001Now that I found that good evening and welcome good evening and welcome to the Scarboro Board of Education business meeting. The date is Thursday, May 7th, 2026. Uh would everyone please join me for the pledge of allegiance? I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you so much. Ray, can we call the attendance, please? >> Yes. Miss Jacobs is absent. >> I think she's online, right? >> Online. Oh, sorry. >> Nope. She will be joining us online. >> Uh she yes should be. >> Mr. Callahert >> here. >> Miss Lindstöm >> here. >> Miss Mau >> here. >> Mr. Rockstar >> here. >> Miss Tarpinian >> here. >> Mr. Pinehoff >>
002here. >> Mr. Rsina >> here. >> And Miss Clarrett is excused. >> She's excused. Yes. >> And Miss Jacobs is now with us. >> Awesome. All right. Um agenda item 2.0 is resignations, retirements, and new hires. This is a non-action item. Um if you refer to the agenda, you can um see the documents and your materials. You can see that document. Agenda item 3.0 are adjustments to the agenda. We do have one adjustment and that is we are removing um agenda item 14.0 executive session. So we will be done with that. I think that works. And so adjournment will be our new item 14. All right. Agenda item 4.0 is recognition. 4.1 is the student spotlight award. So for this we'll turn it over to Abby. >> Okay. So for our May spotlight award, our
003winner is by Kopala. And the person who nominated her is Miss Reiner. >> Would you would you like to speak, Miss Rer? Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Come right to her, dude. That'd be great. >> Um, hi. I'm Annie Riner. I'm an English teacher at the high school. Um, I nominated Vashani before she became validictorian and so I'm even more proud of her now. Um, and um, I just want to say she's excellent in every possible way. Um, she is earnest and serious and focused and incredibly hardworking, but she's also humble and gracious and genuine and light-hearted and also strangely unflapable, at least in my class. Um, she wants to do well, and it always shows, of course. um she's a valid Victorian but she's also just driven by this innate love of learning which
004is so admirable and um her teachers I know I as one of them Mr. colors here um admire it so much. It's so um authentic. She is a polymath. Her academic success is equal across all subjects. It's truly astounding. Incredible talent in visual art and math. I'm her English teacher and I thought her talent was in English. Like I had no idea, right? Like it's just she's so verbally gifted, right? And we disagree. Like where is her talent? It's everywhere. Um she's polymath. She's also committed to causes um much bigger than her academic success. Public health, civil rights, social justice are all passions I know of, but there's probably many more. And um she will because of this just thrive in college. We're so proud of her. She's going to UNCC Chapel Hill next year.
005Um she's deeply admired and respected by staff, students alike. Um and she is deserving of this award just many times over. That's it. Take a picture. Did you want to say anything? >> Um, just thank you for today, Ashley. Um, >> yeah, it's been a really fun year and I'm really grateful for for all the learning opportunities in English and then just throughout high school for all opportunities that Scar's given to >> to be here with one of my best friends to have you. >> A well, that's so lovely. Oh, and congratulations on being valadictorian. That's really exciting. That's a huge accomplishment. >> Oh, congratulations. >> All right. Um, agenda item 5.0 are presentations. 5.1 is a Scarbor High School extended enrichment uh programs. So for this we'll invite Mike and Nola. >> Good evening.
006Thank you for having us. I'll start with uh Storm for a Cure. Mr. Carol couldn't be here this evening, but um they've done a tremendous job and he volunteers his time to keep that uh club going and they work really hard different fundraisers uh to raise money for breast cancer awareness. Um and so they have quite a few students involved in that, probably about 10 or 15. Uh the next group I'll have Miss Maro come up and talk about the chess club. Um Chris Hayward um is the um head of chess club and couldn't be here today. Um good evening. On behalf of Chris Hayward, I'm pleased to share a brief update on the SHS she chess club. This volunteer-led program provides students with a welcoming space for students to gather with like-minded peers and
007play chess. Over the years, we've seen participants build confidence, strengthen critical thinking skills, and engage in meaningful, positive social interactions. By volunteering to supervise this weekly club, we've created a simple yet impactful opportunity to support students intellectual growth, emotional development, and sense of community. Thank you. >> And Mr. Keller with Gender and Sexuality Alliance. So, um, my name is Aaron Keller. I'm a chemistry teacher. Um, and I've been doing, uh, GSA for almost two years, and, uh, it's super fun. Um, I actually have handouts. Can I give handouts? >> Yeah. >> So, this is just a copy of my remarks, and then, uh, I'll explain what the other thing is in a moment. >> Oh, wouldn't that be nice? I don't know. I think I've got extra. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, the
008primary mission of the club is to provide a safe place to socialize uh with a special emphasis of course on welcoming members of the LGBTQ plus community. Students come and they stay because they enjoy one another's company and because they know that they are in a supportive place. This year we published our first zen. That's what you're holding. Uh, this is a small publication printed on a single sheet of paper and folded into booklet form. The Zen highlights artistic work by our members including drawing, poetry, and a music review from the Zen. Uh, this is a quote from the one of the students who uh helped to write the Zen. At the GSA, we welcome everyone unconditionally. It's a safe space for you to hang out with your friends and meet some new like-minded people
009as we play games or just hang out. Our student leaders are Blair Hartley, our president, Natalie Morgan Besser, our vice president, and Elenora Dere, our ambassador to rainbows and unicorns. Elenora has been leading an effort to have our club participate in the baloria ceremony this year, which is great. Um, a feeling of belonging of course is very important for everybody in life and especially a young person in school and GSA provides a place where students can be sure that they will be accepted exactly as they are. Currently, our plans are to increase awareness around the school about the club so that more interested students know about it and can come to our meetings. >> Good. Thank you. >> And finally, Miss Becker is with Shakespeare in the Park. >> Okay. Um, I am Carrie Becker
010and I am one of the co-founders of Shakespeare in the Park. I'm gonna keep within my three minutes, but I was really excited to present. So, I have a presentation. Okay. Um, so Shakespeare in the Park was uh began in 2019. One of my colleagues and I, Rich Wesley, decided to give the kids an opportunity to perform Shakespeare and there were about eight kids and it was scenes and monologues in the school all-purpose room. Um few years later we produced 12th night and it was exciting and then co hit and because co hit Mike Leage said well why don't you guys do it in the park and we did and I don't know if the is my slideshow oh there okay sorry you don't have to read any of that I can there's pictures but
