001mr so it is on and i am stalling for time i guess you're checking to see what's up here and five six seven eight one two three oh good okay talking and saying hello speaking your normal voice every distance from the microphone so okay test two three four five six seven okay so maybe on my phone okay so can you hear me now okay so know that was our problem so i'll go in the other room i'll connect to the zoom meeting is this do we is this zoomy next to the zoom meeting or you want to connect to um right now right there we go i feel like i'm in one of those time travel movies everything happens like six minutes six seconds later now do we hear the zoom through the pa a
002little bit not really though he'll come through the pa but not loudly not too loud no like loud enough that everyone can hear him they should be able to hear him yeah we were able to hear you okay you want to join the zoo meeting brittany or put yourself in there okay nice split screen hey ray how do you can you hear us pretty can you hear us okay i can hear you guys can you hear me yeah i can hear you this is the test this is where kurt let's uh switch it to camera one this is camera number one and microphone number one um how do we sound you sound great fantastic brittany can you move to a different like maybe go to a different desk i'm gonna i'm gonna switch it to
003um i'm gonna switch it over to uh to nick here nick you're on okay um oh i'm off now i'm on all right so uh i'd like to welcome you to the seasonings test you sound great great we can hear you too great brittany test of wherever i'm sitting chris you sound great fantastic where's your bow tie invisible tonight invisible all right so that being said i'm going to go over to the live stream and i'm i'm going to mute myself all the way in the zoom meeting and go to the live stream and listen to you guys talk if you could all right let's uh let's give that a shot playing around with you tonight hello ray this is andrew um i'm testing out the microphone and camera on the live stream i'm gonna
004pass you off to nick now and uh let us know how let us know how he sounds nick you're up okay i'll just i was i'm sorry i was watching a live video okay how are you nice to see you i hope you can hear me fine speaking of normal level volume and i don't know i have a lot to say i just want to welcome you all to our test this evening and andrew if you start talking you put me out right or does everybody speak at the same time how does that work we can we can speak at the same time it's all being it's all being fed through the system uh at its own level good all right i'm gonna go back to um back to nature sound and uh vcsc logo
005okay do you want the mic still live yeah we can um just turn the bcsd events on yeah well they'll still be going out live to the public vcsd so yeah okay oh so hi brittany hi jonathan [Music] can you can you send me the list of my books again because i can't seem to find it uh is there a bird out there i'm hearing water and i'm hearing like birds yes that's the uh that's just the ambient music in the background okay i thought we had a leak in the school [Music] you my thank you so much i told her not to put you there maybe thank you i think um [Music] um does anyone need a hard copy agenda this is cool i like this i do like this this is a nice
006setup and it's warmer that's true climate control you're absolutely right is um i have no audio now i can hear something jonathan can you hear us now i can yes thank you we can reconvene our meeting to open session the board has been an executive session since 605 to discuss a 10-year recommendation and a bcuea contract matter we could all stand for the pledge of allegiance i pledge 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 we could have introductions dave hurst chris meyer christine beck jody monroe holly dellenbaugh meredith moriari willow bear wendy sampson judy and jonathan fischbein first on the agenda is approval of minutes it is recommended that the board of education
007approve the minutes from the october 14th 2020 regular board meeting second any discussion all in favor any opposed any abstentions that passes next are meeting reports uh first is our superintendent's report sure thank you i'd like to congratulate a couple of our musicians who've been named participants in the 2020 new york state music associate association performing ensembles which are the top high school musicians from across the state nicholas watson who plays the violin is going to be performing in the all-state string orchestra ensemble and peter kweiswitz who plays tenor saxophone will perform with the all-state instrumental jazz ensemble peter was also named an alternate in the all-state wind ensable ensemble and these will of course be virtual i'd like to also congratulate some of our bethlehem national merit scholarship finalists caitlyn chung benjamin goldberg goldberg
008and tyler leupold have been named 2021 national merit scholarship semi-finalists they're among the highest scoring entrants from new york state to the prestigious academic recognition and scholarship program that began in 1955. they now have the opportunity to compete next spring for approximately 7 500 scholarships that are valued at more than 31 million dollars so our best of luck to the three of them i also wanted to let the board know we had talked early on when we are having sports discussions about starting at some point to allow practices and conditioning so we have proposals i worked with mr keys our athletic director to allow some conditioning for soccer volleyball and field hockey as well as football so the coaches would like to do one or two days a week beginning next week with a limit
