greenale Schools. Uh we do have a datadriven focus where we're using exit tickets, we're using formative assessments um and working on students who are struggling with specific skills and identifying what they need to be successful. We should be doing whole group reteing. This is difficult in our 53minute model currently. And then flexible and targeted uh support for groups and choice on unit topics uh to dig a little deeper in standard. Again, our constraint there is time. Where do we find time in 53 minutes to hit all these components that are non-negotiables in in um Greenale
039schools? We will be providing teachers with um a menu of options as long along with our PD on what could happen during tiered support. So deeper understanding of current content. We could have opportunities to reread and reflect on things using our online platforms that are part of our curriculum um that we have. Studying for upcoming assessments that are happening could be an option. Applying learning a different way. Those you have been around here for a while. Passion projects have been a thing at GMS that due to some of our constraints have kind of gone away. Um and we have an opportunity to bring some of those back during some tiered support time. uh pen to paper, doing some writing, getting kids involved in uh draft, revising and polishing their writing and then building that reading
040stamina. Uh one thing I have heard of from staff and from community is that um uh drop everything and read kind of model. How do we get back to some of those things? Independent reading, doing some current event reading and partner reading in terms of book clubs, uh reading challenges that we have with our library and such. And as what as was mentioned um earlier this does have a strong impact in music. This gives us an opportunity to have our core work subject time support in a balanced framework where music rehearsal and lessons coexist rather than compete for time right now. We are competing from time. That is a fact that's happening in the middle school. This new model with tiered support will allow students to have those musical opportunities that I've heard so strongly
041about and have opportunities to be in that academic support piece as well in our tier one instruction. So lessons are stabilized for a single day and time without missing that tier one instruction. What do the teachers feel about this? So teacher response as of today in terms of tiered support um 76.4% 4% of our teachers have um given us positive feedback that they can uh move forward with this model um as as within our tiered support. Give me a second to look at that one. Other questions that have come up social studies and science classes. So what are we going to do about them? Um the impact of additive tier supports. There is a reduced time in social studies and science minutes. Um this model that you're looking at is the consensus model that our
042social social studies and science teachers have come up with. Um they have decided that they would like a 40inute time where they see all of their students on a Monday to start the week and then they will follow an AB schedule Tuesday through Friday on an 83 minute schedule. They feel that this will be an opportunity to not only maximize uh facetime with students but then being able to complete labs, DBQs and things that they need to get done, observations, feedback, all of the things that could happen in that time. So how will social studies and science curriculum be covered in the reduced time? So similar to other districts and models that we've seen with this um where there where there's where there is an increased time in reading and math uh vertical alignment teams.
043So vertical teams 6 through 12 especially will need to consider those overlaps that are happening and adjust the pacing accordingly. We also have options to um use health and teched for overlapping content um as we streamline uh upcoming curriculum review in those areas and we can consider moving a topic to health or moving a topic to teched through project lead the way curriculum. So while we haven't confirmed this completely yet, resources of time and money will be invested this spring and summer to ensure students have access to all the standards in social studies and science. So, as was mentioned, here is um the parts that we're looking at in the updated proposed schedule um with tiered support times that we talked about and we'll talk about morning meeting here in a minute. But I do
044want to emphasize as well that as um uh some of our speakers earlier had um brought up physical education, world language, art, health, infoch, teched and music will all be sixth and seventh grade requirements in this model. We are committed to that. We're committed to make sure that those programs are um running based off of board feedback, community feedback. uh we do not want to pit them against each other and we have time found time and space for that to happen during that studio time. We will also have academic support and enrichment opportunities. Now moving on to morning meeting. So what is morning meeting? Why do students need it? Uh morning meetings and classrooms promote respectful sharing, active listening and building relationships. It is a time for students to get unplugged from their technology to
045get have an opportunity to have some face-to-face conversations with each other and shift their focus to their schoolwork instead of sitting down and getting to work right away. So students learn the importance of being a part of the team and as I talk about on announcements often about being part of our learning community and sharing their ideas with their peers. These are practices that are reinforced through character strong which is a border proof curriculum in character education and they provide a strain a framework for developing essential skills like self-awareness, goal setting and positive relationships. There it is. Some research from the responsive classroom um is opportunities for morning media set the tone for respectful engaged learning and climate of trust. Building positive community as we talked about with the need to feel like we belong,
046feel significant and you know what sometimes just have fun in the space. Students need to be able to have fun, smile, connect with their peers in a different way. We model and practice social emotional skills. We as we have opportunities of atbats for reading, for math, for those type of situations. We also need those to model and practice social emotional skills at bats in those spaces. Our students spent a lot of time online. They spent a lot of time sitting behind a computer. Having atbats or having opportunities to sit in front of each other and talk um is something that we need to be continue to model for them. and then review and practice academic skills in a way that gets students interested in learning. Instead of again sit down, do this, don't talk. We
047start off with a small soft land. Welcome people to the space. Welcome them to the learning community. Here's what we're going to adjust to today. And we jump into it. The research on here um indicate that making time in a school every day for students to learn and practice social emotional skills leads to an increase in academic gains, not a decrease. It's not a necessarily a waste of time. um students attitudes, behaviors and academics performance reflected on 11% point gain in this research as well as teachers use of responsive practice practices predicts gains in student math and reading achievement. We often talk about at the school level the fidelity of this being put into place and teachers that do it with fidelity have strong impacts and um people that we can speak to continuously about
048it that are here teacher testimonials. So how do our teachers feel about this? Again Google generated summary from feedback from teachers. So having a set idea or theme for each day was consistently beneficial. Circling up every morning allows students to share their voice, hear their peers, and build a strong community. The routine of saying hello to somebody, hearing from one another, and individual group sharing eased our way into the curriculum. And then thematic activities, structural social socialization, community building through character-based group games, and even this day in history. So what do our teachers feel about this? 91.2% 2% of our teachers are in favor of us moving forward with a morning meeting curriculum. All right. Some other feedback we had um was how does this look for students? So we do have some student examples
049here and the impact that the changes would have on students. So Jonah is a gifted student who has taken algebra, German, and health for high school credit and also takes band and orchestra with lessons. In our current model, Jonah does not does have flex on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is looking for support with algebra concepts due to missing for music lesson. He would like to connect with his math teacher during flex, but math teachers are dividing attention between intervention students from other periods, answers from other periods asking questions. He does not have programming for his gifted needs. In our new model, Jonah is able to meet with his algebra teacher during algebra 4 days a week to ask questions on classworks or homework. This is also the case for his ELA class. His music lessons
050will be tiered support one day per week. He would also have access to project-based work with his GT peers and his GT coordinator. Lauren. Lauren is a typical GMS student who is in one music, a language, and needs a boost of reading support for flex from her English teacher. Lauren would like to check in with her core teachers during flex. She is only able to connect with some core teachers on Thursday since her tier 2 reading support is on Tuesdays during flex. So, she has one opportunity for flex or the part that we're talking about now, which is studio time. In this new model, Lauren is able to receive reading support in the ELA tiered support time. She will also still have access to the studio time. Riley Riley is a student who needs higher
051academic supports in reading and math. Her reading tier three class takes place in place of a language choice. She is in one also in one music. Tier three supports are during flex and with music class, Riley does not have access to her flex time. So, as you see there, when we have a student who is in tier three reading currently, they are taken out of a language to accommodate that. And because of the tier 3 supports and music, she does not have a flex time at all. In the new model, Riley now has access to studio time, music, a language, and tiered reading and math supports. By just adding that academic support time, we have opened up opportunities and a student who normally wouldn't have been able to take a language. All three years at
052GMS is now able to do so as well as getting supports in other areas and a music lesson. Taylor is a GMS student with an IEP with both academic needs and social emotional needs. In order to deliver SDI, she takes academic support instead of language and receives support through her IEP during flex. She does take a music as well. In the new model, Taylor can now receive SDI during her tiered support time in reading and or math as well as studio time if needed. She can also take a music and a language. For each one of these students that has taken a music, this opens up an opportunity for them. They don't have to choose between a language or intervention support. They don't have to choose between a music lesson and academic supports. In this
053model, it opens up opportunities for all of them. Parent feedback. I know a lot of people have been talking to parents as well as we have. Um and we did a survey for parents that 180 181 parents of rising seventh and eighth graders completed. So parents have compress expressed concern about students who are advanced on standardized message measures. Gifted programming as part of tiered supports and staff are working to further define communicate the component of this programming meaning that our gifted students aren't getting what they need right now and we need opportunities to open up doors for that to happen. [snorts] Some parents have expressed gratitude that their student will have access to reading intervention without having to give up Spanish class or opt out of a music. Our parent feedback shows here that they
