001uh to the MSAD51 board of directors meeting Thursday, April 3rd. Wow, April, it's here. I feel like it's already been every day feels like a week this week. Um, so we are going to be starting with some more recognitions and highlights, but we're Can we do some approval of minutes? I think we we're waiting for our beloved therapy dog to come back in in uniform. So, we'll just put that after approval of minutes. Um, can I have a motion to approve the minutes of the March 3rd, 2025 meeting as presented? So much. Thank you, Kim. Can I have a second? Second. Thank you, Sean. Any questions or comments about the March 3 meeting? None. All in favor? Great. It's unanimous. Can I have a motion to approve the minutes of the March 6, 2025 meeting
002as presented? So moved. Thank you, Megan. Thank you. Can I have a second? Second. Thank you, Anukica. Any questions or comments? Hearing none. All in favor? Again, unanimous. Thank you. Can I have a motion to approve the minutes of the March 20th, 2025 meeting as presented? So moved. Thank you, Christina. Can I have a second? I'll second. Thank you, Tim. Any questions or comments? Hearing none. All in favor? Okay. And Christina's abstaining. I wasn't there. Great. Thank you. Can I have a motion to approve the minutes of the March 21st, 2025 meeting as presented? So moved. Thank you, Tim. Can I have a second? I'll second. Okay. Thank you, Sarah. Any questions or comments? Great. Hearing none. All in favor? Were you not? Kim was not there. Great. and neither was Sean. Oh, two abstensions.
003Okay, we're going to get started on the recognition um of Harper, the DHS therapy dog, who I I hope stays after the highlight section. Um, Principal Carl Francis is going to do some introductions. And there we go. Perfect. Good evening. Uh we are excited about the opportunity to come in and highlight something that we're proud of from Gley High School and and tonight um I selected our therapy dog program. Um our therapy and Harper, our guest our guest of honor today. Um, if you haven't had a chance to meet Harper, Harper's a wonderful um, comfort to our students and a uh, a friend to many of us and uh, someone we really enjoy to see on a daily basis in the halls of of Gley High School. Uh today uh I wanted to give my
004time to um Denise Allen who's our health teacher at the high school who manages the therapy dog program uh and mom to Harper and also we have a student Hunter Cra here today and Hunter's mom um is here today too uh in case she had some words about her son's experience. So, I'd like to turn the podium over to uh Denise Allen, Hunter, and Mom. Thank you. Thank you, Carl. I really appreciate uh the opportunity to share the therapy dog program with you and and Harper especially. We are rounding out our 25th year of therapy dog services here at Gley High School and um it's just been a wonderful um trajectory of those 25 years. Harper is our third therapy dog here at the high school and her primary job is uh located at the
005uh in the health classroom and her job there is to be part of a trauma-informed pedigogy but also to support social and emotional learning in the classroom. But beyond that, she really reaches far out into the larger school community, amplifying a positive school climate and also just being brief interventions for students as an onneed basis, providing uh some laughter and joy for both staff and students, but also working with individual students, helping to motivate them to reach maybe their IEP goals or some of their other skills that they need to develop as part of their learning continuum here at the high school. Um, I do have a quick little flyer that I put out there that carries a lot more information than what I'm going to share in this brief little introduction and I'm happy
006to answer questions, but I think um, it's best to hear the lived experience from one of our students. So, I'm going to turn it over to Hunter. Thank you. Um, so I've been walking with Harper every week for about maybe year and a half so far. Um, let me start from the beginning. When I first started walking with Harper, I was in a bad spot. I had an unknown condition in my leg which debilitated my ability to walk which luckily now they have figured out. Um and all of a sudden my my social worker Mr. Scott said you know we can start walking with Harper. So I thought I'd go ahead and try it. And after doing it for a couple weeks it just we formed a bond. It's it's it's unexplanatory. Um I mean
007I was in a dark spot. I was depressed. I I didn't feel much. wasn't happy, sad, tired, hungry, anything. After I started walking with Harper, though, it just lightened my mood. It was something to look forward to every week. Um, it not only helped my mental health, but also kept me active, helping my legs didn't deteriorate after I've been do we keep doing it every week. Um, I I think it's a very important program we need to have. There was a there not just student and staff wise, but whole community wise. I had an an altercation with with an employee one here one day here at school and I was just getting back from a walk with Harper. I was frustrated and anxious and nervous and she just came over, put her head on my
008lap and just she felt I was nervous and everything just went away. Um, so I hope that we can not only keep this program here at the school but expand it further and I thank you for letting me speak here. Thank you. [Applause] So, one of the things you may have noticed is her s her commands are all American Sign Language and that's so that our students who are um hearing impaired um can can use the sign language to communicate with her um and expand their social interactions as well. She is also her temperament is you know we call her our little athlete. Um so she does bring her own disposition um that we try to blend the program with. One of the things that we're doing right now because she is a little athlete
009is we have a couch to 5k program that we're offering and we're helping to get students who are generally not athletes which can be a bit of a challenge um in our school to have a place to belong and also participate in our mental health cares 5K which is going to happen in May. And this week, uh, the group of nine students have made the trajectory of the entire course doing a walk run and they should be ready to roll by May 4th and be able to participate with the larger school community um, and feel a sense of pride in having met that goal. So, I'm pretty excited about how Harper has bridged that gap for them. If you have any questions, I'm happy to to take Does anyone on the board have questions? Thank
010you so much, Dr. Allen, and thank you for bringing Harper to our school community. We would love to also adopt him for schoolboard meetings if that's possible. And Hunter, thank you for coming and speaking about your experience. Really appreciate it. Great. All right. Good night. Okay, we'll move, excuse me, we'll move on to the public comment section of the agenda. I haven't seen too many people come in late, but in case you have and were interested in signing up, I do have a sign up available. Um, so I we we really value um public comment and the opportunity for community members to come and and speak and to ensure public comment is fair and orderly. We follow procedures outlined in our board policy, Beedh. And we ask that all members of the public do so
011as well. We follow this policy to help keep the meeting civil, respectful, and productive. And we also hope this allows for all community members who would like to speak to be heard. We ask that speakers use the designated podium when making their comments and speak into the microphone so those of you following at home uh can also hear our speakers. If you're interested in speaking, um I'll be going through the list. Uh, and I will also mention that we have three minutes assigned to each individual maximum at a meeting and the clock as you see is visible on the screen. And when the timer goes off, please wrap up your comments. When you go to the podium, please state your name and town of residence or role in the district. If you're a staff member,
012residents and staff members will be given priority over non-residents within the allotted time. Our policy allows for 30 total minutes of public comment, although that can be modified at the discretion of the the board. As a reminder, public comment is not a time for a discussion, Q&A, or debate between the board and speakers. Rather, is it a chance for members of the public to express their opinions on school and educational matters. The board will not comment on remarks made by speakers during the comment period. Please know that this does not mean that we are not listening and it does not express any agreement or disagreement with your statement. Lastly, please keep your comments respectful and civil. We are neighbors here. Be kind. That includes member of the audience. Please do not interrupt or respond to
013the speaker's comments. Um, we also ask that comments be addressed to myself, the chair, and do not direct comments at or about individuals in our schools and communities. I do want to note that I will stop any comment that is contrary to the rules. So, I will use the list. And it appears that everyone is either um a community member or um a staff. So, I'll just go in order if that's okay. Um Carrie Cotch. Good evening. Um my name is Carrie Cook. I'm a resident of North Yarmouth and I have two kids in the Gley system. Um, I wanted to read a petition that we sent um to the school board about a month ago. Um, dear MSAD51 school board, as a group of concerned parents and members of the MSAD51 community, we request
014that the school board consider a revision of the policy on use of personal cellular devices. With the auditory effort of the MSAD51 school board this year to focus on mental health and wellness of its students, we believe that it is time to reconsider the current policy regarding use of cellular devices. The most recent version of the policy was written in 2010 with a subsequent revision in 2016. Since that time, global understanding of the significant impact of cellular devices in the school has evolved. Many school districts nationwide and in fact some entire states are enacting complete bell-to-bell cell phone free schools in an effort to curb loneliness and mental health struggles in adolescence. Locally in Maine, the Bath school district has recently become cell phone free from bell to bell this year. Per reports from their
015administration, the benefits of this limitation have been widespread and inspiring. We asked the MSAD51 school board to consider making all schools in the Gley system cell phone free from bell to bell. We recognize the challenge and difficulty of implementing cell phone free schools. Ask most parents and teachers, however, and you will hear that we are already in difficult times. Struggles to teach focus when an addicting technology is at hand constantly. worries about photography or filming while in educational spaces and teaching in-person social interactions when online social media is so compelling are but a few of the challenges parents, teachers, and students face. We sincerely appreciate your ongoing efforts focus on the well-being of our children and we look forward to the conversation this will open. And this was signed by about 145 members of the
016community, parents and family members. Um, and I, you know, I completely understand that this is a big topic and also potentially a very controversial topic. Um, and that conversations around it can be quite difficult. Um, but I think that as a community we can have difficult conversations and even if it doesn't end in the place that we want it to end, I think that act of having those discussions is really um important and also shows our kids that we can do difficult things and we can have difficult conversations and disagree on things. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Next I have Katie Dexter. Okay, that that's fine. My name is Katie Dexter and I'm an English teacher at Gley High School and a resident of North Yarmouth. I'm speaking on behalf of
017the ghs English department. We would like to share our concerns about the proposed reduction in staff in our department for next year and to follow up since our department chair last spoke at the MSAD51 board meeting on March 20th. At that meeting, the argument was made that the high school offered varied programming, electives, and learning labs. And that while this is wonderful and what we wish for our students for budgetary reasons, it's time to tighten our belts. It was implied that the English department can handle this reduction without much impact. We are here to give you our perspective of what this reduction means from where we stand on the ground where learning happens and we hope that you are open to hearing with us. First, finding ways to trim English positions by cutting electives relies
