School Board Workshop and Business Meeting

001e e e good evening and welcome to the scarber Board of Education Workshop the date is February 27th 2025 Ray can we call the attendance please yes K here miss Leon um she will be late Miss Lindstrom here miss Peterson here Mr rockenstein here Mr opinion um she will be late Mr Trini huff and she won't be late Miss Ledger here miss rasina perfect thank you so much would everyone please join me for the pledge of allegiance 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 all right agenda item 4.0 is new business 4.1 is the district's fre program so I'll give it to Diane to great um no we are excited to speak with you

002this evening um to provide you with information about um uh prek in general what that looks like um uh what that has looked like in the state and some information in regards to our district um and we have our three primary school principes with us this evening as well as um Katie vro our curriculum director um and um uh specifically uh Dr Martin has um worked in this prek realm for us as a district uh for a period of time um as far back as uh 201728 when there was a prek task force um Kelly uh oversaw that work and um Kelly also currently serves as our liaison um for our prek partnership and so um I am going to hand this over to Kelly who has lots of great information to share with all

003of you this this evening so put together pretty comprehensive overview for you of a bunch of different components of keep of prek um so I'll try to try to go slow but feel free to um stop me at any time there's also a note taker that I don't know if did they get that it was in their board packet your board packet okay so that can kind of help you um keep track of your questions as you go along um but I wanted to really set the foundation with what is prek because I think um when we hear about you know wanting prek or you know looking at prek in a district um that can mean different things so just wanted to kind of talk about what are the different funding models for prek and

004I think Universal prek is what a lot of people think of when they think of prek and that's a publicly funded model for all students prek okay for all students in a district and as we'll get to a little bit later we'll see kind of how frequently that occurs actually in the state of Maine um another model is targeted prek where you offer prek to some students based on set criteria so it might be students with particular needs or particular set of income standards or other risk factors so you you know it's could be funded by the school department as well locally funded but you're targeting a certain demographic group um headst start I'm sure many people have heard of that's a federally funded program that's birth to five and that is targeted at low-income

005families and there is a head start in name um of course Private Preschool is as we we'll talk about later as well there's a lot of that in Scaro and a lot of that in Maine um those can be nonprofit or for-profit um and those are independently run of department and then there's this coordinated prek which is what we are in right now and that's a prek that's offered in partnership with a public school and a private program um and it can be Grant funded which was which is what we're doing uh supported by the doe and it's just a way in a lot of States this happens in a lot of states to to kind of grow you know Foster that growth of PRK programs with school so another kind of all of these

006photos also are from shooting stars are prek classroom so you can enjoy those as we go along um I also wanted to kind of understand myself because I am not a prek expert I do want to preface that um but just kind of learn myself you you know about some of the approaches to prek uh Ruth Hughes our our prek director couldn't be here tonight she would have added to this as well I we did meet and and talk about some things but I think you know as a primary school principal receiving students into kindergarten and knowing you know different kinds of how kids are in different places um when they come into us in k um and this really kind of speaks to that in terms of all the different approaches to preet you

007know in one column you have sort of different program approaches or philosophies um and then the pedagogical approaches um and just to kind of lay out how broad some of these differences are you you have like a montor approach on one end that is really very um self-directed learning experiential learning really not academic at all actually kind of stays away from that um playway is another one that that is more in that that end of the spectrum all the way over to high scope which is really very evidence-based um pre-academic getting ready for school um and then you others are kind of a blend in the middle and a lot of them share this play experience-based Hands-On self-directed you know components how parent involvement but this focus on academics and School Readiness is really a

008big variable among some of these different approaches so it's just kind of important to understand that that not all approaches to preschool and prek are are the same um I wanted to dig in to a little bit of the research um and I think this is important to understand I to me it's about managing expectations so um prior to 1980 only two states in the United States funded Universal 3K and that really picked up in the 80s and 90s mostly due to the foundational research of the Perry preschool and the ab sedarian project um and which I'm sure people have heard about in terms of their findings but maybe not by name and those two studies really pointed to you know kids who have early intervention are going to do XY and Z later in

009life you know they're going to have Higher Achievement they're going to you know have better Behavior outcomes they're going to have avoid the prison school to prison pipeline all of those things which are really positive things um the limitations to those studies was that they were done in really highly controlled environments with primarily black children um and of low-income families so the studies that are run today and the three foundational studies that are are really becoming the cornerstones of the research now in Tulsa Oklahoma there's an ongoing study in Boston and one out vanderbelt in Tennessee are really speaking to that those can't be generalized to what we look at today we look at prechool programs and the results from the current research is saying that the results for students who attend prek are mixed

010um and what those results tell us is that students who attend prek will have a high initial boost in their School Readiness that really quickly goes away once they enter school so they're they're ready for school but then those effects kind of dwindle really quickly um the things that hold on there's a moderate boost for School attendance and and you know being at school reduce chronic absenteeism you know overall School engagement so they there's some longitudinal studies that show that you know students might you know be involved in more AP uh classes in high school and things like that so being more engaged in those pieces those tend to be more durable over time so those are really positive results um so it's not quite as cut and dry as the studies before that were

011like you know prek equals this um some questions that are still being asked um there still is a significant boost for um minority and low low-income students so the research is very clear that when you know early intervention is applied to those groups there's there's a really significantly positive effect um a a question that's being examined is does the quality of the prek program matter that's that's still kind of mixed some it's not really definitive a bigger question that's being explored now is is it the quality of the school program that kids go into if if they have a prek program why does why is there that drop in School Readiness or achievement when they go in so what's that match of your prek program to your school school program so it's just something to

012consider as you as you go into it so then anecdotally like why does it matter to us right so one thing that Ruth and I talked about um and I think I know that Ann and Jen and I have talked about a lot is that parenting is different you know childhood is different now um you know Ruth talked to me a lot about how kids and prek that she sees um have different skills than they did five or 10 years ago kids who've never held a pair of scissors kids who haven't held a pencil um and we see that coming into kindergarten so that School Readiness piece can be um can be challenging uh and that's not all kids but that's that's some kids right so those Early Learning experiences for kids whether it's because

013of you know the prek program or what's happening at home or whatever that I don't have the reason for that but those continue to change for kids um and it's always been and will continue to be a part of kindergarten to close those gaps and that's just that's just a reality uh and what do we know about what parents need we know parents are looking for for child care and that can be difficult to find it can be difficult to find prek spots we'll see that a little bit later um and we hear for our parents that come into K you know they're looking for support around K Readiness and that transition to kindergarten um really quickly for those that are watching and maybe don't know can you just tell everybody who loses if you

014wouldn't mind yes thank you I did a slide or to that but Ruth Hughes is the prek director at shooting stars do this too far now it's not going at all did I go to you need us to move it no I got it I think I got it okay all right so prek in our in our area districts and prek in FY 25 so just some data points to think to think about as we consider okay what are other people doing right so in this um past fiscal year 91% of districts offered some form of pre- in Maine over 50% are less than 25 hours AG so something to think about um and there are no current grants to develop or support the expansion of public prek so the grant we have now those

015are those are done um and there's also not a mandate as some people think to to have 3K it is a a local decision it's supported by the doe it's encouraged by the doe but it's it's not a BD that you have a prek program in your district and so you know Dian and Ry and I kind of chose the districts that we tend to compare ourselves to and laid out you know so there's the district and then the number of classrooms they have within those categories so you can see there's only those two districts um that have Universal prek and I think I think was that within that list so yeah those two are Universal there's that's from the state a couple that they don't claim to be Universal but they have enough slots

016but they don't want to say they're Universal because if they run out they're not hiring another teacher right so you see some districts have quite a few classrooms um Sak has a combination of fulltime considered five hours per day and part-time just to give you a sense it there's some pieces that are growing Within These communities and some that have been established for a while is is two hours is it B anything under five hours under okay so it's not first I think it's helpful to know too that the full time is over five hours which could be um that five hours or it could be the length of a full school day depending on where the program is placed as well yeah right so for some kids they go the full school day which

017is about six and a half and I can say um the the districts that are listed as part-time prek those follow kind of the traditional half day program so there's a section in the morning and a section in the afternoon as many of you might recall we used to do with kindergarten um back in the day back in the day so to your point the the the districts that go over a full that go a full school day those are considered full-time yes yes how many hours is the shooting Serv get to that do you know if these 3K programs are are inside their school buildings or are they much similar like shooting stars where they're separate program and then we have funding don't know the answer that I don't know the I think it's

018bolster within the school buildings but there are some that have some different sites and different spots you know Portland does and right so they might be you know in the basement of a church or right utilizing other community spaces but that's a good question we could follow up on how many absolutely the other piece I looked at was you know looking at our own students and this this data is based on WE collect where students go to preschool in two different ways we have a survey that goes out um to parents asking them a bunch of different questions about their incoming kindergarteners um and then on registration paperwork there's a question about um preschool so there as you can see here have 213 kindergarteners currently 79% of those attended some kind of pre- program 3%

019did not attend there is 16% that we don't didn't either didn't answer so we don't know we weren't able to verify that we we crosschecked those two data sources and um didn't have an answer on either one and 3% repeated kindergarten so it just gives you a sense of how many kids um end in and then you can see and this is pretty typical kind of where the bulk of of kids kind of our Heavy Hitters in terms of little folk and toddling Heidi's House um those are the bigger programs and then there's this big chunk at the bottom which is other programs and those are that's made up of 38 programs that all have like gets five or fewer kids in each program so there just a lot of scatter you know and those

020are not not just in scar BR there there are some that are in other towns so people may choose something that's closer to their work you know it's more convenient um there might be a lot of reasons for that we dig into that but just gives you a sense of it may have more to do with some of the the choice in approach as well because that when kids are younger that can that can drive most decisions too so that's just a snapshot of where our kindergarteners go and how many go so then moving into our current partnership which we are in the first year of this uh partnership which has been absolutely fantastic Grant funded um we went through an application and approval process with the main doe which is ongoing we meet with

021them regularly um shooting stars already had a great program and they made some minor tweaks to meet this mou they had to make some um grade level shifts just to they they had more grade levels together andk can only be with um they can't be with certain grade levels so they they made those appropriate shifts they've made some minor curriculum shifts to align with us so they've just been wonderful to work with blueo has been the hub for like enrollment registration Health compliance those kinds of things and school nutrition brings them their lunch and snacks and so it's been pretty seamless um there's two teachers and 16 students it's full-time five hours a day they go nine to two um and all the curriculum is listed and linked there and in your packet they Ruth

022um Tred to kind of mirror what we do in terms of our specials so they're we have you know art and music and PE so she tries to bring in weekly you know parate music dance cooking these these types of things to kind of get kids used to those experiences and that kind of a schedule um and it's just it's a wonderful environment and she invites anyone who would like to visit from the board um to to come and see it it's really great and then there's a large document about chapter 124 that's linked in your packet that you're welcome to peruse but I wanted to pull out some highlights uh in terms of what the requirements are for PRK in Maine and a lot of it is very similar to you know what we

023look at for kindergarten programming or or School programming but there are some some differences so class size is one class size is smaller that so shooting stars is at the max 16 kids uh with a ratio of one adult for every eight students and there has to be at least one certified preschool teacher and one it can be more than one teacher but it has to be at least one and if you're going to have some kind of edtech then there are some requirements around that they're a little different than what we use um and then there you know they instructional time that we've talked about a little bit so it's a minimum of 10 hours a week up to 35 weeks um yeah include rest time I didn't did fix that typo I apologize

024for that on here um and it can be scheduled within that 175 school days but it doesn't have to use all the days so it allows they're trying to allow School District's flexibility whether you're going to do that half day or you know you want to use some days for screen and you know those kinds of things within that window to be a little more flexible for four year olds um any Furnishings playground equipment has to be the right size for foury olds so you know when you're thinking about bringing it into a school be looking at do you have the right equipment do you have the right stuff um and then recess they can only have recess with either other BK students or kindergarten students so just some things to think about so what

025are the cost drivers for prek um space there are some some space requirements that are not I don't think they're very concerning um they need 35 square feet per student of usable space so you have to really take out everything that's not student um you know no cubbies no sink no door swing it's like 560 square feet in total which I think would be compliant with what we have for classroom space um I think the bigger drivers are know Staffing ratios um what you need to add for Furnishings curriculum professional development I mean I think what I'm sharing with you tonight is kind of the the tip of the iceberg PRK is different you know there's there's um I think Early Child development is is different than kindergarten there are a lot of similarities but

026there there's there's a lot that's different these are the standards there's different standards um that that the curriculum aligns to um and I think as you build programs you look at some districts you have like nine classrooms or over that those classrooms need access to to School nurses you know multilanguage teachers social work special education so as you grow the program the capacity of of those positions as everything else that we do we buil and increase budgets you just have to consider those pieces are going to increase as well um and it's going to drive those costs uh as as well as school nutrition transportation is not required but if you're going to have transport four-year-olds require a fiveo harness so you can transport them differently um you know before and after care capacity parents

027are going to be looking for that and then as it grows and it at what what's the Tipping Point for someone to coordinate it or be the administrator for it so those are just some things you know you start small start with one but as you grow like that there's a cost even to start um but as you get bigger it's it's a ripple effect so no D say a little bit more sure sure no and so you know on that slide you'll see that you know we've estimated the startup cost per classroom at of at $175,000 um that is based on um we budget um uh we would need to be budgeting for salary and benefits um and as a general rule salary and benefits that we budget for for a teacher is $100,000

028um because some of you may not realize how much benefits really do cost um but they are quite Hefty um and we budget $50,000 for every edtech position in the district so out of that 175 year-over-year cost would be 150 per classroom uh we're estimating uh around $25,000 as a startup cost for materials Furnishings curriculum Etc um for a classroom the other piece in terms of the finances um I I think you know Kelly talked about uh the reality that there are not grant opportunities that are available at this time to expand um prek uh we do have the ability to have prek fit in into our EPS model um for those of you who aren't as familiar with EPS I could direct you to a great presentation that our Miss Kate Bolton business manager

029gave at a recent Finance meeting um so we could certainly attach that to today's minutes um but to give you the um 20 second snapshot of that basically the state um has a formula uh for what they call Essential programs and services and so what they do is they allocate um uh different costs for different things um and then that is how our general purpose Aid comes to us um as a district and um and the rate at which we receive general purpose Aid is based on um what the state has decided as our economic standing our community's ability to pay our tax basee if you will how am I doing so far Kate right on there money okay and so for so so what that means is funding for public prek is really different

030for every unique District so districts who are high receivers for State funding would receive higher allocations for pre districts who are low receivers of funding would receive lower allocations for prek if we looked at FY 25 which is the year that we are currently in the funds that we receive overall for our school budget equates to about 11% and so that means that the local taxpayers would incur 89% of the cost of public preit and again that is just a piece of information a fact right and so if you think about that slide that Kelly showed a few slides back with different districts and how many programs they had we could probably easily look at those and um make some assumptions based on what we know about the economic status of some of those districts

