01/13/26 MNPS Board of Education

001pledge of allegiance. Um, he's going to be the victim, too. >> Um, >> ah, yes. Can we have Mr. Roger Denwitty please give us the pledge of allegiance? Join me to pledge. 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. >> All right. Uh we will >> Whoops. We will now uh move for the adoption of agenda. I will entertain a motion to approve the agenda. Motion to approve. >> There's been a motion by member Maize. Is there a second? >> Second by member Feain. Um all in favor say I. >> Opposed. >> The agenda is adopted. Now move on to Dr. Battle for awards and recognitions. >> Thank you so much, Chair Player,

002and good evening board members. Um as we start the new year and a new semester, I'm excited to recognize um a few of our key um MNS leaders um this evening. Um, we first have a star student athlete, um, as well as an honor our district has received. So, first up is Andre Adams, who is the quarterback of the Antioch High School Bears. All right. Thank you so much, Andre, for coming up and for facing this um, wonderful uh, audience while I talk about your amazing accomplishments. Andre was a finalist for Mr. Football in TWSAA class 6A for the 2025 season when he led the Bears to the playoffs. He's hard to imagine. It's hard to imagine anyone putting up better numbers than Andre did. Here are a few of them. Andre completed 71% of

003his passes for 3,418 yards, 35 touchdowns, and just one interception. >> He also Y'all are going to do that a few times. He also ran for 855 yards. So that's nearly 4,300 yards that Andre accounted for in one season. Yes, he does. >> Andre also set an alltime TWSAA record for total yards in a single game with 714 yards, including 507 passing and 207 rushing in a victory over Centennial High School. And that wasn't his only incredible per performance. In a different game, Andre threw six touchdown passes, ran for another three touchdowns, and scored three two-point conversions, meaning he had a hand in 60 points as Antioch defeated FRA 64 to 62. Andre also was a high school all-American and all state player. He was also on the all city large school most he was

004the all city large school most valuable player and he's just a junior. So he'll be back next season with even more college scouts watching him and the Antioch High School Bears. Congratulations to Andre and thank you for representing Antioch and our district so well. Uh we want to make sure that we get your coaches, your family, anybody here who is supporting you up here for a photo. And y'all, I think we should rise to our feet and give Andre a round of applause. Sorry. rip. One, two, All right. congratulations again to to Andre and we know um it takes a village so we are very thankful to everyone um who continues to support him and the entire team. So next up we have an honor the district recently received from a national organization. The National

005Alliance of School Black School Educators or NAPSI named MNPS a 2025 demonstration district at its annual conference in December. Nancy demonstration districts are school districts that have shown high impact research-based practices, a district-wide culture grounded in inclusive excellence, strong family and community partnerships, datadriven results that accelerate growth and achievement, and leadership that inspires, empowers, and elevates at every level. We made a presentation to our peers from around the country at the NASPY conference about the strategies and practices we put in place to drive the consistently strong student outcomes that we've shared with you over the past few years, including our focus on knowing and supporting every student, our district leadership framework, our guaranteed personalized and applied experiences or GPA experiences for all students, our student success and opportunity roadmap, and more. We are proud to

006have received this honor and proud of what it represents. I would like to give a special shout out to Jerry Baxter Middle School principal Dr. Kesha Cox and her entire team who attended the Nati conference and joined us for the recognition ceremony. Jerry Baxter is one of many of our schools across the district doing great work in the areas that Nati highlighted. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this recognition. Um that includes everyone who plays a role in the success of Nashville public schools. At this time, I'd like to invite up Dr. Cox and your team and anyone else who was there um for this celebration to join us up front for a celebration and photo That's what I was trying to say. It's not me. Pull sh back. Why you didn't get up

007there? >> I thought it was you. I was like, he missed a picture. I was like, I think it's Robert. All right. Congratulations again to everyone involved in the Nasty Demonstration District Award. That wonderful banner will be hung up here in the boardroom somewhere. Um, so you will get to see it again. Um, so at this time, that'll conclude my awards and recognition. Sher Player, I'll turn it back over to you. Thank you very much and great awards to start off our wonderful 20 uh 26 new year. Um now we'll move on to directory report. We will have school time artic updates um advanced placement at MNPS and NPS reimagined. Dr. Battle. >> All right. Thank you again chair player and board members for tonight's director report. Um Chief Brace is going to start off

008with a brief update on the status of the school start and end time study. I know several of you have been able to attend or participate in the town halls last week and we continue to encourage families to let us know their preferences through the ongoing survey taking place through the end of this week. Um the survey will close on Friday. Then we I'll welcome up Chief Sarah Chen to give an overview of our events placement strategies and opportunities available to students throughout the district followed by um reimagine cluster journey map presentation from the James Lawson cluster. So, at this time, I'll ask Chief Bracead to come on up and kick off the director's report with our start time study update. >> Great. Thank you, uh, Dr. Battle and board members. Um, so, as a

009reminder, uh, we're conducting a district-wide review of school start and end times and, uh, coordination and participation with the mayor's office. Uh, the conversation is not new to Nashville. Um, like many large districts, we've revisited start times for many decades because, uh, schedules affect student needs, transportation, and family routines. Um, there's going to be real trade-offs in any model. Changes that benefit one group can create challenges for another. And so, our responsibilities going forward is to be clear about those trade-offs grounded in research, operations, and community feedback. So as a reminder, our timeline um we are current we concluded phase one which was focused on awareness and discovery gathering some broad community input through surveys, focus groups and listening sessions. Phase two um is uh the scenario design and reactions where potential models were developed

010based on what we heard and tested through transportation and operational analysis. Um and phase three when when we bring findings and recommendations to the board and outline next steps. though we're currently in phase two gathering feedback on those proposed models before any birth uh board actions. So some factors informing those model designs um stakeholder preferences around start and end times were a primary input. Student and family preferences related to student needs and academic success. Access to childhood care uh after school activities and family routines. Transportation performance matters. um vehicle availability, routing efficiency, on-time performance and ride durations uh all constrain some of the options and then uh change management's critical. We considered how many schools and students would be impacted and how much adjustment would be required. Um so here are some common characteristics. Um

011all three models are designed to be able to be implemented using existing resources uh for the 2627 school year assuming the routing efficiencies modeled hold. Uh each model maintains reasonable ride times uh and protects instructional minutes. Some models uh may require interventions which may include longer distances from house to bus stop uh change order of bus routing, additional time on buses, etc. Um and then the models align more closely with what we heard from families, uh staff and students and represent meaningful but realistic choices rather than theoretical or high-risisk options. So the three models that we have been uh presenting to the public over the last couple of weeks include um called the squeeze or focus model um which moves high school start times 20 minutes later while preserving the dismissal time for our latest

012tier uh middle schools. It limits systemwide change but requires moderate transportation adjustments and um results in slightly later elementary start and end times. The shift um moves all tiers later by the same amount, creating a clear and simple district-wide systemwide shift. Um requires minimal transportation changes, but it pushes middle school dismissal later and impacts more families across the district through changes. Um so these two models that we just talked about uh make the average high school start time at the same time or later than some of our large peer school districts like Memphis, Shelby County, and Hamilton. So, uh, while we have one of the earlier start times, it's also common in the large districts to have high schools start earlier as well. Um, and then model 3, no change, uh, or status quo. It,

013you know, maintains maximum stability for families, staff, and community partners, doesn't require transportation adjustments, but it doesn't alter the high school start times or reflect some of the stakeholder feedback we received in support of doing so. Some of the other models that were looked at and considered um multiple approaches were tested by formative who is our consultant that is helping to conduct this study um including squeezing tier intervals, swapping tiers, shifting all tiers, shuffling select schools, two-tier systems, and hybrid options. Some of those options required additional buses or drivers, which is not really realistic in the near term. Others created too much disruption for too many families or conflicted with what stakeholders said mattered the most. And so the three models that we just presented balance benefit, feasibility, and community impact engagement. So um how

014feedback is being gathered over the last or the next couple of weeks. So we've had four in-person town halls were held across the city to reach different regions. Two virtual town halls expanded that access for families and staff. Um the stakeholder survey remains open through Friday, January 16th. And we're conducting focus groups with stakeholders to get deeper qualitative feedback over the two weeks. And so all of that input will inform what is ultimately brought to the board. Um so our next steps um we're going to continue to receive and review the feedback on the proposed models. Transportation analysis will continue some refining feasibility and impacts. A summary of the feedback and analysis will be presented to the board at the January 27th meeting and any board decisions will be communicated clearly with further planning for

015possible implementation in 2627. With that, it is um really an important moment for stakeholder voice in this process. Um so we just want to remind people even if you participated in this in the surveys last um in November, we really want you to give us your feedback on the current models. Um, you know, the responses are going to be really important to inform decisions by the board and participation ensures uh decisions reflect real experiences and priorities across the district. And with that, I will turn it back over to you for any questions. >> Are any questions from board members? Member Harold Block. Um I I just want to start by saying I've uh attended all of the meetings last week, the stakeholder meetings, and have been part of a a group um that's talking about

016these, you know, including bus drivers and teachers and uh parents and other folks. And I've been very very impressed with the work that has been done both by the consulting team and by um the in particular the operations staff and communication staff um for the district both to examine all kinds of different scenarios. And so as folks both on the board and in the community are looking for more information if people have additional questions about how did these different things get considered, what was considered specifically these types of things. Um on the website there are all kinds of resources that are helpful. You can watch some of the the meetings that were held and they are very informative and you do get a sense for just how well the uh the formative team looked at

017the available data to try and model out what could literally work. um uh and at as sort of as this says um in the initial set of slides with no additional cost for the coming year um unless you know if things sort out differently but with the goal of not having additional resources needed. So anyway, I I just wanted to encourage people to if they have time and on their own or if they want to, you know, I'd volunteer myself to help work people through some of the data and details that are available on the website to understand more specifics about it. All right. Uh, junior board member Ava. >> Okay. So, I've been getting some, I guess, not necessarily concerns, but questions, uh, specifically from schools who are starting at the elementary school time,

