District Committee Meeting (10/8/2024)

001e e osar acknowled osuka all set to seea i' like to call the meeting the order please can we stand for the pledge of Allegiance and remain signed in for a moment of silence please i' like to recognize our men and women who are overseas and in the service in this country I'm afraid things are going to start happening fast fear for their safety remember them i' appreciate thank you sh can we do the roll call please Mr tbox y Miss Ferris here miss dler here M Mr Jones here Mr Mia Mr Mia oh I'm sorry okay Mr Mercedes here Mr hden we get a motion to accept the minutes of September 24th please I'll make a motion to accept the M all those in favor I take a minute to uh change the agenda

002you'll notice we have't you notice the agenda has a a red uh line on it the students report was not ready as of until yesterday and they would like to uh present it at today's meeting uh can I have a motion to add that into the agenda make a motion to add it to the agenda second any discussion all those in favor say I opposed I'd like to introduce um the committee uh the uh students still introduce themselves also Mia kopelan who's a senior in the business office ysen MOA who's a junior uh from carpentry and Lea uh Guerrero she's a freshman she was here last week 10th grade you're in freshman right you're in 10th Grade 10th grade great sophomore you're a sophomore okay hon who's going to start Hispanic heritage month is taking

003place from the 9th of the 2024 to the 10th of the 15th of October this year's theme is pioneers of change shaping the future together and it's all about celebrating the incredible contribution of Hispanic and Latin communities throughout history and today over the next few weeks at GTS will'll be sharing stories hosting events and learning about the incredible ways these tail Blazers have shaped our past present and future the school count the school counselling department will be offering the PSAT Tuesday October 29th period 1- 4 the test is open to 11th and 10th grade students on a first come first serve bases all students who register are required to participate this will be a full digital test and students will use their Chromebooks Family Game Night family game night and times 2 training is taking

004place this Thursday October 10 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm in the cafeteria students families and glts staff will celebrate together with food games and prizes Reggie leaders will join our staff that attend to welcome parents to serve dinner poo Centro from Lawrence has graciously donated the food for our event Domino's parches and the ever popular Bingo will be accessible for families to enjoy prizes will be a available for students and parents including a free raffle to win a brand new Chromebook from Target this prizes to be promises to be another funfilled night for our school commit Community the glts College and Career Fair the school counseling department is hosting its annual College and Career Fair on October 31st from 8 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. seniors will have a chance to meet with representatives from many

005colleges and universities as well as members of the armed services as they began to plan for their trans transitions to life after glts quarter 1 progress reports progress reports will be available in the F in the family and student portals today Tuesday o October 8th students and Par students and parents/guardians will receive an email letting them know progress reports have been published Reggie represent at methu Admissions and counseling staff Betsy Gomez and Ramon Cruz as well as student Yoli Torres were thrilled to represent the Reggie community at Mat day this past Saturday October 5th they were able to speak with many middle school students and families about all that GS has to offer and help them to learn about our admissions and enrollment process interact interact Club spet River cleanup on Saturday September 21st the

006interact Club cleaned up an impressive 8,000 lbs of trash from the spigot River in addition 300 needles were collected from the river congratulations to Mr SE and the inter interact club members the girl soccer team host Ed a successful car wash on Saturday September 28th thank you to teacher Mr Chris sier for coordinating this event in the spet river cleanup driver's education is returning to glts driver's education classes are available to all students who will be at least 15 and 9 months by October 22nd classes will run through November 21st and will take place after school from 2:45 to 515 p.m. the 5:30 Athletics bus will be available if needed the total cost of the program is $825 all of eligible students are encouraged to participate September athletes of the month G Gustavo far farella

007varsity football Anderson Ortiz JB football Ethan D rusher freshman football M mathas young freshman football Diana Rosa JB go Ashley qua JB go Jayla fanz JB Che and camil varsity soccer GTS spirit week and homecoming plans are underway for our annual homecoming celebrations including Spirit Week running from Monday October 21st through Friday October 25th more information on Spirit Week themes to come soon Friday October 25th will be a fun and actionpack day with a pep rally being planned for all students during the school day followed by our homecoming football game at 5:00 p.m. and a homecoming dance at 7 p.m. we invite you all and all of our community members to support reggies during this exciting time of year thank you that this concludes our representative presentation thank you all for your time and attention

008thank you very much guys it's great to have the student report back uh hon it's especially good to see you you've come so far from when you started it's a pleasure to have you back thank you for coming thank you all Mr would you like to say something the kids I would I repeat that it's exciting to have you back at the school committee members you did a a meeting you did a great job and uh do you have any questions for the school committee members no do you do the school committee members have any questions for our students regarding their report well yep so I know it was last minute you put this together so you did you stay after school and work with somebody and helping you put this together yeah I I

009stayed after school to work on it all right thank you for that that was uh well done and and the uh slides were awesome appreciate your efforts and we look forward to seeing you at each School Committee Member this year thank [Applause] you all right the chair would like to recognize the principal came to visit us CH Jackson Mr Jackson is there anything you want to say to us or this is just checking up on us just coming to support my thank you Mr DeStefano cash balance report please sure cash balance report as of August 31st 2024 the account balance on July 31st was $677,500 we had deposits for the month of 8,852 56207 um we had actually two chapter 70s during the month of August uh because the July one uh was a couple

010days um late and so it arrived in August plus um the town assessments uh some of the Town assessments came in that's why we have such a large number uh of deposits in August which is actually good um uh we transferred 2 and5 million of that over to our mmdt for investment purposes uh we have a payroll three payroll amounts as you see listed um plus uh two warrant amounts um and the GL balance at uh August 31st is 3,800 12363 uh the bank balance is 5 million um corresponding bank balance on the same day is 5,714 1575 in our mmdt account we started with 4 million 5872 uh we had net uh deposit in the account from the op operations of Two and a of uh 2.5 million uh the interest for the month

011was $35,200 uh leaving a balance of 600 uh 6 mli 888,246 um with a total operating cash balance of 10 milon 680 47263 for the month thank you Mr dhano can I have a motion to accept the uh cash balance report motion to F all those in favor say I opposed moving on Consolidated cash is uh a packet and a revolving fund is a packet and there's also a packet in there with the budget report Miss Martell isn't here today is there any questions we can give the superintendent uh to bring to her about any of those thank you communication donations I don't see any articles I don't see any articles public participation we don't have any public participation we do however have Miss Chris Christa Gillis and uh William Boogle both administrative Deans uh

012assistant principal and administrative Dean uh from the safe office um thank you for coming you have some slides good evening everybody he guys you guys are well thank for coming um so we wanted to we asked to come back and talk a little bit about um some of our discipline procedures parent communication um so we put together a few slides and then we'll be open for questions um at the endk so our first slide is about our classroom procedures in regards to discipline so we uh work with the teachers the expectation for teachers is they establish clear and high standards for classroom Behavior they work with their students to create Norms in their classroom um and high expectations which is one of our core values at the start of the Year and that they hold

