001into order please um thank you everybody for being here I certainly appreciate it I know that um it's a Wednesday evening and um folks would probably rather be doing a lot of other things but we have many policies to go through and I want to thank uh Kelly for doing such a good job of uh organizing everything uh and bringing this information to us um in consideration for the fact that we had policy 51 31.8 which is our electronic device policy that was on the November policy meeting agenda and we were not able to get to it that evening uh we're going to start with that uh instead of uh the other uh items that are uh from series 5000 so Kelly I will turn this over to you uh for the start of the
002conversation thank you sure thank you Kate um so this policy uh as you had indicated we reviewed at the November meeting our previewed at the November meeting just to provide some background uh this is on use of electronic devices uh particular ularly to students in our school environment policy primarily applies to our secondary age students as this is where we are um seeing uh seeing the use the most um but also does have a provision for expectations at the elementary level as well uh just to remind the policy committee uh this work was done through a series of several uh subgroup committee meetings that were representative of board members um principales teachers parents and student input um which helped us to inform the policy we were able to review some of the current practices and
003protocols that are in place across our schools um there are some minor differences between different schools for example across the middle schools of do they allow phones at lunch versus not and so forth um and so this policy really lays the groundwork to allow the administrators uh to set um more stringent rules policies and procedures to allow devices where it supports instructional opportunities but to limit or prohibit devices uh where it interferes uh so for example not having access to a cell phone in an academic learning environment is something we'd like to see across the board um you know depending on the age of the student allowing some limited access uh during you know beginning of the school transition end of the school transition um out of the day possibly during lunchtime uh for example
004at the high school level um or maybe during hallway transitions um and will really allow us to maximize the whole premise of this is to maximize instructional opportunities for kids um and to limit the distractions uh that they frequently cause um so I'm happy it's a quite a lengthy policy so I'm happy to answer any questions about the content of it but to give the backdrop this is really the purpose of it there clearly for this policy will need to be more uh uh spelled out regulations once the board adopt the policy KY thank you for that introduction committee members we're looking at uh the electronic devices policy P513 1.81 um hopefully you've all had a chance to uh take a look at the information in that policy and does anyone have any questions about
005this or comments Su suggestions concerns um Teresa you're muted Teresa sorry this is just for high school and middle school um so it it does apply to all levels so it applies um to all of our school levels so Elementary included um but I do think that the the need to spell out more strict or stringent rules really is at the middle and high school level um but we don't we don't know what the future holds we are seeing some um watches watch devices that are attached to Smart devices occasionally at the elementary level and really just want to make sure that we we limit the distraction in the school environment K12 this is not going to cost us anything is it um this will not cost us anything uh there was some conversation earlier
006on about um there are some districts that uh purchase uh things one example a name brand is called a Yonder bag where the phones are it's similar to what you would see at like a concert that they'll collect the phone put it in the bag and you can't use it we are not opting to go that way we would like to see um students you know either store them away in their lockers or in their backpack um or leave them home um if they so choose and just not not you know uh have their hands on a cell phone device device or other SAR electronic device during class time thank you um thank you a couple of questions um so Kelly would you say that on the first page of the policy where we are
007now if you go down to paragraph number three that begins with the word thus would you think that that would sum up give a just an overall summary of our goal with this policy yes I think that's a great paragraph that that highlights the goal okay um so that is the I do too and um on the I I'll call it page one two I think it's page page three okay one two three four um middle of the page that starts with the word students right there yeah right and it goes on to talk about teachers and staff and the third bullet um which um reads model the digital teachers and staff to model the digital habits and the utilization of personal technology and social media in alignment with the district policy okay yeah everybody
008have that okay so um I you know I just want to um I I I think that that's very important and when it says uh teacher I'm sorry teachers and staff and and that's fine um I would love for it to talk about um a broader engagement um so let let me just honestly say that it it's not just the teachers the staff and so when we you know professional what we call them professional Educators um you know from the top down leadership staff I I don't know what that really means but I would love to make sure that we are including um Administration and um even the Board of Ed I watch when we watch our videos of the meetings I can't tell you you know how many times you know people are speaking
009before us and our members are on their um cell phones electronic devices um and that and that's not just the uh board but you know Administration just at at the whole board meeting so I'm wondering how we can incorporate that to include everyone and not just staff doesn't get it for me where you're saying teachers and staff I'd like to make it broader so at the oneita thank you I appreciate your feedback you're referring to the bullet point that I just highlighted where it says teachers and staff renaming that to really indicate all district Personnel yeah it's a collect we've talked about a collective action that we've talked about in it that and you said uh the Board of Ed Administration staff students parent you know that overall um that we have to present as
010a united front and therefore at somewhere indicate that this is also um the modeling needs to be with all of us I I would agree with you so I think I would open it for discussion um on what people think is an appropriate title change here um and if in changing the title we still think the bullet points below it uh tie in the critical or key components and I do just want to uh spell Out Below you also have a family and caregiver section and a student section that spells out responsibilities as well so I think it's important to look at those sections as a group so Terry I see you have your hand up um I do want to just recognize Al also had his hand up um but I want to make
011sure that we're continuing this conversation so Al are your are your comments in reference to this specification further discussion got thank you Al uh Terry did you want to speak directly to this topic as well I don't think the board should be included on this it would be in our own in our own area uh of guidelines but not when this is for uh the school system in general um but under board uh yeah I mean I don't think that's uh right here in this instance uh this is a focus on students teachers administrators as well it it's we're we have our own set of guidelines and we should be under that area I don't object to putting something like that in in our guidelines it's just that I don't think here is the spot
012that's all okay thank you for the feedback uh W you have your hand up again um I do only because um Teresa on page two of this document we're talking about a collect uh a collective action and they gave the definition that we are all working on this together a collective action means an action taken together by a group of people and they specifically name us Board of Education Administration staff students and parents to achieve a common objective so so that's why I am bringing that my comment forth saying um I I I agree with you we certainly need need to have in our board policy um something about modeling um and even if we took that um where it says model the digital habits and utili utilization of personal technology and social media in