009there will be cap sizes of no more than 20 students per one coach there'll be no actual competitions just conditioning ball skills and they'll all be outdoors so hopefully the weather will stay good so they can still do that we also have a couple other students that were some students but we're starting with a couple who will be staying after school to work with our help desk with all the chromebooks in use obviously there's some need for chromebook repairs so again they'll follow some of the protocols and we're looking at other opportunities as we move forward to have students be able to stay with limitations and lastly i'd like to take a moment to thank our board members during board recognition week volunteering to serve on the board of education is a great service to
010the community and i'm not sure most people realize the time commitment involved and during a pandemic certainly um adds a unique dimension to your roles i very much appreciate the time you give and your continued support of our students staff and families and it's my pleasure to work with all of you and in honor of board recognition week our board members do have donations to our school libraries as we've done in the past usually we have the books here but now you have a list to try and meet covid uh regulations so i don't know if each of you want to share uh the books that you're sure donating thank you jody um i think they're um in order up on the screen there so christine if you don't mind going first oh sure so
011my books were donated to the high school which is great and they some of the books are called stamped racism anti-racism and you and it's a book about race and to understand the here and now one of the other books is called don't ask me where i'm from and uh it's talking about racial tensions at school and walls that divide a lazzo which appears to be about indigenous diversity and just growing up in a different environment raise your voice 12 protests that shaped america which looks pretty amazing i'd like to read this it's about the different protests women's rights racial equality climate change gun control lgbtq and rights and some more you should see me in a crown and it's talking about growing up black and poor and how she goes to a high school
012where prom is a big deal and it's a struggle how to be anti-racist and i think that goes with our mission of anti-racism and black lives matter and i'm happy that they were donated on my behalf thank you christine uh willow you're next that's me uh so mine go to the middle school again this year the list i couldn't have picked a better group of books if i tried to do it myself which i wouldn't um but i was very pleased with them the first one is called rainbow revolutions power pride and protest in the fight for queer rights um so this is a book about the police raid on the stonewall inn which is a gay bar in greenwich village in 1969 which ultimately led to the annual pride week parade and festivities that
013we celebrate every june the second one is called when stars are scattered uh it is described as a graphic novel about growing up in a refugee camp as told by somali refugee and i'll note that it's written by the same creator of roller girl which is a really popular graphic novel for that age group as well so that's probably very good the third one is called this book is anti-racist 20 lessons on how to wake up take action and do the work just like christine noted this is very timely given the extreme social unrest we're all experiencing and the work that we've been doing as an administration toward creating a more anti-racist mission for the district overall so i was very excited about that one the fourth one is called black brother black brother it's
014described as a powerful coming-of-age story about two brothers one who presents as white the other is black and the complex ways in which they are forced to navigate the world intriguing number five seeing gender an illustrated guide to identity and expression um i the review describes it as a must read for intelligent curious want to be woke people who care about how we see and talk about gender and sexuality in the 21st century and the last one is called rick and it's a novel about a young man who enters middle school and is introduced to new people and new ideas and it seems to be focused on sort of a lesson about how to surround yourself with people who make you better at being you chris so my books were given to eagle elementary the
015first is five in the bed it is a kind of a contemporary version of good night moon with a little bit of a map twist going on there the next one is gustavo the shy ghost it's a book about a ghost named gustavo who i'm working on overcoming anxiety and stress my next one is called love is powerful which takes place at a women's rights march in new york city in 2017 and this book really focuses on having kids find their own voice on this next book is me and mama it is a great book about a mother and a daughter and is told from the daughter's perspective and it just shows the connection between mother and daughter and then i have way past worry perfect book for this year i think the anxiety levels
016so it's a book about a boy and struggling to overcome anxiety he's got to work with his friends and his family to to achieve that with all the stresses going on and the last book is called you matter and you matter is a book about the expect a timeline of existence through prehistoric times through space in a contemporary urban setting and as they go through time they just look at different themes and try and deal with the differing emotions that they have wendy okay um so my books are going this year to ellsmere elementary and they feature a book by malala we are displaced my journey in stories from refugee girls around the world so that should be an incredible read because malala is an incredible person we have dancing hands how teresa carrero played