013those throughout the year um we ask them to guide and correct student Behavior as needed redirection we ask them that they communicate with the students caregiver um whether it's good or bad or to reach out let them know how their student is doing what help they might need or what struggles they might be having in the classroom we asked them to assign a teacher supervised detention if they feel that is necessary um we encourage that because it it it's all about creating relationships with that student so if you might be having a uh problem with the student in the classroom we ask them to have them after school and have a sit down and typically that relationship builds and behavior will uh improve if that does not work we then ask them to submit a

014formal discipline referral through too which will then be sent to the safe office um and then we ask them to collaborate with the safe office to try to strengthen the relationships with both the students and their families all right so after issues in the classroom evolve throughout the year uh we are primarily there to support the classroom teacher support the student students and their learning and maintaining them in the classroom during that time uh we have a series like our Protocols of what we do and once the teachers have exhausted all of their resources in the classroom to control discipline in most cases um we're there for their support um typically discipline referrals come to us in the form of a Aspen referral uh it's our our student database um Miss Gillis and I um

015and Miss Keys who actually works with a freshman primarily uh we we we'll uh shuffle through those those referrals every day so in the morning um our day usually starts you know answering emails then we get to our referrals uh referrals that have come in the day before um sometimes throughout the day we'll get the referral and we'll be able to handle it right then and there uh but when we do this the the most important thing is we have to figure out what the needs are so we have to start by calling a student down if we get a referral sometimes a student is sent out of class to us and we'll we'll handle it that way as well but as you can imagine you know it starts off with us having to collect

016this information uh typically the students the first one to respond to us when we get a written referral um so when we bring them into our office individually we're talking to them and um Miss Gillis and I and Miss keys are usually at in a position where we sometimes are meeting the student for the first time so it's very important for us to start to develop that relationship from the from the getup um our time is spent interacting with that student um you're not just coming at them for a discipline referral because we can't have a negative uh beginning to our relationship so a lot of times we're just introducing ourselves talking to them a bit and then that's when we'll get to that referral um they vary you know from every anything from you

017know being late to class to uh something major where they're really disrupting the entire learning process uh hearing the student is very important for us um understanding that we're we're not just getting them in our office to assign them a discipline and sending them back we have have to actually figure out what the problem is and then go through some steps a series of steps to try to fix it to solve the problem for everybody so uh after we do talk to the student there's some cut and dry cases of kid kid a student is showing up consistently late to class and the teacher has tried everything that's where we come in for support um sometimes it's just a conversation with the student and they really could get to it um sometimes we're calling home

018after that a lot lot of times we have to assign a detention um and when we do that's us holding the student accountable the discussion becomes part of like we don't want to just hold the student accountable every time because they're not learning the process they're not learning to hold themselves accountable that's the main goal uh at that point if there is any confusion if the written referral is not 100% clear Miss Gillis and I often find ourselves going going back to the teacher just to clarify um but a lot of times the steps already happening um for example I'll call a student in I don't get the full picture um I'm getting one side of the story and then I'm not really getting all the information from the teacher so I I'll I'll put

019it on hold for the time being and usually follow up later in the day after I had an opportunity to go and talk to that teacher and find out maybe what is the gist of the matter what what is it that is causing this issue is there an underlying issue that goes beyond just a having a bad day um students have bad days just like all of us so we're considering all of that um at that point having those discussion collecting that information and again sometimes it's very simple like a tardy to class but often times it goes a little beyond that um we have resources at our disposable at our disposal including uh school resource officer a school resource officer we have a school adjustment counselor in our office um we have our parent

020liaison uh sometimes the the student is on an IEP or a 504 so they'll have a liaison that's assigned to them as well so depending on the situation we may call a meeting together with a group of those individuals to discuss it um and a lot of times we're we're pulling the parent in at that point as well um I it it really is dependent upon the situation but that process could be kind of cumbersome because we're not in our office waiting for students to show up all day we're about we're out in the hall we're covering lunch duty we're checking in on classes we're going through the shops um often times I find myself at the beginning of the day looking at my emails and my referrals and then making a list for myself

021so I could actually circumvent the building and check in to see what's going on not only am I checking in with the current issues that we have but I'm also finding myself following up with issues that may have existed the week before once the students going from shop to academics and then they have an opportunity to go back into where they had an issue I could follow up and find out sometimes seeing it for myself and seeing the interactions that are going on in the classroom um really are the gist what we're doing is we're trying to bring everybody together we're helping the teachers to do their jobs we're helping the teachers to create those relationships a lot of times with discipline problems the the there's two sides right there's there's a teacher side and

022the student side and you know it just gets separated and there's no time or place for them to actually solve it while a teacher is teaching class they really want to be able to get to the rest of the class so without letting things just simmer uh we we have to get creative in our design and how we we help to solve these problems but over the over the course of a day a couple days um sometimes weeks you know we're helping to build those relationships we're helping to uh helping the the teachers have that voice that they need to really deliver those lessons to students not just in their academic or shop career areas but also building the whole child building them from you know their their social skills building their their employability skills

023and we're doing a lot of that throughout the day and the days they're not scripted they're not scheduled um you could look at our schedule yes sure we have meetings throughout the day and we have to juggle those meetings and our duties such as lunch duty to actually give us the most time possible to to use these opportunities to build the relationships and sometimes to uh deliver some type of consequence so I think I cover we both covered a lot of this but um as you can see we we've put up a series of uh steps that I think are important in in developing discipline and successfully uh navigating what we have to do in our office and throughout the school uh most of it stuff we've already covered a lot of it centers around

024our core values um they're they're intricate to what we need to do here we believe in them and we're forever like reminding students that you know what you are making mistakes but those mistakes are actually great opportunities to learn um that's usually the last thing I tell a student you know make sure you learn from this so that it doesn't repeat and uh it's really uh again it's never never no day gets boring they're all pretty exciting I think we're just going to open up for any questions or comments um anybody have any questions Mr Mercedes how um how successful what's the the um successful rating you have for the the planning that you have for um for the students on on the um on the behavior I mean on the um on the procedure

025how what is your successful rate on that on the it sounds great yeah if it's you know on paper I mean on the day today obviously you guys go through it but how successful you guys are being on this because if if if it is like this I like it I mean I I I came to school and I had my my issues with with teachers and sometime because you're the student you're not really being listened to and and it seems to be you guys are doing both and getting to the parents and all that stuff having these meetings it kind of sounds great but what is your successful rate on on on the dayto day so uh without having the raw data in front of us um I I could speak to like my

026experiences here and and and I mean this is my 10th year in this building um I previously in another District had a lot of experience doing this having discipline not only in the classroom as a teacher but also as an administrator uh we try to collect our data and provide um you know what the infractions are what the actions are it could be read in a number of different ways when you talk about building relationships and being successful um at at the the point when we're dealing with students um we we don't stop if there's still issues we don't stop when a student goes back to class and the there there hasn't been a resolution um that's as I spoke previously sometimes it doesn't get resolved just by the student walking on our door and

027providing a consequence the followup the checking back in with the teacher the calling parents um checking in with theud students throughout the day as we see them we are able to see growth through that time and to take a student in any year freshman sophomore senior Junior whatever year to have them come through the door and be solved and have that success which we want okay they're not going to be tardy anymore for example um that we don't know that right away so we have to follow up to find out and if a student something as simple as a class tardiness student shows up late again then we have to progressively increase what we're doing for consequences we have to try different things sometimes when we have a meeting with a student and a teacher

