001Good evening. Thank you for joining us for this evening's board of education meeting. I'd like all of us to start with the pledge to the flag. 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. And we will begin this evening with Dr. Murray's report of the superintendent. Welcome Dr. Murray. Thank you. Good evening and thank you for that. Thank you for joining us for the first board of education meeting of the 2025 2026 school year. Tonight's agenda includes a summer recap highlighting the important work that has taken place across the district since our last meeting on June 17th. Following the close of the school year, the board held its annual reorganization meeting and
002planning retreat on July 10th and 11th, as well as additional meetings on August 6th and 22nd. While our students were away, there was a great deal of learning happening within the district. More than 130 teachers representing over 40% of our faculty participated in professional development opportunities this summer. Significant progress was also made on facilities projects, which you'll hear more about this evening. I want to extend my sincere thanks to Gabby Peruio, facilities director Rag Kigleaniano, and the entire facilities team for their extraordinary work and commitment over the summer months. We also welcome faculty and staff back for two superintendent conference days on August 27th and 28th. At our opening ceremony, I spoke about our focus on supporting the social emotional development of students and building a strong sense of belonging in our schools. Ensuring that
003every student has that every student feels safe, secure, and supported will remain a central priority for this year and beyond as we continue to strengthen the climate and culture across the district. The first day of school, Tuesday, September 2nd, was a wonderful start to the year with many students and families walking and biking to school under beautiful weather. Looking ahead, all of our back- tochool nights will take place before our next meeting on September 30th. Ry Middle Schools is scheduled for September 16th. Midland, Milton, and Osborne schools will hold theirs on September 18th, and Ry High School will host its event on September 25th. Please note that all schools will open one hour later on the morning following their back to school night. I would also like to welcome some new faces that you see
004here at the table. So, welcome to Joe Diovani, our new assistant superintendent for human resources and leadership and welcome Lauren Santa Barbara, the new assistant superintendent for curriculum instruction and assessment. We're so happy to have you both here with us. I also want to welcome our student exeicio board of education members who are in our audience this evening. Thank you for being here. And that concludes my report for this evening. All right, great. Thank you. Um and certainly there will be more to come about our student exeicio officers. We are very excited that you're all here this evening and we look forward to your participation in future board meetings ahead of us. Uh we will go ahead and we will start with our presentation and discussion summer recap. Dr. Murray. Okay. Thank you. Um, so
005as I said, we did have a very busy summer as you can all imagine and um and Gabby, Joe, Aaron, Lauren, and I will be giving you an overview of the work that took place across, uh, across the district. So, um, in every area that we, uh, focus on, we always connect our work back to the right commitment. And tonight, what you'll hear about, um, is our curriculum work that focuses on critical thinking, collaboration, creative problem solving, and effective communication. Um, you'll also hear about professional learning that is highquality, relevant, and meaningful, um, and connected to the larger goals of our district. And you'll get a sense of the work that we did in our operations department and how it supports the overall work that we are doing in in regards to the right commitment.
006So, I just want to start with enrollment. Um, you'll see that uh, this slide shows the projected enrollment uh, versus our actual. And you'll see that we do have slightly more students than we had anticipated. But the good news is we are still able to keep our class sizes at the desired levels uh without any additional staffing needed. Okay. And we'll start with curriculum and instruction. Uh Lauren will do this with me. Um so we um held many inservice courses and workshops over the summer. We had 138 uh teachers participate and all of the inservice courses and workshops that we held were connected to our goals of critical thinking and authentic projects uh artificial intelligence and social emotional learning. And all of those goals are also included in our professional learning plan which is also
007on the board of ed agenda um this evening for approval. Um, and the courses were also designed with feedback that we received from our tri-state consortium visit last spring. Uh, that's when our a group from tri-states came. We focused on professional learning and received feedback from them in a report. Um, and some of that was around offering teachers different levels of choice um types of and and different models for learning. And so we really um took that feedback when we designed these workshops and made sure that we offered a combination. Um so we have you'll see a few different um book studies there. We had one book study called is math real? Uh we also had the knowledge gap and to read stuff you have to know stuff. Uh we tried a new mode of
008learning which was um with podcasts and so we curated various podcasts on best teaching practices that was actually quite popular. Um and the teachers got together to have discussions around those ideas. Um and then you'll also see that there were two different um workshops on vocabulary that's actually connected to our work of our literacy committee. Uh if you recall back in the spring I presented on the literacy committee work. We were seeing uh some really nice data come out um from the what has been collected in terms of phonics phmic awareness. And so at this point the committee while we're keeping that good work going we're also looking towards pushing our work around vocabulary and grammar for the school year. So that those workshops supported that work. Um, in terms of technology, we offered Google
009Workspace, which we do um, every summer to kind of teach and get go deeper with the Google Suite um, and have teachers have a chance to organize their drive and get in ready for the upcoming school year. We also hold Prometheian board training throughout the summer as well. We are very fortunate to get more and more of these Prometheian boards in our classrooms and teachers are very eager to learn how to use them. In addition, we also have um, held an AI learning institute. Those were the first two days of the summer. That was also very successful and Lauren will tell you more about that. Um and in terms of SEAL, we held a inservice course called building belonging in classrooms and that was for grades 6 through 12. Um and it focused on researchbased
010strategies um for uh for uh and teachers had a chance to build anal toolkit. So um really diverse offerings and um and very well attended. Good evening. Uh so this summer we hosted our annual learning institute with a special focus on artificial intelligence. This year's theme was chosen to in response to a growing impact of AI in education as well as the direction set by our technology committee which developed guidelines for integrating AI into our schools during the 2024 2025 school year. The purpose of both the AI guidelines and the learning institute was to provide teachers with the tools and knowledge to help students use AI in ways that enhance their learning and critical thinking skills, not to replace them. This is a key distinction we emphasize throughout the sessions. We want AI to be