031and so um it is absolutely true that uh there are some districts that are much further along in their ability to provide public prek than others um and obviously funding um is a big component of that so if I just did some quick math um for our 21333 kids that roughly equates to about $2.4 million of which 11% we would have received about 256,000 and the remainder of the 2.4 million would have been taxpayer funded yes I I have not checked your math here in this minute but roughly that's what we're saying if you were gonna do for all yes for every if because if you offer it do you need we need to make it no no I mean I'm sorry if we're g to offer Universal pre if you were going to do

032Universal yes yes like that is what it means so the other piece of information before we just open this up to questions is really also wanted to clarify with you this evening um the difference between public prek and what many of you have probably heard about um CDs services and so CDs is child development servic those are special education services that are provided to Children um birth to age five and so um last year there was a statute that was passed that basically delegated the responsibility for CDs Services beginning at age three um to local districts and um that is a requirement um and that statute provides that by July 1st 2028 every District um takes on the responsibility for providing special education services um for three four and fivey olds and so um there

033are a few districts who are in a pilot right now so uh there uh you know is an opport Unity for districts to decide uh when they want to start if they want to be early adopters or if they want to wait and see how that's looking um certainly I think the larger your district is the more complex it is to start considering um what that model might look like here in Scaro we are working really closely with our regional Partners in Greater seago Alliance um to study what um a regional model might look like CDs Services is very different than public prek because those are targeted services and so you can receive Services Under CDs without being in a public 3K program right and so what that means is we would look at a

034student's ifsp which is the equivalent of an IEP in school and we would say okay what are the services that are here this student uh needs to receive an hour of speech services a week this student needs to receive an hour of OT Services a week etc etc and then it is the district's responsibility to contract with providers to provide that service where that service takes place when that service takes place those are all local decisions and so they don't necessarily have to take place at our schools during the school day we have to be responsible for the oversight of those services and those services are funded at 100% for all districts because basically what we're doing is the state is currently paying CDs to provide those services and what they're doing is they're picking

035up those funds and saying we're not going to have CDs be the direct provider or organizer of these Services we're going to Dole that off to school districts and so CDs services are not part of our EPS formula so a minute ago when I told you that we only receive 11% for uh the programming that we provide this statute would be funded at 100% for all schools because as you know special education services are are mandatory and required right and those are currently being paid for um by the state to CDs so I just wanted to really like separate those two things because what we're talking about this evening our Workshop around public prek it is not the equivalent of CDs thank you for that okay um really quick before we dive in with questions

036and discussion just to kind of um frame what we're doing here so um very quickly this is something we've all been interested in for a while now um discussing and we had planned on hearing um from Ruth at a later date just an update as to what's going on how it went um what opportunities there might be um but what's happened concurrently is that the building IM the building um committee has been meeting and trying to really wrap their heads around prek and is it something um they feel that they would like some direction is as if it's uh direction from us as it should it be something that they're considering and they're and they're built um when we initially set out with the charge we did not contemplate prek we contemplated a k um

037K solute K8 or K12 solution I'm really focused on our kids that we um were mandated to provide education for so so um with the hope I know and please Melissa and Jillian feel free to jump in I I think what I understand the building committee is hoping to get from us tonight is some sort of understanding as to what we're doing going forward are we going to offer this are we not going to offer this should they be planning for it in a build should they not um just a little bit more Direction and then for those that are here listening and online listening um we just so you know we don't typically take public comment at workshops but when we start up our regular meeting there is a point where we offer general

038public comment so that would be the time to to provide comment and to speak to that we have had quite a few discussions thank you for the ASC members who are here uh and probably online I'm sorry I can't see you listen um and you know Jillian and I were able to stress that you know there's not a huge likelihood that we're going to walk out with a full-blown plan for years to come and here are answers here are everything but the really the ask is like anything we can provide to move forward with because we're really um you know when we're sitting in the room we want to do right by our students by our taxpayers make sure that we have everything that needs to be considered considered um so anything that we can

039even rule out rule in give them some sort of direction to move forward um would be kind of imperative to kind of helping this move forward because um as many problems as we can answer in in the room would be great um so just to big thatat all right I'm going to open up for questions or thoughts or I have one question you said that the state would fund based on 100% based on uh what they pay CDs is that a like is that like a one of those things where it's like a par know it's like your insurance company like oh yeah we pay 100% up to $50 or uh or is it just like what whatever we build them so like our hourly rate that we would pay as spe for CDs yeah

040yes okay great so all right and how many do you have any idea you said you were studying it regionally and and that's awesome but do you have any idea what to expect like how many kids come in now who have had an IEP for a year or two so here's a great example um we are um getting ready for next year's um kindergarten and every year during this time um our uh principes start getting involved in CDs transition meetings right um Scaro has 50 incoming students with IEPs we don't have a total number of kindergarten students yet because registration is still open but we know that there are 50 students that are identified that will need an IEP for kindergarten that is also the number that we had that was a similar number this

041year correct right around 50 of 200 so so that is a very high percentage to say that you know um this year's current kindergarten 25% of our students are identified with special education needs can I ask kind of a few clarifying questions um so when people people talk of prek is it just four year olds or is it three and four just four thank you um sorry Elementary questions at times not even [Laughter] questions um and kind of at the beginning of the slide you had talked a lot about like the different approaches between um the monor and the all the other ones are um is it State dictated how um a town would approach or is it the school systems opportunity to come up with an approach as to how they feel their program

042should be run I mean I think there are certainly some approaches that are preferred okay yeah you have to like again I I know Kelly Linked In the chapter 124 requirements and those requirements are quite specific and I think I heard you say Kelly you know um Ruth is a longstanding provider um of of a prek program here in Scarboro and um even though she meets the star ratings and has a high quality prek program as designated by the state there were still some shifts that she needed to make to meet the state curriculum okay thank you yeah and then I just um I want to make sure I heard this correctly because there are it's a a frequent narrative I hear um there is not a prek mandate coming down the pipeline right um

043and then uh the fiveo harness for prease i' never really considered that when um needing to move them school to home home to school um two questions when it comes to that I assume school bus would not work but we do we do have students that I don't know the exact answer to that we do have students now who use a fivepoint harness um on a traditional school bus but not the front row of seats on the newer buses do and all of the newer buses we're purchasing will have this going forward and I can sh the ability to clip them yeah yeah okay so they're not like set up on the buses but the way in which we are purchasing them moving forward okay and I can share with you in Prior districts where

044I've worked with PR students they were on regular school buses it's not like a vehicle's car seat it's just clips that are insted and straps that are installed into we canit what we have but we're buying them now so we won't have to move it forward okay that's great thank you for clarifying that and then is the I kind of had heard you say that during recess they are only allowed to have recess with prek and kindergarten does that um rule regulation whatever carry to the bus I don't know the answer to that no sorry I'm seeing head shake I I previously people have worked in different districts worked in another District in which I supported prek programs and our prek students um went to school four days a week and then um later five

045days a week and they wrote the bus with K through fifth grade students you just put them up front Yep they're in the front seat where there was five thank you big think that's all pepper off right away I just want to clarify off a question that she had so is there cut off to when they have to turn for yeah it's just like kindergarten it's October my daughter went to prek at three because her birthday is October right I didn't know if it will change how it was and some private programs that are preschool type programs they're not necessarily prek they're more of a daycare three and four so people may be thinking of three-year old programs in that sense yeah um and please cut me off if this is not the appropriate setting

046to ask this question um have we investigated other private preschools that may want to have a partnership like um shooting stars well remember we don't have any finances at the current time because the the public the public private partnership that we currently have is completely Grant funded and so um we received that Grant we applied for that last spring and we were successful um in receiving that so that paid for this school year it is a two-year Grant uh there is something there are some steps that we need to take uh to renew that Grant uh but we fully expect that we will receive that um and that would carry us through to FY 26 but at the end of the two years our partnership with shooting stars would need to be funded because we

047have no expectation that another Grant is coming that's correct there are not any Grant funds available at the state and I'm not sure if you've heard but it doesn't look like there's a great financial feel like it's coming got in right at the right time yes right under the wire um so is we think about are there any other questions right now um as we think about providing some guidance to the building committee um uh I guess I'll go ahead and share where my thoughts are um I personally would love to have a universally a universal pre- program in Scarboro my concern is that we have a lot of asks in front of this community right now and um we have a budget coming that's always a difficult ask every year um we have a

048school that we desperately need we need a solution for the kids we currently have and that is mightily expensive um I know the town in general has another set of asks that the community you know in listening to the community and what they would like and so I feel that um um I feel this might be not the right time for us and I don't enjoy saying that to someone who really wants a universal program I I just am not sure now is the time I appreciate our slow approach um I would like to see it grow um but to your point I'm I'm not sure how that looks I don't know if Community Services you know we have a new director now I'm not sure if that's something we can consider and and potentially

049look at but again it comes to a cost it's thinking that uh to have a universal pre- program would cost us north of $2.5 million and we could get 250,000 of that funded is um I I don't know how in good faith I could make that right now I'm with you you know I'm biased in the sense that of course I want more classrooms for I work parents and just having places for our kids to go um I also C come from a place where we did have Universal prek but again that was state funded and and we are not we are most likely not going to be privy to to that kind of funding and it's hard enough right now to a get a building past and be get a budget pass that I

050feel like asking for more is only going to hurt us now but I would like to just kind of have we've had it back of our minds for a while now but I would like to still keep it in mind as something that we could potentionally add on later down the line yeah I actually was pretty heartened to see some of the work that the building committee was doing they have um face that they're they're calling uh addition future expansion yeah right I don't want us to cut our nose off despite our face right so like in my mind do I feel like I can ask this community to support this in the next five years like someone asked us that in an email we received and my my personal answer is no I don't

051I don't feel that I can but I don't want us to be so shortsighted that we we lose out on an opportunity for land so the opportunity that's there for future expansion feels appropriate to me I think it's I think it's such a tough one because I would love to be able to kind of bust this program Open say 2.5 million have all the support move forward just kind of like every everyone is saying um but you know is there a possibility that we can start building this into our budget and start yeah like one one classroom at a time thing yeah I don't know that we'll ever get to the point where we can in one year figure out the teaching the space the students the location transport and everything all in one swing

052so you know with this level of success that we've seen at Rising um shooting sorry um and you know the students that we are really positively serving in the community you know is there an opportunity to shoot for one more classroom is there an opportunity to try and because on some level there is an appetite within the community um this isn't an ask that we're ma making with no backing from our community no interest no nothing um or can we start trying to serve more students and start doing half day half day um and you know that's a way to grow it so more more students are seeing services and kindergarten Readiness helping our our um primary school um you know receive kindergarteners who are um you know kindergarten Readiness checklist further you know all

053of those things where can we serve more students with half days or in any way grow the program because I think we could wait five years we could wait 10 years and we could do it this year I think a a full swing ask is it's going to be a very hard sell again today or in 10 years so I think I don't know what it would necessarily look like but if we can start the process and I think it would I would like to see it maybe try to grow by a classroom I don't know how trying to remember we had the lottery system for this current year and there were about 40 potential kiddos maybe at the very beginning but the restrictions the the limitations of 9 to 230 with no before or

054after that compromises and no transportation that you know compromises a lot of people's opportunity to take part in that so when you talk about wanting to expand it you you can expand it as much as you you want but if parents can't make that work because they have to work more than 9 to 2:30 and they have to not transport their children you know they work some place further away than Scarboro that's going to that's going to add another layer of of difficulty right and complexity and not that you can't do it you just have to also plan that part of it in there yeah also Stars still being Grant funded right now we haven't even really felt what it would be like once that Grant is over um and I think maybe when we

055experience what that might feel like might be the good time to start working at other potentially adding on more 3K programming yeah that's a really good point because we aren't feeling the budgetary impacts of the one class we do have yeah and that will be that won't be until 2027 will be next year's budget ask right right so really in reality um even if we were to add one class on we're really talking about for the community they're feeling two in 2027 and can you remind me if we open a public prek is transportation to a re fired I I mean I I also would question if a lot of parents would opt not to they they might but it's required yeah right right but it's it's yeah I know South Portland continues to have

056I can't remember how many classrooms who said they had they have what four elementary schools I think it's four what did you just say prek and how many prek class how many four four so they have one in each school maybe yeah I'm not sure how how it solves I know that that was difficult for them and they end up like rearranging in their middle school plans and bumping fifth grade over so it's now 5 to8 um I heard about that the other day I didn't realize that but so they're they're on a lottery system and they have been for years and I know that they don't provide transportation for K to 5 buses so it's already full so it's interesting that I don't I don't know what that even looks like for us did

057you when you say um ours does not have pre or post care so it limits number is there an ability like if my child went to shooting star was picked in the lottery could I pay shooting stars for before separately they don't have that as part of their program right so the shooting stars program um has three classrooms right like that is that is their model um and so you know in developing the partnership um we have one of those three classrooms they have another uh classroom that is similar to our classroom and then they have a high needs classroom um for students with more significant special education needs so they don't even offer so that's not even an option for right that was not an option um when when we partnered with them and

058you know uh we did not have the ability to uh you know provide for that as well is it community services that provides our before and after yes are is there anything about their whether it lure whatever that would prude them from taking pre if you know somehow it got built into the Blue Points the eight Corners the Pleasant Hills and everything what is there anything that would block there we haven't had conversation with them so I would not want to um you know project how I think that they might or might not respond but there's nothing like that we're already aware no that it's from a licenser champoint don't yeah we don't have that information no I can tell you though that their current programs have long weight L it's like really yeah for

059the current student and there's limits on the capacity of how many kids can be in a program right so there's 38 kids that can physically be in the eight Corners program because of the size of the gym yeah so you know so that either going to eliminate some kids who need it who aren't there who can't be get there because the prek is going to be there or you know so it's that's more of a limitation than anything else at this point because the programs are full and there's a wait list and it's not like there's 10 spots just sitting there empty that nobody's using that could oh prek kid could go there a sibling could go how many kids are remind me how many kids you have at a Corners 20 40ish so of

060the 24ish 38 can go to after school and before school care is there plan I believe that's the correct it's done it's right around there yeah rly speaking so is there plans um I'm trying to recall the building plans is there plans on the building options to expand the schools I'm sorry to renovate the schools is there plans to expand the gym in some cases yes and not not in every model okay well that's something to take back because how can we even have future expansion where we contemplate prek if we don't have the gem space to do it anyway we have Herman's brought that up quite a few times about making sure that when we are baking these plans in of future expansion future expansion that all major components cafeteria gym Etc are extremely

061challenging to build on vers throwing up a couple more classrooms onto the extension like Wentworth was built so that my understanding is from their presentation is Wentworth was built in a way that their gym and cafeteria are fit to the capacity with expansion so if we put on those other two Wings on to went more their gym and cafeteria already sized so the that is correct the um encouragement from Herman has been to make those considerations as we're making in future expansions things like that plotting land where are we putting the building on the land Etc to size those um appropriately but not every building option is moving forward with that recommendation or considering it and yeah one has seems to have to go with the other I don't know how we can even have