054had an opportunity to say whether it would improve, not change, or negatively impact their child's learning experience. The responses from these parents said 39% said it would improve, 39% said no change and 21.5% said it is a negative impact. So what has changed and why now? So changes to the curriculum alignment and behavior management have improved the outcome for students. An additional dean has stabilized imple implementation of behavior intervention and support. Students identified as gifted have limited programs to meet their needs. 30 to 35% of students are not meeting grade level expectations in reading and math. That represents about 200 of our students that are struggling to meet that standard. And then students identified as gifted have limited programming to meet their needs. Continue improvement necessitates additional shifts and allocations of resources. skill development for
055teachers. We are committed to paid professional development in morning meeting planning for tiered supports efficiency planning for bell-to-bell instruction and vertical team pacing guide shifts. We've communicated to our teachers um just my leadership team after school today that we are committed to these paid opportunities even starting this spring with the work that needs to be done to make sure it's meaningful for kids. Now, I've heard a lot of numbers over the weeks, and I want to put a pin in one that I just said before. 200 of our students are not meeting grade level expectations. 200. We as a community, as a learning community, have to make a decision on what we're going to do to combat that. In our current model, students are struggling to find time to get that support. They often go
056home frustrated and then we get parents who are looking for support from teachers. Teachers are saying doing the best that we can and I agree that they are they work really hard. I think by adding tiered supports to what we're doing with our students, not only will help these 200 students reach grade level proficiency, it will help our students who need that enrichment. It will help teachers slow things down. If you have a 53minute class, you are flying through things and then you're moving on to the next one. If you have an opportunity to do the same 53 minutes that you've done and now you have tiered support time where you are focusing in on the things that the kids need enrichment tier 2 support hitting that 80% of kids who need that reteing to
057mastery those are all important student setter pieces. So, I'm hoping that the board will consider the tiered support for our kids and what they need to be successful. As you can see from our teacher feedback, we have a consensus of teachers that would like to be involved in this. And we're ready to move forward. Thank you for your consideration. We are open to questions. >> All right. Thank you for that. Um, I'm sure there are questions. Who would like to start? >> I can start. Um, so I have a couple questions a little bit different just uh the first one is the morning meeting looking to kind of replace or supplement sources of a strength or how is that kind of working with program? I know that that's been a stronghold of something that's been
058done in the middle school before or how is that working together? >> Uh morning meeting is not replacing sources. Sources was a very specific student group. Um we would love to have uh so the high school has advisory time um that they use for their sources of strength. If we can align some things with our studio time, there's some possibilities there. Uh but we the the struggle we're finding right now is time and resources for that. That is not there to replace sources. >> Right. Um, another question I did like to say I appreciate the um, followup just kind of looking at the science and the social stays time that students wouldn't be removed from those classes in the extended period of time. Um, I do think that's a very smart move at least kind
059of giving that continuity focusing. But what would it look like for schedule if we start to see need for science and social studies tier 2 support as well? Well, so they have the projectbased time that would be in there. So in their current model of 83 minutes, um if teachers are finding that they need to retach some things, they would have time and space to do their in within that time. They could come to us and say like, "Hey, here's what I'm finding is my 53 minutes is enough, and I feel like I need to support my kids a little deeper, similar to what math and ELA are doing in their 53 minutes. Can I jump in on that professional development? Can we have some conversations on what this might look like in in our
060space? Um, I'd be open to that. I would much rather have teachers advocating for students that need that support during those times than just having them kind of sit there. Um, which is I know none of us want that to happen during these longer periods. Um, so I'm open to those conversations of of uh tiered support within those spaces if needed. The other component is that during that studio time there is still an opportunity for similar to the flex now um that students who are not engaged in multiple musics would have access to and unlike the current schedule where students who need tier three supports in reading and math would not have access to that flex they would because their tier three supports are being offered at other times. So that studio time becomes almost
061exclusively social studies, science, and >> language typically is what they're looking for. >> Thanks. Um and then the last one, I know there's been a lot of confusion explaining out um hitting goals and looking at charts and parents had a lot of questions. Is it poss or could you explain or if somebody else could answer a little bit more what the difference between hitting the standards and then having the growth that we're expecting from the same groups and how that's a difference in the evaluation of the students performance that it's not just hitting the targets? >> Do you want me to take that Mr. Curry? >> Go ahead. >> All right. Um so um when we're talking about academic achievement, we're talking about um there's the um proficiency of saying our kids on grade level.
062So that's what we're talking about when we're talking about proficiency or mastery. Growth is are kids moving and we even look from growth from are they moving from developing to approaching? That counts because currently we have a lot of kids who just live in developing. they're not growing to that approaching or they're not approving from approaching to mastery. So we have a group of students who are at um mastery and advanced which is great. That's wonderful. But we want to make sure a we don't lose those kids and we keep gaining proficiency. So they maintain and grow and growth also looks at those kids who don't who aren't mastering. Are we moving from those two? Like we want very few we want our kids who are in developing to move to approaching and we want
063our kids who are in approaching to move to mastery. Does that make sense? >> Yes. >> All right. Thanks. >> So how is that going to be measured? >> Sorry I wasn't ready. Um that's measured through the report card on on the DPI report card. That's how that's >> um Yeah. So on the short term way so on the short term uh I don't know if any of the teachers want to talk but we have over the last two years established common assessments aligned to standards within the curriculum and after every unit of study the teachers who have taught in that unit sit down with their scores on that assessment and the question is what percentage of students mastered standard A mastered standard B mastered standard C and we have that baseline data from in
064the last year or two. So, as we go into next year and we're looking at is the are the tiered supports working, is the amount of time that we're spending on content in social studies and science working, it will go back to those common assessments and we will be looking at the percentage of students who are mastering standards. The difference with the tiered support is if in reading and math we're seeing this percentage of students did not master standards, one of our commitments is all students will have access to the standards. All students will be assessed to the standards which we have done. And the third step is all students are retaught to mastery, but there's no time to retach to mastery in the current schedule. And so we'd be able to measure one, do
065we have more students achieving mastery the first time around? And two, um, if they're not, are we able to retach to mastery and assess those standards to see that they've come up? So yes, the summitative assessment that's given every year in April will be a measure, but along the way those uh curriculum based assessments that are aligned to standards are that we've been measuring for the last two years will be used to give us benchmarks throughout the year and I've asked that Mr. Curry and the team present those as part of our short cycle goals which you see two times a year and then at the end of the school year. So that is how we will measure is it working and determine if we need if we continue or if we make adjustments after
066that. >> And can I just add one more thing um those short cycle have been increasing every short cycle and that has then paid shown in the summitive um which is forward and the state and that's what the state report card's based on. So all that feeds into that >> just go down the line. Um, thank you for the presentation tonight. I've got a couple questions. Um, I'll share some thoughts as we get into our discussion up here a little bit as well. But, um, first of all, it's really important for educators to also have the opportunity to collaborate with one another. And we haven't really heard a lot about that in terms of the new schedule. Are teachers going to still have blocks of time where they can sit down and align the curriculum
067and collaborate? because that that is one of the ways we're going to move the needle is for them to have that opportunity. >> Yes. So, there still will be we currently have collaborative planning time that that is uh built into our planning time uh with uh uh Mrs. Patterson or ISS and that will continue as well. Um and we have a a visual on what this looks like on our end. um where we have prep time, studio time, and being able to quickly align those and adjust things to make sure that they have common planning time is a top priority for us. Our teachers have spoken loudly about that, that they appreciate that common planning time, that they have time to sit down and look at the data that Dr. Mitzik was just talking about
068um and be able to make adjustments on real fly. How do I know who I'm need to retach if I don't have an opportunity to sit down and see what's happening with someone else and to do that planning? So yes, that is a commitment of ours to be able to do that within this model. >> And then on that note, uh because the teams, right, you have you operate in teams of teachers working together with the same grouping of students, right? >> Currently, yes. >> Yes. So, so will they um if if it's science and social studies and math and um and ELA, will they that team also that's working with the same group of kids be able to have some sort of collaborative time as well? A lot of times um educators use that
069for behavioral um you know, seeing where things are going at with behavioral issues and so forth and just in general team team decisions that have to be made. >> Yeah. So, I I told my team that I'm committed to if if for some reason that doesn't work out in terms of sitting down to be able to talk about behavioral issues on a consistent basis, whatever it may be, uh we have our SAT time, our student centered teams um that get together and meet with our groups to find out um those uh issues in particular and um mapping out our professional development that we have uh to ensure that if that's a top priority for our teachers to be able continue to talk about that that you we use professional development time so administrative professional development
070time to make sure that those meetings are happening which we have started doing this year in terms of our department times um during our our halfday PD um to ensure that teachers have time and space to do that those models would continue as well >> and I don't think that teaming alone is what um addresses the behaviors it is a component and it's a resource and it's a tool but what you see is that um after 2023 in the report you see that those behavior incidents go down and if it was teams alone that would do it they would have been low all along. So it is when the whole school came together and said here's the behavior um supports that need to happen and here's how we're going to teach students how to behave.