017the piano for president lincoln which sounds like a very intriguing story hair love um about you know a daddy trying to keep his daughter's curly quailing hair into uh into a style every day together ready for school probably fry bread this is about native american culture sulway by lupita nyong'o which is a very familiar name so it's about a girl who's uh trying to make sense of her color and finding a shooting star an encounter with a shooting star that helps her understand that there's beauty in every shade a song for a whale about a grandmother and a granddaughter who are both deaf trying to help a whale who can't communicate with other whales the proudest blue a story of hijab and family and the last one is when i aiden became a brother and
018um aidan is transgender so he's gonna have a lot of emotions going through this so um the parents he and his parents are preparing for the arrival of a new baby so that would add a lot of a lot of things to it so that is my set and i'm very happy that these are all going um jonathan mother going to glenmont um five on the bed uh which is a playful story about an interracial family getting ready for bed and it's also a counting story uh counting book um three pennies is about a uh an 11 year old girl who is a foster child and seeking her mother and the catastrophe she gets into and hopefully out of uh pie in the sky is is about uh a young boy who recently immigrated to
019australia [Music] and he feels like he's been dropped into a strange planet full of gibberish sprouting aliens having been there i can tell you that sometimes speaking english i still felt like i was dropped onto a strange planet but it was a lot of fun um and i think the book will be too me and mama um chris meyer also got i think that'll be a great read you matter is well let's just say it looks good i had didn't get it to go through this one um just like mama is a book about a girl who um has just a few things of her mother's and she's raised by her grandmother and love makes a family is about i lost it here we go um baking a special cake lending a hand reading a
020book and all the other things that bring this family together and that's it i'm glad they're going to glenn those are mine mine are going to hammer grail which makes me extra excited because that's where all my kids have been and they include all welcome here by james prowler which is about everybody being welcome on a busy opening day of school um hair love by matthew cherry and again i was excited about this one because it's originally based on a short animated film which i saw a while back and thought was terrific the way the girl and her dad interact while she tries to create the best hairstyle before her mom comes home thank you amu manana land um [Music] planet omar accidental trouble magnet [Music] which was originally released in the uk and it's
021about a boy who is at a new school and he's worried that he's not going to make friends at his new school and his worries are compounded by the fact that he's muslim and is facing some prejudice because of that and the book talks about his a little bit about his daily life and his close-knit muslim family ways to make sunshine by renee watson which is described as a loose reimagining of ramona quimby and her exploits but it's about the captures the uncertainty of growing up amid change through the eyes of an irrepressible black girl and i figure if it's uh i love ramona quimping so if it's at all similar um that's going to be a very popular selection and then the last one when you trap a tiger that weaves in some korean
022folk tradition and with a story about a grandmother and a granddaughter so i'm excited to add these to the libraries and i think last but not least should be meredith yes my books will be headed to slingerlands um one of my my first book is also when aiden became a brother that wendy discussed it looks like a wonderful book that can help children understand [Music] what this child is going through he is a transgendered boy and he's welcoming a new baby which brings some issues to light my second book is julian is a mermaid about a boy who loves mermaids and reviews have indicated that it talks a lot about individuality and confidence and people how children should not be afraid to express themselves um i have facts versus opinions versus robots which uh looks
023like a really timely discussion about the differences between facts and opinions in a fun way that would engage children not enough by maria scriven about a middle school student who's just trying to understand where she fits in um a good kind of trouble by lisa moore rainey about a middle school student who's confronting her role in racial protests and how she feels about everything that's going on around her and the best at it um about a 12 year old indian american boy in a small town in indiana who's also struggling with identity issues they all books look great i am going to put a bunch of these on my whole list at the library so that concludes my superintendent's report and i just want to thank the board again for all your service to the
