001Good evening. We'll get started in just a minute. Mrs. Schop, are you ready? >> Okay. Good evening. I am calling to order the regular board meeting of Monday, January 26th. Mrs. Shopee, may we get a roll call, please? Yes. >> So, uh, Tom Henkins is not able to be with us this evening. Carol Fox >> here, >> Amy Levy >> here, >> Megan Miller, >> present, Brian Nichols >> here, >> Joanne Rue >> here, and Tia Johnson >> here. >> All members are present except Tom Henkins. >> Thank you. Can I get an approval of the agenda with the removal of item 4E legislative update as the legislative liaison Tom Henkins is not here tonight? >> So move >> second. >> Motion by Amy Levy, seconded by Brian Nichols. Any discussion hearing? None. All in
002favor? >> I I >> I. >> Any oppose? Motion carries. Our next item tonight, we have the Hackit team led by the dean of students, Mitchell. I'm sorry I didn't catch your last name. >> Chrisen. >> Crispen. Mr. Crispen is relatively new to the school district of Bo. So, thank you and welcome. We we're glad to have you here. And he is going to introduce his students just now. >> All right. So, we have two students with us today. We have Sayiana and Jalia. Um, both of them are fifth graders at Hackit. They have um always been students who excel at everything they do. They walk down the hallways with smiles. They show all the kids what it's like to be a Hacket Hawk all day long. [applause] I pledge aliance to the flag of
003the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Dean Crispen. We really appreciate having representation from Hackett here tonight. Next up is the president board report. Good evening and thank you for joining us tonight. We appreciate your continued interest in and support of the school district of boy. Last week, the Wisconsin Association of School Boards held its annual state convention. Board members Carol Fox, Tom Henkins, Amy Levy, and I attended a variety of sessions focused on governance, policy, and emerging issues in public education. Participation in these sessions help ensure that our board remains informed, engaged, and responsive to state level initiatives that directly impact our district. In February, I will invite these board members to share some of
004the knowledge, insights, and reflections they gained from this experience. The benefits of attending conventions are numerous. One that is often understated is the opportunity to connect with board members from districts across Wisconsin. These conversations allow us to compare policies, examine best practices, and learn from one another's successes and challenges. While every district is unique, there are often shared concerns reflected in the convention's breakout sessions. This year, one topic of interest was the 2527 state budget and its potential impact on local districts and student outcomes. Another concern, while not primarily addressed at the convention, was discussed among attendees. the presence and activity of ICE agents in and around public school buildings nationally. About a year ago, the school district of Elite released its immigration officer compliance protocol. I encourage all staff to review these procedures related
005to interactions with immigration enforcement. I have also requested that Dr. Anderson review the protocol and update if necessary to ensure continued compliance with all federal and state laws. Providing access to education for every student residing within our district boundaries is not optional, nor is it a decision made here at the local level. It is a federal requirement. In the 1982 Supreme Court case Plyer versus D, the court ruled that states may not deny students a free public education based on immigration status. Under this ruling, school districts may not deny admission to a student at enrollment or any time due to undocumented status. They may not treat students differently in determining residency. They may not engage in practices that chill or inhibit a student's right of access to school. They may not require students or parents
006to disclose or to document immigration status. They may not ask questions that may expose undocumented status, nor may they require social security numbers from all students as this may re reveal immigration status. While we uphold our legal responsibilities under immigration law, we we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing the same educational services to all students. Our priority is to maintain a safe, welcoming, and supportive learning environment for every child and every staff member. The board of education remains dedicated to thoughtful student centered decisionmaking and responsible policy development. On a personal note, I want to ask that we all pause before commenting, posting, or reposting information unless we are absolutely certain of its source, its accuracy, and its truthfulness. Please remember that students by and large come to school because they want to learn, to
007grow, and to build a future. No child should have to live in fear simply for attending school. I encourage we all practice patience and compassion for those who may be different from ourselves. different in skin color, ethnicity, religion, economic status, gender identity or sexual orientation. We are all Bloy proud and that pride must include everyone as we continue working to strengthen and improve the school district of BIO. Together, we are making progress and building momentum for our students, our families, and our community. That concludes tonight's report. Thank you. Next, we have upcoming events and announcements. Board member Carol Fox. Thank you. Good evening. Um, these are the announcements for Monday, January 26, 2026. Welcome back to our staff and students after a long cold weekend. Um, we hope everybody stayed warm. On Thursday, January 29th,
008the fourth, fifth, and eighth grade students will hold math 24 district tournaments. They will be held at Bo Memorial High School in the library and run from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The sixth and seventh grade tournaments will be held on Friday, January 30th in the same location and at the same time. The Office of Alumni Services is accepting nominations for the Alumni Hall of Fame award. The nominees must be a graduate of Bo Memorial High School to be considered for the award. Nominations must be received no later than midnight on February 2nd, 2026 using the nomination form. For more information, go to boitschools.net and then to the alumni page and select alumni hall of fame. The League of Women Voters and the NAACP will be hosting two forums, one for schoolboard candidates and one
009for city council candidates. The schoolboard candidate forum is planned for February 19th at 6 PM. Please be there. Um, city council is scheduled for February 26th, also at 6 pm. I encourage you to be there, too. Um meetings coming up and being held at the Kolak Education Center include uh naming committee for the Bullet Memorial High School Stadium is tomorrow, Tuesday, January 27th at 5:00 pm. On Thursday, January 29th, there's a special board meeting at 5:00 PM. On Monday, February 22nd 22nd, On Friday, February 2nd, policy and human resources committee begins at 4. On Tuesday, February 3rd, the teaching, learning, and equity, pupil services committee begins at 5:00, followed by the regular board meeting at 6. Um, this concludes the announcements for tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Fox. Next, we have public comment. Mrs.
010Schop, are there any public comments tonight? >> Yes, I have two in the room and I have two emails. >> Thank you. Let's begin with the two in the room, please. >> Okay. The first one I have is Melissa. Just go to the podium. >> Thank you. Members of the public are welcome to attend all open meetings of the board of education. Individuals attending board meetings are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful and courteous manner that models appropriate behaviors for our students. Individuals wishing to comment are expected to comply with the norms found on the back of your comment cards and in board policy 187, public participation at board meetings. We ask that each of you contribute to maintaining a respectful and orderly meeting and prevent discussing confidential matters in public forum by following
011these norms for public comments during board meetings. Thank you for your participation and courtesy. Melissa. >> Yes. I'm here to talk about safety concerns at the school systems here in Bo. My son was recently attacked a few weeks ago and the fact that nobody ever reached out to me is quite alarming. Um the police officer said it was attacked and if he was a few years older, he would have been charged with assault. Um I guess I'm just trying to get answers. Why are we allowing violent students in classrooms with kids that aren't violent? And when they, you know, they're doing these acts of violence and they're let back in the classroom with no supervision whatsoever. Nobody came for my son. He was attacked the entire time until the bell rang. Um, he was then
012I had to bring him to the hospital for his injuries. Um, again, nobody reached out to me besides our teacher that was not involved. I want to see our school system get safer for our kids because they all do deserve a great education regardless of their backgrounds, history, whatever. But I want to make sure that my child's getting a good education in a classroom he feels safe in. He now wakes up with nightmares. Um he's scared to go to school. Um and I I you know, you're going to lose students left and right if we don't get these classrooms safe. It's not fair on the staff. It's not care. It's not fair on the other students that show up um ready to learn and to my knowledge it's about 20% learning. The rest of it
