School Board Workshop and Business Meetings 12/18/2025

001How was that? >> Think we're good because the light's not on, but we're good. >> It's perfect. >> Okay. >> Good evening and welcome to the Scarboro Board of Education workshop. The date is Thursday, December 18, 2025. Um, can everyone please join me for the pledge of allegiance? >> Talking from the heavens. Now 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. >> Oh my gosh. >> We're going to be on we're going to be on delay the whole night. It's something else. Oh, got it. >> Down in the bottom right next to the Wi-Fi symbol. Keep going to the right volume. Is that bottom bar? >> Well, that's testing. Testing. One, two, three. Test. The

002only issue is we probably won't hear Frea if she says anything. >> Minor issue. >> I'm not sure that's a bad thing. Can you hear me? >> Volume down. Not the >> That has to remain. >> Yeah. Hear you. >> Just turn the volume back up. Why not? Just start talking. Let's see if >> Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. >> Oh, >> hi Shay. Can you hear me? Are you talking to me? >> We're just testing. >> Okay. >> But what's in the background? >> That was real time. >> That seemed like it was real. >> Yeah, I just heard myself. There's a delay. >> There's a delay. There's like a 15 20 second delay. >> Oh, a delay. Do you still have the live stream hooked up on the computer? You know how you have

003to shut the box? You have to close that out after you hook on to live stream. That could be it. >> Okay. can look up that and then just And let's see right now. Go ahead. >> Hello. Hello. Test test test. >> Can you hear us? >> Yes, I can hear you. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Getting the echo. I just heard Shannon again. >> Yeah. >> Yep. There's right again. >> Yes. But we're getting an echo also. from her. >> You need to back out and start again. >> Was the echo just with her? >> One, two, three. Test. One, two. There's no echo there. So, it's Frea. She can lower her mic or mute it until she has to talk. >> It was muted. >> Oh, there it is. It's a

004delay. >> Yeah, she is muted. delay. >> It's a delay. >> Now we're going to hear five. >> This is all to say just be eating the cake, right? Can I go ahead and cut it? >> Yeah, you are. >> Go ahead and cut while we're waiting. >> Doesn't look like we're conducting it. >> Can I try it now? One, two, three. >> Of course. Is it going to work? >> That was it. >> I was thinking I was wondering. >> I could just run my hand right across. >> It's because I said let's see if >> you got it to fix. >> Oh, and it feels so good, too. All right, we good? >> We think we are. >> Okay. Um, sorry. Thank you for Thank you, Katie, for your patience and thank you

005everybody for your patience. Um, agenda item 4.0 is new business. 4.1 is how does the district utilize data and processes to inform curriculum and instructional moves. So, we'll turn it over to Katie. Thank you. >> Oh, >> thank you for having me here tonight. This um I'll just start by saying this. I don't anticipate this conversation. I haven't prepared as many slides as I would during like a typical assessment um overview, but I think we'll be able to walk through some of the conversation and I'm excited to share some specific examples of um how data is used in processes across the district to inform our decisions when we talk about curriculum and instruction. So to begin, I just want to talk about the um different ways decisions are made and where they're made. um decisions

006are made every single day at the classroom level, school level, district level. Um I actually once saw a study that the average elementary classroom teacher makes more decisions today than the average air traffic controller. Um so decisions are made every day um at a high volume and many of those include decisions around data and how it can inform the instruction they're delivering in the moment or preparing for preparing for in the um coming days. Decisions are obviously impacted by data at the school level and at the district level and our processes around curriculum review and instructional strategies as well as the professional development that we deliver. So I think of it as really two different approaches that we tend to um come at problems with. The first is that we might be curious about something.

007Uh we may be observing a phenomenon in the classroom in the way kids are performing in their instruction and assessments or we may be curious about um how we might better a system or a process and we say what data do we have about that? Let's look at that data. What can we collect? what is available to us? What might we want to collect? And then the other approach is to say here's the data we do collect, what is that data telling us and what can we get curious about and uncover more. So regardless of the two approaches, whether we are curious and look at data or we look at data and we get curious, those approaches inform decision making with very specific things involved. The first being, can we form specific questions? Let's be

008really concrete about what we are wondering about and asking about so that the data that we are bringing in and the conversations we're having are specific and tight to that to that question. The other piece is determining the available and desired data that would help us answer that question. So sometimes it is we've collected data and we know that we want to look at that and other times it is what data do we wish we had available? Did we collect that data? Is that something we should look at collecting? Um so a great example is that that desired data is a question we often talk about in curriculum review. We are in math review right now and we don't do collect any specific data from our students for example on their procedural fluency with algorithms.

009That's not a formative assessment that we collect regularly to see how they're progressing with their procedural skills, but that could be if that's something that we wanted to look at and consider how that might impact the instruction around math. So that's one example. >> What's a procedural skill? Oh. Um, like the ability to multiply, add, divide, subtract. Um, there's a fluency to that. So, an automaticity and accuracy that's necessary in order for kids to not use all of their working memory stopping to say, "Okay, 5 + 5 is," >> right? They just know it's 10 because of the mental mathematics practices they've engaged in. >> Sure. So when we know kids are doing really well, for example, with procedural fluency, they can give their brain power over to the more complex problem solving like word

010problems. So not focused on um the procedures. So that can inform instruction and how we approach that. The other thing that we try to do is use a repeatable protocol so that as we approach data, we approach it in similar ways every time. And I'll share a protocol that we use pretty regularly. It's not always applicable to every question we ask, but it's applicable to really great over um overview conversations that allow us to talk about data and how it can inform instruction without us going too far up the ladder of inference and and making up stories that don't exist. And then the other thing that I think is really important in our approach is that we're constantly considering how we build data literacy for everyone so that there's autonomy in the approach. So, for

011example, if teachers really understand the data they're collecting, for example, the main through year, as it compares to the teacher's college learning record, as it compares to high frequency words, as it compares to our comprehensive phonics survey, then they understand how those assessments work together to provide multiple lenses to the same instruction, which is reading. So, building that data literacy takes professional development. It takes repeated conversations and it takes practice. Um, and that's really important. So, those repeatable conversations are are being baked into our everyday professional um, practices in order to build that autonomy and that literacy. So, these are some examples of possible data we might gather, many of which I was able to pull right from the top of my head. Um and then a few more were generated by our leadership team

012that I was like, "Oh yeah, that also that also because we collect a lot of data and this is just a snapshot of like this is two minutes worth of thinking. There's so much more than this. Um so we have a lot of data available to inform curriculum and instruction. It's really important that we're thoughtful about how we use it, when we use it, and um why we're using it to inform instruction. So I just let you take a look at that. It's important to remember too that the data isn't just related to assessments we collect about students. Data also might mean evidence-based research practices that have data around their impact and effectiveness in in research study. So I would consider that applicable applicable data. to informing our instruction or our curriculum. Um, so that

013things like that are also listed up there. >> What is dial 4? >> Dial 4 is the screener we use with our kindergarten students that gives us um incoming stu information on our incoming students. So we specifically use the speed dial in Scrub. Okay. >> Um but that generally covers motor skills concepts um and some language pieces to help us identify students and points in >> and that's part of like a child spider requirement that we have right um through the department of education. So it's not just we're registering kids and they're starting kindergarten but we always go back to see are there any discrepant skills so that we can plan appropriately for kids as they come to school. >> Additional support. Y >> and it also helps us think forward. So for example, some

014of our early interventionists who um we've added in the last couple of years might look at the dial and then observe in the classroom and be able to form some small groups for fine motor skills because students um need more practice with holding the pencil, cutting, gluing um those those more intricate skills. um and that the dial for information about motor skills might give some insight on into who to pay attention to to provide that extra support. So one of the protocols probably the protocol we use the most in discussing data is an is adapted from the national school reforms atlas protocol and there are five steps and we've used this at all levels. So we've used this with classroom teachers and teaching teams with um grade levelwide building base. So teams that include for

015example classroom teachers, academic support, social workers like a child's full educational team. We've used it with administrators to look at data and it's a really simple but beneficial process. So the first step is to just look at the data and describe the data. We're not making any assumptions or interpretations. We're just saying what do we see and being really concrete with what is factually present in the d the data. From there we can begin to interpret the data and make some wonderings or noticings about the data. And then from there we can say what would the implications for our practice be? What would this mean for our students and how might it change, enhance, modify instruction in order to help us make instructional moves that improve practice and improve student outcomes? We then reflect on

016the implications for practice and consider um what is in place that will help us be successful, what barriers might we need to break down in terms of additional professional development or uh collaboration, time for planning, those kinds of things. Um and then we end by debriefing the process because we're always looking to make that process better. What questions did we ask? What questions should we ask in the future? Should we go back and collect a little more data and do this again? So that's a protocol that we use really repeatedly. So I did pull together I think I have three um examples from across the district of ways we've used data to inform curriculum and instruction in just the last couple of years. So this is a primary district level example. The curriculum review team

017for literacy convened and they made recommendations last year regarding small groupoup instruction. Uh when small group instruction is focused on skill acquisition, it has a really high impact on student achievement. And coupling that with conversations that we had with K2 educators in data meetings, we found that students were really doing well with their phonics and isolation, but we weren't seeing major increases in their reading ability as a result of that. It was really mixed. For some, it was really good. For others, it seemed to to not be a strong correlation. And one of the things we wondered in looking at that is could we have a greater impact if there was an uh a more distinct application of those phonics skills in their reading. So we used those data points to make a decision. Uh