013alignment with the district policy that that even if we can incorporate that somewhere in the beginning as our our goal um that that would be you know um our goal also in in the policy so what if in looking at this um we were to do something like remove teachers and staff so it just says School leaders and then there's a section immediately and maybe maybe you repeat School Leaders with a colon there because that would include all uh everyone every all of our educators and our administrators and then what if we added under students um a section for Board of EDS specifically which restates that the board understands its role in modeling the digital habits and utilization of personal technology and social media in alignment with the district policy so basically restating that one
014point that you Drew out Wanita and making a separate heading for bard of Ed and including that point because I think that's the one that you were sort of trying to look to broadly apply um I I like the idea of um changing the teachers and staff to school leaders if if everybody thinks that that would cover um what they wanted to cover um I I'm not sure are you are you saying then to take that and incorporate that into the board the policy for the board or another section just for the board so I'm suggesting so we have all these groups that are listed out that are part of to your point um the collective action um and we have them segmented out you know by teach you know by school leaders by families
015and caregivers by students and we could potentially add another category in that same list for Board of Education that restates that that one bullet point which appears currently [Music] under um School leaders well I think that would certainly um make us part of that Collective action I'd like to hear other people's um either suggestions or reaction to what we've discussed so far sure uh committee members I personally don't like it not as a as a Boe member now I think the the focus is on what's going on in school um this is after school this is at a meeting we're all in attendance no I I haven't seen a a blatant uh you know people on their cell phones during a meeting I don't see it I have to respectfully disagree with that I definitely
016see folks on their cell phones very regularly at our meetings and you know in consideration for the fact that we are all volunteers and we have to take time out of our Our Lives to come to the meetings I understand there are definitely instances where perhaps you're being contacted by your workplace or you're you're you have a family member who's reaching out to you for an emergency or personal situation that really requires your immediate attention you know we're all adults at the table and I think that those circumstances come up um but I do think that you know we also have to understand that we are operating in full view of the public and the way that we conduct ourselves and the way that we handle situations is reflected back to the public um so
017you know I think there are definitely instances where it is my belief someone is not dealing with a personal emergency or situation and I will myself acknowledge that there are times where I have been on my phone at a meeting for something that was not urgent and required my immediate attention um so I I think that you know in the spirit of supporting the work that we're trying to do um from top to bottom with our district it's important that we as board members hold ourselves accountable to the same standards we're asking for our administrators our Educators our students and our families to honor Michelle I agree with Teresa um I know that this had come up in the past it was brought up I actually wasn't there for that meeting I have seen a
018reduction in what you're saying and with the board I don't know if you've seen that um again it does bring up you you there's there's members during our board meeting that are you know typing and updating and taking notes and you know everybody learns or processes differently I think it's um again a volunteer situation I agree with Teresa okay thank you for the feedback thank you other committee members so okay then I would go to um page two under Collective action and remove the words that are in parentheses one I just want to make sure this is the part I've highlighted is what you're referring to that is and if I if I could just add I just want to remind everyone that the 5,000 series because this is our our first policy um at
019least this year in reviewing 5,000 series The the premise of the 5,000 series policies of which this is one of them is student policies that's not to say that there's not references to parents administrators Board of aded me Members as part of our Collective role to support students the but the premise of where this Falls in our policy manual is under students and so certainly whether you choose to make an addition to this policy or to uh your board series policies is certainly up for discussion um but it is okay to provide levels of support for students through other members in our educational community that support the goal of implementing the policy for students thanks foration Kelly um I know that we have two other uh board members on here um seeing no other feedback
020from committee members on this issue I just want to make sure that uh we ask for feedback from uh the other board members who are present glus or Louisa do you have any thoughts on this uh my my thought is if we're going to add the part in about the use of sales phone I I I I think that we need to include it under po under our board structure as far as a policy concerning the board I I'm not really comfortable with adding debt into this policy so you know that's I I really haven't gotten the full digest and and all the corrections that you need to make I'm only looking at what Kelly has brought to us that we we can take out add from but you know you have to digest those
021take out and add to before you really commit well this would work for me it might not work for another group that's coming on so that that's just my thought thank you glattus Louisa thank you Kate um yeah I'm think I'm going to Echo um a lot of the sentiment that's being said whereas you know I think this policy um we're dealing with the students and their use of the electronic devices I think as board members and as adults we we kind we know and us as a collective group can talk about it and how we feel um we should handle it amongst ourselves but I don't think that you know we need a policy or that it's a place for us to be putting our policy in with the policy of the students I
022think that I just don't think it's the right place for it here okay so uh given this feedback um make sure I understand the the preference of the group here um we would adjust the collective action to remove uh the specified uh groups um we would adjust under um responsibilities and supporting implementation of an adherence [Music] to uh District policy School leaders we would adjust that from teachers and staff to school leaders those are the two changes that we've talked about and then we would potentially consider an adjustment uh to the board bylaws um in some way that would reflect our commitment to supporting this policy is that accurate it sounds good Kate could you make the writing a little bit bigger please sorry Kelly you're on mute but I think you were just saying
023you do that sorry I apologize is that a little better no that's not about the same size as it was before so just two those two changes how about now miss Cooper yes that's better could you just read the changes for me because I had to I sto in between time I'm babysitting so do you want to go ahead Kate sure so um under there's a specific section um it's section D of this policy which is specific to students and under that there is uh a heading called responsibilities and supporting the implementation of and adherence to the district policy School leaders and then there is there are three different sections that are outlined one is for uh We've now titled School leaders one section that was called families and caregivers and one section called students
024and we made the adjustment from uh teachers and staff to school leaders the idea with that being it is a more inclusive term it would include not only teachers and education staff but it would also include administrators in that understanding so that's the one that Kelly is looking at right now um and then yep okay um um Kelly can we look at page three at the bottom and so if I'm not mistaken there is a section already called School leaders is that correct that is correct okay so I I know I'm sorry Kate I know you're going through what so it it would be redundant for us to change teachers and staff I'm wondering if we can take that third bullet under teachers and staff and move that up to under copy it under School
025leaders because them instead of changing School leaders leave it as teachers and staff and take that third bullet and copy it under School leaders otherwise um I'm sorry because I think we already have um School leaders on page three I'm sorry I didn't see that because it was at the bottom of page three if I may interrupt you already the titles some of the titles are is a repetitive based on right right so at the bottom of page three School leaders is already there with a number of bullets right of how they would support yeah but if policy the the thing that is not there is the modeling okay but if you continue on scroll here we go Celly keep going stop right there so stop go back where we have a highlighted teachers and