071This is how we're going to um hold students accountable for behavior, reward positive behavior. and you see both office referrals and teacher managed um behaviors cut in half after that work has been done. So the teams are a tool and a resource to do it and a building level approach is important. Then I just if it's okay I'll take my um we we kind of touched on it but um can administration briefly outline how the effectiveness of tiered support which we talked about a little that period and morning morning meeting um model uh because that's important as well. How will that be measured and when will the board expect to have a progress update? I know we do our short cycle reports. Is that when that's going to be but when will we be hearing
072back? >> Dr. Dr. Midik had talked about that during the short cycle time um that we will bring back data um based off of our benchmark assessments um to see where we're at in terms of that and then our um student data that we do in our surveys three times a year. Um we saw some of that uh this evening that data would come forward as well. I know I I um get up here with um Mr. Lotus and do in the beginning of the year we can make sure that that is part of our short cycle and and consistent so that you guys can view that data as well. Yeah, I think that would be critical to if this does pass today for us to have an early understanding of where things are at
073um and not wait until you know sometimes the reports come out at different times. Right. >> Thank you. >> Hi. >> Um uh thanks for coming up and thanks for your your time. Appreciate it. >> Um let's start with morning meeting. Um who which teachers are going to be responsible for morning meetings? Only the core >> core teachers. Correct. because that's the way it's being piloted now and that's the way it would be set up. Um so um what time with this new addition of morning meeting what time would then the school day start? >> Morning meeting would be 7:54 to 8:11. >> Okay. So that's ear that's 6 minutes earlier than what they start now. >> Um there's a 7:54 bell that rings. Yep. And students are need to be in their seats by
0748:00. >> Okay. >> Yes. Um, would that still be the expectation or would students have to be in their seats by 7:54? >> Uh, we would like students in their seats by 7:54. >> Okay. So, that doesn't impact busing or drop offs or anything like that? Okay. Um, if the core teachers are the ones doing the additional work for morning meeting, how does that impact their time, their morning, that's another thing they have to plan? Um so we had a conversation about uh that or continuous conversations about that and um the the feedback that we've gotten is that some teams as we mentioned teams some teams have a very good system on how they do things and working together with that um and others that do not are asking specifically for um for uh larger
075teams throughout the school to help support that. So, we are committed to um on March 10th start to develop some of our uh committees and one of the committees will be a morning meeting committee so that they can help map out lessons and map out uh activities and such for for the option for people to use because we also hear that there are people that don't want to do what's happening maybe with their team because their class has a different vibe or different feel of what's happening in there. So, they want to be able to um have some autonomy with that, have a a list of options, um have some announcements coming from administration on there, similar to what happens at the high school during advisory um but then also have a little autonomy for
076the 25 kids in their space and how that works. >> Um in terms of character strong, are all teachers going to be responsible for that? character strong is um >> building that into building that into the schedule in the ACP the planning and the meeting. >> Yeah, the initial proposal did but given the shift in how we are delivering encore and it is looking like it will be primarily core teachers who will be delivering that although there are possibilities at some grade levels to have um encore teachers engaged in that work. Yeah, we we will have ACP. Um we are anticipating that that would be uh similar to our model now where we have encore and core teachers involved in that. Um and uh as part of that studio time >> that's part of studio
077time. >> Yes. >> Um so one of the questions I had asked of Dr. Mizik earlier was um uh we have a subbing issue as many schools. Um and uh although um Miss Walsh is doing a great time at lunch and I hear lunch is like a thousand times better than it used to be, we are still pulling teachers for lunch duty. >> Um a how is this new schedule with a change in prep time with less prep time than before with these new tiered supports? How what are we going to do about the subbing issue if teachers are being pulled from their prep time that they need in a critical first year of a new um schedule? >> Well, currently at the middle school, I can't speak for next year, but we have two
078and a half or two in 2.6 uh subs that are in our building. And the only time that we're necessarily tapping into our teachers at this point um is if we have something bigger happening like sale or our math pilot or something where we have multiple core teachers out at a time. Um for the most part our middle school um schedule um currently even hasn't um hasn't been an issue in terms of uh overpulling our our staff for subbing. um in terms of um lunch support and lunch duties um that I Emily Walsh is doing a wonderful job and thank you for recognizing that. Um but we would also uh take a look at um uh as part of the resource an option for time um to see if the model would allow us to
079reduce some time that teachers are in there. Uh but with 200 middle schoolers at a time in a space, we do need adult support in there. Um and right now currently we have on average about four adults in a space. I would hate to reduce that um and problems start to arise in that in those locations but we are open to exploring that as part of our um our promise to our teachers is uh time and resource that is one of the time pieces that we will look at. >> Um so with this with this new layout with the tiered supports and the the blocks um what will change for teachers in terms of students? There's I've hear different numbers. They'll go from 75 to 100 to 125 to 150. What What is the anticipated
080change? >> Uh the anticipated change is that math and ELA will have uh 75 students that they see um and they'll be responsible for that uh tiered support time within there. And um socializing and science will see 150, but they will be planning less. So remember that they're having an AB schedule. >> So they will not be planning as much as the um the math and ELA who will be planning for daily lessons. Social and science would be planning for every other day. >> That was part of the impetus behind their discussion was that it felt less overwhelming to plan for three classes and see three classes per day. Um so that was a component of their thinking when they made the choice around how to deliver within the block. >> What would conferences look
081like then for those teachers who have 150 versus 75? >> Yeah, so we are looking at models of that. Um uh it is um we don't have a direct answer on that. But I I do know that our current model of sitting next to a colleague during conferences and that's a must may have to go away. We may have to have some more one-on-one conversations with parents. When I first started here, it was all four teachers on a team with one family for 10 minutes. Uh we got it split up to humanities and STEM. Um they may have to separate even further to maximize those conversations. >> Um so as far as like the the teams that sorry they currently have are they um are the teachers still wanting to have a team environment like
082north, south, upper, lower, or are they okay with it being more of like a high school feel? Um, do you want to answer? >> Well, I don't know if I speak for everybody on this. >> Um, I think I I miss the meeting um when they talked about teams. My daughter threw up in the middle of the night. So, I miss that discussion. I think there are te teachers who feel like teams is important. Um, I take a different perspective. I think right now with teams, like I teach sixth grade, so there's a north team and a Southstar team. And while we work really well as a sixth grade team, sometimes it feels like different entities like South Stars will have certain expectations and run their wing a certain way and North Stars will run
083their their wing a certain way with different expectations. And so it almost creates little pockets or division um amongst students amongst um like grade levels. And so some like I personally feel like it breaks down that barrier. it um gives an opportunity for like common expectations for all students no matter if you're north or south or upper or lower or um integrity or all all those um different teams. So I think it I think there's benefits to that where it um just gives common expectations across the building but that's my own my own >> so you'll have to have meetings on that then correct >> would you say >> you'll have to have some collaboration on that then to set expectations right across like sixth grade English we just talked about that as like one
084of the um committees that u Mr. Curry was talking about is like having some a committee work on that common expectation across um the building. >> And I just want to add that we already have that through PBIS as well and that's been part of the work that they've been working on to help schoolwide um like lower incident referrals increase school culture. Again, I invite everyone to Friday assemblies. It is the biggest joy of my life seeing that many kids in a room together and teachers leaving the room with huge smiles on cuz the expectations are clear. Um, everyone knows what how to play school and that's kind of the work of the behavior um uh PBS team from that universal standpoint. So I think um that work is already in session. Do you want
085to follow up on that? I just was going to add to I know when we talked about it, I know Leah couldn't be there, but when we talked about the team approach versus having some kind of different structure. Um there were um some Encore teachers that did speak up during that meeting that also were proponents for having some type of different structure in our building. And because of having an encore teacher sees all the students in the entire building and has lots of different grade levels, um, music included, sometimes it can be difficult to keep up with which, um, expectations are for one team, what is a goal for a different team, um, where are, you know, this this student has comes to their encore class with this and they don't know why. So that
086the encore teacher is just speaking for them. um was um they feel like a schoolwide expectations and having those common commonalities would be really beneficial for them as well um as well as the whole school in particular. So >> one follow up on the group and this is just kind of something that came to questions. How would they break or how would you break like the science and social studies groups? Would they have that separate where the teachers going just sixth primarily or seventh? Are they flexing six, seven to eight? Like how is that differential going to be set aside? And then how do they prep coincidentally back across? >> You mean prep commonly like together? >> Yeah. So like if you have an eighth seventh grade teacher, they're definitely have a different perspective teaching
087style than six to seven kind of like how is that meeting in the middle if they're trying to hit the different goals and timing and then what's the standard for those teachers to be held to? Well, I and to that point, I think if you're teaching like sixth and seventh grade science, you have like two sets of teachers you have to collaborate with and you have to have like double the time for collaboration. So, is that kind of what you're getting at, Brian? >> Yeah, just kind of matching up because it was like we pointed out that obviously there's going to be secondary prep for ELA and math, but that now we're expecting the social studies to double what their preps are, too. So, it's it is a comparable change. Everybody's prepping more, just differently.