018it was a recommendation of the ELA team to make the decision to purchase small group decodable texts. So, we purchased multiple copies of texts that are highly decodable. They're between 80 and 90% decodable for our kindergarten and first and second graders. And they are aligned to our phonics program. So they are we use um from phonics to reading and we purchase integrity which we also use for phenemic awareness and combined that scope in sequence allows us to say okay if students are learning their short vowel sounds I can then have them read a text for instruct in during the instructional period that's focused on short vowel sounds and they can take the skills they learned discreetly in the lesson and apply it in their actual reading. Um, and so that was a a purchase that

019allowed us to provide not just that small groupoup instruction as a practice, which is an excellent practice, but also to marry our work with phonics to the application of reading. So that also came with a high level of professional development that happened over the summer and through the fall. And so I'm really excited to see what the outcome of that is. And we'll I think we'll begin to see um that from both the data and from teachers feedback in our next data conversations about how they feel like that's going in terms of students beginning to apply their phonics skills in the reading using decodables. So I'm really excited about that. So that was a a data driven decision around uh curriculum purchase. >> Okay. Can I'm sorry. Can we um I just stop just one

020second. Um so the data that was seen was that the kids what you weren't seeing was um an incre a large increase in literacy test score. So that was your when you go back to the previous one that was your application of skill. >> Yeah. So you you were there was a disconnect there. >> Yeah. Not for every student, right? Some grow by leaps and bounds. And then others who've received the exact same instruction >> are we don't see evidence of them applying those phonic skills to their reading. >> But the skills we were the books we were having them read weren't guaranteed to be highly decodable. >> What is what is decodable? >> Decodable means that a student can apply their phonics skills to decode the sound. So if a student knows that the

021letters C A T say C at they can decode that's decoding, they can look at the letters and use their sounds to figure out the word. >> Okay. >> Um which is a skill we need every kid doing, right? That's the basis of reading. And so these books have a high level of decodability. 90 80 to 90% in the kindergarten books it's about 90% of the words are words that kids can decode. So there won't be for example long vowel sounds. Those vowels won't be saying their name a e i o u. They'll be saying a they're taught those first. Right. >> Right. >> Um and so it matches their instruction. Um gota >> so for example if I were to give a a book to kids in kindergarten that's called Kate Rides a bike.

022Kate and rides and bike are all sounds they've not been introduced to. >> Right. And so they're struggling to apply their phonics because they're not encountering the words that they've been taught how to read >> because they're being taught cat and >> Yeah. So if it's like cat and >> Yeah. >> go to bat. >> Yeah. So >> they can decode all of those or they're high frequency words like go and so you're linking >> instruction to the read. exact phonic instruction and then those texts mirror those so that they can apply directly the lesson >> like that opportunity for practice right so like we're teaching the skill and then kids are >> you know engaged in practicing and testing out to see if if bridges from here to here >> and Kate rides a

023bike would come later right like after they've established the first >> round kindergarten early first grade skill right they >> styish sweaters right That's at a different tier. >> Yeah. Like a different level. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> So then so as you so you you saw the data the need you you the curriculum review committee suggested these books we bought these books and then how long will it be until we see if the these are successful? Like when do you next collect the data? Is it next year or how does that work? >> We collect data regularly. Um at K2 we collect the um data on a timeline of approximately every 12 weeks. So once a trimester um we do a for a formal data collection so that includes I ready um and

024then depending on the grade level there's some local assessments we do it generally includes information on phonics their high frequency words and their their reading level. Uh, so we'll do that again late January, early February. They've just begun to include these books, so I don't know to what extent. We'll see information there in terms of the data. Um, and then we'll do it again in May >> and we'll do it three times next year. So, as teachers >> um become more confident and competent with those new books um because they've engaged in professional development. So, right now it's they're, you know, they're really beginning to use them and get confident with those lessons. Um, I think we'll begin to see the students have that reinforcing opportunity to apply the skills that they're learning from phonics

025into their books and it will solidify those phonics skills a lot faster. It's really exciting. >> Yeah. Yes. The next example we have already seen come to fruition and I've talked about it previously, but I'm going to bring us back to it because it is a specific example that I've mentioned before and I think uh was done to great effect. So this is kind of a different approach which is we have data and we got curious about what's going on there. So, you know that previous to last year, the main throughear assessment results on the state side where they talk about whether students are well below, below, or above state averages um were not where we wanted them to be, particularly in eighth grade, who on average fell into the below category. The math educators

026were not up for review yet, but they had come to me in that that it was a sixth to eighth grade mixed team and they said, "We think that combined with our curiosity about this data, we think that what we're seeing in class and their performance on in-classroom assessments and the data around that, we think we can make some changes to the scope and sequence that will do two things. It will first it will make more sense in terms of the um move from algebra topics and algebra into algebra um that there's a different scope and sequence that will really help solidify their skills in that class so that we're not ending the year with a topic unrelated to algebra. I think they were ending with something like probability. instead we're ending with an algebra

027related skill and then they're going into algebra topics or algebra 1 which happens in eighth grade and we think that that might positively impact the scores. So we made that change um in the summer of 2024. So for the 2024 2025 school year, we ch that that that unit change was a team decision from the sixth through 8th grade team. And last year in the 2025 spring results, our eighth grade students were at grade level uh on the main through year for the first time. So that was exciting. So I think like that's an great example where they got curious about the data in front of them. They said, "There are things we know about our scope and sequence and what students need to be ready for the next grade level. And we think that

028if they leave seventh grade discussing this topic that's related to pre-alggebra or algebra 1, they're going to be better prepared to enter that class in the eighth grade because the scope from that topic being discussed in say December to the next September isn't as large now because we ended with it instead in May. Um, and so that sets students up for a better entry point in terms of their their memory, their working memory. So that was a a great example of teachers using that data. Another district-wide um example that's really at the classroom level is the way in which our instructional coaches across the district engage teachers in their student center coaching cycles. So I don't have like a um specific example because the that data would be specific to the coaching cycle between an

029instructional coach and a teacher. But the cycle itself is based on on the data that they collect. So in our student centered coaching cycles, instructional coaches meet with a teacher and they sat and planned specific goals related to standards that have to include assessments. Those assessments and that measurement of growth are vital to the conversation of the coaching cycle. So they say, "What do we want to see students know and be able to do by the end of our coaching cycle? How will we measure that?" And then we're going to preassess and post assess. And that data is used to help make decisions um around how the teacher the instructional um strategies a teacher might use in order to see that measurable success. And that's how the coaches um support the co the coaching of

030those strategies. So they may go in and they may co-e, they may model, they may provide um observation and then reflection and co-plan, but they always do it around that data. So what do we want them to know and be able to do? What are they showing us right now? Where do we want to take them? And how will we get them there? And then the coach coaches them through that with the instructional strategies. So that pre-post data is always present in that coaching cycle and that's constant and ongoing and we have coaches K to 12. That's part of the regular practice. And then lastly um in talking with the leadership team they were really quick to say oh this and this and this and this and this and this. Um so I captured a

031few for us just to look at. Um high school says we regularly review a variety of data when we make course reconsideration decisions. Wentworth immediately recollected that the spire instruction for our striving readers is a curriculum that was purchased based on the literacy data. Um it's also an evidence-based program. So there is research data behind that program and its effectiveness. uh teachers uh one of the special education directors said teachers routinely advocate in IEPs for or um referrals for least restrictive environment because intervention data is showing academic success and growth and so they advocate to keep the student in academic support rather than pursuing an IEP because the student is growing and learning and the data shows that our chronic absenteeism Intruency data drives the district processes around outreach and school avoidance interventions. And teachers

032every day are forming small groupoup instruction or targeted instruction in the classroom using diagnostic and formative assessment data. So what happens? It's nuanced. It's the data is collected and the questions are considered for each individual teacher in the classroom. Um it is specific to their content to their instruction. But then it also um is part of the the bigger macrocosm of our district as well. Um it it's something we consider in multiple processes across the district. um certainly in the curriculum review and curriculum purchases and um I think we could continue to come up with example after example um because it is really kind of at the heart of the approaches that we take. >> It's impressive. I think you know the math you know example and the fox example that teachers instructors um at

033the district levels would have been very thoughtful where you're investing changing >> yeah I appreciate that I think one of the things that's really important is that it isn't the data alone you know that teaching perspective of the everyday classroom >> um instruction is so valuable And that's not always captured in numbers and on paper, but they're so knowledgeable about the math is like such a great example. So is the products really, right, of like we see this, the data kind of confirms this. We think >> we want to make a change. One of the things I really love is that when we have data we collect regularly, I think teachers are willing to take a little bit of a risk because they know they're going to see the results of that and can check

034and adjust and either reinforce really good practice or say with a little more tweaking I think we can get there. And that is should be a regular practice for teachers and I I really see people engaging in that. Those are two really concrete examples. And I think it also speaks to like the value of what we call triangulating the data, right? Like so there's no one piece of data that is like oh this is you know absolutely what we have to work from. you know, as as Katie's already pointed out, right? Um we we might utilize assessment data as an example, but then we say to the classroom teacher, how does this how is this reflected in day-to-day practice with that student? Um what's your observational like data, right? even though that might not be