013is violent. They're correcting behaviors in the classroom and that's an issue and I just want to see it resolved. I want to I want to see us do better. Otherwise, these little kids that are nine that can be charged with juvenile offenses, sorry, I'm not a public speaker. Um they're going to end up in a in a in a different system and we have to do better for that. they need maybe being separated and being reintroduced um back to the regular schools at at that point or a different classroom. But we cannot have our children in school for eight hours a day and only 20% of it is when they're being educated. That is an issue and we need to solve it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Melissa. Mr. show. The next one I
014have is Andrea. Good evening. I'm Andrea Cleland and I'm here to speak about the proposal for the literacy program with the Hendricks Family Foundation. And I'm happy to see them in the room, too. All of the paperwork I have in front of me is the research I've been doing and I have a lot of questions as a parent. Um, one of the and an advocate. I'll put that out there too. I work with the families in our district and have for years and when I'm looking at the proposal, the first thing I want to say is I am struck that one of the stakeholders is not families. And that is a huge piece that um I know that when we look at the success of the Lincoln Academy, which is also in the information on
015the website, that that is a huge component of the literacy success and the success of the Lincoln Academy, which is in tandem one of the um identifying not just um competitive factors, but also the um one of the sorry the um important facts that we're looking at when we're looking at raising all of the children's competencies in the city of Boe and I want to just make sure that we're looking at our families being a part of this because our families are the first teachers for our students our families are the places where our students go home and they need to be at this table. And as I'm looking at the proposal, it is also a gift and it's been transposed as a um money, as a grant. And what it really is is a
016gift with some strings attached that we want to look very closely at because it is important that we understand what it is that we're buying or being gifted into. And some of the things that when I'm looking at the proposal is three years is not a long time and the money is a lot of money. And when we write grants or when we give grants, I'm involved in both sides of that coin. We have strategic planning that goes with it. And when you're looking at the programs that are attached to this, there are pieces of it where you will be needing to look at how you sustain those programs when they're successful and they're likely to be successful. So in three years, how do we make that sustainable for the growth of the students and
017make that perpetuate as we continue to look at our growth as a school district and the success of our students and make it more than just 60 students at one elementary school. My final concern um or question I guess in looking at this is the piece of it where you're looking at um staff buyin and how do you add that metrics to it that was very unclear because the target seems to be move a lot of movement in there and not specific. So I would like those things answered as you guys look at that proposal. Thank you. >> Thank you Andrea Mrs. Schae. Okay, I have a couple emails. The first one I have is from Cheryl and she says, "I am writing to request that if you vote this evening that you vote to
018accept the Hendrickx Family Foundation grant. While I would prefer that you adopt a phonics-based curriculum so children can learn from the beginning at SDB in lie of that. This is a wonderful opportunity to not just increase scores but actually give some children the opportunity to learn to read instead of falling further behind or never catching up. In my opinion, it would be unconscionable to know that some children's reading ability could be improved with this program and you choose not to accept this opportunity. Anyone who votes against this is making a bold statement about what they really think of the children. Thank you, Cheryl. And the other one I have is from James. Thank you for the opportunity to offer public comment this evening regarding board agenda item 5C related to literacy and student learning. I
019do so with respect for the responsibility you carry and an appreciation for the importance of the decision before you. Across my career as a superintendent and school leader, I've worked in districts facing significant academic challenges as well as districts that were functioning adequately but had not yet realized their full potential. One lesson has remained consistent. Meaningful and sustained improvement in literacy does not result from isolated initiatives, however well-intentioned, but from a coherent systemwide approach grounded in research and implemented with discipline over time. The urgency surrounding early literacy is real and wellounded. When students are not reading proficiency in in the early grades, the consequences compound year after year. At the same time, experience and experience also teaches that urgency alone is not enough. Sustainable turnaround occurs when boards, administration, and faculty are aligned around a
020comprehensive plan that connects curriculum, instruction, professional learning, assessment, leadership, and accountability into a unified system. In recent years, national investigative reporting and longitudinal district case studies have reinforced what many practitioners have long known. Sustained literacy improvement occurs when districts adopt coherent research-based systems, invest deeply in educator capacity, and commit to implementation with fidelity over time, not when reform is treated as a series of disconnected initiatives. External [snorts] resources and philan philanthropic partnerships can play an important and constructive role in this work. When thoughtfully integrated, they can accelerate progress and expand capacity. However, their impact is greatest when they are clearly embedded with a broader district-wide strategy, one that leverages every available resource, establishes clear expectations, and commits to monitoring implementation and results with fidelity. The central question, therefore, is not simply whether a particular proposal
021has merit, but whether it advances a coherent research-based plan capable of producing the level of import improvement this district seeks and deserves. Acting without such coherence risks fragmentation, waiting without discretion risks stagnation. The work before you is to ensure that action and alignment move forward together. Strong boards are not definitely but unanim but unonyimity or the absence of debate. They are defined by their ability to make disciplined decisions in complex circumstances and to keep students especially those most in need at the center of every dis discussion. Communities gain confidence when they see clarity of purpose, consistency of direction, and a commitment to sustained improvement rather than short-term solutions. Thank you for your service and for the seriousness with which you are approaching this issue. I hope this this moment contributes to the development of a
022comprehensive coherent literacy strategy that meaningfully elevates [snorts] outcomes for bloit students. That's it. Thank you, Mrs. Sh. Our next agenda item is student board report, but our student board representative is not here tonight. So, we will um put that in a future agenda. Next, we have the superintendent report. Dr. Anderson, >> thank you. Most most my items were in the schoolboard bulletin, but there are two I'd like to bring to everyone's attention. Uh, one actually relates to one of the public comments tonight is one of the uh, items that we have been working on is to create an alternative ele school for those students that are um, disruptive in our current and may take away learning from others and it may not be the best setting. Uh Jeff Stenrose has been working with the elementary
023principles and also the uh middle school and high school principal to take a look at um what we could have up and running for next year. Uh in the first meeting of March, I will be putting that on as a presentation because we should have that up and uh running uh for the next school year. So, it is an alternative for our elementary schools to have for disruptive students that the current um educational programming is not meeting all of their needs. We also will have a program at Fuszen similar to the one they have at Aldrich, but we will have that as a board topic um for information uh for you at the beginning of March. So, I just want to let you know that that's coming. Um, it was one of the things that
024we had when I first came that I thought was a need. Uh, Jeff Stenworth has been working on that and I just want to know that in March we'll be giving a presentation on that so that should the board uh agree with us uh we can make it operational in 2627 school year. The other item I'd like to bring to your attention is that the school district is being um visited by state superintendent Jill Utterly. Uh this will be next Wednesday. She's visiting our CTE department. Um, so we've been working on how, not we, I should say Jeff and Emily and high school staff have been working on uh the programming, but she is coming to visit us next Wednesday. Uh, so I just wanted you to be aware of that. That's all I have.
025Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Our next report is the Policy and Human Resources Committee report. Chairman Brian Nichols. Thank you, board president Johnson. Um the policy and human resources committee met this evening at or this afternoon at four o'clock and we had a had a very good uh discussion and um talking talking about substitute teacher and pair professional compensation and uh that that item was moved to the full board uh for late later this evening for approval. And we also exhibit uh approved the exhibit employment recommendations exhibit A and also move that to the full board for approval. And that concludes the policy and HR committee. >> Thank you. Next we have teaching learning equity and pupil services committee report. Chairwoman Joanne RP. >> Yes. Thank you. Uh so we met tonight and
026talked about the learning and pathways in environmental science through our partnership with the environmental center, the Welty environmental center, all of the great programming we have first grade um through sixth grade and then again um what we have available for our high school students. Um, we also had a um an update on the recovery high school model that is being um designed by Missy Beavers and Eric and their team. Um, and then Michelle Elliot uh gave us a quick presentation on current reading instructional practices. She gave us a quick overview of the um reading curriculum we have American Reading Company kindergarten through fifth grade um with its systematic phonics it's rich knowledge base um and then uh it's also recommended by many states um that have passed legislation lately and then we have an action
027item item um about an open enrollment space uh coming to the full board tonight. Thank you, Mrs. Rue. Our first board action discussion item is approval of naming cons committee membership. The purpose of this is to ask for an approval of the attached names for the naming committee to consider the request to name the high school stadium after John Hineki. Are there any questions? >> Just wanting to clarify. >> Go ahead. >> Sure. Um, I'm sure that there'll be other folks of course interested as well. And since it's been a minute since we've done a naming committee, I just wanted if we could clarify if if other folks are interested in um, you know, joining the meeting as non-committee members, would you address how somebody might do that? >> The meetings will be posted and
028like all other meetings, they're all open to the public. So any person who's interested in topic in which we're discussing is able to attend. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. I would entertain a motion to approve the membership for the naming committee for the for for naming the high school stadium. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by Brian Nichols, seconded by Joan Rue. Any discussion hearing? And seeing none. All in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? Motion carries unanimously. Our next item tonight is the resolution authorizing the redemption of the taxable general obligation school improvement bonds series 2012 C dated September 17th, 2012. Dr. Anderson and Director of Finance Stephanie Elwood. >> I'll turn it over to Stephanie. Thank you. Um at the last um uh finance committee meeting, we did a presentation
029about the debt that we have for the district and this debt that we would be paying off. The district already has the funds in fund balance for fund 39. So we would just be paying off the current debt that we have. Um it is a fund 39 debt. the all of the funds were previously um levied for um and there would be a savings to the district of um I believe it's a little over $300,000 by paying off this debt early. >> Thank you. Do any board members have questions for Director Elwood? Mr. Nichols, >> uh we the this uh sheet that we just got answered one of my questions. The other one is um are there going to be any taxpayer liability that would come out of this early payment? >> I'm not sure
030I understand your question. >> Well, we we've just been through this with with uh tax bills. So, I just want to ensure that there's not any tax taxpayer liability coming down the road because of this uh payment. >> So, the money that we have in fund balance was money that was previously levied. Okay. So previously paid for by the taxpayers and that is what is in our fund balance that we'll be paying this debt. >> Okay, good to know. >> So no, there would not be an additional tax. >> Just want to just want to cover all the bases. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any other board member questions? >> Thank you for that question, Mr. Nichols. was one that I had to especially after this um tax cycle and my husband went and paid
031taxes today and [laughter] I got to hear him grumble. Um so is there a go ahead Miss Miller? >> Thank you. Sorry. I guess just what just for the spirit of sharing information with folks um roughly I know like in the past when we've paid these down we've been able to say like this is really kind of like saving like x number of dollars like in interest and I think you delineated that but just for the sake of making it public if you wanted to speak to that. >> Yep. And it was it's on your page on there as well but it is uh $313,649 is the estimated savings. >> Thank you so much. Go ahead. >> Oh, Miss Mrs. Levy, >> thank you. Um, just in the spirit of transparency, um, thank you for
032this. This is very informative. Can we get this uploaded in board docs so the community is able to view this as well? >> Thank you. >> And my apologies. It is on uploaded on the board docs from the finance committee meeting and it didn't get translated. So yes, I will send it to you. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Sometimes when um we have reposts, we lose the attachments and and so bear with us as we work through that process with the diligent brand. Okay. Is there a motion to approve the resolution authorizing the redemption of the taxable general obligation school improvement bond series 2012 C qualified energy conservation bonds direct payment dated September 17th, 2012. >> So moved. >> Oh, sorry. Second >> motion by Brian Nichols, seconded by Megan Miller and
033Mrs. Shel. Help me out here. Roll call. Thank you. Roll call, please. >> Carol Fox, >> I. >> Amy Levy, >> I. >> Megan Miller, >> I. >> Brian Nichols, >> I. >> Joanne Rue, >> I. >> And Tia Johnson. >> I. >> Motion carried unanimously. >> Thank you. Our next item tonight is the Hendricks Family Foundation grant proposal. The purpose of this is to to discuss the grant proposal from the Hendricks Family Foundation. Lisa First Seth presented at the December 16th, 2025 board meeting during public comment. The board then discussed the proposal and asked additional questions during the January 5th, 2026 business meeting. This will be an opportunity for board members to receive additional information from Mrs. F from Ms. Fersth based on questions sent to her from the board and Dr. Anderson as
034well. We'll seek any clarification in the discussion. Dr. Anderson and Miss Faith. This is the first round so we get a chance to better understand the proposal, get our questions answered. As was already stated, we have another meeting on Thursday in which we'll be listening to representatives from open literacy and skyrocket. So that eventually will come uh during the month of February to where this will actually be an action item. But tonight and Thursday night our information gathering. >> Good evening. Uh first off, I just want to thank you for allowing us time to come and have this discussion tonight. We're really looking forward to it. Um and so I don't forget later. Also, thank you for your service. What you do is a heavy lift and it does not go unnoticed. So our goals
035tonight are ultimately to respond to some of the questions that you submitted. So thank you to those of you who submitted questions in advance. And ultimately what we hope to do is walk out tonight with a common understanding of what this proposal is and what it isn't. We're going to try to touch on things like our motivation, what the offer is. Whoops. The selection of contractors, how did we narrow it down to these people? We're going to touch on some budget information. talk about the partnership that we're looking for sustainability approval and ideally we're going to leave most of the time for Q&A. So, we're going to start out talking about uh why we're here really. And I'm blessed tonight to have two colleagues with me, Jen Trop, who is in the trenches doing this
036work with me every day and may step up and help me answer questions as needed. Um Brent Fox is also here. Brent is a member of the Hendrickx family and a member of the Hendricks Family Foundation board and he's actually going to start us out. >> Good evening everybody. Uh as Lisa said earlier, I want to echo her thoughts and thank you for your service and for the opportunity to speak to you all tonight. Um, I'll start by taking a few moments to maybe reset the conversation uh and attempt to clarify and talk about why the foundation brought this proposal forward in the first place. At the end of the day, we, the Hendricks family and the Hendrickx Family Foundation, we care deeply about the kids in this community. This is a fundamental motivator for
037our foundation and what we do. I think if you look at all the grant proposals that we've provi all the grants that we've provided they provided in most cases they all have an educational component behind them or somehow impacting kids in a positive way. Education has always been central to our work and we're willing to make an investment that gives the boy school district a chance to try some new strategies without adding financial pressure to your budget. We know this would be a calculated risk on your part and our part and we're going to take some chances and that's why we've structured the proposal the way we did as a family and as an organization. We support many efforts that strengthen this city, but we also know that if >> [snorts] >> um if we
038don't address what isn't working for the kids, it becomes harder for the entire community to move forward. Education touches everything. poverty, safety, economic development, housing, neighborhood stability. It all connects back to how well we prepare our kids. I also want to acknowledge something that's come up in the public conversation or in the public square. There's been a suggestion that because we support the Lincoln Academy, we can also care about the children in the district. This is uh unfortunately this is blatantly false. We believe two things can be true at the same time. Our [clears throat] family and our foundation have supported education in blo for many years long before and well beyond the founding of the Lincoln Academy. The Bit Public Library, Discovery Place, Rock County Christian School, Career Tech, Blit College, and the Boy
039School District are all examples that have been part of that commitment over the years. Just because the Lincoln Academy has intentions for expansion and growth doesn't mean our family and the foundation will ignore the continued the continued needs of the rest of the students in the blo community and the boy school district. This grant proposal is offered as a means to assist the school district in a focused education on reading. Reading is the most fundamental educational element a person can acquire and learn. Without the ability to read, a person's ability for further learning becomes substantially more at risk. And the ability to function in society comes with overwhelming hardship. Please consider this proposal so that we the entire community can try something that is working in other communities and give the children of this community