026staff there's another repeat this is another repeat the continuation from it so what you're doing you basically I'm just a little confused that's it I I I don't why we want to do that I honestly I think if we title it teachers Administration and staff Bingo that's it it covers everybody you mean starting at the bottom of page three no starting bottom just like what just like what Kelly just did teachers administrators and staff covers everybody in the district okay but um please go to the bottom of page three I know it's cut off from a printed part there is already right here resp responsibilities in supporting the implementation of and adherence to the district policy and it says what are the so the title is school leaders right if you go up a little
027bit Kelly yeah no it's it's the there school leaders now these are these are the bullets that come under the school leaders unless no the title is responsib the titles is responsibilities in supporting of the implementation of an inherence to the district's policy School leaders School leaders is not the headline so are you saying that it was repeated in error down there again it's not repeated it's a continuation as you can see above which it says teachers administrators and staff it's a continuation from a previous so I think Al to one originally Point what she was discussing was moving that one particular bullet point um in recognition of the fact that everybody is responsible for Mo that modeling um if we were to we could certainly rename it to teachers administrators and staff um but
028given that the two bullet points above it are you know kind of specific to in classroom work I just am trying make sure that we're we're doing this in a way that makes sense you're absolutely right that responsibilities in supporting implementation of an adherence to the district policy School leaders is just a continuation and it is confusing the way that it's done but this is just how C writes its policies um and you know part of our adherence to that you know we are it's it's it's within our purview to make those to adjust those but you know I'm not sure it makes sense for us to do that par sorry yeah and just to just as a way to because I think I understand one you to what you're trying to achieve and I
029think it goes back to rather than kind of working in the bullets that exist and which kind of give direction to the different groups on what how they need to support if you if you broaden out a little bit and you go into the top the beginning of the the policy document I I think there might be this is just a suggestion um you know in the the opening right in the in the statement um where the board recognizes the collective respones required um you might want to add a line in there that says you know um you know as such all adults working with young people with working with our students um should be modeling the habits the digital habits and personal use responsibility at all times to support this to support this you
030know understanding so I'm wondering if you can maybe beef up the opening as because this is the board saying We Believe phones um are a distraction and are not not good to have in school right they're disruption to the learning environment everything else all the bullets are the how the school's going to implement it at the school level the people in the school a little bit further up in the opening is really about the collective understanding of why this is important and how we're going to support and model what we're doing and I think that might be the place to for to make the stand where every adult working with kids and working in the school system has a responsibility to model um positive habits and good digital citizenship and personal responsibility for use just
031a just a thought um I'm not really weighing in so much I'm just trying to think of a way to capture what what's needed Without Really um messing with the framework underneath that kind of seems to work work well uh with the delineation of responsibilities just an idea thank you for the suggestion Cara um committee members what do we think about that suggestion I like it I'm I'm in agreement um and when Kelly is done I just have a question could could we um when I'm certainly if there's a question about this I'm wondering if we should just agree on language before we move on I know Carrie you throw a bunch of good suggestions I just tried to capture a little bit um every adult working within the dber public schools has a responsibility
032to model per I can't hear you to be models for positive digital citizenship and I might I might have reversed this to be uh let me go back to the language already I should have just jotted it down while I was rattling it off um promoting effective digital digital ship and modeling personal use responsibility we can massage it a little bit but something along those lines I'm good with that well kind of uh repeat from the yeah I think we it needs some it needs some uh finess yeah yeah you've got the yeah uh I can try to play with it a little bit if you wantan to I think and just us a plain word cell phone right well there are other digital devices that this would apply to so we just want to
033make sure cover or something I think one of the fears is is that as we write this policy we know that it's going to be in place for a few years and so we're seeing you know personal recording devices that are now on phones on eyeglasses and and there's no way to know in six months what the next personal digital technology device will be so keeping it Global kind of in compasses everything even though 90 probably 5% of this is cell phones there are some other things that that we want to make sure are covered broadly by this policy I I like it every adult working with yeah working with students the D public school has the responsibility to promote digital citizenship and model personal use personal use and responsibility model personal use responsibility there
034we go does that look okay to everyone Y is that personally use responsibly and not responsibility resp would it be responsibly yes how about responsible personal use I like that better c yeah it was weird awkward yep well I like that yeah much that's better much better so do we now want to go back and change that heading back to teachers and staff below and we want to remove that last bullet point do we want to leave that last bullet point do we want to leave the heading as it is no teachers and staff is would be my suggestion um I did want to ask Kelly about going back to page to page one at the B at the bottom where it says responsibilities in supporting the implementation of and adherence to and and it's
035in um bold I'm the Bott uh no you can go I'm as I added something in it throws off the paging a little bit oneita I might be on top of page two now which paragraph can you just read is this one restrictions no so on the very first page yeah oh I think it's first let me see I'm sorry that's okay it's where um we continue to put in the word continued um so when we gave the definitions and then we went on to are there's a few places it has continued are you referring right there personal technology use in schools of um uh continued and so why do we have the word continued so the word I know it's continued from the first page the title um so yeah so go go Kate
036I'm sorry it's it's just it's a function of the way that cab formats the policies to make sure that um folks understand that this next section you know is a continuation of that same heading and that all of those things fall under that heading um because it's some you know it's now in section B and it has you know this you it's a break in the policy so they want to make sure that it's clear that this is all part of the same heading and part of the same content okay so as we continue to scroll down and we come to The Heading students electronic devices and we continue down to it'll start with the word respon oh it says that a lot of places keep going down to the last bullet right there so
037responsibilities in supporting the implementation adherence to the policy can we put a can we stop there but if you go to the next then it says School leaders why why do we have I want to put perod separated the way that the page break is happening right now I can but I want to put a period at the end of District policy and the next heading is yeah School leaders and and I'm assuming that these bullet points are specific to the school leaders do you know what I'm saying and then further down we talk about the specific bullets I guess for the teachers and staff because those are not things that um we would require of the school leaders right um that create engaging lessons um so I I I need help here in understanding
