001You're live. Okay. Good evening everyone. Today is June 24th, 2025. Uh like to call tonight's meeting uh to order. And now can I get a motion to adjourn to executive session for the purpose of discussing promotion, tenure, discipline, suspension, dismissal, or removal of a particular person or persons and collective bargaining negotiations pursuant to article 14 of the civil service law. So moved, Carl. Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carried. We're now in executive session. the one down road, right? Yeah. Yes. Wow. All right. So, at this time, um, I'd like to return to open session. If we can please rise for the pledge of allegian pledge of allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with
002liberty and justice for all. Okay, we don't have any agenda modifications. Um, can I get a motion to adopt tonight's agenda? Second call. Why do we? All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carried. Just not yell at me if who who did the first and the second on that one? And just feel free to just say go down. Yes. Look at this. Motion. So, um, upcoming events we have, uh, this Friday, June 27th is our FDR graduation at FDR at 6:00 pm. That'll be outside, weather permitting. Okay. Uh, Tuesday, July 1st is our uh, board reorg meeting and it said the location is FDE. No idea what that is. So I don't know if it's probably will be here. It might be district office but yes reorg will be here. Okay. Sorry. Yeah. So the reorg
003will be at district office. Um an open session begins at 7 pm. Um any other events anyone would like to share? All right. Moving on to w your last one. All right. Let's go. Okay. It's all start with Violet vacuum. The fifth grade students and staff had an amazing day at the High Park Swim and Tennis Club on Friday, June 20th. It was the end of milestone trip. So, it was a great way to end school year. I actually still remember mine my my time at swimming tennis, but I remember when you have to when you go to swimming tennis, you had to make sure you have a clean sheet and you never got in trouble or else you would have minutes taken off. I was never that kid, but I do remember seeing my
004classmates sitting down. So, I hope Dolan was sitting down with a Smith. They were happy to host the return to the next event graduating seniors today. More on that um when I talk about um there's also several celebrations and awards ceremonies leading up to the fifth grade moving up day on Thursday. Um, we'd like to thank the PTA for purchasing yearbooks again this year for the victory and Miss and Petra for all the work she put into making the yearbooks look great as they do. At North Park, uh, their pride is celebrating attendance um, dance party. So, this was tied to the strive for 95% initiative. Uh, all students who are present for 95% of the school year or absent uh, or absent nine days or less earned a certificate, a fidget, and a dance
005party with the staff. So that will be held tomorrow. Um and at Netherwood, they would like to wish all the best to the fifth grade students who will be moving on to middle school in September. It's been a joy watching role models to our younger students. Um so proud of all that they've accomplished and can't wait to see all the things that they will do next. So to tie it all up, um today FDR, uh there's regents going on, but our senior class is going through a lot of field trips because today was our back to the nest. So we got to visit and all the other elementary schools. Um, it was a success for all of us. I know some people cried, got a little emotional, but that's okay. Um, but that's all pride.
006Okay. Thank you. We have to be We have some additional pride uh to celebrate this evening. Uh, I first like to call uh to help me out with this uh next item. Uh, our folks from the High Park Educational Foundation. I there's only one folk here tonight, I'd make um my name's Lori Mulliver and um I'm no longer a resident of the school district, but I still am a retiree uh 14 years later and yay for you guys that are retiring. Um but I also am still um president of the High Park Ed Foundation and um the Ed Foundation has uh againwarded awarded teacher grants to faculty members uh and they they filled out an application and we we reviewed them and so on and um this year's teacher grants were to be inspired or
007linked to a component of of the High Park School District portrait of a graduate either confident learner, responsible citizen, critical thinker, adaptive innovator, or effective communicator. Um, the education foundation has set aside $5,000 each year for the projects and the budget amount for each school is set according to the school's population. And the winners for this year are, and please stand if you're here, uh, Colleen Coburn for Netherwood Elementary. She's a she's a winner as well. Would you would you be able to take a couple seconds and describe your project? Oh, sure. Okay. Thank you so much for the grant. Um, we're going to be reading a bunch of exciting who was books thanks to this grant and they are um, biographies about a bunch of different people and they definitely link to the qualities
