001agenda together for us. This looks like the balance of our 5000 series. Is that right? It is. This is the final stretch. Very exciting. Thank you. All right. So, uh we're ready to move forward when you are, Kelly. Um we'll start with policy 5121.2 on a roll. Great. Um the first policy 5121 um is about all of our required state assessments. Uh we do not currently have this policy. We had only an honor roll policy and you'll see that right below. It's the next subset policy of to this. Um but I will bring it up on the screen. It really talks about uh the state required uh testing and which grade levels. It's grades 3 through 8 and then between 10th and 11th grade at the high school. Um and so we felt it was
002important to add in this policy to show that we are annually assessing students in those grade levels. Can you zoom in just a little bit, please, Kelly? Of course. Thank you very much. Just give me 1 minute. It's a little slow. Is that better? Yes, thank you. Committee members, can you see that okay? Can you make it a little just a little bit bigger? How's that, Ms. Cooper? Uh better. Yes, that's better. Okay. Thank you. Um in addition to testing all students, there is a line here talking about students with more significant disabilities, particularly cognitive impairments. There's an alternative assessment um that is also permissible for those students. Um, it typically the state recommendation is less than 1% of the total student uh population. So, it is a very small number of students. Um, but
003it also does indicate uh that we have that alternative assessment for uh students with special needs. Some students with special needs. Lastly, it indicates the timing of the testing, which is the last 12 weeks typically of the school year. Um, sometimes the state testing window is adjusted slightly. For example, this year it was extended 1 week into early June due to the um number of snow days many districts had across the state. Um, and then typically uh the science assessment um is given usually in March or early April. So, Kelly, is this designed this policy to replace the 5121.2, which is the honor uh honor roll? No, it's it's meant to add in above it. We did not have a policy talking about state testing. So, we're still recommending that we keep the next policy,
004which I'll bring up, which is the honor roll policy. Um, you'll notice that the numbering is the same number. The honor roll is just .2, which is why I put them in the same bucket. But, uh like I said, we did not have the last time we did the policies in the series. This was not a required policy. It is all mandated by state law. So, it will not change any of our current practices. Um, but we just thought it was important to explicitly note to the um larger community the expectations from the state testing. Thank you. Ruby members, are there any questions? Oneida, I just want to give you a second to to catch up here. Thank you. >> All right, I will ask again um if there are any questions from committee members
005about policy 5121. I don't have any. Thank you, Gladys. We're getting some background noise. If you're not speaking, could you please mute yourself, please? Okay, I don't see any questions coming forward. Uh non-committee members, are there any questions here? All right. So, we're going to I'm going to look for a motion uh to recommend policy 5121 and examination, grading, and reading uh to the full board for a first read. Is there a motion on the floor, please? From one of my committee members, please. I'll make a motion that we move forward to pass this to to send it to the full board for first read. Thank you, Gladys. Is there a second, please? Sherry, I see your hand up. I'll take that as a second. Um all those in favor, please signify by saying I.