062the start if we don't have an opportunity give them more space I mean that's a great too because you know the families of the community will really feel that I had consider the fact that after care would be driven by the size of the gym things like that um so it's helpful thank you for pointing that out and having that in the Forefront um because I think that you know along with prek is child care where's my kid going well I have to wrap up my day till 5:30 so a lot of those things I'm sorry audre is not here the new community service director because she could answer those questions so much faster with more accuracy but you know I'm sure that the laws too the requirements the guidelines for what schools have to

063do with prek to have nobody but Kindergarten have recess with you and that kind of thing are probably very different for daycare situations that are a different lure a different certification process a different so you know they don't need as many adults per student as we have in the public school they can do more so you know those kinds of things change once the kids leave school and enter before after care when that magic time happens at 3:15 or 3:20 whatever it is you know suddenly not our kids anymore what do you what do you rep do you know I have 200 students and I believe the number is almost the same because the gym is the gim's about the same right and same right same same goes for Pleasant Hill we have 181 right

064now and we're somewhere between 20 and 30 for the number of kids that we have in community services it's based on that our gym is the smallest at Hill however so I can't tell you the exact number of community services but it's in that ballpark like I'm sorry I asked the other you know the other piece of or narrative that you know that I was hearing a few minutes ago is what is the ability for us to start building a program over time um and would that be uh you know more financially possible um than taking a bite all at one time and and I think that's worth further exploration um I I will say though that I don't think it's any surprise for you to hear me say that um it would be a

065challenge challenge for us to begin stepping that up at the current time given our space um our space demands um which is why we're trying to find a school solution right and so if we're going to be very honest here the lack of space that we've had in the district has been the the biggest hurdle for us to overcome and the reason why uh We've not been able to be in the Forefront uh of this conversation aside from finances in the district right right and so when the opportunity came forward last year uh for this private public partnership Grant it was a perfect entry way for us to start right because we knew that we didn't have the capacity or the space within our own buildings to start a program um and you know we

066had this gift in front of us in terms of of uh not only could we find a way to secure funding but then we also had our space you know question solved for us because um you know that was included in that partnership model yeah I just feel like there's so much room that you know there's so much good that could come of it like the high school I went to our prek for the town was baked into the high school rather than the elementary schools and we got Child Development classes a lot of the F2 teachers that graduated from our school went through that they had you know all this experience going in and I've learned so much so um yeah for CTE programming right so we don't have um a CT programming on

067site program on site right like our students go to wrvc or dep and so that's part of an experience offsite that's really cool I did it was really nice yeah my the same program when she was in high school yeah is there sorry I just I don't know how to do it but I would love to keep the conversation moving forward like I'm afraid that we're going to walk like I get that we don't have the money and we can't like approach um private businesses and say like we want to do this and everything and I'm um I'm just weary of kind of not starting like starting something um not that I'm not taking away from the wonderful work of rising or shooting stop saying Rising Stars shooting stars and all the progress that that

068entire program has has started um but I would just love to see growth on that um and yeah well we have eight I'm just looking at this list of facilities that are outside of Scarboro Public Schools there's looks like eight outside of shooting stars nine if you count shooting stars is there is there a potential if we have funding to add one extra class somewhere else or shooting stars so I I want to make sure that I'm understanding your question correctly so the ask is if we found a private partner and we assumed the prek cost for a classroom so I would just remind you that private prek program get upwards of $400 a week per student and that is not the reimbursement model that even our grant yeah let me let me rephrase okay

069yeah I'm not thinking we're g get $400 from this no if we if we fund do you see what I'm saying yeah I'm thinking if we funded it a private partner is not going to give us a subsidized rate right right they they know how much they they get per student got it and public you know public rates it's the same as right what is the cost of an education public education versus going to a private school they're not measure it well I don't think we're going to solve that answer tonight but like you I would like to I think she's got a headache like you I would like us to keep the conversation for 16 but that includ $400 a week include the cost of the teacher and thech or an addition to well

070again a a public private partnership those people aren't our employees right and so we're paying shoot shooting stars a contracted rate overall the the teacher they actually have two teachers right um but again they're not on the pace scale of scarbo public schools right um we're paying a contracted rate over all for that program and they pay their staff our grant is uh somewhere in the amount of $160,000 um which is close to what I quoted you right um again I'm I'm probably off by a few thousand but that is a good rough number um but that is how much that program is costing this year in totality through grant funding through grant funding I mean could our could our guidance be to please consider and I know that this could absolutely cause a complete

071meltdown throughout the committee because we've taken away a classroom B it but ask them to consider have you know whatever their um whatever the final plan is to have at least a couple extra classrooms for something like this coming down the pike are you saying like increase the contingency well that's what I was gonna try to get at was my next well my questions was going to be can we increase the contingency back like what is the heart and I'm thinking out loud and and can you explain that for people who are listening who might not know what our contingency is so contingency is um when we had our enrollment study done we were given a number of that is a projection based on um prior years enrollments and bir and oh yeah very complex

072we can show you the numbers if you want to see um the contingency is the percent that you go up on that assuming that the number might not be perfect so you can bake in a 5% um contingency that will cover you know a potential sudden boost in housing and 500 new families moved into or a 3% contingency because only a 200 person family build came in the contingency is your um kind of safety net is a nice way to think of it it's a safety net if the numbers Aren't Dead on perfect um So currently 3% um looking at our we're currently at 3% for our um baked in contingency um so that's kind of what um Julian's referencing yeah but hold on second the contingency conversation you know has sort of been you

073know back and forth a little bit and so I don't know that that is the right ask um I don't I don't we could ask or say we would like for you to bake in a few extra classrooms for this potential move but also for any potential other changes that could happen I think the and it's come up quite a few times in esac um the amount of Wentworth not utilized like they're not at Max um enrollment although due to mandate changes over the past 10 years every square inch of that building is being used right um so it may not have been drawn up in the plans that way but no one's wasting a square foot type thing um so I think that that can be a nice way to kind of Bring It

074forth um I I kind of go back and forth between you know do we bake this into you know there's a lot of concerns right now of the building costs reasonably this is a very expensive School solution um if we put this into the build as we shifted the building forward and future Wing can be added for classrooms etc etc um my concern would be that we never have the appetite to build it yeah and that we have pass the build well my qu here's where my my thought and I'm coming to you I know you want to say something um my thought is if you what is the cost difference between when you have the construction company employees Masons all the people or electricians everybody it takes to build a building when you've got

075them there already to build the other outfit what is adding on another one or two classrooms maybe three classrooms whatever the number is I'm not I'm just whatever we have a cost per class yeah what is it what is that because what is it today versus what is it going to be in 10 years it's going to be two wildly different numbers right so if it's not a huge bump and this is likely to not I'm thinking out loud and I don't know how this would land but what if you go ahead and build the classrooms and you leave them empty we're not going to fund it right now or maybe we start with one additional class at a time in five years when we have it I I don't know but is that a

076way to think about it I think that can be hard when we're at a place where people are trying to find ways to size down to help with the monetary ass of the public um that when we can't say we're baking it into the budget we don't know the future of it we don't know how we're GNA I they're going to sit empty know why did I put this up I mean we're saying we're not at a place where we're asking for Universal prek that we're going to be growing it slowly so does whether it's increasing the contingency or you know likely we're going to be in a place where it's a number of classrooms that are comparable to some of those districts that we saw on that slide I mean does that help kind

077of Target like that's going to be the path where on probably in five years that we're going to have small number of classrooms hopefully looking at growing it in that way so creating that increased buffer of capacity would be helpful I mean in even in three years we're going to have probably at least 50 kids that is somebody is having to there's somebody somewhere that's going to be coordinating something now a week 10 hours a week I don't know if we know so having that I mean having that extra space for that ability I don't know if those kids in other districts might be coming into the school to get that hour of physical therapy or what that even looks like are you talking about CDs they say were sh okay no I'm just trying

078to like if we're shifting to us having to provide that then wouldn't and we don't know where or this would give us the wear I mean we might we may need a some space in a school for some sort of Services of or coordination right I mean is that an unreasonable thought again like we're still in the very early discussion and planning stages um of this because I think there's also like full recognition that statutory changes happen quite frequently and so you know um right now the you know the Mandate for CDs is July 2028 um there is certainly uh room to see some changes in statute between now in July 1st 2028 as as we've seen in the past month and a half yeah um right when you have a change in leadership or

079a change in governance um then comes change in policy so you know I I I would just caution us uh to say that it is with that specific like build in mind that we could repurpose that that may be possible but from a public standpoint I wouldn't want to sell a project on that oh yeah where it's you know still in motion if you will and at least the current structure of CDs is they'll go to a toddle in they'll go to an our school they'll go to because again like if you're thinking about CDs Services if we had 10 kids that needed speech services it's not going to be a class of 10 with one speech you're oneone that speech therapists very doesn't to be in a full classroom etc etc right so it's

080a very it's a very different setup yeah okay okay I just Charlie wanted to say something really quick so I'm gonna allow sorry I'm trying to be patient and wait for public comment but to this first of all thank you guys for for doing this today I'm the one that asked to move this forward so I appreciate it can you introduce yourself I'm Charlie gers I'm the chair of the esac can you can he look there's a there's a microphone right there thank you um the the conversation that's happening right now around you know the contingency and do we increase future expansion whatnot is really why I asked to do this right do we need to have additional classrooms I would be just I would be very I wouldn't be comfortable touching the contingency again

081um I just we we can't continue to ask our designers to redesign to different enrollment numbers so I think we've we've kicked that horse a few times and we need to let them be what it is what I would say is you know I've also asked this body to look at our benchmarking standards and as you guys that's next week right so I think perhaps in that discussion if we look at how many additional expansion classrooms would you like to be see included in right whether if it's one classroom and if it's a multis school solution that we end up with maybe there's a design that we add a classroom to a school we do a Consolidated School do we build in an an additional classroom or two there rather than trying to play with

082the enrollment numbers again perhaps you guys can just consider how many classrooms would you like to see you know added for future expansion if at all um the other thing that I I I think is important as you guys think about those this stuff is we're we're in the process of cutting scope to get to a budgetary number right that's just the reality of the situation that the school building project is in um future expansion frankly right unless we get some sort of mandate from this body is probably one of the things that's going to get cut um so as you guys are considering where you want to see prek go the reason we've asked for this is because we want to know is that something to cut or not cut um future expansion whether

083that's what we call it or prek um but that's kind of just the the situation that we're currently finding ourselves in within the school committee so the building committee rather um the future expansion well that is that um I'm trying to wrap my head around why that would be cut because isn't that just space allocated to like where buildings at some designs have intentional extra space in them today right and so um my my colleague James is here his proposal from SPAC one is titled for primaries with room for prek right that was that was The Proposal was we had extra space for for that and so since we don't really have guidance around prek we've shifted to kind of all right let's talk about future expansion we don't know what the pre prek program

084is going to be but again as we start to now reduce scope right square footage is the most costly part of the project and so reducing classrooms in some cases also worth mentioning the we learned you know Herman ran the numbers for us on Monday we were presented going from five to 3% and two out of the five options didn't change the number of classrooms at on right so so again if if this is what you guys want in the building i' just ask for make it make that ask deliberate um the enrollment numbers may not get us you know get what you're looking for I also think though that we'd have to be extremely deliberate in how that message comes across because right um one it sounds like prean classrooms require 135 usable square

085feet per student5 35 call that's a smaller classroom than I thought [Laughter] right so you can't count Furniture into that yeah so that's not really the approach that we're taking to sizing these buildings and all of those things and also you know each a to we're out a few but a to G is so different in its approach that I don't think we can look at you and say give us three extra classrooms that feels good cuz I could look at eight corners and say I'm giving you three extra classrooms she'd scream at the top of her lungs with excitement right but I could look at Pleasant Hill and say we're giving you three extra and she might scream with slightly less excitement and excitement you know every all of these have different needs and

086you're keeping all of them so it's going to be really challenging for us I think you know a Consolidated School you're building new and put three in and one year they could be a third grade one year they could be a second grade one year they could be a prek it's all a floating thing but when we're thinking about these major major Renovations minor Renovations we're going to have to be extremely deliberate in how we say add three classrooms to a but make sure two of them are in a corners and one of them you know it's really challenging in in how this gets delivered um potentially or you know we're only got T schools you don't really need them there so are we prescribing that saying I want them in the one to three

087building I want them in or you know it well yeah because if we as a body say prek is the number one priority next week I'm just making a scenario up in my head um yeah do you end up essentially telling you that g is the option you're going with because that's the one that seems to me right just from looking at this it screams that you have space which is the one where the three schools become case centers and I don't I'm not interested in putting my thumb on the scale that that with you um so yeah that's an in that's a consideration as well it it it's also a good point in that not all classrooms are equal right so your your required square footage for a prepaid classroom is different for a

088kindergarten classroom different for a fifth grade classroom so to my right my earlier ask of like just tell me how many classrooms you want you gotta also tell us what kind of classro because isn't fle that space 560 to be a first grade class or a Kindergarten class or whatever if we need it you could space that up you can't you can't Flex a third grade class down correct right so we wouldn't be able to flex because it's 560 square feet but that's not the entire room that is open space right so so we can come back to you with probably more specifics in terms of like so what is that mean for the overall size of the classroom per se right yeah because pre is also the only grade that the number is mandated

089like you cannot exceed 16 you must have two staff right and so we can't decide locally well we think our prek we're going to do 20 20 is a good number and we're going to do we can do two teachers with 20 or we think 14's a good number and we're just going to do one teacher we're going ignore the the edtech right like there it is the the most restrictive in terms of regulations so we just have to continue to have our eye on that because I think as it relates to K12 right um the space things are suggestions not requirements at K12 class size is locally determined not set by the state right and so this is a little bit of a different Beast yeah and we just have to recognize that up

090front as we plan okay are those requirements only if it's a new build because if you're renovating a current building or you have I have an empty build I have an empty classroom let's put prek in there I'm not changing anything about that room to bring prek in I'm using existing space so I don't know whether that makes a difference too because when you once you you build the building you can move a first grade and a third grade classroom right you can make something a kindergarten classroom even if it's not to the state guidelines but when you bring prek in all those other districts that are using their own schools they have not renovated every single classroom to have 100 and 335 square miles per child 35 feet yeah square mile football field for

091child yeah so you know it's like that can make a difference in your scenarios as well because renovation versus new build are going to have different code requirements are different supported having supported prek classrooms that were brought into school buildings and which we did not renovate I can say that the only two factors I believe we ran into and and um there could be more to this than I remember is the Furnishings right that was that was still part of the regulations and then um um the bathroom the toilet yeah the bathroom the toilet they reaching the the the sinks the Stalls um those kinds of things um and then also there is um the fire code regulation so they um if you have a multi-story building um in which in one building I I