018on a misunderstanding of what electives do in our program. English is required of all students for their four years of high school. Cutting electives is really about cutting choices and increasing class sizes for nonAP and IB students which we which will undermine our efforts to meet student needs. It's wonderful that we offer IB and AP courses. And it is equally wonderful that in 12th grade we offer options such as public speaking, real world reading and writing, creative writing, fantasy, sci-fi. Those options will be reduced because we now need teachers to fill the void of the ninth and 11th grades as a result of the reduction in staff to our department. There are other significant impacts of reducing teaching assignments in the English department. We mentioned earlier that English language arts is one subject that is
019required of all students for four years. There is good reason for this. English standards are fundamental to student success in every academic discipline. not to mention their whole lives. Yes, we currently have multiple ways to support the needs of our students. This year, we have so far facilitated over 700 meetings with students in our English lab in addition to our tier three literacy interventions. But a reduction in the English department staff will lead to cuts in programming, literacy support, and services offered through the English lab. We believe firmly in the model of our that our numbers support it. We are told that the English lab and our literacy specialists are highly valued by the administration, the parents, the students. But the reduction tells us they are also considered expendable. Thank you. So, would you like
020a reset of the timer? Yes. Thank you, Dexter. Okay. Uh, I am Susan Inman, chair of the GHS English department. Our staff will be stretched by the proposed reduction in our department. Losing a teacher will require restructuring who teaches what, and the impact of these changes includes the loss of collaboration and teacher expertise. The increase in number of preps for some, the increase in number of students for nearly all teachers, and the increase in class sizes in many cases. All of these changes lead to a decrease in the quality of instruction and feedback teachers can provide their students. What's at the top of the list for best practices in writing instruction? Timely feedback. While our department aims to keep class sizes lower in CP classes than in honors AP and IB classes, we cannot always
021do this. And when we can't, the students are the ones who suffer the consequences. Next year, our expected net gain at GHS will be 24 students, seven more than GMS. Specifically, we will be increasing from 150 ninth graders this year to 177 next year. This increase will have a significant impact on the 9th grade program in our department, not to mention the rest of GHS. The science department especially continues to feel the loss of recent teaching positions, and it will only get worse as enrollment increases. And now we would be remiss if we did not comment on behalf of our colleague who is being involuntarily reassigned to the middle school. To hear at the board meeting that it is common place to move staff around based on enrollments is to feel like game pieces on
022a chessboard and not like human beings. While it is true that our certification says 7 to 12, the reality is that teachers become experts in their subjects and grade levels. Very few teachers are comfortable in both worlds. Our colleague may have taught at the middle school, but she worked hard to move to the high school for a reason. And she found peace, joy, and fulfillment here. In her, we found a colleague who so uh with so much to offer our team and our students in terms of expertise and new ideas. This person has acceptable and intuitive teacher who holds students accountable and leads students to be better writers and critical thinkers. exactly what students need as they prepare for advanced studies and navigation of the world after high school. She's exceedingly well suited to teach
023this age group. We are saddened that the district would take someone with 23 years of service and upend her career this way. To be clear, the members of this department love this district. We love our students, our colleagues, and the families who contribute to this remarkable community. We are grateful to be part of it and we hope you'll reconsider this reduction. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. So then I have Alicia Goldblat. Great. I knew I was next on the list. Good evening. My name is Alicia Goldblat. I'm an English teacher at Gley High School. I've taught English in this district since 2002. I'm a graduate of Bowden College and Boston University, and I'm here tonight to plead with you not to reassign me to the middle school. Two weeks ago, I
024was abruptly informed that I would no longer be allowed to teach at Gley High School. My position at the high school teaching two ninth and two 11th grade classes is being eliminated. This creates hardship for the students. English teachers are expected to provide comprehensive personalized feedback on writing assignments. This is much more difficult in larger classes. For me personally, the news was devastating. I did love my time at GMS and for 20 years I devoted all my energies to the students there. However, throughout my tenure, I applied hopefully for every ghs position that opened because I knew that's where my skills as a writer and teacher would be best utilized. And the last three years have shown me that high school is where I belong. I patiently waited two decades to have the chance to
025work at this level. I have 23 years of service and a master's degree in English literature. I'm a poet and a writer with many published pieces and I'm the adviser to Inkwell, the school literary magazine, which won an award last year from the National Council of Teachers of English. I have the proven merit to remain at GHS. Yet, I'm being reassigned. There was no warning, no discussion, and no consideration of my seniority or skills. There was no consideration of my dedication and devotion for the past 23 years. My colleagues, students, and their parents can testify to my kind approach and high expectations. I've taught over 1,600 students in this community. I've provided written feedback on more than 16,000 pieces of writing. When will I have done enough to earn respect and fair treatment or to
026prove that I'm worthy? One of the hardest lessons to teach our students is that there's no shame in reconsidering a stance. It is instead a sign of intelligence and courage. As every good teacher knows, the most compelling way we teach is by example. I hope that this additional information will cause you to rethink your decision to reassign me. And I have a letter of support that was signed by about 50 people in the district. So, if I just pass it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, so next on the list I have and apologies if I don't say this correctly, Karen Sims. Thank you. Welcome. My name is uh Karen Similaro. I'm a mother of two. I have a student at Mabeli Wilson and a student at Gley. Uh this should be brief. I
027just want to um thank the school district. We moved here from Texas um two years ago and there's a lot going on. I really appreciate the communication that's coming out to the community in this time. school board meetings in Texas can be a notoriously um they're just notorious, let's say that. Um and so, you know, I'm just here tonight to offer my support to the board and to acknowledge the incredibly difficult situation we've been placed in. Um and as someone who's been a teacher, an English teacher, um an administrator, and worked in education for over 20 years, um you know, what's happening right now is not just a local issue. It's part of a much larger national issue. and um I work with districts and schools across the nation and they're feeling it too. And
028so I just want to thank you for um your communication. U my daughter comes home, she knows facts, which I think is incredibly important as well. Um and and I feel very strongly that federal funding, which we know is utilized for our students, for meals, for special education, for all those things should never be weaponized in any way. So I just want to say I'm very very appreciative of the communication that you've been sharing with us. Thank you. Okay. I'm having trouble reading handwriting and I'm apologize. Oh, Graham. Jeez. Graham. Come on. You got so many English teachers. Was that on purpose? Hi, I'm Graham Schauve, president of the MSAD51 Employee Association. I'd like to draw the board's attention to your finance committee's mission statement. As written on the district website, the mission states that
029the budget development process will include meeting with the board, administration, and association leadership to develop an inclusive feedback loop to inform budget development. I'm sure you all are aware that the board did not meet with association leadership to inform the budget this year. This omission is indicative of how the leadership of this district approaches problem solving. If the board had met with the association, here's something we might have pointed out. This budget has proposed $200,000 for legal services next year. This is more than double the amounts that surrounding districts have proposed in their budgets next year. Yarmouth has budgeted 62,000, Falmouth 75,000, and Freeport a poultry 20,000. If you have been around long enough, you know that this district has a reputation for using litigation as a first, second, and third choice when faced with
030conflict. The numbers prove this reputation. Our district doesn't operate, other districts don't operate in this way. This large of a discrepancy is not accidental or a one-off. Comes from choices. Using litigation as your preferred problem solving mechanism creates many issues far beyond the huge cost of taxpayers. I will discuss two. First, it leads to opaque decision-making. If an administration is always preparing for litigation, there will be a tendency towards secrecy. Openness and honesty are key components in successful problem solving approaches, but in litigation, they are liabilities. You must limit and restrict who you communicate with, how you communicate, and what you reveal. Secondly, it creates a deterrent to engaging in robust problem solving processes because litigation is used as the alternative to these. Litigation shifts the focus to maintaining decision-making authority above all else, devaluing
031problem solving processes and dissuading attempts to raise concerns. Essentially, this destroys inclusive feedback loops. Because the school district is a community organization is vitally important to support robust problem solving and feedback processes because we all don't agree all the time and running an organization this large is immensely complex. If you use inclusive, robust processes, you will be including important stakeholders in the problem solving process, creating a strong sense of community while also working through issues before making important decisions. When you don't use these processes and choose to litigate, you destroy the sense of community and exclude stakeholders. I'm not sure how this district became so latigious, but I do know exactly who benefits. is worrisome to think that the entity giving legal advice, often advice on whether or not to litigate or continue litigation is
032also the one that benefits from the Howard bills during litigation. Instead of reducing an English teaching position at the high school, I encourage the board to hire someone new for the position at the middle school. A new teaching position costs about $105,000. If you'd reconsider some of the legal budget line item, you could use these resources to benefit students and staff of the district while at the same time structurally limiting the use of litigation as a problem solving choice. This would hopefully lead to the creation and use of more robust feedback and problem solving processes in all areas of the district. Thank you. And then Hunter, I have you a Oh, no pro I mean, you're welcome to Okay. No. Okay, great. No, no problem. We're glad you're here. Um Jared Bard. Okay, thank you.