088And just wondering how that time's accounted for. I don't know if this bit like prepping more. It's just the so social studies and science would have still have three sections per day and then they would have an additional day where they have three sections. So they would be prepping for their one their lesson that they'd be giving on day A and then they'd give that same that same lesson on day B. Does that >> I'm just No, I'm saying like you have sixth grade A, seventh grade A. >> I think a split. >> They're splits like they're talking they're prepping multiple level. You're going the multiple levels. Just >> what Mr. Curry was saying earlier about having those common prep times though like we are working on having making sure that there are there is
089space so there's collaboration if there's a teacher split that they can have collaboration with the sixth grade um peer and then also with the seventh grade peer so that there is collaboration for both. I think >> I've seen two iterations of a potential layout of the blocks of time within the day where there is common planning time for any shared teacher across grade levels. And on this schedule for students, you might see lunch, but for teachers, their lunch and their prep are one period of time. And so they can flip their prep and their lunch to be able to overlap their preps and still eat lunch. And I think one of there's also the middle school also has department meetings where those teams sixth, seventh, and eighth grade are meeting um together to have that
090vertical alignment. Those will continue to take place as well. >> Well, and I know there are some concerns too regarding um like this like the short and then the black schedules. My question is um I do they are you going to set up like the schedule for like A and B days? Is that like at the beginning of the year and that's set? Okay. So then what happens if like I don't know a pipe burst and schools closed down, snow day, you know, Thanksgiving you were off Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. So you'd have a short and one long. Well, if your long is science, you're not going to have social studies till you get back. So I'm wondering like who's going to be setting that up. I know the teachers like that I've spoken to want
091it like set up at the beginning and if not then someone needs to adjust it and tell them exactly what's happening. >> Yep. The plan is to have that set before school starts. And so we talked about that at the consensus building for science and social studies as well. >> And we always have to have contingency. >> And I I I think this I was going to say this was a question I did ask um Dr. Midzik beforehand and she kind of alluded to like if we're losing like a Wednesday due to a snow day, you know, it's kind of shifting sometime, we may have to look to shift that short Monday so that everybody's getting that long time in place of the short time, >> right, >> that they're getting that in place of.
092So there is going to be I think some flexibility but I think the recognition that we want to try and keep it the same schedule obviously for kids too we want to keep it as same as possible just for >> well and I think like assemblies too there is some concern with that because like some days you know they they might walk over to the high school and they might miss like their sixth and seventh hour and if you're the one teaching science or social studies you're probably not going to be happy with that. [laughter] Um, while we're talking about collaboration meetings, um, when you have a teacher, for example, who is teaching sixth and seventh grade science or English, um, what do the collaboration meetings with the support specialists look like under this model?
093>> Take them. >> Like how are you going to plan them across grade levels if teachers have multiple grade? >> I'll throw that to our our the who you want to answer that. I mean, I think it we have to see where the where that fits in the schedule. >> Can you micro >> Sorry, >> we would make time for that. >> The YouTubers need to hear you. >> Sorry. Um I think we have to see. I don't know what the schedule exactly looks like right now, but I think we have to see where that fits. I know that there are places in the schedule where they have prep time, like their prep is kind of all in a row. And so it might be like that their lunch would be flexible so that they
094could eat at one time or another and maybe we'd have to meet during what would be lunch on their schedule, but it would actually be they would have to be flexible with when they take their lunch or something like that. Uh it just kind of depends on where people end up fitting into the schedule or where those meetings end up happening or something like that. it at this point it keeps shifting so I I can't totally answer that question. >> Yeah, it is a priority to have uh common planning time scheduled and set. >> Correct. >> To the to the point that Tasha made Oh, I did I cut? >> No, go ahead. >> Are you sure? >> Yeah, I'll keep going later. >> All right. She's got a whole list. Um, so to the
095point that Tasha just made with your um, like schedule at the beginning of the year, you probably can project when a lot of things are going to happen, right? And so there could be some some interplay with the schedule even from the beginning of the year like you you um the holidays for instance, we know when they're going to fall and so forth. So looking ahead that will be able to guide you. >> I do want to say that's not a new practice. Right. I mean, there's common planning time now. There's a day bday on all of the encore classes. There is at the beginning of the year at the middle school, the high school, and the elementary schools, a calendar that's set out. Here's when these meetings are. Here's when these meetings are set.
096Here is when these groups are meeting. So that before the school year starts, all of that is set out on the calendar and documented. So yes, that practice would continue in a a changed iteration of the schedule. One other thing before I go. Um back there, I'm not leaving. Um we were talking about teaming before. Um, the one nice thing about not having teams would be that right now with advanced math the way it is, when we have a team, it really limits when we can have um advanced math classes. And then the dynamics of all of the classes sort of are um uh hard to manage in that way. And so if we don't have those restrictions and we can have like one advanced math class and one not going on at the same
097time, um that that'll be really nice to have that flexibility. So um just putting that out there. >> Can we special ed coordination? What happens if those preps don't align? special ed. Um we are currently even in our current model trying to find times for them to have uh department meetings and time to work out. So we are kind of at square one with them um in terms of where they're at even in our current model. um they need opportunities to be able to uh speak uh within this model. And uh we are looking to ensure ways that they are not um uh having to check in on all eight teachers within that grade level for specific kids along the way and how we can keep their model within about four teachers that they're working
098with. Uh as well in a way that is not cohorting kids. Um, as as Jane was just talking about, >> one of the things that we saw as a possibility with teaming of groups that don't typically have a common planning time because of their stretch across the curriculum. If special education teachers are not included in the character education instruction, that leaves that studio time one day a week when character education, ACP, etc. are being taught, that that is a common planning time for special education. Is special ed going to be connected to >> Grade levels. >> Yes. >> What happens to the teacher who teaches multiple grade levels with >> not in special? >> I I understand that. Um um so so that um if if the science teacher is teaching sixth and seventh grade.
099Yeah. >> Right. So they would now be working with two different special ed teachers. So our goal would be that the teacher going cross grade level maybe would not have students that they would need to collaborate with because they already have an increased load on two grade levels. So we would focus our attention on having the case managers work with the teachers who are full-time at that grade level um rather than the ones that going across grade levels. Does that make sense? >> Yeah. And so our goal would still be to have two case managers at each grade level and then those two case managers are working with the full-time teachers in that grade level. Are there any concerns about um in change management and Mr. Dr. Kane and I talked about this when we
100met oneonone in change management, right? Uh things kind of you when you upset the ship, things can can test scores can go down for example, but things can get a little rocky. So, you know, we may not see the the report card scores we want the first year, we may have to wait till the second year, etc., etc. But for the more um uh the yearly like the forward exam for example for for the more regular tests um is there any concern about teaching time being cut in science and social studies um or any of that that would impact those results that you anticipate impacting those results? >> Uh no. So currently our social study scores within the last four years on that Wisconsin Ford have gone down already. Um so they need a revamp
101and what's happening there. Um our science scores have gone up slightly um but for the most part stagnant. So we need to be able to um focus in on those um as just as much as anything else. I don't anticipate because as was mentioned in the presentation, we'll still be able to hit the standards that we need to hit um and finding opportunities to do so. >> There was a curriculum adoption as you know because you approved a new curriculum. So this year's forward scores will be reflective of the first year of implementation of a new curriculum in social studies. Excuse me, ran out of breath. Um so that is we'll be taking a look at that. And yes, curriculum tend to have implementation dips. We did not see that with um English because of
102the amount of professional development and training that happened in a in conjunction with the implementation. So we actually saw no implementation dip and just straight growth. >> So with the social studies and science scores um the report card for the state tests at eighth grade. It doesn't test at sixth or seventh. >> So what other measures that way will we use? because obviously we need to look at something else to see if there's growth. >> Yeah, they also have their unit assessments that we'll be able to um hone in on similar to math and ELA um where they bring data to the table, discuss student data and what reteing and adjustments they need to make with that. Um that's all data that we can map out and make sure that we bring to the board.