092did work in did um they have to be housed on the first floor alongside kindergarten so that's a on the first floor um they can't be on the second and so that still plays in but the actual renovation of the space it was the same size space as our other think it's gonna be that far off great yeah I'm sorry since you invited me to the table I'm gonna take advantage I don't have I can't stay for public comment but I just if if you could for our next meeting if we could talk about the Mandate or the lack thereof um because I there is certainly a misconception within our group that whether or not there is a state mandate what I've read I I thought that it sounded like a mandate was coming heard

093tonight that's not the case um I I think Diane if we can if you can help me do some homework on that um and clarify that that was going to be my question yeah at public comment but thank you yeah it's good if there's some confusion let's clear it up with among the committee members for sure um okay so we probably U I know we we are expecting crowd for the meeting and so I know we need to clean this up and get ready um so I'm probably G to wrap up so what oh L can we get to you right afterward or do you have something to say really quick yeah I was just gonna jump On's comments there that if it would be us as the school board to give us what you

094want us to convey out there because we're talking about future expansion and people are asking the questions about okay so is we've got to be really precise as to how giving the to the community especially if we're adding things in when we're trying to go with scope right now taking things out so we got adding more things in we gotta be able to communicate that to the commit to the community and I stressed during one of our meetings that I am very anxious about selling like the wording um future expansion being prek because if people sign on to this building project and say you know the the strong thing driving me forward was a prek program and then it takes 10 years to get fully up and running yeah that's our feet to the fire

095that said you got me to agree by saying prek and then you didn't give it to me and so I I'm very uncomfortable labeling things as this is a prek classroom or yeah without having a very very very intentional plan right it doesn't have to be a done plan in two years but I want I do not want to feel as though we've misled the public if there is not a strong appetite for this and a place and a true belief in the budget that it can pass and all of the ETC yeah it's it's it's a whole package for sure well I don't know if that was super helpful for you um at least it gives you some idea of what we're thinking and then maybe next week well not maybe next week when

096we pick this up again I think this will be TP of mind I definitely think the gym needs consideration at all of the schools I mean that to me is like almost does the C carry the same impact they only have one you had two separate if you had two separate could you have more students in after school and before school care probably well that depends on community services and they STA and if they could have St SE in unicorn time and you had two things could you do it if you had staff everything like would that be acceptable you yeah okay although they did have to separate the staff um we'd have to consider where would the other portion of children go right unless our gym was expanded like our library is too small

097to really be helpful I'm sorry separate them like if we expanded the number of students servicing before and after but a cafeteria a separate cafeteria space but count is acceptable space for before and after school care sure so I would take that back as we don't provide that ourselves we can't speak onf of an outside entity we don't know what I really do hope that this at least played some foundational groundwork and understanding all right are there any other thoughts or questions before we wrap up okay so if there are no objections we will um adjourn at 658 thank you so much thank you that was wonderful presentation thank you e e e all right good evening and welcome to the Thursday February 27th 2025 Scarboro Board of Education uh business meeting gray can we

098call the attendance please yes Mr kellerer here miss Leon here miss Lindstrom here Miss Peterson here Mr rocken here Mr trinian as she will be late Mr Trini Huff here miss Ledger here miss rasina here perfect thank you so much um would everyone please join me for the pledge of Alia of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God with libery and justice for all right thank you so much all right agenda item 4.0 is approval of the February 6 2025 business meeting and February 12th 2025 executive session meeting minutes if there are no objections we'll approve those agenda item 5.0 or adjustments to the agenda I do have a request from frea who had a um work event to attend tonight and so what she

099requested um for consideration of the board is that we move um the continuing business the second reading of policy JF CK if we make that 9.0 and replace uh essentially flip but flip the new business and the continuing business um the rationale is because she is part of the policy committee that has worked on the policy she would like to be here for the discussion um of that policy so do I have a motion to amend as present so moved second is there any discussion I think she's put a lot of really hard work into this and I think that time and effort should be respected right all in favor okay that is unanimous thank you okay um agenda item 6.0 are the spotlight award recognition 6.1 is a staff Spotlight award recognition so for

100this we'll turn it to Jillian right I think actually the first one up will be Jenna will be doing I will do the first one so we're actually recognizing two uh staff spotlights tonight um so we'll wait for that to pull up in a second but um we had one for January and and we were going to present in February or early February for that one but then due to the snowstorm we decided to push it back to tonight so now we're going to present two and then uh later on we're going to be presenting student ones too so I'm very excited so the January Spotlight Award winner is Adrian man so Adriana was nominated for his exceptional work for being inspirational and an absolute ray of sunshine um he was noteworthy for his most

101positive attitude and contagious kindness and then in the next couple of slides we're going to find out who nominated Adriano apparently those are um adriano's adriano's office angels as they call it [Laughter] um then um this team put up a beautiful slide and I don't know if Kelly if you wanted to come up to read this hi I'm Kelly Crosby I'm the principal at Wentworth school and we are so fortunate to have Adriano support our school he is a bus driver but between his morning bus run and his afternoon bus run he comes to Wentworth and supports all four lunches this man goes above and beyond the Call of Duty he will do anything as you can see in the photos he takes out the trash he washes the trays he puts things through the

102dishwasher but I think what's most special and important um about what he does is he really notices and he takes care of our kids and he spreads Joy wherever he goes not just with our students he might notice if somebody's a little bit sad or maybe not sitting with their typical buddies he has a little pocket full of stickers and he's always just spreading little kindness stickers around um but he also spreads a lot of joy to our office team he comes through and you'll see in the next video every day the same response Adriano how are you today and you'll see what his response is every single time Adriano comes to our school every day does all four lunches in the middle of his morning and afternoon bus runs and he does nothing but

103spread Joy he is so kind to the kids and loves our office staff his positivity is infectious and I don't know what we do without him every day he's fabulous he always answers marvelous when I ask him how he is and he brings us treats he's the smile of the day Adriano is what will we say about him on three marous marous and that is genuinely what he says every single day how are you today Adriano no matter what marvelous um he also makes it incredible to your massu and he is just extremely kind and we're very very fortunate to have him at Wentworth so congratulations Adriano I think he might I think he might want to say did you want to speak too okay W no thank you so much I'm very I'm very

104happy than and um I'm very happy to work here and have this opportunity to grow in this town in this school of District I am honored to serve this community and the future the students and I'm really thankful to my trainers and super supervisor I want to share this special award with my family my daughter Leila and my wife Georgia my coworker and my friend because the union make us stronger thank you so much thank you Adrian Adriano can you actually yep come over here I'm G to take a picture of you yeah congratulations all right thank you so much and now we can also we would like to recogn recognize our February Spotlight a war winner and that is Mark all right and the people that recogn we had two nominating parties so that

105was Stephanie and Cheryl and they're here too a little little animation for fun all right and so what they had to say and and I I was going to read this but if either one of you would love to come up and talk I would Happ be happy to have you as well no you're good all right listen I don't blame you um I I'm so grateful to all of you that uh make these nominations but um we get to read all these wonderful things and here's what they had to say about Mr tardive uh he teaches sixth grade at uh math at the middle school this year he has had a variety of students with various needs both academically and physically he has enthusiastically started implementing Universal Design for Learning techniques in order uh

106for all students to have equal access to math curriculum he researched assisted technology tools that could help all students and introduce his class to as it Cami all right I tried looking that up an online annotation tool that allows students to write their math work with a stylus pen or type their work he also want above and beyond to obtain styluses for all students to use with Camy in addition Mr tardi implemented an incentive program where students can earn calculator license which sounds very exciting um by uh completing a set of math problems correctly uh he created a this program so students would have an accommodation to use their calculator with uh to use a calculator will not stand out in his classes Mr tarda took the time to educate himself on each of his

107students accommodations and is always going out of his way for additional tools he has created materials for individual students such as en large multiplication charts and number lines as well as reaching out to individual student teams to problem solve barriers to access lastly Mr tarduff connects with his students on a personal level and goes above and beyond to make sure every everyone feels included and part of his community so with that we would love for you to come on up and we would like to give you an award in a cup so thank you Stephanie uh Cheryl uh thank you to the school board for uh this great idea um to recognize staff and with the student uh profile um thank you to Dr nto Mr Grogan this is just it's truly an honor um

108I'm fortunate to have students who are wonderful human beings uh they're active participants in our community and that helps uh tremendously I'm also fortunate to be surrounded at the middle school level by colleagues and administrators Mrs Terell and Mr Murphy uh who are all supportive and encouraging uh to be my best self every day U that that's truly what motivates me to do to do my best um try to provide a Level Playing Field for all of my students both academically and socially so thank you very much thank you so much all right congratulations are there any um comments I just want to say congratulations to both of you it's um truly this is one of our I think everybody all of us at one point or another have said this is one of the

109most favorite things we have about our meetings and it's so great to get to hear um about our our people right our people that make up so much at the biggest heart of our organization and um it's really wonderful to get to hear all the the great things you both are doing in the district so thank you so very much um I've never gotten to meet you before I'm very interested in meeting your tasu yeah maybe one day in the future and then Mr tardi actually um taught my son um quite a few years ago and um to this day you remain his most favorite teacher and so that speaks really highly of the impact you you know our St our people leave on our students as they grow so you mentioned really talking and

110helping our future that's really what you're doing you leave impacts everywhere you both go and so thank you so much for all that you do all right um agenda this is really exciting agenda item 6.2 is our student Spotlight award um this is a new edition so we have we've had um the staff recognition um for a few years now um and both both our students Grace and Abby um I'm going to toot their horn a little bit because this is a program that started with an idea um and we really handed it off to them and let them run with it so everything you're going to see is their work without I would I would say very minimal input from the school board they have really taken this and run with it and learned

111a lot of really awesome skills in the process and so it's really exciting to get to see this come to fruition so congratulations to the both of you as well and I will hand it over to you okay so um for February student Spotlight award we actually have two winners Ali we have Ali Kazi and Fiona McDougall so Fiona and Ali were nominated by Miss sasik and and actually Ally was then also nominated by Mr mckisic so it's pretty [Music] [Applause] cool um well miss sasik wasn't here today so she asked if I could share a couple words on her behalf so she said I'm nominating um Ali and Fiona um uh because together they took the initiative on their own to respond to a problem and propose a solution that involved working with the

112where School administration like Miss Crosby and teachers to deliver programming on Recycling and sustainability to their students EOS discovered a major problem that was preventing skyro Public Schools recycling from being processed correctly when it arrived at Eco may this experience was a learning opportunity for eos's members and helped increase interests in becoming more aware of the waste processing in school and in their own homes Fiona and Ali decided that they wanted to help educ educate more young people about the importance of recycling and sustainable waste practices so they developed and pitched an idea for a program for wentward school students to increase education awareness and action yeah and so now we have a video um that was made by Miss Arondo at the high school who um is the yearbook [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

113that is this one blue bin right here isn't that great we are so lucky to be able to do that so let's see what we've got next we have a little line that can help you guys remember because it's hard to remember what can go in the trash and what can go in the recycling so Ally and I made up this super cool song for you guys and it goes to the tune of head shoulders and toes and we're going to sing it for you all right do you guys want us to sing it for you okay ready [Music] 2er Rec remember seeing them in it's a big recollection but hopefully the conversation will jump start our memories here and we [Music] [Applause] [Music] can Mr mckisic if you'd like to say um I won't

114speak too long I promise I like microphones but I won't take up all your time tonight um so first thank you school board for recognizing our students and our staff really important that we do that uh we have two wonderful students here tonight and I've been lucky enough to know all both of them for four years uh Fiona is one of my advisories wonderful student first day she came in started talking to me whether it was about music or sports or her experiences in the world just just kind of like really a kind soul uh Ally also is a a student I've known for four years mostly through tennis but luckily I actually had her in class you think you know I'm up here talking about these students and I've only had them in one

115class one student in one class but uh they've done so much for our community that I feel it's important that we speak about them um on uh Fiona as a freshman uh was focused and determined and Aly showed the same skills and and determination as they were going through over the years I've seen them Implement their education that they've got at skyro high school and throughout the skyro school dist District um whether it's wh Fiona is is uh out out in foreign countries working in the medical field she's actually speaking in a foreign language and working with them to translate some things she wrote a great college essay on this by the way um it's very cool Ally was nominated last year to be one of 15 juniors in the whole state of Maine to

116uh work with I was it Jackson Laboratories big Bigalow Laboratories uh to do a week-long internship uh field work like totally really one of the highest Honors that you can get as a junior in the state of Main in science um so you know it's this kind of determination this kind of respect that they have for their own education that I I truly want to honor um you've seen the video you've seen what they can do uh with our other students in in in the district I was lucky enough to watch Ally uh the first day of freshman orientation she spoke to the whole freshman class uh she ran her notes by me real quickly and then she went up there she did it she even ad lived a little bit it was really cool

117very teacher that way um so I was just very proud of her these two are both you know I've been teaching for 25 years don't tell people I know I don't look that old but um but they uh honestly in 25 years you you look forward to students like this you want students like this and and we're lucky to have students like this um you know they they're driven they're grounded they're intelligent they're compassionate um you guys make skyro a better place and um because of that be you go out there do great things this country need you thank you and Miss Crosby would also like to say a few words about the impact of F and Ali's presentation on her students tough act to follow Mr maai sake um so I really put Fiona

118and Ally through their Paces they a lot of kids have a lot of really wonderful ideas and um they often want to work with our students and um I want to make sure that it's a really valuable experience and protect that precious time that we have but they were persistent and emailed and set up a meeting and from the word go I was so blown away and impressed by um their not only their knowledge but their Poise and their professionalism and just how brilliant they are and confident and so after they met with me I had them come back and meet with our leadership team so the lead teachers at Wentworth school to say hey this is their idea hear from them they were like yes let's bring them back so they came back and

119presented to our entire staff after that um which is daunting I mean teachers are um nervous to do that and these two young ladies got up there and just knocked it out of the park and then since then they've come and presented to the entire third grade and the entire fourth grade with song and dance with engagement with a presentation customized to the age level just unbelievable and we've all learned a lot from them it has changed um not only how our students approach sustainability but our staff as well and um I've just learned a lot from both of you and you both give me a lot of Hope for the future so thank you I'm proud to know you and it's awesome to see this amazing full circle moment because they were wentw worther

120too and now they're coming back to um share who they are today with our students um and the final step will be smaller group meetings with the fifth grade because Fiona has a fifth grade sister who's here to support her um and we need to make sure that all of our students uh have this amazing knowledge to move forward and uh do right by our world so thank you Fiona and Ali is there any um any comment any discussion someone always cries I know it's always one or more oh goodness um I will just say that this is our first and I can think of no better students to be our first to have this so um I um I love hearing Mr mck Isaac talk I one of my well go down in history

121is my favorite graduation speech is his and it's because he gets so um he he gives such meaningful feedback and I hope you take it in not only what he said but what um Miss Crosby said as well that's a lot of meaningful feedback right and you are um really setting the stage for those that come be behind you right and are looking to you as role models and so I can think of no better for first for us so congratulations and thank you both so so much this is really awesome all right we will all pull ourselves together and we will there is no further discussion um wait hold on can I just say Well done to your families also because I think they've worked very hard also is wonderful thank you Jenna all