011so the next slide just explains that after co hit um we we started in the park so I don't know if I can get the next slide yeah that's okay yeah that's fine so we're in the park and it was amazing and all over the beach chairs and everybody came and we thought this is cool. So if you want to see the next slide, this is how it started. This was Much to Do About Nothing. We were about to storm in the park. Um and we always do a little bit of twist. So Much to Do About Nothing was um took place on D-Day and the boys were coming home from World War II. Could keep going. I'm just so excited about our This is us storming and you could see our crowd and it
012just grew so tremendously and it's just so exciting. Um, keep on going. This is as you like it to graduated students. I don't know if you've ever been to one of our shows. It's just incredible to see the kids doing this outside. Um, to do nothing. And then of course I put this in here because these this group of freshmen, they were freshmen. They were nobodyies that like their characters were like no names. And these are all the leads in a Midsummer Night stream that we're producing in this year. They're all in they're all grown and leads and amazing. Um and that's us. So, and then the next slide I just talked a little bit about um community. Um if you've ever been to one of our shows, there are families there. There are people
013that don't even have kids in the school system. They're there with their animals, their dogs, their family, their dinners. Um it's really exciting. And then the final slide. Um if you keep going. Oh, these are all the shows we've done. All the plays we've done. Um our mission which I don't know speaks for itself. It's just it's an opportunity and kids go to school, colleges, English programs, theater programs having four Shakespeare plays under their belts which so exciting. And then um finally our last slide. We have now our very last slide, sorry. We've just kind of gotten into the habit of taking our troop to the eighth grade eighth graders. And this is Romeo and Juliet. And I can't show you the picture of like I don't have a picture of the kids, but they're
014all sitting criss-cross applesauce and they're like this watching. Yeah, it's so cute. I don't Yeah. Anyway, I'm really proud of this program. So, um I mean I just think our goal eventually is some funding, but we just we just keep pushing through and producing plays for the public. >> Awesome. Thank you >> and I think that's it for everybody. Uh so thank you for having us. >> All right. Are there any any comments? Any discussion? Just I I just want to say that I thank you for you know working to include kids and to I just want to make a comment just how impressed I am with everything you do with our students and you know particularly with our LGBTQ plus students and and as you say you take in nobody's and then become stars
015over the course of of of the of the years that they're at Scarbor and really connect our community. So thank you. >> Thank you everybody. >> Thank you so much. Happy to do it for the kids. It's right now it's a volunteer position. Happy. >> Thank you. >> All right. Agenda item 5.2 is eight corner school presentation. So for this we'll invite Ally Wilson. Alison Wilson. >> I'm short. We have to put this down. >> There we go. Well, thank you for having me. From some of our oldest to some of our youngest. Um, I probably should have gone first for the primary schools cuz now I feel like I have something to, you know, live up to. But here we go. You get me at the end. Um, this is my first year at
016Eight Corners. I have really enjoyed my time uh in Scar Bro so far. This school is a special place. Um, very vibrant, very diverse. Um, and so I'll tell you a little bit more about it. you probably know more than I do, but um here's some from my perspective, some fun facts. Um we have a lot of languages spoken or read by families, and these are just a small handful. There are many more. Um so we actually have had lots of interpreters at meetings. Um we've had been using Reach My Teach to communicate with these families, which has been a gamecher. Um, and so they're they're a very big part of our population and we really feel like we are wrapping ourselves around them as families and as kids and really looking at what they
017all need. So, um, we have 60 staff. We have 14 classrooms, four special ed teachers with along with three service providers. I won't read all of that to you, but um a group of really hardworking people who have kids at the center. Um students are 26% of our students are students who are identified with an IEP. Um another 4% are students with a 504. students who see our social worker is a 23% so almost one out of every four of our students um meets with our social worker on a weekly basis at least once a week. And then you've heard a lot about the MTSS process throughout the last couple of years and ours is really vibrant and quite large. Um we have 39% of our students are involved in the MTSS process. So currently
01888 of our 227 students are in that process. Um and there we are tracking 167 different interventions. So that means there's 167 goals that are being tracked on a weekly basis and then we are meeting at least 12 times a year uh to check in on on their progress uh and make decisions on do we change their goal, do we need to look further, is there something else that we are missing. So um we were really happy at our last meeting that we had some kids graduating out of that process. So um it shows that from students that what we're doing is working and we're really seeing some growth especially in our literacy um in grades one and two who are doing their flex grouping model. We have a total of 227 students like I
019mentioned uh kindergarten with 75 grade one is a large group with 86 and we are sending 66 second graders off to Wentworth next year. You've heard a little bit about this. Safe, kind, and responsible is something that all three primary schools uh use as language. And so we have a behavior matrix that we talk about what does it look like to be safe, kind, and uh responsible. Uh sorry, I put responsible. You know what happened? That was my old school. It's safe, kind, and focused. It's on the matrix. My apologies. But students can earn what we call B tickets. So, if they are caught being good uh or doing one of those things, they can come down and vote. And um it's hard to see the picture here, but um we've had I think five
020different days on a Friday. The most recent was hat day. You'll see that in the middle there. And so, the most students voted for hat day and they got to wear a hat for a day. And they really enjoy those days. Uh and they enjoy coming down to vote even more. They love Mrs. Kersh who gets to say hello. Uh we've gone to a few different places this year. Cumberland County Fair, Public Works, the Children's Museum. The second graders really have a large portion of our field trips that go out into the community. Um we do get the younger students out. Um most years this year just with transportation or something didn't work with timing. So those will come back in in the future. We also have people travel to us. The fire department came
021during fire safety week. They talked about fire safety in the home. They took the kids out. They got to get on the trucks. They thought that was amazing. Um so and really fun to have those got men and women who are serving our community come to see the kids um and have the kids get to see them up close and personal. The Cromwell Center for Disabilities uh I don't know if you've heard about that. I think Jen spoke about it la last week at the meeting. Um they also came to um eight corners and met with our first and second graders and um their goal is really to make sure that everyone feels safe and welcomed at school and so just continuing to spread that message. Minwanzas uh also came. Uh she is a Native