024district well thank you and um for the books i love that we do this every year and we get a chance to not just give some books to the libraries um around the district but also that we get to a little sneak peek at some of the new books that have come out um that you might have otherwise missed holly before you move on i just i wanted to touch base about the high school sports that you mentioned as well sure update um i had two questions one was whether we've communicated with the local department of health about the plan for conditioning and whether or not they have an opinion with our school physician we did we went through what we would do but there will be like no scrimmages like so they're going to
025be pretty much conditioning they'll be wearing masks they'll be social distancing um some ball skills for soccer and volleyball but um no sharing so so all consistent with the guidance that came out perfect yep and then the other question was i know when we had thought out loud about the possibility of conditioning without games one of the reasons why i understood that we couldn't do it was that it would somehow interfere with the ability to have a full season later have we reconciled that right so this isn't actually part of the season this would be considered more informal if it's a couple days a week it's similar to what coaches have done in the summer leading up to it or sometimes in the spring where they've used the weight room so it doesn't constitute it
026wouldn't violate any of this season piece so it's fine to do this yeah and are those coaches sorry i guess i had a third question are those will we be approving stipends then for the fall for those coaches because they don't we won't until we know about fall to exactly when the season is yeah thank you yep any other questions for jody next up is our board report um and the main thing that i wanted to bring up was that we have the the nisba convention is next week being held virtually i know i'm signed up to attend i don't know if anybody else is attending but i'm seeing some nods so it looks like i think i think i see willow and wendy i don't know if you guys are attentive but so we'll
027certainly report back after that we do need to select a delegate for the for the nisba business meeting which is on saturday morning to vote on the resolutions you don't have to be attending the convention to go to the meeting and be the delegate i know i did it the last couple years so i wanted to make sure that the floor was open to anybody else who might be interested in doing it holly it sounds like you're very good at it we don't want to lose your expertise i already nominated holly for the position i second that nomination good okay i've done it a couple times so all right i'll do it if i'll do it one more time um so brittany know if you can figure out what we need to do to get
028our credentials or whatever for this year to make that happen that would be great thank you um and um i know there there was the uh the law seminar the first day of it today and i know willow was also on there and will if you wanted to say a couple words about some of the things that we were listening to uh sure i wish i had made um notes basically we walked back through sort of a trip down memory lane of the various executive orders that the governor issued and the guidance documents from the department of health and stated and an acknowledgement that trying to read them all together isn't always as straightforward as one would hope that it was um we talked at length about some of the legal considerations around delivering special
029ed services remotely and i think a lot of other school districts are struggling with that a lot more than we are was sort of what i gathered we talked about teacher evaluations and how to conduct those remotely and sort of the legal considerations there since those are required by statute and about reasonable accommodations which you know every lawyer everywhere is talking about for the last several months so um sort of the highlights from today basically i was struck with you know we know how hard the board has been engaged in working and certainly how hard the administration has been working all summer and i didn't really think about how hard attorneys for schools have have been working since the the closure and then the reopening and then the staying open and all the millions of
030legal considerations there are there so it was sort of a robust review and day two is tomorrow indeed and that's all i had if anyone else has anything else they wanted to share tonight i'd like to jump in on the law conference which i also attended in addition to everything that willow mentioned they also discussed um the kinds of backgrounds that teachers should or should not have and some of the faux pas of uh having a uh student or a teacher working in a uh you know from their home with the the camera on uh also they discussed the uh legality of reporting um and whether or not a school has a uh intellectual property right in the recordings which as i understand they do so just two other things to add in addition um
031last week and this is definitely in the form of an apology to the um to the uh hall of fame committee um i misspoke i said something i should not have said which was that if the committee did an act that the board should act independent at the time i said it i realized or rather after i said it i realized that i wasn't sure that the board had that authority i also realized to put the committee in a very bad position uh i did not mean it to come across as a threat uh and i hope no one uh with this apology will take it that way i want the committee to do whatever it feels is appropriate and i apologize for putting them or for making their decision harder if i did and
