001Ready? >> Okay. Good evening everybody. If I could call the regular meeting to order and we'll do the flag salute. >> 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. Okay, thank you for that. If I could get a motion to approve uh tonight's meeting agenda. >> Motion. >> Can I get a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor. Okay. On to community open form. It's going to be a little different now. Um, if we could, the board would like to recognize Katie Hustler, bus driver, and Lisa Wall Carter, monitor, are being recognized for the bus accident that took place recently where two deer hit the side of the bus.
002So, it Yeah, it was a it was an SUV. It wasn't even a bus. So Jason, if you can kind of set the stage for that because I always love to demonstrate whenever we have an accident, it could be so much worse if it wasn't for how our drivers react to it, but then also how they still manage to keep students calm. >> Yeah. So we have just recently um transporting uh two stu or one student visually impaired to the Betavia School. So, I was all excited to have Katie and Lisa go to Battavia. Starts at, you know, she's at the bus garage 4:30 in the morning, pick up the student to drive to Betavia. I get a phone call at about a little after 5. She says, "Jason, you aren't going to believe this."
003Of course, it's a dark night. Deer are moving. She says, "Two deer came out and struck the side of the SUV and it's completely totaled. >> Airbags, >> air, all the airbags deployed." So, uh, I says, "Is everybody okay?" So, she says, "Yeah." So, I start the process. I'm trying to get a hold of the parent. Trying to get a hold of the parent. Can't get a hold of her. So, I call Tom. Tom, this is what's happened. Is everybody all right? Did you get a hold of the parents and um we didn't get a hold of the parents? But um as the airbag struck, the student didn't even know really what had happened. So she he says, "What was that?" And Lisa, a brand new monitor. She reaches behind and says, "Are you okay?
004It was just a deer." And uh the student says, "Yeah, I'm okay." He says, "But but are you okay?" So just to hear that that student, you know, just reconfirming that stu the the driver in a monitor and um the the job that they did well job phenomenal especially on the side of 81. So I just want to you know recognize them as well. So come on up. >> Yeah. Lisa and Katie, >> when something like that happens, as a parent myself, you know, you want to make sure that the the child on the bus, especially in this case where the child didn't have the ability to see, right? And so 100% relied on you guys, but if you lost your cool and you panicked, the student would also that would have been extremely traumatic.
005So when I when he called me at 5:15 and my heart stopped of what we know what was happening, but the first thing I thought of was my parent had that I'm so glad that we had people like you that that can react like that and then still keep that child calm that that could have been probably one of the most traumatic experiences that that could could go through not knowing what was happening. But your reassurance I watched the video I'm so impressed what by what both of you Thank you so much. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Thank you. Awesome story. >> You do not have to stick around for the rest of the whole meeting. You can have a good night. >> We we we have a couple uh very great presentations.
006You're more than welcome. >> Capital project, but you're good to take off. >> Yep. You're good to go. Thank you so much. And so we'll go on to item D, special presentation board. We'll have >> Yeah. Bye. >> Thank you. >> Watch out for the deer. >> Thank you. >> Um we'll have King and King uh make the uh presentation for the capital project update and building condition survey. Everything's got to be turned on. >> I got it. >> Yeah. Well, good evening everyone. It's been a while since we've been in front of you to chat about the projects. Um, let's get right into it. So we've come a long way since co and uh we were able to implement uh the two phases of the latest capital project work with the whole timeline and
007the movement of uh kids in and out of uh Hastings Mallerie and AA Cole which um really went according to plan. So we uh you know this this team the district included and Turner and King and King we've with all the factors out there in the world that we've been dealing with in the last three years we were able to accomplish a lot of things for the district. So we're really proud of everything that we were able to get done. There's a few, you know, odds and ends that um we're working on right now. Uh you know, if you recall, we started out with this $25 million referendum amount. Uh this is going to be our final budget. We spent as close to that 25 million as we possibly could and get as much as
008uh we possibly could. So with that, I'm going to just uh turn it over to Turner for a second and they're going to talk a little bit about the last remaining little bits of that project. >> Right. So, in terms of changes in contract values, currently I'm working alongside prime contractors to finalize change orders and potential change orders um and begin the final payment um application process with them. Uh punch list, all areas have been punch listed and values have been established for each of the punch list items. So, we do have those values for the final payout process. Close that documentation. again team is working alongside district's fiscal adviserss and I'm providing them with the information they need in order to begin the process for final cost reports and then in terms of just
009project close out and submission again working alongside King and fiscal advisers with final change orders and I know Tom knows getting all the SED certification sheets signs and everything like that >> over to Kirk. I think the uh most important part of this is that uh we always work very closely this entire team with fiscal adviserss. The goal is to get the final closeout stuff in to SED so that you can start receiving aid and um we're going to be doing that over the course of the next month. So, that's where we're at with the with the current capital project. And I know you've all been around to see a lot of the areas that we've worked on. Uh we've we as I mentioned, we've done a lot. Uh probably the biggest most proud moment
010is to finally get the road in at the middle school. That's we've talked about since I've been here. So, uh it's it was good to finally be able to get all that in. Any questions about the current project? Okay. All right. Let's jump into where we are with uh the the next stage because there always seems to be momentum with doing project work and there's a good reason for that. If you recall um every school district is required to do a building condition survey uh of their buildings. Uh it used to be every 5 years and it used to be that every district did it the same year which was clearly an impossible task particularly for the state of New York because we would crash their website every January when they opened it when we
011had to put 700 school districts into the the common system. The reason for the building condition survey which has been around since 2000 when Carl Therno the director of facilities at that time established it was to uh create basically benchmarking data for how the legislative bodies can distribute building aid in the budgetary cycles. And so what the building condition survey is meant to do is to quantify the mass of work that's potentially floating out there for the state to do. and then they um try to budget uh accordingly within that massive amount of of funds uh for the building aid that districts can receive as part of that. So for you um you know we went to a rotating five-year cycle so it's you know oneif of all the schools in New York State that
012do this now your year was in 24 which um was recently uploaded in February of this year uh to their website. So, we have this very current data of the building condition surveys for all your buildings and assets and how that relates to work that still has yet to be done as well as documenting the work that's been done so that we're, you know, we've got a good uh understanding of that cycle of effort. So, that's all done through walkthroughs by uh my team, our engineers um and Turner. And then we evaluate and put prices to all of those potential components, mostly looking at items that have have reached their effective life in kind of a 5 to 10 year period of time. And then we use this um master spreadsheet, basically a long range