011a supportive tool, not a substitute for collaborative thinking and creativity. The A institute was specifically designed to assist educators in adopting effective instructional practices, increase student engagement, as well as integrate practical AI tools in their classrooms. Additionally, we place significant emphasis on the ethics surrounding AI. To support this notion, there were two keynote speakers. Rob Kissner is the author of the book Co-intelligence. It's a text about coexisting with AI. He spoke about the importance of understanding how AI is currently being used and that it enables us to skip the process and just get right to the product. Mr. Kner places a large emphasis on teaching students the importance of the process and assessing the necessary steps for learning. On the second day of the institute, keynote speaker Lisa Yokana, co-founder and COO of Next World
012Learning Lab, led with the notion that education is bigger than AI. She spoke about building ethics around AI and we spent time discussing what we value and what environments we are creating within our classrooms while using AI. After the presentations, the teacher were the teachers were then able to choose from uniquely created breakout sessions such as the AI feedback loop empowering teachers and students to reflect and improve K through 12 and AI powered teaching unlocking insights to boost student success. Teachers were then given an opportunity to offer their feedback about the learning institute, which focused on topics, planning, keynote speakers, and learning opportunities. I also just want to thank Caitlyn Sassoon, our director of technology, for all of her coordination and work and helping with the design of that day along with all of our
013instructional coaches. Um, we also held our administrative retreat this summer. Uh that's when all of about 26 of us get together for 3 days to do some work uh and prepare us for the upcoming school year. Um and there were three main goals that we had for our admin retreat this year. Uh the first was for the administrative group to give feedback and input on a draft of a district-wide strategic plan. Uh so we had a feedback protocol from for that which was which was very helpful in looking at what the next steps are that are necessary across all areas. Um the second goal was for um buildings and departments to create their their goals for the year and connecting those to the district plan. And so all of the administrators walked away with um
014a good understanding of what they wanted to take on uh why they were doing it and what their what that would look like across the school year. And and then the third is really about team building for us. you know, in terms of our own the way that we worked together in terms of our own collaboration, communication. Um, so that was how we kind of ended it together. It was just also some time to have some fun as well. So very successful three days. And after the administrator's retreat, we had the department coordinator retreat. So the department coordinators uh came together for a full day retreat focused on collaboration, reflection, and planning for the year ahead. As guided by the Ry commitment, coordinators engaged in meaningful dialogue about teaching and learning priorities, identified opportunities for
015cross-dep departmental alignment, and drafted goals that will drive our work forward. This retreat not only strengthened our collective vision, but it also ensured that our department goals are directly aligned with the district's long-term strategic priorities, keeping student growth and success at the center of our efforts. Good evening. So, we were very busy this summer. We had 25 new hires. Um, and towards the end of August, we'd like to have a new teacher orientation. Uh, it's two and a half days and those two and a half days focused on learning sessions. So, the day started out, well, the first day started out with understanding the ride commitment. So, our new staff conducted gallery walks around affirming what the ride equipment is to you. uh what do you wonder about about the ride commitment and what actions
016can you take? So, it was a nice foundation to start the work for the rest of the two and a half days. We worked on critical thinking. Um they had a little fun with a marshmallow challenge which I know that I think the board also uh tried that challenge. Uh but it was actually a great exercise for them to fully understand critical thinking, to ask questions, to analyze their process, and to use that experience to put into their classrooms. Um we discussed the new teacher academy that they'll be doing uh throughout their time here through their tenure process. Um they understand they'll be meeting four times a year. They'll all be part of coaching cycles in that process. Uh we put a list of inservice courses for them to continue their professional development. And we
017also had the opportunity to talk with having ongoing conversations and meeting with your principles. Um new teachers had the opportunity to work on instructional practices. They got to choose three practices that they felt that could really um take them to the next level in their classroom as I start and rise. So it was vertical surfaces, critical thinking, and belonging in their classrooms, authentic projects and AI. We had station work around that. And we ended the day with a panel which I think was probably the most it was the biggest takeaway for me at least and I know the teachers uh we had some really good feedback on that. That panel consisted of teachers, administrators, and parents. all of our new teachers um were able to write questions that they had about the district. Um and
018we were able to Trisha and I uh we we monitored the panel, we hosted the panel, and we were able to ask those questions and have real actionable feedback from the parents, teachers, administrators. So, it was really good advice for them as they go through their journey here in Rye. Um throughout the days, they were able to have little workshops with each um department. So for example, they met with the technology department, the business department, the human resources department. Um they also had time to meet with their mentors, uh the ride teachers association as well. They met with the union president just to go through all the need to knows. So it was a great um session where they could understand example for the HR, how do you work on professional development, how do you
019put in absences, how do you go through our basic processes with technology, the hardware, software, business, uh the business office, what's due, how do you put in for payment and so forth. So they really got a lot of information in those days. Uh and then we always end in fun. So we had a nice scavenger hunt and we had a nice lunch together. Oh, there was one more. They also had a security session with John Hawkins as well. Okay. So over the summer, our projects um just want to talk about curriculum projects that occurred over the summer. Um the first project included a crosswalk using the seventh and eighth grade library curriculums along with the ELA and social studies curriculums to incorporate AI and how to use it for research and writing. Those are the
020two focuses for the high school. We worked on chemistry and physics curriculums to implement the last stages of um NGSS which is the next generation science standards. We also worked on the IB courses which we now have a total of 13 courses for our students to choose from. Our math teachers worked on the realignment of the math sequence. We aligned the continuum so that students can build upon the acquired skills and they can choose to accelerate their path um their pathway to pre-calc um andor calc. We added the addition of advanced 3D studio art which allows for the completion of the sequence of um for all the 3D courses. Our teachers built upon the journalism curriculum to allow for students to further their skills and it's also project based uh which is which enhances our