033Um, Evelyn Spencer. Oh, that's no problem. Take your time. Hello. So, uh, probably should have come to the to last month's meeting with, uh, Andrea Barry and, um, I forget his name. Uh but uh first I'd like to echo the statements they made in support of trans youth before I make my statement. Um my name is Evelyn Spencer and I am a senior at the University of Southern Maine and I live in North Yarmouth. I feel that the current political climate has obfiscated necessary discussion on uh the complex issue of fairness in high school and collegiate sports. I know you guys are all tired of hearing about it. Um, I feel that it's necessary for me to disclose that I'm a transgender woman. And this is obviously very personal to me. Uh, Title 9 was
034developed to prevent sex-based discrimination and gives women the opportunity to meaningfully participate in competitive sports. If the meaning of Title 9 is incompatible with Maine law, Title N Title 9 must be followed first. Federal law is the law of the land and to defend a state policy which is likely to be overturned by the courts is a waste of energy and resources. The federal administration of Title 9 holds supremacy over any state level protections for protected groups. We need to direct our energy in a more productive direction on this issue. As such, the 2020 Title 9 rule leaves room for interpretation on this issue. The state of Maine and MSAD51 have a responsibility to set the tone for other states and districts to follow. The participation of transgender women, meaning those who are transitioning from
035male to female in women's sports, should be considered on a case-byase basis. As such, it is a fact of biology that any individual who goes through a male male puberty experiences permanent changes to their muscularkeeletal system, including broadened shoulders, increased sensitivity to testosterone, and more. Transgender women who have gone through a male puberty have significant biological advantages in women's competitive sports as a result of these changes, even if they have been on hormone replacement therapy for years. The inclusion of these individuals in women's sports constitutes Title 9 discrimination against cisgender women, meaning women who were born female. This violation is not as a result of transgender women being viewed as male under the current administration, but because the inclusion of these individuals put cisgender women at an inherent disadvantage in many athletic sports. This advantage
036in subsequent title nine violation is absent in those transgender women who have not gone through a male puberty, such as those who were placed on puberty blockers at a young age and underwent female puberty via hormone replacement therapy. The controversy around these treatments notwithstanding, these individuals do exist and their participation in women's sports does not constitute a Title 9 violation as these individuals do not have an inherent advantage against cisgender women. Requiring transgender women who have not gone through a male puberty to compete against cisgender men in sports is a violation of their state level protections under the main human rights act. For our community to just one second for our community to simultaneously support transgender people and align with all applicable law, we need to modify our policy to address the complexities of this
037issue. This is a difficult situation, but one that poses an opportunity for MSAD-51 to modify our policies in the pursuit of fairness and equity for all students. Thank you. Thank you. So that was everyone I had on the list. So thank you. We are going to close public comment. Thank you. You're welcome to stay. I mean, anyone can stay. Exactly. The agenda is good. Thank you. Please, thank you for staying because we have our stakeholder survey results up next, which I think is a great uh thing to stay for. Thank you, Mari Trouble for presenting this year's stakeholder survey results. Okay, give me a second. Okay. All right. Oh, geez, there are papers here. Hang on one second. I'm just gonna put those down here. Okay. Hi, everyone. Um, thank you for making time for
038me to share our recent stakeholder survey data with you all this evening. Um, each year, as you know, we survey staff, students, and families to gauge satisfaction in how we're doing as a district. And so here are the results for this year. So our survey data gives us trends over time that help us set goals, um reflect on our progress towards those goals and adjust direction as needed. Um it's one of many measures that we use to track how we're doing as a district and in the individual schools as well. Um, so I followed Jeff's approach from prior years in putting this presentation together. So you can see how our story progresses over the last three years, including this year. Um, so I haven't changed anything in how you would interpret the um, slideshow I'm
039about to share with you. Um, satisfaction is really defined as 80% or more positive responses. So the these are folks who responded, they strongly agree or agree to the statement as it's written. Um items that are highlighted in green represent a four or more percent gain in satisfaction over the prior year. Items that are flagged in yellow represent a four or more percent drop in satisfaction over the prior year. That's a little bit of a tongue twister. So here we go. Um on this slide you can see that our response rate has declined among all stakeholders. So I thought it was important to just note that. Um I think it's important that we consider that decline in response rate as we examine all of our data and take everything with a little bit of a
040grain of salt. Um with only 28% of our parents and guardians responding, I have to ask questions, right? I question why a large majority of our community isn't responding to the survey. Are they reasonably satisfied with how things are how how things are going and don't feel like they need to respond? Um, is the survey too long? Are we asking the right questions? Is it survey fatigue? Um so the lower percentage of participation for me breeds more questions um than answers but still we do have some data and we have that data to examine what's happening over time with um the responses that we get right and so we just want to be mindful as we look at our data that it's not a full representation of our whole community. And I just think it's
041important to point that out. I also think there's something to be said for us to think about why is the response rate a little lower and are there things that we can do to boost that. Okay, so students in grades three through five here you can see that they're pretty satisfied with their experiences at school. Several areas show at least a 4 percentage point improvement over last year. Um, to me this is great news and it reflects the attention and effort that our teachers and building administrators make toward creating a positive learning environment and making personal connections with each student. Um, so when it says 98% of our students say that their teacher cares about them, that to me is a really big deal. Um, my teacher helps me when I don't understand something. um
042students at school treat me with respect has increased. So these are all great signs, right? And then in terms of areas in grades three through five where the satisfaction was below 80%. There were no areas in grades three through five um below 80% except this one. I make choices about what I learn. Um, this was slightly better than last year, but still below that 80% threshold, but all the rest of the areas were above 80%. So, that's great news. So, students in grades 6 through 12, um, this slide tells a story that in many areas our student satisfaction in grades 6 through 12 is improving. Um, we can see many areas where there were four or more percentage points of gain from last year to this year. Um, some areas I think that are notable.
043The work I do in class challenges me to think has increased from 85% to 90% of students saying they agree with that. Um, teachers are available for help at 92% of the students saying that they agree with that statement. Feelings of belonging have increased from 78% to 82%. So, we see some nice shifts here and incremental gains. Maybe not as striking as in the three through five students, but still on an upswing with these values. So here you can see areas in 2025 where student satisfaction in grades 6 through 12 is below 80%. Um there's some good improvement in several areas and some mostly flat satisfaction in afterchool clubs and arts opportunities. Um there was only one new area below 80% this year and that was art offerings after school. Um so the story for
044me here is that we're still working on the same areas this year that we were working on last year. Making what I would describe as slow and steady progress. The gains are slower but there's still some gains. Um with the exception of studentto student interactions. Here you can see harassment and bullying are treated seriously. 66% students agreed with that. Students at my school treat each other with respect is pretty flat at 62%. So that studentto student interaction is slower going. Okay. So staff satisfaction um sat staff satisfaction of 80% or higher is mostly consistent with last year with two areas of notable improvement. Namely that technology is adequate and reliable. Um that's gone up a bit from 87% to 93% agreeing with that statement. Um and that district communication is strong with 91% of folks
045saying that they felt that they have good communication from the district. So you'll see here that there's some movement up and down over the last three years in several staff satisfaction areas. Um, I think when we look at the three years holistically, so when you're looking at an indicator across all three years, the overall trend line looks pretty flat to me. Um, with two notable exceptions to that interpretation. The first is that staff confidence in meeting the needs of advanced learners has dropped a bit overall and as we work to build our staff capacity through our multi-tered systems of support um to meet the needs of our higher learners um I'm hopeful that that indicator will improve. There's a learning curve there and we're working on that. So I'm hoping that that value will will
046change over time. Secondly, the perception of staff that they receive formal feedback through performance reviews has jumped. And this is one area where we've been we've been working hard um to make sure that everyone receives formal evaluative feedback on a scheduled cycle. So, this one makes me really happy because this is an area where I've been focusing to make sure that people are getting feedback on their on their work and clearly they're seeing a little bit of improvement there. Okay. So for parents and guardians satisfaction over 80% 80% or above you can see minor fluctuations in responses and high rates of satisfaction overall. Um many many um responses are 95 to 99% in terms of satisfaction. Um, so that's consistent over time and also really positive feelings about our school community. And again, here indicators
047show steady positive or flat growth in parent satisfaction over the three-year span. So even though these don't have um green necessarily, you can see some incremental increases in some areas. For example, understanding the academic expectations of my child's school year went from 90 to 91 to 93% over the three years. So tiny tiny adjustments, but overall satisfaction. Okay. So here we can see huge jumps in satisfaction in sports and arts opportunities offered to students through the school. Um administrative response has also jumped 15 percentage points which is really nice to see that there's a feeling that the building administrators respond to parents concerns and questions. And then you can see some nice growth in satisfaction with bus safety here. It's still below 80%. Uh but it's steadily moving in the in a positive direction. I
048would attribute this probably I'm speculating here, but I would attribute it probably to having the camera technology on the buses now. Um so that that's definitely having an impact on student behavior on the buses. So there's less to be feeling unsafe about on the buses because it's monitored really closely. Um so that's great news. Um, there has been a dip in satisfaction among parents in the afterchool club offerings available for students and I think that's something we should monitor. And this was interesting to me because the athletic offerings and the arts offerings jumped significantly but this took a little bit of a dip. So I wonder why but it is that's our data. So, okay. So, summary. Um, last year feelings of belonging were on our list of areas for monitoring. And here you can
049see they're now on the list of areas of satisfaction. So, I would attribute this to the conscious effort across our schools to cultivate safe and welcoming learning environments for all of our students and to build relationships with each of our students. Um when I look at this summary, the story it tells me is that across stakeholder groups, there's a sense of pride in our schools. Um there's a collective focus on high expectations for learning um and companion levels of support for students to achieve at those high levels. Um I want to highlight the clarity of teacher expectations bullet there. Um, it tells me that our efforts are where they need to be to remain a high achieving school district. There's a lot of research out there that shows the impact of teacher clarity and high
050expectations for learning on student achievement. It's it's known that those things influence student growth. Um, to me, this is really great news for us, right? Because when a teacher has high expectations, students can make more than a year's growth in a year's time. It's how you move mountains in a school district. Um, and so for me, this is an area of satisfaction for us and really great news. If I'm going to highlight anything, it's that. Okay. Okay. So, we do have some areas to continue working on, right? Um, some of those areas like bus safety have been steadily improving over the last three years. It's just slowgoing. Um, and I would expect incremental gains to continue. Other areas like after school club offerings will require new attention to both understand what's going on and um
051then act upon it in a meaningful way. And then student choice and learning, bullying, and harassment are areas that require continued ongoing attention. I would argue that those always require continued and ongoing attention uh because we want our students to value their learning experience and we want them to feel safe and comfortable in school. So those are two big points that we need to keep working on. So how satisfied are our stakeholders? Um you can see here an increase in satisfaction among all of the stakeholder groups except our staff where satisfaction remains flat. The majority of this slide to me is really promising news. When you dig into the satisfaction of students in grades six through 12, which has increased, but is still only at 62%. I'm not happy with 62%. I want that to
052be higher. Um, but we can see improvement in multiple areas that have not yet reached that 80% satisfaction rate. So when you factor in the areas where they're improving, the percentage of increasing satisfaction plus satisfaction over 80% is at 76% as opposed to the 62. Okay. So when you factor in that we're on the upswing, that's helpful. Um so I think we're getting there with our secondary students and we have more work to do. Um similarly I'm not satisfied with 52% satisfaction among staff but we have a number number of things in place that we will continue to focus on um relative to our staff satisfaction. So I just want to highlight a few of those things for you. We have a new teachers contract um which I think makes a difference. Um, there are
05390-day rounding interviews that we've implemented this year to check in with new hires to make sure that we're meeting their needs and they're feeling comfortable in their work environment. Um, that's with all new staff. We have our new teacher series. Um, we are providing in an increase in formal feedback from administrators to teachers on their teaching practice. And we also have as part of the new contract an additional self-directed pre professional learning day that will be implemented in the coming school year. Um so that values a little bit of autonomy in learning. Um so the bottom line here we can see incremental gains in satisfaction levels overall and we have some room for improvement. So with that that was a lot of information I just threw at you. What questions do you have for me?