028it doesn't get resolved so then we may have to pull in a parent sometimes we have to pull in a a a school a social worker to help get to what is the underlying issue that's causing these problems um it's more complicated than that but my my answer to your question to be direct I'd say 100% success because we're not just sending a kid back and saying oh well we can't fix them we're forever digging back in to try to get that student to get all the way through high school and to earn a diploma and a certificate in their shop area um what I often say this high school high school every high school it's almost like a big parachute for students they they understand I think at some point they can mess up

029and sometimes they take the risk that they wouldn't take otherwise while they're here we help to build them because we're not encouraging them to make mistakes but we're allowing them to make a mistake because we're there to help support it and to help fix it so the general answer I would give you is I I believe we're 100% successful when we deal with student discipline that being said students get to a point where they're graduating they sometimes they still need supports um we we don't know until you they actually live their life but we we build those relationships so that when kids leave here I think so many could come back to us reach out ask for support ask for help and I'm very proud of that part of being at this school because I

030I know my colleagues are kind of the same philosophy that I have with that one I'd like to add too sorry as well is that um for some students it takes one detention right or or one call home others it might take many more so it really depends on the student it depends on the situation the severity of the situation as well as whatever might be going on outside of school or some issues in school so um not every incident is cut and dry not every incident is the same cookie cutter um so it really depends on the situation and it depends on the student as well thank you other questions soill Chris are you saying in essence I think what I hear you say I think what I hear you saying is that bottom

031line is you don't quit on kids so no matter if it's the fifth time the 10th time your job is to help them uh improve help them to be successful so whatever it takes you're going to keep trying the next step and the next step uh um so I think that's probably the key to a lot of the success that you find in terms of relationship building with kids and they come to you when there are issues or problems uh the other question I would ask you is so we're uh into our second month here at glts with students what is your sense of the culture of the school with regards to kids right now versus other years when like are you seeing any changes improvements in terms of the data that you see with

032regard to the issues you're dealing with with uh teachers sending you students um is there a difference this year or is it you feel like it's common to every other year do you want to go first I have to say um what I'm seeing is our kids are awesome anyway our kids our kids are great do they make mistakes yes do they screw up yes that's their job I say it all the time your job as a teenager is to screw up and our job is to help you get better and change that behavior um and like you said John we don't give up on our kids we want them them to be the best best version of themselves by the time they walk across that stage um so is it it is it too

033early to say it's going to be a great year I think so far it's been a wonderful year um I was just saying today walking down the hall like my kids are doing really well but I'm afraid to say it I'm afraid to jinx myself um but so far you know our teachers have been wonderful supporting them in the classroom our students have been wonderful holding them self accountable I had a student in my office today I got a referral um for doing something I asked him if he did he said you know what M skillus I did and I know it was stupid so they are reflecting on their behavior their understanding they're taking accountability they're serving their consequences um and I think that we're going to have a great year um and it

034really just goes to show about the culture of our school the culture of our students the support that they have the resources that we have for our students so I think it's going to be a great year um and that is my hope um we never know what tomorrow is going to bring um but I really do believe in our students I believe in our staff and um our you know our supports that we have that our students can be the best version of themselves by the time they get there are there going to be bumps in the road yes are there going to be shop turns yes are there going to be pit stops yes but eventually they will get there um and the big moment is when they cross that stage and you

035maybe you never never thought they would get there but they did um and they're just as part of themselves as you are so questions so in your conversations with teachers and the faculty how have they responded towards this procedure that's in place I don't know if you've gotten input since the school year started I don't know if I don't know you could care to explain if this these procedures have changed compared to previous school years pretty again so so so um great question uh I think as we are building relationships with students we're also building and improving on relationships that we've had with teachers um often times the feedback we get is um individually um sometimes it's an email from a teacher that will share with both of us um I've gotten several emails this

036year from a couple I don't want to name them just because it's but but I hope they're they're reaching out and saying good things too um you know when they send us an email saying you guys are doing a a rock solid job it's great it's good to feel that it's good to hear that um but it also speaks to like and and I've learned from her she's amazing at building relationships I think my first few years here I learned to do that more and more and and as I've done that with teachers I've had teachers that maybe didn't agree with a way that I handled this situation in the past I've shown them that I'm willing to you know work with them and discuss what what their concerns are um having that type of

037open door policy being willing to like visit their classrooms rather than just say hey come see me if you have any problems that that's important so I I mean we we get feedback in both way we get positive and negative feedback I'm not going to lie um but typically uh all is worked out through a discussion and by having those relationships with the teachers it really helps um it's also not uh it's also I not to to carry on they do say I speak too much sometimes but one thing I do want to point out is that we are we are not infallible we're you know we're we're we're always in a a spot where even today I learn something new you know I always reflect the self-reflection is so important um when we talk

038about our core values of like growth mindset for example you know you don't graduate high school and stop making mistakes in your life you know I've made mistakes I've made mistakes here I've made mistakes in my my my past school that I worked in um I found those humbling experiences are very important because they allow us to take the time time to to accept change it's not always easy so so um when we talk about that it's not only us that are making mistakes sometimes teachers make mistakes and being able to have a discussion and with a strong relationship to help them grow as we grow as the students grow it's really a a solid community that we build when we do it and we approach it that way and I just want to add

039to sorry M um Mr miia that these procedures are not new they're they've been you know this is kind of what we've done over the years it's built uh as Bill said it's really about building those relationships with the teachers families and students because we all want the same goal in the end so these are not cut and dry they're not cookie cutter these are just you know what how we do our job every day and it's been kind of that way you know I learned from Miss Farris um from the beginning of what to do so um we've really built it from you know 30 plus years ago so so just to just to add-on so there are teachers that agree with this procedure and they I mean I like this procedure personally but

040there are teachers that do not like the procedure and how do you as a safe office approach a scenario where the teacher let's just say can't handle the discipline in the classroom or just doesn't handle just sends the kid to the safe office you do one mistake you're going to the safe office how do you approach you know I mean as here they're skipping from like 1 to 4 by just sending them to the safe office without handling it in the classroom so how is the safe office or how is the school approaching those teachers that you know don't don't like this approach you know maybe you could answer that I know every scenario is different yeah right so every scenario and it doesn't go step one step two right there might it might jump

041from one to five depending on the situation right um we to answer your question though if some if a teacher is like just go to the safe box just right there could be a reason why they might be having a bad day it could be a bad day for them something might have happened at home on their way to school so what we do is we try to reach out to the teacher we ask the teacher hey what's going on with Julio right um why was he ENT today how can we help you help Julio how can we help with that relationship a lot of the times we'll have a meeting in in our office uh guidance counselor um myself or or bill um or Miss Keys the student and the teacher and have a