013plan to inform our decision-making process as we move forward to future planning of projects. And so that's really the uh the most important aspect of it. So we're we're doing that right now. And from a from a time frame standpoint, well, let me let me talk about costs. Um, and don't be shocked because there's an overall need of, you know, 400 million some odd dollars, which uh you have a lot of buildings and um I can tell you that in all of the districts that we work in, it's atypical that we don't have an infrastructure need of less than a couple hundred million dollars um at any given time. you add more buildings to that mix and it it just kind of exacerbates the the total cost. And this is a this is an updated
014and representative total of what came out of the building condition survey. And one of the big items, if you'll notice on this list by building is that um it's almost $200 million to just fully air condition all of the buildings. One of the new things that came out of uh the environmental um you know executive action that the governor took with um the the heat uh maximums in school buildings is that there was a requirement that schools evaluate the ability to potentially add air conditioning to the buildings. when this all started, as is almost everything with New York State, it always comes without any backing of funds. And so they make these edicts and then we all scramble around to try and figure out how do we accomplish it. So that's where we're at. Uh
015there is no funding to add air conditioning to school buildings unless it falls under your maximum cost allowances that currently ex currently exist for your schools. But every school, the air conditioning alone for the most part exceeds the capacity of the building to to get aid on that just from that one element. And the reason is that most of everybody's school buildings were built, you know, in at the turn of the century or post World War II, they weren't built for air conditioning. And so to go in and put air conditioning in these buildings requires us to remove ceilings, add electrical infrastructure, run piping that was never meant to be um a system in these buildings. So it's it's a tall task. It requires a lot of demolition, a lot of disruption, and a lot
016of cost. So we're roughly using for all of our clients kind of a baseline of of of around 15 to 20 million per building regardless of size as kind of a starting point to be able to accomplish all of that. So it's a heavy lift. So for you it's about $200 million. Um it it's you know something that we're just going to keep on the horizon in our planning efforts and where we find the opportunities to be able to do that we will try and fit that into a capital project. Most school districts are moving towards the big ticket areas, auditoriums, places of assembly as the air conditioned areas without necessarily having to do all the classrooms so that you at least you have an area of respit that you could take students and not
017have to close the building down. So that's how we're dealing with that. What these numbers are going to translate into um in the future and pretty shortly is it will inform the decision-making process for the next project. So, it starts with these numbers and we're going to prioritize them by building and then we're going to back into a comfortable number that the district believes that it can undertake based on capital reserves, any debt service that might be coming off and a whole bunch of other calculations that your fiscal adviserss will run. So it's kind of a a multiaceted process that we're going to look at the schedule of which is completely flexible but we have to start somewhere. So I worked on this um with my team and and uh with Morin just to to
018come up with a place to start. Generally speaking we have all the information we need to start a planning process. Um, so we could, you know, start it, uh, you know, as soon as we get this other project closed out early next year. Um, we would take the information from the building condition survey and we would essentially start a a pre-referendum process to kind of gather everyone's thoughts on all of these different items uh, to come up with a a kind of a long range plan of how we're going to implement these things. If we choose to do that, if we follow that path, you would then potentially vote um in the fall of this year, uh December of 26. Moren and I talked about predominantly in the past, you've done it with the budget.
019Um that's not an ideal time to vote a project. Most districts don't do that. And the reason why May is a rough time to vote capital projects is from a timing perspective, it's generally a year for any amount of planning and documentation to get from a vote and approvals from SED to then actually bid a project. That may vote puts us in a situation where under any scenario, we're almost always bidding in uh early to late spring, which is a horrible time to bid a project. Um we've dealt with it. Um, it's just, you know, what what we all decided that we were going to do. But it it what it does is it almost takes off the table any amount of valuable work that could be done in that first summer because it's not
020enough time to bid a project, get contracts signed, and then um get materials on site in time to take advantage of any of that downtime during the summer. So, but it's not it's not off the table. We've done it. Um but ideally if you can vote a project in that November December time frame that's great. Um then you you move into bidding and you know early 28 you award contracts and you know maybe the first summer of of potential work is in in >> Yeah. Because I I don't think the last two capital projects weren't they on the regular budget vote if >> Yeah. >> Right. Right. >> Right. Yeah. I I I I just in my head I that's that's how I I remembered it was part of part of the budget vote. But
021and I will say that we visited Liverpool last week and they're just finishing up their security project. So, >> thumbs up to you guys. And uh >> so I mean that's the other thing of having it in May. It worked for us in the past. One of the things like what you ran into is the bidding, right? And so that kind of puts us behind the eight-ball. But the other thing that kind of aligns to is we're most likely going to be able to get the first wa the first approval for the um electric bus waiver um hardship waiver which will be coming out in December. Um, but then for the second one, what we're hearing is that you're going to the only the districts that are going to be able to get that are
022going to be have to ones that have proven that they've put it out to bid like a referendum vote. And so that we definitely in this area do not want to have an electric bus tied to our budget, but if it's tied to a December vote, you I mean like because it we're going to have to do it at some point, right? And it's costly to have these votes. So it to in my mind it seems to make sense to be able to align it um like a December one. >> Yeah. Well, look there all the options are always on the table and all this will come together when you decide that that's when you want it to come together and there's a lot of variables in this mix. So, it's always good to get
023something on the table so that we can kind of use that as a guidepost and then we'll make adjustments as we get into it if that's something that the district decides that they want to pursue and you know and we get all of the details that we need to start making educated decisions. but not rolling. And so that's another factor there. No, no, it's about right. Yeah, we >> Yeah, >> way right. >> Yeah, >> correct. Well, and we'll have a little bit more time to see with the because the electric bus mandate, it's going to happen whether they give us extensions or whatnot or they move the deadline, but that's going to result in significant capital or um foundation work at that bus garage to be able to, you know, support those charging stations.