054Sure. A lot of people have questions. I just have a quick question about the prior slide. Um, so just about who's included in each group? Um, staff includes like teachers, edte, does it include um bus drivers? Like who's included in this group? Yes, it it includes the the staff in the district. Yes. Okay. So across all positions and then I know this is summary information being presented publicly but are are building administrators given their specific results so I know we combine 6 to 12 but then are the results given at the building level? Yes. Yeah, that's a great question. Thank you for asking it. So each building administrator, we all receive the district data um and then each building administrator receives the data for their schools and track that over time and and they're all
055setting goals um related to the feedback that they get. So, you know, if if I as a building administrator got feedback from that my staff felt like I didn't communicate well, I would be setting a goal for myself around communication. So, yes. And so, what about the staff survey results? Are those shared? Are those then cut in other ways and then shared with buildings or heads of department? Yes, they receive their they receive feedback from their staff, the people who work in their buildings, their percentages for all of these same questions. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So, that's really helpful. All right, Jesse. Yeah, just about I mean, the parent response, I mean, are there any strategies to try and get those numbers up? I mean, so I I had to dig a little bit to find
056the email where I got mine, and to be honest, I'm not sure I filled it out or not. Um, and I think we only got one email and I know we get a lot of emails from the district and we have more than one kid. We're very busy. So, you know, we may be well-intentioned and if you know, so maybe for next year, could we do follow-ups? Like, can we ping people's phones? Is there a way we can like try and get parents more engaged who would have filled it out had maybe they, you know? Yes. I think brought to their attention or it didn't get lost or Yeah. I'm just wonder are there other things we can do to try and get a bigger response? Yes, I think that's what I was saying about
057like trying to get to the bottom of why we're not getting that response. I think it could be any number of things. And certainly like there's this dance, right, between communicating and sending out the survey and then plaguing people, right? And finding that sweet spot between I've received this communication 15 times and you're killing me, right? To Right. So, so it's about finding that sweet spot, but I think you're right. We probably could send it out a little bit more and get more get some more response because like everyone else guilty. It sits in my inbox. I'll get to that and then you forget about it. Right. So, I think you're absolutely right. We could do more. And parents, do we receive a email for each child or is it like depend on the if
058they're in different buildings? Um, I don't think you get an email for each child. I I don't know for sure. Jeeoff, do you know the answer to that? I don't I don't believe so. I think it's one that you're able when you go into the survey to enter reflect which for each school that your child attends. But I don't think you get more than one communication. Okay. And then are those results then also sorted by buildings and given to administrators like parents of kids in this building? Yes. Yes. So, so each building administrator receives the staff survey data, the parent and guardian survey data, and in grades 3 through 12, the the um student survey data. So, for example, Wilson school principal will get just third grade data. Y makes sense. Okay, I'll jump in.
059Yes. Um, thanks for this and it was nice to have the continuity like it's to see something. It was much easier for me to interpret it. Um, so I appreciate that. Um, one of my thoughts as I look through some of the questions is do you guys align questions between the student, the staff and the parent? because I'll see we see things from the staff that might be like I don't feel like we are impacting um unmotivated kids. There was like a question around that and I don't know like Jesse I filled this out last year but I definitely didn't do it this year. Um so I don't remember what information you kind of collect on the parent at that time but it would be really nice especially as we have issues or we have
060challenges in some of our um I think what the teachers or staff had reported about um advanced kids special education kids unmotivated kids how that aligns with how the parent feels and if those parents are feeling similarly like I have a special ed kid and are we I don't feel like their satisfaction rate is different than like the general public. So, do we align them? Yes and no. Um I think some of them are aligned and some of them are not. Um and so I think there's so I could go on and on about ways that we can improve our survey design, right? Um there's that's probably a conversation. I love the continuity. So yeah. Um but I but I do think you know an example um for me is some of the questions that
061are posed to staff don't parse out um teaching staff from our ed techs or you know or other support staff and their answers might be different depending on the nature of the question. So I, you know, I think there's room for a better alignment certainly between the surveys and also adjusting how some of these statements are made um to to improve the the clarity on the interpretation end of really understanding what folks are telling us. Yeah, I think that would be beneficial if we could have more connection between how each are experiencing those very buckets of it. So, if we do redo the survey, which I think I agree, I think there probably needs to be a revamp of it. We've seen a lot of the same data over time. I think we need to
062start digging into c certain things. Um, I am super concerned about the staff satisfaction rate over three years. And I it's I am continued to be puzzled. I asked this last year of why there's such a gap between the parent and the staff. And I fear that if the staff continues that way and we start seeing impact in retention um and I think a lot of the satisfaction stuff I I hear you on the contract stuff but I I think there's much more from a cultural standpoint that I fear retention gets impacted and then the quality of instruction or continuity and professional development. what were like you know that there's something about in here uh I have a voice in matters that related to school improvement that one's at 51% and then uh my school
063provides me with relevant professional learning experiences those are two big ones I think that will impact a person's job satisfaction if they stay here or not and I fear that the parent satisfaction rate will soon follow or drop if we start losing some of our the heart of our district which is quality teachers. And so I I am very troubled by the flatline of that. Very very very very troubled. But I appreciate the honesty to which you approached it and that we're not hiding that and we're sharing it with it and we are doing things to make it better. I just up here am a little Yeah, I share that angst. I do. I you know I mean I said I'm not happy with 52% and that and the fact that it's flat as well.
064even if I had seen a two or three percentage point increase, I would start to say, "Well, at least we're making some incremental gains." So, I I I share your concerns for sure. Christina, thank you. Um, just to follow up and I apologize if I missed this, the to his point about the staff um view on things, do you have the breakdown from the different schools? I I know from a few years ago especially with Mayabalai being so overcrowded and after we didn't have the first referendum passed through of course they were very dissatisfied and crowded and stressed. um do you have any sense of whether at least at that school has it improved as they know they're getting so I would say that that what I have observed in the schools is a little
065bit of up and down depending on the indicator right so yes there's been improvement in some of the indicators at each of the schools and there's also been some incremental declines in places I think the threads that are [Applause] are consistent across schools are the ones that Tim highlighted the the having the voice and choice in especially in the prof professional development. Um, so and and I and I agree with the statement that those are things that contribute to a professional sense of efficacy in some ways. So, but I I I couldn't point to one specific thing in in a particular school because it really is kind of up and down depending on what the indicator is. Again, I also apologize if you addressed this and I missed it. Uh, approximately when was the survey
066put out? It was put out in late January, Februaryish. I got it January 13th. Yeah. And it was open It was open for about a month. And was that before the contract? Yes. that that was a question that I had about when I know the contract went into into January. Definitely was around when the contract was being settled and a lot of the payroll stuff was still being taken care of at that time. So there there was a lot going on. Yeah. So that might be a factor. Yeah. And and not just to say that it was just that because I think we've seen like these numbers very similarly. But I I hope that some of the changes we made around professional development in the contract will potentially result in higher satisfaction. I mean that
067wasn't in place at this time when that that survey came out. So they hadn't experienced that. Um but that certainly was a board goal. I mean I would be very interested to continue the conversations of things that you know the board can support um to ensure that um teachers uh and staff because again this is not just teachers um feel engaged in some of the decision- making and do administrators or department heads um do they have their own goals related to some of the staff um survey feedback? They do certainly in those areas that we're seeing pretty low. So they'll they'll look at their their building survey data and [Music] um they I I'm they definitely pay attention to the parent and guardian data, but that's so consistently high that that's probably not the place
068where they're going to choose a goal area, right? because if the satisfaction is high, you're gonna you're going to focus on the places where there might be some lower satisfaction to start your goal setting. But you're looking at your data and you're saying, "Well, my students are not happy with um with the feedback that they're getting. So, you'll target that and and aim towards improving that. They're not feeling safe in school potentially." So, you aim towards that. So, you know, remember that a couple year that last year the feelings of belonging were lower for students, they're higher now. I would say that that was intentional because goals were set around that topic. And the same is true for staff satisfaction. So when we see that staff don't feel like they have a voice in decision-
069making, we take we set goals and make active steps to think about all right, how do we create opportunities for staff to have voice in decision- making. Yeah. And I do think I I feel a responsibility as as a board member to to find ways that the board can help support the staff. I mean, I also recognize that being in public schools right now and really for the past number of years is very challenging. Um, and but it's easy to be on a board. Yes, this is really easy. Um, and so, you know, but I I'm not also going to use that as an excuse for why the numbers are low. I think there are things that we can do within our schools to continue to look at these things with our staff. Can I
070add to that real quick? Because one of the reasons why the angst that got to me was because I feel like we as a board have invested a lot in that like we talk about that all the time and to not see that movement is like so that's one thing and then the second thing around this too which I'm really curious about like we have students and like staff here is when I'm in the buildings I don't feel this like I feel very different culture and when we've done the walkthroughs but even as like a parent and you know like no one knows where I'm in and I'm just like snooping around. I do not feel that at all. So, I am curious. Is this a surprise to the students and like staff that we
071have here? Because I'm surprised. I like I see that. Sean, um thinking about this results and you mentioned goals. Um so, the building administrators set goals. Are those goals shared with the staff? And if they are, how do they about the goals that are set as our feedback loop like saying, "Oh, I agree with that goal." And then knowing those goals from last year, does the staff as a whole feel like those goals were met or were we feeling like we're repeating the same goals every year and not like the action items are correct? Totally aligned. It's a great question. So, um, yes, staff are involved with goal setting. Um, different administrators handle it differently. Um, I think I'm going to speak in really general terms right now, but typically what you might see happening
072is the administrators are looking at their data and then they bring it to their leadership team first to process it with their leadership team and so goal setting is done there. Um, they will also often take it and share it with staff at a staff meeting and get feedback and input there. Um, but the goal setting is typically done at the leadership team level level because your teacher leaders are representatives. So, they're going back to their their peeps, right, and getting input on what those goals ought to be. What do we need to focus on? Um, interestingly, when I've done that, when I was at the middle school and did that, more often the teachers were hyperfocused on the student um, the student response as it related to their work as teachers and that's where
073they wanted to put their energy and I was more focused on the feedback about me as an administrator. Right? I think you you really pay attention to the things that reflect your you know your domain your work right and and so they were very focused on student issues so I think that's where the focus on belonging has come from because initially that feedback was a little bit lower about not feeling sense of belonging and that was generated from a ground swell of teachers really wanting to focus on that. Does that answer your question? and then you reflect on it to see so there's an annual reflection on how did we do. Do you feel like in your time in that role that the action items consistently stayed the same or do you think that you're
074just it's a evolving problem every year? I found that usually um I I person I took it really personally, right? I really was very invested in the feedback that we were getting and um so the things that we chose to work on, we did see incremental gains from one year to the next. Um and but you might have something else that drops and so then you're going to shift your energy or maybe not. Maybe you're not satisfied with the growth in that year and you're going to continue to work on that thing because the the results don't really align with or at least what our perception of what we're seeing. It doesn't align with that. It it says that maybe the action items don't align with what the teachers really need or I would see
075I guess I think we'd see more progress if they align better with what the underlying issues are. Yeah. Yeah, I mean I I hear what you're saying and I also I also think it's important to remember that not all of the staff members responding to this are teachers and yet some of the questions are really teacher oriented. Mhm. So, somebody who isn't working directly with students um might say that they don't feel confident in me. They might say, "I feel confident meeting the learning needs of my most advanced students." They might be saying, "Well, I'm not working with the most advanced students." No. Right. So, yeah. Okay. So, that kind of plays back to what Tim was saying is like having different buckets. Yeah. Yeah. Other questions? Thank you so much, Mari. Really appreciate it.