038that there is a distinction between the school leaders and the teachers and staff and the families and caregivers everybody has different bullets so why aren't we putting a period at the end of responsibilities in supporting the implmentation of and adherence to the district policy period I think this recognizes bullets I could be misinterpreting this one the way I'm interpreting okay what I'm interpreting this as teachers and staff families and caregivers and students are all considered to be part of the school leadership and and collectively that's how I'm reading this the way I interpret it is collectively everything falls under the role responsibility of school leaders School leaders have a responsibility to oversee students they have a responsibility to oversee teachers and staff they have a responsibility to inform parents and caregivers of this policy so
039the title is even here when with the teachers and staff and we did change this back where I'm just highlighting um the total Title Here is responsibilities in supporting the implementation of an adherence to the district policy policy School leaders and then there's a colon and then it lists out the specific responsibilities of teachers and staff thereafter but acknowledging that any expectation of teaching and sta teachers and staff falls directly under the direct purview and responsibility of a leader jry um thank you if you notice the uh sections School leaders has section c the teachers has section d uh so that's how they they are redundant but they are separating the areas in case you want to further um amend it later on or do whatever you want but it is confusing I gotta say
040that it is confusing it looks like it repeats itself yeah but one section is uh School leaders uh that's see then D is the teachers and staff and then uh the next section is uh continued e with students I guess it's you're telling me that the teachers and staff and family and caregivers are all under the same letter D yeah and students and I think that's more to be able to Coral the different responsibilities for each section and I put it all under one because it looks the same almost it looks the same so I I'm reluctant um to make adjustments to the way that this policy is organized by cab they take their recommendations from pretty extensive staff of lawyers and legal support and I think you know I don't always understand the reason
041that they've labeled things or or I you know organized things but there's typically some understanding that they have um on their end for doing things this way um I know it can be confusing but I would encourage us to you know not really you know look at this as an opportunity to rewrite the the policy from an organizational standpoint I think um if we could focus on the content of the policy and if there are any um you know qualitative adjustments that we want to make um so with that said are there other portions of this policy that uh folks have any uh thoughts or feedback about and to recap let's just discuss if we could uh the adjustments ments that we've made um starting with on page one at the bottom there right before
042we get to the definitions per Dr casmiro suggestion every adult working with students within the dber public schools has the responsibility to promote D digital citizenship and model personal responsible personal use are we all in agreement with that change I'm good I'm good thank you thank you Terry yes thank you Michelle Wanita is that okay that change there yes thank you very much um continuing down the page we decided to keep teachers and staff as it was are there any other changes that folks feel we should make make Terry uh back up under the collective action are we going to take out the board of ad um I don't feel strongly one way or the other I guess I would be more inclined to leave us in there to make sure that people understand we're
043part of the overall effort to create this policy and um support it in our schools it doesn't specify anything about our own own personal involvement here uh which I think was the the source of uh conflict in our conversation so I'd be inclined to leave it um but I certainly welcome the thoughts of other committee members here it out yeah I thought we were G to take it out and work it in our other area there areas yeah in under our you know our Board of whatever so um other committee members I would just leave it the way it is I thought gladus mentioned [Applause] she she did she metion so um on page one in paragraph four I believe I would take it out because I believe that it's already stated that the board
044fully recognizes that a collective response is required to ensure all members of the community join together um to ensure all students have full access to District curriculum the day-to-day instruction C healthy constructive peer-to-peer relationship and the found found um foundational skills and attitudes and we also then went on to add every adult working with students within the Danberry public schools has the responsibility so do we want to remove all the spelling out of the people that are part of the group this is a definition this is not specifying anything other than identifying the group that's involved in this decision making so are we talking about just removing Board of Education are we talking about removing all of the named parties I I think just the board of AD that's where I'm where I'm at it
045was we in creating this policy we're we're actually participating in the collective Act so I don't know that that makes much sense from a from a standpoint of what we're actually doing I think it's an all or nothing kind of situation if I could interject just a thought is we said all in the previous paragraph on the first page and by all we mean everyone inclusive of the board Administration students parents caregivers um so if you choose not to explicitly spell out the who I would recommend either leave it or remove it in its entirety and just Collective action is a group group of individuals people that we've referred to in the earlier paragraph and if you don't want to spell it out you could take out the parentheses of all people um but I
046think to remove one it contradicts the sentence you added in um in highlight up here glce did you want to say something no I I I agree with Kelly I I I you know the version and if we go if it's in includ in the first part of it then why should we take it out now so and we are part of that group inclusion so yeah it makes sense to to leave it there and so can I just add that this is a definition um I don't feel that we have to be part of a definition defining the word um Collective action right so it is a grou Collective action is a group of people taking action together to achieve a common objective right so I think given the the feedback here from Kelly
047um and the thoughts expressed by misser I'd like to put it to each Committee Member uh whether they would like to yes keep it in or no remove remove all of the named parties so if you could just say yes or no to that and then we'll we'll have a consensus here what is it I'm sorry I didn't hear you Kate so either um either folks are going to vote um no I want to remove the everything in the parenthesis under the definition of collective action I want to remove all those parties or yes I want to keep them in yes I want to keep them in um weita no take them out okay Michelle take them out okay Teresa I'm gonna pass because I just want the board of vet out no can't do
048that yeah okay so that's Mrs Cooper did you have want to we in is a ex official member of this committee no okay um he's back any interest sorry gadus in the interest of moving this forward we have yeah why why don't we take off the entire collect collective action completely I I don't I think it's referenced with it's defined here because it's referenced in the policy so I don't think we should do that but in the interest of um the strong feelings that folks have about including the specific Spilled Out groups um I think we should just remove them in their entirety but he involves all these group to come together to accomplish our common goal our common objective and that is the cell phone policy and I agree with yes have to C
049we have to work together you can't just eliminate the collective action just because the Board of Education should be taken out or no we're all collectively into one we have the same goal we have the same common the same goal but the problem is one issue students on social media that's the issue okay we can't get into a side conversation here all right I don't want to disrespect anybody's thoughts or or views here but we're spending a lot of time to sure that we're outlining the definition of a word that's referenced in this policy I don't think it changes the impact of the policy to remove the the information that is in the parentheses those groups are still explicitly named above in the policy it's just a point of clarification so if there are folks