024So, that's going to be a capital project in itself. It has to be. >> Yes. the right. Right. >> Right. Some >> Yeah. If you could have that figured out by next week, that'd be awesome. >> Yeah. We haven't uh we don't have a lot of examples of districts that have been as successful in that realm yet because uh they're just not getting the votes through. and um and the infrastructure costs are not getting reimbursed the way that they should because SED right now still allocates roughly 50% of the infrastructure costs for the electric bus to transportation aid and not building aid. So it's not it's not the same aid and uh it makes it less achievable. But back back to Moren's comment about the maximum cost allowances when when I looked at this uh
025a couple weeks ago. Um for the most part your resets happen on a five-year cycle and from the larger previous projects they will be reset by the time we submit this project on this timeline. The buildings that are always going to be sensitive are the elementary schools because they already don't generate enough aid as a maximum cost allowance as a middle school or a high school does. So we're always behind in those buildings regardless. And so any amount of money that's not available under that MCA is always going to cause struggles with some of the elementary schools depending on the timing of that. So th that's why there's so many variables. We got to figure out what's the need, what's what are the buildings, and then how does how do we package that to maximize
026everything. And if you know different dates are involved, then so be it. We'll figure that out. That's where we're at. >> Yeah. >> Well, I I' I'd like to just say from my seat, my position, I cannot thank you enough. Um, you know, I come back come from a construction background and and the the projects were really really awesome is the best way to describe it. And it really on time, you know, you just didn't hear it. I mean, traffic patterns are going to be traffic patterns no matter what we do. But other than that, it really, you know, you the moving of the elementary schools, I mean, it was a it was a big accomplishment. Um, and I want to thank you for it. So >> absolutely >> job well done. >> Thank you.
027>> Okay. Now my most favorite presentation of the year. >> We get two. >> Yes. Right. You should be able to follow these colors. >> There's There's not as many. All right. So, this is kind of our recap from last from June um and where we're at. So, this is where we ended our dibbles. And again, this is composite score. So this is all of the subtests that the kids take in one big pile and then at the building levels they dig down deeper to see where the initial area of concern is. Remediate at that and then start there and move up. So um you can see there's there's growth being had. The green is good. The red is areas that they didn't show as much. Um you know and kids are each cohort of
028children is different. So, they're not super far off with the that exception of kindergarten and not too sure what happened there to be completely honest because our kindergarten numbers haven't looked like that um in a while. Some things that we are doing because while the numbers are good, the percentages are good, we do still have red and we're not to the point where we want to be yet. So, we are currently working with city Boseies. So, just we take data and we make we do something with it, right? Like it's not just up there to to look at. So we are um working with city Boseies because we are in the trenches all the time. So we have a third party Liz Amiot who um is part of the coaster that we belong to is
029coming in and she has last year she worked with Cole and went in and kind and audited our skills classes our um foundational ELA classes where kids are learning how to read to see are we aligned with is our practice aligned with what New York State's um early literacy briefs are telling us and she compared what she was seeing with best practices. So there were some areas that we needed to adjust and adapt and Cole did that and saw great change and and they did it that work was being done around February. So by the time they made changes it was March and they saw growth from March to June. So in just that short period of time just by changing a few things right and some of it really truly was expectations that our
030kids if you believe that your kids can do it they can do it and they they did achieve that. So this year we have her coming into Millard Hawk to do the same task and she just finished Brew or um Hastings Mallerie to do the same thing. And again some you know praise the good things for happening the the strides that are being made but then let's think about these few things that we can tweak and change to make sure that we're continuing to move forward and we're we've got the best practices in in check. So that is some of what we're doing to try to make sure that the green continues to move green and that those reds um turn to green. And then um we also change because one of the biggest focuses
031that we have is our oral reading fluency and the students ability to um write and understand what they're reading. So one of the things that we did is change we have a what we call the 5x5 form. So principles get into five classrooms for five minutes a day and they just kind of check it helps drive professional development for the buildings. We changed it the form a little bit to reflect um what is being seen with students actually reading. So are the students reading when the teach when the principles walk in? Are they are students discussing the text that they're reading or are they you know is it I'm asking a question you're answering it you know that tennis game. um and what is the writing that's being done so that the students are really
032taking their knowledge and putting it to paper because you'll see in our ELA stuff that is one of our the areas that we and that's why we're working on our writing is our students struggle with with those longer writing tasks. Um so we're working on that. So so those are some things that we have in place to continue to move this momentum forward um at the elementary level. Lucky me, I get a slide with a lot of green. So, our star math scores are are looking good and going in an upward direction. I still wouldn't say anything below 50% is looking good, I guess, is the wrong uh word, but again, star is like one assessment, right? So, based on um what we're seeing, we are seeing some improvement. Um, seventh grade is no longer
033on there in eighth grade because uh remember we switched to the state assessment allows you to use calculators. Therefore, the STAR doesn't and we're not really assessing um uh the same skill as the assessment. So, we want to keep it uh consistent. So, it's not compared to national data because STAR says in seventh and eighth grade, don't use a calculator. So, if you don't don't see the other grades on there, that's why. Um, but fifth and sixth grade, we do see uh some momentum moving forward which we contribute a lot to. uh AIS and we're going to talk a little bit about the improvements and changes we've made with AIS uh when we get to the state tests. So, regent exams, the English regions, uh there's going to be a brand new one this year.