122right agenda item 7.0 is general public comment is there anyone wishing to make public comment about something that is not on our agenda all right seeing seeing now um general public comment we will close general public comment our new 8 oh I'm sorry excuse [Music] me are you ready oh okay yep so um yeah go ahead and give our permission all right Ellen you're welcome to go ahead and talk hi I just wanted to clarify um if we have public comment on the device policy should we wait until the end or should we wait until that comes up because you said yes yes okay thank you I I can wait all right wonderful thank you all right seeing no other hands raised I will go ahead and close general public comment um the new 8.0

123is new business 8.1 is the blue point School presentation no worries [Music] I mean everyone wants to see it [Laughter] again almost [Music] there there we go with the springy photo of blueo it's coming set right so hi I'm Kelly Martin I am the principal at blueo school and I'm happy to share some highlights with you of what's happening at blueo um and for those of you who are at the workshop tonight it's nice to see you again all right go ahead to the next oh not that way okay uh so blueo at a glance uh is 200 students and I've listed the breakdown for you there of just how many are in kindergarten first and second grade just a really simple view we have about 37 full-time staff and approximately 10 shared staff we

124share Specialists with other buildings and a lot of service providers travel throughout K2 and the district um um and just so everybody has a clear picture we have two General Ed support programs we have academic support for first and second graders in a kindergarten Early Intervention Program and then we have three special education classrooms at blueo we have a functional life skills classroom a resource room and what we call a social life skills classroom for more behavioral needs so we are busy at blueo I want to talk a little bit about the organization just because we have some exciting things going on um at blueo our teachers are working together in teams this year uh every teacher has a partner and is working in alignment in terms of their schedule and collaborating to plan for

125students um a lot of them are are creating flexible groups which means kind of trading students back and forth um to sharing the instructional load for students and this is going really well and I'll I'll talk a little bit more about that in a bit um and that feeds into supporting students through our student support team model um which is also called mtss we meet weekly to talk about students of concern and to plan for those students to create interventions to make sure that we're meeting student needs um and the other thing we have created time for in our schedule is time for grade level teams to meet every week so those teams of you know first grade teachers kindergarten teachers they're meeting every week they're really digging into student data and they're planning for

126instruction and a member of each of those grade level teams a representative comes to our building leadership team along with some other folks and we talk about you know what's happening at the grade level um as well as just talking about what's happening in the building and how to how to promote and maintain a positive School culture so just that whole organizational structure has just really um come together this year with the addition of some new Lead Teacher positions thank you um for supporting that and uh we just have a really good Groove going so I wanted to share that as a positive and just to add some more pieces in in terms of what we're doing as a whole school uh I think you heard last year we had a spotlight award in terms

127of our community meetings that was a an effort from some of our teachers that worked with our mindup curriculum to create um sort of a parallel curriculum for our community meetings and classroom connections we've continued that work through our building leadership team so we meet monthly as a whole school to really h highlight those successes and to you know talk about what's expected at school um but just really to connect as as a school kids love it they do a great job it's a really um high energy time um I'd love to have any one of you come and join us it's really fun um and in between those times students um pair up with other classrooms so when we're not having a whole school me meeting they're doing classroom connections and they're meeting with

128another classroom so a kindergarten classroom is connecting with a second grade classroom and they will all throughout the year have connections with every classroom so it just creates some really nice um connections especially for students as they think about transitioning to the next grade they know the teachers they know other students uh and it really makes for a really nice community in the building um I talked a little a little bit about the team structure but that's just something that I'm really proud of we also have an instructional coach model that's different this year at K2 we have a full-time instructional coach in each building rather than sharing them across the K2 schools and that has proved to be a really positive model that just happened due to um some situations with people changing roles

129um so she's actually a a first grade teacher um that was at blueo for a little bit and so she kind of slid right into the role and it has been a really wonderful addition to her supporting teachers supporting students um and the other thing that we're really proud of is the data literacy that we're building within our teams we just had a a blueo data day with Katie and and Kelsey um Katie actually did that with all three of our K2 schools this week but it was just really invigorating we met with each grade level team and they were really able to share the positive strategies that they're using with students celebrating those successes and really looking at data and strategizing about how to plan forward um and it was just a a really

130positive day and really highlighted the strengths of our our students and our staff we can move on to the next one so what makes blueo great this this it's always hard because we always talk as a phase um and as as three buildings but what I think makes blueo great is the warm and welcoming atmosphere I mean people talk about it uh that when you walk into blueo there's something about it and I think we do a lot to cultivate that in terms of just you know being kind being welcoming um having kind of a customer service attitude I guess um but I really think you know our staff are really are really really great I think we have a whole child approach I think we really look at each child as an individual and

131have high expectations for kids both academically and behaviorally and we really work hard to support each kid in in their path and we have a strong sense of community both the community that supports us parents you know families extended family and then the community that we build within our building and then I think there's a little video [Music] love it [Music] me [Music] and that's it that was very sweet thank you so much Kelly are there any questions or comments for Kelly yes um I AB I feel like I absolutely cannot say enough wonderful things about blue your staff your community everything um I am fortunate enough to have a student at um blueo and I think going into the school year I was anticipating wonderful teachers because of the reputation of scarbro and a

132and a nice little Community for her to have of her her small um you know classroom and it is not what we've gotten she knows second graders first graders when she goes onto the playground there's you know she always has this warm welcome um one day I asked her she was drawing a picture at home and I said who are you drawing for I'm I'm so excited and I was expecting her to say her grandmother to be honest and she said oh for one of the lunch ladies and I was like she's taking the time to like connect with her and have that and I just um I can't thank you and your staff enough for the community that you provide for our Scarboro students and Foster and um the um you know just I

133can't say enough good things but the environment that they get to go and learn and um I feel so comfortable dropping her off every day at school to be in such a lovely heart you know welcoming warming um and nurturing environment so thank you thank you Alissa any other comments thank you so much for for both your presentations tonight you have um been in front of us a lot tonight and I know it's a big ask on both sides so thank you very much this has been really great to get to know the schools a little bit closer and it's my pleasure we appreciate it so much right thank you I'm done [Laughter] now all right agenda item 8.2 is the high school program of studies we'll bring Nate up feel like I have some

134really hard acts to follow tonight I have no song um no video no nothing um I'm just gonna stand here and talk um so um try to be Asing as I can um so I'm here to uh present you tonight the uh 2025 26 uh high school program of studies um you should have received a copy of it a little while ago and hopefully you've had a chance to review that um wonderful I think 128 page document um I'm sure it was riveting reading for you all um I'm just going to present to you some some key um kind of got to go through it section by section but just try to present some key changes from each section um to be honest with you most of it is staying the same um and a

135lot of the changes just to give you the high level overview are really just reflective of um you know some changes in prerequisites uh based on some experiences that we've had or changes in textbooks to reflect some um curriculum curriculum implementation and things of that sort um but there are a couple of new course editions in there as well so I'm just going to kind of run through um I'm not going to go through all the specifics but and everything but just run through a couple of things so the English Department um couple of changes there uh around pre prerequisites um mostly to reflect um procedure that's been in place in the department um specifically around the department approval language um that's a little bit more consistent with what that looks like on the ground

136level so we went with that um and then some updates to some texts that are no longer used the department has been diversifying its texts for the last couple of years now um and it's sort of an ongoing update um in the program of studies um the math department we added some clarifying language around students who want to accelerate um their math learning or their math studies during the summer um to reflect the long-standing department practice of accepting an in-person class equivalent um and then most other updates there are to text and materials and course descriptions that just reflect curricular changes um business section um just some really basic language changes to course descriptions that were uh new last year and so we're still trying to feel that out a little bit so um pretty

137similar stuff there but just a couple of minor tweaks to reflect um to just reflect what's happening in the classroom based on our experience this year um science the only update was a clarification on prequisites for chem 4 um so that we're a little bit more clear on exactly what's required there um and then an adjustment in the course description for the foundations of environmental science and foundations of biology courses um we're really those courses are really more targeting um students with sort of interrupted back or interrupted educational backgrounds um which I think is a little bit more accurate in terms of who we're trying to capture there um social studies no changes World languages um updates to required texts in French and Latin if you recall last year we purchased some new French curriculum

138but this process is way out in front of the budget process so we didn't get to make those changes um Latin we're confident we'll make it through um this year so we went ah ahead and put those in because those are AP texts that we're talking about um in terms of Visual Arts just some minor updates there AP Studio Art was updated in terms of titling just to match the new AP course title um and then a couple of updates to yearbook and Publishing course descriptions just to make sure that they better reflect what we're doing there um Fine Arts music so here's where there's a new course as all of you know we've kind of been rebuilding the music program um which took some heavy hits during covid um and it's been under the

139new leadership of Jeff Moser for a couple of years now um so this course kind of completes the rebuild um it gives us a um a learning progression in the music program that's sort of got a beginner intermediate and advanced level um and it really sort of puts us on the level with um what a lot of other um High performing music programs and other high schools around us are doing um so we're super excited about that in addition we'll still carry the learning opportunities and coursework in piano and music theory um no changes to dance and theater we're also excited to add a new course in health uh health and PE um so Health it's often super tight in terms of scheduling for health because it's a required course and pretty much always gets

140taken by uh sophomores um but um it's if you've ever had a student or if you've ever talked to students about it is a very fast-paced course because there's a lot of ground to cover in just a semester um and it has felt like for a couple years now I think there's students that kind of leave wishing that they got a little bit more of this or a little bit more of that um and so miss record has developed um what we are calling Advanced topics in health um which will sort of be able to provide an opportunity to go into depth on some stuff that she has to Short change a little bit in order to get through um all the learning goals and standards that she's got um but also an opportunity to

141cover some things that might feel timely um or that students have shared a real interest in um so we're super excited for that um it'll tighten up the health numbers a little bit um but fortunately we've got a fairly small um sophomore class next year so we're confident that we'll be able to squeeze it in in um and not give too much on the health side of stuff um Tech and Engineering is another area where we're adding a new course um we've seen some exciting growth since we've launched that program um and one of the things we're noticing which is fairly typical um is that we're getting um there's a lot of students that are interested but the skills that they're bringing to those programs vary greatly um and so one of the things we've

142noticed in order to better meet the needs of all students is we feel like it'd be wise to just add um a foundation and stem there again that's targeting a lot of students that might be coming with an interrupted educ educational background um you know who maybe aren't getting the most out of that out of the um that level three introductory course experience there so we're super excited for that um The Internship section if you notice had a lot of red and a lot of yellow um but don't panic um we are um we spent a lot of time sort of thinking about um the place of the internship program um within the career pathways office um if you're um if you pay close attention to it the internship program has been offered as a

143two block course um which has its pros and cons um and the cons have started to outweigh the pros the cons of that are um it's a it's a um takes up a lot of room in the student schedule um and sometimes the internships don't make for they're they're too far apart to have a real conversation about the work um and so one of the things that we're doing there is we're sort of of Shifting how we view it um internships will still be offered but it'll be a type of Elo as a part as opposed to being independent of the ELO um and that's going to give Miss vasnik a lot more flexibility in terms of how she groups kids when she meets with them if we've got a couple of kids who um

144you know who are taking some similar internships she can cluster them together and have some conversations across those experiences so I think it's going to really add to the enrichment that's and the learning that students are getting there um and then the last thing I want wanted to note um integrated credits um so if you recall that was a new addition last year um we've got a couple layers to integrated credit so um part of what's in that document and I'm not sure we did a great job of highlighting it for you but um we get recommendations we well we will be getting annual recommendations from both Westbrook Regional Vocational Center and Portland Arts and Technology Center or yeah Port Lear technology high school sorry um about around what credits they recommend to us um

145for integrated credits if you recall integrated credits are um credits that students earn at Westbrook Regional voke or at Portland Arts and Technology high school that we then take and count as Core Credit back at the high school um previously these credits all counted as electives now they're counting as maybe a little bit of math or a little bit of science based on the recommendations that we get um so if you don't know much about those programs they're fairly solid but there is some there is someu fluidity to in terms of what they look like year to year um their curriculum changes that sometimes impacts how they think about integrated credits or what they would recommend maybe instead of 0.5 science they might say 1.0 science credit kind of deal um so we expect to

146hear from them pretty much every winter um so what we've got this year we went through and cross referenced all their recommendations with what we had and made the updates um and then there's no changes if you recall last year we had a couple of local um locally improved um things like digital art and design and things of that sort where what they were doing what students were doing at Westbrook or at Portland really match up with the scar brro specific curriculum um and so we awarded a few a few integrated credits there there's no changes to any of that the one thing I did want to note um because I was here last year I had hopes that we would be able to sort of figure out how to um how to wait these

147credits in a way that we felt honored what students were doing over there um and frankly we had a really challenging time trying to disentangle it all um students earn um depending on the program earn as many as four different types of credit um they earn some integrated credit they earn some elective credit they might earn um a concurrent enrollment credit um which is a course that students it's a college course that students take at the high school um so they might be taking they might be earning that credit through Pass OR Vote or Westbrook voke um and then they also have um there some of those also count um as dual enrollment um so there's just this it's a real tangled web we can handle two types of credits pretty well trying to disentangle

148four um was really really messy um and we found that it was a lot muddier than what we expected um so we spent a good deal of the fall semester with the guidance team trying to figure this out um and as we started to look at it we got increasingly perplexed um and started calling around say what are you doing what are you doing how are you handling this and what we found is that our practice is really consistent with what other area high schools are doing um and so that kind of gave us some reassurance um integrated credit we're a little bit ahead on this um it doesn't have to be done or didn't have to be done until this coming the 25 26 school year is when it's supposed to be done um

149and so we're a little bit ahead and so we kind of felt like given that given the complexity that wasn't involved um we didn't want to mess anything up in terms of credits um so we felt like we might be wise to just let the dust settle on this um and give it a couple of years and monitor it um but we felt like you know we're on Solid Ground because what we're doing is really consistent with what other schools are doing and that felt like a good place to land um I do think it's going to be a conversation that we probably come back to every now and then just to check and see if there's an opportunity here because students if you ever walked over to or went over to Westbrook or Portland

150you'll find students are doing some pretty sophisticated work over there um certainly stuff that I don't know how to do um and it's you know they're using some pretty high-end technology to do some pretty amazing things um and so we just want to be make we just want to make sure we're honoring that um so it's something we're going to continue to monitor but we're pretty much going to land where we started which you know where we started with this last year and just see where it lays for the next couple of years with all that said that's a grand tour through um our program of studies I'm happy to take any questions you might have um not do a song or dance or anything of that sort yeah maybe I'd like to make a

151motion to move my item first next time so that I don't have to follow those acts be a lot it' be a lot easier for those folks too you know um thank you everybody I appreciate it thank you mate are there any questions for for Mr Tero all right um do I have a motion to approve the high school program of studies as presented so moved second do we have any um discussion is there anyone wishing to make public comment this evening about the high school program of studies all right seeing none um first second all in favor um and that shows us unanimous thank you so much um agenda item 8 .3 is the first reading of the 2025 2026 school calendar um so Diane you and I could probably te this up if