050who feel very strongly about not including the information in the parenthesis my inclination at this point is just to remove it it does not change the content of the policy in any suspensive way so that's why I asked for a yes or no vote okay yeah I'm speak with my yes but I again I I'll say this that the cave spends a lot of quality time with attorneys when it comes to legal matters or or language to certain things like this point noted thank you Dr casir I couldn't tell if you had your hand up there I just want to make sure I'm debating with my finger whether to enter the the conversation I just want to I just want to I point out that the collective action and the reference to the board really
051is just the use the board signaling that they're part of that they've recognized that this is an issue and that they're endorsing this and that is their role is that they're setting policy that's the role here and it's not to say that the that this policy is trying to dictate what the board members person Ally do with their cell phones that the reference to the collective action means that we each have a role in the system to ensure the safety of our students in the classroom for a disruptive free environment and that the collective piece at the board level is your policy and that you're bringing this to the table and you're saying this is really important the Administration has to execute on your policy and Implement regulations and provide guidance at the school level
052the staff and the teachers then have to model they have to guide they have to up hold those regulations and our parents and caregivers need to be informed and that's also on the school level and in the district level really to help um broker that conversation so the the really the the the relationship to this policy here and the reference to the board is not one to micromanage what the board themselves are doing with their personal use this ref this references that you collectively as a group are coming together to say this is an important matter and you and your role here is you're setting policy that's your role um and in and helping to kind of shape the direction of this and then from there forward there's tiered responsibility um but it's not to
053micromanage what the board is doing with their phones and if the board wants to do that in another policy or venue or their bylaws and their own rules and how they conduct themselves you know that is a separate document but I just want to point out that I think that what this is referencing is that you're here together to say this is an important matter that's that's thank you Dr K Terry you had your hand up first um that's how I looked at it originally the way Dr uh Karen was stating but then it was brought up to include the Board of Ed Under the teachers and staff and you know both that went into a different whole different direction in my opinion uh I look at it as an administrative than a collective uh
054you a group so I'm fine with with it that way but not including it as a uh as a segment under the teachers staff administrators Board of edit that I that was what okay that's that's great that's off the table that's not even an option at this point so um I appreciate your clarification Wanita I o wanted to signal that that we had moved Beyond um having a section in the policy about The Bard ofet we're we're very clear that that's gone that's um not even up for discussion right now in relation to this policy we are talking about a definition and the definition um has already been clarified in paragraph number four on the first page the board fully recognizes that a collective response is required to ensure all members of the community joined
055together to ensure all students and so when we go back to the other page and we're just writing a definition of collective action and so what is the meaning of collection AC Collective action it means an action taken together by a group of people to ACH to achieve a common objective and so therefore I don't understand why we H have to have in parentheses and spell out what is already being highlighted further in the policy um and so now it's broken down already B we stated in paragraph 4 the Board of Ed later on we talked about school leaders Administration teachers and staff students parents and caregivers so that was my rationale behind removing what is in parentheses in the just the definition which does not NE don't I don't want to interrupt and and
056I apologize oneita but okay talking about this particular sentence for about uh almost 10 minutes now and we just need to move forward because we have a lot of other policies to get through um and we're at seven so we've taken consensus on this I want to take a consensus one more time given the reflection that Teresa made so yes keep it in no take it out uh no take it out I say keep it can we can we add teacher and staff no no I think sta teachers are covered by staff so okay there um yes keep it yes Michelle it out I am gonna vote to keep it in I did not want to inject myself in it before but we have all five people of this committee voting Mrs Cooper ex aicio
057keep it in keep it in yay okay it's gonna stay in um at this point are there any other specific parts of this policy there's feedback Kate there's feedback coming from something does somebody have two connections going I also hear the feedback I hear feedback too if anyone who's not talking could just mute it will help okay uh thank you very much Kelly um are there any other specific parts of this policy that anyone wants to bring forward to discuss aside from the ones we've already discussed and resolved so that we can move forward and make a recommendation to the board for a first read on this policy please Wanita I see your hand up on I just want to make sure there's nothing that uh additional that you want to add here okay all
058right seeing none I'd like to ask for a motion to make a recommendation for first read of policy 51 3181 electronic devices with uh adjustments made by the committee I make that thank you Al is there a second for that motion second thank you Teresa uh all those in favor please signify by saying I I I any any opposed any exstension motion so carries thank you very much appreciate that this policy is be really important for shaping the way that we handle things in the district so thank you all right um moving on we are about to start the 5,000 series again if we could just when you're not speaking please um the 5,000 series which covers uh students primarily so uh Kelly I will turn this back over to you to start with uh
059policy 5110 on attendance sure thank you very much Kate um so these um policies as Kate referenced cover for um students we're going to start uh with attendance um and I do want to show you you'll see that um the first three policies under the current policies on the leftand side so 5110 5111 and 5112 the revised policy for 5112 incorporates all three of the previous policies so they've wrote a condensed version so that attendance Admissions and placement or ages of attendance are all Incorporated under the same policy so the new revised policy proposed by cave 5112 um would in fact replace uh the three other policies if we decided to move forward with it I do think it's important as um as we go into the policy um you will see it talks about
060ages um that students are allowed entry into kindergarten ages that students can remain to be educated within the school district um so I will pull the policy up on the screen and certainly um open up to questions I I did also want to add there are quite a number of policies on here with five uh with the 5,000 series we can go through as many of them as we wish to do so tonight I do want to make sure that questions are answered and if there are any that we need to um bring forward in the next meeting um we can do that as well so um this one really talks about the terms and conditions of who can attend your District so what age does a parent need to enroll students in school um
061the fact that they need to be um residents of the city of danburry and how they get placed in grade levels uh based on prior schooling or assessments of the district um and so I know everyone has had this to review but if there are any questions um I would I I will open it up for that there is one thing that I actually received yes uh this morning I'm sorry this morning um here I I just want to highlight on the um first line I would um Advocate that we change it um to remove who reached the age of five onor before September um first of because that's now the date of birth and that refers to your kindergarten entry it used to be that a child could turn five all the way up
062until January 1st it's now been brought back to September 1st um so to bring that Clarity cab did revise this policy just to put that wording in there otherwise everything else in the policy is consistent uh with current practices roles and regulations I guess I'll open it for questions sorry about that Teresa is there anything else besides that date that we should be aware of um that's been changed um the only other thing that was changed several years ago is the um date of exit for special education students that was two years ago has now been extended um first actually right right around the time of the pandemic it was extended um from the the June of the year in which they turned 21 to their 22nd birthday um the they then decided that you