034So, this is kind of the trend is um we're doing better than the year before, right? We went from 87 to 88. We were at 89, but we're consistently right there, 89, 88. Um it's always the regions uh pretty much all of our students take that in 11th grade. Um, but what we're seeing is is that consistently kids are scoring well, but the regions is changing this year. So, we have to see what it looks like, how it's going to be different. And then New York Inspires is coming up in two years, and that'll that'll change as well. Um, in algebra, you see 2223, the 76% that's grayed out. That's because that was the last year of that algebra regions. The regions changed in 2324. So, that's only, you know, one year of data. We
035had 78% last year or the year before and then we had 77. So again, we're still consistently in the uh high 70s as far as the algebra regions, but it did change. So it's only the second time we're actually seeing the algebra regions, what it's like, what it's asking our students to do, and um how we're performing on it. and part of the star math. So two years ago we put in place um happy numbers which is a student it students take placement tests and then it adj adjusts the what the students are practicing to fill gaps districtwide at the elementary level and they all use that for 15 minutes um roughly 5 10 15 minutes every day some every other day depending on their schedule but I think that is helping to because our
036main focus for AIS at the elementary level is getting our kids to be able to read and write. So that is kind of a it doesn't replace a teacher ever, but it is helping those kids work on gaps that they have from the year before. So I I think that some of that is contributing to that because our students are showing growth on that and it's very um student driven and student friendly. So the kids it's not a fight to get them on it. Um which is is always good. Um so here are our ELA results and we have it broken down by um proficient so the entire cohort of kids and then we have it separated our gened population versus our students with disabilities and how they are performing because that is um a
037subgroup that we we know that we are um trying to work with and make gains so that they're hitting those same benchmarks at the same point in time. So you can see the the data here. You can tell that when you when we get to that math that our focus has been on ELA. Our math scores have always been better than our ELA scores. And this year that's not the case. So you can tell that our focus has really been in in the ELA area. Um, and we've made some changes with math to to help, you know, we got to we've got to balance it down, right? Um, one of the issues and one of the things that we really looked at this year was the constructed response. So those the four-point responses and the
038two-point responses and our kids are still struggling in that area. And that's why you can still see, you know, as the text increases in complexity, so does the writing is supposed to also increase. And that is an area where um we are working on improving. We went way back at the elementary level with our writing PD um to really get the kids to write one good sentence and understand what makes a sentence and because if you can't write a sentence, you're not writing a paragraph and then you're definitely not writing an essay. So we did some work last year with some baseline writing and we brought it way back so that we can you know sometimes you do have to bring it back and go slow in order to move forward and go a little
039bit faster. So that is where um where we are so that we can look at bringing up those constructed response parts because the constructed response sections of the these um the ELA assessment is weighted heavier than the multiple choice. It switched a handful of years ago now. So we are um that's where our focus is um and continue and the more kids read and the more they're talking about their text you will see that comprehension also improve um and reading different types of of text. though. Okay. So, in math you'll see a little more um red and uh last year Aaron showed the middle school team um and and then we pushed this out to the LA department um bars reports and it's data that helps provide us and we did the same with math
040and they already started working on it on their superintendent conference day because we just got this information. So what the bars report tells us is is okay so middle school sixth, seventh and eighth grade gened um and basically their their entire grade level right um we see a decrease. So what we looked at is there are some questions that were released by the state. So for those questions it tells us for multiple choice what were the distractors? So if you know more of our kids pick C, that'll help us figure out, okay, they're picking this. And then as a math person, we know why they picked C, right? We know why it was put as a distractor. So we're able to break down every question. So by her showing us the reports and pulling them
041um for math and math people love data. They are like sinking their teeth into that to find out was it the way the question asks, are we using the word characteristics of a quadrilateral? And it should be attributes, right? Like what language did we miss? what key vocab is in these questions. So, um it really helps for the release state questions and then we can kind of start comparing based on the region. How are we doing? We're always doing pretty well compared to the region, but we're not we don't want to just compare ourselves to right us go county. We're thinking bigger. So, um that data that's just coming out will tell us a little more about the work we need to do. So again, this is a goal for it was last year's goal
042for us to improve, but now that we have these reports that can help us really dig down and we have a department coordinator to be able to work with those. Um, I'm I'm looking forward to seeing what they find and what they think they need to change because they already have common assessments. Their curriculum is already kind of mapped out as far as priority standards. So now it's about adjusting, right? What do we think was a priority? How did the state change what they said a certain percentage of the test is on what standards? and how can we make adjustments? >> When I was at the middle school for the PD day, uh Jamie Brown was utilizing the new AI platform, putting in the bars data, but also the benchmarks and she was like, "We're
043able to get that data in seconds that wouldn't have had it before and then have a conversation about that like an item analysis looking at the ones that got wrong for time and then a substitute so that they can sit down and look at it and it's just spitting it out in seconds for us. So, we're able to to get those. So, I think those reports are really going to help as far as speaking to middle school math and and where they're at. >> And at the elementary level, we know that our students struggle. They they don't have a good number sense, right? And if you don't have number sense, that's just like your letters and sounds. If you don't have that, you're not going to be able to read. So, um, with changing to
044Eureka mass squared, that is a much bigger focus of the program and it spirals. And they've got some extra components in there. So they have this one um assessment that's given periodically that is what they call the equip test. So it lets the teachers know what skills the students are missing to be able to be successful in this next unit or next couple units so that they can then remediate that area to help them and and they have access to the entire unit. So or the entire um from prek to to fifth grade. So, if they know they have to go back to say third grade, if they're a fourth grader or second grade, they have they can go right in and find here's where that lesson, that concept was first taught, go in there,