022American and spoke at all three of our primary schools as well again and uh then met with our first and second graders in small group. So there were many more could have filled the whole page. We do a monthly community meeting, talk about a lot of different things, but it's a really good chance for those younger students to realize that they are part of a much larger community. When they go to their kindergarten classroom, they really only see that as school. And so, um, we really want them to to know that, you know, they're a part of 230 almost 230 students and 60 staff. So, you're talking about 300 people in that building every single day. And so getting them in that room, being able to hear the same message, see their peers, um, is
023really, really special. So some of the things we've talked about this year, fire safety, some just general whole school reminders. We had some silly, uh, outdoor gear presentations where we had our staff uh, up on the big screen missing different pieces of winter gear, and the kids thought it was fun, but they also learned what do you need to be out in the snow. We had some musical guests. one of our eighth graders um who was in Annie came down uh he won the talent show um >> yep and um came down and sang for the kids did his talent show um song and we also did the spread the word campaign uh which um stopped the word um and talked about you know again inclusion and making sure everyone feels welcome which leads us
024right into this next slide talking about connections, it's really um something that you can watch every day. You have, you know, those two holding hands. One of them was helping the other get to where he needed to be. Uh we have second graders who do book buddies with some of the kindergarteners and uh outside at recess, you know, just having a blast. Just some other experiences that were offered. Hour of Code went came in the fall and so students got to experience some technology that was not a screen and so learning about coding, learning about different things and then um my this was as my first year the Altown course um that's an amazing opportunity. When I first heard about it I was like what is this? And then when I was there it it's
025magical. So those all of those second grade students being able to be up there with the rest of the musicians of the district was just a really cool opportunity. One of the things that um I wanted to increase um we all have talked about you know how co changed how we did things but um bringing back some community connections and getting more people who are don't have kids into the schools. And so one of the things we did this year was to have a Veterans Day assembly. I messaged the uh main Veterans Home in Scarboro and they bust over some veterans and so we honored them with a ceremony. Um it wasn't it was the day after uh Veterans Day and we're going to do that again uh next year and we're going to kind
026of grow it a little bit and have you know students who have family members who are veterans be able to stand up and recognize them staff who are veterans themselves or um have family who are veterans, you know, just kind of branch it out a little bit even more. So um but it was that was fun. Spanish. Um you've heard a little bit from uh Bluepoint about how we had Nikki Vaviatis come over and teach um Spanish to our second graders. They she came during second trimester. They got to talk about a lot of different things. Uh she really tries to work with whatever they're doing currently in the classroom and make connections there. And so uh and also offer resources. So, there were a whole bunch of Spanish magazines available in the library when
027she was done. And the next slide, I think, just shows a little bit more of some of the things that they talked about. So, you know, it was winter and so they talked about snowmen and all the parts of the snowmen and they talked about what is that in Spanish? Um, hundth day activities, some math. So, it was it's really um a great opportunity. And what I thought was magical was we have a student who speaks Spanish primarily and um when she came in and started talking Spanish, the story that I got was that she just and she just was so excited and was so every week when that was coming, she just was ready for that opportunity to be able to speak in her native language and to have somebody else she could converse
028with. So, um, great opportunity for our students, just some more fun. Um, you know, our teachers are are good sports. We have a, um, they, you know, survived 67 days of school. You know, we embraced the 67 at eight corners and it seems to have, you know, made it kind of go away, which was great. Um, we had a twin day as you can see. Um, and one was to uh dress like Mr. Parker day on his birthday. Um, and so all the kids dress like Mr. Parker. It's it's adorable. So, so looking ahead uh at Eight Corners, uh, some of the things that I would like to continue to build on is those community connections. We are piloting a volunteer program with the PTA. So, uh, building a bank of volunteers and when we
029have a need, being able to reach out to a point person and they will send out a mass email. We'll get hopefully people signed up who are willing to come in. And the goal is for this to range from um helping in the library to put put books back on the shelves to copying to, you know, reading with students, being at lunch just as another set of eyes. Recess same thing. So really building that um to get people who want we people are want to be in the schools that's something that at case screenings people are asking what are our opportunities so we want to embrace that I would love to uh in addition to that create and pilot a mentor program we have uh community members who have you know time on their hands
030in retirement and want to give back and so uh we had a really robust program where I came from And it really was an awesome opportunity for those students who kind of flew by the under the radar. They weren't necessarily receiving a bunch of services, but they might need a little pickme up or a little something. So, um, and it was really great to get those community members in our buildings, um, because they can also spread the word about what we're doing and, um, things that are going on, building on that Veterans Day ceremony. Um, and I would love to do something like a family barbecue. Um it just get people together for no other reason than just to get together. Um and you know our space is a little limited currently at eight corners
031but um that's something to look forward to in the future. As I mentioned looking forward to the future um we're continuing to work with the team at Haramman and we met with them last week as a staff to look at the updated floor plans where they stand now. We're very excited. Um, it's going to be a wonderful ending and process, but the process to get there we know is going to be interesting at times, but um, it's going to be worth every minute of it to have that space that they're they're showing us. So, um, and you know, just continuing to provide a safe, caring environment for our students to learn. That's that's our goal. So, >> all right. Thank you so very much. or is there any discussion, any comments? >> Well, I just
032want to say how happy it makes me to hear about these community connections. We've talked about that a lot as a board and we've we've worked towards it ourselves and so I'm just so thrilled to hear that you that you've really taken some nice steps to do that. I just it makes my heart so happy. So, >> we need that community, right? >> Yeah, that's right. >> Definitely. I would just add on to that and say um this is the first time where I felt like I had an opportunity to maybe make a suggestion about that. Um, one of the things when the first school project failed that we heard um I actually Jillian and I went to the the senior citizens group to call bingo and or it was lunch actually was lunch at