040a chance to explore their true potential. It's a test. We're going to try something new that's working in other places and we're willing to put some skin in the game to help see if that test can deliver some results. We appreciate your time and thought you're giving to this proposal. I know it's you got a lot to think about. We also understand you may decide it's not the right thing. what whatever decision you make, we trust it will be grounded in what you believe is the best for the kids and we're grateful for the care you're taking as you consider it. Thank you. Thank you, Brent. So the elements of the offer, you have some of this information, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time here, but the first element of the
041offer is intensive coaching and school culture work. This is the core foundation of the proposal. It's the highest cost in the proposal. I took the opportunity to listen to your TLA meeting from a week or so ago, board member Fox. I think you honed in on that piece right away. This is this is the base of the proposal we selected. Working with Skyrocket Education, the work would be directly led by the founder, Michael Sanbert. The dosage we've discussed in contract discussions with Skyrocket is based on the idea of three days a week on site. That's intensive work. Skyrocket was selected based on their proven value at TLA. We did not explore working with other contractors. Skyrocket has been a critical important partner for the work at TLA. We worked with them our highest in our
042highest leaders work with them for a year before we opened the doors and they have been in the school ever since. We're willing to offer some of what has been demonstrated to work to the school district of Boe. Uh you've asked about third-party research studies. There aren't any that speak specifically to Skyrocket. So what I'm going to talk about a little bit is their accountability approach as an alternative. Accountability is the central tenant of what they do. I'll tell you, board member to board member, I love having them in the building. It makes such a difference to have a coach working with our team on a regular basis. Something Mr. Sanbert said to me one day was, "Do you work out better when you have a coach on your next to your side?" The reality
043is is sometimes you do. What they would do coming into the school is they do a school-based audit. They would work with your school team to develop outcome measures that are school level measures, all focused on accountability. Typically, they're focused on things like student attendance, discipline, teacher retention, staff surveys, always student outcomes, and things like report cards. And the materials we submitted to you originally, you can see that there's roll up. They work with lots of different schools and the data they keep track of is generally across the system. How are their schools doing? Highintensive literacy tutoring. So we selected working with open literacy. The proposal includes 60 slots with a dosage of three days a week for 30 minute sessions and open literacy asks for 85% attendance or the slot be allocated to someone
044else. What we put in the proposal was 20 2020 first grade, second grade, and third grade. That's a recommendation. We backed into that through conversations with open literacy. They tell us their sweet spot is first and second grade. Okay. But third grade, right? We all know what happens in third grade. And if we miss that runway, what happens for kids long term? That's where we landed. All that said, the district would have the ability to define the target for those slots. You can choose first grade, second grade, third grade. That's up to you. You can choose the children that need it most, so they're at the lowest level. You can choose children that are close to meeting proficiency to push them over the edge. Our request would simply be that once those decisions are made,
045we implement that across the system with fidelity so that we can help assess whether it's effective or not. As you know, it's a virtual model with certified teachers. It's relationshipbased with consistent delivery. Open Literacy recruits, hires, trains, supervises, schedules, and fills slots if somebody's absent, so children don't lose intervention time. For us, open literacy was appealing because it's scalable. It's 60 slots and it's almost a turnkey solution. So, it minimizes the responsibility of staff in the system to add to their workload. We wanted ease of implementation on your part. Again, you've asked for evidence of effectiveness. We really learned leaned into the emerging research around what constitutes high impact tutoring. Stanford's done some work, others have done some work. Open literacy checks all of the boxes for those design standards. In addition, there's a research
046piece done by the Center for the Research of Public Education, and it's a study on an Oakland pilot project that we'll be talking to you about. It includes both an evaluation of the intervention itself as well as an assessment of the tutoring partners they worked with. There was three in that pilot originally. They shared privately. I can't uh release it publicly, but John Hopkins is currently doing a follow-up study regarding the Oakland pilot, and that was made available to us as well. The last element of the offer is funds to support staff bonuses and compensation. You know, the bottom line is really we know staff will have to work harder, do things they're not used to doing. Accountability will increase in different ways and we think they should be recognized for that work. We would
047encourage structuring that as a schoolwide bonus so you have a team or a tool for team alignment. That said, I think there's an openness to dialogue about how the funds are ultimately used. As long as it's a tool to support staff, it drives alignment and it helps us improve outcomes. So our selection decision-making you know when we were looking at providers we looked at founder qualifications and experience references experience in similar urban environments you know bo is a small town but it's a small urban town and we all know that so where of these folks worked I will say that the open literacy participation in the Oakland pilot project was compelling to us for a couple of reasons s one is um it started several years ago. It was uh it started in 18 Oakland
048schools. It went to 33. They're now implementing across the district. And something that was compelling to us about that is it was also financed by the EatL, Learn, Play Foundation, which is Stephen Curry's foundation. And so they have experience working in that sort of triage team of philanthropy, district, and provider. And that is really helpful. Board member Miller, you asked a question about reading core. Did we consider reading core? And I'm just going to be frank and say we didn't. Um, and we didn't really for two reasons. Um, and I'll talk a little bit about TLA for context. Our instructional leaders brought longstanding relationships with Reading Corps with them when they came from Milwaukee. Reading Corps was interested in expanding. Our team welcomed that and we implemented it. This year we have two tutors on
049site. Last year we had two and a half but had to reduce that because of budget cuts. Reading Corps recruits, selects, trains, supervises, compensates tutors. We have to provide an on-site supervisor. There's shared data of course. Year to date, TLA has been able to serve about 40 scholars. So again, if you think about scale, there are advantages to open literacy. The other thing I'm going to share with you is Reading Core has made a number of entre to the Blo District previously to try to develop a partnership. They came to us at one point because of our relationships here and said, "Can you help us?" We tried. There was no expressed interest in that program. So, that didn't seem like it would make sense to us. All of that said, this pilot would not prevent
050the district from exploring that in other schools, and we would certainly do everything we could to help with that exploration. Ah, a question was asked about why not community-based tutoring. Honestly, our board spent some time talking about that conversation as well. But the bottom line is research clearly cites distinct advantages of inschool models, particularly when you're trying to serve the hardest the highest need students. There's also seepage benefits. That's my word, not a research word. um in that you can make connections to tier one instruction and connections with that tier one teacher. There's also research emerging that suggest that it it helps have an impact on attendance particularly on uh scheduled tutoring days. All a win. Um, there was a question asked about whether or not an investment in early literacy might better serve the
051community. I would just say to you, we certainly support the early literacy efforts in the community. We need all hands on deck, right? We need to be doing all of this work. And we've demonstrated that with a million-doll commitment to the Discovery Place project, a half a million dollars for capital to help make it happen and a half million dollars over five years to help make sure they can operate as they open. Uh there seemed to be some questions that we heard about our relationship with open literacy. We don't have one. You know, we learned about open literacy from other people we know in the education environment. We did our own research. They don't work at TLA. We're using Reading Corps, not both. And we don't have any other business or organizational relationship with Open
052Literacy. Um, we've already talked about our relationship with Skyrocket. Um, and the other thing I would just note is, um, the team at TLA has working relationships with Reading Corps and with Skyrocket. And if there would be any benefit to your team, they would be more than happy to make themselves available to talk with you about what either of these inter interventions entail or require. So the budget, what does the budget include? First of all, um we would pay the contractors directly and we would work with the district to structure a nocost contract with those providers. that's similar to the model that's being used in Oakland and we've really tried to learn from their experience. That said, the budget was built around the following numbers. The base costs for literacy coaching is $32 a session.
053We built the assumption around 3 days a week, 17 weeks a small group work in year two and year three. We don't know how this pilot would evolve. And we also included a modest line item for materials if that's a barrier. Skyrocket coaching is a negotiated rate between the foundation and Skyrocket. It is the most expensive piece of the proposal. Um bonus and incentives. We included up to $250,000 in the budget over a three-year pilot period. funds would be provided directly to the district when and if acceptable terms are negotiated and funds are earned. We would kind of expect that annually, but it could be whatever is whatever is arranged. So partnership, our goal would really be to try to establish a partnership with the district, a strong partnership. We're encouraging the district to lead
054the work on defining the priorities for the allocation of tutoring slots and also for defining outcomes. How would we know if this worked? How would you know if this worked? Ideally, those things would align around your established or emerging priorities and could be a tool for you to assess to hold people accountability and for doing future decision- making. That would be our goal. We envision schools submitting a selection form. We included that in your packet. It's not a detailed application. It's not anything, but it's a basic selection form. If more than one school was interested in participating in the pilot, our goal would be to work in partnership with the district to determine which school is selected based on who we believe has the best chance of being successful. >> [sighs] >> Um, we would