045get the material, see how it was taught. Um, so I'm looking forward to and and we've told all the teachers, give yourself grace this year. You are learning a new program. Um, we've had two PD days now and the trainer that was just with 35 was fantastic the other day. um really helping the teachers problem solve and figure out different nuances to the program. But um I look forward to seeing what um what that has and it also has some benchmarks built in which we don't currently have for math. There's a lot of programs out there to remediate ELA quick things that can give you quick data. There isn't for math there. There just isn't. It's very long time intensive. A lot of times it's one-on-one. So when we brought in happy numbers, that was
046one thing. and then the pieces that we were looking for are built into the math program. Um, so it's it's I'm looking forward to seeing what it what it will do for us. >> The state also put out numerousy briefs and we are slowly but surely working on those numeracy briefs and we have department coordinators as well as administrators getting trained in that. So really having a common understanding of number sense, what it means and we all know the higher you get up in grades. Um the better sense of numbers you have, the the easier you're going to understand the concepts and where they come from. And you know, math builds on each other. So if there's any gap, you're hurting later on, right? >> Yep. And I just did an observation in sixth grade
047math. So I'm taking on the math, stepping very much outside of my comfort zone this year. And I felt good leaving the math class. I was I knew what was going on. I was very proud of myself. I was. So, but it's a different um >> we said good sign for the teacher like Erin got it. You're good. We're good. >> Um >> it's a different lens though. It's a good idea because when you observe the your own subject you taught you're looking for certain things like I would have used that word or bubba you know where you have another perspective looking at it. I think it's a really going to be a really good idea. >> Yep. So, >> well, graduation rate, I know we already mentioned this uh this summer when we got
048the rates out, but you know, heroes to I know some high school staff are here as well as administrators, but yeah, I mean, we're we're now at 90%. What and the great news is is look at the jump in the students with disabilities, right? That is that is huge. And um that's something to be celebrated for sure. And then our daily attendance rate, we have uh Kristen and I were just talking about this earlier today, too. Um because tomorrow is our first district attendance data meeting. Um so our daily attendance rate is is very good. Um our chronic absenteeism, we had um one building that was no fault to the building, right? when you have when you take students who live way out on the north shore and you bring them into town um if
049they miss the bus they're not getting here um and things like that. So we are really hopeful that Cole's attendance will improve this year by being back out on their own turf out there. Um but you know some of this and we we make the CPS calls. We I've been on the phone with Diane Godfrey about this. We do home visits. Um we do everything that we can think of. you look up any article and we're doing it, right? I mean, it's just at the elementary level, it's really getting that parent buy in, right? Like you've got to get your child to school. Once it shifts middle school and high school, parents don't want to fight with their kids to get them up and get them to school and kids do other things. So, um,
050so we continue to plug. We're not giving up and we continue to do things um to try to get kids here, incentives, and that's really what we're going to talk about tomorrow. And I'm having the the committee pick two to three um of their at risk kids because if you're the chronic kids you but how can we prevent the kids from being chronic, right? So who are those two kids and let's do a deep dive and look at is it a is it a day of the week? Is it you know certain um letter days where they've got a special or a certain class um and look for patterns and things like that where sometimes when we're in a building we we kind of look bigger but we're going to take the time to really
051dive. And those are going to be the kids that this committee tracks in each building this year to see what is the actual attendance plan for that student. What is being done? Is it working? Um rather than tackling too much um starting there because if we can make just a a few kids change that will tick that number closer to green. So >> So we usually look at first marking period. So once or well quarterly for or I mean um trimester right trimester but we usually pull reports right around the mark first market period time for for the most part just to look to see compare it to last year right so the reports will tell us what >> tomorrow I think is our big time yeah >> to be running that report I mean
052they've never been down that like that like that there's >> there's some significance >> as far as trends there's nothing >> it never it was never this which it kind of was that last year um >> yeah and that's it same with us like And every building as you look at all of these, everyone drills down deeper, right? Like these are very big picture data, but every building has their own goals. Every department, every grade level, so they really drill down into each one of these. But yeah, there was such a discrepancy with Cole that we figured that it has to be. >> And there's um and working with school tool, Ted has got us set up with um a new analytics dashboard. So it gives us so much more information with attendance. I was
053poking around today and um I mean I've got to spend probably two hours just getting comfortable with it because it gives us so much data and you can drill down into different things and there's different areas to look at and the reports tell you different things. So um that's definitely and it's brand new. So that's definitely a tool that we're going to be using this year. Um there's cool graphs at the very bottom that chart and you can see the kids. It's it's really interesting >> and we've talked big picture wise like in newsletters from principles and different things like post things like hey you know like January is a low attendance month let's get our kids you know just providing data for people and you know it doesn't hurt I I know sometimes the
054people that need to read it maybe aren't reading it but can't hurt to just consistently put it out there right >> value added yep >> any questions other questions Um, I I I'll just take a take a big picture approach to this and I I can't thank you enough for the work that you do. Um, I can remember what this used to look like going back years, okay? And and this isn't anything what you do in first grade really isn't going to be for six or seven years later, right? And then but having the be the ability um as you've talked about making change, looking at systems, working with teachers, all the things that you've just touched on, I think paint the picture of of you're doing all of the right things and with I