032i apologize to the board for speaking without thinking thank you jonathan does anybody have anything else i wonder if it's worthwhile to try to summarize jonathan's point because i don't know how that audio was going to come out jonathan it was very hard to to hear you um but i don't want to misrepresent what he said either so i just feel like it was willow take a stab at it and if i if i have a problem i'll let you know jonathan's audio is coming across very clear about for everyone else to hear it's just something about this room all right so we're told that people online and the video being recorded can hear you fine it was just us so i will leave it at that all right we'll leave it at that um
033anybody else have anything they needed to share great [Music] next on our agenda is our recognition of public comment we did receive a few comments so i will read those now the first one comes from michael gibbons dear school board members as we move forward it is clear that covid has not been spread through athletics in any school in section 2 thus far this is true nationally as well spread has occurred in primarily uncontrolled environments like stores parties malls public protests gatherings etc academics is a relatively small part of what students value in high school most students will be just students in college and this time is the only opportunity they will have to play a sport act or play music etc i would ask that you legitimately put yourself in their shoes picture yourself
034a teenager who thrives with competition performing achievement etc and look at the benefits of these activities versus the damage caused by isolation and boredom i'm sure you have and will receive numerous emails as the school year progresses please take them seriously as i speak with more bc parents the common theme is we pay our school taxes to show support for and ensure the school thrives what are we getting in return parents are more than willing to drive to gain supply sanitizer etc to help make it safer to participate thanks for your continued service to the school community then second comment came in from chris edwards i write today with the understanding that there will be a discussion to retract megyn kelly's elevation to the bc hall of fame i think it is important to remember
035that the hall is not just for current students or board members nominations are open to all graduates and it represents the legacy of thousands of past students who have passed through the halls of bc over the last 100 plus years i am disappointed that the board is not dismissing this notion out of hand and doesn't have more productive things to work on at a time when our nearby inner cities are struggling to even marginally educate their students wouldn't it be wiser to be fostering consensus around figuring out how to pair off some of our own embarrassment of riches to these communities instead you are enabling this misguided initiative by giving it a public hearing more importantly which use of limited board reset limit of which use of limited board resources do you think would be
036more productive for minority students in the capital region freedom of the press is one of the very first guarantees in our constitution and you as school board members should certainly know that chilling the ability of the press to ask questions divergent from the current trend is extremely dangerous and the founders included the first amendment for this very reason on the matter purportedly at hand black lives matter's founders have in interviews plainly spoken of their training as marxists in addition they have spoken of their goal of de-emphasizing the nuclear family and other untraditional policy prescriptions i need not argue as to the efficacy of any of these plans for you to see them as being politically contentious as such it is a journalist job to draw out details and feelings from supporters and critics by asking
037hard questions the fact that you are taking the time of the school board to flush this rather elementary notion out is a bit deflating as a taxpayer and even more so as an alum if any good is to come of this you should reject this proposal swiftly and mandate class time on giving a primer on the constitution and the reasons why such a request flies in the face of many of the foundational principles of this country megyn kelly is a graduate of bc who has risen to great heights in an incredibly competitive industry to effectively ostracize her for doing her job would be a much darker stain on the board than it will be on her we also received a comment from marietta angelotti who writes please count me in as another parent who feels
038that not only is honoring kelly offensive but the entire idea of the hall of fame is not the message we want to send our students bethlehem pride is about living up to the values the district espouses not about chasing fame and fortune i recommend the board vote to remove this old elitist relic for good and then the last comment comes from colleen mcgarry who writes i am writing with utmost respect and appreciation for the bc teachers and school community for all the many hours of thoughtful work that has been dedicated to making this year happen for our students i'm a concerned community member educator and parent writing to urge bc to reconsider its position to push through the 2020-2021 school year as if it were a typical year without flexibility in curriculum and grading for