008of a hide park graduate because the students will be giving reports which will help them with their communication skills. These people are role models because they've been successful and worked hard. Um, so we're really excited for our project. Thank you. I'm like, "Oh, you're welcome." Um, yeah, as a matter of fact, it's for $445.36 for 60 or more 60 more than 60 who was books featuring people such as Abraham Lincoln and Ariana Grande and the Wright brothers and Venus and Serena Williams. So, it's a a great um a great u group of people that are that are role models. And the second set of pair of winners, Aaron Daniels and Karen Armstrong. They are there are also repeat repeat winners and they've been running the Havlin Middle School garden project and we've been funding them
009for the entire amount for for Havlin which I believe is $1,100 $150. Uh and this year it'll be be taking care of stone delivery, soil upgrade, new grow tower, seeds of sprinklers, etc. And uh that project has turned into an amazing uh community project, well a school project. And uh I I won't waste any more time on that right now, but they are the two of them are just fabulous. And if you have a chance to talk to them about it, please do. And then the third winner is Natalie Ellis. Please describe your project, please. So I actually put in two different grants for the total amount. One is for our book vending machine for the kids. Um and the other is for the multicultural library in my classroom. So the multicultural library in my
010classroom, all of the classroom teachers have access to it. So they come and they grab those readalouds to do in their classrooms during seal time or during their readaloud time. And then the book vending machine the kids all love. We actually had the last group of kids um come through today for their summer reading books. So twice a year they get to choose books from the vending machine and the kids like to see kids who look like them on the covers of the books. So thank you for funding again. both the return winner as well. That was her grant is for $452 for 42 books and some of the titles are Amy Woo and the ribbon dance, the night before aid, a Muslim story and a Buita's gift, a Dia de Muerto story. Uh just
011one thing I want to say before I go is that um since I believe 20 2018 we've been giving scholarships and uh teacher grants to the school district and I think it totals about $17,000 for the teachers and uh about I don't have those papers in front of me here but about $6,000 for the the student scholarships. And um we really need community support. And I think our our biggest problem is that we don't we we don't get enough uh respect, you know, like uh what was his name? Uh Rodney Dangerfield. Respect, but I think enough people just don't know what we're doing or who we are. And um and I I thank the school district for including us in the uh in the projects that that are um about publicity and um and uh
012anything that you can do to help would be great. Thank you very much. Just want to say thank you to Lori again and the entire High Park Education Foundation. It's a lot of work that happens behind the scenes and so we greatly appreciate everything that they do for our students and our teachers. Um we have uh two more uh items before we transition to recognize a larger group. Um so I think what I will do is start off first with our student board member. So, uh, this this year is the last year that we have Elizabeth. Uh, Elizabeth has been working with the board for this past year. She has been the student voice. She has been the one to bring us the highlights that are happening throughout the district. She has, if you don't
013know, has won several awards um this past year and we're extremely proud of her accomplishments and we look forward to hopefully recruiting her to be a future teacher here in the district. So, on behalf of the board of education, uh this is a plaque thanking you for your service, for your time that you've devoted to the board, and uh we wish you all the best in your future endeavors. You don't mind every Here you go. Let's all get a picture with Nice job. He doesn't like it when the student I don't need to stand up. These things recline so far back. All right, everybody shift left. Give yourself. And the next point of pride, this is a a a new award that the board of education has elected to present to um a student who
014has exhibited uh who has exhibited civic engagement uh throughout various committees uh throughout the district throughout the years who has been very consistent. Um, this individual is being recognized for his high level participation in district committee and events. The board of education thanks you. Your efforts contribute toward our goal of making the district and community an innovative learning environment for all. And so on behalf of the board of education, we would like to present this to Roman Peton. photo. She can. She can't. I'll take a little picture. That's right. Did you get a handshake or a thumb? finger is in the last Did I hear you wanted to give a speech? What do we do in the region? Okay, so now the big pride call up Mr. Ryan Judge. Good evening everyone. I'm Ryan Judge.