076And this will be shared out with the community and please feel free to reach out to the board. Mari, if you have any additional questions, this is the first time the board is seeing this, but it will be shared out with the the entire school community. Thank you. All right. Now, we're moving to a full set of items for action. Anukica, I think I'm Whenever you're ready, I am going to ask you to maybe start making the motions. And if you want to recommend Okay. You need a red bolt before you do this. You sure? So, I think when we last uh revisited these policies in November of last year, we took them together at that time. Uh all of the policies under item for action. Well, I guess I have to make a motion.
077Okay. So, how do I make a motion? Yes. Um I move to call to group all the policies together. Group all the policies together. A through Yes. Uh items 6 A through G. Great. Can I have a second? Second. Thank you, Jesse. All right. And I'll open it up for presentation on Sure. Great. Launch into that a little bit more. So, um, as I was saying when we last revisited these policies, uh, they are all related to our non-discrimination and harassment policies, um, at the federal level, the Title 9 policies at the state level, the, um, main human rights act and other state laws. And so when we last revisited them in November, we took them also as a group. Um and the current iteration that is before you all this evening is um as
078a result of the new administration coming in and under President Biden in 2024, there were uh rules that were changed to Title 9. Um, and so when we last revisited these policies in November of last year, it was to adopt those rules that had been in place since the beginning of the school year, uh, of this, uh, current school year. And those rules have now gone back to the 2020 rules, which the school board had previously adopted in 2021, uh, with an update related to state law and the main human rights act in 2023. Um, so essentially all of the policies before you are going back to that 2023 revision that accounts for the 2020 federal rules and the 2023 state rules. Um, and it did take us a little while to uh bring this
079before you in part just because that's the process. So, as I said, we last revisited these or we last adopted the policies in November for laws that had gone into effect for the beginning of the school year. And of course, we're following the law um during that time and as we have now been following the law and just gotten through the policy process through the um the guidance from the main student management association and legal counsel to bring these before you at this time. So happy to take questions or other comments from policy members. No. Any questions, comments? I have one. It So, if you go to the board website and click on policy AC, it reflects these changes. No, not on the website yet. Not until we have um approved them. So, I shouldn't
080have said that like a question. It reflects these changes. So, when I clicked on the um policy AC, it it reads exactly like the draft that we got um because I I wanted to compare something. So, I'm just curious. So, like red stuff that's red scratched over. No, I mean like um the um Okay. So everything in blue may maybe I'm maybe I'm confused. Everything in blue is being added now or that was added in November. So it is going to be a little confusing because of the process that we used to get back to these 2023 policies. Um if you look at the writing in blue. So what you see before you if you click on the link that was in the packet is actually we started from our 2021 first we went back
081to the 2021 iteration and then the blue is what was updated in 2023 or as a result of like the more um the more recent guidance which is essentially all the 2023 language that was added at that time based on state law. So, it's not what you're looking at is not I don't believe it's not what actually changed from what we approved in last November to now. Okay. It's a little more Okay. I apologize. I was Okay. No, I was going to point that out. It's a good question. So, like for example, genetic information that's coming out. Yep. Yeah. Because that's only related to students though. Okay. There is a genetic information protection for employees that's under employment law. it just that is a employment law. It's not a law that relates to students. And
082so that actually and it this is exactly how it read in November 2024. We had that same conversation. Um and be and then genetic information isn't listed in the main human rights act, which is why it's not reflected for students. It's only an employment law. Correct. Okay. Got it. Yeah. I'll have to say like this whole this packet has been the most confusing on the policy side. It like I it has done a really nice job of like having control over it every single time I come into these and I wasn't at the last one which I now very happy that I was at the last one but it is it's very hard. So the questions are we will take as many questions as possible. I will and I'm glad that you mentioned uh AC
083specifically because one small update that we do need to make is that the last revision on that was in 2024, not November 7th, 2025. We'll make sure that that happens. Oh, yeah. I was like, wait, that's in the right. So then, so that was my dumb like critical question, whatever. Uh, I'm curious and maybe I'm opening a can of worms here, but uh what how how are we defining affirmative action? Has that definition changed? Is that a um I feel like that that is a is seems like that that has evolved over the years exactly what affirmative action is. So nothing the only things that well nothing has really changed in terms of the federal language that we're using from the 2020 rules which we adopted in 2021 and the state law main human rights
084act uh information okay that was most recently updated in 2023. So there is still a legal term that is in federal and state. Yeah, we have we have to follow all the affirmative action pieces. Yeah. And we have an affirmative action officer who's Dr. Julie Olsen for the district. Um and that none of that has changed. Okay. In terms of affirmative action. Okay. And this cross reference is an affirmative action plan. Is that available on the policy page or is that Yep, it's on there. It's on Yes. On the policy page at the bottom. Thank you. Okay. Thank you for clarifying that. Yeah, sure. Happy to take other questions, too. So, a couple of those items I know are deletions again just because of how the rules at the federal level differed a little bit
085between the um first Trump administration and Biden administration's rules. So, it required deleting a couple things because there were more there were just more documents under the Biden administration rules. Any other questions? Great. All in favor? Thank you. I know that was a lot of work to get through all of these and and all the changes, too. So, I appreciate that. All right, moving on. Superintendent report. for the superintendent report tonight. Um had royalty at Mabel Wilson. Um Tatum Leoo and Allison Fluitt's classes recently completed a unit on kings and queens and celebrated the learning with a royalty party in ball. Mr. Muny and Mrs. O were cordially invited to be the king and the queen. So, it they all truly look very royal in that photo. Very cute. Uh GMS 45 uh global play
086day was uh March 12th and um it is an annual tradition at 4:05. They have an early release, take an early release, and the students really are able to um make choices about what they want to do. Um and um we say global play day, but it's a lot of learning. um by playing is really the purpose of that. Um and it's really a big hit. There's tons of things offered. Also at four or five fifth grade students created a close-up textured collage of animal faces. Layers of the collage included torn paper um with a radical uh with a radial background, oil pastel eyes and nose, and a final layer of acrylic paint for feathers and fur. So I know you can't see that. This will be on the report on the website as well.
087And the uh middle school 68. Uh I know for a few years now they've offered a glow dance for students. It's a big hit. Um if you remember your um middle school days as a as a student like I do. Um there was always that awkward middle school dance. Um I think we didn't have the glow dance back then. They do. And I think it makes it really festive and fun for the students. I I know that it's it's a big draw. Um congratulations to our um student athletes who competed in the Special Olympic swimming event in Cape. Um and Aya Jim Jimno took first place, Greger Stout and Avery Clidis placed in two events as well. So just want to um congratulate all of our special Olympians. Congrats also to the students from Mrs.