152you want to get started sure yeah ums great um so we are pleased to bring forward the calendar to you this evening her policy uh we did uh bring the draft of the calendar to the last policy committee meeting uh for policy committee members to weigh in on um if you take a look at the draft in front of you you'll see that it is um pretty standard um in terms of uh the look of it as compared to uh the most recent years so one early release day a month built into the calendar uh two uh professional development days at the start of the year two student days prior to Labor Day with the uh built-in appointments for K to we've heard a lot of really positive feedback um from families and from staff

153about that being a successful start for students uh the one piece that I would call your attention to um is in regard to the ending date of the school year um you know in in the last uh two calendars I believe uh the board has approved a calendar that has a mix of traditional snow days and um remote learning days uh to date we have only experienced one of those remote learning days ever let's knock on some wood because any other storm days we get this year will be those um but um in the in the past two years uh the number of traditional versus remote uh storm days has really been based on uh your desire as a board to have a set end date for the year um and so if you take

154a look at uh the suggested calendar for this year our suggested end date would put us at June 17th uh which provides us three traditional snow days um and then anything subsequent uh in terms of snow days uh there would be remote learning days all right thank you so much um are any questions for Diane this feels like a silly question but if on you if we only use one snow day we would move that 17th to the 15th or however unused yes yeah it might be easier to think about it from the 12th the 12th is the last day if no days are used so if there's no snow days so then it just add on from there and then if you get to the 17th um that's when we would switch to if

155you get to three days that's when we would switch to remote home work um I know we had a question earlier Dan and I don't know if you could explain this why um the number of student days is one greater than what's required so I think Scarboro has just had a long-standing tradition of going more than the required amount of days um in fact when I came to The District in 2018 as principal at the time um the school calendar uh for students was 177 days um since that time probably I would say at least three years ago uh when um it was determined that uh there was an a need for additional professional development days um the determination was made to trade in one of those student days for another staff day um at

156no extra cost uh because as you can imagine from um a contractual standpoint to add any additional time whether that be a student day or um a staff only day you know costs uh upwards of $300,000 per day and so at that time it was determined that the most fiscally responsible thing to do would be to drop us back to 176 because we would still be um meeting or exceeding ceeding the state required days thank you all right are there any further questions all right do I have a motion to approve the first reading of the 2025 2026 school calendar is presented second any discussion is there anybody wishing to make public comment this evening all right seeing none um all in favor and that's shows unanimous thank you so much agenda item 8.4 is

157appointments 8.4.1 is the middle school wrestling coach yes so um the uh you see in your packet um a nomination for a middle school wrestling coach and the request would be to approve that nomination right do I have a motion to approve the middle school wrestling coach as presented so moved second is there any discussion all in favor and that shows unanimous thank you so much all right our new item um 9.0 is continuing business 9.1 is the second reading of policy JFK student use of privately owned electronic devices at schools so I'm going to um tee this up in place a fra with Jillian's help so Jillian you chime in here anytime um just to give you some background as to what we did because this does um the second draft does look um

158what I might classify is significantly different from the first draft um essentially what the policy committee did was go through um the first draft with your comments from first reading um trying to take into account the concerns that you had um what we ended up doing was maintaining the grade k through eight would uh turn off and store their devices um during school hours so that still is a bell-to-bell band the K to8 level where there are some changes is at the high school level so if you look um in the draft policy or as you've seen as you've looked at it already I'm sure um the um maintain maintaining no devices during academic time is still included that does still include um advisory study halls assemblies and Library time um students are required to

159place cell phones in a designated location upon entering an academic area so that would be teacher um design ated area in the classroom um or academic area they may not take their students may not take their cell phones with them when they request to leave class so there is talk about um what happens when they need to go to the bathroom and are they on their phones in the bathroom so that would take care of that um their watches smart watches could only be used in airplane mode which prevent them from texting um receiving alerts or notifications and what not um on their on their Smartwatch they may use their cell phones during lunch so this is a change from the first draft we did add that back in um and that in uh so

160it's during lunch passing time between classes and before and after school um care must be taken that such that they use such devices in a manner that does not interrupt the activities of others and then they may use their cell phone if a staff member gives students specific permission to use their device for a clear educational purpose so that um gives back that teacher discretion that we did hear from staff members that they really um Wanted um but we also heard the concern that we um from parents in particular um that we didn't you know that students shouldn't just be using them in the class just because there's extra time like free time at the end of five I have five minutes at the end of math go ahead and get on your phone and

161start looking so we're preventing that's that but we are giving back the teacher discretion um I think everything else is I'm just m oh I'm sorry we did add number four oh yeah I'll come back up to that we did add number four which was um specific circumstances such as an IEP or individual health plan arise a personal plan may be developed and implemented with Administration appropriate staff and family so that was to speak to the concern about um Health people who use devices for health and um IEP reasons and then um we did at at the top we did add in a paragraph about what privately owned devices cover because we did have some concern from parents and students um and teachers that we heard um as it related to computer use and calculators

162and does a personal device include those items so we did try to Define that a little bit more so it now says privately owned electronic devices covered by the following Provisions include cell phones smartphones SmartWatches electronic toys and electronic games other private owned electronic devices including calculators laptops e-readers and tablets used for Approved educational purposes are permissible okay so is there any questions on the updates yeah I'll take that in just a second any questions yet yeah for discussion I have a question about oh the way where it says may not use privately owned electronic devices during AC academic time blah blah blah and then all the other things and it says may use their cell phone if a staff member gives a student specific permission y y y um I don't know I was

163just looking at and thinking I'm like should they I thought that they somebody's looking at the policy and they just see the top one and then they're like oh and they don't go any further I didn't know if you could combine them or at least put one after the other just so that they were close together so you okay this addresses that and then right after it it says you can't use it any time unless it's authorized by a staff member you know you know what I'm saying yeah are you say are you suggesting potentially are you asking if we could make that sentence a standalone like just either put the two together or make them one you can't use them at all unless it's oh I see what you're saying you're saying combine number

164one and number what is that or put them one after the other so that not one at the top and one at the bottom okay so what it's yeah I hear what you're saying now yeah just I look at it and I'm like it makes it doesn't seem that it flows well that way and somebody looking at it might not go all the way down and see that if you know you know what I'm saying yeah I totally know what you're saying what I'm going to do though is um I'm going to put a pin in that until we get to our part A discussion because You' make an amendment so um hang on to that oh yeah yeah you could you could do that you can offer it up as an amendment sure or

165we could discuss it and if you feel like you want to absolutely um FR good timing we're just we've only just made it to we I covered the changes in the draft policy and just taking questions okay any other questions about the did I just raise a question that U was brought forward to me and that is uh clarification in regards to high school students um use of uh cell phones during um things like after school activities so for example uh a sporting event an activity where they might be taking pictures um with with uh others uh because again that has been brought forward as a concern in terms of um uh how to monitor that um in a larger venue um so if you're at a school sponsored activity a Friday night football game

166um how would it be reasonable for our high school administrators to uh go around and monitor student cell phoning um at least for the K to8 the wording says during school hours I don't know if that's a possibility to tie that down to some of the high school area um in one it ends with locations during school hours I don't know if that's something we can tie down for clarity purposes into the high school [Music] area thought we had a I'm just hang on just one second let me just read it yeah so and the one two three four bullet may use their cell phones during lunch passing time between classes and before and after school so um perhaps during our discussion time if that if that doesn't feel clear perhaps we need to add

167another another bullet that that um makes it a little clear go ahead Mar or maybe focus on when they can't versus instead of when they can because if we focus on when they can't or when they can't we can re clearly Define when phones are not allowed versus when they can someone might may think of it as a I don't want to say overreaching policy but something that can lead to those external events or something further out from school I think if Diane already has an ask for clarification from our the people that we expect to maintain it then further Clarity yeah I don't think it if if it's already being questioned of how to enforce them okay um okay so what we will do is put a pin in that one as well for

168our discussion um so if you want to all think about language that would be fantastic okay any other questions all right is there any public comment um if you are online and wishing to make public comment if you could raise your hand in the zoom the bottom of your Zoom screen um and then we will um kind of bounce between right now I'm seeing one online so we'll go ahead and start there is that real good okay go uh we can give her permission yeah all right Ellen you have permission to talk so the rules um online are the same where you have three minutes um to provide comment it's a little bit difficult because you're online but um what I'll do is um when the red light starts blinking up here I'll just let

169you know that your three minutes is up if that's okay right all right go ahead um thank you I just want to start by expressing my deep appreciation for the board and all the work you've done I know you have a lot of other projects you're balancing and this is a volunteer role so with that in mind um I think we have an opportunity to take a more comprehensive and collaborative approach to reviewing this device policy some key pieces of information have been overlooked in these discussions such as research on addiction and the brain's need for breaks during the school day as well as the importance of a truly restful Lunch Period where students can engage face Toof face further the teacher narratives seem to be primarily a response to the initial draft which included

170a phone-free lunch and challenges with enforcement which I understand and theal data was from the last couple of years looking at data from back to 2010 2011 2012 before devices became ingrained in our kids lives might paint a different picture with the current policy update I would guess that teachers would find the enforcement of smart watches in airplane mode also to be challenging to ensure we're making the most informed and thoughtful decisions I proposed the creation of an adhoc committee dedicated to reviewing the device policy this committee would bring together School leadership board members parents and teachers to examine the data and research collectively ensuring that no key perspectives and evidence are overlooked this group could meet once a month over the next school year and would provide a structured and in-depth review allowing the

171policy committee to focus on its broader responsibilities while still addressing this important issue without AED ated work group we risk stretching these discussions over several years within policy committee meetings while other pressing policies may also require attention instead I believe a structured focused approach sorry someone's calling me structured focused approach would allow for a more efficient and responsible use of our time the US Surgeon General warned the cost of inaction is too high the Mental Health crisis among people among young people is an emergency and the cost of not acting could be measured in Lost lives he has called for phone- free schools as part of the solution given this urgent concern how can we not take a deeper more collaborative approach I understand there will be pain points and necessary exemptions but the right

172decision is not always the easiest one thank you for your time thank you Ellen all right all right is there anyone else wishing to make public comment this evening yeah come on up if you wouldn't mind just sharing your name with us first Amy solo perfect thank you so much and then same thing uh you'll see the lights though all right go ahead I will start first with a message from the students who could not be here tonight the bo time their cons all Community this new policy rep represents a careful compromise between varying opinions the board has crafted a fair and effective solution that addresses multiple needs they appreciate the board's consider uh recognition for the utmost necessity of clear and precise language when a government entity seeks to implement a ban on something

173that was previously permitted they also commend the board for recognizing the multiple practical real life and academic uses of these devices as sh as shared by the students and teachers who use them they are encouraged to see that their voices have been heard and valued by the board in this process additionally they are grateful that the board is considering the financial implications of this policy this thoughtful approach demonstrates a recognition of the Practical realities that come with implementing change and a responsible and fiscally sound manner they support the the passing of the current draft of JFC now myself I understand that the people supporting the bell-to-bell band have strong beliefs and values that they are committed to upholding and no one is denying that social media can be detrimental or addictive however their disregard of

174the high school teachers survey documents the overall high GPA at the high school impacts on students with IEPs and Private health issues budget and potential Staffing impacts the board's own visits to the lunch and seeing that kids are talking to each other in addition the voices and needs of our young adults it reflects the kind of single-minded thinking that we often see these days where diverse perspectives and practical concerns are overlooked in favor of a narrow agenda I urge the bell-to-bell band folks to take a moment to reflect on the many valid reasons why their demands are not practical at the high school level and to consider the value of compromise the reality is that navigating any complex issue requires compromise especially when practical obstacles arise it is also crucial to listen to what our

175high school students are telling you I can assure you that these students soon to be adults are not to be underestimated they are actively shaping their Futures and they have valuable insights that we as adults need to hear they deserve to feel heard respected and valued especially when they are engaged in discussions that directly affect their education and well-being by disregarding their voices it also sends a troubling message to our young people it shows them that their perspective perspectives are inconsequential and that compromise is not something to strive for as parents and community members we must show our kids that it's possible to have differing opinions in needs within a a community and still work together toward a fair and respectful solution otherwise we risk maintaining the current environment where constructive dialogue is replaced by

176division at the end of the day we all want what is best for our community and our kids but we have to remember that true progress comes when we are able to work together acknowledging and respecting both our needs and the needs of others even when we disagree thank you all right is there anybody else wishing to make public comment this evening all right see n we will close public comment okay do I have a motion to approve the second po reading of policy JFK student use of privately owned electronic devices at school as presented so of second okay any discussion are you going to bring up the discussion points we already started or should we wait for that um discuss we can we can discuss the questions that have already been brought up or

177questions you or thoughts you have what whichever how would you like to start oh well your chair well you turned your microphone on first so what would you like to ask first no I just thought it would be good to address the um concerns that have been risen to Diane in the wording sure so the after school events yes please just to be sure I can't recall if you were in the room we discuss that yeah so the question that had been brought forward to me from high school administration just as a point of clarity was um it it didn't seem to be uh made clear in the policy in regards to after school activities and Student Self own use so for example let's say um there is a school activity a football game on

178a Friday night and we have uh a large crowd assembled there of students what is the expectation in terms of students use of uh their devices there and how practical would it be uh to request Administration to uh oversee that I I understand what the intent of the policy committee was having attended the meetings but I think the question being brought forward by others that are reading this is that it may not be as clear as the intention so if you look at the what I was saying FR if you look at the fifth bullet under high school um the fifth bullet says may use their students high school students may use their cell phones during lunch passing time between classes and before and after school so um we had to just to me it

179seemed clear but if but um Alyssa was saying is if we're having if we're getting questions from Administration already we might need to add another well I think maybe wording wise can we just remove um before and after school because I feel like it's if it's not during school then it doesn't necessarily apply there feel like the before and after school being there is the only thing that sort of um kind of indicates after school is fine I was going to say if we're able to kind of use the same wording from bullet one in or01 um and say like high school students during school hours colon and just have it very perspect just kind of tie that wording from above yeah okay oh yeah it might be more um so we have that fifth

180bullet the the one that says that they can use it before and after school but then if you go down um to number one the use of privately owned electronic cameras Andor the camera video um sound recording functions of any privately owned electronic devic is strictly prohibited in certain areas of Scaro Public Schools including the cafeteria locker rooms restrooms and buses in other school location students are required to obtain permission before photographing taking videos or recording any IND idual right so that's the area that's the example right because if we are on an athletic field and someone's wanting to capture a picture of a sibling even right a friend yeah themselves enjoying the hard to monitor that because you a visiting um guests as well right and this would not apply to them yes [Music]

181does it make sense to say in other school building no because you still have the arena the basketball courts is it possible to just add language about the same thing during school hours because I think if we start naming places what happens if we suddenly have hockey games somewhere else or have a basketball game somewhere else yeah is it really in other school locations during the school day is what you're suggesting are you raising your hand well I I was trying to see if I can I me I think we need to tie it in where where we're saying that you can't do it in certain situations because what do we I know where did I read it I'm looking through here I'm trying to find it um so it say in other school location