015I'm the chief of human resources and professional development for the district. And uh tonight we come together as a school district family to recognize an extraordinary group of people whose dedication, compassion, and unwavering service have shaped generations of students, staff, and really our entire school community. Retirement marks the end of a professional chapter, but more importantly, it honors the legacy built through every lesson taught, through every challenge faced, and every heart touched along the way. This evening, we pause to say thank you. Thank you for the years of hard work. Thank you for the laughter shared. And thank you for the countless lives forever changed. Let's begin by celebrating the remarkable careers of our retirees, the very people who have helped to make our schools what they are today. When I call your name, if
016you're present, please stand for a round of applause and a member of our HR staff will deliver you a small token of our appreciation. If the individual is not here, I ask that we still clap because that's the least we can do for a career of dedication and service. First, we have Diane Christensen. Katherine Chinsky, Michael Serenion, Victoria DeMarco, we know she's not here because she's in Philadelphia. Now, can we give a round of applause for Melinda Deo, Jeffrey Dropower, Marian Luna? Thank you, Stephanie Latuso. I know Taz McKenna is here. Justin Murphy, Elizabeth O'Brien, James Osborne, Dennis Russell, Margaret Shiman, Dan Smallley, Ruth Craig, Joanne Wood. Last but not least, last but not least, Lisa Yurak. Thank you. We also have another special individual to celebrate tonight. Um, we would like to recognize our
017assistant superintendent for pupil services, Melissa Lawson, for achieving uh tenure as assistant superintendent. So, at this time, we would like to take a little bit of a break so that folks can celebrate. So over in this corner over here, we have a nice photo booth with fun hashtags like retired, #FDR, so on and so forth there. If you can brave a warm beverage with caffeine, there is a coffee station. But more importantly, around the corner, um there's some nice infused cold water, but cupcakes that are absolutely delectable. Um so at this time, I believe we'll pause for the celebration. Sounds good. Let's eat. Congrats. We'll be back in 10 minutes, folks. We'll be back in 10 minutes. Avenue, right? I heard that. I was like, "Babe, wait. Yes. Oh my god. You have to do
018it again. I'll try. Yeah. I was so scared for some questioning. How are you? Oh my god. Absolutely. It's only been a few months out. That just made me think I could have liked our daughter making our way back to Virginia to see his got bamboozled by our office. Oh yeah. Don't leave us. All right. Next. just constantly running. Ready for it? Excellent. Okay. All right, here we go. Seen Doug at all. Love it. That's awesome. Why not? Yeah. Maybe one time after him here. Yeah. I just got to burn it. But then I was in summer. I know, right? Happy to me. I don't have that eye. I took two. I mean, well, I'm tell you know I said 40 years I deserve great. What memories? memories on [Laughter] probably. I haven't done yet,
019but I used to go officially assistant superm I didn't even know we were doing And then you can tell me what's going on. Hello. everything folks. They're going to get started. Oh, I know. Oh, yes. Yes. No, I'm in I think the key is going to die. We have to go. We have to go. I'm sorry. Yeah. All right. Ready to uh reconvene here? You good, Rick? All right. So, we're going to move on to uh 7.1, our superintendence report with Dr. Roman. So, I have two items to share with the board and the community. Uh first of all, I want to uh recognize the students that were involved in the FDR American uh study student film screening. Uh had the opportunity to visit um Upstate Film Festival along with uh Ryan uh who was
020there and Christine. I saw Christine there. Uh I was amazed by the documentaries that the students put together. These were professionally done like they could have gotten paid for these documentaries. One of the groups that they highlighted were the food service department and just highlighting the intricacies involved in serving uh 3,000 plus students uh was just an amazing way to capture the amazing work. And so just want to recognize the students for that. And then um had the opportunity to um be the keynote along with Dr. Penny from uh Hudson, superintendent from Hudson at the BART early college uh program completion um ceremony. Uh it was a really nice ceremony on the campus. Um and I just want to give kudos to the students that actually participated in that program. So I learned that, you
021know, while many of the peers are at the high school and pursuing just the high school um credits, these students actually wanted to challenge themselves and earn above and beyond that. And so they've accumulated quite a number of college credits. So I want to give uh kudos to um to that group of of scholars. And that concludes my my two items. Thank you. Moving on to 7.2. to our D district comprehensive improvement plan with Miss Turner and Mr. Darling two things and the Ralph R. Smith school comprehensive okay so good evening President Zagorski Vice President Tibbitz fellow trustees Dr. Roman colleagues, it's an honor to present to you this evening alongside Principal Darling um our DIP and SEP plans. The focus of our presentation is our improvement process and the plans that we will implement
022next year to help our students continue to strive and um succeed. So we always start with our vision and mission and one thing that anchors our work is that we empower all learners to be successful members of our dynamic society. So, you may recall from the March presentation when we did an overview of and an update of our current DESIP plan that New York State Accountability System currently holds districts accountable based on these four indicators. Weighted average achievement in ELA and math in grades 3 through 8. Uh core subject performance in ELA and math grades 3 through 8. English language profic proficiency and the nicest L. and chronic absenteeism. So currently based on those indicators, one of our schools, Ralph R. Smith, is identified as a school that is targeted support and improvement school based