055need to negotiate an agreement that's mutually satisfactory and hopefully structured so that we can make adjustments. This is a pilot. We would expect some changes. Also, collaborative data sharing and and assessments subject of course to FURPA and other legal confidential confidentiality requirements. Sustainability. I think that's a really good and important conversation. At the same time, I want to say we're offering this as a pilot, not a district-wide solution for a couple of reasons. It's an opportunity to test some things that are working elsewhere. It's a chance to build staff capacity. The coaching that Skyrocket does is intensive development work. >> [snorts] >> It allows an opportunity to build buyin and also to identify some of the pain points that come when you try to implement something that's about change. How do we figure some of
056those things out before you try to stretch it across the system? The Oakland example, I think, can be instructive and I've asked Sarah to talk about that specifically with you when she's here on Thursday. Um, a pilot can also serve as a bridge to other solutions and other funding opportunities. And you've all started having you've already started having those conversations. Reading core, as an example, board member Fox, you mentioned that there may be some funding sources that have been rolled over because of spending requirements that could potentially be used to expand some of these things. That's the beauty of a pilot. you can start figuring out what works. Explore what else could be happening in order to support the district. The other thing is if we do this and if we're effective, the results could
057be used to earn broader community support. And our request for unanimous approval, it's gotten a lot of attention, hasn't it? Um, it's really this simple. Um opposition can and does undermine implementation. If we do this, we should be all in all of us to make sure that we succeed. And if you look at the materials, we didn't just talk about buyin from you. We talked about buyin from the superintendent, instructional leadership. I can't tell you how important that principal will be, teachers, even the BEA. It will be really important to have a team working in the same direction if we're going to be successful. And if we do this, we want to be successful. It's really about that. So, I hope I answered the questions you submitted in advance. And with that, I'll turn it
058over to you and try as well as we can to answer your questions. >> Thank you. Are there any board members that have questions at this time? >> Mrs. Levy, >> thank you. Um, so in the spirit of tr full transparency, I have some concerns and some questions mixed in. So if at any point you want to pause and jump in and respond, um, I think that might be best. Um, thank you for bringing up the point about unanimous support. And I'm just going to be very clear speaking as one of seven. That was very off-putting to me. Um, I didn't understand why any entity would want to dictate how we individually vote. Um, and it seemed particularly moot to me considering we'll have a new board in April. >> Yep. >> Um, my other
059concerns, um, buy in and engagement from the superintendent. As you're aware, we don't have a permanent superintendent right now and we haven't started discussions about how that process when it will begin and what that will look like and what are our expectations of filling that seat. Um, as I'm sure you may be aware, our executive director of teaching and learning um, recently resigned. And so the critical pieces that you outlined that are requirements for success. Um we are in transition periods on several of those fronts. Um so again those are concerns. I don't know if those are concerns of yours but those are concerns of mine. Um consistent systems to address behavioral instructions and routines was also listed in there based on the skyrocket model. um if you could provide I guess this is my
060first official question some clarification on that and specifically what I mean is with respect to addressing behavior um and potentially adopting Skyrockets's model which I'm not familiar with hopefully we'll get more information on that on Thursday we need to look at that through the lens of our current student code of conduct and if any changes would be made those would be policy changes and I'm not sure one if we would be interested in doing that and two if that would align with your timeline because it seems like you would want a decision in place by March. Is that accurate? Um, that's accurate. And I'm going to, um, try to respond a little bit, but also, um, defer as many method questions as I can to Michael Samberg on Thursday because he's the expert of that
061work and he can um, talk about it much better than than I can. Um, so I'm going to I'm going to take the first comment first and then try to answer the question about behaviors in the classroom. We've given a lot of thought to the question both before and since introducing this proposal about board buy in about buyin generally and I'm going to um start with some people know this history some people don't. The last time we had a partnership where we provided funding to the district, the project started before I got here. Um, but my first large interactions with the district was a conversation about terminating that project early. And it was a career advocate project in the high school and it was a pilot of sorts. And I think ultimately it was largely
062what Deb Pruss was doing before she retired and somebody else is probably doing that now. But as I looked back on that project and really thought about why the that didn't work, I think the essential issue was there was not sufficient buy in in the right pockets of the system to allow us to be successful. And terminating that project early in the way that we did wasn't good for us. it wasn't good for you and it certainly didn't help our partnership relationship. So I it was a long time ago. It's just part of the nature part of the context. And so in shaping this proposal generally the question we asked ourselves was what's the conditions that we need in order to offer the best possibility of success? what do we what do we need to
063have in place? And that should be a shared question we would ask as a part of this discussion. And a no vote, you know, I'm sorry it landed that way, frankly, but a no vote isn't neutral. It's opposition. And opposition does have an impact on whether or not people are supportive, especially when the work gets hard. And the work will get hard. That's what happens with change. It will be hard. So if we move forward with this project, I really believe we need to have a shared and unwavering commitment to being successful. What will it take and to be allin to put skin in the game and to be allin? That's where the wins are for kids and for the community, you know. And I'll just I'll just use a small example. You all are
064the leaders of the district. And if you're having conversations with other people in the district, if those conversations trickle down in a way that create opposition in that environment, that will not help us be successful. Your being allin matters. So again, I I apologize that it felt the way that it did, but it is really about the question, what are the conditions we would need to ensure as well as we can that we're going to be successful and what's the cost of failure? So let's talk about that a mill a minute. Let's say we do this and we fail. You know, the cost for the foundation is essentially an opportunity cost. I jokingly say sometimes one of the greatest lessons I learned in grad school was you can spend a dollar and an hour once
065but it's really true. Um if we fund this and it fails the foundation has an opportunity cost. We will have in invested time, talent and resources somewhere at the expense of putting them somewhere else. That's what we're willing to risk. But the questions I ask you to consider are this. What are the risks to the district of not being allin? What are the risks to the district if we try that this and fail? We don't want that outcome. So that's really what that's about in terms of behaviors and classrooms. Or did you want to ask a follow-up question first? >> No, I just just a heads up because I want to be respectful of everyone else's time and I really want to hear your response to this. I just had two other points of clarification,
066but definitely can hold until because it sounds like you want to talk about discipline. >> So the the skyrocket model isn't so much about um disciplinary policies and behaviors. They certainly get at those, but it's as much starting with classroom practices and helping coach teachers about managing their classrooms. Now, they will push back in with the leaders as their coaching leaders to say, if you're having behavioral problems in the classroom, what's the leadership response to those classrooms? But I don't think there's an expectation necessarily out the gate from anyone and certainly not an assumption. We don't have enough information at this point in time to make an assumption that it would require a change in disciplinary policies from the get-go. I mean it could be that six months in somebody comes back and says we
067strongly believe this policy doesn't work and here's the impact of that. Um but I think it would be presumptuous of us to think about that going in. >> Thank you. I'm going to try to squeeze in two other points and then I'll yield the floor to my colleagues. Um you talked about slots being filled. So, there's a total of 60 spots and if I understood it correctly, and please correct me if I didn't, um, that if a student is absent, someone else could fill that spot. I believe I heard that. And then the attendance expectation is 85%. So, if a student falls consistently below that and they're no longer able to hold that spot, what happens to it? Does it go away or is it reallocated? And if it is reallocated, depending on when that
068occurs and how long the new student is in this program, how does that impact fidelity? So, um there is an expectation that students will revolve in and out as they meet their individual proficiency goals. So, that that's a piece of the project. So if it takes one student, you know, one semester and it takes another student the whole year, when the first student is done, the district will have the ability to fill the next slot. And you know, we know we have summer learning loss and those kinds of things. The next year, you'll have to decide what happens to that student in terms of the allocation of the slot. If a child is absent on a particular day, you don't backfill the slot with another child. um they won't have enough information to just do
069that on a day-to-day basis. But if a child falls below 85% attendance, and this is where parent engagement becomes important, how does the team work with parents to help ensure they understand the opportunity their child has? How are we communicating the importance of getting to school to those parents? But if if it's 70% open literacy, will ask us to select another child to fill that slot. Thank you. And then the final point um with respect to bonuses and and I just want to make sure I heard this correctly that maybe that could be applied as a buildingwide bonus and okay you're nodding your head. Yes. Um, so if I'm understanding that correctly, that that means depending on how the slots are allocated, there could be educators in the building that have no role or responsibility