088BT's IB visual arts class for a great successful art exhibition um that was held in the GCA um for a few weeks. I think it's um I think she took it down at this point, but uh it was a great um exhibit and really uh spruce things up in the GCA lobby. Also at the high school, anything this has become a many years of tradition, anything but a backpack day. um if you if you were told you can't bring your backpack to school, what would you do otherwise? And so there are a lot of um there's I remember last year there was like a canoe. Oh, there was Yep. this year too. I didn't see that. A kayak. Um so there's uh all kinds of ways that you can get around the school. Rangers Rock
089edition. Uh main state math meet. Congratulations to our uh JHS math team for placing fifth in the state uh state math me. That's very good when consider how many high schools are in Maine. Um so congratulations. Um I won't list all those names but they'll be on the report. Active Minds Cal Cares Club provide our high school staff with some amazing uh teach as they walk through the door. So they um this group has really been active for the last couple of years recognizing mental health and um this time they decided to uh work with work uh to help the staff on a particular morning. So it was really nice. Congrats to Bez and uh Maya for being the Western Main Conference Citizenship Award winners for the Western Main Conference. Another wonderful turn out to
090the Best Buddies prom of 2025. Um this is also an annual tradition that's been going on for a little while now. Also a big hit. Um and it's really wonderful to see all the students uh participating in this um and um dressing their best. You can't take it with you. Bravo to the amazing high school drama cast and crew for the unforgettable performances. Really uh it was just very well done. I enjoyed it myself. Um I know that it was um well attended. I think it had three three performances. Um and uh it was a big hit. U want to say um congrats and actually you can see this right outside um the geer room. um high school senior Andrew Flanders came up with this idea about a year ago as part of his uh
091boy scout program or Eagle Scout project for the Boy Scouts and um came up with the idea of putting a kiosk. Um he worked with our maintenance staff to find a place, worked with our high school um administration as well. And um so this is a resource that's for the community, not just the school community, but for anyone visiting our the school. Um, and there's resources that can be taken out of this uh kiosk. And the artwork, I forget who helped with the artwork on the other side of that, but one of the students did um that worked with Andrew. So, congratulations. That's really great. On March 14th, there was a professional development day um for all staff that day. And um each school um had different activities all day long. These are just samples
092of um just different activities that were going on during that day at Maple Eye Wilson School, for example. Uh I stopped in and they were doing a safety uh tabletop exercise um using the Alice approach. Um we're always revisiting things to make sure that we're not forgetting things, especially around safety. um at 4:5 um one of the activities that day um was having all of the staff um make choices about um digging into areas around meaningful feedback for students and promoting uh promoting academic engagement with students as part of their SIP. Um and again this is um connected to the supporting staff plan as well which is um to help our staff with these areas. at 68. Um Lindseay Horowitch and Mark Mcdana um worked with our 68 staffer on strategies connected to the multi-tier
093systems of support which is MTSS which is we've been transitioning as you know um from response to intervention instead of saying that which is not as encompassing as MTSS um really looking at the MTS model which is um encompassing of everything a toz um often RTI does not um involve uh gifted and talented for example um and MTSS is a little bit more comprehensive. The state moved to that a few years ago. So um continuing to work on that as a staff and then while I was also in the room JC Moral is um a teacher at GMS 68 um she introduced um some guidelines for AI uh in the classroom. There's administrative guidelines. There's a staff group that worked with Mari Trobilkco and Mari actually will be back in a month um to update
094you on a couple of topics. AI will be one of them. And at the high school um Dr. Anita Stewart McCafferty, she's well-known professor at USM, head of the leadership um department there. Um she worked with all staff. I was able to participate in this workshop as well. brain compatible uh principles and brain friendly strategies. Um and just some really useful things you could use tomorrow in in high school classrooms. And I know um she got a lot of feedback. She does a lot of um work with outreach work with staff across the state um or at least in this area of the state. And with the one campus um model um or the one campus project, I just want to call attention um to something that is on our website. And again, this is
095just more public facing um stuff. Um by year, we have different activities that are delineated. These are things that we've been talking about, but kind of all in one place. Um as things have been happening this year, you can see in the yellow, um blue is more uh leadership. Uh the leadership team has been working on things like staff rosters um finishing those up um and just trying to make sure that we're looking ahead, looking at the new grade configurations and um making sure that we've got all of the roles in the district um that are needed in all of these schools. It's a tremendous amount of work. Our leadership team has done an amazing job um putting this together um in advance of asking staff for their preferences um as we start the reassignment
096process in the fall. And then the yellow is all of the work um obviously um Tim Valente and the whole building uh committee crew um and Jesse and the whole turf um committee is on there. Um but just everything that's been going on and and quite frankly um we had some things this week we still haven't put in here and but it's just part of the planning process. Nothing nothing different. No surprises but just kind of keeping a record of all that and as we're doing the planning. So this is a huge lift um this this project. Um it is uh quite honestly consuming a lot of uh our time in the district office um in getting prepared for this summer as we um break ground. I think that was it. Yes, that's it. Yeah,
097thank you. And I know you guys have put a lot of time and trying to make resources available about everything that's going on, especially now that there's um actual work starting on campus, which is really exciting. But there's so much that goes in behind the scenes. I think you know just thinking about what you know some of the conversations earlier today with like planning for there's some significant moves that are happening between buildings and which buildings or what grades and um really trying to have enough time to work through. Yeah. Um that process um because yeah there's and and just how how we're watching um our our budget as it relates to all these changes as well. There's just a lot going on. Yep. Okay. Um now we're moving to committee reports. We have one
098student Sophia all alone today. So um tomorrow marks the end of quarter three for all grades in the high school tomorrow. Seniors are focused on our final push. Um, we're gearing up for spring sports exams starting in May and of course prom and senior projects. Um, and then there's also I saw it in the Ranger report a couple days ago. Um, there's a student clothing drive that's partnered with Main Needs that is focused on gathering formal dresses. So, prom and homecoming dresses, which I know for me, I buy them once and they sit in my closet for a couple years. So, if anybody has any prom and homecoming dresses, they can take them to the main lobby from next Monday to next Friday. And then I would also like to take this time to echo
099what was said during public comment because I think many of my peers would agree with it as well. Um, today in advisory, seniors were given the opportunity to write a letter to a staff member that has made a difference throughout our high school years. And I wrote mine to Miss Goldblat. Um, she was my eighth grade English teacher. And like many of my other classes during that COVID year, um I'm sure our class was pretty grueling to teach. We were essentially silent the whole year. Um and then yet when Miss Goldblot moved up to the high school my sophomore year, she remembered me and has continued to engage with me since then. My junior year, I had a pretty stressful period which ultimately came to me in tears in the middle of the uh English
100hallway. and she overheard my conversation that I was having with a teacher and sent me a really meaningful and thoughtful email that really made a difference. And then again this past fall, seniors were provided with the opportunity to spend the day working on college essays with English teachers in the library. And though I hadn't had her as a teacher for four years, she excitedly came over to me and asked if she would get to see my essay and then spent two and a half hours of her time that day working directly with me on the essay. And then especially after last meeting, I'm sure that the finance committee has spent countless hours on the budget. Um, but I'm also sure that any one of my peers who has had Miss Goldblot as a teacher would
101be able to share stories that are similar to mine. And because of that, I would like to urge us to take another look at the budget while we might still have time and see if there's any way to find a better solution. You Thank you, Sophia. Now you're making me cry. It was wonderful. Thank you for sharing your experience. Appreciate that. Finance Kim. So, we are still um the budget is still fluid. Uh we had a really good meeting last week, a week ago today. A couple community members came and I think that we have made progress with uh how we are um listening to the community and how um they are receiving the um the information. There was um positive feedback on on how we're being thoughtful on the budget and and um what
102we are and are not including um this year. So, uh, I felt I felt like it was a really strong, um, meeting, very productive, and very, um, just a really good opportunity to to interact with the community members who showed up. So, I I want to thank those two community members for taking time out of their Thursday to come to a finance committee meeting. And I really want to thank Sarah and Sean um for all the work the two of you have done to um to work on this and to to bring things to the table. Um the questions that we've been asking um probing questions have been really important. So um having said that there is still time to bring your input, bring your questions. Um a reminder that two weeks from tonight is
103the night that we as a board budget or vote on the budget. Yes. Yes. Um and there will be opportunities for public comment at that meeting. And then the next time that there's a vote on the budget is the district um I can't remember what that one's called. Hearing is it district budget meeting. The district budget meeting is so is there a hearing though as well? the hearing on April 17th. Okay. Right before the board adopts the budget or votes to adopt the budget. So that's the same night. Okay. So two weeks from tonight. Thank you. I didn't have this in front of me. Two weeks from tonight is our district hearing as well as when the board votes um on the budget and then there's the district budget meeting um which sounds as um
104exciting as as it is. Um, and having said that, that is a time when the community has the o has the opportunity to vote on each of the cost centers and and really get specific as opposed to the June budget referendum, which is a a vote on the bottom line. Um so please um continue to reach out, please continue to ask your questions, offer your input. Um, and to to um the point that was made tonight, I I think that one of the things that we know as a finance committee and I genuinely appreciate about the committee, about Scott, about Jeff is that um we we get into the numbers, but we are also very very much aware that every number connects to a human being. Uh whether it's a teacher or a student or
105a taxpayer. So, it is hard to balance um the needs of different people, but I just want to reassure um and hopefully Sean and Sarah um agree on this that um that we do take into account the person, not just the numbers. Can I follow up? Sure. What was the date for the budget? I was just going to say May 8th at the GCA. So, yes, May 8th. Thursday, May 8th, GCA 6:30. Um, it's a 7 o'clock. Oh, it says six o'clock on the uh on this on the school calendar, by the way. Okay. There's a school board meeting. That shouldn't be the case. Yeah. Good thing we're talking about this. Yeah. Yeah. We'll change it. Is it It is six o'clock right now. Uh, no. Seven. Oh, it's seven. So, it is. Yeah. The
106reason it's seven, we've gone round and round around every single year on this and it's because of um so many activities uh that time of year in May with little league and softball and everything like that's going on um for parents if they want to come at least one of the parents in the household um to have dinner and everything and get there. Doing it any before 7 o'clock it doesn't work. Okay. Thank you, Anukica. Policy. Yeah. So, speaking of school calendar, although at a higher level, um the policy committee did take up uh school calendar policy which had I think been drafted a year and a half, two years ago um in terms of the changes that we were looking at. So for first read this evening, we do have school calendar and the
107changes here are a fairly minor update to language in terms of state and federal holidays as opposed to legal holidays. And then um more importantly, I think putting into policy that we will notate prominent religious and cultural holidays as has become our practice to do, but this would put it into our policy. Any questions? And I was just going to say in terms of any more of an update, uh, we had our last meeting earlier this week. Um and we'll be bringing a couple other policies for first read um likely at the next meeting around administering medication to students and schoolboard use of electronic or actually we realize this was not what is it schoolboard use of email and other electronic communications. I don't know. I'm not looking at the correct title at the moment.