023on the subpopul of students with disabilities. And that means that we're a district, a targeted district. So anytime a district has a school identified at any level, the district becomes a targeted district. So when we started our work this year, we had an implementation plan and then our process is to take a look at where we are and continue to develop a plan for next year. So we really started looking at our proficiency levels uh for ELA because that's where I identified. And this chart that you see here, um we really dug deep into what the percentages meant. So we'll take a look at third grade as an example. 28% of our students proficient. But what did that really mean for us? It meant that 64 out of 227 students met proficiency. So we really
024started taking a look at what that meant for our students with disabilities as well. So you can see they're highlighted here in the gray. Not not really highlighted, but we popped them out in the presentation. So you can see for third grade out of 41 students only one student was proficient on the state assessment in third grade and I won't continue to read out the present I mean the data but that's where we started to look at what does it really mean for our students how many students does that mean and and go away from percentiles. Thank you good good evening everybody. Um, so this is this slide is depicting the district-wide students with disability performance year-over-year. So you'll see in the top uh row that's students with disabilities performance on the ELA assessment through
025New York State in 2023, the spring of 2023. Uh, compared to the the bottom row, which is students with disabilities performance in 2024. And so one thing we've talked about at board meetings a little bit is just looking at cohort information. So I would encourage you to look not necessarily up and down but uh across or adjacent to. So for example in third grade in 23 just the students that took the New York State ELA 0% of them were proficient in terms of our students with disabilities subgroup. Then if you look at that same cohort so fourth grade in 2024 you'll see that we didn't see improvement across the district in that cohort. Um and so there's a lot of information here to to look through in terms of the specific subgroup. There are areas
026to highlight. Um fourth grade for example in 23 that is the fifth grade cohort in 2024 grew from fifth uh 5% proficiency to 9% proficiency. You can also see in 2023 our fifth graders scored at 2%. In 2024 that same subgroup in the middle school scored 10% proficient. Uh so that's something that is a theme in this presentation that we're not where we want to be but we we are seeing uh the trajectory in the right direction across multiple measures that we're that we're looking at. How does this compare with like state numbers? Do we have that data? Uh not necessarily off the top of my head. Um but typically students with disabilities are performing at a lower proficiency than than general education students across the state. I would need to look at specific averages
027for the New York State ELA. But when the state breaks it down to identify as a school as as needing help, it they don't parse out students with disabilities that they don't they don't break it down in that way. Is that correct? They do. They do. So, so in other words, if we're an identified school, that suggests that our students with disabilities are doing more poorly than other school. Correct. Correct. Thank you. So the way they identify us is they put us in quartortiles and the first quartile uh when they they calculate all the scores they average all the school districts in New York State and then they chunk them and if you get a level one in both proficiency and achievement then you're identified and to be a level one you have to be
028in the bottom 0 to 10% proficiency of schools across New York State. So, just focusing in on Ralph R. Smith specifically in reading. Um, this is a look at our NWA maps growth data mostly because it's the most up-to-date. We won't receive the state test data for ELA until late summer, early fall next year. Um, which you might remember last August we had presented some of that information as part of our as part of our set presentation at that time. So in terms of the MAPS growth data, this is showing all students in the spring of 2024 on our reading assessment versus the spring of 2025 at Ralph RSmith. So you'll see we had a modest gain uh from 36th percentile on average to 40th percentile uh which is something that we're proud of but
029and it speaks to the we the the work of our district and the teachers um and students certainly but something we're looking to continue to gain on going into next year uh in terms of our momentum in literacy specifically and really hoping to end at the 45th percentile uh in the least next next year. And then with a more specific focus on students with disabilities at just Ralph R. Smith, you'll see on this chart there's the performance depicted um for all students with disabilities. So in spring of 2024, the average score was the 9th percentile in reading. That grew over the last year and that's the same cohort of students um that took it in 24 versus 25 to 13th percentile on average. So a 4 percentile uh gain there across the building as a
030whole within that subgroup. And then I wanted to highlight fourth and fifth grade specifically because those were the two grade levels that we saw the most growth over the last year. So our fourth graders uh current fourth graders at the end of third grade in spring of 24 their average achievement was third percentile and currently at the end of fourth grade their average achievement is 11th percentile. Uh and for our fifth grade cohort at the end of fourth grade they were in the second percentile. Now they're at the 12th percentile. So again just want to reiterate that we are seeing that positive growth from the work teachers are are putting in and students are putting in but something that with our set plan going into next year we want to continue to build upon. Okay.