063know it's disruptive if a t student that and the this only applies to students with special needs if a student with special needs is starting a school year they should be allowed to finish it they shouldn't have to leave on their 22nd birthday so for example if you had a birthday in October you were exited on your 22nd birthday or March or whatever it may be now that student is entitled to stay until June the end of the school year of the year in which they turned 22 um so that is about two years that is statutory language about two years old um and that is outlined in this policy as well that is the only substantial change um that I can think of um other than the date of entry into kindergarten thank you
064umita go ahead oh okay um Kelly can I ask a question about paragraph number one two three four yes beginning with children right here y um so does this policy uh cover our multi language Learners yes would that hold them so um I'm I'm just wondering in that paragraph where at the very end where it says um the principal will determine the final grade placement for children is it do we want to leave principal or the district or um because you know how they go through a different registration yes and testing and assessment um is it the District or I I don't know what what do you think w i do I do agree with you from State Statute the an administrator uh that final decision rise with an administrator um it might be a
065little bit broader um what Wanita is referring to is in the previous paragraph there's reference to a home language survey and a possible assessment um so that's for any student that's a multilingual learner that's coming into the district the parent indicates that for example there might be a second language spoken in the home or English may not be the child's first language that is a flag to us to consider the child to see if they're eligible for English as a second language or multilingual learner Services um and so often times the um head of the that department will help determine you know grade placement um based on their um based on their assessment results and age and prior schooling and so forth similarly in the special education realm it is not uncommon to have a
066supervisor special ad do a comprehensive review of that child's program placement and so forth and and have input I do think the important thing here and W you bring up a very good point is that we make sure that we specify that this Authority resides within an administrator um but I think it can be broader than than just building principle so Kelly where you've highlighted the word principal is that where you would make an adjustment I would just list administrator okay or District we could we could use either word District administrator maybe District administrator want need to thank you for that clarification could we say principal or District administrator we can do that we could say and or or or District or yeah Kell I had a question but I'm looking for some clarification on
067um in the body of this text um it specifies under the enrollment heading the parent or person having control of a child 5 years of age shall have the option of not sending the child to school until the child is six years of age age by December 31st of any school year the parent or person having control of a child six years of age shall have the option of not sending the school the child of school until the child is seven years of age by December 31st of any school year could you just clarify that I'm just not sure I understand what I'm reading here sure it essentially should just say up to age seven the parent can keep a child out of school technically speaking um but the expectation is after 5 they are
068notifying the public school district so they six year and they set by by age seven they need to be enrolled in school um so it is wordy um but technically there there is no there as long as they provide appropriate notification there's not a mandate for those children per se to attend kindergarten um and so if you kept a child out of school um let's say until they they were turning six or seven there sometimes might be consideration for placement of that child in first grade for example if they've been in um you know another program or something like that okay thank you very much I appreciate it it's very wordy though I agree with you are there any other questions or concerns from committee members I guess my one question cap is we are
069looking December again December dates and in the beginning we were talking about September so in this situation the December date is what takes precedence over I believe what we talked about September early on are we talk you're talking about what we were just talking about five and six year olds yeah so in the beginning we were talking about the date being a September date right and now everything being referenced here is a December date so I'm just want to make sure that that is accurate or did I Mis understand something everything to make sure it's consistent with with yeah yeah just language ahead no that's confusing yeah um and I am 99% sure that is accurate and I'm just going to check one other thing um while you guys continue to talk about this policy
070just to make sure I just want to make sure they didn't tweak a thing I'm pretty sure that's still consistent but before I say that give me one second I have a daughter with the December 30th birthday so I'm like what would that mean not anymore I have a December baby too I know give me one sec any other thoughts from committee members about this policy again this is going to roll three policies three of our existing policies into one so just want to make sure nobody has any other questions Terry while we're waiting for Kelly are we the waiver process is that just going to be for this year or we gonna keep doing it every year so right now um and I did if I uh Teresa I don't want to forget Michelle's
071question I did just verify um the updated policy with the revision of the kindergarten entry date and those December 31st dates are accurate so I we should keep that it's just the kindergarten entry date but thank you you made me second guess myself when you asked the question which is always good um the the kindergarten waiver process and Cara please feel free to interject um you know we we um learned recently that it is an expectation um that parents that wish between that September 2nd through December 31st if you're child turns five you can apply for a waiver it has to be in writing um to district office so District administration um and then we reserve the right to do a comprehensive assessment of your child which might include um assessing their academic Readiness skills
072their social emotional behavioral skills talking to An Early Childhood provider very comprehensive to make sure that it would be in that child's best interest to attend school before turning age5 for kindergarten um and so that is required to do uh this year uh and I think we're still looking into if that will continue beyond the school year but right now it is a requirement for for kiddos that are coming into the school year 25 26 school year thank you Melle so just quickly in that sentence it I think you had said that it was um the decision of the administration as to whether or not they get the assessment that is not something that is you know provided to them irregardless that is the decision of the of the administration or do we automatically give
073them the assessment if requested so if you're referring to the students that are asking for the waiver so that special permission basically you're returning five within the next couple months um upon request we would issue an assessment okay and that's upon written request of the parent or guardian of that child okay all right thank you and there was a little bit of confusion around that because it was required when they changed the law last year for entry into kindergarten we Wen unclear whether that would continue into this year and and we were just notified that in fact we do need to continue that process um so uh we had a meeting earlier this week and we'll convene um just to make sure that our protocol and process and procedure is um is tight and communicated
074clearly to parents there is an update on our website um if you are a parent looking to enroll right under the entry to kindergarten um that refers to if you wish to do this assessment um that this is your process and this is who you can contact okay thank you appreciate that clarification um so I don't see any other um questions coming in from committee members about this particular policy I just want to make sure um Mrs Cooper uh Louisa uh do you have any questions about this policy I'm good Kate thank you all right thank you both uh with that in mind I'm looking for uh a recommendation sorry a uh a motion to recommend to the full board uh for a first read of policy 5112 students ages of attendance admissions placement which