042parent come in and have those conversations and figure out what is it that's going on what is making you want to send Julio out of class all the time um and maybe who Julio is saying well you know what mr's doing this mr's doing that he's making me feel this way and we really get to the core of the problem I just had a meeting like that last week um and it was wonderful and you know so far the relationship is much better they both understand each other um if teachers are struggling with classroom management we'll go into the classroom we'll observe we'll give them some feedback um give them some ideas have them work with a mentor maybe if they're a new teacher um so really we we we're there to both support the

043student and support the teacher to make sure that we're all kind of on the same you know page yeah thank you and the reason the reason why I say that scenario is because a parent had called me and told me that the teacher wasn't able to resolve the discipline but miss Keys was able to resolve it just by having a conversation with the student so that you know I commend that and I appreciate that that you know happened it wasn't just you know a goodbye to the student the student is still being followed up up to this day it's been two weeks so yeah that's great and sometimes again it's the Heat of the Moment there could be an issue like Bill had mentioned it's hard to stop teaching in the moment to address it

044right um and it might be in a situation where that the teacher needs to send the student down in order to finish the class um you know we don't love that to happen but sometimes it has to happen um and sometimes when the students all upset we give them a minute to calm down and then we talk to them um and they're able to reflect and figure out what's going on from there so I'm glad to hear that it was resolved yeah I really I'm you know I mean I'm I'm 100% behind you on these procedures and and I know that you know that the office itself I mean the whole the whole description the job can is a very fluid situation from moment to moment my only concern and it's always been a concern

045whether it be for me or you um is when do you know it's like you know all right when when do you know that you're building relationships you're working up a sweat you're doing everything right and you're doing it too many times and when when does it click that hey maybe this is over my head maybe we should do this that the other thing I mean it's like sending you know that that person that person that is driven drunk five times out there knowing that they're savable but they're salvageable but you know it's not up to you to do that you know I mean they could go kill somebody that's that's an awesome question million dollar question because because we yeah I mean you know your teetering is it's all balance and it's it's a

046fine line and I I think that you know in all schools you have to be really Vigilant and and know when that person comes around so many times that you know what it's not a coincidence so what what we have been able to do is our relationship has gotten so strong and we brought in a rock star Miss keys to to help us with the Freshman because it was just too many students at one point you know my first year here we had 1300 students so it's an equal split that's fine we we work through it we have another 500 on top of that now and it's not that we couldn't do it up until last year we did but um we we hold each other in check um I turned to her so many

047times throughout the day when I struggle to uh find that solution because it's not getting solved in a day or a week even that it's ongoing you know um but we we turn to each other we hold each other in check we also learn from each other and we we try to model that whole procedure for the teachers because I mean going back to to your question Miss Maria like that that when we do have a teacher that's struggling with that so our modeling that consistently is important and it is it's something that um it really spans out to everybody at that point where it's infectious you know that we we do that but but um we we will often turn to each other for that support um if I see something that I feel

048like it's it's it's I I'm not afraid to go to miss Gillis and say hey this student that you work with have you tried this have you tried that where are you what could I do to help um but working off of each other is is helpful a lot um because you don't know at what point you know like Progressive discipline is great if you guys just to explain what that means it means like if you come into my office and you're tardy and you get a detention then the next time you're tardy you should get two detentions or or so on it's progressively it increases what we do and we have almost a box of tricks that what's next you know the more resources we have to work work with the uh the better

049we are with it but when I'm dealing with a student and I'm not seeing the progress that I need that's evident because we're getting the same type of complaints um it's very important for us to see that with each other and use the resources to get to that underlying piece um and that's that's what we do we we'll call in a a school social worker for an example I I use it often when I have a student that shuts down they're not communicating with me at that point I'll ask our social worker to check in with them and then I'll follow up after they do we'll I'll meet with just a social worker you know I'll meet with Miss Gillis we we hold each other to to straight answer is just checking each other and

050staying on top of it and we do the best we can with that and I want to add to uh Amry is that we you know we try to use mtss or tier three interventions right getting as many people involved as we can to help the student because obviously what we're still seeing the student all the time right and the behaviors might be getting worse so they could be the same behavior over and over and over again um we've tried suspension we tried you know whatever it may be and it's still happening right so um now we need to dig even deeper we need to yeah I mean I I guess my concern has always been certainly even more now um that these behaviors are contrary to everything that goes on here and you know

051I mean it's and and it doesn't maybe maybe it doesn't happen at all but in this day and age it's it's something that I think extra vigilance needs to you know always be there yeah and sometimes students need more than we can give them right and we need to identify those students right those students that I think you're you're talking about right but what what point does does that student Elevate to some more serious consequence yeah I I guess it depends right it depends on and it certainly does depend it does so I guess what I'm saying my concern it's not a question I'm 100% behind you here but my concern is the vigilance for that kind of behavior yeah and I agree and now it nowadays in today's 2024 right it's not uncommon that

052that that stuff is out there that happens it happens and it affects everything you've done you could have do it 100% but you you you overlook something that you know what was there all along and I just didn't see it yeah and that's important it is and it's important to bill was saying reflect be like what am I doing I need help and really we we're very fortunate enough to even have more resources having a social worker in our in our office having three Deans essentially having um other social workers having social workers in the special ed office right so our resources have grown um and we're able to use those and we have a lot of expertise within the building that um we can tap into as well um and when that perfect moment

053is I wish I I knew when that perfect moment usually it will click and say or I'll say to Bill or Bill will say to myself I think you need to go here um sometimes you're right you don't see it because you're in it but someone else will see it and and we really do work collaboratively and we do have like the tier three meetings where we bring kids up and ask for those supports right that's that's important too um collaborating with other people um the other thing is um you have cover to passes do they check in check out and they can go wherever yeah they it's on online now right right yeah all right don't rub it in um you know uh for those who oversees and you know is the oversight on

054that yeah to see that gez you know the student is running right under the radar but they're never in class they're here they're there they're everywhere they never you know do anything they always do their work but they're running the Halls all day yeah the awesome thing now is that with the new the new system that we have we can run reports how long they're out of class how often they're out of class yeah I guess I'm asking how often is that done that's that's done once every month um and then also if we're getting write ups about a student that's missing was over their pass by 10 minutes we'll follow up with that even sooner but we run that data and that data comes out how many minutes they've been out of class how

055many you know right cuz that could be an embarrassing situation if parent comes and says you know jez well I don't know my my kid's been out of class hasn't had any discipline problem so it's it's um it's a great way to show the data yeah no that's great that was my that was my original question actually yeah it's it's a great system and it's uh we started uh last year with our data analysis uh Personnel it's Courtney she helps she would run reports for us and then we divvy It Up by our students and we put students on restrictions actually allows us to do it ourselves now so every month I'm actually going to run the report and share and uh what we do is they it it actually causes smart passes the system

056and the report calls it frequent flyers so it's it's aptly named um and if they're flying too much all our students get four passes a day and the first offense when we have that 5% which it prints out and we could see how many hours they've been out of class so we bring them down to two passes day we have that discussion and we help to explain to them you you we're doing this we're holding you accountable for it we want you to be accountable for it so you could earn it back if you bring your numbers down then at the next month we'll actually take you off that list right so so that's kind of what I wanted see that it's monitored there's some oversight it's not like oh I get away with this