182students are required to obtain permission before photographing so would that mean that if they want to take a picture of the basketball game the track meet the hockey game or a video that they have to I mean you can't get permission from somebody that's on the field and you don't know if you're going to you're going to uh you know if you're there trying to catch somebody getting a touchdown you're going to get everybody uh you know in in in the picture um or video but but we do talk about how you're not allowed to use it for um uh misconduct you know um anything that uh I I think there's a way we could put it toward it where you can take video of of a sporting event or a picture of you know

183whatever and still let people know that you can do it but you can't necessarily do anything that uh would go against the policy anything negative anything you know you couldn't do it to bully somebody you couldn't do it to when there's there's just I mean that's a tough one I don't even know if I'm making any sense but um it's interesting because we pulled this language from the old policy so that's what's interesting about this is that it's a it's a how has it been managed before I think the question is coming up because there's an assumption that uh there's going to be a lot of attention given to people reading this and making sure um again we I have our high School administrators here this evening and so you know I don't need to

184be their mouthpiece they can certainly also speak for themselves do you have a video [Laughter] now um I guess I would start by asking does anybody have a copy of the policy that I could look at that would be helpful Oh's got it for you yeah so I I think some of and I run the risk here of speaking for Mr leage but feel free to jump in um Mr leage if I misspeak um I think our question is um you know certainly some of that be that before and after school language is a little bit weird um to us at least me personally because um we don't have a lot of rules that apply to before and after school so I'm a little unclear as in terms of like what we mean by those

185hours are we talking 755 are we you know that that's a little bit weird for school rules for us to be legislating school rules that apply to before and after school um I might suggest thinking about if we're talking about during after school activities um I might suggest considering language like when you're participating in after school activities um because I certainly think those are that's an area where school rules absolutely apply um spectating can be a little bit of a different thing um you know if we've got conservatively probably got 2,000 3,000 maybe 4,000 people at a big football game um it's it it's not really realistic for us to be looking at the 500 kids that are packed in behind us um in monitoring cell phone use and figuring out who asked permission and

186who didn't um and it feels a little bit I think to me anyways that the way the policy is reading students are required um in School locations I'm looking at um the bottom part of page one of the of the draft policy and then the top part of page two um you know I think the the number one is certainly clear in that first few lines but then in other school locations students are required to obtain permission before photographing taking videos or recording of any individual um and then again before posting um I'm just not sure how we would manage that if that's um and again it may be a cas where the language doesn't reflect the intention um but I'm not sure how we would manage that as it's written because it feels like

187to me anyways that we're being asked to be very carefully monitoring 500 students and 500 phones at a football game and somehow tracking who's who's taken pictures who hasn't taken pictures who's asked permission who hasn't who's posted who hasn't um and I I just not sure even if we had 150 High School staff there if we'd be able to manage that um much less just the four or so administrators that are there on a Friday night trying to manage that huge crowd um you know and it it certainly is a little bit unique venue to venue for some of these after school events um you know because we have basketball games or in Alumni Gym but then hockey presents other challenges so um I'm not sure if I know if I could tell you exactly

188you know what the right course of action is or right what the right language is but I know we would have concerns if the expectation is that students who are spectating at these games um are we're somehow having to account for all of these phones um and who's taking pictures and who's not and who's posting and who's not um there's just no way for us to do that um it's just not possible yeah um and then you look at the number of parents that are probably there doing what we're telling the kids not to do right and we're talking about a third of we're talking about a third right because the rule would apply to the kids it wouldn't apply to parents probably wouldn't apply to other kids that are there from other schools um

189yeah so it's just a little bit tricky I don't know how to distinguish you know what the roles that people are there I mean kids at the game the rules are there but they're also paying customers for twoo so I I think finding out how to clarify some of that would certainly be helpful to us yeah I think um I remember our conversation the three of us in policy um around this and um I I I certainly can speak to my intent and then what we discussed um but to me the before and after school are the kids that get there early and sit in the cafeteria they would by this rule have permission to use the phone the number one the language that is now Troublesome with the rest of the policy um did

190carry over but that discussion between the three of us was very clearly like we don't want kids going to parts of the school and photographing other kids without their permission right we had a discussion around breast drom photos and self and yes restrooms are spelled out here but um uh we also had a discussion about locker rooms and you know all of the Hidden areas but I wonder if this is solved by um you use the word spectating I wonder if this is solved by a last sentence on this this does not include spectating at EV at school events what if we use the verbage oop sorry were you done yeah I'm done um during school hours and participating in school sanctioned events so that would help cover like dances or things like that as

191well I think we need to explicitly say to exclude these public spectator events but also say like the bullying policy still apply um right basically what you were saying before but we need to explicitly spell that that we cannot police this in a public no that's definitely not the end can I have a point of clarification or a point of information whichever point I need uh when our students are playing on a soccer team basketball team football team Etc are the coaches expected to uphold the rules like a teacher would yeah Mr leage would you mind coming up and answering that for us I think they're expected to uphold any policies that we have any more questions for my felles up here don't go far I guess I'm not sure if like we heard a

192little bit about some of the complications of you know four administrators staring at 500 students mixed in a crowd of 4,000 um is there anything that you've kind of in reviewing this um kind of flagged as something that could be problem um Troublesome to the coaches in reinforcement I imagine you don't have many coaches for a large football team I I don't think I think the same Rings true for spectators as it does for students to participate Mo in most cases a student that's playing on a football team is not going to have the camera with them taking pictures during the game or a kid participating on math team is not going to have the camera with them while they're performing uh their competition for the math team or going to be up on stage

193with their camera during oakill players taking pictures um but from time to time students that participate will also take pictures of each other and parents give permission for that when they sign up in family ID family ID one of the signups is that they're giving permission to use their child's name image and likeness for promotional purposes so number two does also speak to bullying um vulgar abusive obscene discriminatory harassing bullying Andor illegal so again I go back to do we just need to add a sentence at the end of number one what are you thinking so I think we're getting too much in the weeds quite honestly because like spectating is a spectrum are you are you're ins side of the field on a sports team as part of the team on a bench taking

194photos is that spectating um if you're in uniform is it not like we're getting we like this policy is we're not this is two in the weeds so I think we need to pull back so what was the intent of that provision which is that you can take photos but you're not supposed to take photos of individuals like specifically without their permission essentially to harass them um or otherwise bully them or misuse your phone to torment another student so but we also want to be student students to be able to use their phones to take photos of science experiments and maybe a person who is running that experiment is going to be in that photo and then you may not ask explicitly that to that student are you okay if I'm taking your photo if

195your photo is out and you're filming the thing and they're standing in the photo they're giving permission to be photographed if I mean they're not stupid they know what's going on so I think I I think we should just Strike It Strike the whole strike the whole sentence not the whole paragraph well that part of the the sentence that says in another school location students are required to obtain permission before photographing taking videos recording individual I think we should keep in the posting part so I don't believe that any administrator is going to be expected to run around and monitor people's social media use when they're uploading stuff to whatever the social media platform of their places but I think if a complaint is made that a student has been recorded and this information has

196been uploaded that the school should be able to take action so this is not going to be actively monitored there's no one running around in field stand making sure that someone's not on fill in- theblank social media platform but I think there should be ability to point to the policy to say this is not this is not appropriate and if somebody makes a legitimate complaint like this person uploaded my likeness in this way it should be a violation of our policy because we don't want students doing that we want we want students asking for permission or the circumstance es around which these photographs are being made to be intuitively consented to which I think is great I agree zero bullying would love that but is that issue already addressed in our bullying policy and now

197we're creating almost two things working in tandem when we have a policy that addresses this yes but I think we need to be specific in this policy bullying is covered in another policy this is a very specific behavior that's related to privately used devices so I think we need to make sure people are there's no policy that says you have to get permission before uploading someone else's likeness into the internet it says you can't harass and Bully and explains what that might be so I think we do need to specify I think if somebody takes a video of a student on school property that's inappropriate or is being used inappropriately to otherwise harm that individual that it should be a violation of school policy and I think we need to be I don't want to

198have an argument about whether this video counts as bulling or not because if it's is it not bad enough you know if it's somebody eating food that can be extremely abusive or it can be completely innocuous depending on a whole lot of circumstances around it but somebody eating food at a table can be seen given the context vastly differently and that mean that there's a million other things that are behind that so we have to be sensitive so I yes I think it's covered in bullying I don't want to have a fight at at a I don't want it to be unclear that this is not this is prohibited uploading a video or likeness of somebody onto the internet where it lives forever you we need to have be a violation of the policy do

199we need to have staff monitoring when videos are being taken no that seems excessive I understand that I I I agree with that I think we should be able I and I think we should strengthen it and reiterate that using your device your electronic I think the same language using privately owned electronic cameras and or the camera video sound recording functions on any privately owned Electronics device to harass another individual is strictly prohibited I think we need to strengthen this type of bullying I don't think we should leave it to determine at a what bullying means I think with electronic devices because we're being more prescriptive with them we should be more prescriptive with them and say this is this is not acceptable behavior again administrators are not going to be lurking on the internet

200monitoring uploads to social media but I think if a student comes with a valid complaint there shouldn't be a discussion about whether this video is technically bullying or not isn't that also number two though I mean I think we need to streng I would strengthen it I would say we should strengthen it because number two is open to interpretation okay so hold on I I'm trying to um okay so for number one I just want to be clear on what I think I hear you saying so number one says the use of so the first sentence we're I think I heard you say we're good with the use of privately owned electronic cameras Andor the camera all the way down to including the cafeteria lock rooms restrooms and buses period that first part you would

201like to keep am I hearing you strike the in school locations down to social media or elsewhere because that gets us out of the school activities no okay so then how do you account for the school activities I would I would strike the first sentence and that say students are required to obtain prior permission before posting any videos or sound recordings or photos of individuals taken at school or or during school activities on social media or elsewhere that says you can take the videos but you cannot post them to social media without prior consent and I think we should keep that in order to strengthen do we need to say permission from the student or from or is it like Pol see written words obvious I mean unless and so now I'm going to go

202back on the other way because I this is how I vasate um I think the issue is if you have a video if you're taking a video of a basketball game do you need the individual consent of each of the individuals to upload a clip that's there's no expectation of privacy at sporting event no there's not there's none and there shouldn't like so like the issue with locker rooms cafeteria restrooms there's legitimate expectation of privacy that's a legal term of art you all know what it means like there are places in a dressing room where you're not going to be monitored by video it's not appropriate um that's legitimate expectation of privacy language and that's enshrined in law that's what the first sentence gets to which if you have a legitimate exitation of privacy and

203we're saying you do in a cafeteria locker room restroom or on the buses you cannot use those functions correct um the other issue is we're trying to prohibit people from being harassed or really people's likenesses being uploaded without their permission I mean that is an issue but I I think we should distinguish between again science experiment with one student being uploaded in a way they don't want is different than a sports game that might already be yeah broadcast we have our sports are sports teams are often broadcast not all of the games but there are many games that are and that like how do we account for that in the policy cyber bullying is laid out in jik so I mean it's main state law too I don't can we just refer to as outlined

204in jic k yeah it's it's noted yeah your point it's noted in the in the cross references yeah I'm back to do we just remove it strike the whole par strike the whole thing yeah because I mean we have a policy that right outlines the law which is already the law so and we've already specified above that it is um where your expect to your point where your expectation of privacy is this is these are not so if this student that or whoever it was that talked to Diane would with what we've just done or will do will that when and they go back in will they have that same question again if did you hear that if this was removed would we have the same question question came from Principal teria so that's awesome

205I think this question been answered that is you're welcome to sit in the front row right at that seat could you repeat that question sorry no all seriousness could that question be repeated his question is given the conversation and the changes that are being discussed right now about the removal of the first paragraph on page two would that address the concerns that you have about um you know needing to monitor after school events such as games uh plays any other competitions or activities yeah I think so just sorry I'm just reading the first couple of lines I mean I think yeah because right the school rules apply um you know school rules apply and are enforc for after school activities and during the school day so I think yeah striking that I think would be

206fair um and to be honest a lot of those other policies are device neutral right whether it's a school device private device um you know and we have we have Authority Under other policies to you know to do those investigations as we see fit so yeah I think that certainly provides some clarity I think in um the language that um was just being discussed around like where you have a legitimate expectation of privacy and where you don't um I'm not sure if that could be woven in somehow but that certainly provided um I think some clarity um around the board's intent okay so um do you want to make um an amendment is there anybody interested in making an amendment slow shot yes get that ready can we I have a question now um are

207there can we do multiple amendments is that you can you can all right I want to do a whole bunch I mean we can keep discussing and see at the end is that what you may be suggesting yes okay all right so we will um the other question I know that we discussed in policy um I just want to make sure I have let me write this down first and then I'll say Okay um the other conversation we had U there's two other conversations we had that um in policy that we didn't carry forward to this that I I think it is worth discussing the first is um implementation when are we when are we expecting the schools to implement this do we wait and our discussion was around waiting until um next school year

208so September which would allow teachers time to designate areas but if we've updated the policy doesn't that make it the policy yes we would have to so there's no old policy because there's a new policy so it would wouldn't it that would just it would happen it would happen tomorrow because so the expectation would be then that teachers tomorrow would need to designate an area and their in their academic areas do you see what I'm saying that does but I during our policy me I think we discussed that like it would be the policy tomorrow but there would be expectation that it would be implemented in a reasonable time frame was that's correct so but I don't think we have to put that in the policy that it's going to take a reasonable time frame

209to get this off the ground I think that's in I think that's logical if somebody tomorrow is like the policy is not at 8:45 in the morning is like the policy is not being followed I the answer is that's because we have to go acquire the things to enforce the policy that's not right like I don't think that's an issue really I I don't want to wait until September um I think it should be upoad because one of the issues right now that we're facing with this policy is that the the current policy is not being followed um or has not been followed is they're trying to follow it now but it's because this backward and so I think this is this is fixing a lot of things but I don't think we need to

210specify when it starts I think when it gets up when when it gets like um when the ability to to do it comes I mean the designated place tomorrow could be your backpack and then if they if a teacher wants to make a different they can change that designation it's not I don't think it's unduly burdensome to to have this on on un ramped quickly not to mention the fact that most of the schools are follow been pretty closely right now anyway so it's not it's this is not it's really just the high school yeah yeah and even the high school most of the high school is following most of this policy so it's this is not a Chasm that with a lot of infrastructure that is not built there's going to be fine tuning

211in different rooms which I think again you know a policy goes into effect good faith compliance is you know if we get a a designated spot next week because that's as fast as we can get it on- rammed that's legitimate that's legit I mean that's good faith effort good faith compliance that's being reasonable which our superintendent is always reasonable but I mean realistically like I trust our administrators to understand that and and do their best which is what they've done all along as soon as this was brought forward I mean really I they all have done a really good job of trying to comply which has been complicated yeah gra um I was wondering if the designated location that's named in the policy if that like could vary from classroom to classroom like do teachers