031So as our district we track the data. Sorry. Um so you you say like we're you know the the fifth grade do we look at how how they're doing in sixth grade as well or do we stop? Uh we do systematically. Um so I worked with Mr. Shaw to look at how is that same cohort really all across all grades not just fifth to sixth but K through five for us. How how is that cohort tracking? um you know because as we've talked about before it's when we look at third grade year-over-year it's a whole different group of students potentially a different group of teachers if there were grade level changes so we find it's most valuable to track that cohort right so the the the 2% tile there from 2024 is now sixth grade
032right correct that no so this is this is our current fifth grade students this spring tested 12th percentile on average when I when you look back that same cohort's test results from 20 to 24 when they were fourth graders or they were third% they were second percentile. So that's this. So if you look at the fourth grade the third percentile was when they were in third grade and the 11th percentile is now as fourth graders which is the way the chart is done. Oh, I tried to streamline it for you so so that so I I assume that the fourth grade or 2024 the third is now the fifth the 12 I thought it went from third to 12 diagonally right so I see what you did okay so it's cohort these are cohort this
033cohort yeah and for each but it's not really four like so the spring of 24 they were really a great back the spring of 24 they were in third grade right but it's just showing our that current cohort of of fourth grade students fifth grade students okay I got it so as a district and so our charge is to come together as a district instructional leadership team which is comprised of teachers and administrators and take a look at the district level to build a plan that supports our our building level plan and one of the things that we use to anchor our goals after looking at the assessment data is this pyramid which you may be familiar with which is an MTSS pyramid. So typically in a healthy system, students are are goals are met
034at tier one. 80 to 90% of your students. Okay, every school district wants 100% of their students proficient at tier 1. But the reality is there's always our children who need a little extra support. And so this is a good measure to say we should be at 80 to 90%, that is our goal that students should be 80, we should have 80 to 90% of our students proficient. So we use this as our guiding question when we began developing our plan is where does the data indicate we are in reality to this goal. Then we started taking a look the state identifies key strategies that are researchbased that you can use to improve your practices. And so we took a look at what we were currently doing in our system and then what we needed
035to do to enhance um our outcomes for students. We didn't want to impose too much on the system and create initiative fatigue, but we also wanted to focus on improving our academic outcomes. So, we identified um these indicators. And so, we have two, they're numbered this way because you have some that are instructional focused and some that are community focused. And then MTSS is one of the things that we already started. So, that's why um it was up there. And then we really focused on our evidence-based instruction, which is the highquality instructional materials. You know, we have the literacy initiative that we've been focusing on all year. And then as an administrative team, we came together and said, "Okay, we have literacy instructional practices focused on K5. What could we do systemwide to have a
036bigger impact on student outcomes?" And so we chose three instructional strategies, which is goals, explicit instruction, and feedback. And we'll talk more about why we chose that in a later slide. Authentic assessments started this year. So we continue we chose to continue to expand that. And then restorative practices, community schools initiatives, and professional learning communities. Um we then took a look at the data to try and set our goals. So in the DSIP plan, you'll see these two percent goals presented. We uh if you were on the evening DLT team, you know there was a huge focus on literacy and the research around uh readers being proficient by grade three. So we took a look at the gap between the 80% and the 28 percentile and divided it across four years was about 13%. So
037we said okay for next year we want to see a 10 to 15% increase in third grade proficiency. And then because gaps are bigger in the upper grades, we said, "Okay, let's do 5% increase in the other grades, but we're going to really hone in on that early literacy and focus on third grade proficiency." So, um there was a little bit of a difference this year in terms of the state's expectations on how to develop the set plan. In the past, there's been a lot of uh freedom to come up with the different interventions that the building is or district is going to uh implement. This year, they provided, which I found really helpful, um a a more all-encompassing list of recommended strategies that we were able to choose from u because they're all evidence-based.