070for this pilot, but still would receive a bonus and you would also have educators in the building who are really invested doing the additional work that you laid out and they would also receive a bonus. Is did I follow that correctly? Well, and again, all those decisions would have to be made. You know, bonuses are an interesting and contentious dialogue in an education environment. Um, we use them at TLA, so I'll use that context. And we actually have some that are both. We have some individualized bonuses. Um, we we rely more heavily on schoolwide bonuses because of the ability to align people around the same goals. And I'll give you two examples. Um, we have attendance goals for both staff and students, 95% for both. If we hit that goal, everybody in the building gets
071a bonus. And the reason for that is everybody has to be working together in some way, shape, or form to have that happen. We also, as a charter school, have contract performance requirements around MAP, forward scores, ACT, those kinds of things. If we meet those contract expectations, everybody in the building gets a bonus because again our assumption is as a team we all have to be working together. Now that said, if the district wanted to deploy a different strategy and put an emphasis on first through third grade teachers, let's say, and the people doing the reading work, we would certainly be open to that conversation. Um, I think it's just a matter of it's a tool to help build outcomes, drive alignment, improve outcomes. How do we use it in a way that works for
072you? Thank you so much. That's all that I have, but I do want to say I really appreciate you being here this evening and answering our questions. And I don't want to be presumptuous. I don't know how people are going to vote, but I would say that a vote of no does not necessarily from my perspective mean the opposition, but it could be a signal that the criteria that you have laid out that would project success um is not in place um at this time. So, thank you so much. >> You bet, >> Brian Nichols. >> Thank you. And thank you uh Lisa for I'm sorry I missed the first presentation but glad glad you're here again. Um I just had a couple questions. Um you know I I think I think the the uh
073the proposal is is awesome. U is it perfect? Well, we won't know that till we get down the road. So, um I just I just had a couple I'm looking at the open literacy um experience delivering and I we may I may want to wait and ask this on Thursday, but just in up right now I want to ask there's so Oakland Unified School District is on here twice. So is the study that's done is it is it working with both um both groups? I'm I'm not sure the difference. >> I don't know that I can uh definitively answer that question. >> Okay. Um and then the other one, well, this this we'd have to ask anyway. And environmental charter school in Pittsburgh uh apparently just did it for four years, but they funded it
074with COVID relief. That was really um a wise use of COVID funds. Now, my question would be, are they still using it? >> Uh I can't answer that question either. >> Okay. Okay. Um, >> but I would encourage you, we'll make sure that Sarah knows that you've got those questions. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Megan Miller. >> Thank you. Um, likewise. Thank you so much for being here. And I also was at my daughter's orchestra concert when you guys first came, so I'm sorry that I missed your initial presentation as well. Um, so I just want to start by saying one um, one one thing I think I I just want to like share while we're all in a space together is, you know, you talked a lot about buyin and I and I can't
075agree enough with you about like, you know, buyin is essential for anything. So, I think it's important for me if if we're going to take this seriously u at all uh to make sure that you know on our end and and that we can work together on some sort of timeline piece um it's going to be really important that we elevate the voices like all of the voices of our element and even if they're like oh no but it's going to be this one school it's a district-wide impact right and that's the hope so I I want to make sure um just to put out there that we need to hear from not only principles right? But from our reading specialists and interventionists, our coaches, particularly from our K through three teachers, >> um, and
076PAR educators because I think >> there's I talk a lot about, you know, in my day job about like theory versus practice. There are a lot of things that sound wonderful and and you know, I have been a part of, you know, like our act 20 implementation last year. we worked so hard to like tear ourselves up and it's going to you know this is how we're going to do the test schedule and all the things and then it starts and then you're like okay well [laughter] continuous improvement right like let's you know pivot be flexible etc and you know everything shakes out and you learn and you do better next time right so um I really want to make sure we have as much like day-to-day like user experience type input um before we
077move forward in in any way at all and I just want to echo what board member Levy said I think it's It's complicated for me as a board member to on the one hand I I hear what you're saying and I I think I understand um that there's a lot of complexity and dimension to this, but when it's framed as you're with us or against us, it it makes that level of nuance and establishing things like buyin that I think we would all be on the same page about, it makes that conversation really difficult. So, I just I wanted to lead off first with, you know, of course, it's important to elevate staff voice, and I just I I just felt the need to name that because I do have some other questions and points,
078and I just want to make sure that these are received in the spirit of like honoring the complexity and the multi-dimensionality of like what you're bringing forward here and not I'm against this because I'm bringing up questions. >> Yep. >> Okay. Um, so I am currently a reading specialist. Um, I like this. I've serve um as a committee member on Wisconsin State Reading Association. Um I've done a lot of of my own research and I've seen um iterations of programs like this and and and I was and working with and have worked in these programs. So I want to speak from that lens um to bring up a couple of points. Um, and I'm gonna we can revisit some some other things another time, but I guess the first question I have I want to
079go back to the community literacy piece that I initially brought up that I I think you responded to to some extent. So I'll just clarify um not not an afterchool although that would be wonderful in addition to right um type model. What what is the difference for you in terms of like the perspective that you're coming from between doing a three-day a week putting kids in front of the computer with tutors that may or may not be consistent week after week um online literacy tutoring piece like what is the advantage of that over investing in in like living breathing humans here in Bo who can build sustainable relationships as inperson on-site maybe even five day a uh service providers to our students. Could Could we start there? I just what could you >> in the
080school? >> Yeah. Right. So like if and so and I don't know because I I asked earlier at our committee meeting and u Miss Elliot's done an absolutely outstanding job of just stepping up to the plate on short notice and helping us um >> with some understanding and we and we'll get more information, right? But we like let's assume there aren't scheduling um staffing or space barriers. What would be the advantage of doing it three times a week online in front of computer for first and second graders? um virtual tutoring with people they will never see again after their their couple, you know, their period is up versus um building sustaining relationships with community members who may be willing to receive training uh to offer uh the tutoring that that is on par with what
081open literacy is offering which is essentially an iteration of UFly. So I have a couple responses to that actually and one is ease of implementation and scalability. Um this offer at this time was driven by the outcomes that we saw in third grade literacy last year. As far as we're concerned, this is an urgent issue and open literacy can come in in the fall, start this program. you know, the virtual model uh there I do believe and Sarah should speak to this on Thursday that there is a great deal of consistency from session to session with those tutors and the kids do in fact develop relationships with them. You know, I think um board member Miller, you alluded to, you know, what what we learned from virtual learning during COVID and what didn't work. You
082know, I we couldn't agree with you more that did not work. But there's an important distinction here because if you have a child, a first grader, a second grader in their home, they may or may not have computer skills. There may or may not be a quiet space for them to be online. They may or may not have the support of an adult helping them in the moment. And they're in a virtual classroom. That's a really different thing. Ideally, this would be implemented in a block strategy. So, let's just say you have one class at one time. You've got 20 kids in a room. You you need some level of supervision, maybe a parah in the room with them, making sure all the kids are there ready doing their work at that time. So you're
083in a environment that's conducive to the work with some level of district support and an online tutor who's got an individual plan to work with you on the explicit needs you have. Okay. So that that's what we saw as the advantage. Um you know both Jen and I have done community-based work our entire career. and what you're suggesting may be great. It's a really hard lift. So, recruiting people, training people, supervising people, making sure that they're there on a day-to-day basis consistently to meet kids needs is really hard to do. Are there some people who are trying to do it? Yep, there are. Um, but it's a really heavy lift. And did we think that we were in a position right now with the district to come to you and say, "We have this great
084idea and it's a really heavy lift." Um, we just didn't. And so, we didn't look at that at all. I don't know that I I don't know that I believe there's the capacity to implement that in this city at this time, even if it's in the school. Um, the other thing that's true is the research really does say that tutoring by teachers and potentially by paras is more effective than tutoring by volunteers and parents. So again, we have an urgent need. What resources can we bring to the table to fill it? >> Thank you so much. That's really helpful to me. Um, first I and I'll send it to you. there there was a meta analysis done actually all the the tutoring in person online um that actually does suggest that with the with the
085consistency right you're showing up every day there's some accountability and coordination um there there was no statistically significant difference between a tutor or a pair or teacher so I do want to just put that out there I'm not not to dispute many of the messages but I do want to make sure that we honor that that is that's a possibility Um, so a couple things too when you mentioned about um, Lincoln Academy. Okay. So like what I just heard what I've heard from teachers and what I just heard from Miss Elliot um, a couple hours ago in our committee meeting is that boy school district has high quality curriculum at the universal level. We have high quality curriculum and and it's on and I'm very familiar with open literacy. It's it's fantastic, you know, stuff
086the I actually love that you you mentioned about first and second grade because um if if I had to to say where do we focus with that specific program, not like in general for all needs, I would say second grade would be like the sweet spot 100%. So like cool. Um the same quality instruction exists in these in UFI which again is like really foundational for like most of these programs whether they're they're for-profit or or or not. um you know Lexia all of all the things right we we have heard Lexia UFly we just heard ARC um is an out it's an outstanding curriculum um I'm speaking as a parent with a struggling reader at home so having said that um what I'm hearing from our district from staff is that it's not the