006I. I. Any opposed? Wonderful. Motion carries. Okay, so the next Excuse me. The next policy is policy 5121.2. Um, it is a carryover of the former policy just to re-update it. There was a slight typo in the spelling of one of the words in this policy which has been corrected. Um, and this speaks to the fact that in grade 6 through 12, we are noting honor roll for our students. There is a regulation attached to this policy that spells out the exact GPA and what the honor roll system and structure is. But here for the board policy piece is talking about for grade 6 through 12 that we have an honor roll process here in district. Thank you, Kelly. The only sorry, two other things just to note. Um, if students are receiving a pass
007fail or sometimes we'll see at the middle school level satisfactory unsatisfactory which essentially means the same thing, those courses are not calculated into the overall GPA or honor roll. And then at the high school level particularly when you're talking about sometimes some of our seniors that may not need to take a full course load that they must be enrolled in at least five classes to receive waiting towards that honor roll. Meeting members, any questions? No. Sherrod, do you have a question? We can't hear you. I'm sorry. Are you muted? You want to type a question into the chat, we could also try to do it that way. Okay, looks like you're giving me the go ahead, Sherry. So, I'm going to go ahead um with no further questions from committee members. Um >> want to
008not a question. I I think this has been long long awaited the honor roll system. And I don't know, seem like somewhere along the line that it was lost in in our honor roll. Maybe I was asleep, but you know, uh I thought it was a pleasure to uh really uh recognize students that are really going uh the second effort. And to bring the honor roll, I don't know if to bring it back or the way it was put in the policy, I think it's a great idea. Thank you, Mrs. Cooper. Okay, can you hear me now, Kate? Yes, we can hear you now. So, my question was um if the high schoolers do have enough credits, but they still have to take five classes, can any of those classes be a pass or fail
009or a satisfactory or unsatisfactory or whatever it was, or does it have to be a grade? That is correct. You just have to be enrolled in five according to this policy. Thank you. So, is that excuse is so is that's just for a senior only? It would typically apply to seniors. There could be other circumstances in which a student is on a partial day, maybe due to a reason or something. Um but uh the purpose really here is many times seniors have obtained enough credits that they may not have to take a full course load and we want to encourage them to continue um you know in to be successful academically to explore other challenging classes and and that is the rationale for having that in here as well. Okay, thank you. I remember back
010when I was a senior many many many many years ago and uh you know, I had all my credits. So, when I came to my senior year, I only had to do two classes and I was finished. So, I just want to get an understanding for this. All right. Any additional comments or questions here? Uh do the kids at Reach take enough classes to be able to make the honor roll? They do. Good. Excellent. And and ACE as well. I do not see any other hands up for questions. So, we're going to move forward. I'm looking for uh a motion to recommend the renewal of policy 5121.2 honor roll with one spelling correction uh to the board for a full uh for three, please. So moved. Thank you, Anita. Is there a second, please? I'll
011second. Okay. Thank you, Gladys. Uh all those in favor, please say I. I. I. I. I. Any opposed? All right. That motion carries. We're going to move on to the next one. Thank you, Kelly. Thank you. Uh the next policy is 5144.4 and it is is is an updated CABE recommended policy uh regarding discipline um particularly when it's related to physical exercise. Essentially the the essence of this policy is that students should be engaged during our academic day and wellness activities particularly at the elementary level and it notes that a minimum of 20 minutes of physical activity or recess time is needed at the elementary level and this policy goes on to further specify that discipline should not be a loss of recess should not be a common practice. There are several exceptions to this
012in more extreme circumstances if there was a safety issue an administrator would would have reason on a given day to make an exception to that or if there was a short loss you know if a student has a 30 minute recess and there's a consequence for a couple of those minutes that that would be permissible by this policy but ensuring that all students have access to that much needed physical activity and wellness and that they have positive associations with physical activity and wellness. It also notes in this policy that PPT so for any special education students that a planning and placement team could for example adjust this very rarely does this occur but it might be that a student receives receives physical therapy services instead of recess or something of that nature and that would
013be agreed to by the parent again very rare circumstance but it is permissible in this policy. Committee members do we have any questions about this policy? Okay I don't see any any hands up here or any uh motion for that Um, any non-committee members have any questions about this policy? All right. I'm looking for a motion uh to recommend policy 514 up- updated policy 5144.4, physical exercise and discipline of students, uh to the board for a first read. Is there a motion on the floor, please? Motion. Thank you, Sharon. Is there a second, please? Second. Thank you, Gladys. All those in favor, please say I. I. >> I. Any opposed? All right. Motion so carries. Thank you. All right, Kel. The next policy um is 5122.1, um and the title of this policy did change