039teachers and students this is not a typical year i disagree with the expectations that imply that the school year should be treated as such we are approaching the end of the first quarter and it is an appropriate time for the district to reflect and reevaluate this position your teachers are tired your students are tired your parents are tired your community is tired people are stretched beyond their limits and that includes our children the expectation that children be on computers for the length of an entire regular school day plus additional hours for homework beyond that day is developmentally inappropriate unreasonable and potentially damaging prior to the pandemic the district encouraged families to attend forums led by author and school counselor thomas kurtzing in which the topic of parenting in the digital age was age was slated
040to be the focus his book reminds us of the importance to manage screen time to monitor technology use and its impact on mental health and the importance of strategies in the real world to help manage anxiety it seems that the current practices and expectations conflict with principles we were exploring just a few months ago now students are struggling to determine the difference between class work and homework as it all feels the same differentiating between the two is impossible since nearly all the experiences are taking on digital platforms the fatigue is real and it is crippling and it feels to students as if there is more work than a typical year as a result the district homework and late work policies need to be re-evaluated for the mental health of our children the camera policy for
041virtual class meetings is another area of concern while i completely understand the complexity of teaching in this hybrid model i question the legality of requiring students to always have cameras on and then penalizing those that don't maybe a child in bc is marked absent from class if their camera is off despite their participation in other ways during the virtual class um neighboring suburban council districts have drastically different policies around this topic at best this policy is inequitable and at worst it violates the rights of our children the district has been a leader in paying attention to our most vulnerable learners with daily in-person attendance for some and has set the bar high for those families who choose the fully remote option but what about the average students who never ask for this hybrid learning model
042the students who need the extra support of in-person attend attention and after school sessions the students who need the connection with peers and teachers in person to see value in their experiences what are we doing to support them i recognize that teachers are working tirelessly but this is not an equitable situation for all learners and we need to acknowledge that this model is not working for many students how is the district being flexible with struggling students regarding their workday homework and grading when students miss assignments or turn in work late the penalty destroys chance of performing well on the task students are not allowed to retake tests or quizzes or complete test corrections when it is clear that students have gaps in their knowledge and skill as a result of our spring remote experience and
043the fall hybrid model these policies kill morale and motivation how is educators and learners can we respond to the situation with anything but flexibility there is no logic in pushing through curriculum at a regular year's pace with regular grading policies i understand bc's desire to work toward the same level of excellence as we consistently do year after year but this is the year we need to redefine our quest for excellence it is only fair to students that we redefine our vision for what success and excellence look like in this moment in history our motivation bringing students back to school can't be solely about homework cameras curriculum state standards and test scores it just cannot be our focus of course there are state guidelines and regents exams that the district must consider however this community knows
044that quality schools are so much more than that as an educator and parent i'm exhausted in ways i never imagined possible i am up nights worried about my students my practice and my craft i am fighting a losing battle with the demand my children face after the long hours of the school day i am torn between attention to my struggling students and my own children and between pushing my children to rise to unreasonable challenges and allowing them opportunities that create a sense of normalcy in their lives the toll on our collective mental and physical health is a sacrifice we should not be willing to make our children are fortunate to have a community of educators and parents that support them year in and year out we can't fail our children now again i urge bc
045to re-examine some of the district's policies and approaches during this untested hybrid learning experience the community has been a model of excellence before and during the pandemic we can be a model of excellence now by demonstrating a willingness to reflect and respond as we move through this experience together and all the comments will attach them as usual to the to the meeting minutes so that they're available for anybody to take a look at peace can i ask dave dave can i ask you a question regarding that letter are we looking at curriculum last year to see possibly the gaps that some students may have had because we didn't have the regents exams or other assessments that we may be looking to allow some sort of like remediation for those gaps we are and we spent
046all of our summer curriculum work was on adjusting this year's curriculum to ensure that we're only addressing sort of critical standards knowing that we weren't going to have the time um to invest that we normally would just to be fair i mean we've we continuously revisit our plan we know that it's not a perfect plan no plan when you have to throw it together over the summer and expect teachers to completely flip the way that their instructional model looks is going to be perfect so we are constantly revisiting um you know the letter obviously raises some great points and the one thing i will say is that i just want to be careful you know it it sort of paints a picture that all teachers are doing the same thing that these are the you