021critical thinking skills. And lastly, the teachers completed the AP research curriculum which completes the second of two required courses for the AP capstone. And for an update on the new programs, our IB diploma program um as I shared before has launched 13 courses including theory of knowledge. We currently have six students enrolled in the IB diploma program and we have 179 students currently enrolled in any IB course. For the AP Capstone program, AP research launched this fall with 28 students enrolled and AP Seminar has 33 students enrolled which launched last fall. [Music] And while all the um wonderful professional learning is happening and everyone is enjoying their summertime, the special ed department is um still busy um with our extended school year program. So we provide um a six-week program for our students um to
022prevent substantial regression, which is always fun. So there's a lot of learning that still continues um over the over those six weeks, but then the photos that you see here are really our culminating activity which um is always uh we call it our summer funday. And so there's many activities that we partner with um the local police as well as the fire department. They come. We had um the dogs as well come um that we've partnered with over the last several years. There's a picture of everyone there. Um but it's just a it's a great culmination and you know um very proud of the program and the parents are always so happy. Um if you recall we also um they are the students are with us for the first half of the morning um and
023that's their academic part and then we partner with the ryrec in the afternoon. So the students um do their academics in the morning uh and then they take a bus over to Ryre uh then we've partnered with them but it's our staff that's supporting our students so that they can have um a similar experience uh camp experience as all of their uh typical peers here in Ry. [Music] So, back to the busy summer. Uh, our staffing, we had four admin, we hired four administrators, 27 teachers, five aids and assistants, um, a nurse at, um, Osborne, and we still have a few remaining vacancies that are posted, and we're in the process of interviewing. So, the instructional secondary instructional coach um, we'll be in that process this week and next. Uh, we're still, uh, reviewing resumes
024for custodians and a district-wide nurse at the moment. So um this summer for me was my first. So I really started my entry plan but I focused um with the human resources department to go through our my learning and the streamlining of processes. Um so it's been a very interesting summer for me. Um a lot of things that I'm looking at and getting feedback on analyzing it and working with the team here and the all the five bargaining units how we can make things uh more efficient and better for everyone else. So, I'm learning a lot. I'll report back to you as the entry uh my entry progress goes, my entry plan goes through and my interviews and so forth. But going through everything we're doing to see how I can make it better. Um
025I'm starting to build relationships with our five uh collective bargaining units uh to start off on a positive matter. So everything that we put out there, I do share with a lot of those units when it affects them. So we're collaboratively working on it together. Um one of those things is the last bullet there, which is for example a conflict of interest guidelines. That's something I worked on with the um RTA that we put out to the whole entire um district about um our classroom, how we interact with kids to make sure everything is fair in and outside of the classroom. And that's for teachers, coaches, um all personnel. Um I am looking at an HR guideline and communication. I'll be working with all those units to do so. That'll be kind of one-stop shopping
026for all the HR policies and guidelines that we have and really improving our communications to the district to know what our department does and how we can help. It's also um stream it's also going to streamline the process but put a better uh put more of a positive spin on the department. It's not the department where you just go when there's a problem. It's a department that you go where you need support as well. Um I took a look at the employee compliance videos that we've had to do every year. Um I wanted to make sure we were in compliance. I added some uh and I'll continue to assess that. We might be looking at a new uh platform next year that's uh a little bit easier to use but also has more variety of
027videos for less time. Um I'll continue to work with our high school and middle school leadership team. Um which is great. In my position I get to do that where you do have a lot of time with the principles. Um being Andrew is new and Nick is uh brand new uh I am definitely a source or resource for them to rely on and troubleshoot with. Um, I looked at our observation process and our timelines for untenure teachers. Uh, I changed that so we could have uh better discussions or more timely discussions with our administrators so we're not in a position uh where if something's not someone's not working out, we can support them but also have a bigger conversation with them. But the idea is to support them so they understand what the right commitment
028is and how we can be effective teachers here. Um, our observation process I also want to look at with our PR building principles. I work with them as Trisha was talking about earlier at our admin retreat. Uh, they have building goals. We want to use those building goals in their observation process. So those observations are meaningful and there's a large there's a a bigger conversation of what the building and district need and we can see that work throughout the observation process in their classrooms. Um, we took a good look at DASA. We spent some time with the administrators reviewing DASA and we really focused on reporting with our staff and having constant a constant message throughout all the buildings so there is consistency uh what we are doing and our processes. We looked at our
029forms to make sure everyone was doing the same thing and I'll be working with all of the administrators throughout the year on those processes so we are all in sync and we are reporting correctly. Um and again earlier I just talked about the conflict of interest guidelines. Those are just just example of things I want to work with our collective bargaining units. so we're all on the same page. Uh that best supports our students and also teachers know um you know some of the things that they should and should not be doing in and outside of the classroom. Hi everybody. Um so the business office and operations department were we were also very busy this summer. Um it kicks off with tax collection because without that we wouldn't be able to do pretty much anything
030else. Um so just to give everybody a snapshot um this year we're scheduled to collect um one uh 102 million um in taxes uh the way we're structured here in Rye is we do two collections. One during the month of August and then one during the month of November. As it stands today, we've collected approximately 49.68 million. So, we are on track. That is a typical number that we would see right about now. So, I'm happy to report on that. In addition, one of the other big lifts that the business office is focused on during the summer is our external audit, which is the process that we go through to close our books for the previous year, as well as we are doing all of the purchasing, procurement, and getting ready for the new year.