087tools or the resources right that that's the barrier the two things I hear most about is number one far and away is is staffing And the second is is family engagement. So again, I I heard um Mr. Fox and thank you so much for your words mentioned earlier um that he wants to address what isn't working for the kids. It sounds like our our resources are working for kids. It sounds like what's not working for kids is our staffing issues and our ability to engage with families. And as you pointed out in the work that you've done, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you, uh, that's a lot harder and more complicated than it might seem, right? Lots of factors, right? Etc. So, right. So, same page. So, my wondering here is what
088what do you believe given that open literacy does not alleviate any kind of staffing and does not, you know, the tutor from Austin is not going to do much for family engagement. Like, what is your vision? So help me understand what is your vision for how you believe open literacy will somehow mitigate the barriers that we currently already have with high quality resources um and and and exceptional educators um of family engagement and staffing. >> So a couple things, one is um you can't separate out open literacy from skyrocket education. You really have to look at this as a proposal. Um, and honestly when we were crafting this, you know, one of the things we toyed with is do you offer open literacy in more than one school and skyrocket in one? And the feedback
089we got from a variety of places including other schools was unless the foundational work is sound, unless the school is functioning the way it needs to function, the intervention is hard to implement. So you you really have to look at this the work Skyrocket is helping to do in the school as the platform to helping open literacy be successful. And then what open literacy offers you as a tool for family engagement is another tool to talk to parents about the importance of getting their child to school about the work you're trying to do with them around literacy. It is not an automatic easy answer. You're right. Family engagement is hard. Um, but it is a potential tool. Will it solve it all for you? No. Will open literacy solve your staffing shortages? No. But a
090more stable environment and higher staff satisfaction, which is skyrockets work, can potentially help with those staffing related issues. Um the other thing I'll just note here is you know in some respects this proposal is a part of a us putting our foot on the gas right um we have an urgent need to raise educational outcomes for kids in this community. Um we're just we're just not meeting their needs. And so we're doing all sorts of things right now. we have, you know, we're looking at the possibility of expansion of TLA. We're here with this offer. Um, we're investing in Discovery Place. We're exploring the possibility of expanding the space and the offerings that we do at Career Tech because they served 1,800 kids last year doing career programming. And we're looking at uh we're not
091quite ready to announce it and launch it, but we're looking at a community-based family engagement project as well. What are all of the things we could be doing in this community to help move this forward? >> Good to hear. So, I guess lastly, um it sounds like um my I guess just last comments slashquest if you have an answer. when I hear things like, well, we can't separate one for the other, that does not strike me as something that is is responsive. And so, I'm just gonna again speaking from like a a reading lens, right? Any sound program begins with a needs assessment. So, like we have a lot of turnover in our district right now. There has been some instability. Um, having had the pleasure um a couple of times in different ways to
092work with Dr. Anderson. I'm feeling very confident that he's going to do an outstanding job like teeing us up for our next steps. And part of to me as a board member now, part of that work is giving our staff and district the time to establish a strong foundation in in practice and vision. Um, we currently do not have a strategic plan which is on us as a board which I think we have um I've made comments about this before and we just heard in public comment twice tonight from two different people. We need to have a strategic plan. We as a district need the time to set up that foundational work so that all of the things that you are seeing that are of value is not going to like slide off like you
093know raindrops on the windshield if it has nowhere to land. So I want to just raise this point. I'm curious because you've got some history of course in the community in the district. Um I'd like us to consider the work that was done by uh Deb Broard uh Lin Rooden who has unfortunately passed away by Mary Studman in 2012. You know we presented we were the state model the state model for literacy intervention. Uh the RTI center's got all this kind of stuff. You can actually still find the PowerPoint. I just grabbed it a couple weeks ago. Um and since you watched our committee meeting I'm sure you've heard me say all this. Thanks for your patience while I bring it into this forum here. Um to me this circles back to the point you
094made about buyin and I won't name names because you know you know whatever but when we first started the literacy piece um I remember being in the auditorium and there was a staff member who literally stood up when um and I don't remember who said it when they talked about how all teachers are reading teachers and was like absolutely not like I'm a professional in my field like this is my area of focus was vehemently opposed to the concept in general to giving a a prep every Thursday etc. By the end of this first year, that same staff member, and I can confidently say this because we're we're still buddies, um went on to get their reading license, went on to be an absolute like flagwaving, unyielding advocate for this work because I did too.
095saw with my own eyes like you saw kids go from barely being able to to be fluent in high school to reading and accessing curriculum sometimes in just weeks honestly. Um that was certainly not the the all the right but it was incredible and it it absolutely has shaped my entire career. My background is in history and I I decided to become a reading teacher because of the amazing experience that I had right here at Blight Memorial High School. Which brings me to um we have HR issues and staffing to deal with with or without these proposals. And while I don't disagree at all, I love what I echoing Miss Fox. Love the ideas that I've heard from Skyrocket. It's great stuff. I want to be really conscious. If we are truly sincere here and
096like let's really partner and do the things that we need to do to to positively benefit all children in this community, I think we need to pause. I think we need to do a needs assessment. I think we need to establish a strategic plan, which I think would be a wonderful partner opportunity, you know, for for all stakeholders. That's something and I'm sure you have your own strategic vision, right? What a great way to to build a cohesive, you know, same page. I think there are some things that need to come first. So, what I would love to hear, um, given that we already have a blueprint that was born right over there, uh, that is still being used by schools statewide, um, I think I need I need to hear you maybe Thursday or
097or going forward the flexibility and, um, I guess scope of your willingness to be a partner while we lean into the the expertise in our own district to inform a timeline that can make sense and be sustainable truly. >> So if your question is is there room to negotiate on the timeline? Um my answer is I don't know. That would be a conversation we would need to be able to have. Um I can't speak to you about the work that your board needs to do in terms of doing a needs assessment and having a strategic plan. you know that that's that's a discussion you all need to to have and that's you know beyond the scope of what I can offer as a community member um and a rep representative of the foundation but what
098I will say is we have an urgent need and I don't see anything in this proposal that contradicts or is in opposition to the plan that you have on paper right now and planning which can be valuable if it's used in its implementation takes time. And you know one of the things about schools right is time runs in annual cycles. A delay is a year. It's not a month. It's not a couple months. It's a year. And that's just how it works. And so, um, that's ultimately a conversation you all are going to have to have and you're going to have to decide. You know, our position was in an ideal world, would we have this wonderful road map and we can offer something to support you? Sure. But it doesn't exist. And in the
099meantime, the people who are paying the price for that are our children. >> Last question. Who will staff and supervise the program while we already have a a shortage of PAR educators? >> Uh who will staff which program? >> I guess I'm just so that sure but again saying that open literacy will help with family engagement because it gives us something to talk to parents about does not solve the and I don't say you're claiming to but when you're saying oh we got to do this now there's urgency. Where are we going to find staffing that we don't already have to sit in a classroom with, you know, anywhere between five and 10 kids or whatever it is at a time in different spaces to supervise, to help, like you said, like help the kiddos
100with the computers, give them that classroom experience in, you know, oh, the kiddo doesn't want to go back to class, somebody has to go to the bathroom and now there's more lost class. Like, help me understand like what is your vision for that? because I I agree with you that there is urgency which is why I really want to make sure we're realistic about like how the how part of how to do this. So like that doing a deciding to do this does not alleviate it doesn't free up a para right so >> and and I think that's the conversation we have to have is what does implementation look like you know we talked to schools some schools who are using this model we talked about what it takes to be successful open literacy will
101talk to you about that on Thursday what will it take and I think that's a conversation we have to have is how can you best implement this to minimize the workload impact on your staff. Are there people engaged in doing interventions now for an example that can partner up with open literacy to work on this? I don't have those I don't have those answers for you. Um because I don't have enough information about the operations of the district to be able to say that. >> Thank you so much for the generosity of your time and I really appreciate you having you know it's it's children are complex, right? Reading is complex. It's a complex subject. Thank you. Carol Fox. >> Hi. Hi. Um, I want to thank you for the presentation. You answered my questions
102very thoroughly, which I I I do appreciate. Um, and I agree. I to me again the skyrocket is the critical piece here. Um, we keep talking about this as a literacy initiative and while the literacy is the outcome, it's not really the initiative. the initiative is comprehensive school reform and you do that on a schoolwide basis if you're that I mean I've been around it a long time um you do it on the schoolwide basis and you do it with school leadership and I think um that's really what we need to be working on and I think we'll know more when we um talk to the principles and we hear from the companies about what kind of um reaction we'll get from our school leaders because that's That's where it needs to come from. Um,