033the time and literally one man at the front was asked us if we could stop talking so that he could eat his food and I was like, "Huh, that's interesting." And then another person um finally spoke up and said, "You know, we always feel like it's us versus the kids." >> Yeah. And so what it it spoke volumes to me because I think what we somehow lost along the way is that community connection with some of our older population. And so we've been really working on that. That's where the senior dinner came from. Um and that has been an amazing opportunity for for our senior citizens to be able to reconnect with the school community and see what the offerings are and see what's available to them. I would love it if we could take
034it one step further and maybe develop in my mind like a grandparent program. I don't know what it looks like. We have a lot of um >> very similar to what Yeah. kind of what it looked like. >> Yeah. So I would um if you're if you and and the other principles are thinking of like adding on programming. Um I would love to see something like that. And I know like this last dinner um when they were leaving the senior citizens were so I I was texting people the Annie link. I would we were talking about how amazing the kids are that we have. And I think sometimes like yes you have your grandkids and yes you have your neighbors but sometimes it's different right to get to come in and and really experience the
035kids one-on-one. It creates a much different deeper relationship. It >> sure does. Y >> yeah. So thank you for all you've done and if you looking for something else there's another one for you. >> There's always more to do. Right. >> All right. Thank you all. >> Thank you so much. >> Thanks. >> All right. Agenda item 6.0. 0 is a superintendent report. So Diane, we'll turn this over to you. >> Yes. So as I start off every month, uh just a brief uh update on enrollment. You can see enrollment is um holding quite steady. Um and uh you'll see one more enrollment report uh as we're in the month of May. So we're moving right along. Uh hard to believe. Uh the next slide you'll see um wanted to kind of share some updates
036with you in terms of where we are for prek and kindergarten registration. Um so currently we have about 60 students um uh whose families have expressed interest in prek. Uh earlier the number was higher uh but we have had a few people um asked to have their names removed. I think um some of our families are having a difficult time figuring out child care on the other half. Um we certain certainly recognize that that was one of the barriers. Yeah. >> Um this year and are really um already in conversation with community services for next year um to be able to build that in as a component of the program. So, you know, even though that isn't something that's in place, it's still really great to see that we have a high number of families
037uh that really are interested. And so, we um ha we started screening last week. Uh Ruth from Shooting Stars and her staff along with some scarro school staff um have been doing all the prek screenings. Um and that will um wrap up tomorrow uh for the folks that had um already registered. Um and then next week uh we'll meet together and we'll um take a look at the results of that screening and make some placement decisions and inform parents about that. Um I would just say we do still have some openings. As you know, our hope was to um have uh the benefit of 80 students this year. So, there is still some space available for that. Um and I know um I check our registration portal every day and even just this week, right?
038Like even though we haven't been doing any advertising, we had a couple more families add in. So, I think that there's still um a robust amount of time between now and the start of the school year. So, um we're really excited about that. Um we're in the process right now of um um selecting uh interviewing um staff for that program. Um and then also um setting up um an opportunity for some summer training um through the DOE. Um they have a program that's called PreK for me. That's a really great professional development program and um so I think that is something that um we're interested in doing and I know in talking with Ruth um the staff at Shooting Stars even though they're a community partner are also really interested in um taking part in
039that professional development. So there's going to be some really great opportunities um for that in the coming year. Um our registration for kindergarten to date um is increasing. We have about 200 students um that are registered for kindergarten right now. And if you uh recall that number from the first slide, it was a we have about 186 kindergarten students this year. So, uh we do have a higher number of uh incoming kindergarten students coming to us. Um screening is underway um at the kindergarten level. That's uh something that's handled at each school independently. Um and so uh uh some screening has already taken place. Um and certainly if parents have questions um they can reach out to their school directly about that. Um families who haven't registered it is definitely time to be registering um
040because we want to make sure that we are uh fully prepared uh and ready to receive students. So, um I know that even this afternoon we had a parent come in uh just around 4 o'clock and he was inquiring um about how to register his little one um for kindergarten and we had a very vibrant 5-year-old who was excited um to be here and to learn about um you know what his dad needed to do to help him out. So um so that's just a super exciting time for us. Um, and then as you know, I do work really hard every month um to try to um just include information about things that we're celebrating. So, if you could move to the next slide, please. Um, first off, I want to just start by saying
041we're really celebrating our staff this week. Um, hopefully all of you are aware uh that it was staff appreciation this week. Um, wouldn't wouldn't it just figure uh the one day that we ordered ice cream trucks for all of our schools, it rained. Um, but anyway, um, everyone did have a benefit of ice cream. All they had to do is stand under an umbrella and wait to order it. Um, but you know, that is a small token, uh, that we try to do from the district uh, for folks. Um and then I know that we also extend, you know, so many thanks um to our PTO's, our PTA, um our individual families um for taking time out of their week to acknowledge um the work and commitment of our staff. Um, I would encourage all
042of you, um, and anyone listening that even to just take a moment to send a quick email to somebody that has made a difference for your kid just out of the blue, you know, and again, I'm sure that you can think of numerous people, but even if you only have time to send one of those messages, I can't say enough about um what that means to our staff when they get those things unsolicited. did. Um, so I will also be adding that in the newsletter tomorrow. So hopefully that will um encourage some others to just let our um our incredible staff know um that they're seeing and really appreciated. Um a couple of other updates that I wanted to share with you about some groups that I had already talked with you about. Um, so
043we had um, uh, one of our teams from VEX Robotics um, went to the World Championship um, over April break and Michael Gage was doing a really great job um, getting the details and information and texting us in real time about how they were doing. Um, and we're really excited because, um, our team came in 14th place out of 600 teams. And so that is really quite an accomplishment. >> Um, they made it to the finals. Um, and so, you know, we were kind of like on pins and needles because Mike's like, they're going to be in the finals tomorrow and then like, you know, here's the next update and so on and so forth. And so, um, they were even named captains of their alliance. >> Wow. >> Um, and so, you know, I