038So, the state did that leg work. Um, and then our our committee, who I want to acknowledge, spent a lot of time looking through the different uh evidence-based or researchbased strategies and picked the ones that we felt would give us yield the most uh student growth. And so the three strategies that we chose to include in in our set plan for next year um are listed here. The first one and and what I would argue is the most important one for for our building currently is highquality instructional materials. And so that's pertaining to the implementation uh or adoption of a new literacy curriculum which we we started that work with UFly as our phonics program this year. And then I know at the last board meeting there was conversation and presentations about uh HMH that
039the board um you know was able to have discussion about or hear information about. And so we're really uh going to be leaning into that next year to make sure that teachers have the the training, the coaching, and the support and resources that they need to be successful with implementing a new program and all that entails. Um the second uh strategy that we identified was expanding access to high-quality out of schooltime programs which is something we've we've done a little bit over the last few years but offering a more structured before school enrichment opportunity for students um on about we're looking at a 12week period. Um and we would basically have six sections. So, one class at each grade level where teachers from that grade level um assuming they're interested in applying for that would
040be able to work with students in reading for uh an additional hour at least uh once a week. So, we think that giving them that extra time in addition to the new literacy program uh would would yield great results for our students. And then the last strategy that we identified as a as a TSI committee was just expanding our work um in the building and in the district with the multi-tered system of supports. Um and I'll talk a little bit about each of those things on the next few slides. So in terms of that first key strategy for next year, uh the high-quality instructional materials, there are a lot of different action items both at the building level and at the district level related to that. But the key the key ideas are making sure
041that teachers have that structured professional development. And then once they have the uh the professional development on how to actually utilize the program, then turning that into more of an embedded coaching model where they can have conversations with um some representatives from the company about specifically what are the outcomes I'm seeing from my students related to the program and how can we adjust our instruction to better meet their needs based on what we're seeing. So, we've worked with uh Jess Turner and Jen Kryser on looking at additional coaching and PD opportunities through HMH to supplement what the what all elementary teachers are getting, but to really cater it to specifically students with disabilities at Ralph R. Smith and what what else can we do extra to support a very specific subgroup and so there's a
042lot of information there. Um but in terms of the indicators that we'll be looking at to measure success, uh we have some pretty specific goals within the set plan itself. Um but the main one and the easiest one to track is just student student reading proficiency. So when we look at our our NWA MAPS growth scores and when when we look at our New York State ELA uh scores, we want to see movement in a positive direction. And we saw a 4 percentile uh gain this year. We hope to see at least a 5 percentile gain over the next uh school year as well. Uh the second key strategy is that expansion of enrichment opportunities for students before school. Um so we'd be looking to provide a 1hour uh additional enrichment reading time with with
043a highly qualified teacher um before school over the course of the school year. Um, and some of the things that we'd be looking at for that for that time are daily attendance rates. So, making sure that students that are signed up and enrolled in that are attending. Otherwise, it's not going to it's not going to benefit them. Um, and then looking closely at, you know, if there's eight or so students in each grade level participating in that, what is their rate of growth versus their peers um that are that are not participating in that small group extended time? uh because obviously we would hope to see more growth from from the students to indicate that that's working properly. Um, and lastly, just in terms of each of these goals, we would have some anecdotal uh
044pulse surveys or or staff surveys that would go out on a on a regular basis, which is something we we do this year as well uh both at the building and at the district to make sure that we're getting feedback from staff um on potential challenges on on areas of opportunity that we can work um work on and also recognizing uh areas of strength. And the last strategy is really an expansion of all the work the district uh has has started with the MTSS process. This year we really focused in on a PBIS initiative. Um and I have to shout out Miss Lorenz and our and our school team for all the work that they've done with uh whole school assemblies, different award recognition programs at the building. um our Hootloop cards that have been
045a big hit this year. And we want to continue to build on that um next year and ultimately make sure that the progress we're seeing is is rooted in in data. Um and that would look like a decrease in suspensions. Um more positive referrals, which we've seen a big spike in over the last two years in our in our Hootloop cards. Um and then obviously increased student perceptions. So when they answer survey questions about how they belong in school or if they feel like they belong in school or if their peers treat them with respect, we want to consistently see improvement and growth in in those areas uh as a result of these initiatives. Okay. So then in on top of the school plan, the district is required to create our plan and then um