014from the former policy. The essence of this policy is the same. There's some small revisions to update with current schools, um but it's our regarding our alternative uh educational programs. Um and this primary this policy is primarily focused on the Reach and Endeavor programs. Um it talks about um how uh schools can utilize the alternative placement for a variety of different reasons to support students' needs. Um there was some question at the last policy meeting. We decided to table this policy um because we wanted a little bit more detail on the process. Um so, what we have done is we've updated the regulations attached to this policy to spell out the process. I do want to remind the policy committee is that our job here is to vote policy, so I will be asking uh
015for a potential motion to move this policy forward, um but I wanted to show the regs that support this policy because I think it will inform any questions related to it. Give me one moment. I just have to pull them up on a separate page. Clear vision. Um so the regulations here um I'll go through them. Talks about um this alternative setting, which again would be either the Reicher Endeavor program, which applies to our middle and high school students. Uh it talks about why students might be placed in in the program and really provides some more specificity. So it could be serious disciplinary infractions, chronic behavioral issues, court or juvenile justice involvement, significant emotional I'm sorry, social emotional or mental health needs, and then lastly expulsion. Um it talks about the requirements of our alternative
016education program, very similar to um Mr. Ratchford's question earlier. You know, can students here have access to honor roll, credit attainment, and so forth. We want to make sure that they have access to the core curriculum that all high school or middle school students receive, that they have highly qualified staff, um that they have specific behavior interventions and supports as we know that those are in need of the students that are recommended for placement there, as well as social emotional supports. And then the last section really refers to the procedural ways in which a child gets placed at either the Reicher Endeavor program. Um a lot sometimes there's a there's a need of maybe when we talk about discipline, um that that could prompt a potential discussion regarding placement. Um so we want to make
017sure that there's a formal review practice and investigation into that concern. Um that there's a review of all the educational records, so not just one incident, but what has happened educationally with that student up until that point in time. Um that there's a meeting to discuss the potential recommendation for a change of placement to the alternative program. Uh that meeting should would an administrator, uh student, and a parent and guardian. And then more specifically, we want to make sure that if a student has been displaying behavior, that it's not just a one-off behavior that causes the change in placement, but there has truly been an intervention and strategies. So that there have been, you know, tiered interventions. Sometimes you'll refer to that as SRBI or MTSS, which are those tiered strategies to help support a
018student. It could look like SRBI interventions, additional meetings with families, maybe mentorship program, pupil services support, parent meetings, whatever the supports are that this child needs, it could look like any of that. The green, I'm sorry, the blue here is meant to we specified some additional language since you first received the packet and that's why you'll see the blue highlights. Um and then final note that any placement change for a special education student requires a PPT and that's by state law, but we wanted to to specifically remind people of that here. Um in addition, when a student is being considered for placement, we want a meeting with the Region Endeavor administrator to review the recommendation. It's really important that parents get the opportunity to talk to the new leadership team, teachers, revisit the program, and
019so forth. Um The next bullet you'll see offered to visit before starting, that there's proper notice, right? We want to be clear with parents, this is why we're making the recommendation, this is why we think the program would be beneficial for your child, and then of course, most importantly, that a student is able to return back to whether it be their middle school, Danbury High School, maybe they want to go on to a program like ACE, but they're able to to leave and and grow and be promoted from the Region Endeavor program. And so this last blue section is part that I added more recently, transition and return from the alternative program. We're going to have a quarterly review, this is something that we've put into place and we want to memorialize it, a quarterly
020review of all students and how they're doing in the program so that every quarter we're reviewing who should stay, who should return and why, and that that information is communicated to parents and we put students at you know, as appropriate. There are some students that are ready to engage in that program that discussion and there are other children that we're just having that discussion with their parents. But really making sure that there's transparent communication between the alternative education program and the family. And so these regulations are meant to support the implementation of the policy that we showed you earlier. I'll pause there for questions. Committee members, do you have any questions about this policy and or any questions about the regulation that was explained? Okay, I don't see any. I'm not Thank you. I'm sorry.