035a number about the students ability and really trying to like use that big picture to help us to be able to make those decisions, right? So, we're never equipped to just say, "Oh, the number says this and so therefore we do that." Right? That's the beginning of the conversations that we have collectively um with staff. >> Yeah. Well, I think even like our um I I just keep thinking about when we did our when we worked on our cell phone policy, right? So, we had data. So, I think it was an interesting conversation when we think of this because we had national data saying one thing >> and so um trying to relate that to Scarboro. We then collected Scarboro data that was a little bit different. But then we also went or many of

036us went and observed, right? We went to the lunchroom, we observed, we saw what we saw and you know we heard from the students. So we had this like you know we kind of did it our own it's multifaceted. >> Yeah. Yeah. Our own triangulation and our own data collection and >> that's how we arrive where we arrived too. >> Yeah. You're you're not using data blindly. You're putting it in context and understanding it how it really relates to you your students. >> Right. Right. So we can be the most thoughtful and planning forward. >> Yeah. Um just out of curiosity um when the curriculum review meets has there ever been any look at um and this is more of like a personal question but has there any been been a look at um the

037difference in scores and um data collection when we use online textbooks versus you know actual cracking the book looking at a textbook. Um, no. That's my first answer. No, we don't do that. And I think the my first thought is we wouldn't do that because it would be really hard to determine because generally speaking, and I I'd have to go and look at the licenses, but generally speaking, I think both are available. >> And so students, maybe our students can answer this, can make decisions about whether they choose the physical copy or the online copy. And so I think that would become really difficult to determine because I I get the impression from educators that students choose both, >> right? Like in the classroom I might pull open a physical textbook, but um those we

038we all remember if we were students in the past where those um electronic copies were not available. Our our backpacks were incredibly heavy. Um and so a lot of students choose not to take those home and so they would access the online version. Um so I think that would be difficult. >> Yeah. >> To sus out completely. >> I've always been curious as to the level >> because they have access to both. Right. >> Yes. And I've always >> so I don't think we could differentiate to any to any real degree which is having an impact because any any student can access both at any time and that's a daily choice. Can we link it to a year when we started when we >> previous that year we didn't have any online? I don't I

039don't >> I mean we've had online textbooks for at least 10 years. Um you know and and that really uh was driven by um companies, right? Um because they're able to make changes in real time >> um with with their products to a higher extent um than with physical textbooks, right? And then there are other issues that present themselves with physical textbooks. you lose your textbook, now you don't have one. Now we have to pay $75 or you know whatever the cost is to replace that, right? >> If it's online and it's in this, you know, >> right, you can always access it again, >> right? And from a teacher standpoint in terms of planning and designing instruction, um access to those kinds of resources really opens up a lot of avenues to um you

040know, I'm planning an assessment. I can look at what the publisher has for ideas, but it's not that moorraph worksheet that had 30 examples that, you know, our teacher might have been cross out all the even ones, right? Our teachers have the ability to, you know, just self- select and say, I'm going to pull these 10 things because they most align or something like that, right? I've always been curious about the comprehens comprehension and the ability to retain and learn between the two. I I was a very late I'm and I'm really not even an adopter of using um like e-readers or >> I love a book and so I just I think just personally it's always interested me. I wonder if there's difference. >> Yeah. But I I guess I would ask like I

041was operating on the assumption when you asked the question it was about textbook versus like reading novels. >> Yes. I'm asking about different I'm asking about textbooks because I'm I don't love to read a book on on and so it's always made me wonder what is the comprehension level when students are reading off of a online textbook. Is there a difference? >> Yeah. Is there an ability do they absorb information better >> with with an actual book in their hands versus >> Yeah, >> but I can see that that would be tough if they can have access to both. >> Yeah, >> I appreciate the question. I'm not sure how we go about delineating that without perhaps creating like an action research study. Yeah, >> which could disservice some students who need the digital text

042or vice versa. So, >> and actually 10 years is probably not long enough, right? Like they think >> I'm really dating myself now, right? >> 15 years. >> You're doing a full same ass. >> Well, yeah, that's the problem. But the assessment's always changing, right? Like this is you can't go back. >> There is no unfortunate It's very difficult. >> That's a good question. >> Other questions that you have about data? >> Okay, Julian, what were you saying? >> I was just going to tag on to what you were saying. I mean, it's been a while because from the first time I went, you know, I went did a graduate degree to my second goound, like 90% of my textbooks were online. And you know, I I think um even then when we print stuff

043up, we wanted to highlight or have something. >> Yeah. >> Um but do like because the kids come home, I feel like my kids might have cement blocks in their bags. They don't have um textbooks, but like they there are there's a mix now, right, for at least the high school, right? in terms of physical textbooks. Yeah, they have access to them, right? >> Um, but if I if I'm taking, you know, AP bio and geometry and civics and I have homework for all three and I might take one or two textbooks, but not right. We have two students right here that can speak to us about that. How was your experience when you use the >> I use like a mix. So, I usually use just online textbooks, but um because like they're so

044heavy, but um I know it's a lot of personal preference like lots of my friends prefer using a physical textbook and also like for different but for tests if we have like online tests, our teachers always have like physical hard copy tests as well >> because I think lots of students recognize which they work better on >> and so that's usually just what they tend to use. But I use the online textbook because I can use it anywhere without having to lug it around. >> Yeah. So I'm just curious. So for most classes you get you you your Chromebook has the you load up the or your it's already loaded the is it in the classroom that these textbooks are available or you you can ask to have one leave it in your locker. Um,

045like we get a physical textbook for each class, but like I just search up a PDF for the textbook somehow or some teachers like link it to their classroom. >> Yeah. I'm just curious, but if someone wants a physical textbook, they get it. >> We get one at the start of the year for every class. >> Okay. >> You can also go request one from the teacher. Okay. >> Like cuz some classes don't have enough textbooks to offer to every student. So, it's like a request. Right. My daughter is a junior. She carries her bag everywhere. School, she has every book. When she gets home, she never opens that bag. It's just her computer. So, she will have the books in class. >> It's all computer. >> She carries them home, but she she still

046uses. >> She does the whole time. >> I'm check. I'm like, why why do you carry this around? Like, I need my book tab. I'm like, but you don't use it at home. Oh, need a school. Give me your locker. I don't have a locker. I can't use a locker. Won't use locker. >> I do have a question sort of pre and postco. What do we see about district level about how you know or obviously assessments have changed so we don't have apples to apples but do you see assessment sort of any kind of bounce back or was there a decline in terms of our district sort of just that you know the the metrics the that are you know measured by the state you know >> that's something that like I think we could

047easily provide for you so that you could do some of that review because like um we we give a year-to-year update about that. So, I don't know that we came prepared >> um with that information this evening, but we could certainly show you over time. Yeah. >> Um you know what that has been looking like. >> I just thought off the top of your head if you had any thoughts about that, but obviously sorry I don't expect you to have that data. >> Yeah, I would say um absolutely go to the June workshops. Um the last two years I've done them in June. I don't recall the date of the first one. It's early June. June 26th year was the last one we did. >> Um, and those are workshops that are about an hour

048long, really comprehensive, and give an overview of all of the literacy, math, and science data. >> Okay. >> So, I highly recommend taking a look at that because it does have some historical >> Okay, perfect. Um and if anyone is ever curious too, the um school website as well as the state operates what's called the ESSA dashboard which contains all of the public information not just for Scar Bro public schools but for all of the schools in the state of Maine and you can look at Maine's aggregate data overviews historically and for the current year as well as Scarross and any other surrounding districts you may want to look at as well. So, um, that's linked under the curriculum and instruction website under assessment. Um, we've just created some new tabs. Um, Mr. Butler and

049I in the last couple of days because we're adding some things to the curriculum site. Um, but it I is under the assessment tab. I just looked at it yesterday. And you can also get to it just by searching main S dashboard. Um, one of the things I really love, a little hidden but public trick, is that there is what looks like a www up in the corner. And from there, you can get into the database and say, I want to look at Scar Bro and I want to look at all of Cumberland County, for example. It will populate all of that data for you. I want to look just at this subject, just at this year, all the years, all the subjects. It's a little more manip easily manipulated than the dashboard itself. Um,

050so it's a little insider trick. Um, www. >> Yeah, it's got a little icon that looks like a www in the corner. Um, so that's all publicly available and it goes back, I believe, to 2122 right now. >> Oh, okay. >> It just doesn't go before. >> I don't recall off the top. >> Okay. >> You can find scar bro data precoid on our website. >> Okay, sounds good. Okay, thank you. >> That's always a helpful site. Any other questions? >> I say the last slide. >> Oh, questions. >> We missed that one, but we're there. >> We are there. >> Can I ask how foreign language falls into the curriculum like because I know that there's not like through the year or any I read that's a great question. So, one of the chief