075will replace our existing policies 5110 5111 and 5112 is there a motion on the floor please thank you Al second second thank you very much Teresa all those in favor please signify by saying I I I I I any opposed any extensions motion so carries thank you very much um we're at 7:24 uh I don't want to push us too far it's an hour and a half on Zoom is a long time but um I'm wondering if we can squeeze out one more policy and that would be um 5113 and 511 3.2 attendance insury what's the the pleasure of the committee here I'm okay you're okay Michelle I just want to point out the sorry paperwork says attendance and excuses and on this thing here it says attendance and truancy for 5113 that is correct
076and that that is an error on my part thank you for pointing that out the original policy was attendance and treny the new cave update should read if you see here attendance and excuses thank you Michelle I'm fine yeah yep uh Wanita are you okay to continue I am I'm okay with it and Al that okay with you as well yes ma'am all right let's just try to knock one more out please Kelly okay okay I will try to go I think this one Falls nicely in line basically these are the the last policy we just did 5112 was the terms and conditions of how do you gain access or entry to danber public schools and what is the pro procedure and process to do this this is once you were a student in enrolled
077in our district what are your expectations around attendance um and um really uh goes further I'm going to scroll down on the screen to um and these are all uh State language and wording what is a chronically absent child what is a chronic absenteeism rate by student by school by District um so it really talks about these are the terms and conditions and under which it is acceptable for a student to be out of school um this is prior to the pandemic and I I don't recall offand the exact year um but there was very specific legislation that was put out around attendance that essentially says the first 10 days that a student is absent from school the parent are Guardian get has to notify the school should inform them of why the child is
078out but essentially those first 10 absences is at the discretion of the parent or Guardian um and so we want people to use those when when students are sick when they're you know when there's a family emergency those types of things um an appointment a legal proceeding things like that after the 10th absence it really um says that a parent needs to have another source or documentation to then verify why the student is so we're talking about students that are over 10 days in a school year so day 11 12 and so forth um and here it really talks about and I think that's why the word excuses um what are the reasonable reasons for a child to be out of school after that 10th absence um as you and here in section D it's
079very specific it outlines exactly what those terms and conditions are um you know an illness a religious holiday a death in the you know in the family or an emergency beyond the family's control a mandated court appearance lack of Transportation provided by the district um or this extraordinary educational opportunities that could be for example in rare circumstances a travel abroad experience that a child earns a scholarship and needs to be you know allowed or permitted to attend school abroad and participate in maybe a foreign exchange program or something like that um but really special circumstances and considerations um and it holds the parents accountable for providing uh documentation on that as you know it's been a district effort to increase and improve our our district attendance and we've made huge strides in that since Co
080we still have a ways to go and so it's this policy mimics the statutory language um and and really I think clearly communicates it to students and families about what our expectations are as a district so I'll take thank you K Teresa uh what is our chronic absentium rate sure so um we are we are running it uh you know daily now um I could not give you the the current rate for uh January um but we were uh as a district um you know hovering around I would say 13 to 15% kind of in the fall months um you know there are definitely pockets and spikes in different places uh different grade levels different student demographics and that's very sometimes by school and location um but we are looking to get back underneath that
08110% chronic absenteeism which we enjoyed in this District prior to co um remember at the height of covid we were in the 20s the low 20s um so we have definitely made a significant reduction Teresa uh do you have a percentage of the homeless in that rate off the top of my head I would need to disaggregate that information um I will say that as a subgroup that tends to be a little bit more of a volatile population with attendance at school thank you other questions or concerns I'm so sorry I can add one other thing in the previous policy I did not pointed out but you asked a really good question Teresa it talked about mckenny vento students which is homeless students that's that's how they're defined as mcken vento um and it talks
082about access and entry to school basically um eliminating the barriers we know students that are homeless right may not be able to provide proof of Prior enrollment or might have a difficulty or challenge getting access to medical records and things like that and so it eliminates those barriers and requires automatic entry into school which we have found to be very very helpful um we've made some staffing changes with our mckenny vento liaison in District and I directly work with her uh Miss Lisa Basher she's phenomenal um we've increased our identification rates and supports to families we have over a 100 identified students in the district currently um and that's up quite a bit um and and we we um while we do a great job identifying we know that number is even bigger um and
083so she works to help families to access and make sure that they get immediately into school um to help with that absenteeism we find once they're in school we're we're usually able to sustain and maintain um attendance uh because of the resources and supports and access for example to breakfast and lunch programs in school trusted adults War you know warm safe place to go um but that can that entry into school and how to get them in quickly it is is sometimes challenging Teresa um uh I understand you want to get them into school I'm concerned about immunizations uh is there ever a case where you let them in without immunization and even if we give it to them so our district coordinator of nursing services will review all of those cases our School nurses
084approve if a student has documentation of all their vaccinations the school nurse looks looks at it and is able to say yes the student's medically cleared in the instance of a student that um is homeless or experiencing homelessness um we would then work with the school nurse and the district uh coordinator and often access things like um the rvna has been a huge resource to us um our school Health Centers and we will coordinate to make sure that that those students can get safely into school and quickly vaccinated we don't want to put the burden or barrier on the family um you know oftentimes to get an appointment establish a pediatrician or to walk into like an urgent care has a hefty price tag and so part of this is recognizing that and figuring out
085what resources but we take the the health and well-being of all students Ser you know very very seriously um so we have to make sure that we provide um you know quick access to medical care for that child so that we don't put any other child at risk thank you thank you K and Kelly thank you it's good for everybody to hear Teresa so I appreciate the questions thank you uh any other uh comments or concerns on this policy around attendance sorry Kate I have a question sure go ahead uh Kelly can you um expand on the the mental health days how those are documented and how they're they're asked for art and they are still inclusive right within our yeah they are they are included um postco that was a a designation and a
086change so thank you Wanita for asking um that U mental health days for students are there um they cannot be used consecutively and are documented as such in power school um we the the parent or guardian and or student depending on age um needs to let us know that that is that they are taking the day as a as a mental health day um like I said can't be backtack days which is trying to prevent you know long weekend those kind of things um and um and we cannot ask for excess excessive documentation of them um so that is one limitation um but they students certainly reserve the right to do that um it's also a balance between um we don't want to we don't want to treat those days like you know um we
087we want to honor the students that need those days and and definitely oftentimes conversations with families and pupil services staff to let them know that that is an Avenue of how they can document an absence if they are experiencing difficulty um we also want to dispel or dismiss this you know this idea of two extra freebie days from students um as the parent of an eighth grade myself if he knew that he would ask me to take them and so it's that that careful balance um between between doing that informing you know people of their rights it's clearly outlined in our policy um with making sure that we're balancing that with appropriate attendance at school and and behaviors and practices we want to model for our kids okay committee members any other questions concerns uh