103and you know, we can't just talk about the the K3 teachers. We need to talk about the four 4K to five teachers because they would be involved in the skyrocket initiative. It's a school culture kind of thing, which I think is sorely needed. Um, not because our teachers and our principles aren't working hard and they're not and they certainly are working on culture, but we've had a lot of staff change. We've had a lot of turnover. We've had a lot of things that have happened in our schools and I I think having the opportunity and the support to talk about what our their culture is, what it looks like, how they involve parents, um all of those things to me seem seem really critical. Um so I'd really like to see us stop talking about
104it as a literacy thing because it's really way larger than that. Um, and um, you know, open literacy, you get tutors. To me, that's a no-brainer. I mean, go for it. Um, I wondered about, you know, again, the bonus piece. And that question was like way long ago. Um, but, you know, using it to support people who are doing a lot of extra work like curriculum pay and those kinds of things, bringing in people in on a Saturday and providing with lunch and and paying them to be there. we could we could because it does take a lot of work. Um, and I think what happens wi with these kinds of things is it's it's kind of fearful of all the work that is upfront which is true but when when you get there then
105the work starts easing up because you're not doing all the other stuff that you were doing you're doing something that's a little more efficient and a little more effective. Um, so and again my take on it is I'd like to see us do at least two schools. Um, so that that's on us, not on you. But I I think we I wholeheartedly agree we don't have time to wait and that doesn't preclude us from doing a strategic plan and that doesn't preclude us from doing any of those other things. And it doesn't change our curriculum. We have we have um apparently a very strong reading curriculum in place. Doesn't change any of that. they would they would work on the school reform pieces through that. So, um yeah. Well, I'm an I'm an old school
106reformer, so I'm [laughter] excited about it. So, thanks. >> Well, and I'll just note, you know, um board member Miller, you brought up um teacher buyin. Um I do think we need to include staff. the BEA has already reached out to me and asked for a conversation about the proposal that's on their radar as well. And again, for us, we haven't done this sort of triage before. So, um, we've tried to absorb as much as we can from the Oakland experience, including from the foundation who's doing that work. And I think part of what they talked about is, you know, you do when you're implementing something new. And you know, educators keep telling me there's a new program in schools all the time, you know, like, so here's a here's another new thing. Um, but
107what they were able to do in rolling out the way they did was eventually get to a tipping point, if you will, in terms of buyin. So you start in a couple of places, you build the knowledge and buy in to be able to implement it across the system or in other places over time. You may or may not decide you want to do that, but you could, you know, so it would be a lot to do in too many schools at one time. >> Yeah. >> Thank you, Joanne Rue. >> Thank you. Um, well, thank you for all this information tonight and for bringing this proposal. Um, I have one question that's just a nuts andbolts one because I don't know if I'll be able to be there on Thursday. Um, with the online
108program, are there any hands-on components or is it all on the screen? Do you know? >> I don't know that I can answer that question. Can you? >> Oh, it's whiteboards. >> Good evening. Um, there is some hands-on. Uh my understanding is that there is a lot of onscreen interaction but that the students are also working with a whiteboard writing doing some things like that. Okay. >> As part of the session >> okay and then thank you for that answer. Um so the my other question is skyrocket related. So um the way I'm comprehending this if if I'm correct is that the skyrocket training implementation that's where the heavy lift is. Is that correct? And so would that be the entire staff or just the teachers that are part of the program? >> Oh, no.
109It would be everybody in the building. >> Um, so it's it's schoolwide. Um, and really the >> the beginning emphasis is coaching school leaders >> to be able to lead and coach their staff. >> Great. So the extra work would be on the entire staff. Everybody would have to be part of that. Um my biggest pauses with bonuses. We've historically we've done them at least once in the time that I was part of the district and it was messy and it caused hard feelings. And so looking at Skyrocket as a program that's supposed to build community and have all this buyin, it just seems like it's that they don't go hand in hand. Um, so I really like the idea of, you know, having a little bit of decision in how we use that and,
110um, I I would love to see it be something where it helps build community within the school instead of piecing out certain people, but I do also agree that there will be people on the front end that will have to do some stuff outside of work hours that absolutely we should be compensating them as well. So, thank you for that flexibility. Thank you uh Miss Rue and thank you Miss Fth. Yes, we have high quality reading curriculum here. Um, unfortunately, and this is information from wise dash that is publicly available, between the 2015 and 2016 school year through the 2425 school year, the lowest of percentage of the state, the state of Wisconsin that was meeting ELA expectations was 33.7%. our districts was 10%. The state's highest during that same time was 516% and that
111was last year. Our highest was 24.5% way back in 2016. Our numbers are not doing great and we do this is there is urgency with this. We there is something even we may have the best everything here in front of us. We may have the best teachers. We may have be the best curriculum. We may have the best buildings. We may have the best air to breathe. Something's not working. We had a strategic plan that sunset last year. During that time of that five-year strategic plan, our highest achievement rate for meeting expectations was 22.2%. We can have the greatest strategic plan, the greatest looking strategic plan. If it's not working, it's not working. Um, Miss Fersth, Mr. Fox, and I'm sorry, I forgotten your name. >> Miss Trump. Miss Trump, thank you for being here
112tonight and we look forward to our meeting on Thursday. >> Okay. Thank you for having me. I sincerely appreciate the time you're giving this. And the challenge I'll give to all of us is this is hard and even the, you know, you're all in the room, you're being asked to make a hard decision. There's all sorts of noise out there. Um, let's see if it's at all possible to find a way to partner. Could we get the the copy of the PowerPoint, too? Um, you just send it to Michelle or something? Michelle has >> She has it. Perfect. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next item on the agenda is approval of the consent agenda. Typically there is no separate discussion of the items unless a board member so requests in which event the item
113or items will be removed from the general order of the business and considered in their normal sequence on the agenda. Do any board members request any of the consent agenda items be removed? I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> So moved. Second >> motion by Brian Nichols, seconded by Megan Miller. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? >> I I >> I. >> Any oppose? Motion carries unanimously. Our next item is human resources employment recommendations exhibit A. Are there any open session qu questions on exhibit A? Mrs. Levy, >> thank you. Um, I believe just two questions. The first, I want to make sure I understand how additional duties works. Um, does that mean that the staff member is fulfilling their regular role and then they're also doing a portion of
114the role that on this um exhibit is listed as interim. >> So, it can be both. In the case um of what you're looking in exhibit A, um they're taking on responsibilities that are above their regular pay grade in some instances. And in one other instance, they're absorbing job duties in addition to their regular job duties. It could be me. It It sounds like you just described the same thing twice. So, let me let me try again with my question. If so for the individuals that are listed here, am I understanding it correctly in that their initial role they're completely fulfilling their initial role and they're also doing additional duties for the category of the interim position that it's proposed that they receive additional pay for? >> No. Um, like I stated in some of
115the instances there, the individual is only doing the duties of a position that is above their regular pay grade that they are hired for. And in one instance, the individual is still maintaining their regular job duties, but is also taking on some of the additional leadership work that goes with that interim position. >> Perfect. Um, I don't know if you said it any differently, but it made sense the second time. So, if I am in the category of I'm not doing the the job that I was originally assigned, I'm doing this other job, um, are we running into an issue where that initial job that is not being done by the person like everything's covered? >> Yes. So in your particular example that person's individual role those individuals role is being covered otherwise. Yes. Okay.
116And then my other question just want to confirm that the employees serving in the interim roles um meet all the criteria to serve in those roles. If you're referring to lensure, >> I am. >> Okay. Um, so if you're referring to lensure, for the most part, they do. Um, I believe all but one, which is not a requirement of that role. >> Okay. And are you referring to the facilities manager position? >> I believe that would be a close session question to identify an individual, but no. >> Okay. Then yeah, I guess we do need to go into close session. Okay. Are there any other open session questions? I will entertain a motion to go into close session. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by Brian Nichols, seconded by Amy Levy. I'm I'm sorry,
117I need to read this. A motion may be made and a vote taken to convene the board of education into close session pursuant to section 19.85 parent one parent C of the Wisconsin state statutes relative to considering specific personnel recommendations. Mrs. Sch, may we get a roll call? >> Yes. >> Can I ask a question? Um, does this make us go into close session for the other item too >> or can we can we make a motion that we go into close session and stay in close session for the next close session? >> Um, I I will I will add this. Um, this motion will include going into close session pursuant to section 19.85 85 parent one parent C of the Wisconsin state statutes relative to employment and evaluation. We will be going into close
118session to discuss employment recommendations exhibit A and the superintendent evaluation. >> Second [sighs] Mrs. Shopee. Okay. Carol Fox. I >> Amy Levy. >> I Megan Miller. >> I >> Brian Nichols. >> I >> Joanne Rue >> I. >> And Tia Johnson. >> I. >> Motion carried unanimously. >> The board of education may reconvene to public session in order to take any action if necessary on items discussed in close session. Thank you.