051pieces of data we look at for world language is the seal of biiteracy rates because um while we would love all students to have opportunities to be exposed to multiple languages and through that some of the culture um the opportunity to become bilingual or multilingual is is an incredible skill, right? And so our hope is to provide opportunities in the curriculum early enough and often enough that students have the opportunity to become bilingual or multilingual. So we actually monitor that seal of five literacy rate. So that's an excellent question. I should add that to all of the data we collect because we did miss that one and that is one that we do talk about every year. Yeah, >> great question. Can you just touch really briefly on um I I don't know that you

052were necessarily prepared for this, but you know, we hear a lot about national rates and um as it relates to math and science and reading and um it's it's seems to me that it's a little difficult to compare ours to national. You know, we have grades like schools get grades and the US News and World Report for example. And how are those types of things? Um I I know parents monitor those um rating scales pretty closely, but um how are those formulated and and what data is used to drive those rankings? >> Um that's a great question, Shannon. I would say the best thing anybody could do is to go and find that information for themselves. The the formulas are always going to be specific to whatever rating company is producing them. there there's no

053one answer to that. >> So they don't use the same across the board. >> They absolutely do not use the same across the board. Um so the what I would say is go and look at what site you're on and then try to find the information that that feeds that report. Um for example in the US News and World Report, how they formulate the high school rankings is entirely different than they do the elementary rankings. So even within US News and World Report, those rankings do not use the same formula. So I would absolutely encourage whoever's looking at that to try to dig into the site and find what is producing that result. >> Okay. Any other questions? >> All right. Thank you so much. This has been great. Thank you. >> Thanks. >> All

054right. We'll take a 10-minute break. I did forget to do the attendance. Um Ray, would you mind calling the We're just out of order all over. >> Uh Miss Jacobs is >> is absent tonight. >> Mr. Kellaher, >> yes. >> Miss Lindstöm >> here. >> Mr. Roinar >> here. >> Mr. Tarpin >> here. >> Mr. Puff >> here. >> Mr. Rskina >> here. >> Uh Miss Clarett >> here. >> All right. Thank you so much. Um so if there are no objections, we will adjourn at 6:50 p.m. and come back in 10 minutes for our meeting. Jeez. Good evening and welcome to the Scarboro Board of Education business meeting. The date is Thursday, December 18th, 2025. Um would everyone please join me for the pledge of allegiance? Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United

055States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Are we on delay? Test. >> I haven't heard anything. >> I I heard it, but I I don't know if it was It might have just been people that were a little behind. All right. Um Ray, agenda item 3.0 is attendance. Ray, can we call the attendance, please? >> Yes. >> Miss Jacobs. >> She's absent. >> Mr. Callaher >> here. >> Miss Lindstöm >> here. >> Mr. Rockinstar >> here. >> Mr. Tarpanian >> here. >> Mr. Penny >> here. >> Mr. Skina >> here. >> Clarett >> here. >> All right. Thank you so much. Agenda item 4.0 0 is approval of the December 4th, 2025 business meeting maintenance. With no objections, we

056will approve them as presented. Agenda item 5.0 are adjustments to the agenda. I have uh two adjustments. The first is under continuing business. Um I want to make a new 8.1 which will be the um Scarboro Public Schools postreerendum building committee governance document. um I'm bringing it forward again with um some additional change requests. And then the second is on the um agenda down at the bottom. You notice that there's an executive session. Um we are going to return to public session but in public only in person only not online. So um we will we will come back to adjourn but we will not do that um on Zoom. And that's just because we we do have someone absent who was going to try to attend via um Zoom and we can't we can't have

057the Zoom link that's in the public be used for that executive session. Okay. Um so do I have a motion to approve the two adjustments as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? And that shows unanimous. Thank you so much. All right. Um agenda item 6.0 0 is a presentation. 6.1 is a middle school. So for this, we'll um pass it over to you to invite Kathy up. >> Yeah. So um good evening. Really excited this evening to welcome um um our principal, Mrs. Carol um to uh speak with you tonight. And along with her is Dylan Day, who is one of our instructional coaches at the middle school. >> Yeah. Thank you. Hello. I'm Kathy Terrell, principal at the middle school. And I just want to ground the presentation

058in our um building goals this year. And so one of our building goals is that we will be implementing the grade level social emotional lessons from Ruler. We will continue to embed the Ruler approach throughout the SMS community, fostering a more supportive, inclusive, and engaging learning environment that enhances both academic performance and social emotional growth. And then our other goal is to increase active engagement and transparent communication between SMS and the community to foster deeper and more meaningful connections. So what I'm going to share is a few of our action steps that we have taken so far this year. Okay. So this is our third year of implementation of the ruler program. So for those of you who might be know or not um you know what that is, Ruler is a social emotional learning

059program and curriculum out of um Yale University that has been implemented by Wentworth School and Scarboro Middle School. So in the first year, our focus was schoolwide professional learning um teams for teachers and staff to learn about the various tools that ruler offers and how we experience emotions at work. So SMS staff learned about ruler through a student lens to further assist with the development of the lessons. We had to learn how to recognize, understand, label, express, and regulate our own emotions before we could begin having conversations with students about um their emotions. So, we can go to the next slide. Okay. So, um last year, ruler was implemented with students um during crew on Mondays. It's a 30 minute period and students had opportunities to learn various emotional vocabulary words um complete team building

060activities and learn the various tools to assist with recognizing, understanding, labeling, expressing and regulating emotions. So now this year we're implementing the grade level lessons and we're continuing to use that Monday crude time. All three grade levels um have the same four unit titles just the lessons do differ by grade and they build upon each other from sixth, seventh and eighth grade. So the four units are the community safety and climate unit. Um unit two is emotions matter, unit three self and social awareness and then unit four emotion regulation and personal values. So during the month of September um in the first unit, students focused on creating grade level charters. So I don't know if you remember last year we just had one schoolwide charter and staff gave a lot of input and said they

061really think that the students would like to create their own grade level. Um so the purpose of the charter is to create a safe and desirable climate. It's an agreement that establishes what the students want to feel and when they are together and how they will help each other to express those feelings. So what's interesting is out of the three charters, all three grades chose the words respected, included, and happy. And those were words that were on their charter last year. And the sixth and seventh graders chose the word safe. That was also a word on their charter. Um, and I think it's really interesting in 8th grade they came up with the word heard, that they want to be heard. Um, and so one of the things we do is we do a lot

062of activities about, you know, keeping the charter alive. And on our morning announcements, we'll have um trivia questions and students call into my office and maybe they're the fourth caller and then, you know, they give their answer and then we announce the answer and they come and get their prize. So we do various things to to keep it alive. So the next slide. Okay. So um one of our new initiatives is Chris Murphy and I met with um George Goully this summer and he um runs the nonprofit organization Passion for Life and he is passionate about outdoor activities. Um and so um the nonprofit's goal is to introduce outdoor passions or activities to students hoping that the activity might be something that they really want to pursue later in life, something that they hadn't had

063exposure to. Um so the organization does have 112 volunteers from our community who realize how lucky they were to have outdoor mentors. And so what we've done um is during our rise enrichment um period and and that period is an opportunity for students to maybe um get some intervention help also be retaught some you know content that they need but also enrichment. And so every Thursday we've had a volunteer come in and part of our system is students can sign up for the teacher that they go to work with. So students have had an opportunity to write um sign up for this enrichment. And so you'll see in this picture this was um paddle boarding and surfing and our volunteer was from Vessel Surf. Then if you want to go to the next slide. We've

064also had volunteers from the Apex Youth Connection um which is a biking organization and they're out of Bford Rogers Ski and Sport Salt Pump Climbing Company. You'll see some pictures where students were learning some of the um knots for climbing. We've had a golf professional from Nunuch River Golf Club. We have had um a main guide come in to do orientering and then a volunteer from golf and ski. So we'll continue throughout the rest of the year to have a different volunteer come in. So one of the things that was really fun when um Sarah from Apex came in, she brought a mountain bike and she also brought a mountain bike that has the blender on it and brought some healthy fruit and things. And so kids got to ride the mountain bike in order

065to make the blender go for their smoothie. So that was a lot of fun. Then if we want to go on to the next slide. So wellness day. I presented last year in December. So I only got to present up to that point and wasn't able to talk about wellness day which we had um in May. And when we were um we're also going to work with Passion for Life on Wellness Day for this May and bring in more volunteers. But last year we had brought it back after many years of not having a wellness day. It was well before COVID when um we stopped that. So um the day started with a keynote speaker um and we were very fortunate to be able to use Wentworth Jim. Our keynote speaker was Rohan Murphy and

066we were able to bring him using our Hannerford rewards donation. Um and our students connected with him. It was amazing. Um and he told his life story. Um he was born with a birth defect and at age four he had to have his legs amputated and doctors did tell him and his well told his family that he'd never be able to take care of himself and would require 24-hour care. He worked so hard to overcome these challenges. and he told this story um with a lot of detail about how when he was a freshman he went and said I want to wrestle and so he started wrestling and after a successful high school wrestling career he went on to wrestle at Penn State University same thing really pushed went to the open tryyouts um and