057I've been all quar you know I mean what we find is those on the list are those frequent flyers that they don't only have problems with passes they have problems in other areas too so again we have those relationships we're able to work with them we bring the parents in when we have to and again we're not always just going to two sometimes we go to zero and we escort students around so they're held accountable for that directly and uh the system is I love it it's great it's three years and the hardest thing was getting everybody on board you know early on when we first brought it on teachers would be oh just go across real quick and they wouldn't make a pass so emphasizing making that pass communicating that out to teachers because

058when we put students on restrictions the teachers then see it and we are able to tell them you know if if this student needs to leave a class again call us we'll escort them and a lot of times that you know is what we need to do to discourage that type of behavior one of the things I want to point out is we have a student whose Behavior may impact the safety of other students or or adults or anybody in the building then we may go to outside resources for support and advice on how to handle a situation when it gets beyond what we can do within the facilities of the building or we've worked for them work with them for an uh a series of different uh strategies and it's not working but we

059feel there's a danger to other students or adults then we go to outside resources as well including our own legal support yeah um number safety is number one for all of us we want to make sure every single student feels safe to learn um to be here every day and that's our goal questions actually now it's my turn uh for Mr uh superintendent you said you go to outside resources like what kind of outside resources you you referring to it can it can be resources it can be anything from uh uh legal services that we work with our attorneys that we work with it could be outside agencies that we work with who have uh different uh uh skills and ability to work with students with different issues that they may have whether it be

060mental illness whether it be something that's uh causing that behavior that we can't manage or handle we may go to an outside agency to work with that student when it's beyond anything that we can control so we can't always control certain behaviors but we have to make sure our students are safe so whatever we it takes in order to and not and not and it's not to say that we're looking to not have that turn student return our goal is always to work with them and try to see if we can help the student students so that they can return someday and continue their education here uh so the goal is not to say oh we want them out of the school the goal is what can we do to help that students who's dealing

061with some behaviors that are causing these problems and and uh that we need to resolve in order to have him back in the school and work safely with other students within the school now it's my turn if I again they don't let me speak around here much first of all Christa congratulations for getting the mic away from Bill and uh secondly you mentioned Kate Keys um Katie's been doing an awesome job um but she is not an administrator does that hold her back from doing anything is that any friction from the faculty and don't get me wrong I'm not advocating putting on more administrators believe me I just want to know how hand no I don't think I you know she's very professional um she'll she'll come to me if she feels like she's having

062a conflict with a teacher um I walk her through it I help her I'll support her um it but I the teachers respect her um she has earned a lot of respect within this um position she had respect before but a lot more in this position because she has done a phenomenal job with a freshman a freshman making getting fresh from the minute they step into this building is the most important part they need to learn the culture they need to learn the rules they need to understand the core values of our school and the expectations and having someone um directly working with the Freshman just like they do in guidance they have three different guidance uh guidance counselors we're pulling from 27 middle schools 26 27 middle schools um all with different discipline expectations

063what they you know um some middle schools say this behavior is okay and we have very very high expectations which we do because we know they can meet them and especially because it's vocational school we have to expect our students to act a lot more mature than you would at our sending Community you comprehensive high schools because they're working with heavy machinery and we need them to be safe all the time um so does she butt heads with with uh teachers I I don't believe so if she was to have an issue or feel as though she needed to do something more that she feels she's not since she's in the same Union teachers union she would come to us and we would support her and address that um but you know if you want

064to make our administrator we'd love it lastly um and this is the vocational person in me your Avenue whenever you're having difficulties is go to the principal then go to superintendent and come to to us let's do the vocational way go direct directly to us I'm going to ask you directly is there anything you need to keep our faculty and Kids Safe that you don't have just your I would say your continued support um being able to support us um you know Chad has been a great addition John Brenda everyone um in you here have been a great support for us supporting us in what we do every single day um it's it as Amry said very fluid you never have the same day twice um so it's being able to support us when we

065need help we always go there you know at whether it's a colleague or a supervisor superintendent assistant superintendent other people in other departments um it really is a team effort it is not a oneperson job it is a team effort we're here for the students none of us would be here if it wasn't for the students um and really it's just that continued support cuz we want to stay what people think about us right they people come here because we're a great school and we're safe and we want to continue to to to serve that for our students and our families and our communities I thank you both for being here tonight I know you've had enough hours in this building today uh we've taken you away from your families from your homes thank you

066I want you to know that this committee is very very concerned about discipline in this building and thank you very very much for being here tonight thank you for inviting us and you know we can come back whenever you want thank you thank you have a good night thank you guys next up is the uh dress code Mr Lavoy so um with regards to the address code we did put a committee together and it's was uh a recommendation when we got together that we should uh move the issue uh to our attorney we in doing some research we found that there is a lot of struggle with dress codes across the Commonwealth that different schools are dealing with uh particularly that it's become an issue where it seems as though uh students have more rights

067to um to uh wear what they feel they're comfortable in without as long as they not this um disrupting the learning environment uh and uh and is safe for whatever uh procedure uh activities they're doing within the building so we've uh asked our attorney to do some research and he's going to come back at the next school committee meeting to do a report on uh what's going on across the state and what we can and cannot do legally with regards to dress codes any questions am Mar well given that this is a Vocational Technical High School primarily it's not part of a comprehensive school it it should have separate rules and expectations right I mean I'm I'm not a lawyer I'm next to being a lawyer but I'm not a lawyer but I mean this

068is a school where you have to work and be in the right attire so um with regards to our rules can impact students with regards to Safety in terms of how they dress in chop and safety but the general uh consensus at this time is that students have more rights with regards to the dress code than they've had in the past and there have been other schools that have uh uh tried to enforce dress codes and have been brought into uh question and brought into legal battles over it and in most cases they find that um that they are weighing on the side of students with regards to their rights to dress uh in uh as long as they're not dressing in a way that's uh causing disruption in the school poor language those kind

069of issues so um we're the reason and the reason we haven't tried to make any changes on the dress code rather than make make changes and then come back with a uh a challenge from parents and from students and from faculty um I believe it would be in our best interest to have our attorney uh review the the matter uh and make sure that we're going to align with state law and changes that have been uh happening in the last couple of years with regards to dress codes okay I mean I'm I'm not going to I'm not going to supersede what an attorney is going to say but I mean I mean this is our society I mean I mean we're not against the law are we no I don't think we are in our

070dress code the existing one there's question it's questionable our existing dress code for students is questionable whether we're violating their right is inappropriate it's not it's that we may be violating their rights based on what our existing dress code is now I'm not saying we are that's why I've turned it over to our attorney to um to make a uh recommendation to the committee which he he will come to the next meeting I just know Mr superintendent that we could have a long discussion on whether we're violating student rights and whether our rights are being violated when they're not absorbing the material that people are standing up here all day trying to get them to be again using Christ's word the best version of themselves I don't know of anyone in society in our communities

071that wouldn't want their child to be the best that they could be and to help us all stop entitling individuals and start allowing and putting some parameters and boundaries on our youth and I mean I I will continue this forever because that's how I feel I think we're way too I hate to use the word liberal but I mean we are way overboard even as a society but I have faith in the four at least the four communities here to know and and and know that they want the best for their students and and dressing appropriately is part of that I mean I just cannot I I I think I think as a school we fail students by not putting some boundaries on them yeah I wouldn't argue or disagree with you but I know