047know these are the experience that every student's having with every teacher they're going to be pockets of inconsistencies they're going to be pockets of teachers doing different things and it's going to take time for teachers to work together to figure out what's working and what's not um we've never done this before teachers weren't trained to teach in a remote environment um and certainly they weren't trained to teach an environment where you know you know half the kids are with you half the kids aren't which is entirely different than when all of your kids are home um we have some you know you're teaching classes where in some instances you have students that are home every single day some are here every other day some are here actually every day you know typically in a model
048like in a remote model you have at least consistency in terms of the types of students you're dealing with like all of your students are home all the time that's easy to plan for all of your students are here every other day that's easy to plan for all of your students are here every day it's easy to plan for when you have a mix how can you possibly meet the needs of every single one of those students it's it's nearly an impossible task so our teachers are constantly adjusting and trying to figure out what works best sort of for the collective whole knowing that you're never going to reach every single student where they need to be because you're basically trying to serve three different models simultaneously so we're constantly looking at our at what
049teachers are doing teachers are i mean flexibility's been a word we've been using since last march um but it's it's easier said than done teachers have been you know instructing and grading for the same way some for 25 30 years and so sort of all of a sudden expect them you know with what two to three months worth of planning to have this um you know revelation in terms of what this type of teaching model would look like it's just not realistic so yes there's going to be some growing pains but we're we're constantly talking about those pains and making adjustments so you know as the letter stated teachers are as stressed and as stretched thin as everyone else so it's this is not by any means it's an ideal situation for anyone um all
050i can say is that we're constantly working to provide the best experience that we can for kids knowing that the mental health piece of it is just as important as the academic piece if not more importantly yeah and i wanted to add in that um the mental health piece has been a huge component it's a huge component of our reopening plan and i know kristin connors in the subcommittee who worked on that i was part of that have been pushing into classrooms providing support they've picked up more counseling than they've had in the past they're meeting virtually with kids who are at home so i don't want people to think that we're overlooking that piece we recognize that's a huge concern and will continue to be a huge concern so that has been a big
051piece of our reopening and will certainly continue to be so thank you thank you all right next on the agenda item five action items a finance action items it is recommended that the board of education approve the following finance action item one so second any discussion all in favor any opposed any abstentions that passes b professional personnel action items it is recommended that the board of education approve the following professional personnel action items one through five don't move second any discussion all in favor any opposed any abstentions that passes c support personnel action items it is recommended that the board of education approve the following support staff action items one through seven second any discussion all in favor aye any opposed any abstentions that passes the other action items it is recommended that the board
052of education approve the following action item one second any discussion all in favor any opposed any abstentions that passes um item six future meetings and events um on monday october 26th at six p.m uh we have our policy committee meeting um and do we know which room we're gonna we're gonna be in here yeah okay and we have a facilities meeting before that that was added on right oh okay so there's a facility yeah so facilities committee on the 26th at five o'clock by zoom and then the policy committee um meeting will be at six o'clock here in d122 and then our next board meeting is on wednesday november 4th starting at seven anticipating an executive session starting at six um and the plan is for that to be streamed for the public presumably from
053here from d-122 um i'm sorry okay the ability to zoom in another board member does that is that more complicated or is it more set up for a hybrid it doesn't make a difference for this meeting you mean for the fourth for the fourth so i'll be playing watching in pennsylvania all day the day before so i feel like i need to i would think you could zoom in yeah yeah quarantine myself okay yeah you should be able to um yeah and definitely if you're in a bad state well if i can do it you can do it here we go uh seeing no need to go back into executive session can i have a motion to adjourn the meeting second all in favor any opposed meeting adjourned thank you i