031Um, so everything's a buzz in the business office over the summer. And I'll quickly run through the other departments that I oversee, starting with facilities. I did this in alphabetical order, not in in order of um grandeur, but it just happened to work out that way. Um so facilities um again, it was the continuation of bond construction, which was the um community authorization that started back in 2019. So we're in the final phases of that. Um that included the performing arts center completing completing that refresh. um which this year was the um the big the big element in the room in case anybody hasn't been in there quite yet are the auditorium seats. Um some new curtains that we got on stage. Um we completed the painting, so all of the paneling is now white.
032Um flooring and the beautiful gold glitter on the floor. I hope everybody loves it as much as I do. Um we are continuing with and thank you to the Ry Fund for Education the upgrade to the lighting and audio systems in that space. Um those elements are coming in slowly and being installed. But it was also a timing issue of obviously you don't want to install all new theatrical lighting when you have heavy construction going on with grinding floors and making dust and a mess. So it's all about the phasing and staging of getting all of this stuff up and running. So, we're on track with all of that. In addition, the Midland and Osborne additions, they have arrived um unfortunately later than what we had anticipated. So, we are currently working to get to
033completion so that we can occupy those spaces. So, again, you and fortunately, we're able to separate the operation of the school building from construction. So construction is ongoing during the day and we're able to not disrupt anyone. So it's a it's a good combination of school being in session and construction progressing. Um and just as a note, I have to, you know, thank Rob profusely and our custodians because we decided this summer to do construction management inhouse ourselves. So that too was um a time-consuming task but it really helped Rob and I and the custodians um to really be part of the process and manage it very closely. So it was a great experience for all of us I think and at the end I think the district will certainly benefit from that. Um transfer
034to capital projects. Um, so this e these are funds that come out of our operating budget that can then that get transferred to our capital fund and support additional work that we do throughout the district. Um, that included the high school gym refresh. So again, this was the second half of that project where we redid the um gym floor as well as we had new seats put on all of the bleachers. So, that's going to be unveiled very shortly. We're in the final phases of the floor curing after the coats um and the new striping and painting. So, I can't wait till everybody gets to see that. Um wall padding and new banners in the space are coming next. But again, it's a sequencing thing that we needed to get the dusty part out of
035the way before we put up the pretty stuff. Um so, it's coming. In addition, we did we continued our quest to replace flooring that um eliminates waxing throughout the district. So that was 25 um,000 square ft of flooring. And again, our strategy is to hit the hallways first because as folks who walk through our buildings during the summer and they're extremely busy, hallways become the biggest problem because we end up cordining them off as we're trying to do three layers of wax. So, we focused on doing um hallways first, which allows for movement in the building. And I am so thrilled to say that we are now wax-free throughout the district and all of our hallways with the exception of the last section of what will be our final construction phase, the art design and
036engineering wing of this building. So, yay us. That's awesome. We also did some classroom refreshes where we went in and did walls, ceilings, and lightings um and storage in four classrooms um throughout the district. We did storm water line replacement at Osborne. So, this was one of the weaknesses that we discovered during Hurricane Ida that we've now finally been able to get back to to make some corrections there in the Osborne Courtyard um to take care of how water in that courtyard then flows. Um and so now I'm thrilled and confident that we're ready. I don't want the next one, but in the event Yes. but we feel really good about that. Um bathroom refresh. So, we also did three bathrooms at Osborne um where we um actually turned them from classroom only bathrooms to
037access by the through the hallway for the whole building, anticipating that there was going to be um more traffic where the new addition will be. So, it allows for access to more bathroom facilities strategically placed in the building for the whole the whole building to be able to access. Um, in addition, we went to the Osborne music room to do a refresh in there. Again, ceiling, lighting, restructuring how the HVAC in that space works to be more compatible with the amount of space and how instruction is being delivered in there. and also a reconfiguration of in of storage in there. So, really making it a more usable space and I'm delighted to say that it came out great. And I just want to point out that um the music refresh and the classroom refresh that's
038being done by our maintenance department. So, we're really proud of the fact that we're really delivering some beautiful spaces that we are doing 100% inhouse. Um, so our it it's amazing to watch how they're growing in their in their building in in their profession of being our maintenance department and being able to deliver these spaces. Um, we hosted many programs. So at Midland we had Ryre Camp. At Milton we had all of our in-house programs including our Ry seniors did an exercise class there. The um Yep. high school, middle school hosted the high school middle school summer programs and CAB also had the Ryre seniors return for a second year um where they play bridge. Yep. And um also repurposing. So, first I need to say a big thank you to the Midland PTO for
039um donating the funding for the new playground. Um, and even better, we were able to repurpose the elements of the Midland playground that would have been reinstalled had we not had the generous the generous gift from the PTO, but we were able to repurpose the elements that still had useful life to Ryre and um they're determining what playground they will be installing those pieces. So, the community still gets to use those elements. So, we're happy to have that collaboration with Ryrek. In food service, we have um two staff members that I'd like to call out and welcome um through our partnership with Aramark. So, um Christine Clemens, she is our director of nutritional services. So, she works she will be working handinhand and collaborating with Stacy Falconee, the district's director of food service to continue
040to provide um the great meals that we're able to provide throughout and across the district. Lexi Merrill has also joined our team. She is a baker. Um, I can tell you firsthand that we've been able to sample her homemade bagels, um, which we will be offering at the Bagel Bar soon. We're perfecting that, um, recipe and she's working hard. She's making all kinds of great, um, creations in our high school cafeteria that will be rolled out throughout the district. Um, in our we did some improvements. So thanks to the successful program that we run here, we're able to then use the revenues that we bring inhouse to then um put back into the program and enhance the areas in which our students and our staff use to um support the program. So, at the high