072that's the thing and um no one's going to listen to me yeah it's not you know it's not what my standards may be but what not even low my what the law says is their rights well I mean then I have a right to go to dunin donence and and ask for a coffee and get it the way I want and not have it done incorrectly because they can't read the little sticker there I mean I I I I really can argue this all day and especially being out there and not in here all day and being out in the communities I mean I have a lot of material well I think once once Wayne comes and gives us his report then we can talk about what we may disagree with in with regards to

073what he has I already had uh two meetings with him and tried to argue some of the points with him and uh I mean I fear I fear what you're going to tell me next that's why I'm not going down that road so I'm not even going to allow you to say that to me so I'm done well um in regards to the uh to the dress code I I personally believe that my community for example Lawrence has when when it comes to dress you know kids are too focused on what they're going to wear and whether the brand they're going to wear and whether they're going to use shoes from palis or they're going to use Nikes and and that's a a problem of its own so when it comes to this I I

074I don't even understand why student will have a a saying when in each institution should have the right to decide what kind of clothing what kind of coat you know whether the going to wear uniform or not cuz you know you wear uniform on on shop and it's not questionable because it's the dress code for each shop why couldn't we have a uniform for academic week so that each student identify theel that they belong to gr laar Technical High School in this period um I think that again I I don't know I'm not an attorney neither but I would definitely vote 100% for for um for uniform because it would identify the student it will also take the pressure from parents in communities like mine that they not able to keep up with buying kids

075clothing because they want to dressed up like they're going to a to a club right or they're competing with an ex girl in the in the same classroom on the clothing the parents can actually afford to buy so uh I would love to hear legally what we are able to do I think that if we represent the community that we represent I think it should be able to be up to up to us to be able to vote on on whether the kids should have a uniform or not I think it should be the end of that because that's why they hire that's so they voted for us they V for us to represent their needs and I think if you ask me I think that my community will will be parents will probably appreciate

076more the fact of not having that pressure of buying their kids all these extra clothing to be able to go to school for for a year because they don't want to repeat the clothing next week or whatever so I think that if it if it up to me I definitely vote for for uniform so that that's not even a question or even a battle of what I'm putting on myself that that's my my point on it I mean I I mean I know it's crazy but I I would too and it's about Pride we're doing so much in the school to show them Pride to have them be proud of who they are and what they become and I mean to ask him to just dress appropriately I I think I find that ridiculous I

077I I would go so far as to put it on a ballot that is this is this is I'm sorry they are still students they are still under someone else's care I I I they they are not at the point where they're making decisions we are helping them be productive members of society and part of that is is personal Pride personal grooming that is all part of who you are and become I don't know so I mean we have Lawrence public schools that have uniforms correct as far as I know as far as I know as well I mean we could be Trail blazes and the problem to what to what you're saying is you know what I consider to be okay for the skirt right small skirt or whatever 3 Ines away from a

078certain from your knee or it's a halfway through your through your through your through your tis or even shorter right like it depends some people consider okay and I think this we just got that that consideration I think it should be just uniform with shouldn't be even discussing regular clothing unless they have a a Friday for just dress dress like whatever how you want on on one particular day no I'm serious I'm with them I never thought I'd say that because that's even more extreme than I was anticipating that I would say but I'm I'm with him because I think that that's the only clearcut way I mean I'm saying appropriate dress appropriate grooming well then there's that nebulous what's appropriate so I'm I'm with them and when I when I came to high school

079I had kids in pajamas in my ridiculous and that that is it's it's it's unreal so it I don't yes any other questions Mr Jones yeah I wouldn't want to beat the same issue to death but I do believe in the dress code and I do think that if they were uniformed whether it's whether it's a shirt and slacks or maybe something a little bit different for the females again they don't have to worry about what they're going to wear that day everybody's equal and I feel if this is the place that everybody wants to be and you set the rules those are the rules and I could be wrong but in years past I I know the school provides certain amount of shop uniforms at this point I think uh they should also be

080buying their own uniforms you know for academic side you know not everything in the society can be provided anymore we just haven't got the resources you know no matter how much this budget for this school comes up with you know to throw more money in to dress everybody the same way for an academic side they have to take some responsibility on their side and I think uniforms be cheaper than a lot of the some of the jeans that are out there my wife hates when I bring that up but the new Jean style where they're all torn up and shredded it just boggles my mind it's like so the I know society's changed but we've we SLO we sort of slobbered up quite a bit I mean if you look back at pictures from years

081ago you might have a guy that dug ditches for the day but on on the weekend or Saturday he was dressed very respectably CU he wasn't at work you know and they have to understand there's two sides of it and I've had kids come to me you know for employment and if I could see their underwear they were told to get a belt and put them on or they will leave them cuz they're they're representing my company you know so if the standards not set here when it gets out to the employer it will be or the student won't stay and you know that goes for torn jeans again the underwear uh it's it's appearance so that's my take on it Mr Mia I mean we've come to the conclusion now that we all agree

082on dress code I assume yeah we all agree on a dress code policy um the only thing I will say is is superintendent maybe you could clarify is we have a dress code policy right now correct is one in place right now yes okay so you know obviously when when the attorney comes you know we want to make sure that the dress code policy that we're the recommendation that we're getting is of course we all agree a dress code policy but also a part where we're being you know aware of culture cultural and religious accommodations um I think that's where I would say okay you know there's exemptions in certain under certain criteria and I know other districts and um schools across the Commonwealth would share in their in their policies is that you know

083their policies are integrated in a way that is collected by input through their District committees their the families The Faculty the administration something that is fair all across and it's not you know here you go this is the dress code policy but we're also involving the teachers and the students and the parents that are also going to be impacted by it so I know you said that in the policy right now there might be a question whether they we're violating students rights do you know to the top of your mind what rights were are we talking about I mean what what part of the dress code policy right now is in violation of the students rights because one is individual adult rights and also student students rights on school grounds so I just want to

084make sure that that that's clear I'm not I didn't understand fully what you meant by that so if you could just clarify yeah so you we may have certain criterias in our dress code now that uh a student may not want to live by and uh they and it might be violating their creativity or their right to to creativity or expression of who they are and how and who they want to be which we have uh no right to deny them of that uh that's been some of the language that I've encountered in and doing some research around this and so um the very spec I wouldn't want to highlight the specifics in the Co in our address code at this point I want to let our attorney determine where we're in violation or if

085we're even in violation uh that's his you know exper teeth or his um area of research that he's doing for us to ensure that we follow uh the regulations of the laws as it come pertains to dress code since we are looking at we've decided we want to look at do we need to have a more stringent dress code do we need to have higher expectations so in doing the work of looking at what that should look like um I think we need to have some guidance to make sure we're not incorporating new a new dress code that is even um in more violation of what we can or can't do so rather than start making all these changes and then come back and find well made all these changes but uh we don't want