044think that says a lot because what that really says is that peers that they got to know while they were there, recognized the leadership that they brought. Um, and so these are just really amazing opportunities for our students and I just couldn't be more proud. And then finally, um I think both um the student reps and I had talked about um uh the ACE team as well before April break. And so they attended um the national competition uh that actually took place in Washington DC the first Monday that we were back from vacation. So the 27th and they earned first runner up in the construction industry um design. So if you remember um their project was on Mount Kataden um and so yeah really amazing um opportunities and and that is an experience that they
045were supported by a couple of staff members at the high school as well as some community mentors from the field. So, um you know, these are the things that we're just incredibly proud of. Um our NEAS visiting team um was at the high school this week. Um yesterday a couple of you had an opportunity to meet with them along with the district um team and um it is really great when you go through a period of self-reflection that is as robust as the NEAS um process is and you get great feedback. um the person who was leading the NEAS team um for this check-in um literally said to us yesterday that the report of which I shared with all of you earlier this week um was probably of the highest quality, the best report >>
046that they have ever seen. um and and the person who leads this um leads all kinds of um you know these groups and visiting schools. And so that really says a lot about um what we already know about our programming and our staff at Scarboro High School. So I love to brag on this district and I appreciate that opportunity that you give me every month to do so. Thank you so much, Diane. Any questions for Diane or comments? >> Just uh I was there along with Shannon yesterday and it was really heartening to hear that um and just very impressed. So um you know that we have a school district that is you know that well respected and admired. So >> all right, agenda item 7.0 is a chair's report. Um I was also going
047to talk about the NAS meeting. Um I um my two big takeaways was that the gentleman who um has over I think that he said he has been overseeing this process for 20 years. That's what I see that's what Cy and I seem to land on. Um and in 20 years this was the best report he had ever seen. That is pretty unbelievable. >> Um and so very very strong words of um encouragement there. But also they talked about so I guess the meeting if we take one step backward the meetings were in groups and in pockets and so there was a meeting with some students and when they were asking the students what their favorite part of school was um being in school they said the their teachers and so when we think about
048the culture we're we're trying to create here and um the deep relationships that are built between students and their trusted adults um it's really amazing that that comes through organically um without pushing from anybody else right that the students on their own can identify that that's one of the best parts here. So, um it was a really good really good meeting. Um Cresy and I got to attend for the board um along with Diane and um some of the leadership team uh that was with us in our meeting and it was it was really really good. Um I left feeling very hopeful that um this um accreditation will continue. So, it didn't sound to me like that there um was cause for concern that we might not get it. So, I left feeling feeling good
049about that. Um, also yesterday, it's been a busy week. Also, yesterday was our community forum on um navigating technology use at home. Um, this was a challenging time I think for families. uh when we went think initially thinking about this uh I didn't um necessarily give thought to spring of spring sports all the things that happened >> it was also raining and nobody likes to come out in the rain so there was just a lot of things that kind of stacked up we did have um online and in person about 20 attendees so um I think that the information provided there was 20 I should say 20 attendees outside of Mitchell was there Cy was there Frela was there and I was there But outside of our board, that's what we had. And leadership was
050also there. So Rey, Diane, um, Cheryl was there. Um, uh, Jen Day came and Katie came. So we had really good leadership attendance. We had really good board attendance and then about 20 community members on top of that. And what um, I thought it was really valuable to hear um, the information that that they were able to provide. I know Diane's going to include this in the district newsletter. Um, one of the things that was new to me actually and I I wrote it down. Um, Dr. Famberg, who is our school doctor, he actually said that um, there is a new um, he didn't call it an illness. He said there's a new diagnosis that is out and it's called problematic internet use. And it has gotten to be um, it's gotten to be uh,
051it's gotten to the point where Boston Children's Hospital now has a clinic that solely focuses on this. Um, and so they did a lot of talking around um, areas to be mindful of, things to look for, um, sign, warning signs to be to be focusing on in the h in the home. Um, we talked through, they give a lot of resources. We talked through um, strategies for parents and things that they could do to help um, combat, you know, too much usage in the household. And it was really, quite honestly, I think at the end of the day, it was a lot of good information. And so, um, I know Diane's planning to and Cheryl are planning to put this out in the district newsletter tomorrow. And so, I think community members who weren't there,
052we did record it. Hopefully, it sounds okay. We did. I'll use the microphone. So, hopefully we were it was okay there. But, um, I think that's good information for um the community. And then the third thing is these are our upcoming uh workshops. So, May 21st is our um annual retiree celebration. Somehow we're approaching the end of the school year. >> Yeah. >> Don't know how. Um but here we are. Um and then June 19th is our academic update. Um and that is with >> June 18th. >> Oh, did I have >> Oh, I'm sorry. June 18th. I will correct that before. Um >> is June 18th not the right day either? >> It's June. No, it's June 18th. >> Okay. Thursday. Okay. June I will correct that before we leave here tonight. So that
053that'll be um corrected for the website. Um that is our academic update with Katie. >> All right. Agenda item if there's no questions for me. >> All right. Agenda item 8.0 are committee reports. 8.1 is the community outreach communications report. So Charlotte, >> hello. Um just uh some brief updates and wanted to spotlight that we had a really successful um senior citizens celebration dinner. Um it was a lot of fun. It was my first one, but uh I really think it it turned out really well. Um some other updates are the conversations with counselors and board of education members. I listed the dates and times and location. Um, in April we had a staff spotlight award recipient of Jillian Dagel. She's our um our Bluepoint um principal. And then on May 21st, we'll have another
054uh staff spotlight award for May. And our upcoming meeting is to to be determined. >> Thank you so much. Are there any questions for Charlotte? All right. Agenda item 8.2 is the curriculum committee. So this is uh Jillian. >> All right. We had our last meeting on Monday. Um we meet online at 5:30 on the first Monday of the month. Um we we mostly focused our conversation on the math curriculum and the budget and what was going to happen. And um I we all had questions about what that really looks like. And um and so uh we we've all heard that there's a potential those will be broken up into two years. Uh middle school getting the first um curriculum change and then rolling down into the lower grades. Um the Katie pro provided us