018um, like MLK and schools like that. Um, so does this study affect magnet schools? Like, >> it doesn't affect those optional magnet schools like MLK had, the ones that we don't have transportation to. So, it only impacts those schools that have MNPS transportation. So, um the fact that those were aligned to elementary times, I'm not sure if that was just sort of coincidental or purposeful, but yeah. So, they'll stay 8 to 3:00. The 8:10 to um to 3:10 is for elementaryaries and early learning centers. >> Okay, that was my only question. Thank you. >> Uh board member Elrod, thanks. So changing our school times, I would say, and this is qualitative data, is a 50-50 issue in my district and it seems like it's been kind of a procon 50-50 issue for many years across

019our district, which is probably the reason why the school board hasn't touched it in the past. Um, because it's a hard thing to do and no one's going to be happy no matter what the outcome is. That said, the thing that people do care about the most or they're are the most noisy about in my district is probably transportation. So, my concerns about any of these, but particularly probably the squeeze model because that seems squeeze or shift. Which one is it? Excuse me. The >> squeeze is where there's less time between the >> squeeze was the most popular. I remember from talk from the surveys and from the events that we had. So either one if it's a change it reduces our time to do a quick turnaround or quick change for our buses. And

020I understand and I know it's listed inside of the um survey like it says right here some transportation adjustments are needed which may include longer routes or further distances to bus stops. It was proposed as transportation efficiencies. Um, and of course, most people bureaucratically think that that means we're going to cut where there's fat. I trust our staff that there's probably not fat to be cut. So, those efficiencies are going to come at the cost of longer stops or more space between stops, longer walks, that kind of thing. Do we have a plan whether it's from formative, which I would assume it should be from formative. Our staff aren't spending their time on this because that's why we have the consulting company of what that transportation outcome might be, what the effect might be, what

021the possible steps, what kind of how many what percentage of our stops are going to be affected? Are we going to have to increase our personal responsibility zone? Do we how do we manage this to make an informed decision for our next meeting where we're supposed to vote on this um and make sure that we don't have unintended consequences? Well, uh, thankfully Carl, uh, I believe with formative will be here when we present to the board. Uh, so it's not me having to explain all of these nuance details. Having said that, there will be, you know, a highle look at what we can do. There's not going to be a granular level. This bus stop is going to move because ultimately all of that stuff changes on an annual basis to some degree. So there's

022not, you know, one bus stop that's there for 50 years and that's their time pickup is the same every year. Like it all changes on a regular basis. And so we're not going to be able to get pinpoint accuracy to which specific changes will happen. I think what what the benefit of having them do is they're taking a a deeper look at it, a second pair of eyes, and they're going to be looking at sort of where we might be able to make those changes and shifts that will have minimal impacts on families, but not necessarily no impact on any families, but also achieve what may be the goal of certainly folks that wanted this study in the first place, which is to move high school start times later. though there's there's going to be

023there's not a if there was a perfect easy solution it probably would have been done a long time ago because the board previous boards have looked at this you know I believe it was 2010 maybe 2012 something like that they did it it was kind of the 50/50 and you know no change uh won the day there might be a different atmosphere and different outlook on in this occasion and so it's really important for us to kind of go through these this process to to try to see where people are at but yeah um I think there is a general There's a general idea when you say start school times later, people say, "Yeah, sure. That might affect me." No, please don't. So, like that's where you get into those um you know, it's got

024to be more of a it's got to be a policy decision essentially, you know, small P policy decision about, you know, is that moving start times worth whatever minimal hopefully risks there are. I understand that our bus stop routes change every year based upon enrollment or uh you know transitioned areas or places where people are moving in or housing developments or growth whatever it might be. Uh that said I would love it at the before the next meeting if we could get information from do you say Chad? >> Uh Carl Carl coming up with a new name different gentleman. >> Uh my apologies my apologies Carl. um that if we could get information about what would be their suggestion is it removing and I again am not expecting pinpoint what removing the PRZ you brought

025that up I did bring up that is not the that is not part of the proposal that we are considering at this point that that's that will stay the same >> okay because that would be people would we would need to communicate that more clearly >> that is that is not part of the modeling I think the modeling looks very much more at individual routes and and looking at the time intervals between those and So there might be some, you know, we have on average, I believe, a tenth of a mile uh walk to which is a block, you know, most city street blocks. And so there might be two blocks or something involing that, you know, there there might be challenges for some folks, but that that would be kind of what you're looking

026at. Small to moderate adjustments, but it accumulates over time to save time for those buses so that they can transport within that 45 minute time frame instead of 55 minutes. >> Sure. I just would like to have it more clear so that I'm not making an assumption of what those changes would be. Um, particularly we're not a transportation friendly city. We don't have mass transit. We don't have many sidewalks. We have a lot of specialty stops, which I guarantee I mean I know a lot in my district there's a ton of specialty stops and so that must slow down buses and surely that's something that's being considered. So I would I know my constituents want to know what does it mean when it says that there's transportation adjustments that are needed. Um, and I at

027this time cannot clearly tell them. >> And I think we should be transparent and say we won't have that before um the the board meeting just simply because of what um Sean just mentioned. We reroute every summer because things shift um quite a bit. So to your point, I mean there, you know, students graduate. Well, maybe that was the only student at the stop. We don't make that stop anymore. Developments change and so it will take some time. I think what um is important here is that formative alongside um our team who has been spending a lot of time um on this as well because they've been working closely with the consultants um have kept as a pillar um to this um approach is trying to have the like minimal as minimal as possible of

028an impact and change. Now everyone's tolerance and kind of measure of that is a is a little bit different but they've definitely um tried to keep at the forefront how can we squeeze here make this work without having large impact everywhere. And so, um, that's also why you have the models that you have. Um, just kind of weighing out, um, if we got to touch every route or with a few kind of optimizations here and there, um, we might be able to get to the the squeeze or if if we go that route. I'm not suggesting that that's the route we're going to go. We also have the shift. We also have the option um um of no changes with the start time but um unfortunately because of the routing exercise which is months and

029extensive um for our team we won't have that exact example. I think the best thing we can do is continue to share like what it might mean given u what we're required to do by law. Um and there is some work there because we are we've tried to be a support hub in lots of ways. We've tried to support families um here and there when we can, but it might require us to go back and look at that in order to um ensure we can um meet whatever shifts um that we that the board ultimately decides upon. Um and so I just wanted to just level set on that um expectation. That is something um and I think you feel this, the community feels this. We're always kind of waiting for um their website to

030go live because it takes so much work. Um the good news here though is having um formative doing this pre-work um it will support us um this summer as we look at where those shifts have to take place and what we can do um for sure is keep the board um up to speed around what we're seeing um and what some of the impact may be in this in your respective districts um as we move towards that if that is the ultimate decision. And I keep prefacing that because we've ultimately the board ultimately has not made um a decision on um these particular scenarios. >> If the board makes that decision to change it, however that might be changed. Um is formative providing us with suggestions of city supports that could be used? >> Throughout

031the process, we've kind of looked at, you know, ideas there. I don't they're not going to be able to provide you know it's going to cost X amount of money to do X thing but some ideas on things that might help particularly if we wanted to move in you know to make further adjustments down the road like what would be required things like more before and after care opportunities things like sidewalk uh we've talked about traffic signal improvement projects and and or traffic prioritization so those are conversations that will take place with the city it won't be necessarily just a bucket list of you need to spend this amount on that. But some ideas on what we can do moving forward, both sort of internally as a district and things that we can to track

032information and also what the city can do to help us improve bus not just bus transportation but all multimmodal transportation as well and address some of those family u concerns that related to particularly child care and other issues there. >> Yeah. And I think that's fundamentally one of the um different approaches we've taken with this particular start time study is doing it in coordination with the city because we I mean as a school board and as an administration there are lots of things outside of our control um that could support you know from an infrastructure standpoint um with with traffic and and routes and and stops and such. And so um that was one fundamental shift we wanted to make in this study. Um because there will be responsibility both to us as a district

033but also to the city. >> Sure. Yeah. I think there's some responsibility of not only for our future funding that might need to be incurred because of whatever changes happen with this, but also of course what kind of city planning they might have as well, whether that's sidewalks or traffic changes or whatever that might be. Um, I think my last question is I I want to say I'm correct. It was like 94% of the respondents to the previous email were white. It was 90 plus. >> Uh, we didn't track race. I think you're thinking of English versus Spanish, maybe. >> Boom. Maybe that's it. >> Yes. >> So, they were English- speakaking. However, I will say looking at our enrollment information, we don't have we have a a large percentage of lots of other languages

034spoken. So, my hope is is that we're going to talk about that at our upcoming meetings, whether it's with the Hispanic leaders meeting that we have coming up or the African-American leaders meeting coming up, just so we can reach more community members. Um, it was a bit surprising to me that it was it was just majority uh English- speakaking persons and not >> as a full picture of what the actual enrollment data is. But I know it was a big response and we are proud of that. I hear you and I'm glad about that. I just want to make sure it's a broad enough response. >> Yeah, I I don't know that it's going to be a completely representative sample. I think if you do surveys like this, you tend to find people in affluent

035areas, etc. tend to participate more. Um, but we have been trying to send it out in a variety of different communication platforms in translated languages. I know, um, in our office, Ruben was doing an interview today with Spanish language media to try to get the word out there and and try to get more folks Great, particularly in the Spanish speaking community to participate. Um, like last time 37013, any any support we can get out there to get more folks in Antioch area to to participate would be great. Um, so I mean, we're looking at kind of where the numbers are lining up. I I won't say that it's going to be clear representative sample. And I think it's important for people to know too that when we're presenting this information, it is not a it's