103>> Okay. Thank you. >> In your presentation, um two more and then I'm done. I swear to God. And I asked I asked Dr. Mitzik a lot before um the you said logistics require blocks of time shift within the day um a focus on allocation of time rather than the specific time of day. Can you say more about what that means? >> So meaning that through our conversations and as we get deeper into our planning if we need to adjust the blocks of time that's um that is all workable. So if we um are making sure that we fit our three music lessons in. So then studio time may have to adjust for grade level. That's what we're saying in terms of uh those adjustments. >> Okay. Um and you mentioned the vertical alignment with
104the high school and with you know if we can't get to this in science we'll move it to to health or teched which I think is great to like cross collaborate and and apply those lessons in other areas. But then what happens to that curriculum the health and teched curriculum that was supposed to be covered that now has to include a science or social studies. Well, again, we will um uh take a look at theurric curriculum alignment for them and what they're doing and uh what areas and spaces do we have to do that from a teched standpoint. I think there's lots of opportunities there to do some rebranding um uh within that curriculum. Um and I'd be happy to work with uh Josh Weber for the sixth and seventh piece of healthy choices uh
105to see um exactly where all this would fit in. >> And from experience, there is already content overlap. So it's being taught twice. So for example, if you're doing electricity and you have electrician work that's happening, there is already that natural overlap. So it is about making sure that the content is inserted the way that it needs to be. Project lead the way is one curriculum that is both science and teched. Um and so that would give us an opportunity to adopt one unit. uh we have historically taught project lead the way in teched and then uh in health like nutrition tends to have an overlap. >> So >> um and I had a question too um regarding like feedback from the parents I think like around 20% like had negative feedback. So was out
106of like that feedback is there anything like that stands out that you think you need to address? >> Um I think they were very individualized to certain students or groups. uh for example the six students that may be coming to the high school, how will we combat that for honors geometry uh for that to happen? Um what do we do with the students that don't take music and our general music students um and now they have uh studio time and they have tiered re tiered support time um and what do we do with those students as well? So um just making sure I think those parents may come around as we have some concrete answers for them uh regarding that. So, so you're working on solutions for that? >> We are working on um I
107mean we have some of them. They're just not concrete yet. Um so I don't want to say them out loud publicly right now. >> Um I've had parents reach out to me and they were worried about the impact of their children's absences. They feel like they'll be amplified with the new schedule. Um missing one day means that they're missing more content. uh they're missing daily key practices. Um what could we tell them regarding that? >> Yeah. Number one, I hope your kids are healthy and are in school and our attendance our attendance rate at the middle school is about 96% uh just under 96%. So um I'm confident that uh for the most part that um we'll be okay there. Uh for the families that are um uh unfortunately missing school, having trips or what
108have you, um what's what's I guess nice about the extended time where we're slowing down in some spaces. We have some time and space to get kids caught up. They have studio time uh with their teachers where they can connect with them. They would have tiered support time uh to get that done if we need to. as we talked about socializing science with that 83 minutes. Um if we have some teachers that are saying like, "Hey, I'm having some kids that are missing class and I need some time to get caught up." Uh we can work out uh ways for them to do that within that 83 minute block. >> And then there's also um some concerns regarding attention fatigue. >> Um what can we say to address that? >> Yeah. So um as I've
109talked to people and people are like, "Yeah, I I can't sit there for 83 minutes and do something." I can't either. Right. like fair and we're not as part of our professional development and what we're doing with teachers, we are not asking people to have students sit there and do um sit and get kind of work. Um what we're looking for is in math using our vertical boards in science using our labs um in social studies having opportunities to uh work collaboratively and move around in uh in their DBQs um in uh English. I'm going to speak for English here, but uh they have book clubs and a lot of movements and uh spaces where they can get up and have um some opportunities to um to work together, to collaborate, to move around. Uh
110this is not going to be a sit and get model. And for any teachers that that want to do that, um we we're going to have to help them uh work that through because that's not going to be okay. Um what we're hoping for is a deeper dive on things, not necessarily repetitive things over and over where people are just getting bored. Quite honestly, I can't sit and listen for 50 minutes. >> No, >> I'm reaching my end now. >> Y >> we'll we'll be done soon. [laughter] >> Uh do you have more questions? >> I do. >> Uh there was one that came in um that I haven't been able to respond to, but I thought it was a good one. um in the reduction of social studies and science. Um there's parents that
111are worried that it's going to um decrease their um preparedness that kids have if they want to get into a more rigorous schedule come high school, specifically regarding like AP and STEM classes. >> So, I want to point out something that happened at the high school two years ago. Two years ago, it we introduced flex time at the high school and that flex advisory period uh happened every day. In order to make that happen, every class at the high school was reduced by five minutes. And so if we piled that five minutes on top of each other, that's a significant loss of instructional time. However, no high school curriculum has been reduced as a result of that shortened class period. And what you see with our AP achievement and our engagement that way and our
112leveling up of honors and have all kids having access to the honors standards to have access to AP and college level coursework is that we've actually seen a 50% increase in participation in those college level courses. So, um having less time doesn't mean that they won't have access to those courses. We've been able to make that happen at the high school and it would be a similar model as we're looking with vertical teams for the high school team to really talk about and prioritize things uh that are coming through the middle school. >> All right. Thank you. Um Christie, the floor is yours. >> Um so with the with the 53 minutes with the tier or with the 30 minutes tiered sport, 33 minutes sport, >> you said by the way the student examples very
113helpful. Thank you. Um, so Jonah would now, who is the um the GT student, would now have the ability to have algebra support >> four times a week because he was going to the lesson on the other day. Um, what is that algebra teacher then doing with the rest of the kids at that time? If Joan is getting oneon-one or is this a group or >> Yeah, maybe a smaller group kind of model. So the students would during that tiered support time. So the 25 students that are in there aren't necessarily the 25 students that'll be in there during tiered support. So that we have students in their m music lessons um extending out for that. uh we may have models where um I know sixth grade for example in some areas have talked about
114um if I have three math classes let's say for Jonah for example three math classes going on that we can have a reteing model happening in one we can have enrichment happening in another and tier 2 support happen in a third um where students movement can happen that way as well so other students may be working on other uh real time things that are happening in class um I know there's Ils that happen at middle school that um people aren't always thrilled about. Um but uh the uh support with teachers in real time uh could be something instead of taking them home. Um they could be working on notes, reading for assessments. Um we are I I know that is a teacher fear um of uh teachers that have worked in the middle school for
115a long time. um our elementary staff that have come up to work with us um uh don't necessarily carry that same fear because of their um ability to navigate those groups. And that's where we just have to get everybody on the same page on on um what's going to be happening on those rotation of groups. Um and from a parent standpoint, your child will not be sitting there doing nothing. Okay? We will make sure that we have um enough curriculum and enrichment within our curriculum models that um students will be challenged and re retaching and mastery will be happening. >> There is I mean what you saw in the student survey was one of the things they asked was more time to get started on the homework. So all the other algebra students will be
116>> attempting the homework problems that are aligned with the instruction from the day and if they're struggling with it then they can >> have a teacher to ask. Yeah, it sounds like a lot for the kids who don't necessarily need the dedicated tiered support. It's, you know, reading, homework, study hall, like that time to >> essentially right now we have 40% of our eighth graders that are opting out of music because they don't want to miss the study hall that it happens during resource time. And if they have that study hall attached to their math and English, they actually have 20 more minutes to do homework during the day and can take music. Um on the note with the um enrichment students um I served as a gifted and talented specialist and obviously they also
117need that support um in enrichment. Um has there been any look into um UW system because in the past I was able to work with UW to actually get college like courses for students that were enriched students. Do they still offer that or has anyone looked into that? I have not looked into that. I don't know if anybody has any feedback on that. >> What's that? Say that again. WMadison had I don't know if they still do offer. >> Erin, can you speak to that? I mean, we have wicked classes and we have a couple of other things that kids can get involved in. [clears throat] Plus, the gifted program coordinator can develop a passion project and there's access and resources through library to continue to work on that. um which is something I know
118we've done with a gifted program in the past when we in places where we have time. >> Yeah, we did we did have programs like that in the past and due to time and constraints we've had to we've moved away from that. Um but with this model we're hoping to bring back those opportunities. So, we would be working with um I have in the past also served as a gifted coordinator in the middle school. Um and currently our gifted coordinator, we could get um them in these tiered support times to work on projects during the studio time to have opportunities to work on potentially classes like that, passion projects or other um like choice projects that would um fulfill what what they need academically. Thank you. >> Yeah. [laughter] Right. Lots of things. >> Market.