046the overall purpose of the district plan is to support the school plan. But also what we did as a committee is took a look at our blueprint for excellence, our district strategic plan, and said, how do we make all these plans come together so that the system isn't spread across and going in different directions, but there's alignment and we're moving forward in the same direction. So you'll see a lot of consistencies and overlaps with our blueprint for excellence, the SEP plan and then the district improvement plan. Um and so and also again like I said before with a keen emphasis on instructional strategies and high impact instructional strategies. So it wasn't what we said or what we think will help our students, it's what research and evidence says what will help our students. And you'll
047see what we why we chose goals, explicit instruction, and feedback is because the research says if you focus on those areas, typically you'll see a 23% increase in student performance in one year by just focusing on those things. So that that's our hope. Um so you can see we have uh the different categories moving across our different priority areas. So the student experiences instruction and then promoting the mutual accountable learning community. We have the professional communities, community schools and restorative practices. And then that continuous improvement framework kind of our MTSS work and how we're going to continually remove barriers for all students aligns with priority area three. And then what we did as a committee, teachers and administrators together said what are the action steps that we need to have to ensure that we implement
048the key strategies we chose. What are the supports that we would need? And then what is the data we're going to use to monitor progress? So something that's different than what we did la last year. We looked at the different areas of data. you may recall like perceptual data, academic data, um, uh, other data if it's coming out of my brain. Demographic data, right? We would look at at it separately across the year and then we would build plans based on those stagnant data areas. What we're going to do next year is we said these are areas we want to improve. Every time we come together, we're going to look at that data based on our goal. So our goal is 10 to 15% student performance in third grade. We'll be looking at that achievement
049data across the year using the NWA maps. So we can say how are we moving towards that? And using that improvement cycle is there something we need to adjust in our in our actionable goals. So if you have the coaching coming in from HMH in third grade, we haven't like we're too far away from that 10th percentile by the middle of the year. taking a look at what the students are doing in the class and what do we need to adjust instruction so we can hit our goals by the end of the year. And again, I'm not going to read all of these to you. You can see the ones that are expanding are the ones that were currently in the system that we want to continue to develop. Professional learning communities was a huge
050one. Every time we come together as a collective, whether it's in a small group, a grade level team, a department meeting, that's a professional learning community. um we don't we are going to expand that uh next year. So we don't have formalized forms for PLC's but we want to continue to develop that process and PLC's are actually if you look at the research are the highest impact on student outcomes when teachers come together and believe that they can have an impact and so you can see uh the achievable goals and supports that we need in place and again that continuous reflective data process across the year and again the MTSS is uh the last one that we chose with uh a request for a multi-year plan. We're implementing branching minds um tier and then there's
051some specific data that we can use to monitor that progress. And then lastly, we just wanted to remind the board that um in order to become unidentified, you have to meet proficiency levels for two years in a row. And they are changing the accountability system. next year. So, the students that just sat for grades three through 8 ELA and math and uh our graduation rate and other areas, this will be our indicators for next year. So, the end size decreased. So, it used to be you had to have 30 students for that subop to become in your accountability system. Now, it's dropped down to 20. Um core subject performance was the same. weighted average achievement we always had for ELA and math, but they're adding they're reintroducing science at the elementary level. So, our fifth
052grade science proficiency will be included in our report card next year. Social studies is being reintroduced reintroduced at the high school. Um, English language proficiency was there, graduation rate, college and career ready and civic readiness is going to be reintroduced. And then attendance, they're going to be making a change. So just a reminder, we said it in March, but just so we know if we come up identified in other areas and other buildings, they've changed the parameters and that's it. Thank you. Any questions? So to get out off the list, you said we have to be proficient two years in a row and this is year one. No. uh the 23 24 school year was the year we were identified. Uh so this this is an opportunity for if we made growth or were not
053in the bottom 10% this year, we would need to be above the bottom 10% next year and then the state would uh take us off the list. And we don't know where we are until the state collects all the data. Correct. Correct. And when when might you hear that? We usually hear November and then it's it's um not we can't share it in November and it becomes sharable around January. The official designation is is later on in the year. We'll get a better sense of where the state testing scores are like late August. We we'll have a sense but they won't have an official I guess. The other thing to keep in mind is if you've been identified for a subop and that subopul comes off the list, but you're identified in another area, you're
054still identified. You don't come off the list. The the CL doesn't start over, but only for the new sub. Well, actually, no, it's for your building. So I mean we didn't go into it but you see the different levels with TSI is targeted school for improvement. If you continue to become identified in other areas across years you go up to the CSI which is when the state gets involved and you have you know stateled supplemental supports and stuff like that. So your goal is to get all sub populations off so you don't move up the list. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Moving on to 8.1. Can I get a motion to enter public participation? So moved to second. All those in favor? I oppose. Motion carried. So uh we