036not like a a campaign poll where they're doing waiting and they're and they're saying this amount. We're going to try to break down the data so that you know you can say see where some of the like elementary families said this or or high school families said this, but yeah, we we can't guarantee that it's a picture perfect reflection of the entirety of MNPS. No, I and and if I could add, not only that in with intention from the team, there was a survey, but there's also the town hall meetings, there's the focus groups. Um I know I personally spoke to a group um this weekend thanks to our S3 team and community achieves. So like there are multiple um avenues and attempts to get as much feedback as possible. Um, again, it's I think

037in anything we do, it's hard to get a a completely accurate correlated um representative group, but um this team again I I shout them out all the time because they have gone above and beyond from a communications standpoint to try to um really garner um as much feedback and engagement in the process as possible. >> Member Maze. >> Uh so yeah, thank you for that information. Um, I did attend the um town hall uh in Southeast Nashville and uh I have a question. I once I started looking at these uh models, I had a question uh specifically I think about the number two model, the shift. >> Mhm. Uh whereas we talk about um you know the later dismissal times could create a situation where buses are in afternoon traffic. My particular concern was with

038um potential behavior issues on buses if the kids are on the buses longer. What are we uh thinking about for in support of bus drivers who may not have monitors? I know our exceptional ed bus drivers have monitors, but our gened bus drivers don't. And so if your children are on the buses longer, how are we managing that behav potential behavior issue? Sorry. Uh well, I think we're, you know, this is something that we're we're we're primarily doing a logistical study on how to get buses to and from. um you know in terms of whether there would be a significant additional amount of time on buses I don't believe that that has shown to be true um with that shift model the idea there was to have that um but you know in terms of

039I know we are always hiring for bus monitors or is hiring for bus drivers as well um as part of the transportation uh routing and and they look at those sort of needs on a regular basis um but I that's not the study itself will not be able to say specifically that, but in terms of aspirational budget asks, if that's something that we feel is a necessary um you know, addition to sort of alleviate some of the concerns of families, it's something that we can request and obviously try to try to hire for. >> Yeah. Three three quick things. We do have some support on some net buses, not all. It just depends on size um in need. So, it's not accurate that we don't have any. We do have um some to um Sean's

040point, we're always hiring um um for that. Um secondly, so when we look at what is possible, that doesn't mean that's true for every route. And so you can be really targeted around where you might need um additional supports. That's been some of the conversations um we've been having u with the city. And part of this, you know, if if you're honestly and transparently going into this process is also thinking about what could and should be true um as well. And so, um, we don't want to limit ourselves by all the things that, you know, could go right or wrong. We want to make sure that we're thinking about what it is we're trying to achieve, um, as a school district and then aligning the supports accordingly. But it is it I I want to

041kind of temper that in that that would be true for every bus ride. That would not be the case. Um, we would only look at that optimization where it was absolutely required. Um, it could also mean the opposite, >> right? It also could mean that there's a reduction because you have filled every seat on a bus as opposed to running separate routes that could take um buses further away from from their route. So I think there's a number of ways to um solve for that. It could require additional um investments and strategies. Um it actually could get better. Um so I think that's the thing that we would need to study. kind of going back to Miss Lrod's uh point as we're looking at those um routes and what would be required then we would

042try to match that with the necessary um supports it could mean the com combining some so you do have additional um support but it would be the full package review. >> Okay, thank you for that and just answer your question. >> No, I just No, no need to. Uh so that answers my question. And I just have one additional I just want to make sure that we are considering that uh that that doesn't get lost in uh the shuffle. But one more thing to consider is uh to member Elrod's point. Um Southeast Nashville is a very high immigration population and we want to make sure that all of our families understand if there are any changes what that how that could impact their families. And um I know to your point Dr. Battle it depends

043on the area. It depends on the school. there could be little to no impact or it could be high impact. But I want to make sure that we're considering um making sure that our uh families uh who are not English-speaking families have as much information uh about these uh potential changes as possible because we don't want the last thing that we need is to create something that we think is going to work and the unintended consequence is that we create a bigger issue for more families. So, uh, just want to make sure that we're keeping that on the, uh, forefront as well. So, thank you for that response. >> I just I sort of the I everyone's asking great questions. >> Uh, I was going to say these questions and then I started to say

044something else, but the questions everyone's asking are really good questions. One of the things that is in here and that I think Sean is talking about and that I know I'm I've spent a little more time on this because I've been part of some conversations that are helping to you know with staff and when we're helping to to vet some of the the processes and then gone to some of the meetings but formative the the second next step listed is formative is going to continue to refine the models um over time and so both between now and when we talk about this at the next meeting and also over time. So I just want to encourage everyone to send these kind of questions to Dr. Battle and team because I think we might be able

045to get formative to look at some of this stuff between now and the next meeting and look at you know we have the we have the options that we have out out and comments and and those types of things. that there it's not this is not I think fully baked yet from the recommendation perspective even right like we're still waiting to hear how people feel about it as questions come up I think it's important to ask them because I think like that's one of the considerations for all of us right if kids are going to be on buses longer and that doesn't seem appealing and we don't think we would have the ability to add resources then we might not want to vote for that type of thing so it's more of like a Let's

046get all the questions out now. >> And educating folks around. There's a state law that prohibits how long a student can be on a bus. So like you can't just do whatever. I mean there are state laws and policies that we have to align to as well. >> Uh vice chair Nabal Kenny. >> Thank you so much. A lot of my questions have been um asked already, but I do have one concern that continues to come up. Um and I and and you may not be able to give this information now, but by next board member um board meeting just just to kind of address that. And I've been to the meeting in uh Madison that was held in some of the online meetings, but one of the question that continues to come up is

047about the switch between elementary and high school. Um it become it I I hear it a lot in the conversation. Um, I've heard some of the feedback about um about it, but if we could kind of get that out there more um about why we're not considering the switch and I know we have Format has looked into that and kind of studied that information. Um, but if we could kind of share it out more um on where we are when it comes to that. Thank you. >> Yeah, I'll just real quick I mean it's not necessarily a logistical technical issue. It's much more of a the feedback that we got. So people like the, like I said before, people like the idea of later start times, but they also want to protect afternoon times. They

048don't want to see uh most elementary families don't want to see big shifts in theirs. So a lot of that came down to both stakeholder preferences. And so both focus groups, that's what we got back from that from this from the surveys from the um from all that sort of feedback is a lot of that questions around what's going to happen to that. So that's why we presented in this way something that can achieve the primary goal which is moving school start times for high schools later while also addressing those sort of ancillary issues that would have would come up particularly if you made a massive shift like moving elementary to high school. But yeah, we can we can try to go through that a little bit more in depth um at the next meeting

049as well and continue to elevate that. But thank you for that. Thank you, >> member Young. Thank you, Chair. Um, I feel like I'm a long ways from being convinced that this exercise has been useful at this point. Um because we are talking it we have two models presented that are 20 minutes in change and the feedback we got and preferences people have is great. I think science maybe is probably better. Um, this still doesn't solve the issue of the of the of the transition from eighth grade to 9th grade and that that start time uh now is a roughly two hours and even going with the squeeze, you're still at an hour and a half difference for an eighth grader who now has two months during the summer to learn to get up an

050hour and a half earlier. I um I'm I'm disappointed to see that in the slide talking about factors informing the model design, there's not mention of science. I I I hope that science and research is part of this because I'm just not convinced that I'm not convinced that we're going to make the lives of our students better and their outcomes better by making a 20minut change. And so, yes, that allows us to check a box and say, "Oh, we listened. We heard people. We we changed the start time because that's what people wanted." But I don't think it's accomplishing what we're actually setting out to do. And so, I guess my my my challenge or my my task that I that I really need from from staff or from the consultants is is give me

051some science and data as to how this is actually going to change things in a in a positive way. Um because right now I'm just I'm not I'm not there yet. And maybe it is cuz and and let me know, but I'm I'm just kind of I want to make sure that if we're actually if we're if we're going to make these changes that we're actually doing it in a way that's going to have positive outcomes for students. And I just did 20 minutes accomplish that. I I don't know. Just that's that's that's just where I'm at if I'm being honest. Uh, member Taylor. >> Um, to somewhat echo what, uh, board member Young is saying, um, I think we we started this process with kind of a purpose and a why. So, I do

052have a question. I just want to put it on the floor. Can we just go over what was the impetus behind us um uh starting this process again at this time? Uh with this timeline being what it is, >> I would say that there's been a conversation for several years about, you know, requests for increasing high school start times. Um as we said, for several years, we were in the middle of the Metro Schools reimagine process for fifth grade transition and that we would we would review that after the fact. It's something that the mayor um talked about on when he was on campaign trail and they helped to secure the funding that was necessary to do this sort of more intensive study of that. So, in terms of the the specific timeline that just

053the funding followed that in terms of the um you know why why it's January 27th, we wanted if the board was going to make a decision to be able to communicate that out to families during the school before the school pro choice process was over. So those are kind of the contributing factors, but obviously um you know the science behind it, the the the desires behind it that there's been plenty of advocacy around the idea of that based on on scientific studies that relate to that. Um so that was the impetus for people wanting a change. Um and so that is kind of what brought us to the point of restudying this. Again, this has been I reiterate it's been studied before by the district. similar sort of processes have happened where there's not there's

054been an even shift on what people want and there's you're gonna you're going to make some people maybe a lot of people unhappy but you know in terms of I I I don't know that we're going to be able to come up with a with a deep scientific research study to show that the 20 minutes is going to make x amount of impact however it is it would be later if we did that it would provide additional sleep time for students So what we have described in some of these meetings is you know do now build towards which is an approach of we are looking at what we can do by next school year. And so you know we don't we don't think that the the feedback the re the what we've gotten from the