041school, the kitchen and servery area um had a refresh and we installed for the first time ever a dishwasher, which um Andre couldn't be more happy about um because for all these years since before I've gotten here, he's washed everything by hand. So, this is a huge improvement in that space. The middle school um that we sit during the day, this space becomes the middle school cafeteria. Um, and we installed new flooring here, which is very familiar. It's just a different um, pattern that you'll see throughout the buildings. Again, eliminating waxing and really allowing then the custodial resources to be used elsewhere. Um, and we will be getting new cafeteria tables in here. They should be delivered um, midocctober, which also improves the um, cleaning time in this space with the old tables. So, the
042custodians um will be receiving that. The Osborne roof directly um related to the cafeteria was replaced. The Midland grease trap, not as exciting or chic, but necessary. And then for the first time ever, um our food service department actually provided camp lunch service for Ryre. Um we used it as an opportunity. Midland is used um by the ryrec for their camp. So we decided that it would be an opportunity for us to retain staff over the summer which um definitely helps us when we come back for the new year with staff being able to work through the summer. It allows them to for to have guaranteed work which gives us guaranteed staffing come in September. And it also gives us another opportunity to give back to our community because those are students that our students
043a lot of our students retend the ryrec program. So it's a double way of offering services to the community health services. Um so we provided program coverage for all of our programming that um is happening throughout the buildings. Um we for the first time over the summer created a nursing email similar to the board at RI schools we created a nursing one. So this enabled parents to get a head start on all of that paperwork um that is required for at certain grade levels where we have to recollect um immunization information and physicals so our nurses aren't feeling overwhelmed when they come back in September. Tracy was monitoring this box um all summer long. So, if you look at the statistics, which is amazing, that on July 1, which is the start of the school
044year, we had 300 um immunization non-compliant students, meaning that based on their birthdays, they were due for some sort of documentation that would have had to have been submitted to the nurse in um in advance of school starting in order for them to enter into our buildings, right? And a lot of this gets done, but it usually happens in it's a time crunch in the last two weeks of summer. So, by having this um email address, and she was sending out notifications periodically throughout the summer reminding parents to go ahead and submit them, by August 20th, those 300 quickly turned into 67. And then by the start of school, we were down to one. So, a huge success. it's just being more efficient and using the tools that we have available to us to really
045push us along um in this process. So really happy that we were able to do that. Our athletic trainer that is a strategic 12-month position. So he is here over the summer getting ready for programming to start as well as working with Tracy handinand to um update and implement our emergency action plans for athletes. Um, in addition, the nursing staff cleared 700 student athletes in preparation for fall sports. Um, and beginning in this school year, I just wanted to note, although it's not part of the summer recap, but I think it's important to note that we've expanded our nursing um, office hours to begin at 7:30 at the high school um, middle school to go to 4:00 and at elementary schools from 8 to 4:00. This allows us to provide nursing coverage um for programs
046that are running before school starts and programs that are running after. Um I'm sure those of you who have students in our district, you know that um these places are hopping long before school starts and long after school ends. Network and infrastructure. So Caitlyn and her team ran around the district like crazy. Thank you very much. um all summer long doing a bunch of different things. So the installation there or the continued installation of Prometheian boards um 25 of the boards that were installed throughout the summer were funded by the RF. So thank you very much RIF fund for education. We replaced all the desktops um districtwide. 310 of those expanded the library server closet which is super important here. making sure that our connectivity is working and available to everyone. Deployed new district-wide endpoint
047um detection security software. Sounds mysterious, but that is the contact filter that keeps us safe and making sure that nothing is infiltrating into our system. We upgraded the computer science and engineering laptops, um 60 of those. Deployed Chromebooks to all of our sixth grade, 240 of those. and installed new AV equipment in the high school pack which was part of the refresh that we did in that space. So certainly very busy there as well and security. Um we want to welcome um we had some staffing changes over the summer. So we have um Dennis who's joined us at the high school. We have Nancy Foster who's a familiar face. She was a subguard and we finally convinced her that she wanted to be here full-time. Um, so she's joined the team um, full-time and we're
048welcoming Irene at Milton um, as Gary has left us. But Irene's a happy, friendly face at the door. Thank you very much. Um, in response to the no cell phone policy, um, and so as a result of that, a couple of things have changed. Um, so we had to renew the use of lockers. So it was deploying locks on all of those lockers and making sure that they were working and functioning properly, assigning them to students. So be was running around the high school um making sure that she was identifying a locker for every student and that it was functioning properly as well as John collaborating with the high school getting ready to um have our students use going back to ID cards because if you remember we were using phones for that. So now
049we've rever reverted back to all of our um high school students having ID cards. um the district-wide and building safety plan. I've come to the board a couple of times about this. So, this is something that at the end of every school year as we were prepare for the new year, we review our district-wide and building level safety plans. Um it goes through review with our health and safety committee. Then it's brought to the board to be presented and with all of the upcoming changes that are anticipated for the new year and then there's a public um review period. So it sits out there for 30 days and then at the next available board meeting we come back and you will see an item on the agenda asking the board to approve the draft um
050as a final for the 2526 school year. However, this year, similar to last year, at the last minute, the state initiated a new update after we had gone through the process of bringing it to the board at the end of the year last year and prior to the approval for tonight. Um because in addition to those steps that I just described, the district is required to submit the health the district-wide safety plan to the state as of October 1st after all of those steps are done. However, there was a late addition requirement from SED that needed to be added to the health and to the district-wide safety plan. Um, so even though you guys are going to be asked to approve the plan as it was before that addition on July 24th, we immediately then