119>> I think we need to see more Rockets return from Mr. >> Yeah. There you go. [laughter] Baseball. >> No. >> Math. >> Any more questions? >> No. There was just another kind of concern about the difference in like grading load with the 150 students. I don't know. Like I mean that's kind of an issue with like your language classes too and I don't know how you manage that. >> And so that was when when we did the consensus building with science and social studies that's one of the pieces that led them to having um 83 minutes 4 days a week um and then going every other day so that their grading load while they're planning um they might be planning for that those two days of lessons then they can be grading in between.
120So, it's there is kind of a breakup of grading and planning um rather than plan plan grade great grade. [laughter] So, it could pace it out a little differently. And again, yeah, like you said, our encore staff and our music staff already have over 200 students each um currently. And um and so we can that professional development to help them um guide them through that process will be a will part of this as well. >> Any other questions? All right, we're uh scheduled to take action on it. >> I'm actually going to move for the approval of the changes for the middle school program that include the dedicated tier support time for all students and the implementation of morning meeting uh across all students as presented agenda item 3.2 and all dated 671 times >>
121and I'll second that. >> All right, we have a motion. >> Do you have something? >> I do have discussion um after the motion. Uh, so we have a motion in a in a second and if there's any discussion, Kathy. >> So, first of all, I want to thank everyone that's here tonight and everyone that's listening because I know we have a lot of parents. Um, over the past several weeks, we have heard from many passionate educators, families, and community members regarding the GMS schedule and proposed changes. I want to sincerely thank everyone who took the time to share feedback with all of us and thank engagement um that engagement reflects a community that cares deeply about its schools and about its children. I have spoken with many educators who will be directly impacted by
122this decision. The consistent message I've heard is this. Everyone understands that something needs to change, but change can be difficult. Adjusting longestablished systems involves many moving parts and no shift of this size happens without questions and concerns. I also want to address a point that was raised in a recent correspondence sent to the board. It is correct that the board does not approve a master schedule. Board policy authorizes administration to arrange and schedule the school day. What is before us tonight is not the approval of the bell schedule, but approval of significant programmatic changes, specifically the introduction of dedicated tiered support period and the morning meeting model. The schedule presented simply illustrates how those instructional changes would be implemented. Our role as a board is governance. Not to design the minute-by-minute schedule, but to determine
123whether these program programmatic shifts support student learning and align with district goals. Ultimately, students are the ones impacted by this decision. Academics must remain central while also preserving strong programming in music, electives, and enrichment. I recognize that communication in parts of this process could have been stronger and that it is something we can learn from moving forward. I also appreciate the many parents who advocated for their children throughout this process. At the same time, I do have confidence in our administrators and our educators. They understand the needs of our students and they have refined this proposal in response to feedback and to our asking for more feedback. For these reasons, I will be supporting the proposed programmatic changes this evening. No change is ever perfect for everyone, but I am confident that this revised plan
124is focused on strengthening academic supports while maintaining valued programming for all students. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Um All right. >> So, I have I have concerns not because of the tiered model, but because of the impact that it might have on teacher engagement, the impact that it might have on staff morale, the impact that it might have on academics. I mean, academics are important, but if if the teachers aren't on board and and engaged and excited, I don't know that academics will succeed. And we have 25% of the teachers who are not on board. And 60% of the parents say it's going to negatively impact their kids or there's not going to be any change to their kids. And so I mean you are you are the experts in education. I understand
125that this is um this is really important. I just have an une feeling about what this might do to staff engagement and and the concerns of those 60% of the parents that said this won't impact my kid or it's going to be negative. Well, is there like a way to get a survey again from the teachers? >> I mean, we we can survey and survey and survey and survey, you know, I mean, it's it's just at at 672 versions. Uh this the fact that it's still 25% is I guess worrisome or concerning. And maybe they don't understand. I don't know. But that's just that's concerning. And there's still a lot of we're working on it. We're working on it. I will ask what is the cost if we don't do something different? That's probably what
126weighs on me the most. >> Yeah, let's do something different, but I want to see I don't know more enthusiasm from the teachers. I mean, the music idea is great. I love that kids can have lessons and can go to, you know, take all the the music classes that they want and it's part of the curriculum and and that that's been taken care of. But this is this is a huge change for teachers and and I don't know how many have volunteered to take you know I've been teaching um you know sixth grade now I'll take on sixth and seventh in my subject. I don't know how many volunteer to do that. Um, and I don't I just don't know what this means, what this particular shift means for for that for for the teachers
127who have to then implement it. I mean, it's a huge change we're asking them to take >> in a very short amount of time. So, I don't think that this isn't a silver bullet to make everything better. But I do feel that it's student centered. I do have concerns about the teachers that aren't where we would want them to be. I don't know if they'll ever get there. But at the end of the day, like the more I hear about the student feedback, uh the balance that we have, I feel like this schedule compared to the first one that we saw, I feel like it's it strikes a real balance. Uh there's deeper, more in-depth learning and instruction. Like I don't know and I guess this is up to you guys but I don't know
128how we'd get to a point where 100% of the stakeholders are on are on board and this is life. I know we're not going to have 100. So at what point are we trying to get to where we're all just like okay we hit 90%. >> And I just don't see it happening. And I would say that I would be um one of the biggest people that no way in green earth are we going to cut science. Um but I think that kind of having some of the discussion to with some of the teachers afterwards or in person and kind of especially after I had a discussion with Dr. Medzik a little bit about kind of just on the bigger concept of how we would approach teaching. The one part that I don't know how
129or where it came along in the message, but the fact that they wouldn't lose a student out of their classes almost changed the excitement for them. Like, hey, yes, I have every other day, but I have 83 minutes uninterrupted >> to do a science project or to do something where the kids's not getting pulled. Um, that's that focused tier one and into tier two or secondary. I'm not the education expert. Don't know how that would break down, but they'd have their time. >> And he said that that would almost be that could almost be as valuable getting that block. Yes, there may be some loss from the other day, but and there's always that concern, but on the same side to be able to be a little bit more intensive and know that you have
130a captured audience for that time was something that was a little bit more intriguing to them. Um, but in a lot of cases I felt like there was kind of like that indifference and when I had that explanation with parents, they're like, "Okay, well, you know, that makes sense." Um, >> and they don't want to lose some of that time. >> I think the block schedule helps science. >> I think that they're to be able to have a con, you know, not breaking up a, you know, science experiment, get it finished, shut it down, oh, and then tomorrow we're going to complete our write up on it. Um, I think that there are some opportunities and I think being able to kind of adjust and I mean, yeah, it's going to probably stink quite a
131bit, but like kind of like what Rob said, I think sometimes there's a jump, but on the great side, we do have benchmarks that we can hold and look at and see what those changes look like in a year. And hopefully nothing's ever permanent because we're always going to learn something different. So, we can kind of come back and, hey, you know, maybe we need to modify this a little bit. But I think that just the idea that some of this has changed and kind of like Kathy also reiterating that, you know, maybe things didn't come out the same way we wanted, but the intention was always there. >> And I think that's what's important and that's why I think this is a good step forward. >> Well, and I think too, math, reading, and
132writing, they're the building blocks of learning. Like you can't do science, can't do social studies without this stuff. And when I read that several students requested specific help with math and English and reading, I mean, what more do we want? Like, I feel like if they're asking for this and this schedule does that, then I feel like we're actually failing the students. I took to heart every conversation I had with the teachers. I understand their frustrations, the ones that are frustrated with it, the ones that don't like it. But at the end of the day, our job of of the board is to do what's best for students. We've gotten a lot of stuff ironed out since the end of January. And I'm sold specifically, not specifically, but one of the main selling points to
133me was when I learned before the meeting about the student feedback. And when they when I heard that, I was like, "All right, this is a no-brainer for me." >> And I will just say, I'm going to just take a moment. I'm a school board member, but I'm going to put on a hat as an educator right now. I bet you every educator in this room and we've got several of them and any educators listening will say that throughout the course of their careers there have been a multitude of changes right we can none of us can say that we haven't faced change and so the change thing is the scary part I think and I just want to say that I think when we start seeing results from our students people will understand that