055community says that we need to do a massive swap to really upend what we have been doing for a long time that upends a lot of people's careers their family routines all that other stuff. So, and we couldn't put in the infrastructure for things like child care or anything else by August of 2026. So, that's why we ultimately settled on these models as getting us towards, you know, what we heard, which is people wanted a later high school start times, but also reflecting the feedback that we got from those elementary families, the middle families, the the high school families that rely on their older siblings for child care. You know, taking people's lived experiences into account. And so we can point to academic research studies that show that and I I don't I'm not disputing

056that the the science behind that, but you know ultimately this is where we're at in terms of what we believe is doable and what we believe would be consistent with the feedback that we've received. And then ultimately, you know, boards can make decisions. And so what we're modeling out here are tiers, tier tier one, tier two, tier three. >> And so, you know, you can you can play around with that. There are alternatives for swapping and changing things, but this is the most easy to implement and also moves us in that goal. If that's something the board wants to do, if the board is if it's all or nothing, then that's that's a decision, but you're still going to get that same sort of tension between what you your your your end goal, which is

057high school start times later, and the realities that a lot of people face. >> Okay. Thank Thank you for that uh thorough response. Um, and I have a couple of questions, so I'm going to go through them. Um, so what I'm hearing is that the original purpose of this though is based in science. Is that correct? >> Yeah. It's based in the desire by a lot of people to review the start times and and there's been a push over several years for folks to do that. >> I I don't I don't want to say that, you know, the scientific paper landed on our desk and we said we're going to do the study. It's been an ongoing conversation since before I got here. Yeah. And I guess what I'm trying to get at is that

058that ongoing conversation, >> yeah, >> comes up because people are interested in doing what science says is best for our kids. It's not just that people want to change the start time just because, hey, let's change start times. Like the reason why we're having this conversation is because science says that if kids have a later start time that they generally have better outcomes in a lot of different areas, right? And so, >> okay, go ahead. So just like I think everything every factor we brought up you could probably argue it argue it on both sides. There's data and research on both ends um of this. And so what we've tried to do is acknowledge the research and the science that's out there but also applied to our local context. Right? So, you know, based upon

059our infrastructure, the way our city works, how our communities and neighborhoods are established, what's also like fits our context as um as a um school district. So, for for instance, there again just going to the point of arguing this on both sides, in some of these studies, there is a robust public transportation system in um these school districts, which is something we currently don't have at our disposal. And so that leads us to a conversation of then what's feasible for us um here in Nashville. There's also studies both from a short-term and long-term effect. There's a short-term effect, but not a long time long-term sustainable one. There's also research studies that says, well, once you move start times back, students actually just stay up later, right? So, we're trying to balance all the research and

060the science as we approach this. And quite honestly, um, myself and my team have not gone into this with believing like where we're actually going to end. We've just tried to attempt to put all those key factors as you all have surfaced, research, science, preference, context, all the things on the table to make the most informed decision. The reality is is that our current start time has been the way it's been probably since this the consolidation happened between the city and the county. And yeah, we should probably ask like why is that true? Right? So um and I could probably do a um raise of hands. The start times we have today were the start times I had when I was a student, right? And they haven't shifted much since then. And so, um, I

061I couldn't sit here and because I know other boards and school, um, administrators have been studying this. There's been a lot of study and research and it typically does come back in the 50/50 space and then there's this question of can you approach this as a phase like what can we do now? >> What can we build towards? Do we do nothing? Um I have tried to be pretty um um out of the way so that everything that we need to hear, we need to know what's shifted. We also are trying to look at what's shifted in feedback 10 years ago as opposed to today so that we can continue to factor that in. But of course we want to be in alignment with the data um in the science and at the same time

062our students have continued to grow and achieve at high levels. So you've got to be able to balance um all of that out and it's tough. This is this is tough. This is not easy. This is very similar to the fifth grade transition question. We had more of a favorability around fifth grade and elementary school as an example, but it took a long time to get to agreement that we could that it was feasible for us to actually accomplish. So, I get the feelings and the questions and I get it. I mean, this is I was a previous high school principal. I get it, right? I've been in the middle schools. I understand the late end time. Um, I get the needs of our families when it comes to sports and work. Um and so

063I think what is surfacing is just how complex um of a decision um that this is and I um I'm hoping that with the expertise of formative who's who's done this all across um the country um that and they've you know I've had a few conversations with them um we don't want to repeat some of the challenges that have happened in districts across the country who try to make extreme changes like the 7 to 8 or 8:30 30 and I won't repeat those but it was disastrous for students and families and then there were delays when the start of school could start. I mean just like so we want to be very mindful of that and we're trying to factor those things in as well. what went wrong in those scenarios and how can we

064avoid um that as well. But as a reminder, I mean there's also an option I mean there's option to do nothing. There's option to take a step there's option to do something a little more different with with shifting um than we've thought about um in the past. But this team um in my briefings they've explored the switching of um tiers. I mean like they're trying to just put everything out on the table and bring back just their best thinking. And the risk is that, you know, like do we actually accomplish what we're trying to accomplish? The risk is do like the majority of families actually see it um as a positive. But I think we do have a responsibility to at least hear from our um families um from our educators to see if if

065there are even if they're small improvements, are there improvements we can um make? And so I think it's wellreceived the questions that are are coming up on the board floor. >> Yeah, I I appreciate that answer because I think that people just want to know like why are we doing this and if it's not going to accomplish the goal, then let's continue to work on it and do some things differently. Um, and you know, as an elected official, I think we have a responsibility to educate our community on why it's important to make this happen. And I want to make sure that my brother Young over here and myself can go out and confidently educate the folks in our community on why this is important to make it happen and the way that it's happening.

066And so, um, hopefully we can get all the way there by asking as many questions as possible. I do have one last question and, uh, and this is just, um, I was trying to get to it in the session that I attended, but we didn't get there. Um, have we thought about uh doing this by cluster? Um, you know, right now we have a magnet school cluster, I guess, where they have a different start time than the rest of the district currently. Is it possible to start with potentially one cluster maybe? I don't Yeah, I don't want to speak on behalf of the team that's been studying this in the kitchen cabinet, but they have um explored that and there are more and I'm going to use the word equity issues than you could ever

067imagine about doing that. And so we also have to balance that up against what are we trying to solve for? Who are we as a school district and how you start this? And I'm going again to associate this with the whole um stadium turfing and and it's like like how do you make that decision? um as well like you will have some preferences but going back to voice right you also have to consider whose voice is not around the table and so just in weighing all of those factors and just the feasibility given um the resources at our disposal that was one that you know through the expertise of formative and the team that's been studying this that did not um surface and the prefaces of our families that did not surface as one of

068the scenarios but to your point like part of this is like the website and continuing the the town halls continue to communicate to everyone like we hear you and this team is trying to explore as much as possible and the amount of time that is before us thinking about what's feasible um as well um and also like should we be thinking about this in a phased approach like what can we do now or not do now and like what they might look like in the future again I get it on both sides my team has heard me say this at Nazingham I get it on both sides I could argue it both ways U but we're just trying to be as measured, research, data >> driven as possible. >> I asked that question because I

069I've gotten that question and you know the question comes from well certain parts of town may respond to the survey differently because the traffic patterns are totally different in Antioch, right, than they are in Whites Creek. I can get wherever I need to go in about 5 10 minutes, right? And I mean seriously. and uh and so you know we got some space on our side of town if you want to come join us but it's a it's just a totally different change for certain parts of town than it is for others and so that's why that question came up and uh and so I know that we have data related to where the responses are coming from and maybe being able to parse that out to see if there's a difference from one side

070of town on the responses for for the shift versus the squeeze and uh and seeing what that looks like at all. >> And to be clear, Antioch is a different planet. It doesn't even exist in Nashville. >> You just have one question. >> Yeah. For the second time. >> All right. I'm going to um end this discussion because it's literally a school night and we do have school. Okay. Um and so we want to move on uh for those who have to get up early and work tomorrow. Um so Dr. Battle. >> Yes. Thank you so much. Chief Brace said um again thank you to all your board members all the board members for your questions. You don't if you want to send questions up um in the in between time please do that um

071so the team can come together and be responsive to those. I'm going to call a quick audible here because we have the leaders from um the Lawson cluster here to share their journey map with us. So we're going to go directly um to them and then we'll end we'll wrap up with our AP conversation. Is that okay? Okay. All right. So, um, Chief Bellamy, if you can kick us off, we'll go to Lawson and then we'll come back to our AP conversation. >> Let me, uh, get us there. >> Good evening, Dr. Battle, board chair, and members. Um, it's my pleasure to introduce the Lawson cluster this evening to you. MNPS Reimagine calls us to design learning experiences that are guaranteed, personalized, and applied so that every student is known, supported, and prepared for what

072comes next. Tonight, it's my pleasure and we are excited to share how the James Lawson cluster brings that vision to life. Across the elementary, middle, and high schools, we have built a coherent K through2 journey rooted in leadership, advanced academics, and meaningful student voice. From early leadership development in elementary school to personalized service and academic pathways in middle schools to applied college, career, and community experiences at James Lawson High School. This cluster is intentionally aligned to ensure students graduate not only ready but also equipped to lead while embracing the leadership principles of the Reverend James Lawson. What you'll see tonight is not a collection of programs but a connected experience designed to deliver on the promise of MNPS reimagined for every Lawson student. And I feel like Dr. James Lawson, Reverend James Lawson, probably said