086to be challenged and find out that we can't uh uh hold students accountable to what we've asked them of better off to know what we are capable of uh of are allowed to do with regards to to the law uh so we're working on Solid Ground we make our decisions so it's so it's basically what I said there are you know we're allowing students to have you know there are cultural there are religious accommodations but now what I'm understanding from what you're saying and again we're not lawyers and and you're going to wait for the attorney is a matter of being inclusive as to how the student identifies or how how the student wishes to dress up I mean you know that's the society we live in and we have to respect that if a

087student wants to dress a different way then we have to respect that but also we need to make sure that we are being you know stringent and we're being you know we have expectations because we are a vocational school I just want to make sure that that's clear for when the attorney comes and you know the recommendation becomes well we don't need that kind of dress code well I just want to make sure that we have one that's of high expectations but we're also being fair Equitable to those students that wish to identify differently or to to dress differently but also appropriate yeah I think one of the advantages that there are concerns of safety that are going to be looked at when we determine you know what's safe attire in a particular shop versus

088you know another shop or or the classroom itself so there will be some consideration with regards to safety uh in each particular program or shop to ensure that they are uh their tire is uh safe and manner whether it be work boots whether it be pants shirt you know if they're working in a welding shop what what's a safe attire in a in a program like that to ensure that they are meeting those standards that will be also considered for sure yeah I mean if I had my way yeah I'd love to have everybody living in a uh you know in uniforms way you know I did back when I was a student here or maybe that's a little strong but at least something that's respectable and represents the career in which they're pursuing uh

089to me would be a you know a good standard in which to hold them to questions so I'll Echo the uh the superintendent uh having uh attorney Simmons here for the next meeting if we can get him yes thank you work Force announcements Mr Lavoy we have some good news oh there's um I just added to your packet uh that on September 27th I was uh asked if I would uh because we have been working for over 10 years with the Clean Energy Center on grants and pursuing Alternative Energy um methods and training that they asked if I would present at their uh award ceremony where they gave out $13 million in in grant money to uh different schools and different organizations to talk a little bit about some of the uh new technologies we've

090instituted based on grants that they've given us over the last 10 years one of the things that I when I got when we went into the auditorium the pamphlet The Brochure that they had was actually a picture of our students from a program we did almost 10 years ago we did a a uh a program where we taught students how to put solar panels in in which the students actually got paid for that program yeah that was about almost 10 years ago but uh they highlighted that program as one of the uh outstanding programs that they uh awarded to us almost 10 years ago so I did want to uh just give you a few pictures and highlights of uh some of the success we've had with the Clean Energy Center uh we've been very

091fortunate to get several grants from them over the last last 10 years including the one that we just got for $750,000 which is funding um a uh a build a house uh that we're building to teach students new weatherization technology uh techniques and uh a geothermal system in our uh one of the buildings we're building now which is worth about $300,000 which they're funding and some other training and equipment that they've also funded through this last grant that we just received so uh we've been very fortunate to be successful uh with that organization thank you uh update on the purchase of the Elks Mr well with regards to the Elks we're still trying to find a suitable location for the Elks met with the City of Lawrence um we're looking the uh the city has

092uh re Redevelopment Authority owns a piece of land over in sou Lawrence not far from the Elks that may be a possibility there are some uh issues with um some of the uh conservation issues on the lot but we met out there to take a look at is it are there solutions to that which we believe there may be uh so we're doing uh we're working with the city to try to get uh a answer to that and they're helping us to try to uh see if we can get an engineer out there to let us know know if it's going to be possible for the Elks to put a building on that lot that is our best opportunity right now we are also uh doing uh a reach out to Brooks uh properties who

093own some land out on the out not far from the Elks as well um typically they don't like to sell their land they usually lease it but uh I've got a call out to them hopefully uh I'll get a recall return call but we are continuing to pursue to try to find something suitable for them to purchase so then we could purchase their their building so that's still uh one of the things we're doing uh in the intrum is the uh Barn that we have out back that we're building we're looking at uh putting in six uh medical uh classrooms out there uh that we can have students until we're able to expand out at the Elks uh utilize that space and then we can convert that to another program once we move them out

094to the elk so that's how we're trying to deal with it right now so um it doesn't prevent us from continuing the opportunity to expand those medical programs in the interim questions desie recognizes glts for achievement on access scores Mr Lavoy so uh I did share a document with you where uh our um multil language language uh learning program uh was recognized for significant progress on the 2024 access test um it shows that we've increaseed scores from 34 to 46% which is uh was noted as an uh a outstanding uh progress uh and our uh cultural our director language culture and Equity uh Dr Joe faucet I was invited to present with two other panelists at the dsc's OA Network meeting on October 9th to talk about some of the insights and progress we made

095with our students which is a uh pretty significant um uh recognition of the work that she's done for our students and I think I sent you an email today of a staff member who also recognized her uh for the work that she did helping their particular program as well so we're fortunate to have uh a staff member administrator that uh does exceptional work like that so I thought it was important for you to highlight that one of the things uh I spoke to the administrative team at our last meeting so starting next meeting we're going to try try to highlight one administrator and the programs that they oversee so that you can learn a little bit more about each program and the work that that administrator does so that you're more familiar with what's going

096on throughout the building uh relative to each specific program that the different administrators over see everything from um academic programming to vocational program I think uh I thought it might be more helpful and that'll open the door for you to ask questions and concerns you may have about anything that may be going on in those programs in your packet you'll have uh two calendars October and November things that are happening any questions to the superintendent on any of those moving on to reports of the committee we have uh we have the uh the BGE policy uh for the district committee priorities we have to vote on um if you look at the last couple sentences you only there was a change in there the bottom sentence remove the above statement policies are online uh the

097school committee policy manual will be considered a public record and will be available for inspection at the superintendent's office that has been removed removed that statement and included in policies are online and I understand they're on the glts website I need a vote on that place a motion on that pleas to accept you get a second second thank you all those all those in favor say I opposed any further discussion on that no new business we don't have any tabled matters uh Personnel considerations report resignations head the Sila ml instructor effective 10 1124 no leaves of absences no retirements appointments we have two of them Jason Hull Plumbing instructor effective date 10724 Richard suu autoc Collision and Repair instructor effective 11424 and no job postings excuse me please I noticed on that there's a discrepancy

098between what the principal sent out um in his newsletter about new staff and what we have absorbed uh during the last meeting and here as a reading specialist and I'd like to know how many we have so we have two reading Specialists that were I think they were in the last meeting's uh no um they weren't in the last meeting's appointments not this person and I'm you know I don't think I can say that name which person are you referring to it's a Judith that was not in our report last time of one of the reading Specialists there were two I think but she was not one of okay there were already two yeah so we had two there were already two listed here yep and in the principal's report um in the principal's report

099that was decided yeah so one of them resigned and we recently had the in the short amount of time she was here and we recently just fulfilled her position that that's probably the from one week I don't think she actually start didn't actually start so was that the very beginning of the school year I don't know that she even yeah there's a question whether she even started she resigned went to another school uh and so then we had to repost and hired another person in their in her place that's probably the name that he put in the report you know what I'm always sure of there's always an explanation so we'll um I'm not sure that but I will keep on Sue Has zeroing in so the the uh names that are in here Sue