212get to choose that designated location okay so it wouldn't have to be like a phone tree in every classroom it could be a pocket or bag okay thank you it could be a we've had a lot of suggestions from parents it could be a manila envelope it could be a pencil pouch it could be whatever the teacher um John says it trash can it could be whatever the teacher suggests is the designated area okay thank you what were you to say so I was just going um you know to respond a little bit to your comment frea um and you know I think at the the last paragraph uh the last sentence in the second paragraph where it says the superintendent is authorized to develop any school rules necessary to implement the policy so I

213would just point out to you yes I hear you say that you know that that we could start this as soon as feasible but I also want the board to recognize that there needs to be the time for the high school to develop the school rules and the discipline rubric around which they're going to then respond to students um who infections and I want to just advocate for thoughtful time for the team to develop that and not just have them you know have a a meeting tomorrow with their administrative team and whip something together and then you know distribute it widely to students on Monday morning and say well this was time sensitive so we had to just press play as fast as we could yeah that's definitely not the board's intent we just don't

214usually put a on polies and I appreciate that right but again I think that um the definition of what is a reasonable time frame you and I might have a shared definition on that but if we pulled you know every other person in this room uh we might find that there are 20 different definitions of that and so I just want to be clear before the board votes on this that the public shares our definition of what a reasonable timeline is and I'm not sure that if if we just have a handshake agreement about that that that will satisfy other uh people in the community I would just wonder if like um you know there's a lot of student energy around this too so it's nice to have kind of that at the Forefront I

215fear that if we were to wait till next school year um there could just be a lot of ongoing so I would wonder if um you know I don't know that it has to be baked into the the policy but um or not but um like April April break is like roughly six weeks away I don't know if that's enough time to draw up all these things let the teachers get their plans in place not feel like anything's getting to rush the students still have time with it between April break and the end of the school year to kind of absorb some of this and then it comes in in September and it's not just like another new thing um while also giving our school system chance to like you know six weeks to make

216a a call about things and a plan would you be thinking of like amending the policy to where we think it'll go and then tbling it until that end of that time like what like what I'm procedural mechanism here is really what I'm wondering we don't put an onramp in our policy so we don't put like this will become implemented we'll begin in April after April vacation in September of 2026 of live whatever year it is um so like the how proed like as a policy how do we procedurally do that we could table this again we could I'm not advocating for that I'm laying out options we could table it um we could make an amendment where we put an on-ramp in which feels very weird um because it's not something that we normally

217do I I I'm sort of what like what procedurally and I don't know the answer to be honest I'm just hearing like the feedback from the people like we're taking a policy and dictating down and then we're hearing Feb back back so I'm just kind of responding I don't feeding discussion I thought you were gonna say something I heard you yeah I don't really can can we just AC accept that this is going to take some time to implement I mean I think yes we can all generally accept that this is going to take time and I think that it's going to be imperative that the public on on with this is going to have to be patient with us this is a new procedure for the high school um the the expectation that they

218to Diane's point that they come in tomorrow with a fully um planned brand new procedure is not reason that's not a reasonable expectation to me um I guess followup question um you know to kind of go from um you know Alyssa's previous statement um and taking into account you know uh other comments that I've had that I've heard this evening about the implementation timeline I to your point it would feel really weird to write a date into this at the same time I guess my question would be could there be um you know outside of this policy a recommendation by the board that you know that that this policy be ready to implement when we return from April vacation oh yeah yeah right and then we communicate that out and we provide that advanced notice

219um so that it's you know a clear message being sent to the members of our school community and our families that um you know here is you know whatever wherever you all land on the final policy and then uh this is when you can expect to see those those changes be put into action and point of clarification is that enough time do you believe how much time do you believe you need to develop a policy that you want and and that's I'm not trying to put you on the spot but I don't want to I don't want to pick I don't want to throw a dart at a board and pick a number that sounds good in my head because that's not I'm not the one doing it and I appreciate that you know I

220I'm also trying to be sensitive to the board wanting um you know to put a period at the end of this sentence and move forward um and I and I do believe that um there would be some value in uh moving this forward before the end of the year so that we could see how does the discipline Continuum that gets developed worked and do we test that out for that final stint of the school year and then we reassess and and are reflective and and take that feedback in as an administrative team and then decide if there are changes that need to be made for the fall that would be like your normal process with any policy or any it would be you know it would it would provide us that opportunity versus you know

221again um you know I think there are pros and cons about whatever time you start but if we started in the fall we would just have to own whatever that Continuum was for the year because it would be quite unusual to change a discipline policy once the school year has started also don't but if we came back after April break where we had you know about six weeks of school left that would give us an opportunity to kind of test drive and make sure that you know that uh we're building capacity and understanding amongst our students and our staff and that we're responding um in an appropriate way and so other than the conversation we're having now and the meeting minutes from this meeting and obviously the recording of the meeting where we're discussing after

222I think after April is kind of where we're we're Lessing around um do you want any official other official record of of the board's sort of understanding that we understand that this policy is not going to be implemented um whatever policy if a policy is passed today is not going to be implemented tomorrow but will will plan to we put in place by the end of April at the end of April vacation how do you want us to formalize that other than the discussion we're having and the meeting minutes that'll follow yeah you know again um personally I think that if it is reflect in the meeting minutes that does become an official record and so I would feel comfortable with that and if there were members of the public who questioned why we were

223waiting until after April vacation it would be a clear direct to you know look at the meeting minutes from the meeting wherein the discussion and the agreement took place right where the board agrees that we will um is does there any any disagreement with that that the board agrees we will the high schol well this will be implemented after April break okay and Cheryl's got it so perfect and then you can also publish this in the newsletter the district newsletter it can go in the high school newsletter there's a few opportunities to get that in that in the Middle School newsletter right we have a few opportunities to get the word out well I guess all the newsletter but not in tomorrow's newsletter not in tomorrow's newsletter that I do think it's a good thing

224for families who will need to know when when they can get a hold of their students and let them know they got to pick up their sister or brother etc etc yeah and I think it's good family planning yeah I think at the with the school newsletters it could be a good not that I want to prescribe but it could be a good um reminder that if they need their students they can call the office and here's the office phone number can I bring up another po of discussion please I don't want to interrupt anyone or cut anyone off um I it had come up in the first read and I was curious I did note that there is nothing in the second draft about when to revisit this policy and I was curious if

225you guys had had a discussion that led to that decision we did have a discussion yeah yeah we did um it no we um we went back and forth on if we should include it in here and ultimately um decided not to um uh I kind of am in the same mindset that we could do what Diane is saying reflect in the minutes what our expectation is I personally would like to see this evaluated um after a year so it would be um really like the end of next school year right which would give a full school year of data because we have data points already we asked um teachers for their opinions via a survey we did hear back that some of from the teachers that some of the questions could have been one

226of the questions could have been a little better the answers could have been a little bit different clearer and so I think that can be cleaned up but we also asked for data points from the high school um I I know that the high school the way that they um took that survey and they well the the data is the data but the way they answered the survey questions was in group meetings and so I um I know that we heard from Diane that the um schools tend to operate as teams they don't operate individually and so that um group think was was really successful in developing these answers um and I I don't see why that would change I guess in my mind I see the um the group that continues to work on

227this is the teachers and the administrators by providing us the data through Diane um what it looks like what does implementation look like what did what successes did we see what um what areas of concern do we notice what are some things we would like you um to know after a year of the policy that's in my mind what I would like to see what I suggested at policy yeah please I just want to add to that so we did put in there a it's a it's a it's a line that doesn't it's an aspirational line which it's very top it's like the third paragraph down it says we'll continue the school board will continue to evaluate and impact the privately owned devices have on our students we'll continue to evaluate our policy me our

228students needs we didn't put a specific timeline in here and the reason for that is also because of how policies come before the board so like like we in theory have a like a reasonable place to rotate through policies to to review them but when like this policy was not on on track to be reviewed but because of public um comment and because of Interest we brought it forward for to have this really important discussion but for that advocacy this policy would never have been reviewed we wouldn't be looking at it right now we would be right through the B's into the beginning of the C-section of policy um like like I'm not totally honest with you and so um if if and when issues arise this policy will come right back up like if

229we if we get if there are problems if there are issues if implementation is possible if we miss something big or little um you know the school administration can bring it up the public can bring it up um we will we will member of this committee could bring it up um and asked to have it added to the policy agenda and I've not yet said no to that request most people are not clamoring for policy to be reviewed but but in instances when policy does need to be reviewed that's how it gets reviewed so if there's an issue we review that policy sure I just wasn't um I think the high school team is kind of clearly showing a lot of um you know intention in their way of reviewing these policies and moving forward

230um I I guess where my mind had been at that time had been that just Tech in general changes so frequently I mean not that kids don't and what they experience and all those things doesn't but Tech itself is so challenging and I I think with how fast things are moving um I personally just um I think there's a lot of value in a stable policy short of a issue arising I don't want to disrespect our other policies or processes but I was um kind of curious about kind of writing in or baking in a um like a five-year trigger like if this hasn't been looked at nothing's come up at least review it at least look at it because this was a seven-year policy is that correct again from 2017 2017 to 2014 this

231was a seven-year-old policy um I push back you're making me question my math John um but I I just didn't know um you know if we could b or put something like that in um so that it doesn't get lost in a okay well we're only in the D's and this is a j and it's and my push back to that is going to be one we don't have that in our policies where we have these triggers and for most of our policies there's a couple of notable exceptions like the there's emergency policy that we have to look at every year annually there's very few policies and I don't feel comfortable um pushing this onto future boards all of our terms will be up before that five years is and we can't and shouldn't be

232telling future boards what to do what's fair and just as you know every year we do we do review board goals so it can be added in and changed um as the next turnover of um board members that's a great so every year we all get together and we come up with District goals together as a board um and then as you know as our terms end there's going to be another one another so every year there's a new one um you can whoever is sitting on the board at that time when we review it will go in there if this is something that we feel like needs to be added in there as something to as a districtwide goal that might be something to be discussed then as a board goal because I'm I'm

233with fre I don't want to push this on to a board five years from now just to be like hey you got to revisit it right now it it doesn't it doesn't make sense timeline wise they won't know to do it right I know that sounds crazy but like there's no there's no Flags in our policies that like it need to be reviewed you have to have somebody who knows that the board goals is the place to have this embedded actually that's a brilliant suggestion because it will force us to keep talking about it because I don't want to stop this conversation I mean I want to get this policy done because we have a lot of other policies that we have not worked on but I don't want to short this one but I

234also don't want to short other policies but I think that's the right place because that's going to continue this conversation so that we keep oversight on it and that keeps it fresh and then in five years of the board's like we don't care about technology we're going back to play tablets good luck with that but like it's do you I mean like like we can make any aspiration goal we want for them we can't make them do it the goals is the way to make sure we don't stop the conversation though and that we keep in our eyes on this really important piece so like I I really like that suggestion and if anybody's curious our goals happen in July yes all right is there any other discussion um yeah yeah what are you doing

235hunting and pecking down there that's what I learned in uh I took typing to talk about technology we had typewriters in classes here scarbro my freshman year asdfjkl so um because fro wasn't here earlier I did want to well I don't type every day so I don't have to worry about this um we were talking about under two where it's this High School where it says you may not uh use privately owned electronic devices blah blah blah and then down at the bottom it says may use their cell phone uh if a staff member gives student specific permission I was wondering if that's something that we could either combine or put one after the other so that they were together instead of having one at the top one at the bottom so I mentioned that

236earlier and then yeah he thinks they're related so they should be next to each other or comb into one to where it's you can not use it unless said by you know what I'm saying so we talked about an amendment I didn't want to make one without you knowing that I had already because especially I don't want you be mad at me um but that's what I wanted to let you know so if that comes up you're not uh you know I would I I don't care if you move the order around I don't want you to combine them okay don't I'm sorry can't hear you one bullet point one thought bullet point one thought he said he doesn't want the she said I don't want the bullets combined and he said why and then

237what was your answer one bullet point one thought you're going to use run on sentences use run on sentences but if you're going to use bullets one bullet point one thought it makes it easier to read but re but reorienting them though to put the last bullet up as the second bullet okay so we have two pieces to amend if somebody would like to make their motions let me fix it do you want to do this in one motion or do you want to discussion oh wait well there any more discussion yeah I think there's a little more discussion there is yeah so um going back to the before and after school part um I would advocate for keeping that language although I'm open to clarifying it because I think there is a period of

238time after the bus before school starts specifically for kids who are on the bus or kids who get dropped off early and are sitting in room I don't want to one of the critiques from the first draft was being very clear about when and so that I think that is important and then the after school was specifically so that there's no issue with after school activities so I I I know if anybody has some language I thought about a me like eliminating that and I don't want to leave because we're enumerating when they can be used I don't I don't want it to be unclear that if you get off the bus and you are not yet in your classroom and start an academic time that you can be on that that's a passing time

239which we had a whole passing time discussion that I don't want to reuse it so can you can you just write the bell times yeah like 8:45 2 350 over the first Bell is in the passing the second B 7:30 too or I don't so so with before the time not count as passing time we that's this is the discussion we had but like that's why if I don't think that so I had suggested taking that just out before and after school out and then just leaving it as passing time but you're but you feel like it needs the the clarification to have before and after school written in there you could start the Bullet by saying during the school day and then you wouldn't need before an after school that's it yeah yeah I

240like I I support that language during the school day students may use okay time between classes okay I think I've got all three of those Fed so you ready any further discussion on anything you have something do you have this document written so that I can see the as you read it yeah let me share this to you this is just the draft that we've y does everybody have it actually no hold on there you go I'm sorry Abby can and Grace will you check did I just send you the flowchart did I send you the flowchart or did I send you the policy oh I didn't mean to send that I apologize I mean you get you get it now but okay all right you're welcome okay I'd like to make a motion to

241amend policy J F CK uh the draft policy that we're currently considering um the Amendments that I'd like to offer would include oh would include that UN number two to add the phrase during the school day comma before high school students grades 9 through2 oh to add the last bullet which currently reads may use their cell phone if a staff member give student specific permission to use their device for a clear educational purpose from the bottom Bullet to the second bullet to strike in what is now the last bullet but is the sixth bullet and before and after school from the first sentence so that the new sentence would read may use their cell phones during lunch passing time and between classes period and to strike under section one this entire paragraph of in other

242school location students are required to obtain permission before photographing taking videos or recording any individual students are also required to obtain prior permissions before posting any photos videos or sound recordings of individuals taken at school or during school activities on social media or elsewhere period so we have a amendment is there a second second is there any discussion on the amendment okay all in favor voting for the amendment as presented and that's unanimous okay um so we are going to return to the main motion do I um we have a main motion on the floor as amended is there any further discussion on the main motion as amended all right all in favor all right that is also unanimous thank you all right agenda item 10.0 is adjournment if there are no objections we will

243adjourn at 9:119 p.m thank you so much e e e