088non-committee members any questions about this policy okay I did want to share we also have outlined in here attendance rates in District and School attendance committees we do them regardless of the attendance rates but it's important to note that they're legally required 10 and 15% they're required um but as a district our practice is to do them both at the district level and the school level and we will continue to do those thank you Kelly um seeing no questions or comments coming forward at this point I will ask for a motion to make a recommendation to the board for first read of policy 5113 attendance and excuses I make that motion second thank you Al thank you Michelle all those in favor please signify by saying I I I any opposed any abstentions motion so
089carries thank you very much that was pretty quick um do we want to push and try and do one more 511 3.2 this is connected because it's the treny policy sure Kelly are you still still with us I'm here okay um I think that would leave us in a good position for the next policy meeting uh since we'll have covered just about half of the policies um so if it's okay with committee members uh if I don't see any objections I'm just going to ask Kelly to move forward with 511 3.2 uh around treny thank you all okay so um quickly on this again kind of a nice segue from the previous two policies chronic absenteeism is defined by missing 10% or more of school days which was highlighted in the previous policy um the
090terms and conditions around when students can be in school and I'm sorry excused from school um treny also highlights that we want to watch patterns of attendance so when a student is absent for or more days in a month it's also a flag for truancy so while they may not have um have met the 10% threshold for example um that we still want to pay attention to that um because we know that once a student stops regular at school that it could be an indicator now there were certainly exceptions to that role right student comes down with the flu and is out of school for the week or Co or or a number of illnesses um there are certainly exceptions to that which is why it's important to monitor the data but also know when
091you're looking at it from an individual student perspective um you know the why behind behind the rationale for each child being out um this policy also um refers to uh the fact that the district should work collaboratively with parents and with outside community agencies so can re make referrals um to outside supports so for example uh danber Youth Services um does have um a truancy um uh team that will help support families uh with consent we can make a referral to them um and they will also support families and work collaboratively with the school to help support re-engagement and reattendance at school um so and there are number of other agencies and Partnerships that we have but that's one that has been deemed as as a treny program um and so really helping to watch
092the data to monitor it consistent consistently know when there's flags for when students are not attending regularly and then have the responsibility as a district to intervene and also elicit outside resources when it's appropriate to do so with the appropriate consent of course and so that's pretty much the premise of of this policy thank you Kelly committee members any questions about this policy give you a minute to look it over um just a quick question um who notices the the numbers who keeps track of it so um we do it both at the district level and at the school level so there is an internal tracker uh Carol wanzer who I know comes and does presentations uh for you uh her and her team pull the data monthly and report it out to um buildings
093um and that is uh by Trends and patterns so percentages across the school across the grade levels and then individual student data so if a student is Trent or is chronically absent they it will be individualized for that student so that our our school-based attendance teams are looking at that student level data and are saying you know why is Johnny in second grade now out for four days in October and four days in November what interventions have we put into place um and that that is a regular ongoing our School attendance teams meet at least monthly most of them meet twice a month or even more frequently um and on that attendance committee that is usually comprised of um your building principal administr or assistant principal um your uh pupil services staff your school nurses
094uh usually a teacher representative our family Liaisons um they are all working to look at what students do we need to monitor what students are um flagging for difficulties with attendance and how are we supporting those families um it's it's an extensive process so very similarly to the way that we monitor students reading data for are they meeting the benchmarks and performance we're doing the same with their attendance because we know if you're not in school you're not accessing our curriculum and you're not learning as as much as we want you to be do we still have that leap grid to go to houses we do um our leap Grand uh yes we are uh fortunate to still have that uh our Liaisons though are down because our funding is down from the state um
095the ones that we have are phenomenal but they we used to be fortunate to have one across every school um and now we are um sharing between about six across the district um so we are down significantly in that area it is something um that your superintendent did put forward to support in the upcoming budget um to restore those positions as they are critical thank thank you Kelly okay any other feedback or concerns from committee members non-committee members any feedback on this particular policy I just want to ask Kelly um I can't the part that says the board on are before the 85 uh 2018 shall Implement a truancy intervision model identified in the Connecticut state do we let that that same date stay the board of the the board own or before the October
096you know I'm sorry for the 8th to 15th uh 2018 is that statement still appears instead of changing that date I'm trying I I'm trying to find exactly where you are in the policy I you had to go to come after um remediation of truancy follow that all the way down oh right here no so Mrs Cooper are you looking at um the existing policy or are you looking at the proposed cave policy I'm looking at uh oh I see it's under you see you see what I'm saying I do see it under on C it's under [Music] um I just wanted what under the regulation Kelly right so that stays as was uh 2018 that y so under the regulation um that would actually be updated after the adoption of the policy I apologize
097that's why I didn't see it um yeah so we are only going through the policy Miss Cooper um so that would be something that we would update the regulations upon approval of the policy and of course inform inform the board okay thank you I'm I'm sorry to get off track but no that's a good question I was like where I know I saw it but I couldn't recall where in the policy there's been a lot okay okay other questions Teresa this is gonna sound crazy especially to Anita what's the difference between guidance counselors and school counselors um referring to the same group of people um I think guidance counselors with and please Miss Harris if you would like to um uh interject please share um guidance counselors was the former term used more frequently is
098referred to as school counselor now but you're referring to the same group of individuals thank you because I saw them use the term used together and I'm going yeah okay thank you okay any other comments or concerns I am now looking for a motion to recommend to the full board for first read of ATT um policy 511 3.2 um students treny I make that motion thank you very much Al may I have a second on that motion please second thank oneita I'll give that second to you thank you so much um committee members all those in favor please signify by saying I I I uh any opposed any abstentions motion so carries um we're now at 7:45 I just want to thank uh everybody who is on this call our administrators um Kelly and uh
099Dr casmiro uh Ken for hanging out with us while we tape this and to all of our committee members I certainly appreciate your time this evening we got a lot done done and I'm very appreciative of the fact that even though uh we had some robust uh conversation about these policies and uh did not always see eye to eye on it I appreciate everybody's willingness to move these policies forward for the betterment of our district and for our students so thank you I'm looking for a motion to adjourn please no moved second thank you Terry thank you Michelle all those in favor please signify by saying