051have to reintroduce it and go back into the period of public review for the purposes of the latest update which is called Desha's law which is sudden cardiac arere arrest annex that was added to the plan and It's added, it's added to all of the plans. It's language that had to be included which then triggers the whole review process again. Um, I'll talk about it again a little bit later. Um, but essentially there was a lot of confusion, but we are on track to get it up to the state in line with what the requirement is of October 1st to say all of that. And then finally, um, program coverage. So, this is the second year in which we've deployed security staff at any building during the summer where students are visiting. So, we had
052one uh security guard here at the high school, middle school, as well as Milton to provide coverage throughout the summer. And that ends the summer recap. We'll take any questions that you have. That was a lot. That was a lot. It was fantastic. There's um as I always say, right? Um for the kids, everybody goes home and then for the administrative team and the teachers, the work starts a new and so there is never a downtime in a school building. Um questions, comments, reflections from board members. [Music] I would just say at least one comment. I heard you refer to the decision to bring all of the um project management inhouse as a great experience. So, um I don't think most people would raise their hand to apply an additional massive amount of work. It's
053a great experience, but um thank you for uh your diligence and for Rob's diligence with these massive projects. And you know, I guess uh I sort of originally thought, yeah, it's really the the the the Midland and Osborne projects that are going to be, you know, massive and require a lot of time, but going through that full list of all of the other big projects and little projects that you had, I mean, it it is uh admirable that you are uh staying on top of all of them. So, thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you. Um, so just I just have a few questions I will also echo. This is it's always every year it's always amazing to me how much happens in those uh maybe week 10 weeks um that that uh most of
054the students aren't here. So um I always I it's it's always amazing to me how much can get done um in that time. So, thank you guys, all of you for all of your hard work and continuing to move everything forward as um you know to prepare us for another school year when everybody's back on the campus and doing what we're supposed to be doing which is learning and teaching. Um so, one quick question for the a not one of probably a couple the AI learning institute um for the teachers that attended that what was the grade distribution? Was it heavier in one like secondary versus primary or um elementary? What what would you say the distribution was? Uh yeah, so looking at the list, it was um very heavy elementary. Um but when you
055kind of break that down a little further, there is a nice number um of teachers who are in special education and teachers of ENL. Fascinating. And we also knew that going into it. So we tailored the sessions that we designed based on the grade levels. Okay. So if I may, sorry uh Jen. So, I think that's really interesting because as a parent of high schoolers, my initial thinking, right, is about what all of the other high school parents and students think about, right, is how are we how are the students using this in a way that may not be so awesome, but when I think about the things that I have heard related to AI, related to its ability to help teachers more effectively and efficiently differentiate instruction. It makes total and complete sense that
056we would have heavy users of this institute be our ENL, our special ed, and our elementary school teachers. And so that actually makes me like super excited that our staff is thinking about how to use AI to really help support and push our students in that way. And so I'm really excited about that. Sorry. Sorry. Go ahead. That's just really great to think about. Um so I guess then as a sort of a followup because of the point that Jane just made that wasn't even intentional. Wow. Um be with with sort of and especially hearing the discussion around the ethics of use and you know discussing how you the the skill set of using the tools to um not replace the process of learning and the um I think the natural uh assumption that that
057might happen more at the middle school and high school level. are we um work how are we planning to sort of get two more of those um faculty at the secondary level? Yeah. Um yes, thank you. That's a good question. So um during the department coordinator retreat um the each department coordinator created a goal for their department. They also incorporated AI into it. Okay. And so depending on what the content area was um so th all the teachers in that department will be focusing on an aspect of AI whether they're using it for planning or they're focusing on student use or it's around research. It depends on the department but but that's everyone is learning together. It's not like it's an opt-in like the AI institute was but it's knowledge for all. Um we also
058are holding our first conference day in on November 4th I believe is all is at the secondary level all focused on AI. Um we'll have Matt Miller come who uh wrote a book for teachers that's kind of very practical in how they can use it in their instruction. So he's going to do a keynote and then all of our breakout sessions are focused on it and we'll we'll have a wide variety. So depending on you know their different entry levels for different people. Mhm. Okay. And then I know that when we did the um the um a the guidance around AI, we talked about uh constantly kind of evaluating and seeing if those were still meeting the need that we saw within um not just for the teachers but for the students. H how is
059that going to be kind of incorporated into or how are we going to get feedback on that? Will there be a formal way of doing it? Is it more informal? What's so that is on that's something that Caitlyn Sassoon has part of the technology committee. So every year we'll be revisiting those guidelines um collecting feedback in some way um so we can make any adjustments as we move along because we as we get better at this my guess also is that we have to make some shifts. Right. Yeah. Okay. Great. Thank you. Yep. um for facilities. I know uh Gabby you mentioned that the um a lot of the work for the pack or some of the work for the pack is going to be coming that's that was funded through the RF if I
060remember correctly. I think there was also some funding that came from the PTO. Was is that pieces of that also coming later or is that kind of combined together with the RF? Yeah. So, anything that was donation dollars um was around the lighting and audio. Audio. Got it. Okay. Um and then uh just to just so I can confirm, so the Osborne roof repair that funding came from our food service um funds, not from a transfer to capital. Correct. Okay. Um I think that was those were all my questions. Thank you. You're welcome. Um, oh, sorry. Anyone else other qu? Okay. Um, just to go back to the slide for inservice courses and workshop. So, the seal uh building belonging in classrooms you said was a 6 to2 focus. So, how um does it dovetail
061at all with responsive classroom or what kind of work will be going on for responsive classroom for the rest of the school year? Yes. So, last summer, if you recall, we held a a pilot train well we did a training session, but it was more of a pilot for teachers to opt in. So, it was open to all elementary teachers. Uh we trained about 17 uh teachers in responsive classroom. Um that pilot went very well and so we have plans to train all teachers. Um so this coming school year uh starting with our November 4th conference day while all the secondary teachers are learning about AI. Um K5 will be doing responsive classroom. Um in addition to that they also will be doing it in our March conference day. And then they also have three