067then addition to wrestling he's an accomplished powerlifter he's competed competed in international competitions all over the world. So he shared this story and really talked about a lot of life skills such as overcoming adversity, dedication and discipline. And again, our students connected with him. They all went up to talk with him afterwards and he was able to come to the middle school to talk with small groups later in the day. So after the keynote, we went back to the building and students participated in sessions based on the multiple dimensions of wellness and there was a mix of educational and active sessions and we strove to give students opportunities to have new experiences. So some of the people that came in a rugby clinic, the Shine Dance Fitness, Fire and Police Explorers came in, Salt Flat

068Dance, Gorum Bike and Ski hosted a bike um ride on the Eastern Trail. We had mindfulness instructors and an instructor from Eastard CrossFit. So we're really looking forward to even expanding and bringing more people in. Okay, next slide. And so I just added this a few days ago because we had our SEF grants revealed. Was it Monday? >> Tuesday. It's on Tuesday. And so um one of our grants is um a trails and tree unit. And this is was written by our seventh grade integrated studies pilot team. And so the project goals are to replenish and expand the resources for their Maple Sugaring unit to build upon the first year successes, improve efficiencies in the experience, and expand direct learning opportunities for students within the unit. And they are going to plan, implement, and execute

069a unit on trail design and building to be delivered to our current the current pilot program students. And the goal of this project will um be to develop a phase one trail system within the wooded area of the SMS campus with plans to enhance and refine in future years and to seek continued opportunities for schoolwide use of the project results. And so the seventh grade teachers plan to partner with the Evergreen Outdoor Education, a nonprofit organization that focuses on the development of forestry and trail opportunities for Maine students K12. Um the consultant Will Libby that runs the organization has already met with the teachers multiple times and has shared the curriculum that he has developed that ties each module of the project to specific mainstate learning standards tying in science and math while promoting civic

070engagement within the community. Um, Will has agreed to work with them for the duration of this year, providing three on-site visits to work with students and staff, as well as unlimited access to his knowledge and resources throughout the project. They also plan um to continue their partnership with the Scarboro Land Trust. They've worked with them for the past five years, and I think you probably remember last year I told you about how they came in and worked with them on just basic trail maintenance. And then they're collaborating with our instructional coaches Kate Cune and Dylan Nay to find additional opportunities to involve other teachers within the school um that will benefit from the project and we believe that many staff members will utilize the completion the completed trail project in future years. So now I

071want to bring up Dylan Nay and he's going to talk about two grants that he has written with the support of staff. a lot of support. A lot of support. Um, and they're very much connected to uh much of what Kathy was just talking about, specifically the uh integrated team. Again, I'm Dylan Nay. I'm an instructional coach at the middle school. Thank you for having me. Um, last time I was here a couple years ago, I didn't write anything down and then I just rambled on for a while. So, I'm hoping to ramble, but with uh an end in sight. So, uh, first we're going to talk about the uh, SCF grant for the laser cutter. This past May, I had the opportunity to join my colleagues up in Orono for the MLTI conference, colleagues

072and students, I should say. The conference focuses on technology being used in the classroom and brings together talented educators from all over the world and New England to share those innovations. I was lucky to be assigned randomly to Steven Avery's laser cutter presentation. Stephen Stephen is a tech integrator integrator from Bonnie Eagle and he showcased a few of his laser cutters and shared the cool work that he was doing with his students and teachers uh in his district. The presentation was very impressive. But what he did next was what truly interested me in pursuing a grant to get uh a laser cutter at the middle school. Before the presentation, Steven had precut identical cardboard templates to hand out to each student. The templates were made up of many smaller pieces similar to what's on the

073screen right now. Steven gave the group one directive. Build a catapult that can launch a marble as far as you can. The students began punching the pieces out of the template, having brainstorming sessions on how to proceed, implementing their plans, making tons of mistakes, correcting those mistakes, and then making more. The room was just energetic and vibrant and fun and not a single marble was ever even in the air. Um, which was really cool. Uh, what shocked me, and now it doesn't shock me so much now that I understand it, is when we went into the hallway and started shooting the marbles off, which was supposed to be the fun part, every single one of the designs was unique. They were all different, yet they were given the same materials. This is the beauty of

074engaging students in the engineering design process. It prepares our students to be ready for the unpredictable, to see a problem, attempt to solve it, reflect on what went wrong, and try again. We are lucky at the middle school to have two classrooms fully devoted to STEM teaching, and two talented engineering teachers in Craig Hansen and Scott Dagel. This is a luxury for our kids, and the laser cutter will only enhance the great work that's already going on at the middle school. The laser cutter will be primarily used for material and project prep. This will allow our teachers to quickly mass-produce design templates and pre-cut materials necessary to facilitate the learning I was just talking about. Our educators will utilize the laser cutter to prepare enough materials for an entire class to engage in design thinking,

075planning, and building. While this will be the cutter's initial and continued purpose, we intend to scale it beyond the STEM classrooms and allow students to design their own project using Tinkercad in science classrooms, art classrooms, wherever. Our outdoor learning initiatives continue to to expand, as you've seen, as we look to build trail systems, outdoor learning spaces, and new garden spaces. The laser cutter can be used to support those projects. Similar to, you know, some of the signage there. This is actually pictures of me or I took in Ry, New Hampshire this past summer where they were labeling the uh native plants and there was a QR code in the uh in the uh printed piece of wood uh that people could scan and get more information about it and I was instantly inspired. Simply put,

076the laser cutter will only be limited by our creativity and the creativity of our students. I want to thank the SEF for funding this project. And I want to encourage ed educators throughout this district to like dream big and then apply for more money because they do mean what they're saying when they meet with us at the beginning of the year and say apply. We want them to give you money and they do. So that's the laser cut. Any questions about that? We can do questions later if we want to. I can go on to the next slide. The next one is also an ongoing project. This one started in August uh with the climate education grant. Last year we partnered with Main Tree Foundation to apply for the grant in hopes of funding staff

077professional development and purchase materials to effectively teach and meet academic standards outside. We believe this fit our current work as you've seen and it does specifically the seventh grade integrated program which was kind of the motivating factor in this. As I said, the work began in August with a six-hour workshop hosted by Lena Ives from Maintree Foundation. Main Tree is a nonprofit that focuses on forestry and climate education. Staff members, and you see here, from throughout the middle school came to explore some of Main Tree's curricular materials, collaborate on future units, and participate in some field activities here in Scar Bro with the Scar Bro Land Trust, specifically about invasive species. From there, we have hosted monthly 2-hour meetings focused on continued planning and implementation of climate and outdoor learning experiences. Some examples of the

078work being done would be expanding the invasive species unit in the sixth grade. They go to uh Higgins Beach and uh work with crabs uh with the GMRI as well. Continued development of the integrated program you've heard so much about tonight. Expanding our garden spaces and how we use them for academic and social and emotional needs. indigenous studies units that focus on the impact of logging on our local rivers. Connecting Wabanaki culture to literature that we already read with our kids, specifically Walk Two Moons, an ecology unit in the eighth grade that's being developed, and finally the development of a seventh grade unit on pollinators and their impact on essential main industries. As we look to 2026, we have begun to pivot from unit designs to creating outdoor learning spaces and researching materials essential to

079making those spaces viable. Our last meeting was just two days ago, and we invited Jen Stanchfield in to facilitate a gallery walk in which we brainstorm not only the essentials of outdoor classrooms, but the possibilities of them. We have a goal of having at least one functional space when the kids return to us in the fall of 2026. We're also excited to partner with Project Wild and offer up to 20 educators a dayong workshop with one of the facilitators in March. Project Wild is a national award-winning environmental and conser uh conservation education program for K12 educators, offering hands-on activities and curriculum to teach students about wildlife habitats and responsible stewardship, fostering critical thinking and connection to nature through interdisciplinary units. Basically what I love, each participant will walk away with their own book and a

080wealth of strategies to use with their students the next day. Our group will continue to meet through June when we plan to have another six-hour culminating event to plan our next steps because this is not the end of this process. I'd like to shout out a couple educators that have been working alongside with me. Kay Cune, Justin Peas, Emma Toth, Carrie Bracy, Emmy John, Amy Johnston, Carol Leaf Flem, Mora Lefond, Laurel Harendine, Alli Murtha, Jess Kelly, Katie Hutchinson, Jen Landez, and Ethan McIll. They've been incredibly devoted to the project. They are a talented group of educators willing to push their own boundaries for the singular purpose of benefiting the kids in Scar Bro. It has been a lot of fun working with them, and I can't wait to see where we take it. That's all

081I have. >> Very good. Thank you so much. >> Are there any questions for either Kathy or Dylan? >> No. Well, I just want to say I really appreciate your passion and your excitement for this. It's really um it it's it's awesome to see that from sitting up here and listening to what you're saying. It's obvious that you are doing exactly what you love. So, thank you so much for >> for coming tonight. Thank you for presenting and um thank you for all you both continue to do. >> Thank you. >> All right. Agenda item 8.0 is continuing business. Um the new 8.1 is the um pardon. Oh, thank you. Yes. Agenda item 7.0 is general public comment. Is there anyone um online wishing If there's anyone online who's wishing to make public comment, if

082you want to raise your um little Zoom hand where it says raise hand, >> that's our middle school assistant principal. >> Yeah, I didn't know she was here to she's probably here to listen to her colleagues. All right. Is there anybody in person willing wishing to make general public comment? All right. Seeing none, I will close general public comment 8.0. It's continuing business. And now the 8 point um the new 8.1 is the governance document. Um sorry, I'm just trying to find a pen that works here. There we go. Okay. Um so, uh the selection committee this week we met to um select the members that are going to serve on the post referendum committee from the community side. And if you recall, we initially when we approved this um the second time we approved