073it best. Um, and this quote really exemplifies what you'll hear from uh the loss and cluster and what they're trying to bring to life. That when people decide they want to be free, there is nothing that can stop them. This ties beautifully to student agency leadership development and the MNS reimagines focus on empowering students to shape their futures. And I'd like to turn it over to the Lawson cluster to tell you exactly how they are empowering their students to shape their futures or futures tonight. Thank you. videos right after this. There's something unique happening out in West Nashville. An educational cluster of public schools striving to reach higher and have a transformational impact. Not just in Middle Tennessee, but across the nation. With student and staff diversity that reflects our dynamic and internationally known music

074city, the James Lawson cluster is truly something special. >> One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Consisting of four elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school, the Lawson Cluster provides a rich and diverse educational foundation. James Lawson High School stands as the heart of this community, benefiting from, contributing to, and proudly representing a cluster committed to excellence. Hello, my name is Dr. Steven Schaefer, and I'm proud to serve as the executive principal at James Lawson High School. We are the newest high school in the MNPS family, and our work is shaped by six key priorities, each reflected in the name Lawson. They also are inspired by the legacy of Reverend James Lawson, our namesake. These priorities guide everything we do at Lawson and across our entire cluster. Leadership,

075advanced academics, workforce and college preparation paired with individualized student support, and opportunities for our national community of diverse learners. Lawson, it's more than just a name. It's our mission. But don't just take my word for it. Allow me to introduce to you our incredible cluster schools through the voices of the people who know them, the executive principles themselves. >> Harpet Valley has been in the community since 1939 and we are truly a community school. We value our community volunteers, our parents, the support that they provide to us, and we have a phenomenal teaching staff and group of students. Um, we really strive to have that small community feel. However, we have over 840 children teaching boys and girls character traits and some of those character traits of James Lawson of being a servant leader of

076serving his community. And for me personally, as a member of the Belleview community, it is truly just an honor um to be able to work and live in the same Belleview community. The Lawson Cluster, I think, is a great community-based uh public education. It's well-rounded for students. They get a little bit of everything at their choice. Gower serves a diverse group of students. Our staff is diverse. They've we have staff members that have been here forever, but we also recruit new staff members that bring a new perspective to us. Uh we pride ourselves in being able to serve the whole child, the whole student from prek all the way to fifth grade. Gower is a great place to come every single day. We are positive. We're upbeat. We're ready to serve. We never stop trying.

077We never stop being a team and making sure that we're all taken care of. Uh and that's what we pride ourselves in. We're a partnership with our families, our communities, our staff, our students, and our teachers. We're all on that same team making sure that we're all successful. This is a neighborhood school which makes us a little bit special. All of our students um are in zone and so they either walk or ride the bus or in the car and so we work together. We have we eat together at the restaurants. We go to the same grocery stores. We are truly a family um here at Charlotte Park and about 60% of our students don't speak English at all. We are truly family oriented oriented. We want our parents to be in the building. We

078want our parents to be involved and and we have a special heart for those students who need that language support and I think that really brings those families here and um keeps them here in the cluster and it's it's really special to be a part of that. So here at Westme we are teaching our students the Lawson way. I want you to talk to me about what does it mean to be a Lawson leader. >> It means to act, think before acting. >> So those are all the qualities that we talk about each and every day with our peers, with our classmates, and we try to model those things. >> Well, two weeks ago, we had a food drive. Where's over 1,400? >> They were overflowing, weren't they? >> Yes, they were. >> We're teaching

079them how to spread positivity with their peers. We're teaching them how to share their gifts. We're teaching them how to lead by example, thinking first, then acting, and then acting courageously. >> After completing one of our excellent preK through fifth grade schools, students continue their learning at one of our two outstanding middle schools, HG Hill Middle School or Belleview Middle School. >> We're actually in our 25th year celebration as a middle school. I am humbled to be the principal here where we really holistically help all students and families. Uh restorative practice school where we specifically teach SEAL competencies throughout our PLT and content classes as well as being an AVID school. Uh for example, you'll visit 10 colleges and universities uh through us by the time 6th through 8th grade um goes through. We want

080to prepare our students for Laughlin College and beyond. So continuing that cl that cluster work is really important for us. >> Almost all of our students in 8th grade now move on to Lawson High School because they believe in everything that's happening uh at Lawson High School and throughout the Lawson cluster. I feel great serving in the Lawson cluster. Um this is my cluster, my personal cluster. My kids are all in uh Lawson cluster schools at Bellev Middle. Thank you so much. >> Uh and at Lawson. >> So, personally, it means a lot to me to serve in the Lawson cluster. But even beyond that, uh it feels great to be in a cluster that has momentum, a cluster that has a lot of positivity surrounding it, has the cluster that offers so many amazing

081things to all of our students. So, I couldn't be more proud uh to serve as principal in the Lawson cluster. And finally, students arrive at our flagship, James Lawson High School. Lawson is Nashville's newest public high school nestled in the beautiful hills of Belleview. Our $150 million 274 acre campus opened back in August of 2022, where students can earn advanced credits through AP, dual enrollment, and dual credit courses, as well as industry certifications in their chosen field. In fact, if we don't have what you need, we'll work to create it. So come on board and join the Lawson cluster. Hello everyone. The reason we have such an amazing video is because of the incredible AV Academy at Lawson led by Richard Stewart. Senior Deontay Young filmed a large part of the footage. They are here

082with us tonight. So please give them a round of applause. We want to thank them for their loss and leadership. We also want to recognize Abigail Tyler, our District 9 school board member. In the elementary tier, your child will begin their guaranteed experience building a strong foundation of leadership through student centered and studentled academics, community service and character development. Each month, students focus on one of six characteristics of Reverend James Lawson referenced in the video, and they practice these traits through academic conversations, community service, and peer leadership opportunities. As you saw in the video, our student council leaders organized a food drive initiative for local families impacted by the government shutdown and loss of food benefits. They collected more than 1,800 food items in just a few weeks. providing muchneeded relief for several families just

083in time for Thanksgiving and it showed them firsthand the impact of their service to the community. As students complete the elementary tier, having consistently demonstrated evidence of the Lawson traits and community service, they will earn a Lawson leader certificate of achievement. This provides the middle school tier with a pre-identified group of emerging leaders from the start. As students move into middle school, they will continue with the strong academics, partner connections, and positive school supports focused on the James Lawson leadership traits. In middle school, students will now be challenged to identify where they can make an impact in their community, as students recently did this fall in the first Belleview Service Day. As students progress through middle school, they will curate a service portfolio and will receive special recognition of completing this work at their eighth

084grade promotion ceremony. When students arrive at James Lawson High School, they can choose from a wide range of academic and extracurricular opportunities that build upon those skills that they developed in our cluster schools. Students like Carlos step into leadership roles at the school level through programs such as marching band. Remis applied her passion for learning and service by pursuing an AP capstone diploma and serving on the mayor's youth council. Christine, some of you know her, elevated her voice to the district level by serving as a student representative on this very MNPS school board and Dair was captain of three varsity sports while becoming the first Tennessee student to serve on the JAG national board. These four students exemplify the experiences available to all students and show what is possible at James Lawson. Through our GPA

085cluster work, f future students can earn recognition as James Lawson leaders by demonstrating the leadership qualities developed in partnership with the James Lawson Institute. The Lawson Cluster is more than a group of schools. It's a movement to cultivate leadership and academic excellence in every single child. Inspired by the legacy of Reverend James Lawson, we empower students to develop traits like courage, empathy, resilience, qualities that drive success and advanced academics and beyond. Our students don't just learn, they lead. They model these leadership skills among peers, strengthen their school communities, and engage in meaningful service that impacts the world around them. Lawson is not just our name, it's our mission. to thank you tonight for your leadership in the tradition of community leaders like the Reverend James Lawson, our student council president, Riley Taylor. Tucker, I'm sorry,

086Riley Tucker, and our vice principal, our vice president, Liam Ward, will give you guys an honorary Lawson leadership certificate that our fifth graders will leave when they go on to middle school. Thank you. I like your suit. >> Yeah. >> I know. It's like >> How about a round of applause for Lawson and our student body president, vice president. >> This is too cute. As we close, I want us to sincerely thank our Lawson principles and their uh executive director who leads this cluster in the reimagine work, Dr. Carl Carter. Uh selfishly, I got to participate with Lawson at Splash last year and it was one of the highlights of my summer and so it means a lot to get to stand in for Chief Perry tonight to get to introduce them as well. But

087I want to thank them for their leadership and for bringing this journey to life tonight. Your collab collaboration across the cluster and your commitment to the MNPS reimagined are evident in the coherent student- centered experience you've designed from kindergarten through graduation. What we saw tonight reflects learning that is guaranteed, personalized, and applied. But maybe more importantly, it reflects a deep belief that every student is known and capable of leading. Thank you for your dedication to our students, our community, and to turning vision into meaningful impact. Um, and I'll just close with a little ad lilib. Who wouldn't want that for their child? And so, thank you again to the Lawson Cluster principles. At this time, Dr. Battle, I'll turn it back over to you. >> Thank you so much. Um, Dr. Bellamy, thank you so

088much to um all of the leaders of the Lawson Cluster. Um, y'all just continue to move the needle um in the right direction. Greatly appreciate you and our student leaders. Amazing. Um, thank you for your leadership. We're super super proud of you all. Um also to um our audiovisisual um uh teacher and leader and student just great work um with their production. Thank you for leading the way um as well. And Dr. Carter, thank you um for your continued support. Um Chair Play, I'll turn it over to you to see if there's any questions or acknowledgements um from the board. >> Okay, I want to give member Tyler first privilege since it's her cluster if she wants to say anything. I mean, I don't know how I can it I feel like y'all undersold how

089amazing you are because it's impossible to put into words what great schools you have. And I have been in each and every one of your schools every single year, multiple times. I have seen your students. I know your students. My kids are your students. And you're doing a great job. I am so proud to be affiliated with you. I am so proud to represent you and I'm so proud of the work that you're doing at your schools. So, thank you for your time, for coming out here, and for your expertise and what you do for all of our students every day. >> Any comments, questions? Okay, we have member Mazize. Lawson, Lawson, Lawson, y'all won the day. Okay, very well done. And uh the first time I was at Lawson, I thought I was on