108It used to just be electronic mail but now it's slightly different. Um and our continuing conversations uh around use of social media by school employees um student dismissal precautions, security camera systems. Uh we'll also be circling back to delegating the uh naming of the new school building under the policy FF that we more recently revised and adopted. um and continuing some conversations around requests that we've received to review crisis policies, public participation at board meetings policy and uh law enforcement relations specifically having to do with warrants. So I suspect a number of those things will be on our next agenda for April 15th just ahead of our next full board meeting. Great. Thank you, Tim. School building facilities. Okay. Um, we haven't met in a little while with it feels like a really long time
109for us. Um, I think middle of March last we met just to close the loop on something. I think I brought up some challenges in just the dynamic of the design team, staff, us like well board um and then community as well of just making sure we were aligned and communicating effectively. I think we had a really great conversation with um Scott and Jeff, the design team, Leanne was there too of just like kind of reframe, not reframing but like making sure that our priorities and um that we were communicating a little bit more effectively. So, we did a premeating and I think led to maybe our best meeting um or one of our best meetings in the middle of March where we went over um alternates. Um and so, yeah, I I feel good
110about where we are from a communication standpoint. I feel feel like we're more aligned from that. So, that's just to close the loop on the feedback I gave last time. Um, so last month we reviewed alternates and determined what essentially would be in our base bid and I will give you the highlights of that. Um, there were questions as to some of the stuff we've been presented around parking. So we've seen it in our plan. and we've all agreed of like the the what parking lots that we are expecting and that some of those lots were initially presented to Leanne um and I and also the building committee as alternates and we took that out. Those are just part of the base bid. So all parking that you guys have seen in the plan um
111are part of the base. Um, but the other alternate highlights are um in Mabel I Wilson renovating a room um to become a STEM room and makes us a little bit more prepared to have fourth graders in there. Um a new nursing station perhaps redoing the admin office so that we can have a better conference room, another bathroom in there. Um and just another um yeah, I said conference room already. Um, in the new school, the there's an alternate around case work. Um, because currently our the the case working right now is particle board and we have fear of some of that lasting very long. That's the same kind of thing or same theme for some of the doors that we have there which are are good and like fine, but there's other material we
112might look at that might last longer. So, it's stuff like that of like where can we make improvements in terms of longevity and quality. Um, so there's that and then there's another big one about um campus repaving where we're ripping up a lot around here and we'll repave all that of what we are ripping up. But, you know, that's going to there's going to be a real difference between the roadways that are have been repaired by us or are brand new versus what is existing. And so that's another alternate. Um, and then our next meeting is next Wednesday on the 9th at 6. Um, I think we'll meet in here. Um, we're going to review the budget. I've been told that, um, that the cost estimator will have the new estimates by tomorrow night and
113we should receive them on by Tuesday um, in a small group and then we'll share it with the team on Wednesday. I I think just as like a heads up that we are watching very closely what some of the unknowns around the economy right now are and tariffs and so other cost estimators are building in a new tariff contingency which would fall on top of our current contingencies. Um so there's just I think 49 is going to be a really important meeting. We're scheduled right now to present to you like a final project on the 17th, which given the fact that we're reviewing the budget on the 17th is there's just a lot happening on that time. But right now, we're scheduled for that. Um, if all goes according to plan on next week, we
114will do that. Um, but if we have to hold based off questions we have at the building committee level, what we get from the cost estimators, we'll we'll give you an update. But let's hope that everything runs smoothly and we'll see you in two weeks. Thanks, Jim. Yeah, I found that prep meeting very effective. Which reminded me I thought we're going to have one for next week and maybe make sure that's on the Yes, we Yeah, they on Tuesday they have shot back. I think they're on that email, but if not that's not your fault. Yes, Tuesday we have we're supposed to have one. We should actually schedule it. I don't think it's been scheduled. Okay, maybe. It's just been more of like we should meet Tuesday. Okay. Yeah, cuz I'm like I don't have
115a mic. It's not on my calendar. It doesn't exist. We should tell Melissa. Yes. Okay, great. Thank you so much for those updates. Yes, we're very much looking forward to um what the cost estimator comes up with. Christina, curriculum. Curriculum. We had a meeting on Monday and we had two items we were discussing. One is advanced math which has been a concern for a while of particularly students and parents. Um the issue is that at at certain point um if you haven't had um I don't want to use the word tracking so I won't I'll put it out there but I won't use it. depending on what level um you've been put in in um four or five starting six. Okay. Um then you may or may not be able to get to calculus in
116high school which you know by the time some students get to high school they realize oh I do want to go into certain fields and so that's it's important to be able to get to that. So there was a lot of discussion. Um Mari had met. We were waiting for Mari to meet um get schedules aligned. So she was able to meet finally with student government and talk to students themselves about their concerns and stresses and everything else about being able to uh um access advanced math. So a lot of information came out. No no no particular decisions yet, but a lot of information came out. Um, there's concern about, like I said, students who who aren't yet lined up certain levels, then they are not be able to access algebra one. The clincher is
117algebra 1. When do you get to algebra 1? But there's two sides to the coin. On the one hand, if it's offered in middle school, as was discussed, um, that may be just too stressful for some kids. I mean, developmentally, some may not be ready for that more abstract math. Um and others on the other hand the others other students are like um ready for it and um there's a stressor and and not being challenged enough. So the big um clinch pin is really when and how do you decide which students are ready? Um so there was a lot of discussion around that um and what different um um determiners teachers could use to figure out which students could be recommended for it and you know discussions with parents and whatnot. So, it's still in
118um discussion um and a lot of good issues were brought up um but it's something that that needs to be explored um and at some point yeah next year and thank you for sharing that. I know I've I've heard that from my own uh students. I think I think the issue is nobody knew like middle school parents and kids like these are things that they they even know about. Yeah. on the horizon like what and and and it's important to get it out there in the public so that parents middle school or coming into middle school know and but know that we're aware of the issue and and and I would just add that in these student interviews for student reps uh certainly last year almost every student interviewed possibly every if I go back
119to my notes brought that up as a concern they wanted addressed as a student rep. I love that big came from the students because yeah, it sounds like you got to high school and then you realized your opportunities may have been limited. Yeah. And so yeah, that's awesome. So that was most of the curriculum meeting. The other part was just a brief um presentation. Katie Wallace um our junior student rep is also very interested in elementary exploring elementary world languages. So she asked had asked me whether she could put together a slideshow. I'm like, "Yeah, sure. So, um I gave her what I knew of some area schools that are doing elementary level um world languages. Um they are few and far between and had some successes and they have different models. So, she uh
120described some of that. I'm wondering if we can in some capacity get her slideshow up for either sharing with you all or sharing online or I can talk to you about that. But basically, she went over um what the area schools are doing, um the benefits, why we'd even be exploring this, and then she actually went into a big list of potential um ways it could be implemented here. And there are a lot of different ways um that it could be done. And so I uh just shout out to her for jumping in there and really exploring something. So I'm sure the conversation will continue. Um and Mr. reporter said that he would be um discussing potential elementary um world languages and strategic planning is as one topic among many. Yes. I'm coming to you
121I think it's the May it's the next meeting. It's the next May meeting. Yeah. The process. Yeah. Great. Can I ask a question? So on the back to the the algebra one thing. Yes. Um, so I don't have a kid in middle school yet. Um, but so from the track perspective, I do have an understanding that like we it sounds like in middle school, right, at sixth grade, they split up almost into two cohorts. Is that right? Like so um how what what percentage of students are we talking about that will not have access to like do we have any understanding because that changes I feel like the urgency or how we communicate right now. the parents are aware of it and not just it's great that we're bringing it up here, but like I
122don't know if that needs a much bigger communication out and then rect like coming. I think that's this was the an area where you know Mari wanted to talk to the student government. What are the concerns? Get them out there and then have me sort of explain like hey we're looking into this. We're aware. We're acknowledging yes it's a big problem. Um I I should avoid caution. I shouldn't have used the word track because that's a very touchy. You did say that. I did not say that erase that part please but you know options um and it's it's it's a concern that that that needs to be explored more and um I don't know we didn't talk numbers at all though I could tell you I could tell you though when when Mari was addressing
123it in the meeting as well she was saying because I was asking would that would if students were were chosen or wanted to do um algebra one um in middle school what numbers are we shocking and you know it it's was really in the clouds but it was they wouldn't be getting their own class as such they would just be studying that more um um I believe expedited was the word um that was used but I mean don't don't no I'm just thinking back to that survey response that was like are we serving our advanced students and so like that gets to me of like oh yeah approximately what percentage in sixth grade are advanced versus grade level. So, I I can answer it from a curriculum angle, too. We did used to have a
124lot more students um getting algebra one. And I don't know if Mari went into this at the meeting or not. I wasn't unfortunately didn't get it to this meeting. Um and then we changed math programs. And when we changed math programs, the math program that we went to had a lot more algebra one content in it for all students. So all students, the idea was to get all students more eligible one content instead of you know pulling kids out. However, we continue to meet the needs of those kids that really need something different. That's what we we've been doing. But we wanted to make sure all students were getting algebra 1 as well through this curriculum uh for through this program that's connected to the curriculum. So, I would, if I had to ballpark it,
125it's like a quarter of the three quarters. Maybe a quarter of our students are getting that. It might be a little bit more than that. Okay, Tim. I would say my eighth grade year, there was one class in each um team that was getting it. So, about a quarter. And I think one class was getting algebra one, two, sorry, in each team. So, there's two total classes, which was about a quarter of our grade. Okay. That was also the old curriculum. So if you use my household as a sample, it would be 50%. Two of my four. Yeah. But I don't think that counts. And I don't think I don't think we're we're not the only school district that I think is I I I think I've read things like this is a an issue
126that's being looked at across the country just about I think algebra one used to be more middle school and then it was sort of pulled out and now we're sort of facing that. There's always been a strong interest in this community to have an algebra one um option um at the middle school for kids that really want to get deep into algebra one to the point where they're ready for algebra 2 or geometry in ninth grade. Um, but they're done with with algebra 1. We went to this new math program. We were trying to bring all students up for algebra 1 and eighth grade, but I think the conversation shifted back. We've got to keep that group of students that needs a little bit more. Um, I know that a lot of middle schools go
127back and forth on this. this is not um my own kids in a different district also went through this algebra one or not in eighth grade and so it is a a commonplace topic. Um I think what we're hearing is that more families would like that deeper dive into algebra 1 in order to do calculus by high school uh by 12th grade and high school. Um that's still always a concern. We want more kids able to take calculus by the time they you know are able to do that in 12th grade. I don't know if this is an option, but I remember when I was in high school, we had um you could sign up to take algebra 1 the first semester of summer school before 9th grade. second semester was or so so summer
128was first semester, second semester was the first semester of school and then geometry and so by sophomore year you were ready for um algebra 2 which is kind of the same idea. So there might be creative ways that was brought up in the meeting like the idea of summer school. Um some students doing tutoring doing it. Um the the a view was expressed that may not be best because that may serve people students who are able to access that and not others who want to access that you know money the costs the summer. So yeah, we've had that possible option here as well. Conversations about we've had students in the summer try to shore up and get ready or um advance out of the algebra one piece too. So I think it's a a good