055have a total of three minutes per speaker for a total of 21 minutes will be allotted for the first segment of public participation on the agenda and for the second segment a total of three minutes per speaker for a total of 12 minutes will be allotted. The segment uh of time may be modified by the board is deemed appropriate. Board members and the superintendent will have the privilege of asking and clarifying questions of any person who addresses the board. Please provide your name and address when you reach the podium. Would anyone like to address the board? Okay. At this time, we will close public participation. Moving on to 9.1 board subcommittee reports and professional development updates. So, any subcommittees meet? All committees met yesterday. um couple of areasly in the uh transportation department some things
056we're looking into and also um I I guess you call it cyber security with these false emails going around from targeting school districts to um their max getting themselves suspenders and trying to steal accounts. So, uh, putting, uh, things in place to, to avoid that, do telephone confirmation. Just don't respond to any thinking on just an email. There's got to be a two-step verification. Um, policy committee also met yesterday. Just one more thing on the audit committee, we we have the RFP out for the external audits. We have four responses back and um two of them are new newcomers to um to us like we have we we've never heard of them. So Linda is going to ask for um kind of like a interview with them so we can see what they have to
057offer and then um so then we'll have four to choose from um going forward for the the next year's external audit. Um, we're required every 5 years to put out an RFP for a new or for our external audit. It doesn't have to be a new one, but we just put out the RFP for um external audits and that that's this year. And we will have a corrective action plan for the internal audit that Carl mentioned about the um the the bus um policies that we have um not so much policies, the procedures and paperwork and stuff. So there were some findings. Um so we do have to submit a corrective action plan to the state. Um so Linda is working up on that. So we'll see that at a future board meeting. The auditor
058get a report. We get a we get a full report from that external auditor at some point. Or we Well, this one was the for was internal a but the answer is yes. We we do get full reports for both when they're ready. Right now the internal audit is just draft mode. So then she has to submit the corrective action plan. Then it gets it gets approved and then it goes from draft to official and that's when it comes to the to the board the full board um policy committee. There's some a second consideration tonight which most of it centers around uh student security of information. uh get just some cleanup according requirements, some adjustments, nothing of nature. Uh two new ones coming down for the fall that will be an issue. One is the
059the cell phone ban that has been mandated by the state and how appropriate that yesterday was also uh talking about uh temperatures in schools, what to do and different options. So, we need to have a policy about that. Right now, there's only one for athletic events. Uh, and if it's over 96 degrees, they Okay. Um, any other committees? Well, related to technology committee, I attended the Mid Hudson uh artificial intelligence summit at Maris College recently. I got my Maris gear on and so forth. of the invitees were from school districts, government and so so we had presentations from it range from IBM to the New York State Police to New Vance Health and so forth. And a lot of it spoke to what Carl was talking about with the audit committee, being aware of the
060uh the pros and cons of artificial intelligence and and some of the creative things for our classrooms, but also some of the things to be aware of, you know, the uh the fishing and so forth and and not just not answering emails, but being very very careful of what you say when you pick up a phone call and having your voice recorded and and then uh you know, so forth. So, um, so that was well attended by people from around the area and, uh, something we can talk about in our technology committee. Okay, good. Thanks. Anyone else? All right. Uh, moving on to 9.2. Any um board discussion including um consent agenda items? So, we did get a um thank you card here that during I'll read during board discussion. And so it says, "Dare
061High Park Central School District Board of Education. Thank you so much for the National Honor Society Award. I feel so honored by your recognition. I appreciate your generous gift card. It will help me prepare as I move into Sienna College in the fall." Sincerely, Sophia Conway. All right. Any other no other discussion? All right. Moving on to 10.1. Can I get a motion to approve tonight's consent agenda? So moved. Seconded. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carried. Moving on to good. Good. Okay. That was all and Ed. You got it. I'll go back to it. Okay. Yeah. I don't know why you said you have to mark it all. Yeah. [Music] Perfect. That's all right. Let's move on. All right, moving on to 11.1. Um, this is the uh residency hearing appeal that we
062um approved uh last uh board meeting in executive session. So, can I get a motion to approve this appeal or this resolution? So, moved. Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carried. Can I get a motion to enter our second public participation? So move second now. I get those difficulties. Yeah. 11.1 was Margaret and you you you did the Margaret and you did right. It was you. Okay. Yeah. I was getting you and me confused. Yeah. Why not? Okay. We're up to 12.1. 12.1. This is for public participation. So, did we have a motion in a second? Not yet. Okay. Could I get a motion for public second public participation? Don't move. Tibbitz. activ. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carried. Same rules apply. Would anyone like to address the board? You don't
063have an exception. This time we'll close public participation. Um, any other matters deemed necessary by the board? All right. Uh, no need for a second uh, executive session. So, at this time, can I get a motion to adjurnn tonight's meeting? So, okay. Sergeant Carl. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned. Take that away from him. It's meant to be like this. I just