090a college campus. that school is beautiful and you do amazing work and so kudos to each and every one of you for continuing to support our babies and do such a fantastic job. So, thank you for being here tonight. >> Thank uh member Elrod. >> Thank you. I was going to add to that because the school is so beautiful and of course we we appreciate the leadership at Lawson. I also want to say thank you for always letting us come and take over your building. Um we've used it for many things. Uh, and I know that's not always been easy to do and so I appreciate y'all's flexibility. Uh, Belleview is known for having fierce community advocates. One of the first people I really got to work with here on the board was Amy Frogue,

091the past school board member for that area. And one of the the first things I knew about her was that she liked Gower. And Gower was amazing. And I needed to know more about Gower. And I did not know anything about Gower because it was clear across town except for that it was an elementary school across town. Um and so uh I appreciate how much y'all work with each other. You advocate for each other. Um and I think that is shown through the not only the beautiful school that you have out there but the um not not attrition rate but the whatever who's who gave the rate of it was like 86% of the middle schoolers still go to Lawren they go they continue on. That's a really impressive number and y'all should be really

092proud of that. That shows some good continuation between each grade band and each grade level. That that shows that y'all's work is building upon each other and you should be really proud. I thank you for waiting against all of our questions. I'm sorry you went second. Um and we appreciate you being here tonight. Thank you. >> Uh student board member, senior student board member. >> Yes. Um, I believe I heard something about college visits in middle school and I just want to say like how huge that is coming from a senior in high school. Um, I think I've probably seen just about as many uh colleges as you guys said that you're giving your middle schools opportunity to see. So, that's really big um for me in post-secary readiness. I brag on Overson all the

093time, but Lawson is honestly known for having really great hospitality. Um, the Plaza Schools Conference was held there this summer. Um, just a really great school with great students to compete with, and I love Remax and I love Christine so much. So, thank you for bringing them and giving them such a great experience at Lawson. >> Vice Chair Nibal Kenny. Um, I told Dr. Schaefer that we'd have 20 questions for him tonight. Um, he told me we can't. Okay. But I I just want to say great job, great presentation. We learned a lot about um the Lost and Cluster. I was sharing with him earlier that um that I was part of the team that started Cane Ridge and at the time we thought Cane Ridge was phenomenal. Um and it was the IT school

094until I got over to Lawson and was like, whoa, they stepped it up a lot. Um so, thank you so much for all you do, everyone in your cluster. We truly appreciate the work that you do day in and day out. Um and um I have one other thing. Um, uh, Emin, uh, executive director says her son's name is Lawson. And so he was so proud that the school was called Lawson because it attributed to every student being known and they loved him so much that they named a school after him. So I just want to put it out there. Thank you. >> Anyone else? Well, thank you, Lawson Cluster. You had a phenomenal presentation. Very high tech. So um, very impressive. Um, and so thank you. And I know it's literally a school night

095as I said earlier, so you're welcome to leave so you can go finish prepping and more importantly, get a good night's sleep. >> Thank you. >> And thank you to the super who are beautiful and dapper today in their lovely professional attire. Leadership. Leadership in the making. So dear. >> Um, now we uh will move on to public participation and we will have the honorable property assessor Vivian Wilhoy come up. >> No, I'm not. We're trying to be so the flow. >> Honorable chair, I've made the request, but of course we have our amazing first vice president here to speak on behalf of our social action committee and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. Hi everyone. My name is Tiffany Wley and we don't have any certificates for you. So I'm sorry, but it is an

096honor and a privilege to stand before you on behalf of the Nashville Alumni Chapter Delta of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated and our president Shandra Vasser because we are a chapter with one mission anchored in legacy rooted in sisterhood resounding in impact. Since our founding in Janu on January 13th in 1913, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated has been committed to sisterhood, service, scholarship, and social action. These are not just words to us. They are principles that shape our work, strengthen our communities, and define who we are. At the heart of our mission is the fivepoint programmatic thrust. economic development, educational development, international awareness and involvement, physical and mental health, and political awareness and involvement. These pillars guide every initiative we undertake, ensuring that our service is intentional, impactful, and responsive to real community needs with

097a social action component initiative. Through partnership with Metro Nashville Public Schools, the Nashville Alumni Chapter brings these principles to life. We work to invest in our youth through mentoring through mentoring scholarships, literacy initiatives, and college readiness programs, helping young girls see their potential and step confidently into their future. We advocate for educational equity, support families, and collaborate with educators, many who are deltas, to remove barriers to opportunity. Our sisterhood strengthens us. Our service connects us. Our commitment to scholarship prepares prepares the next generation. And our dedication to social action ensures that we do more than serve. We lead, we advocate, and we transform. Delta Sigma Theta Incorporated is not simply an organization. It is a movement. On this 113th Founders Day, we re rededicate ourselves through Delta Day at the school board together with Metro

098Schools, the National Alumni Chapter, and it Social Action Committee to remain steadfast in our mission to serve with purpose, to lead with integrity, and to build pathways for generations to come. We look forward to more partnership opportunities. We are social action. Thank you. Thank you. And if I could add, there were a lot more here earlier and and so we thank you for your service. >> Thank you. >> Oh, thank you for >> Yes. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. >> Um, no, thank you for standing and going through the democracy process of going through uh as we um have deliberations. So, thank you for watching and observing that. So, thank you very much for coming. Um, now we'll go over to um, Chief Chin and present on AP um, AP. >> Yeah, I'm clear on how.

099Thank you. >> All right. Good evening, board. >> Good evening. Uh this evening I'm going to be presenting to you in a slightly unusual order about advanced placement or the AP program in our district. Um and the reason why we're focusing on this tonight is not only because this is a critical advanced academics program at MNPS uh but also because it is uh specifically critical to the Lawson cluster and their strategy for delivering advanced academic experiences for our students. Uh of course you've all seen this slide multiple times. College and career readiness status is the state's evolving accountability indicator uh that uh designates whether or not uh they meet a particular standard that shows they are ready for college and for high wage high demand careers. Um as always there's four ways that a student

100can earn that CCR status. Uh a passing score on the ACT which is a 21, a passing score on the military entrance exam or the ASVAB which is a 31. Successfully earning college credit through an early postsecary opportunity. one of the advanced courses listed below. So, not just taking it or taking the final exam, but actually earning credit in that one course. Uh, or earning a high value industry credential, which the state designates as tier three, or a middle value credential, tier two, and at least one other credential, either tier two or tier one in that case. Um, and below you can see all of the different options that our state provides uh for EPSOS, which are those uh advanced courses that students can take to prepare them for college. And in the Lawson cluster,

101who you've just heard from tonight, uh, four of these opportunities are provided. AP, dual enrollment, statewide dual credit, and industry certification. Uh, this is the list of opportunities that are available in Lawson High School. So, we're going to talk a little bit more about AP. I suspect this is a program that many of you are already familiar with, but it's still a great opportunity to just uh reflect on why these courses are offered in the district and what value they have for our students. So AP or advanced placement, I'm going to keep saying AP from this point forward. Uh the AP program offers college level coursework for students in high school. And uh the program is overseen by the college board, which is a national nonprofit. And the courses have to align to those national

102standards that are set by the college board. uh so much so that actually every AP teacher in the country is required to submit their syllabus for review and approval by the college board to ensure that these courses are at the uh the rigor and the expectation that the college board has set. At the end of the AP course, a student can take uh take it a culminating exam uh upon which they can earn a one through a five, one low, five being high. Um and in general, even selective colleges will award credit for students who earn a three or higher on these exams. uh so they can be extremely impactful in terms of our students being able to complete college credit while still in high school. Uh so there are multiple ways that taking an

103AP course gives our students advantages when it comes to college attainment. Uh first of all, national research shows that students who take AP courses and earn a three or higher are more likely than their similarly situated peers to finish college and graduate on time. Uh this is very likely due to the extent to which students who participate in these courses get exposed to highly rigorous coursework that prepares them uh for college. Uh but additionally, even for students who don't earn that three or higher, just getting a one or a two, those students still do better than peers who don't take AP courses. Not necessarily as well than of course than our students who pass. But even just being exposed to that level of of rigorous coursework, even if for our students who don't pass that

104exam, it still means they're better set up for college. Um, additionally, research shows that those largest boosts in college success come from taking one or two AP courses because that helps build those deep academics habits and confidence so that our students are set up for college level rigor when they get there. Uh, the AP program at MNPS uh is very advanced. Uh, we offer AP courses. Right now, we have more than 5,000 students in the district enrolled in at least one AP course. And these are universally available courses in the district. So, every single one of the MNPS high schools, every single one of our high schools, including zone and otherwise offer uh at least uh one AP course. And in addition, if the specific AP course that our students are not are interested in

105is not available at their high school through the AP for all program, our students can also participate in additional virtual AP courses um at their at their own campus. Um, and again, I know this isn't the headline, but we have extremely strong participation across the district with more than 5,000 students currently participating in at least one AP course. Um, so of course because of the scale of that that work, uh, our central our support hub are we centrally provide significant resources in addition to all of the resources that are being provided at our schools to ensure that these are highly successful programs in our high schools. So first of all, something that makes MNPS truly unique among school districts is that there is no cost to families for participating in AP. So MNPS uh centrally

106covers the cost of 100% of AP exams. It doesn't come out of our school's budgets. It doesn't come out of any budget. We out of our department budget pay for every single AP exam taken in the district. So there are no out of cost pockets to our families for participating in these programs. Um second, we fund significant educator support. So the AP program requires all teachers participate in college board training and MNPS um our advanced academics department covers the upfront cost for those teachers. In addition to that, of course, our schools through their studentbased budgets may invest their own resources in continuing to provide those expansive professional learning opportunities for their teachers who offer these courses. And last of all, we see that these investments are having a such a positive impact in our district.