083six members of the community. Um what happened when we got in the room is that we had an absolute abundance of amazing talent that applied for this committee. Um and so we did we spent a few hours really kind of separating out we received 23 total 24 total applications and um we separated out by category in which we had listed here in the book. Um we did end up based on the experience we had we did end up adding an eighth category which was experience with building projects. So um we did have quite a few that actually fell into that category as well. So what we um had the eight categories, we we put everybody where they belonged and then we started talking. But as we were talking, it became very evident that we would

084um need to come back and ask for some additional seats. Um in addition to that, if you recall, we heard earlier um this week, actually it was late last week, from a community um member that had gathered some information on behalf of some of some in the community. And one of the things that um one of the the takeaways from that that feedback was um there there seemed to be a disconnect between the number of community members serving versus the number of elected officials slash districttown employees. And so what we thought we would um do when we were looking at this is this gave us an opportunity to increase that number of community members that were serving which would allow us to align with the number of staff and elected officials that are serving. So

085where we landed was um we would we would like to respectfully ask that you increase that number from six to nine. So um it would be nine community members. the um it would change the quorum from 8 to 10 um and it would change the number of um committee members to 18. The only other change that we made in here just while we had it open is under purpose um we did clean up one of the sentences, the second sentence it says this um this includes oversight and design and construction the project budget and schedule related to the construction of the schools. Um so nothing else has changed. Um we have not contacted um anyone else um anybody who we've selected because we of course were going to wait until um the board approved this

086or if they approved it. Um but we are really excited. Um I think I can speak on behalf of everybody that served. We're really excited about the committee that we have. Um, and it's really exciting to see how much just how much experience we have in Scarbo in our own backyard. >> Absolutely. >> Are there any questions for John or myself or Diane? She was >> So you said a total number of people on the committee would be 18. >> Yes. >> What if there was a tie? Is there a situation for tiebreers for if anything in the committee needs to be voted on? Would that be brought to the board? >> Well, anything would come to the board. the their recommendations, yeah, would ultimately come to the board anyway. >> So, if the committee

087votes, >> so if they had a tie, they would just carry forward a >> yeah tie recommendation. >> And quite honestly, at this point in the work, there's really not a lot to be voted on. The public has voted on the project. And so, you know, at this time, it's really the implementation of the project and this committee just becomes the oversight of that. >> Okay. >> Um, thank you. not necessarily like decision makers, right? The board retains that authority. >> So, just to question um so there's nine committee nine community members and then nine uh you know representation from either town the town council or school board. Is that correct? That's sort of the >> and also school officials officials. Right. >> So sort of Yeah. We'll have three principles, myself, um Todd Jeepson

088who's our um um facilities director, >> Nick Cliche, who's from community services. >> Yeah. So, kind of a balance between public and private. >> Correct. Exactly that. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> So, we get there by adding those three. >> Yeah. >> Are there any other questions or thoughts? All right. Do I have a motion to approve the updated governance document as presented? >> All moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? And that shows unanimous. Thank you so much. Um we will start calling tomorrow. The first meeting, just so everybody knows, is January 13th. Is that right? January 13th. So we'll um start calling those community members tomorrow to let them know. And just as a reminder, all of our meetings um even though there will be 18 seated members, they're all public meetings

089and so anyone is welcome to attend. Um they will be um available uh via Zoom um for folks to to watch as well. So, you know, it's a very public process. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. >> All right. Okay. Agenda item our new 8.2 2 is the second. I'm going to combine um I'm going to bundle 8.2 and 8.3 because they go together. Um hold on. Do I have that right? And four. Yes. Yes. Okay. So 8.2 is the second reading of policy JNDB student and computer and internet use. The second reading of policy JN DBR student computer and internet use regulations. and second reading of policy IJN DBE, the student computer internet use acknowledgement form. Um, so I know we have some questions on this. So just before I hand this over to you to tee

090up, um, just really quickly, um, when we, uh, Freila will talk about the changes that were made, any questions you have on policy or the process. When I ask for questions, that would be the time. Any discussion or opinions, that would have to come after the motion. So, just want to be sure we're all on the same page for for this discussion. Okay, turn it over to you. >> Thank you. So, these um these policies there's and the next one is it's very similar to the next one. Although this one is applicable to students, next one's applicable to employees. So, this governs um students using computer and internet resources that belong to the school. So, typically right now we're using Chromebooks for the most for the most part, I believe, across the district. um and

091they're issued to students um at the beginning of the year. They also this the school provides internet access for students as well um so that they can access um educational materials um through that. These are the policies of the board that would govern um that use um of these devices. Um this policy is explicitly not applicable to personal devices that are brought in. Um that would include cell phones um personal laptops or or watches or any other device that a student might use. These are just for the devices that belong to the school. Um other than that we have not made any changes between the first and second reading. So this is the policy that you saw in the first reading. Um it talks about how technology um is a privilege. It's not a right.

092The students are expected to abide by all the policies in here. Um the the first uh part the first policy is just the overarching um guidance which is how our policies work. Um that talks about um how these these are resources that belong to the school district. They're essentially being loaned to the student for their use. Um that they there's filtering technology that is used um as part of the compliance with our policies and that um and it touches on a little bit of uh generative artificial intelligence AI. Um and there's a policy that goes along with that or actually I'll call it a guidelines that go along with that. Um the second part of that is the actual P process. So the first policy is overarching policy. The second is the regulations or the

093procedures that are um applicable to computers and internet use. Uh it lists all the acceptable uses um which are fairly common sense. It also lists explicitly prohibited uses um also common sense for things that are illegal or inappropriate um are not allowed to be accessed during um during on school internet and or on school devices. In fact, school devices are really to be limited for educational purposes um only and then it a bunch of limitations on what you can do with the device. You can't download um apps without permission. Um there's no vandalism. Uh you have to protect your password. you can't share your password um or allow others to access your systems under your accounts. Um talks a little about compensation for damages um and then security um and goes through all of those

094goes through all the rules um and u at the end touches on Google Workspace which is um the software that is on most of these computers. Um, finally, there's a the last form is a form that simply acknowledges that you as a student and or a parent has reviewed these policies um and agree to abide by them, which is a precondition to being able to have the devices accessed to you. Um, they reference a couple of policies that are available on the website and I would just want to take a second um if people have questions about technology. Um, if you go to the parents and family portion of the Scarwell website, there's an entire section devoted to student technology that talks about different parts of student technology, it goes through the Chromebook care use

095and responsibilities guide. That's the name of the guidelines that students are abide by that are rewritten every summer. So, when we talk about the policies that are reviewed, um, these are the policies we're referring to. If you're a parent um, and a student, you would access that through PowerBooks. Um, they're available and they're signed typically at the beginning of the year. The district has also put on some presentations that are available for the public having to do with um how we monitor and and filter at our devices. So when we ask about how our parental controls work or how our limitations work, there's a presentation available on or there's a document available on that that's linked on the website. There's also a presentation available um about how and it's updated every year I believe about

096how public schools laptop information. And there's a session available for parents if they're interested and that document is also available on the website as well as um a link to how you get to P school or how get on to power school in order to see the device agreement that hopefully everybody signed. And um the finally the generative art artificial intelligence the AI policy. I know AI is a big topic of of conversation in a lot of different areas. Um the school district has specific guidelines about appropriate use of AI that is also linked on this part of the website. So people who have questions, I encourage you to look at the website. There's a lot of information available there. And then of course, if you have further uh further questions, there's contacts on the

097website about how to get those uh questions answered. >> Thank you so much. Are there any questions? I'm not sure if this is the right time to bring it up, but um one of the things I've noticed is sort of the the first policy, if you look at the timeline, it was adopted in 2001 and then revised about a decade later. Then you have sort of an anomalies a year later at 2011, 2012, there's a backtoback and then it, you know, now we're then 2013 and then now another decade. I wonder if we can if there's a thought of including specific commitment to a regular review of this policy that is much shorter than a decade. I don't know if that was ever discussed when you know what you know in terms of including that

098in in these policies. >> We didn't discuss during the policy committee um and this would have been at the very beginning when Jen Day I think uh presented the entire thing. We all noted the date of the policy and ex I think we all had opinions about how technology has changed since 2013. That was quite a while ago and the desire to review this policy more frequently and so I think that's on our radar. This policy specifically, I do believe there's an intent to review it um again frequently. There's some information we're asking about. Um so I do believe that is the intent is to put it on the policy agenda for this summer. I hesitate to put in a specific review timeline. We have a lot of policies on the website. Um there's I

099don't know exactly how many, but I hazard to say it's almost a hundred I think policies on the website. Um we resist putting specific restrictions for review or requirements in them. There are a couple of policies that we do have to review on a regular basis. There's a state statute for one. Um, and so there are some that we have to, but it's very, first of all, I hesitate binding future boards. Um, and second of all, I it's hard to keep track of that information. Um, most there's many policies that in education move quickly. We actually reviewed a policy from 19 I think 81 >> a month ago, which things have changed a lot. It was a great year, but things have changed a lot since then. Um, so I mean you Mitchell wasn't here