055a great update there and and we asked you know was there any benefit to buying the whole thing all at once and they don't actually provide a volume discount. Um the there may be an annual increase in their budget year-over-year. I mean in their in their budget in their um pricing year-over-year between 5 and 8%. Um and the K5 costs were actually driven um they're a little bit higher because there's more materials and they have these center kits that um uh the they need to purchase to go along with the curriculum. Um and then other than that there was uh a lot to do with uh the professional development and the you know it goes to Katie did such a great job. if you have a chance to listen to it. I can't probably do
056as well as her, but um one of the things that she talked about was that uh this professional development is smaller at the at the middle school because they only need to do PD for the math teachers, but at the K5 all the classroom teachers teach math. And so there's a lot more people to provide professional development to. And that's that's why there's such a gap. Um, I mean there's also five six grades versus three, but um, so there there's an additional 185,000 for the K5 for the full scale training. And so um, breaking it up gives uh, the the budget a little bit of a a give. Um, and so we will see how that goes. Um, there are also spring assessments happening. Um the main through year has begun at the high uh
057high school is complete Wentworth was starting and middle middle school is next week. There's also MEA science testing that's happening that happens at 5th, 8th and 11th grade. And then I Ready is happening at the lower grades, the 11th through the 22nd. And then those results are expected late May. And so we'll hear about them at our next meeting and then for the June update. So, uh, lots going on in that world. Our next meeting is 61 at 5:30. Um, that's pretty much it. >> Any questions for Jillian? >> I just have two before we pop. Well, one will maybe straddle finance. Is there any dis It might be better for Mitchell. Is there any discussion about um uh rolling out the full curriculum this year and maybe doing a changing the budget up a
058little bit so that we can roll the full math curriculum out? >> There hasn't been much um discussion to that extent other than um kind of waiting to hear back from the town on how much in terms of budget they want to do, but we haven't met as a finance committee because we haven't heard too much back from the town in terms of that. >> Good job. Yeah. >> Yeah. So, we had the one finance meeting last week. We didn't meet this week. We do have that meeting on Tuesday and at Tuesday's meeting, our team is prepared to share an update in terms of um you know, our our self-reflection about that list >> and you know, kind of some thoughts that we've had since we published it on April 28th. >> Okay. >> So,
059I think that'll be a good opportunity for the finance committee to digest that more. >> Yeah. before we hear from the town council. >> Yeah, >> perfect. Um, so I'll wait and hear from that too. That'll be good. Um my other question is in listening to the meeting I know and this came up at our workshop last week as well but the discussion about laptops at prek and um I I think I I wanted to just make sure I understood because it's I don't recall that there's ever been a line item in the budget for computers to go to shooting stars. >> No, they don't have they don't have devices. >> Okay. And so going forward, because it was my understanding that the um prek programs will be the same, the experience will be the
060same. So we can't anticipate that our new classes will have laptops either. >> There's no there's no uh plan for our uh prek students to have devices, right? The other thing we have to think about is right like we're talking about a half-day program. >> Correct. >> And so it's really focused on, you know, basic skills, >> right? Okay. Wonderful. >> Yeah. Thank you. Any other questions for Julia? >> All right. Um 8.3 is a finance committee report. >> As we very lightly salted and peppered just then, there's a lot of items in motion. We're waiting to hear back from the town. Um as you can see, there's kind of five levels of proposed reductions due to kind of what we hear back from the town. Um in terms of who decides what, um us
061as a school board and a finance committee, we decide exactly what goes on, what gets reduced in the school. Um, in terms of the number of how much needs to be reduced, that's up to the town. So, in terms of emailing and where things like that can be best heard, >> we're always happy to hear feedback, but in terms of the total amount, that's best sent to the town. And then if there's something you'd like to see changed in terms of reductions, that's best sent to us. Um, we'd love to hear your feedback. Um the school board finance committee has a meeting this upcoming on the 12th and the town finance committee has a meeting on the 14th and then of course listed in the um earlier slide there's a lot of combo with counselors
062and I hyperlink that there so if you can click on the slideshow you can see all those listed as well >> and email is always a very good way every email I've seen >> it's a lot of emails a lot of feedback >> yeah yeah there's been a lot of feedback for sure um Was there any comments or questions? I will just say with the conversations with counselors that they are doing, we do have board members that are attending each of those. So, it's an opportunity for the community to talk to both board and counselors. Um, and Cresy's been giving us really great updates so far. She's attended the first couple and those have been really appreciated. >> And I just went for half an hour to the one at the public safety and so
063a couple of other issues came up there. I think it is worth some of us at least trying to make as many of them as we can so we can capture them. But I I'll I'll send an email on what I heard um this evening. >> Yeah, those have been really great. So, thank you for doing that. there's been these um few weeks are have been um feels like something I think we've literally had something every single day and so between one group or another and so it's been um Mitchell and I keep calling it dividing and conquering but it's good that we've been able to do that and still have a presence at >> um all of the counselor conversations so far. So thank you for doing going and thank you for writing those
064notes to us. C I think there's just if everybody could just take a look because there's been some moving around people, you know, people's plans have changed and so I do think there's some blank spaces in that >> anymore. Let me just look at it today. I think they're all full. >> Oh, but they're all attend. >> Yeah. All right. >> All right. Um agenda item 8 8.4 for his negotiations >> and they're ongoing. So hopefully we'll wrap them up soon. Our goal as always is to have them wrapped up by the end of the year. I'm not sure that's going to happen, but we will do our best. >> Well, thank you so much. Any questions for Fre on that? Um 8.5 is the policy committee. Do you want to continue on? >> I
065made this lovely slide that's impossible to read. Um, policy has been busy. We have a ton coming up today for second reading. Um, so we'll get to that in a second, but we're sort of cranking them out. Um, we hit a bunch more today uh at our meet. Our last meeting was this evening right before this meeting and we covered I think five or six or possibly seven or eight additional uh policies. So, we will get those uh ready for first reading at our next meeting. Um, under discussion, we have a two um meetings that might or two topics that are going to cover the next finance. Sorry, wrong committee. the next policy committee meeting which will be on um next the first uh Thursday in June. I believe it's June 4th. I must have