134that scary step was for the right reason and as you just finished saying uh Robb I will echo again that it is about the students, what's going to be best for them. Um, I do think research does show that in in these cases that having the time that they're going to have to focus on these basic reading, writing, and math is going to amplify their scores. Um, so I, you know, I will stop there. I've said enough tonight, but um, I respect everyone at this table. Every single one of us has taken dozens of calls, dozens of emails. I I believe we've all been responding responsive to everyone. And I will just simply say that to me, that's a board that's listening. And despite how we vote tonight, we're all going to come out of
135this wanting to do what's best for kids and supporting that going forward. And we will hold the administration accountable. I mean, that's what our job is. we will make sure that that these scores are moving in that right direction and get the feedback that we need to to understand that this decision is is the right step. I I think my I think I'm stuck on the whole process and how it started and how the communication has been and um and from what I've seen at 672 is that there continues to be flexibility with the administration. um that as this iterative process with the tiered programs with the tiered support happens, there will continue to be flexibility, there will continue to be adaptations, there will continue to be um ongoing conversations so that if prep time
136isn't working, planning time isn't working, a teacher is not able to have conferences the way that they feel is effective, that all of those issues will continue to be addressed. and that as parents continue to offer feedback and say this is or is not working for my child. Um I just I don't want us locked into something for 25 years like we have been and not have the flexibility to come back in six months or a year and say okay we tried this it didn't work here's how we're going to fix it or here's three things that did work let's try to implement it somewhere else too. Um, so >> I think it just started off >> I'm gonna >> because >> Go ahead. Go ahead. >> Um, it it appeared to us that we
137were supposed to be like voting on a schedule, right? >> But really that's not what we're supposed to be voting on. So I it just I think things kind of spiraled. So here we are trying to Right. >> Yeah. and parents felt that they weren't communicated with and teachers felt as though they didn't have all of the answers that they needed to move forward comfortably. And I think that's that's what I'm getting stuck on is the change management and the communication issues that happened. >> So, just to put a positive spin on the communication issues, I like I agree things weren't perfect. Um it's a major change, but the flaws that we've uncovered initially >> brought us here today with this presentation and these changes because the flaws that were amplified allowed the board to
138have conversations with dozens and dozens of teachers at the middle school, dozens and dozens of parents with middle school kids or kids in elementary or high school. and we were able to use that feedback and shine a light on concerns that we might not have known. >> So even though there were flaws, I still look at them as positives because we learned a lot from it. The staff learned a lot from it. Administration learned a lot from it and I think it brought us to this moment right now. What is this perfect? I don't know. But >> it's but they can continue to get feedback and >> invest in the professional development and have the conversations >> and yeah >> and the criticisms that we know of are something that we can look at when
139this is implemented and okay these teachers had these concerns are these being addressed or follow up see how they're doing like I don't think it's an end all beall I think it's going to be a learning process as we Oh. >> Mhm. >> Um, and who knows what'll come of it. >> Yeah. And and to Kathy's point, I mean, it's about the tiered. Do we support the tiered supports and the morning meeting? >> That's that's the question in front of us. >> Right. >> Anyone else? >> Call the question. >> We didn't hear from our student board members. Do you guys have anything that [laughter] they're like, can we go home now? >> You can also leave in seven minutes if you want. And by the way, um, our tech guy back there has heard
140the number 67 many times tonight. I kept seeing the smirk on his face, but we kept saying 67. Okay. [laughter] >> I don't know what that is. Uh, >> a nice. >> If you guys have anything that you want to add, feel free. >> I just find it intriguing to listen to everybody talk about it and all the different nuances of it. I don't really have anything to add. I think it's the changes that have been made since the January proposal I think are profound and I think they for me personally I would go towards this option but that's just more of my personal input and I know there's a lot of different concerns that are reasonable and I think that overall the net gain that this would have for students is something worth considering.
141Yeah, I feel like the stuff that came out about the student survey where like this is what they were asking for. I feel like if the students are wanting this and they are more engaged in it, the teachers will be on board after they see that like they'll grow to want it and be more excited about it as they see that like it works. >> Appreciate it. Thank you. All right. You guys want to vote? >> Should we switch the order? >> No. [laughter] >> No. >> Yes. >> I'm Yes. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. That helps provide direction to move forward. >> If you guys do want to leave, you're more than welcome to now that the vote's over. [laughter] All right. Moving on. Uh, we are what? Oh, you guys
142want to leave, too? [laughter] >> Anybody else want to go? You're more than welcome. I'll leave. >> All right. So, Jonathan, uh, high school gym balcony ramp. >> Yep. So, administration is seeking approval for renovation project in the high school main gym balcony. that'd be scheduled for summer this year, summer 2026. Um, primary goal is to provide universal access to the space um while op improving operational efficiencies for our school programs. And we really laid that out like the impact it would have to curricular programming, the operational efficiencies, like being able to logistically move large mats that need to go um uh between different gym spaces or gym and NPR spaces. Um as well as when we've got large group events that could be opened up and everyone could use that ramp for getting in
143and out of that space. Um as well as hitting educational adequacy needs. So, we laid out that the struct structure of that work. Um, installing a ramp. It would include uh moving that access uh further west down that hallway. So, including a new double door set and then a separate third door that would be closer to the current um door set and including a staircase at that location. Right. So, kind of two entry points, a double door set and then a third door and staircase. Um, we also discussed additional ads to that scope to ensure that there would be push button access on that double um door and key card access for um getting into that upper gym. There was feedback at the last meeting to do additional checking with the cheer program. So I
144um did uh do that followup with the high school cheer coach and athletic director. Um there was request in particular to ensure that that upper gym space would be available um during the August cheer camps. I confirmed that that space is available and we'll prioritize that. There'll definitely be adjustments. it won't be normal uh summer for for utilizing that space. But for day-to-day practices, there's the east staircase where the new gym entrance is. So that will be main location. And certainly if this is approved, we'll work with the construction team in terms of detailing further like um physical barriers that are being set up to protect equipment, keep any dust out of the area still being used for practice and then talk through schedules to make sure that we're all on the same page. um
145between cheer and the athletic director. I'm not hearing anything um that would lead me to recommend like changes to that timeline. We'd like to continue to move this forward so that it would be ready for the beginning of school um here in fall of 26. Um so the uh cost for doing the construction work would be at $168,000 and that would be funded through fund 41. It's under the revenue cap, but specifically for um facility upgrades. And then right now we've got the door access bless you adjustment budgeted at $4700. So with that, happy to take questions that the board has about the project. >> Go ahead. >> First of all, Jonathan, I really appreciate the way you go out and follow up on things. I know that that question was brought with the cheerleaders
146and you took that very seriously and came back with that answer. Um I'm looking at our emails right now and I just want to reference if it's okay um that we do have an email from the chairperson of the governing boards of the Greenale Community Church. Um I'm just going to read it, >> but that's not for the >> Oh, I'm sorry. We're on the wrong one. My next one. My bad. Never mind. I'm ahead of myself. >> I forwarded to Jonathan, too. >> You did? Okay. I just thought we maybe have that. >> Jonathan has it. >> Sorry, I'm ahead of myself. Next to Jonathan, >> do you have anything to say regarding the the balcony? >> No, I [laughter] actually will make the motion. How about that? >> All right. >> And I
147have it right in front of me. So, um I will move approval of the high school gym balcony ramp project in the amount of $172,000. Uh $172,700 as presented in agenda item 3.3. >> I second. >> Sorry. You guys want to vote or talk about? >> Yes. >> Talk about it for a while. [laughter] >> Yes. >> I'm yes. Motion passes. And then now the Brinkman parking lot renovation. >> Yep. So the proposed reconstruction of the Brinken parking parking lot is a strategic capital investment. So we're trying to replace a parking lot that is very clearly at the end of its functional life. I think there's universal >> agreement on that. >> Um, so trying to address, you know, safety and compliance and efficiency. We partnered with the village of Greenale since there's road work