021I did want to just thank Kate if I could. There was a few people that reached out to provide input on this and I appreciate that. So thank you. Sean, I think you're talking but I can't hear you there. Question, do we still use homebound and do we use that ever in lieu of Reicher Endeavor and is that covered somewhere? I'm sorry. There is a separate homebound regulation of how students can be placed on homebound. I believe Sean and I have to double check it might be in our attendance policy as well. At times we have used homebound if it would not be appropriate to be placed in in Reicher Endeavor, but I don't think there's a place for it specific to this policy because it would be considered a separate placement. Follow up. How
022many kids are placed right now versus expelled and is it pretty much consistent or is it crazy every year? Sure. So um, the typically the max capacity in the program that we look for are 24 students on the reach side, 24 students on the endeavor side. Um, I think post-COVID we did see a spike in the number of expulsions, a pretty significant spike, and we are now returning back to, um, I would say pre-pandemic times. Um, we have seen far less expulsions, um, and so while there is a handful of students that are there through expulsions, and the time frame I'd have to do an exact count to give you an exact number, um, but I would say about a third of the of the top of my head, about a third of the students
023are expelled students, and two-thirds of the students are administratively placed at the high school level, and the ratio is at the middle school level are only even a little bit smaller on the expul- expulsion students. Thank you for the question, Sean. All right, I'm going to ask one more time, are there questions about this policy before we move forward? Okay, then in that case, I am looking for, um, motion to make a recommendation for policy 5122.1, alternative education programs, to be sent to the full board for a first read. Is there a motion on the floor, please? So moved. Thank you, Gladys. Is there a second, please? Second. It's a tie between uh, Sherry and Waneta there. Waneta, I'll give you that one. Um, all those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? All
024right, the motion carries. Um, so that puts us in really good shape, right? We're done with, uh, this this particular series. Kelly, do you want to spend a minute or two just giving us a sense of where we're going to go next? Sure. So, we are done with the 5000 series. Um, I looked back, I think we started them in the fall of last year, so it was a very long series. Um, we took a few steps away from it for isolated policies we needed to approve. Um, the one that we will be bringing back to you most likely before the end of the year within the series is a slight revision or update to our dress code policy. That is something that we're working through. Um, but we have a dress code policy in
025place. We might need to revise that policy, but other than that, all the legally required policies or any of the um, previously board recommended policies have been updated in this series. Um, this was also our cell phone policy we added here. Um, we added our school climate policy here. So, we did a lot of work, restorative practices and so forth within this. So, thank you. I know it's been a I don't even know how many, but it's probably been close to 40 or 50 policies. Um, next we will go to our uh, 3000 series, which is our financial policies. Um, there are far fewer policies within that, probably in the 20s. Uh, uh, in so we will go through that. Um, we will invite Mike Weaver in for some of those conversations because he will
026be essential to add some of the more detailed discussion on on practice and protocol. Um, I think it'll be really important to read those policies because this is probably a newer area that some people may not be familiar with. Um, that will help us to be productive. So, we'll we'll try to tackle those policies through the rest of this year and into the fall of next year. I'm hoping that we can be done. And then our last uh, set of policies that we need to review are 6000 series policies, and those are all of our curriculum and instruction policies, and that is a very meaty series, very similar to the 5000 series, so I think we'll spend the vast majority of our time there. Once we're done with that, other than some state updates and
027so forth that we might need to put into practice, um, or into into play, and we might bring in an uh, you know, a one-off policy from time to time if needed. Um, that should put us on track to complete our complete policy audit. um and then we would just uh make any updates or revisions uh you know, from there. That's great, Kelly. Thank you. Are there any questions from uh the committee about anything that Kelly just discussed with us? Seems like it's all pretty straightforward. So, Kelly, I just want to thank you again. You do always do an excellent job uh preparing the agendas, uh putting all the information together, and recapping what's going on so that we can move through these and get them uh sent to the board for approval as quickly
028as we can. Um I want to also thank my committee members for your hard work here. Obviously, uh showing up once a month to do this work really has a big impact on what we're responsible for and what we take care of. So, thank you. Um with that, is there a motion to adjourn? So moved. Thank you, Gladys. Is there a second, please? Second. Thank you, Anita. Uh all those in favor, please say I. I. Thank you, Ken. Thank you to my other