107AP performance in our district has strengthened significantly going from a 34% pass rate in 2020 to over 60% last year. So that means 60% of our students who Thank you. Yes, let's applaud. So what that means is 60% of our students who attempt an AP class, a AP test. And again, these are college level courses earn a three or higher on that, which signals to both to them and of course in their college applications that they are ready for college um and ready to participate in the rigor that colleges offer. And with that, under normal circumstances, I would have turned it over to our colleagues in the laws and cluster. But instead, I will turn it back over to Dr. Battle. >> Thank you so much, Chief Chen. Um and again just um incredible work

108by you and your team and strengthening um our EPSO portfolio, all of our industry certifications, just advanced academics. Um we greatly appreciate that. We saw that um represented in the data you shared um which is also congruent with what we've been seeing with our graduation rate. So um again, kudos to you and your team. I will um yield the floor um board chair to see if there's any questions um for Chief Chen before we conclude our director's report. >> Uh thank you for your uh flexibility and your patience through the audles. Um member Mazize. >> So Chief Chen, I uh almost jumped off my seat when I looked at this last side slide. No cost to families, 100% coverage of AP exam fees. That is huge. That is huge. Talk about uh equitable access for

109all of our students. That is huge. And to go from 34 to 60% friend. Wow. Congratulations. And thank you for sharing this information. I can't I can't say enough how amazing this is. I'll be sharing this out at my community meeting next week so all of my team uh my con constituents understand what we're doing. and the fact that we have 5,000 students enrolled in AP courses, we need to start talking about that a lot more. So, that is huge. Thank you so much for all you do. This is amazing work. I appreciate it. >> Thank you. Um member fame question whose responsibility is it to like let that information be known at a high school level about the AP courses that are available the pricing being comped at 100%. Is that on a guidance

110counselor, administration staff, >> everyone? >> Is like whose responsibility is that to spread that? Because as a parent, a fellow parent um with a kid that was pretty smart and a part of his high school, one of in his recruitment process, one of the questions or concerns from the college was AP courses. Um, and so we I I didn't know this, you know, prior to being on the board. I didn't have any knowledge of this. And so I just want to make sure moving forward in our schools that the parents have what they need, you know, and are getting the resources so that they are being able to to have access to it. If that makes sense. >> Yeah. I jokingly say it everybody, but it really is everyone's responsibility. One of the things that

111um through the strategic planning of our office um of strategy um has been that we had this long-standing pretty long-standing policy um around no cost and access um for our students but it was not being widely um communicated or enforced. Um so we did have um too high of a percentage of students who were um enrolling in the courses but not actually sitting for the exam and providing the no cost was to guarantee that students who are enrolled in the course would also um sit for um the exam. And so um we have taken that on as part of our office of strategy communication is everybody's responsibility but of course our principles our guidance counselors our college and career um um counselors and support teams are all um being trained um and we're following up

112to make sure that these opportunities are communicated and readily available um to everyone. We also have strengthened our um student registration um course um master scheduling process um to complement um that so we have a better grasp on kind of the tracking of um access for our students and just really digging into that data. And so that's why you see um such a significant increase. Um that doesn't mean we are where we ultimately want to end, but we're on a pretty strong path to the communication and the responsibility to ensure that our students don't miss those grant opportunities. >> For sure. Thank you, Dr. Battle. Thank you. >> And can I also plug because this is about specifically AP. Um but remember, we offer almost the entire suite of EPSOS um in our district. Um

113there was only one left that uh McGavic High School will now um begin um to offer exploring to offer. Um and so um it's it's AP. It could be AP and dual enrollment or dual enrollment. It could be dual credit. It could be I mean a number um uh Cambridge um IB. Um so we just want to make sure that students have kind of a a package of portfolio of options and that's part of the reimagine work which is why we're sharing the journey maps. uh junior student board member. >> Hi. Okay. Um so as as APS have a lot of mental struggles on students and this is me just like saying that as I've taken a lot of APs and I I know peers that have taken a bunch of APs their senior, junior

114year, all that stuff. Um and they have a lot of mental strain on them. How are we providing help to students to support them in this process so they can be as successful as possible in taking their APs? >> It's an excellent question. Um, so lots of ways of course. One is, you know, our district invests more in mental health supports and in those wraparound services for students than frankly any district I've worked with. Uh, and I have, you know, been in this field for quite some time. So, our prioritization around ensuring that we have strong mental health supports on our campuses to make sure students understand that those resources are available um and that students can access those as they're feeling that type of pressure and that kind of strain. Um, of course, in

115addition to that, we want to make sure that at your schools, you're getting all of those kinds of academic supports as well. So my team works very closely with our schools to make sure that when it comes to things like content recovery, content supplements, um especially through those AP courses that our advanced academics team is providing those resources so that teachers are equipped with the resources that are necessary to then flow through and support our students to acquire that as well. Um, and then last of all, um, I hope just, uh, you know, as someone who also many many moons ago took a lot of AP courses, um, I I'm really going to cheer for you in that because some of the stress that you're feeling is so similar to the kind of stress you're

116going to feel in college. And that is, um, you know, the idea of an anti-fragile system. That kind of pressure is really what's going to prepare our students. Positive pressure, right? positive pressure prepares our students for college in the kinds of experiences you're going to have as you encounter those additional rigorous curriculum uh as you continue on to college. So, some of it is we want you to have those supports, but we also want you to feel some of that stress in a really positive way uh because that's what's going to get our kids ready. I I'm sorry, I always say kids, but I know you're not kids. Um as we get our students ready uh to continue on to college. >> Okay, perfect. Thank you. >> You're welcome. uh senior student support member. >>

117Um I just want to touch on member pain and everything you said with your question kind of answering from a student perspective. Um so students are in the middle of making course selections for next year right now sitting down with their counselors talking about what their transcript has looked like in the past and what might work for them in the future. You know um I don't go to a school with a whole ton of APs. Um but what I can say is that students are mostly sovereign unless there's a parent extremely involved in their academic um journey that they select the courses that they want. Um and it's really important to recognize that 5,000 students are sitting for these tests and they're going through this really hard course work. Um, and even at a school

118where AP isn't like really popular, but it's demanded by students because it is one of the most popular episodes and it is one of the most widely accepted EPS episodes for college credit. Um, in comparison to maybe Cambridge or dual enrollment that isn't accepted, um, everywhere or just as widely. Um, but yeah, just providing students with, like you said, those online options like AP access for all. Um, I was able to take a course through there and it was just as enriching as probably the classroom would be. Um, and then also not charging our students for the examinations, knowing that there are other schools out there in neighboring counties and such that are charging their students to take tests when students can be taking anywhere from 1 to seven AP classes um, is really huge.

119So, we're grateful for that opportunity. >> Thank you. >> Um, Vice Chair Nami and then member Tyler. >> Go to member Tyler and then come back. >> Member Tyler. Um, so one of the things we talked about when we were talking about the student dashboard a while ago was how are we how can we build it up? How can we get make it better and a better experience for what students and and parents want? And one of the things we talked about was um having the information on the student dashboard that could flag the available coursework to them. So you would qualify to take this AP. You would be just to let them know. Is that something that ever happened? Is that an available? >> So, it's not in it's not yet in our dashboard.

120Okay. But if the data and the communications happening, yes. Um, so our office of strategy has done an incredible job um of flagging that. You see that both in episodes, you see it in university MPS scholarships like we're being um even more transparent and the the frequency um of getting there. One of the advancements we have made is in our academic planner um for um particularly our high school students. And so um what students can see by way of their counselors, teachers, and principles is an academic planner where they can see their four-year journey up against right the um um kind of the scope and sequence of their classes. I for I'm thinking of the SP and what is available to them. So we have built it out in our academic planner. It is not

121a system that a student can just sign in for themselves. But if they are planning alongside their counselor, that's something that um we are now enforcing that we have those four-year plans in place so students can see um what's available to them. And again, I'm going to plug what's happening with our journey maps from preK all the way 12th grade. Part of that is building coherence in our system so that students and families, not just when it's your junior or senior year, but you can see what those opportunities are from the earliest point of entry. And so part of that work is that coherence in that cluster. Um because as we know, if students sometimes in some course works and programs, if students don't have access in middle school, they don't they won't have the

122prerequisites in order to participate in high school. And so we're trying to shore that up so we don't um inadvertently um have a student unable to access a course because of that. >> Yeah. Okay. That's perfect. Thank you. That's good to know. Um and then just as somebody who comes from a background where my expertise is gifted and academically talented students and that's who I worked with majority of my time in the classroom. Um I I have found that if you cannot meet their roof when they're really young, they get to this point where it get becomes scary to fail and it becomes um really difficult to want to push forward in the face of adversity because they have made their identity as being the smart one, as being the one who already knows the

123answers. And so one of the things that I like about offering classes that push our students is forcing them to find that wall and forcing them to figure out that there will be times where it will be stressful and that there are times and not just in a class in life where you are not going to have all the answers and that's impossible. And so what do you do when it's a safe place? When you are in an area that is safe, that has uh people who are there to help you, where we have mental health um experts surrounding you to to give you the support that you need, where there are teachers that you hopefully trust, that you can talk to. Hopefully, you're still trusting your parents and talking to them about the pressures

124as opposed to being on your own as an adult without all of that support system. So offering that support system to a student so that the first time they meet a challenge is not when they're an adult but before that time. And um we see that that struggle happens more with our gifted kids because they don't meet a struggle. And so I really like being able to provide students with a more rigorous more challenging pushing them to find that edge and to recognize this is this is hard. I hate this. This is the worst. I feel terrible. But also, you're learning how to deal with that stress and you're learning how to deal with what it feels like to feel like you're failing even though you're just learning. And how do you deal with that