066deleted that off the slide. And um that is the public comment policy. Um there was a significant decision made by the law court this last week around public comments at a school board. Um, as always, we're thankful that we were not the test case um up there, but as a result, we should reevaluate our uh we should reevaluate our policies because the the policy uh was found to be uh not supportable. Um and so we don't want to get ourselves in any trouble. So, there's some changes that are recommended that we make. Um the other is the student use of privately owned electronic devices um at school. That policy uh we just finished and yet we're here again. Um there's a mandate that we get it done, I believe, by the start of the school
067year. a little bit before that actually. So, um, we need to get that policy back out. I don't know that it needs to be completely overhauled, but I think, um, we need to make some, um, technical changes to it to come into compliance with the new law. >> Happy to take questions now or later. >> No questions for >> Okay. 8.6 is the post-referender building committee report. I was just planning to talk, John, unless you wanted to. >> But I then I um as soon as we started this meeting, I immediately regretted that I didn't link the slide deck in here. So, I will go back and do it before we leave today because um what happened this week that was super exciting is that we got to see the revised floor plans for the
068buildings. Um really, Eight Corners and Wentworth are the two we started with. Um it was exciting from a few reasons. Um I did have a conversation with someone who works at 8 corners. that's been sitting in in this work and um if you are don't remember just to refresh your memory uh Diane and Rey and Herman have had held over 80 meetings across the district to really talk about the design and the implementation of this and what this means and so um that's that's an extensive amount of work and that's from February until now. So in a very short window, lots and lots of meetings. Um in the ones at Eight Corners, there was a lot of significant feedback. In fact, we were asked by one of the community members um on Tuesday night that
069serves on the committee um he mentioned that he was asked by a member of the community, what is the value in holding these meetings? Why why are we doing this? What is the cost associated with it? And and is this coming off the bottom line? And um Diane and I were able to articulate I I think pretty well why these are important. It's because what you're doing is you're going straight to the experts and the day day-to-day users, right? And hearing what works and what doesn't work. And we saw that play out really specifically at Eight Corners. So that team had some adjustments that they wanted to suggest for the FLS and the ALS program rooms and um had very um solid rationale behind it. And what ended up happening was there was some decisions
070made and some changes made to the floor plans based on the feedback, direct feedback from staff. And so this is the importance of those meetings, right? Because we all well I'm not I'm not an expert. Haramman is the expert, right? But even they can still benefit from the wisdom that our staff provide, right? And so this really played out um over these last few weeks and now the eight corner staff um from the conversation I had feels very valued and very heard that their expertise was was really taken into consideration. And so um it is it this is an exciting time. So I will link the slide deck so that you can look through um all of the all of the uh designs they did. The the um schools each have have their design statements
071done. Um they are each a little bit unique depending upon the building and the staff that are in it. Um they have all come up with their spaces that they would like to see. Um it is really this is I don't know like this is this to me is the cool part. The other part the other one was Wentworth. Um I think I'm going to be real honest for me. Let me flip down. I think this got lost for me when we've been discussing the school project. But if you were and if you're in Wetworth and you go up the stairs, there's that like I call it an open space for lack of a better term. It's like a what would you call it? >> Yeah. It's like an open meeting space for um teachers,
072right? >> Yeah. Yeah. There's not like a lot of desks. There's not desks or anything and it's it's truly that way. Yeah. It was planned to be an open gathering spot. And so, um, I think I lost sight of this until last night or Tuesday night, but what they are doing with it is they are building out, um, a, um, uh, special education classroom area with it. So, that open space will now be transitioned into a, um, special SLS, ALS space. So, it's really it's really pretty exciting on top of the classrooms that they're going to get. And so um they they have um managed to work this work out this um design. It sounded to me like everybody at Wentworth was also very supportive of the these design changes. And so all in all
073um everything is on track. We are in the process where we should be. I know that there's been some discussion on the committee about the budget. Um just to be sure that we're all on the same page, there is a budget that we are working from. That budget is from the ESBAC work that was done. So that is the same budget that Haramman is now working through. Estimates don't come until uh the end of the summer into the fall. And so that's when we can start potentially seeing as a committee we would start seeing potentially some um >> where are we at? >> Some changes, right? Or where are we at? like if the budget is x number of dollars, are we at that? Are we below it? Are we over it? And then we
074um you know, you make decisions accordingly. So everything everything is on track. Um the vernal pools are being tested, the I I can't pretend I understand, but the whatever needs to happen at the middle school is happening with the stakes in the ground that Todd talked about. >> Yes, the geotech is happening >> work is happening. And then also um like the abatement and having all of that tested to make sure. So we have three subcontractors that are doing that work for us now. And the last uh group of subcontractors that we have um RFPs out for right now are for the transportation survey, >> the traffic study. >> Yeah. So everything is moving smoothly. >> Yeah. Lots of moving parts. All right. Any questions for John or I? >> So, uh, in the links
075you're going to put in, are we able to see those those proposed room room whatever the the the school floor plan designs? Okay, great. >> Yeah. For the two schools, they haven't finished. Yeah, they they're kind of >> the ones that they're working on, right? >> Eight corners and posted on our website for public consumption so everyone can see them. Yeah. And I'll put them here. And then um our next meeting is I'm probably now got to get the date right. Do you have it off the top of your head? June. June 5th. >> Maybe. >> That does sound about >> Yeah, >> the first week of June. >> June 2nd. >> June. >> And that is going to be at um eight corners for anyone who is interested. Um what we have been doing