062afternoons of professional development. That's part of their um their their plan for the year where they'll be kind of breaking up that last day. So they'll get their three days of responsive classroom training. Um and then the teachers that have already had what I would call level one will be getting an advanced course. And so um and it and yes it does connect which like what your question was. Um so the strate there is a there's a connection between the strategies of responsive classroom and the strategies of of bringing all practices into the secondary class. Okay. Um, I know that part of the responsive classroom training can be an opportunity for building aids and assistants. Yes. Is that an opportunity that our aids and assistants? Yes. Yes, they are. On November 4th, they're also getting
063their own training which is a dayong workshop. Um, and also our special area teachers are getting their own unique workshop as well. Okay. Excellent. Very exciting. And I'm sure there'll be lots more conversations about the dovetailing of it K to 12 with our new director of student counseling wellness. Very exciting stuff. Okay, great. Um, the P, going back to the pack, will all of the bells and whistles be ready for the first student performance? I'm not I'm not 100% sure that that's going to be achievable. However, anything that's not been installed fully, we're compensating for to make sure that no performance will be impacted by any of the work that's happening in the space. So, we've compensated for all of that. And I'm saying this vaguely because it goes over my head when you talk
064to Jeff Loto in that space about lighting and audio. I'm not 100% sure, but he's got it all under control and he's working with our vendors very strategically to make sure that because it is very complicated in what's being installed, that nothing is being compromised for any performance. Well, and since you said Mr. Loto's on it, I have full confidence that the Alice Wonderland Junior performance, which is what the middle school is undertaking this fall, will be ready to go and will be a dynamite show as it always is. But I'll have more time to tell everybody to go see that when it gets closer that Okay. Excellent. We are very aware of the schedule. Okay. Well, and I think it's just about the students getting that full experience, right? Because there's been so much
065excitement and so much um so many so much support from the larger community as well as our own community that I think it's really it's a great opportunity for the kids to be able to experience that. So, that's great. Um Mr. Giovani as it relates to the panel because I know this is now the second year you all have done a panel. Have we started to see are there any similarities in comments or concerns and if so are those things that we could start thinking about how to just incorporate and kind of cut off at the knees before we even get to the panel? I think um I think the common questions are what is an ideal what are the for the parents what is a what does a great teacher look like for you?
066Okay. So that type of feedback and then to the administrators what would the observation process look like? Um what does feedback look like? um to uh teachers on it. You know, what do you kind of basic day-to-day questions, but I think it's really like really how does the ry if I could think of a theme throughout everything is how do we implement the ride commitment throughout all these phases, whether it's planning, whether it's through communication, whether it's through PD, I think those that was the the constant that I saw. Um, Trisha, did you see Well, I would say the themes and their answers. I, you know, we had, we did a little bit differently this year where we had all of our uh second year teachers this year. So, the first year teachers last year
067were the ones on the panel. So, they had just gone through the new teacher teacher academy. Um, and so when they offered their advice, what I really loved hearing was they kept saying, "Use the instructional coaches. They're really good. Reach out to people. Ask questions. Ask questions. Ask questions." It's like that was just wonderful um to hear and then from the parents you know the theme is communication right you can never communicate too much to us please tell us what's going on we want to know how our children are so kind of which which is good for them to hear and and it really led to a nice discussion uh two more things and then I promise we can move on um Gary you talked about the facilities in the inhouse using our own crew
068inhouse how not looking for specific dollar member, but what would you say in a percentage wise like how much we are we able to save by having our own staff do that work that then will allow us perhaps to be able to do more work? So I can't give you a specific dollar amount. I would and I'll have Rob when he comes and does his update I'll have him look at that a little bit more deeply. Um but it it's eye opening right about just looking at these spaces in a different way with what can what are we capable of of doing inhouse and buying the materials and not having to pay for the labor outside of that and and using time throughout the day when the space isn't being occupied to get those things
069done. And you know, as we start looking at art, design and engineering and funding and where we thought we would be at this point and maybe taking another look at those spaces to say, how can we do this a little bit differently now that they have these skills under their belt and they've done it in other in other rooms. So I think it even goes beyond what we're saving in the operations budget, but just looking at even in even in the future of tackling other spaces that we never thought we would even be able to touch because we now have these skills in house. So it's exciting. It's it's cool to see what they've been capable of doing. Oh yeah. It's awesome. And can I just I just hearing you talk about that and then
070also I think what people may not realize um who have lived in a world without floors needing to be waxed for a long time is that that's a cleaning process. Yes. And so, you know, having the um the deployment of people to be able to not have to do that also looking at how did that impact the time and distribution of staff things. So, it'd be really interesting to, you know, it's never going to be an exact precise and it may not even be a dollar amount, but to be able to kind of get a sense of what did how did that change our internal um uh use of not not just people's skills, but time and how did that impact the way that our buildings are able to be maintained now versus say 5
07110 years ago? Right. It's interesting that you say that, right? because certainly it's a trade-off. We're we're not spending time waxing and sometimes re-waxing floors, right? So now we're painting areas that I would tell you haven't been painted in 20 years. Um and we are struggling because our staffing isn't where it needs to be. And every summer and I think about this building most right in it's been a long time that we haven't had some major construction project happening which complicates matters even more. I can't wait to get to a point where we have a summer where we're fully staffed. we're not under major construction to really see what those resources are capable of doing and what this place is going to look like after a summer like that. Um because the possibilities are endless
072and it's I it's cool. It's just really cool to see where we're going with this department. Yeah. And I think too, you know, we talk a lot about like how do you feel inside the buildings? Um, and wow, you know, a sense of belonging comes from a lot of factors. Being in a building that feels bright and welcoming and all of those things is a piece of that 100%. And so I think that's something that, you know, it it really um melds into the bigger picture of what we want to the environment we want to be able to create. Yeah. Well, and I think to go even further with that is this great idea that if we're going to be able to use people in house, then really you can really tailor and specify exactly