125internally? And it's so difficult. It is difficult for adults. It is difficult for everyone. And so, we want to be able to provide the most support possible. And if you are seeing from your friends, from yourself, from people that you know where those needs are not being met, then we would like to hear about that because we want to keep pushing you to not know the answer. We want to keep pushing you to hit that wall so that you are forced to figure out how do I do how do I work with this emotion and this feeling and still succeed. And so if if you can see different and more ways that we can provide better support, please, we want to hear that. Or even if you're saying, you're telling me the support's here, but

126I don't feel it. How can we make that known to you? What would you hear that we could be able to say? This is available. How can we make it more obvious? So just I think it's important that we keep pushing. I think it's important that we keep offering the hard difficult courses so that we learn how to live with that and and figure out the way to keep moving forward, but also we need to do it in a safe way that respects everybody's mental health. And so we need the back and forth conversation and that's part of why you guys are here. So please talk to us more about what else we could do above and beyond what's already happening. So thank you, >> Vice Chair Nadin. Thank y'all. I apologize. I I had

127a it lost me. Um so to Dr. Battle's point around that that progression into advanced coursework starting from elementary through the middle school tier and into um high school. I agree in the importance of making sure that we're preparing kids from that young age all the way through. Um when we talk about AP, um are there pre-AP courses that are happening within the middle school tier? Can you talk a little bit about that? Um and also, um do we have as a part of the re-imagine work? um uh what's offered in in each tier around advanced coursework so that families know what's available within their clusters or can we provide something like that that could be showcased around what type of advanced coursework where whether it's um you know spec uh like like we're reimagining

128the McGavoc cluster that offers all of that how can we have some graphics that we can put out as well as schools can put out about what the offerings ings are and what the opportunities are. >> And I'll start by answering that question. Again, I'm going to plug our journey maps. That's what that is. And that's what's coming out of this is the production of what's available um particularly through the advanced academic courseware that's required as a requirement as a part of the journey u mapping. So yes, and that's what this is doing. And then do you want to kick off talking about what's happening in each? >> Yeah, happy to. Um in in addition of that um much of our advanced academics offerings by cluster and by high school are also available on the

129website. So student families families can look there even before we started this journey mapping process. Um second of all you asked about advanced coursework in elementary and middle school. Um honors courses have been a critical part of our strategy that we are now doubling down on for exactly that reason. We also do offer AP programs and part of our strategic plan in the space has been to build out that preap model as well. Um, so that is an area of focus for the advanced academics department as we're trying to scale this work. Um, last of all, I know uh board member Tyler spoke about this, but we've also been um we have a new gate coordinator who's been on the team for about three months now um after uh Dr. Smallwood retired. And one of

130our strategies with that has been to also figure out how to use those gate that gate capacity and the talent development work as a elementary through middle school bridge to accelerate student readiness for advanced academic coursework. Um so those pieces together in addition to of course the fact that our guaranteed and viable curriculum is deliberately selected to prepare students for college readiness. All of that work fits together to make sure we're truly preparing our students for that rigorous academic experience when they get to high school and then they're ready to translate that to college. Thank you. And and and I know we're we're talking specifically around GATE, but we also have students that may not necessarily qualify for Gate, but have the skills and and ability to enter into some of those advanced coursework uh

131opportunities as well throughout that continuum. And I know that the district has done a lot better in providing a access and opening doors of opportunities for any student who wants to um explore and um be involved in that and and and so I really appreciate the work continuing and continuing to expand and tighten those opportunities. Um one other question that I had uh nope. Um that's okay. Uh but the other thing around um when we talk about rigor to the junior school board members note and also um our senior school board member one thing around the word failure that I love to communicate is failure is your first attempt in learning and so as you continue with that learning continuum there's always going to be opportunities where we tighten up and improve upon and build

132upon that learning process. So just think of it from that perspective as a growing model for um achievement and growth in in whatever you're trying to do. Thank you. >> Um me >> yeah. >> So first of all the five if am I right in thinking that 5,000 students is basically like 25 or 30% >> 33% of high school students. So that's just like that's also the number is impressive, the percentage is impressive and I suspect that that rising from 34% to 60% is at the same time as we've had a growth in the number of students who are taking. These are just like facts that as we talk about them in the community I think are significant to see gains in all of those different ways. Um, I wanted to put in a plug

133for and I'm going to make a a request to do this in uh for families in my cluster, but um like I was just on the parent portal just now looking at my kids academic plans. Um, and I can make some sense of it, but there are still questions I have and the question Abigail was asking about like can also uh course information and what you can choose be available next to it and that is true. There's some of that's available. I would just I and I know we have some trainings available online for folks and I know that parent university does some stuff, but the more we can get like hands-on at schools opportunities for parents and families to come and see somebody like literally like click through. Here's what I look at for

134this. Here's what I look at for that. >> Get your phone out. Do it with me. Like there's just we we have your team has put a wealth of information together. I mean, maybe this is happening and I don't know about it, but >> No, I I was just going to plug. So, it's kind of one of those I'm glad you asked because in a in a couple months um and I'm looking back at Chief Norris um we have um a phenomenal group of parent leaders who are going to be putting on um a summit for other parents um from their perspective of how they've gleaned insight and the tools that they use and resources um for things like academic um planning. So, I'm really excited about that. Be on the lookout. We'll be announcing

135the date and location and all the good things um here really soon. But I think it's one thing for us to keep saying it. We've been saying it a whole bunch of different ways for a long time. Um but I'm hopeful that as our parents and our students um show their expertise and proficiency in this, they will be able to speak in different ways and showcase um what's available um to everyone. And so this is a space that we'll um be in and I'm looking forward. I'm so excited. they've already been having planning meetings um to our parents um sharing with other parents um how they can support this very um conversation that we're having. So that's just one example. Sarah and her team have a plethora of other things um that they're also doing

136to complement that. Um but this is um just a new territory for us that we're really excited about. Is that all the questions that come member fame? Um, >> when does the road map pick up for the students again? That road map that follows them through the trajectory of their when does it pick up like elementary? >> Um, so the road maps we've been sharing, we're trying to start from prek, kindergarten, um, through their high school graduation. >> Okay. So, another question, if they transfer like in high school, they won't have that road map or do they start their road map from like 9th grade until they graduate? >> So, there's a few different moving pieces here and Sarah, please feel free to chime in. Um, so there is the road map where you can

137see based upon your um family decisions around the courses you're enrolled in. So, you can see like part of this is clarity around if I stayed in the same cluster and I chose these schools, what will it look like? Um we also are building out um transition plans um for our students at every transition year. Right? So if I happen to move from one cluster to the next, there is a transition plan that's already there based upon where students are and what the student and the family is aspiring to do. So the new school can then um adjust and build the plan um from there within their respective. So it could be um in in this cluster they are they have the uh PYP program in this cluster um they have a different program so

138they can match like what that what that might look like. Um so they we also have that and then we do have the student progression plan that is represented in the student dashboard um so on and so forth. So what we're trying to create is this system of 247 access um for educators, for students, for families, for everyone to have this road map at their disposal and to be able to make adjustments um where needed. Now, there are some state requirements that dictate some of this for us, right? And so um we're also trying to build out that kind of student profile, if you will, um by also layering in by state law, you also have to do X, Y, and Z. So, it's not completely flexible, but where there is flexibility, we're trying to

139bring clarity. >> Yeah, that's awesome. I think that's excellent. When are we going to be putting this out or >> It's out. It's out. And again, yeah, it's really about us like the journeyman just building coherence. Okay. And everything that we're doing, we want to make sure that our >> How long have we been doing this? >> We've been doing this for last couple years. When did we start a transition plans? About three, four years ago. Chief Norris. >> Yeah. It's it's been it's been three between three and five years ago we started building um this out and now we track um the completion of transition plans. So we started it and now like it is required that every student um completes the the transition plans and so to >> we're getting better. >> Yeah.

140Yeah. And so I think from my experience we were a transfer into MNPS. We didn't start with them. We were in private school first. And so I think like that transfer into MNPS, I don't know. I just feel like sometimes you there especially from a high school perspective like maybe we probably would have started elementary or middle school but I just think there's just a loss of communication sometimes and so >> and you what you probably felt is um >> but also that was not three years ago either. You know what I mean? So that's why I was like when did we start? Because I was like we didn't get any of that. I didn't get any of that. So yeah, I I think that that's that's awesome. >> Know where you are, but don't

141expect that. So we have acknowledged where we were and we're trying to continually improve upon that process. >> For sure. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Chief Jin. >> Thank you, Jen. Sorry. >> And thank you for your uh for your patience and your endurance. Uh we will now move on to consent agenda. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? >> So moved by members. Is there a second by Vice Chair Kenny? All in favor say I. I. >> Any oppose? It passes unanimously. 8 to zero. Uh we will now go on to uh board reports. Uh we have one for the budget and finance committee. Vice Chair Nabon Kenny. >> Uh come on now. >> Okay. Uh I'm sorry. Um during budget and fine and finance, we went over

142the capital uh spending plan as well as review the capital improvement budget um throughout that process. Uh for more information on that, feel free to go back and look at the budget and finance um the budget and finance uh video uh with more detailed information on where we are. Um, as far as the uh the capital spending plan, we covered um all the the budget that was approved through the mayor's office and the metro council that was just approved. Um, and that is um construction um for our Antioch cluster, new elementary school, early learning hub, and McGavoc High School. We also talked about uh deferred maintenance and districtwide projects um that will be uh worked on throughout the 2627 school year. Thank you. Be no further business. We are adjourned. This has been a service

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