055I really can't thank you enough for what you do and you know for the administration, the principles, the teachers, you know, I and I I've always said it, this is just one leg of a stool, right? The data is the data, but it's it's every day. It's the teachers, it's the kids, it's the bus driver, it's everything together. But to see the numbers come in and and the improvement that that that has been done, I I I was whispering to Tom, I so I so I took this and run it through ChatGP. Give me an analysis. Let's take a look at it. And it it it's really glowing to have, you know, to have it all kind of look together and see improvements and and and really think of, you know, we didn't hear how
056you would look at numbers in the sixth grade as to what students were being taught in the third grade six, seven years ago. That just wasn't that wasn't going on. And that's that's work. I understand that it's work and it's dedication and it's and I and and thank you really and the teachers. they they do whatever is asked of them and and not begrudgingly like they they've got their true best interest at the kids at heart and if they have questions they ask and um and that they're comfortable with that. So the observation I just did Wednesday going back and forth and he said I've got some questions and I'm meeting with him Wednesday morning. So it's when you when you've got that when you've got that and there nobody they're not afraid to come
057to either one of us. um that's when change happens because >> that's not easy in a leadership position that is not easy to accomplish. Okay, it for all the folks out there, all the five people are going to watch this, that is not easy to do. Okay, that's that that's it's a very hard leadership thing to get accomplished. You and you've done it. So, >> and I don't think the general public realizes the extent of literacy, like the importance of it. I welcome anybody to look at what our curriculum consultants do. I mean, I'm fascinated watching Toby St. John's. I'm fascinated in the middle school level with Travis Knight, but the data that everybody agrees on is that if a student is not reading on grade level at the end of third grade, they're four
058times less likely to graduate with their cohort. And if they come from poverty, which we have extensive clusters of poverty around our district, it's another nine. So that right away, that's 13 times less likely to be able to graduate high school with their cohort. And if you look at any state math test, it looks like a reading test w with all of the word problems and whatnot. So it's if you I've had other superintendents are like, you know, Chris Burn just recently said it. Wow. Looking at your state report card of Central Square across your grade levels, how are you guys doing it? And again, I tell them that, you know, Aaron has led the focus on the science of reading. I still remember that presentation on Scarboro's rope that you did and phmic awareness
059and whatnot, but it's easy to just say that here, but when I go to the buildings and I'm seeing the teachers and their their their time dedicated to literacy doesn't look like it did 10 years ago. And so it's it's phenomenal to see that. So it's a it's a testament to you guys. >> No, and and then you know, you hear the reading scores in other parts of the state, right? I won't call them out too much but and then to look at what we are doing here in Central Square it is light years really and it's so I I I understand in this position how it's a very difficult thing to do and you guys are getting it accomplished and I can't thank you enough for it. It's recognized. Okay. On to item E.
060Could I get a motion for item E in its entirety? >> I will make a motion. >> Can I get a second? >> Any discussion? All those in favor? Can I get a motion for item F, the consent agenda? >> I will motion. >> Okay, I get a second. >> Any discussion? No. All those in favor, don't jump ahead with that. Thank you. On to item G, reports, Emma. >> Well, first I'd like to report on all of the fall junior varsity and varsity sports have come to an end. Uh they had great seasons and our winter sports have started today actually. Uh two weeks ago we celebrated varsity cheerleading team as they won sectional title and last week they got to attend Hudson Valley to go to states which was really exciting for them.
061And in addition to that that same weekend uh varsity girls volleyball team attended its first sectional title since or finals since 2014 and although it didn't end in their favor was a really great opportunity for them. uh student government ran uh is ready for the NYCA leadership conference next week in Niagara Falls and today they had a meeting talking about it and we're really excited for it. I'm going to be attending and I know that we've been putting in a lot of work to get everything perfect and we're really excited for it. The Palmore Theater concluded its last showing of their play War of the Worlds on November 8th and they're right now working on the musical lay miz and everyone's really excited about that coming up. They just had their senior night for the
062play so that was really great for the seniors. And lastly, our 11th and 12th graders had their National Honor Society induction ceremony that ran very smoothly, especially with all the new adviserss, and we're very proud of all of them, especially the new members and also the returning members. >> Was my September report. >> Literally completely all the ones I was going to say. >> Nice job, Emma. >> Okay. Um, board members report. Anybody? >> Steve, you talk you talking about Liverpool? >> You could talk. Go ahead. Everybody's heard me quite a bit. Go. >> So Tom, Steve and I, and Aaron and Kristen and I think councelor Wales uh went over to Liverpool earlier this week uh or no, sorry, last week to visit with them, talk to them about their progression. I think it
063was about >> the apprenticeship program. >> Yeah. about five years ago they they basically declared a interest in creating um CTE programs in the high school. So you know OSES is one one pathway they have their own CT programs and our focus was the pre-apprentice program program which includes a it's a two-year program and it's pre-apprentice one and it's kind of goes wide um but not very deep in pretty much every area of construction. So, blueprints, electrical, plumbing, woodworking, um, >> welding, concrete pouring, like >> you know, teaches the basics of all of that. And then they go to pre-apprentice 2 and they learn more specifically, you know, better, you know, deeper into some of those tasks. Um, it's basically like a trades 101. It was fascinating. I think it it would serve, you know,
064leaps and bounds for some of the students that want to go into the trades but don't know what trade they want to go into. Um committing to Boseies and having to pick one trade, welding or electrical and then hitting October, November and realizing, gosh, I really not that interested in this and then having to finish out the year and pretty much blow a whole year of in in doing investing and getting experience and education in something that they're pretty much sure they're not going to do. um you know is I mean not necessarily time well spent I guess I'll say but a program like this is something Steve and I have talked about for a long time. It was awesome to sit down with their whole team, the teachers that teach the program, the administrators
065that you know conceptualized it and kind of put it into put put their feet on the ground and got it running. Um, and excitingly for them, they just finished a capital or they're finishing a capital project utilizing one of their elementary schools that closed to house the CTE programs. Now, right now, they're just working out of classrooms in the high school. And for instance, the pre-apprenticeship programs have a yard basically in one of the parking lots behind the school and they built a shed. And you know they do projects, smallcale projects that incorporate all of the different types of electrical and you know installing rafters and building all of that you know roofing a roofing a structure um reading blueprints things like that. So it was incredibly exciting I think um you know a great