100gets from the uh uh HR office but sometimes within the time frame of someone getting appointing appointed and her putting together this uh this work a week in advance she might have gotten hired I'm not sure what the situation is I can find out we set in there's not anything I can do about it I can't hear you in me I said there's there's nothing I can do about that if that person I have the superintendent tend to check on he he just explained himself future agenda yeah I'll bring her I'll bring her name next time we come I'll I'll present her in the in the uh report Personnel report okay okay future agender items none at this time there is a need for an executive session Personnel mtis I have a motion to move

101to Executive session please motion to enter executive session second we shall we take a vote on it all all uh in favor I I I anybody opposed thank you osar e e e e e yeah I'll make a motion to accept the uh resolution to the labor board claim second second all those in favor I no let's follow vote Miss TSLA Mr Jones yes Mr Mahia abstain Mr Mercedes no no Mr tbox yes M Ferris yes Mr haum yes other item can I get a motion on the Cory checks please I'll motion we accept to have the Cory check done second can I ask about that so obviously let's let's get this the second before we open for discussion you have a second discussion obviously I do want the um you know the most security

102for our kids I don't know how the Corey to what level Cory Works how far it goes back I thank God Happ have any criminal records in my life um the only illegal thing I done is speed I think it all time at one point but that's my most illegal thing but I I do have a question and and again I'm sorry I'm bringing this up but there is um a story a true story I'm watching on Netflix and this one guy made made a mistake in the past and obviously it kept on Hunting him where people don't give him jobs opportunities because he did something wrong but he turned his life around and he's still being hunted by he his mistake and again that's not my my situation and I do want but how

103far the core he goes to where a person made have made a mistake in the past of his life and he turned around and he's giving back to his community now he wants to come in and give to to our kids in this position is not a PID position why would would would how is that going to affect that person who turn his life around and want to be able to be part of the committee like so if anybody can you answer that so I look at Corey and sories all the time for employees and the only time I look at them is if there's some kind of issue that is uh picked up by the Cory Sor and genuinely speaking uh it can be 25 30 years back so all a lot of things

104are considered is there is there a danger to the students like if you did something wrong in the past like H up the hell the bank up or something very serious you know then you know that's considered whether is there a danger to students in any for any and if it happened 25 years ago and you had nothing else since then then that's considered as well there's a lot of factors you consider the first and foremost is there a danger to students and uh if you are engaging in coaching doing something uh will it have an impact on will you have some kind of negative impact on on the student that's really kind of what they look at you can make a lot of people make mistakes you know uh because you made a mistake

105in the past doesn't mean you don't pass the cor or Sor otherwise there be a lot of people not working in the building a lot of people you know not uh coaching or because people do make mistakes because if you look on the Corey if you when you were 16 got caught driving a car without a license that would be on your Corey that doesn't mean you shouldn't be a school Committee Member this has no impact on the work that you're doing is just a mistake as a kid or whatever but it's important you know so I'm not going to look at the Cory and stories I would suggest that if the school committee is going to you know thre into Cory and so of the school committee and and something comes up on the

106Corey then that would be I would I would suggest we have the attorney look at it because I work for you guys I really shouldn't be checking the Cory's the stories or anything that comes up I think in out like our attorney would be to me in my mind that's who I want to look at and say oh this is a serious event that we got to be concerned about cuz or you can have HR look at it or you can have somebody else look at it but you know uh Sor in particular is more sexual in nature and something you might have done that had would have a major impact on concerns being around students or kids no matter how far back it goes then we would probably say no you can't and then

107uh then you know that's up to the committee in terms of you know what you do with it just say um from my experience uh one of my players from North End of we got in trouble in high school and he's a soccer coach and all sort he could he was hired in other towns but he couldn't be hired in and over North and it's like it's just it's it's followed him through his whole life yeah it's at the discretion of the person making a decision as to whether they you're D you're danger to the the students yeah but it was like the HR in those towns they through his records and they wouldn't hire him but other towns would hire I'm saying that's that's what happens sometimes I would suggest if there was uh

108a problem or anything that we move it back to the city or town you come from and let them make it determination they're the ones that sent me sent me sent you well It's Tricky it's a tricky thing because nobody can look no one can know what's on that cor sorry except for the person that is at the highest level of ensuring the safety of students so in in the school situation that would be myself so typically HR like might look at the cor and stories and then decide oh there's a problem here got to bring it up to the superintendent and I look at it and determine if there's a danger to the students or not cuz we we Cy uh anyone any of the night school people don't take courses at night we

109Cy all those people and sorry all those people night school teachers anybody that's in the building when students are in the building we cry those so I look at you know people are taking a course in the electrical or Automotive we Cy all those people and I have to determine if they're a danger to being in this in this which is a very rare case that that happens it does happen but it's a rare case because I understand if you did made a mistake 20 years ago and you're trying to make your life better and you're taking a Course and there in no danger that just because you got caught you know driving without a license that has no impact on hurting kids or anything you know I think you're trying to change your life

110I'm not going to say no yeah I'm going to say absolutely is trying to she or he's trying to do make make a difference in her improve their lives unless it's something real serious I mean the the reason I had it done is because I'm helping with the girl soccer team so I'm in touch with those kids you know yeah our substitutes are I think that as a school committee don't really engage with kids or anything so um by law I don't think the law says you have to be Cory and Sor you're making a policy because you think it's important but as far as the law is concerned you don't need to be Mr um honestly I mean the attorney has his opinion um but I don't know of any school committee in the

111Commonwealth and I'm a part of the regional division for the mass Association for school committees and I don't know of any school committee that has such a requirement we don't have the authority to you know if let's just say someone else I mean I don't have a record but if someone had a record we don't have the authority to take a vote and remove the person because we're in elected positions that would be in a different scenario if we were appointed by the each each individual Community but for example you know the methan school committee they don't have a COR check requirement they're in elected positions so I I don't I'm not going to vote in favor of any such requir just because this is we're in elected positions um but I suggest the attorney

112go back to mass Association of school committees and double check that but out of experience that's what I've what I've seen else for the vote let's call the vote on it this is my uh this was my suggestion a few weeks ago everybody agreed to it and I know everybody's agreed to it and that's fine what I want to do is take a vote for the future school committies so let's see how that goes you're saying you you want to vote you're voting on a policy that says you have to have a Cory Sor so that's what you're voting on to put a policy in place my interest is just protecting our kids nothing more can I get a motion to uh any other questions I'm sorry we did receive a motion receive do I

113have a second all right that was the discussion can we call the vote please miss Faris yes Miss dla yes Mr Jones yes Mr Mahia obstain Mr Mercedes uh I don't even know what to V to that to tell you the truth I I don't understand it much but um I do want the benefit uh to the kids and and if it's going to be overlooked the way it's going to be looked at I think uh it's a good idea yes Mr TX Mr hayam yes [Music] motion make motion to Second thank you everybody all we have the vote Mr tbox yes Miss Ferris miss dla Mr Jones yes Mr Maha yes M Mercedes Mr Mercedes Mr hayam yes this