100with us, so I appreciate the 80s, but um, the yes, we should review them more often. Putting that review into a policy binds a board and is also very difficult to keep track of. So we have found policies where there is intents to do things that if uh the institutional knowledge is not there, it may not get done. So that's that's just a point of information, not a >> Yeah. The the other addition that I would just make to that is just uh the recognition that yes, it has been 10 years. Um but during the past 10 years, we spent about three years um dealing with uh a pandemic and um coming back from that. And so timing is everything, right? Um and our policies um certain our policy work certainly did kind of go

101on hiatus a little bit um during that time especially as it related to expectations around students use of technology. We had one year where you know uh we were completely remote for a period of time. The next school year we were completely hybrid for an entire year and then we were coming back from that. And so, you know, I think our our committee has been really committed to um trying to uh really make up for lost ground and lost time on policy development. >> I would also note that the agreement that is signed by parents, it's not a policy of the board, but that is reviewed annually over the summer and revised every summer. So even though the board is not at our level changing the guidelines, the specific criteria and the specific rules around

102what you can and can't do with your Chromebook are being adjusted as by the technology and I know the superintendent's involved as well, making sure that any sort of problems that develop or is they can be responsive to issues on the ground and they I know that review happens annually every single year. the and those really govern those are the like the >> specific criteria and rules that are followed by students. So there is a way and there's there's regular review and a way to make sure that uh the district's very responsive uh to problems on the ground if the problems arise to like a kind of a higher level view where we have policy considerations you know AI would be one since 2013 would be a big change um but we had already implemented

103guidelines you know complete lockdown to start but once once we went beyond that part um there are guidelines on the website that govern that and so I think it demonstrates that even though the board has may not taken it up, it doesn't mean that the district hasn't taken up. >> Yeah. Just my concern is that, you know, first as a new board member, I kind of I'm forced to sort of speak now or forever hold my peace because once this vote happens, I really can't bring this back up. You know, I have to accept the decision. That's one of the sort of protocols, you know, under which we operate. So you know the other thing is that because you know I I know there are good intentions and there's every intention to regularly review these

104policies and that actually happens you know de facto even if not desure or not you know um I think there are parents and there are constituencies in scar that would like to have a voice on some of these on a more regular basis and you know technology changes very quickly apps change new you know new threats arise for our students in terms So I just think that you know may you know it would be nice to have some some mechanism to have a regular sort of check-in on technology computers internet and you know necessarily it doesn't have to be you know this by this date but maybe some sort of goal that every three or four years this gets looked at formally in some fashion. >> I just two two responses to that that I

105think are important for policy. Um well, if this policy gets in, it gets uh approved tonight, um it will become the policy, there's this policy is going to come up again on the agenda for the policy committee, which means it very likely may end up on the agenda for this board in the near future. There's a explicit, it's in the meeting notes, it's a plan to review this again um in a few months or to review pieces of this in a few months and to review specifically uh the elementary level use of Chromebooks at home. That's a topic that's outstanding. This committee did not want to hold updating this policy for that piece. But it means that this policy will come back. And while we can't stop whatever happens tonight won't change in the future

106unless or until the policy committee takes up the policy again and it presents a new draft at which point there will be an ability to have input. And that's true in the future as well. If there's an issue that comes up, if the polic if if it re it needs to be brought to the policy committee, if the policy committee agrees to bring it up um and to review it, it can be reviewed at any time and any changes that are recommended will be brought forward. So this policy is a little different than some others because they're alive and they change and so they're not it's not now or never on any policy. Policies will are are living breathing documents and so they come up periodically. you know, if the building governs document that came

107up is different that we just voted on is a little different because that is done. And so there is are ways to bring it back, but it's very difficult and disfavored, intentionally difficult to do that. And so if you, let's say, we weren't unanimous, if somebody was upset with that vote, it's very difficult to bring that that that decision back over because you don't want to disrupt work that's ongoing um that has been decided. And so decisions that are kind of a one-time decision that keeps going is now or never in a way that policy never can be. Policy is always going to come back eventually. So yeah, and I do um the other thing I would add is if there's something that you are you or any board member is interested in having on

108the agenda that that we do have a policy that provides for that. So you can always ask for something to be added to the agenda. >> Yeah. And additionally, I would also say um and I think you know uh returning board members could uh speak to this is we do have our IT director uh present to the board on an annual basis and uh that is really a very informative workshop. Um so for example last year uh she did a big workshop on cyber security and the concerns around student data privacy etc. um you know and so uh those are conversations that are continuing to happen. Um and then I would also just point out that um all of the work that's done around policy is a very public process. All of our meetings are

109posted online. Um so folks can take a look at those agendas. Um we have two readings of every policy here. And so I think um there is a high value on community feedback and community input and it certainly has been my observation um in the time that I've worked here at the district level um that our boards really are in tune with the feedback um that they hear and then um you know check that information and see how uh that policy adoption happens. Um I will make one last comment. I said I the last comment was the last comment but I will say one other thing and that really is just um remembering that policy is the work of the board your setting here's how we're going to operate and then how that gets implemented

110and the daytoday application of that is what you charge us to do right and so um you are you know charge me as superintendent to ensure that our staff staff is um carrying that out in day-to-day practice >> and and agreed and I'm not trying to tell you what to do. That's but that's why I think >> my weighing in now is important because I care about the policy, right? That's where I am have a legitimate right to to weigh in. So, so another um sort of just quickly because I um Freigh and I had a phone conversation. So most of these issues, but the other second issue I wanted to bring up is that, you know, I know we had a pretty rigorous process for the cell phone policy use. At some point in

111the future when this policy comes back up, I really would like to see an equally rigorous sort of engagement on, you know, on the computer use on things like parents being able to opt out on, you know, you know, Jed the AI issue um and digital citizenship. I know it's already in the curriculum, but you know, maybe explicitly including it in the policy, things like that. So, um I'll just leave it at that. Um I just wanted to have weigh in on on some of my concerns about the uh computer internet policy. >> Um just really I I wanted to provide you a little bit of information. So the way that um if we take two steps back um we did hear from the union, the teachers union that there was an interest in um

112hearing about or attending policy meetings and so Frea from that point on has been sending >> huh >> most of the time she's sending the agenda for the policy meeting out to the union so that they have access and if they are interested in attending they are absolutely more than welcome to do so. Um the public participation that happened uh around the cell phone policy is not I I just want to be really crystal clear here. We did not invite anybody to the table. We generally as a rule of thumb have not invited the public to the table. Whom we invite to the table are stakeholders within the district. So for example when I'll use a totally different example. We're in the process of a naming facilities policy. And so whom we brought to the

113table was our athletic director and town council um policy um members of their policy committee. Uh so for technology we bring Jen Day to the table. Um when we are talking about the high school for the cell phone policy we brought the principal to the table. So those are the people we come. So and when we had um when we have a lot of attendance from community members it's not because we've reached out and asked them to come join us. it's because they're following along on their own and then they decide to come to the meetings. Um so I I'm just I'm a little hesitant for us to start inviting um interest groups to our meetings because I think what we can very easily get into is that we are representative of all of Scarboro.

114And my worry is that we invite one interest group and then we have another interest group that says well why didn't you invite me and why didn't I get an invitation a personal invitation to attend? And so this gets very very sticky very quickly. Um so that would be my my only other piece. >> I also want to respond a little bit. So in policy I've had the benefit of of moving through a few policies that have been um somewhat controversial and have a garnered a lot of public interest. And then most of our policies are boring. Um I I the procurement manual review the um we respond to the response. So our meetings are public are published the same every time. Our our process starts the same every time and then we're responsive to

115the people who do show up. So I want to make sure we're talking about the same table. So we don't invite people into the committee to present um except except unless they're part of the district really to provide the information that we need to make the decision. But we certainly have had um and people interested in different policies and that's one of the reasons why we're so slow with adoption. So it takes at least a couple of there's no way to get a policy through without a couple of months at least. Um and so when people from the public want to engage with us, we really will meet them and we we've there two policies that I'm thinking of since I've started that have been a lot of have been of um somewhat a big

116topic of interest in the community. When the community responds, we slow down and that's we go very very slowly and methodically through the process. So that's why with for cell phones for example, I think it was close to nine months. >> Yeah. >> Um and we had multiple community forums and outreach, we had a lot of interest. We moved our meetings down here so we could have more public comment. We always allow public comment at meetings. So the public is invited to present at that point. But we don't look for um we don't go out in the community and look for input because we don't actually know who might be interested. But if people are interested, we absolutely will meet them. And so we really let the community drive that. So, if the committee wants

117to be part of a policy, if they email, show up to the committee meeting, um, talk to one of us, I mean, there's there's ways to reach us, and we can, and we have slowed that down to have fully engagement. We're not going to go out and seek it if if there's no interest. And I've seen policies that have a lot of interest. I've seen policies that had a little bit of interest. And then most policies have almost no interest. And this policy has not garnered one email. which is to me a sign that this is this policy is not um causing concern, alarm or is not that people aren't interested in internet. They are with their children like that's we know that but this particular policy isn't um causing them to need to come