066start to the conversation of potentially bringing something along those lines here. We also visited the drone CTE program that they have. Another phenomenal one. I know we've had a team go look at ESM's program. Um, you know, walking in classrooms, seeing students using their hands, working as groups, trying to solve problems together. The teachers were more facilitating the education. They weren't lecturing. Um, and it was very well done. Uh, and kudos to them. Uh, Steve sent a thank you on behalf of all of us. But I mean the the amount of motiv well the amount of encouragement that the visit provided was immeasurable. Um and they were very welcoming. Um and one of the administrators there was is a personal friend but also a central square grad. So you know they opened the doors and
067minds and they said you know anything we can help with you know you guys let us know because the more schools that offer something like this to the students the better it is for the community. you know, there's a a vacuum that exists in the trades right now in this area and it's only going to get worse when it comes to, you know, Micron and all of the projects that'll go along with that. And so, you know, the students get out of this program and they have agreements with some of the unions that they start as an apprentice two instead of an apprentice one. Um, they get out with the same certifications that the Boseies kids get. Um so their first year they get the OSHA certification which is the same for Boseies and the
068second year I think it was called precision. >> Y >> so they get a second certification um and it's this what they told us was the same that the second year students at Boseies get. So I mean but they get exposure to the to the gamut of things. So it was it was interesting but like I said we spent probably 75% of our time with pre-apprentice and maybe 15% with the um um drones and then the rest we were just kind of talking. They have a health professions I think CTE that they have in house. >> Yeah. They let us talk to the students and I was talking to one student. He was like >> I was just asking him questions and he's like, "Yeah, I drywall on the side." He's like, "I eat $40
069an hour." I'm like, "Hey." And he learned how to do it there. >> Yeah. Yep. Lots of lots of opportunities. um things that all of us at this table have talked about at one point or another of you know opportunities that we want for our students especially again with the what's on the horizon for this area. But um there is a lot of room for opportunity for our students to hit the ground running in life. Um and so we were just we kind of set that up to get a taste of what else other schools in the area are doing to try to fit the needs of the students, fit the needs of the community. Um and importantly what Boseis doesn't offer or doesn't have enough room to offer to the students that we have
070that what they want. So >> what what grade levels do they offer it to? >> It's so it's juniors and seniors mostly but I think it's open once they're a sophomore. Right. Correct. So um but they >> availability. >> Yeah. Okay. >> So one thing that they talked about was and they saw for instance one of the stats that they shared with us was their DDP enrollment design drawing for production. Right. And so that's a ninth grade generally class. And prior to this change about five years ago, five, six years ago, they um they had like twothirds of the kids that are in there now. Um because they increased they all they didn't just make CT programs available at the high school level. They also increase technology availability like electives at the middle school level.
071And so those electives were designed to feed some of these programs. So the students in middle school get to kind of get a taste of electives which are I think a quarter. They're like a quarter of the year electives. So it's not like a full year of robotics or something. It's just you get tastes and then it's like oh well if you did really well in this and you were really interested you might want to try the CTE. Like if if they had an interest in robotics they might they might when they're doing their counseling and scheduling well are you interested in drones? you know, you might want to go into the drone CTE, and if you do, maybe you should take this course. And they said their DDP went through the roof because a
072lot of these CTE programs, DDP is helpful to just about every single one of them. Um, and there's no prerequisites for the programs, but it's strongly encouraged that they take DDP. And so, um, you know, that's that represents the art that that takes place for the art credit, too. So, you know, so yeah, I mean, they put a lot of thought, they put a lot of time, but um importantly, they put a lot of money behind these programs and this change. And you know, from what we saw, it's paying dividends. So, >> and it wasn't like they had to spend a lot of money repurposing courses like woodworking to better align with what is needed out there, like talking to the labor unions and whatnot and some of these CTE courses. But if you looked
073around at the equipment, it we have a lot of the equipment right now. Yeah. And so >> it would be a heavy lift. >> Yeah. That was promised >> in that sense. But they did have to make some changes in um personnel and things like that. They had to hire a few different teachers. Um so all of that comes at a cost. They did not have the offerings that we have with woodworking and stuff like that. So they some of that financial piece was a big lift for them because they had to buy plus they have three times the students. >> Oh yeah. They're huge. >> So So and the micron money they get micron money. they had a lot of micron money. Um they were in that first um >> first group that got
074in and they were they're part of the pilot programs. So um you know I I kept nudging you know our our contact like if you ever have an opportunity when you're talking if they're looking for other schools to pilot like we literally are in their backyard. though and we are even that whole the whole administrative team agreed that central square is even more likely to see the the population increase um with respect to micron than any of those they don't they just don't have room in Liverpool clay they don't have the room to absorb it so they they even admitted like they were shocked that central square was not central square but as we go county generally but central square specifically they were shocked that they were not included that we were not included in
075the um pilot programs So, so yeah. So, that was a very very rewarding and educational. >> It was it was a great morning and it and hats off to Liverpool because they you know that it was very well supported by by their leadership. Um I'll talk about the the the culture that they've created amongst their administration was was awesome to see. They were they were jacked about it and they they were very proud of it. they realized that they had to make a cultural change within the within their district um to to bring this forward, but they were surprised by the results and um it was it was a it was it was a great morning. It was good to see. >> Well, and to follow up on that and we had a conversation with