073what you want to do. So if Mr. Har and his team have this really great idea, like I think about Mr. Giovani's mural that they did few years ago, right? That's the kind of stuff that then can be done and you can do it. You don't have to plan it 3 years in advance. It could be a more iterative idea where it's like, gosh, this would be amazing. What do we think? Do we have the time? Do we have the materials? Could we make it happen? And creating those spaces that really are reflecting our students in real time. So, it's not something that's like, oh yeah, well, when I was on student government in 9th grade, you know, 17 years ago, look, they finally got it up. My mom showed me the picture from the
074paper. Like, it could really happen. And that's really exciting opportunities. And I think the other thing to applaud, Rob, is the standardization, right? Like we are using because it's us and because it's in-house, we're using the same materials over and over again in every building. So if someone is lacking, there's always another resource to grab it from and make it match. And it's also allowing our staff flexibility to say, "We're short-handed at Midland. I need you guys to go." and they can do it because it's all the same and they know how to react to it. The space just looks different. That's great. Well, and that will take me to my last point, which is just um hearing the word strategic in all of these presentations and not just hearing the word, but hearing about
075how everybody throughout the summer was thinking about the strategic plan, was thinking about a strategic plan, was thinking about strategic goals and how and where we can find alignment between and among the departments and the schools and the operations team and the leadership team and the curriculum team and the special ed team. It's um I I said it at the end of the year and I will I will reiterate it and then we will move on again. This is an opportunity uh of real exciting change and I really look forward to an amazing year and I thank all of you for the hard work you put in this summer because all of that is now the uh springboard for an amazing fall for our students and our faculty and our community. And let's roll. It's
076going to be awesome. I'm excited. I don't know if anybody else. Thank you. All right. So, we will move on unless anyone else has anything else to say. Okay. So, we will move now on to our consent ag uh oh, sorry, no hearing of the public on non-aggenda items. Uh, well, I'll do it because we have people in the audience for the first time. So, at this time, we welcome and encourage our community members to address the board at this time. Please come to the podium, state your name, address, and if you are representing an organization. To ensure everyone has the opportunity to speak, please limit your remarks to 3 minutes. The board is here to listen. The public comment period is not designed to be a discussion. So, please understand we may not respond
077publicly to your comments or questions at this time. We take your comments seriously and may need more time to process or research an issue. We will ensure questions will be addressed by the appropriate staff member or possibly at a future board meeting. We will not entertain comments regarding individual students or district personnel as these are protected under state and federal privacy laws. Please know we take personnel concerns very seriously on these matters. We would ask you to follow the appropriate administrative channels. As a reminder, the community the community may submit written comments at any time to the board by sending those to rcd boardschools.org. Seeing nobody in the public coming forward at this time, we will move on to the consent agenda. Can I have a motion, please, to approve this evening's consent agenda. Sean
078Clapper, seconded by Valerie Lapam. Let's take a look at tonight's consent agenda. Consent agenda general. Consent agenda fiscal. Can I just please? Okay. So, this is where you will see the district-wide safety plan being approved. Again, this is the um plan prior to the July 24th edit from the state. Um, so the board I'm be asking you guys to approve that and then understanding that the new draft is also being included and the correction there or the addition there is the state mandate as of July 24th adding DESHA's law to the plan which is a sudden cardiac arrest response um protocol um that is required to be added to the plan um that essentially gives people the understanding and knowledge of a procedure to um be able to identify when someone's in cardiac arrest to
079know that there is an AD um an AED, excuse me, available to them and that they should be calling 911. That's essentially the crux of what the procedure is that's being outlined as the new addition to the plan. So then just one quick question. When is that is there a date for that one to be due to the state? Did they give an extension of any kind or just No, we So we will submit the plan that you're approving tonight for the October 1st deadline and then we'll come back in 30 days. Okay. To get the revised plan um approved and then that will be submitted thereafter. Okay. Yep. allows us to at least have a plan on record with the state. Correct. Deadline. Deadline. Yep. Yes. Okay. Great. Thank you for that clarity. Uh
080consent agenda. Professional. Consent agenda classified. Consent agenda pupil personnel services and special education. And consent agenda curriculum instruction and assessment. Okay, seeing no questions, a vote on this evening's consent agenda. All those in favor, that is six to nothing with one absence. Great. So, the consent agenda is approved. And on this evening's consent agenda, we are approving a gift of $6,000 from the Reicme Melo Foundation, which will support the annual Chris Melo Scholarship Award, which will be presented at the Ry Harrison football game. It's a small game. Not many people go. So, we'll certainly let you know how it turns out. Uh, I'm being facitious, obviously, for those who can't tell. All right. Uh, we are approving a gift in the amount of $60,550 from the Milton PTO to support cultural arts programs, teacher classroom
081gifts, mangum research program or recess program, transportation expenses related to curriculum arts programs, and circus arts. We also have an approval of a rental agreement with Playland Ice Rink for the 2526 boys ice hockey practices and games. We had lots of hirings, final hirings and changes related to staffing for the 2526 school year. And we have the approval of the 2526 professional learning plan which was pre previously re referenced in our summer recap presentation. So with all that being said, uh communications to and from the board, we are a bit early. So we don't have any committee updates, but we do see the policy committee will convene on the 15th and the audit committee will convene on the 30th and the audit presentation will not be that evening. It will be the following board meeting.
082Okay, great. uh communications to and from the board. No. Okay. Our next meeting is going to be on September 30th. And look at that. We're going to be talking about a strategic plan. Who's excited besides me? Somebody is. Dr. Murray. Thank you. There we go. All right. Well, we thank you all for coming. We will be jouring into executive session and we will not be coming back out into public. So, this will be good uh night for this evening and we will see you again on September 30th. Thank you. So, oh yeah, a motion to go into executive session. Matthew Shibonoff, seconded by Sean Clapper. All those in favor, six to nothing. Thank you.