118to the table in the same way that some other policies. >> Thank you for that. That um was very useful. Um uh and just a point of clarification, there was a workshop or forum of some sort on the cell phone policy that I just want to know sort of how that happened if that was not so that was I guess I would consider that public consultation, but um >> it happened because we it happened because we had um to Frell's point, we had an overwhelming response to that policy. So we were regularly at our policy meetings taking 45 to an hourong public comment at each meeting. We had a massive student in interest. We had a massive staff interest. Um we had massive parent interest on both sides. We had parents that were interested in

119banning cell phones. We had parents that absolutely were against us banning cell phones. Um and so that is why we were trying to um really work to bring those different groups of people in one in one space. We do um uh we are planning to have a parent uh workshop in April. We are also planning to have a workshop in April. So there's going to be two more opportunities to really talk through um tools things that um in April the the workshop that we have is the district curriculum use of electronic devices. Um that is our workshop topic and then the um community forum afterward is going to be more of a parent educational tool. what are some of the tools and things available to help parents as they try to navigate electronic devices for

120their own child's use? So, we do have two upcoming topics on that. Um, also the other thing I will add in is that this board um when we set our goals, one of the goals that was set was um a real or one of the things we discussed was a real interest in involving the community a little bit more. with the loss of the leader, it has become a little bit more difficult to communicate and how do we meet the community members where they're at instead of telling them watch our meetings, do this, do this. What is another way to engage? And so that um we changed the name of that committee to the community outreach committee that um I know you're a part of and so you know this, but this is going to

121be a really good opportunity. We really charge that committee with finding new ways of reaching uh reaching the public. And so I think that you know I think I mean I'm really interested in what what the committee comes up with. Um so I think that's another avenue as well. >> Yeah. No, thank you for answering all my questions and as I told Frea we had this discussion on the phone but that I wanted to bring it up publicly as well. So thank you. >> Absolutely. >> All right. Do I have a motion to approve 8.2 the second reading of policy JNDB student computer and internet use. The second reading of policy JNDBR, the student computer and internet use regulations. And the second reading of policy JNDBE, student computer internet use acknowledgement form. >> So moved.

122>> Second. >> Is there any discussion? All in favor? And that shows you what was your hand? Okay. Thank you. This shows unanimous. Thank you. All right. I'm going to bundle five, six, and seven. So this is the second reading of policy GCSA employee use of school use computer devices in the internet. Second reading of policy GCS employee computer and internet use regulations. And the second reading of policy GCSE employee computer internet use acknowledgement form. >> I'm not going to spend much time on this policy. Um it's very similar to the changes that were made to the student use of schoolisssued computers and the internet policy. uh it's just in a different section because I govern students and she governs staff or employees. So um happy to take any questions but this is the same

123the overarching principles of computer use and and the internet the regulations that we are imposing on them including the the um things that are approved uses and prohibited uses. And finally the form that all staff sign as an acknowledgement um that they've received these uh rules, regulations and policy and that they agree to abide by it as a condition of using the technology on the campus. All right. Are there any questions? All right. Do I have a motion to approve the second reading of policy GCSA, employee use of school use computers, devices in the internet? The second reading of policy GCSA, employee computer and internet use regulations. And the second reading of policy GCSAE, employee computer internet use acknowledgement form. >> So moved. Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? That shows unanimous. Thank you

124so much. 8.8 is the second reading of policy EBBD, temperature standards for schools. >> This was fantastic policy work. Um I've been sitting myself. I love this policy. >> So as you do not love this policy that doesn't >> Well, no, I really um aligned this policy last time around and called it arbitrary and capriccious and I stand by that comment. Um we I we this is required this is required that we pass a policy that uh takes into account temperature standards for schools. Um as I said before we the numbers that we chose were absolutely arbitrary and then we chose the most absurd numbers we could. Um that felt really weird I think which was part of the discussion for the policy members on the committee. We struggled a lot with this policy and

125then we found that thanks to the efforts of our uh fantastic superintendent, the bidderford had already done all the work on the policy. So we scrapped our entire draft policy and looked at their policy and then we decided we didn't like all their policy. So we brought the parts of the policy that we had worked on that we liked into it, but we kept the part they liked. So the issue that we really had was that nei none of us knew what should be the right temperature. We had Todd Dubsum who's our the head of our facilities who is actually the expert in our and and our buildings um and has demonstrated like competence at keeping maintaining the buildings at the appropriate temperature. Um this range is determined by OSHA who are experts in what

126workplace safety should be. And so that is what we've pegged the numbers to. So they're no longer random. They now have some sort of basis. Um but it's still the same that it authorizes a superintendent to take um action if there is extreme uh temperatures both high or low uh to keep our students safe and our staff uh healthy and the environment appropriate. I don't still don't know that we need this policy but we have to have it. So here you >> all right there questions. >> Yes. Um, did you make any effort to reach out to Goldilocks >> to find out what was just right? >> She was busy. >> So, we went with 50 to 99 degrees. We figured, >> you know, we made every >> We made an effort. We reached out

127to Todd Jeepson. That's who we reached out to. Yes. >> All right. Um, any other questions? Do I have a motion to approve the second reading of policy EBBD, temperature standards for schools? So moved to second. >> Any discussion? >> All in favor? All right, that shows unanimous. Thank you so much. Agenda item 9.0 is new business. 9.1 are appointments. 9.1.1 is the interim bluepoint principal. >> Yes. Um I am very pleased this evening to bring forward to you a nomination uh for our interim Bluepoint principal. As you know, um our former principal resigned and uh we have been very blessed to have uh both uh Ray Grogan um and also Katie Vro um at the helm pinch hitting and sharing responsibility uh for day-to-day operations and oversight of Bluepoint. That being said, uh they

128are both more than full-time professionals in our district with their own sets of job responsibilities. And so, um, we really wanted, uh, to explore, um, uh, some more permanency for the rest of the year. Uh, and as we processed through that as a team, um, what we really landed on was that, um, there is a lot of expertise and capacity within Blueoint School itself. And um you know, not unlike the conversation that I had with you earlier this fall when we were contemplating um a shift that we needed to make at the high school, uh we really applied the same kind of thinking in this situation. uh because we certainly recognize that anytime we bring a professional, even a highly skilled professional um from outside of the district, there is a period of time that

129it takes any professional to learn the ins and outs of our school, learn what our policies and procedures are and and how that guides our work. And as we consider the timing of where we are in the year, it really struck us that we should be looking uh within our own ranks, set our own expertise. I think you've heard me say multiple times that I have a strong belief in elevating those uh people who uh come to our table and have expertise. And so as such um this evening um I am nominating Jillian Dagel who is with us this evening uh to serve as interim Bluepoint principal uh for the remainder of the 2526 school year. Um Jillian um has earned her Bachelor of Arts degree um in 2002 from the University of Southern Maine.

130She's also earned a master of science in education with a major in teaching and learning in 2009. And then she earned her certificate of advanced graduate study in educational leadership in 2014. Um and at that point um she uh earned her principal certification. Uh she is in her 19th year. hard to believe that when I read that number. Um, as an elementary educator and prior to her start here in Scar Bro in 2018 at Blueoint, she served as a primary level teacher at Hollis Elementary School for 11 years. And during that time, she also worked um in the capacity of lead teacher. So she definitely has had um some great experiences to date in terms of um of leadership and we are really just over the moon about um about this appointment. I think that

131um we will see that um staff and families at Blueoint will also uh support this and really um you know it's a great opportunity for the school to continue the great work um and direction that they're already taking. >> All right. Do I have a motion to approve the interim bluepoint principal presented? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Is there any discussion? All in favor is unanimous. Congratulations. >> Excellent. >> All right. Agenda item 9.2 is the Bluepoint School donation approval request. >> Yes. So, um, this memo is from Rey. Would you like to read it? You, it is yours. Uh the Bluepoint School, we have received our Hanner Helps funds of $918. Uh and we would like to use it to help offset um any financial needs from financial hardships of any of the

132students we have for different activities or different things to help access the education at Bluepoint School. And the other half will be used to support some uh learning activities that are outside of the classroom. >> All right. Do I have a motion to approve the Blue Point school donation approval donation as presented? >> So move >> second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? And that show unanimous. Thank you so much. >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Oh, sure. >> Um, before I move on to the next motion, does it before we move on to the next motion, does it make sense to do a motion to alleviate the 9:30 deadline just in case we needed to? Yes, I um >> we have a problem. >> I was going to um suggest that as well. So, good

133minds. Um just because we are going into an executive session that might take us beyond 9:30, um I will entertain a motion to um relieve us of our 9:30 obligation to end the meeting. >> Um I make a motion to suspend the rule that no action shall be taken by the board after 9:30 uh p.m. >> Second. >> Is there any discussion? All in favor? >> That shows you unanimous. >> All right. Um, we have an executive uh mo. So, do I have a motion to go into executive session pursuant to 1 MRSA 4056D for the dis purpose of discussion of labor contracts and proposals and meetings between a public agency and its negotiators, the SEA, to return to public session. >> Second. Any discussion? All in favor? All right. Thank you so much. And

134as a reminder, we will only be adjourning in person. So, thank you to those who have tuned in and happy holidays. >> Can you