076some of them privately as we were leaving and Steve and I and Tom, we we've had some conversations about, you know, our graduates, right? and and where what are we doing to serve our graduates and where they're going when they leave the school? And I think it was Kristen that mentioned or Erin that 40% of our kids go to college. So there's 60% more than half that don't college. >> Yeah. Four-year college. So what are we doing for them? You know, Boseies is certainly an option and I'm sure there's several of the 60% that go to Boseies. But again, Boseies is wonderful in what it does, but if you're not a 100% sure, there's a good chance that you aren't going to go to Boseies because you're really committing to welding or electrical. And um
077you know, that's what I loved about this program is I it's not the way they set it up. It's it's another class. It's it's not you know, I have to leave the school. I can't play sports, you know, it's it's just they go to a pre-apprenticeship. Um, they go every day. They have block scheduling just like us, but they go every day. So, it's not an every other day block. everyday program, but the rest of their schedule is no different than if they were taking bio and math first period. You know, like they they have all the access to electives and core classes and they see their peers and they eat lunch and um it was just uh it was it was great. And the the last thing that I'll say is it was eyeopening
078and incredibly almost heartwarming but rewarding to see a group a team that you know has has worked very hard and they've had to make a lot of changes um and they shared some of those pitfalls and stuff with us and what to avoid but um that they were willing to just share that work product. You know a lot of times when people are in the in the realms and and they create something like that that's unique in the area they're very tight and they don't want to share the information. and they wanted they want it to be their program and that was complete opposite of what they did with us. I mean they pretty much were willing to hand us everything that we needed to all all the work product that they had at that
079point and it was fantastic. Um and again we can't thank them >> but I think it's important that we said 40% to go to a four-year college and that could be misleading. So, we have a lot of students that are highly successful that are in Boseies, go into the trades >> and are making six figures literally right out. And they were talking about technicians right now are starting at $100,000. When I blew my flat tire a few months back, the student that pulled over in a van, I recognized him. He's like, "Hey, Kellfo." and he looked at it and he helped me and uh Vern Sunday couldn't he figured out how to get the lug nuts off because there was a protective thing on it. And I asked him what he's doing. He never went
080to college. He's working in the collision department at Berdick. And I said, "If you don't mind me asking, he's like, "Well, with overtime, I make $97,000." And I'm like, "Okay." I was a starting my first year starting teacher was $27,000. So, >> right. >> So, I I don't want people to think like that's the only pathway. That's those days are gone. If a kid wants to go to college, so be it. There's path that's a great pathway, but that the the skills trades right now is booming. >> Right. >> Well, and they shared the stories. They shared a few success stories just from students that went through this program. The program has been in existence for about five years, like I said. So, they've got a few, you know, learn learning curves throughout that period.
081But they've had students that get recruited right out of their high school program by Loheed Martin, you know, to go in the drones program. I think it was >> $13,000, >> right? Exactly. With no student debt. Um, and it's not it's it's not even a trade. It It's just they got the exposure. Um, all of these CTE programs are you have to have indust industry partners and the industries come in and help them work on capstone projects. I mean, they get exposure. It's it's a wonderful program. >> It's not knocking the college. No, not at all. It's not for everyone. It's not for everyone. And it's not that it's less than, >> right? Well, and it's not knocking Boseies either because that's super successful for people that know exactly what they want to do, but
082it was just it was eye opening to see a program that's um you know kind of catches somebody that's in a I don't know stage. Um and it gives them the opportunity to expose themselves to some things that they may not have otherwise been exposed to. >> Yeah. Because in one classroom and then then I'll wrap it up be done is that you had a curtain with welding going on and in the other corner you had a chopsaw where they're cutting things up. They had a saw sop table saw going up over here. They had they had a team of kids that were building uh toolboxes, welding. They had a shed outside. They had done some concrete work. So on the floor. So it so instead of I I just envision a student, you know,
083you go to Boseies. Yeah. What about welding? Yeah, that sounds cool. Off they go at 17 $18,000 to the district where this could be, oh no, I didn't like welding at all when I was in that one class. So it really to me it preempts you know just gives them exposure to what is because if you if you're not getting that it it at home you're not welding and splitting wood you know all the things that that that folks do have opportunity to do and it really I think it it helps in in how it goes. So >> well and the last great program >> that I'll say about that is we talked about a lot of we have a lot of courses at this school that cover almost everything pre-apprenticeship program at Liverpool does.
084And so like Tom said, there's there's ways that that could be tweaked to try to offer something like this. I mean, there's obviously that this is very early stages ideas of things that we could offer our students, but when Steve and I were leaving, you know, you walk out of there and it's like if I was a student, I would want to take that instead of woodworking. I would want to take that instead of shop. I would, you know, it's going to cover all of th those classes and you come out with certifications. But if I still went to college and law school, like my path was, I know how to run the basics to install a switch at my house. I I know how to look at my roof and say, "Well, geez, that
085could be the problem." Or, "I know how to build my own shed." I mean, you walk out with real life skills. Um, as opposed to, you know, things that maybe you're not necessarily going to use once you get out of school. So, >> you did my report. Well, well done. >> So, we move on. Okay. On to item H. Could I get a motion for item H in its entirety? >> I'll motion. >> Can I get a second? >> Any discussion? All those in favor on to item I adjournment. Can I get a motion? >> Nope. Yeah, there's no >> back there if you had any questions about course. >> No executive. >> Just in case you had >> Oh, no questions back there. >> Oh, okay. No, no questions for that. Oh, no for
086them. >> Doing the courses. Oh, for the courses. Yes. Oh, is that why you're there? >> Yes. >> Sorry. >> That's what they just in case you guys have questions. We've always had them there. >> Okay. All right. >> But it was very well detailed that you guys have already gotten seen. So, >> Yep. >> But again, the CPR first aid, it's another one. It's like >> it's Yeah, it's it's a wonderful course to offer our students. >> Yeah. >> You know, they could save a life. >> Absolutely. >> Item I. Can I get a motion for item I? I'll motion. >> Can I get a second? Any discussion? All those in favor? >> Thank you so much and thanks for coming. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Thank you.