129conversation. Um it's come up a couple times since I've been here um in the past to reook at it. So I I definitely think it's worth probably a broader conversation um at some point. I know Mari obviously is very um in tune with it having just been the principal at 68. She has a lot of knowledge about this and certainly it's a good area for um her to look at again with the middle school. Great. Okay. Can I add one thing just real quick? Um, one of the things that Mari did really want to point out was that some of the the kids weren't really while they were academically ready, they may not brainwise be ready for some of the concepts of algebra 1. And that that that really created a challenge because it added
130to the stress and the trickle down um of getting ready for what's next. that constant chase. Um, and so the mental health aspect is just a huge concern for me. Yeah. And we talked about, you know, that was a good point you made and we talked about how there's both sides of that. There's stress like, oh my god, I should be doing this algebra one. Some kids aren't ready. On the other hand, some there's mental stress for other kids are like, I am so bored. I am so ready. So where to find that balance is is the key. Yeah. I just One question uh is it currently a because I know when I attended here we had a test I think in because it was seventh eighth grade together it was a junior high so
131seventh grade we had a test which defined like how we did and like we were borderline obviously it was a parent you know child choice but is that something we do now is it teacher based is it what determines the path I guess you mean to go into high school you mean or just the math going into sixth grade isn't it advanced math that in your fifth grade teacher says during your parent teacher conference this time of year I'm gonna I'm going to recommend that your kid goes into advanced math is what currently I believe they're called. Yeah, it's a recommendation from the it's fifth grade teacher. So then you but is it a test? No teacher recommendations done that year. Yeah, cool. I guess one more thing that I would add from the conversation
132that the committee had and that Mari mentioned was just looking maybe more at an annual reassessment so that it's not just that you get recommended in fifth grade either for advanced math or not and then that's what you're doing for the next three years. But it sounds like even last year or even this year, I'm sorry, um that uh Dr. Selby may be working with teachers this spring to identify kind of who are those students who are on the bubble who could potentially move from um grade level math to advanced math and have that be something that is looked at uh every year. Yeah. And I appreciate my own family's experience of when like my kid wasn't ready and then halfway through the year it was given the opportunity to to move and so that
133is the individualized nature I think of what this district does really well too. So I appreciate that. Um, all right. Equity. Uh, yes, we are meeting um this coming week, but we also met on March 12th, and uh we haven't had a schoolboard meeting with committee updates since then. So, I'll just highlight uh that meeting from March. We were able to bring in four of the student leaders who were involved with dialogue across differences. And it was really great to hear from them. It had been about six weeks since their um their big uh workshop. I believe that's correct. Does that sound about right? About six weeks. Do you remember? Sorry. No, that's okay. That's okay. It was the week it was done the week before February break, right? Yeah. Okay. So then Okay. So
134maybe about a month anyway. It gave them some time to sort of process how they felt about it and um really able to talk about what worked well. um what sort of followup there's been um and they are seeing some really positive results. They are seeing that um the students in the high school are maybe interacting a little bit more. There's a little bit more going on at lunchtime. um getting to know just a couple interesting things about your classmates has created opportunities for more just kind of fun conversations and um places for people to connect and you know find out things that they have in common. So, it was a really really encouraging presentation and conversation and um we spent the majority of the meeting um being able to just kind of pick their
135brains as well about what what else could be going on um whether that is something that they could uh bring down to the middle school and uh you know use their experience with the high school to see how that might work at the middle school. So, um very very encouraged. They are fantastic student leaders and that was just a small sampling of the the huge group that got involved. But um it was just some nice encouraging news to hear that uh that a lot of GRE students it seems are are feeling much more of a sense of inclusivity than they and belonging than maybe they had um a year or two ago. So um that was that was fantastic. And uh other than that, we're just doing what we're doing, working through the plan, and
136making sure that every single student and community member at Gley has an opportunity to achieve their best and that there are no obstacles to that. So that's what we're doing. I'll add something. It was about six weeks ago. Okay. But I would also say that from my four years at Gley, I think that's been like the student led conversations have those have been one of like the best and most impactful like group um talks or like things like um assemblies and stuff like that that's had an impact on students. So yeah, good work. I have nothing to do. Awesome. Okay. Is there any ad hoc committee reports? Oh, sure. Okay. So, we have a community partners meeting coming up with PTO and Foundation 51 on the 16th. In the meantime, oh, I had brought up
137PTO has a number of things that I was looking at on their Facebook page. So, there is a Gley Gear spring sale happening now through April 7th. They also have a technology use workshop coming up on April 10th with Erica Marcus, a mindfulness director and author. Uh sounds like suspect could be of great interest to many folks in our community. So encourage folks to get out for that. And then they are doing um an April vacation readathon which I think is maybe the second year that they've done this um specifically with kindergarten through third grade. So that'll be kicking off on April 17th. Great. Thank you. Any other ad hoc committees? Okay. So the next is the communications item and there is a draft board schedule um that's been shared. Um so this is continues
138with our Thursday meetings for next year for those of you who might be part of next year's board. Um and I see the question mark on the time for the the May budget meeting. Hey, it's seven o'clock. I keep saying 6:30. Oh, yes. Seven. Um, when uh do we need to finalize this by? Is this like our first read? It's not really a vote. It's just if there's any issues with it. Okay. Um or anything like that. The re the one big one is the retreat in the summer. And part of it is we didn't want to presume people's summer schedule. So Melissa knows she'll have to work with all of people on the board to figure out I know we had the I think we went back and forth 55 times last year because
139everybody's got different schedules. Uh but we'll figure it out. The other thing is Eileen King um from MSMA. She's the deputy executive director of MSMA. Um she um Leanne and I talked about um we haven't done this for a while. I used to have MSMA come down more regularly and work with the board. Um, but they usually um will do a program for boards. Um, that's part of what they do. We get a free part of our free membership. Um, and she'll come down and work with a board for like an hour, hour and a half um during that retreat. Um, but again, we have to work with her schedule, your all of your schedule. So Melissa's going to really be doing her magic to try to figure out what works in August for all
140of you and for Eileen, too, who's very busy. And we typically wait until after the elections in June just so the new board members schedules can also be accommodated. Um but yeah, the one the one meeting to to get on your calendar is that July 17th meeting. Um because that's our one regular um board meeting during the summer where it can there's some important things that could come up. Um it's mostly staff appointments. um any new staff. That's an important meeting for approving staff. Okay. And we'll just take a double check of Thursday meetings before Fridays that are off on vacation weeks. Just we know that. Yeah. Yeah. Because I already see that's a in April again. April is a conflict again. I mean, if we can try to figure out a different date. Yeah.
141This far in the start. Yeah. Even if that's the only one I saw. Yeah. Because February, the Friday is school. Happy anniversary. I ain't gonna be here. Happy anniversary. I'm just gonna toss that Well, we'll move it so you can be Yeah, exactly. You don't have to move anything. I'm just saying I'm not going to make it. But Sarah can't reschedu just for you. And has the joint times been shared with the towns yet or those uh the the what? The joint meetings. No, those were um I don't believe so. We kind of penned in what we were doing this year and um we're going to then check with the towns, but we wanted to make sure okay it was okay with the board first, but we will communicate those. Okay. Do other um board
142members have questions yet about the calendar? I know. I feel like I'm already scheduling my own stuff out and if they're not on the calendar, right, doesn't exist. I guess I need to get re-elected. Check with the towns before she none of it matters. Keep forgetting about that part. Um, okay. Awesome. That was really um all I had. Uh, yes, Christina. Another communication. Oh, yes. Go ahead. I just want to give a shout out um to our junior student rep, Katie Wallace. Apparently, she likes all things government, so she really wanted to come visit um at the state house, which if anyone wants to, any of you out there here, let me know. But she apparently was really into it and she wanted to see a full day. Okay. So, that would be caucus, session,
143and um committee meeting, which, you know, be a normal day. As it turned out, um she picked a day that was a a record day. Um the record's been broken, mind you, but she picked a day where we were going over the budget. And um she I I mentioned this because she did us proud. Um all our student reps are are very poised and very mature. And I have to say that um the 14 hours that she was there, she carried herself very well. She didn't spllay on the floor. Some legislators did. And I just want to say um she really was very impressive and um did us proud. Cool. So, I can't guarantee a shorter day if any of you want to come visit or anyone out there in schooland. Um, but yeah, it
144was a a good day and she did as well. That's very cool. Thanks for sharing. We share that on social media. Social media. Yeah. So, this may not be the right area for this. Um, but I it didn't seem like something to ask Mari either. Um what do we have communications in place to talk with alumni? um you know to find out about how not being able to be in advanced math may have affected college or um just even talking to my own kids who have graduated some of the thing some of the feedback u oh most of it very very strong when they get to college u the things that they learned here at Gley particularly the seventh grade executive functioning skills they still um rely on that so I'm just curious I know
145we've asked about this previously. The reason we don't we used to have a person in our office but we we eliminated the position years ago was a community outreach person. Um and her part of her job is to connect with alumni. U problem is that we don't get students emails when they leave. So we tried and and all their emails change, everything changes and it was unreliable. Um and there's no way for us to keep up with it. We don't we don't collect through power school. We can't do that. So there's no way to really for us to connect with alumni. Um so are there class reunions here often? Yes. Oh, there's whenever he goes all kinds of Okay. Yeah, it seems like there may be like class specific. Actually, that's a good good job
146for Mari. I'm going to have her start visiting class reunions. We'll have a sign up, you know, sheet, you know. Yeah. I mean, when we talk about outcomes, right, it's just it's it's hard when they they stop. Like the only marker that we have is maybe when and if they went to college right after high school, but then we don't even know the graduation college graduation rates, right? We used to get more information. Um we used to get data a data report um every year from I think it was department of ed and they would um give us information about at least the state schools and information about our district and how they were doing. But we haven't had that in years. So we don't have a good way of outreaching to alumni. We don't.
147And and I would be as curious about um not so much as what college they got into, but what college they took their sophomore, junior, and senior year at and did they take their senior year and um you know, and and obviously not all of that reflects on the Gley education, but it would also be a good data points for things like tracks in fourth and fifth grade and caring forth and stress and so on. That was the report we used to get. It would actually have enough information that would track and it was it was I don't remember where it came from exactly but we got it from the district. So it's a the National Student Clearing House does it and you can do that and I but they you it's hard to get
148that information. It's like 40 to 50% respon like return. But P school does have like add-ons if we were looking into that where you could store some of like where if alumni would have to like sign permission or not subscribe. There's like legal things to us annoying them from an alumni standpoint. But there are options if that's an investment that we that you want to one wants to make that you could follow and track and send alumni emails or updates. Do you want to update your email from this point and stuff? There there are options but it it is an investment in P school. It's not free or anything, but National Student Clearing House is is free and I have contacts there if we need to get some of those. Could it be as simple
149as putting a um a link on our website, just have an alumni tab and u maybe have an ongoing Google form? A Google form. Yeah. Where either we could say, you know, what year did you graduate? What were some things that were really beneficial to you? and then try to um promote that without you know a a specific survey. But I don't know I just opportunities for graduates because I think that when they look back after 5 10 years they can really say wow you know I I didn't see it at the time but this worked really well or gee I hope you guys have fixed this because this was a problem. I it just might be interesting to have that. There are Facebook there's got to be Facebook groups but those are like now
150they have Tik Tok groups. I don't know where these alumni. What are they doing? They're not on Facebook. Yeah, not the signal group maybe. So, no. Yeah, I think it's something that keeps coming up that um as my kids get older, I certainly continue to be interested in like Yeah. Is there a culture where you you need to go to a four-year school, but then they aren't able to stay for whatever reason? And so, just curious. Okay. Can I have a motion to adjurnn? So move. Okay. Thank you, Sarah. Have a second. Thank you, Kim. All in favor? Great. Unanimous. Good seeing everyone. Not too late yet. Which is good because I still