148happening on Southway this summer. Um, partnerships that we've done in collaboration with the village have yielded like very aggressive pricing. this in particular because it's just physically adjacent to the work that's already being done and there's already going to be impact to utilizing fields um on the high school campus. So in the proposal you see the detail of the work that would be completed. You've got a map of the um site and what's being included. It's the parking lot itself um and that budget at $108,865.50. 50 cents. Um I was forwarded two three minutes ago the email regarding the community churches potential um additional investment to the project. And the way I've I've shown that is that would um have impact on the fund 80 community service tax levy based on that funding that they
149would be able to provide. So, it provides some offset to tax levy for the community and that's kind of an area we'll take a look at here in a minute when I do budget update is um there's some some projected increase to tax levy. Um but I think the email that I'm looking at here um speaks to the fact that the community church does want to continue the partnership and does want to help with the project as well. um to price this project on our own I think would be significantly the cost would be significantly higher and so I think the um board would be well served to approve this and we could take this project on in summer of 2026 but I'm happy to answer any questions that you have >> any questions for
150Jonathan >> I believe it might have been brought up at the last meeting but did we discuss handicap parking there how many spots that will be >> yeah it'll be it'll be in compliance. There's uh funding that's built into that budget to add in any required signage as well as markings within the parking lot itself. >> And so there's a ratio that you have to meet for any of those parking lot spaces. So we will be at or above that required ratio so that we're in legal compliance. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> All right. If there's no questions, we'll do a motion. I move the approval of $108,865.50 for working with Village DPW on the renovation of Brinkman parking lot as presented agenda item 3.4. >> I second. >> Roll call. >> Yes. >>
151And I'm yes. Motion passes. >> Thank you so much. We have our projects lined up for summer. >> Looking forward to it. Uh all right, Jonathan. Uh speaking of the budget assumptions and projections, we'll go back to that. go to that. >> Yep. So, I uh uh can kind of summarize some of the information that's in the board background. I understand it's already been a long night, so I can keep this brief, but I think it's really important that the board stays up to date on how we're developing the budget, um where we're at in that process, and that the board can ask questions or give feedback um on that. So all we really are trying to do this evening is provide that update and gain information. Right? So we've talked about what the goals
152are of the budget. We're thinking about how we're aligning resources um through that budget and we want to make sure that those are going towards priority areas. Uh we've used this visual a lot just to summarize the budget process into four steps and very intentionally we always start with student needs. So, we've had a lot of conversations in the last I would say about six weeks um about where those uh uh emerging needs exist um what programming that may impact um and trying to start to quantify how much um that financially that would impact the district if we made some uh targeted investments in this next year. Right? We're in the second year of a bianium budget in the 2627 school year. So that impacts the projected revenues. And then what I've got in red
153is we're really at the stage where we've gotten a large portion of that needs identification and revenue projection done. And really it's at the point where we're starting to prioritize how could um these costs fit within the budget. And so if you were asking like what are those things that we're considering right now? A lot of it is focused in these four areas. So, staffing and class size, that includes the open enrollment seats that the board approved and um projecting out how many of those seats will be filled. Um looking at um 4K registration, um continuing to update on current resident numbers and class size um and laying that out versus the board's um class size targets. And then I talked about emerging needs. So really the complexity of programming, thinking about educational tools and
154curriculum. So at this time we're still in a pilot phase on the math curriculum, but we'll need to put uh resources behind the implementation of that. So part of the work that we need to do is get to a final um number so we can budget for that. And then the last two items the board approved are really the main investments that um administration uh was requesting resources on for infrastructure for this next school year. So we're in the middle of development, right? So it's not a refined budget. If we had a due date today, we would find a way to balance the budget and present that to the board. Um, but where we're at in the conversations as of March 2nd is we show a $371,000 deficit for the 2627 school year. And that
155assumes uh full utilization of the referendum authority. So 2.5 million. Just as a reminder, this goes into year three of approval of the operational referendum authority. That goes through the 2829 year. And then at that point um there'd be further conversation about what happens next um with that authority. Right? So thinking about how we're making these investments and programming that's going to make a difference for kids. So the team now goes back and leans on those budgetary values. So what does the community want to see prioritized? And so these are the areas that we need to be thinking about as we're building the budget. These are going to be values that we're using to make tough decisions when there's limited resources and there isn't enough revenue to fund everything that's there. Or it could be
156thinking outside the box to help fund programming to think differently uh about the budget to just get creative to make things work and balance out. I also mentioned in the background item that the governor and the legislature are currently at an impass on a negotiation over uh what to do with the budget surplus that there is interest in particular um joint interest in fully funding what the commitment was for special education. So that was at 42 and 45% year 1 and year two of the budget. Both the governor and legislature have different plans, but they share that they both would invest $200 million to true up those special education reimbursement rates to ensure that at least for this two-year bianium, they would hit those those levels. Right? So, this is laid against the the board's
157public policy priorities long term, getting to that 60% reimbursement. The other item I wanted to point out to the board is potential increases to property tax levy. So amongst those proposals, the governor's proposal has additional funding for general equalization aid and that funding would impact what's shown here for property tax levy. It does not assume that um but I know that negotiations are continuing between the governor and legislature. The legislaturator's model um provides some of that funding not through general equalization aid but through school levy tax credit. So, in a way where the board may approve a certain budget, but it's doesn't hit um taxpayers all the way through because when it gets finalized on the tax bill, um those dollars could be um significantly offset, right? So in total those different models could have
158somewhat similar impacts in next year um to the school tax levy, but those aren't considered in the numbers shown here. I want to show the board with current um law what that uh potentially looks like. And so what the the district does have is some additional funds that were prepaid in fund 39, the debt service fund. um as well as there's a pending payment with the closure of TIFF 2. And so two areas where the board could um adjust the tax levy to minimize any increase in the 2627 school year. Right? So I showed an option without any of those offsets that would show about a million dollar increase to the tax levy. Um and utilizing both of these levers brings down that increase um to that four $400,000 range. So the we don't know
159uh what will be decided in terms of those negotiations. Right. In the memo I shared that the special education aid reimbursement would be about an additional $340,000 for next year. um getting if we get to a 45% special education reimbursement, if there is an agreement, we estimate that the actual reimbursement is going to be 39.8% and that variance is about 34740,000 for next year, right? So, not too far from that deficit number that we're looking at right now. So, you know, we have uh a budget unknown um in terms of those negotiations, but we're going to continue to build a budget and refine it while those negotiations continue on at the state level. We know we've got a timeline of May 18th that we would bring forward a preliminary budget and there's um a number
160of timelines that we have to meet before that for locking in um staffing for next year. So with that, happy to take any questions that the board has about the process or any feedback that you have about how we're going about building the budget for next year. >> Questions? I think we're good. Thanks, Jonathan. And then moving on to the teacher salaries or structure. >> You will take action to approve the salary structure on an annual basis. Um, so we are looking for feedback on the proposal and uh Julie will outline the adjustment that we're looking to make this year. So the adjustment um in the memo outlines that we would look to increase our starting salary to 51,000 that is to remain competitive within the region. Um looking at other districts they are all
161within that range and we would like to advance to that. Um and then we are also looking at adding a an additional stop step at the top of the schedule um to recognize the longevity and retention of of staff in the district. So, um, when we drop those bottom levels, just making sure that we still have that anticipated growth for people as they continue in the district. So, um, it's outlined here tonight for review and then we would bring it back for approval at at an upcoming meeting. >> I just had a quick question. Um, if there's some newer teachers that are like under that 51,000, are they going to have an adjustment made then? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Any other questions? >> All right. Thank you. and we'll end with board calendar. >>
162So, there are a couple things coming up. Most importantly, there is a goal theater production as well as I think there's a parent there's a couple um student parent events this week. College Park has a read me a reading event tomorrow night. Um the and there is a PTO raffle at the for College Park on Friday evening the 6th and then next week is the opening of the musical at which I'm sure many people will be available. >> All right, thank you. Uh looks like the room cleared out so there's no comments and we will adjourn and come back on March 16th. >> Thank you. >> Have a good one.