076ahead of time is giving tours. So they the tour starts at 5:30, the building meeting starts at 6. All right. Agenda item 9.0 are our liaison reports. Are there any leazison reports to give today? All right. Hearing none. Agenda item 10.0 are student representative reports. So 10.1 is Abby. >> So last month many students at Wentworth prepared stories to share. So each class selected one storyteller or a storytelling pair to represent them in the schoolwide storytelling competition and then 12 storytellers were selected as festival winners to perform for the whole community. And then also today was the sixth annual Red Storm Strikes Out Cancer Walk >> and it was very successful. We saw them walking um while we were at track practice and it was really cool to see so many people. Nice. >> That's
077very cool. Also, um right now it's um we are about at the time where Abby will start making a decision about um with Principal Ontario's help for the junior rep. So, we we have we're on limited time with Abby, unfortunately, before she leaves. Um but, um she is working working with Principal Tero to name the next school board rep. All right. Any questions for Abby? All right. Agenda item 11.0 is general public comment. Um I don't we don't have anybody in here. Is there anybody online wishing to make general public comment? If so, you can raise your Zoom hand. All right. Seeing none, we will go ahead and close general public comment. Um agenda item 12.0 is continuing business. So, um, I'm going to bundle some of these together that go together. So, I'm going
078to bundle the sec 12.1 and 12.2, the second reading of policy DJH, purchasing and contracting procurement staff code of conduct. And the second reading of policy DN, school property um, disposition property other than real estate. Rail, >> um, we, this is the second time you're seeing these policies. Um, they came to first reading. There was no input um that the uh policy comm I keep trying to name this the finance committee policy committee um got about these um the procurement and contracting um code of conduct just prevents conflict of interest when contracting the disposition of surplus property um just says that if there's property over $5,000 that needs to be disposed of. It lays out a process to do that. Um that includes the town um in order to be good stewards of finances that
079we uh benefit from and um allows superintendent to follow this process in order to dispose of it appropriately. Um happy to take any questions. Both of these statutes have um a lot of legal references in terms of statute, so there's not a lot of um a lot of discretion in there, but um happy to take questions if you have any. >> Thank you. Are there any questions for Freigha? All right. Um, do I have a motion to approve the second reading of policy DJH, purchasing and contracting procurement staff code of conduct in second reading of policy DN, school property disposition other than real estate? >> So move second. >> Any discussion? All right. Can we call the >> Yes. Miss Jacobs? >> Uh, yes. >> Mr. Kellaher. >> Yes. >> Miss Lindstöm. >> Yes. >>
080Miss Bower. >> Yes. >> Mr. Rockstar. Yes, Mr. Pennian. >> Yes, >> Mr. Penny Huff. >> Yes, >> Mr. Skina. >> Yes. >> All right, that shows unanimous. Thank you so much. Um, agenda, I'm going to leave this one on its own. Agenda item 12.3 is the second reading of policy K, which is public concerns and complaints. Um, this is the second time you've seen this policy. It looks an awful lot like KB, which is the policy regarding complaints having to do with staff members. This is for general public concerns. Um, and it is a key with our policy that we try to resolve uh any conflicts at the lowest possible level. Um it also lays out other places to go if you have a more specific concern um that might be um implicate a
081different policy. Happy to take questions on this. Um hopefully it won't be used that often, but in case somebody does have an issue, um my hope is that it provides some guidance for them to address it quickly. >> All right. Do I have a motion to approve the second reading of policy K public concerns and complaints? >> Second. Any discussion? We call the vote, please. >> Miss Jacobs, >> yes. >> Mr. Keller, >> yes. >> Miss uh Miss Lindstöm, >> yes. >> Miss Mau, >> yes. >> Mr. Rockenstein, >> yes. >> Mr. Tarpin, >> yes. >> Mr. Pena, >> yes. >> Mr. Rena, >> yes. >> All right, that shows you anonymous. Thank you. I'm going to bundle the next three. Um, agenda item 12.4 is the second reading of policy BDB, board officers. 12.5
082is the second reading of policy BEDA. a notification of board members and 12.6 is the second reading of policy BED rules of order. >> Um these are governance policies. Um so they govern uh or they lay out how the board does its work. Um the first uh is explicit on what the responsibilities of the chair is, the vice chair and the secretary um who is our superintendent. Um any uh question about that? Happy to take it. Um not the second is the notification of board meetings. This is our requirement under the open meeting law. um that Maine has that all meetings have to be publicly announced um and in a manner that allows the public to participate um and that's what how we conduct all of our business um in public and with prior notification
083so the public has a right to and a to participate to the extent that they want to. Um, finally, the rules of order. We follow Robert's rules of orders, revise the latest edition available um for any um questions about how the policy or how the procedure of how we move policy and other decisions through the body. Um, and that is available at a bookstore near you. >> We received no feedback on these policies. Um, they are not that different from the policies that have been in existence. They're they're minor changes to them. Um, but happy to take any questions about them. All right. Do I have a motion to approve the second reading of policy BDB, board officers, second reading of policy BEDA, notification of board members and policy second reading policy BED, rules of
084order as presented. >> So move second. >> Is there any discussion? Can call the vote, please. >> Yes. Miss Jacobs, >> yes. >> Uh, Mr. Keller? >> Yes. >> Miss Lindstöm? >> Yes. >> Miss Mau? >> Yes. >> Mr. Rockenstein? >> Yes. >> Mr. Penny? >> Yes. >> Mr. Mr. Penny Huff. >> Yes. >> Mr. RKina. >> Yes. >> All right. That shows you unanimous. Thank you so much. Um 13 agenda item 13.0 is new business. 13.1 is P1 and P2 teachers and P1 administrator appointments. >> Yes. So um as you may recall, uh when we hire uh people in the district, uh they are probationary for their first two years of um employment with us. And so I'm very pleased this evening to bring forward this list to you. Um if you take a
085look in your packet, uh the first list is um a number of individuals. It looks like there are 12 of them uh that we are moving uh forward to a secondyear probationary status. Uh when we hire people in the district, they're hired with a one-year contract um during the time of their probation. Um, and so we respectfully would ask uh that those 12 individuals be moved to secondyear probationary status. And then um super excited um to also share with you that we have a list of 20 um uh secondyear probationary staff that we would be recommending to be put on continuing contract. And so you can see the names listed there. Um and then finally uh we use the same process with our administrators and so we would respectfully ask you to um move um
086Allison Wilson um forward as well. Thank you. All right. Do you have any questions? Do I have a motion to approve the P1 and P2 teachers and P1 administrator appointments as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Uh can we call the vote, please? >> Yes. Uh, Miss Jacobs, >> yes. >> Mr. Kellaher, >> yes. >> Miss Lindstöm, >> yes. >> Miss Mau, >> yes. >> Mr. Rockentock, >> yes. >> Mr. Penny, >> yes. >> Mr. Penny Huff, >> yes. >> Mr. Rskina, >> yes. >> All right, that shows unanimous. Agenda item 14.0 is adjournment. With no objections, we will adjourn at 8:12 p.m. >> Thank you so much and have a great evening. Good night.