##VIDEO ID:_g4i6QuWtcQ## we all please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the unit United States of America and to theic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you this meeting is being live streamed by chel Tel media and posted the CPS website for Hy community members to access and watch iners public participation will be taking place tonight in the with the chum school committee public participation policy anyone speaking tonight during the public input portion of this meeting has notified the superintendent's office of the desire to speak and have been provided with these guidelines upon written request upon request written comments received no later than 12:00 p.m on the day of this meeting will also be read and made part of the record of the meeting during the second public comment session so welcome to this meeting of the chum school committee um we don't have any minutes so our first order of business is to welcome our new student reps want to introduce them superintendent yes uh sure so we have two student reps with us here tonight um should we start with Patrick yes sir Patrick is our newest member would you like to introduce yourself uh yes sir um hi everyone I'm Patrick I'm currently a sophomore at CHS um I'm big into sports I do cross country track in rugby and I'm also um involved in best buddies unified basketball and class reps I've been living in chumford for a while now I'm just very excited and honored to have this position and uh yeah I'm just excited to for what the next um meetings will have yeah thank you great great well welcome aboard ab and we have our returning style hi everyone I'm back um I'm I'm a senior now um what else should I say you guys know me so great school star super fun and awesome Tomorrow there's a girls field hoey game home everyone should go doing a little self-promo um I'll be home at 6 against Lowel so wants to go and school's been good so far senior year so you excited for senior Year yes and internship and all the fun activities it'll go fast yeah and I'm so happy Patrick's here it was a competitive spot so many people ran for the school committee student rep and he got itome a h congratulations welcome aboard great right uh any good news I'm G to share good news I don't think we had anything prepped okay all right yeah nothing special anybody else have any good news I want to share anything at the schools besides we have some good news so to start off the year the class of 2025 hosted a senior sunrise for the seniors on their first day of school the event was held on the plateau and there was bagels and coffee was donated by the country creamer and coffee house and then tonight is the high school's open house and it's taking place as we speak and it goes until 8:30 student organizations are also fundraising there and they'll be selling pizza drinks and baked goods to those attending and then our calf is still under renovation which will hopefully be done and completed by the end of October currently seniors have been eating an our learning Commons and the underclassmen have been eating in the two cfes yeah I I think it'll pleasantly surpris because we're running ahead of schedule oh so it'll be much much sooner okay I don't want to give away the date but it'll be much sooner we'll keep it a secret all right anybody else I have some okay sure so this year's craft fair already has a set date it will be on November 17th right before the holidays um the craft fair um this year will be held in the gymnasium so there'll be extra space for everyone to move around um additionally fall fall Sports have already started and clubs have um with um people able so able to register for activity cards um and the late buses will start on the week of November 7th also Pride blocks have officially started um today on Tuesdays and they'll be students will um have pride block every Tuesday and Thursday along with now every other Wednesday which I'm very happy about cuz I love Pride block um and on top of all that um there will be a half day tomorrow on September 18th which I'm also excited for remind me what's Pride block is which one what do you do in Pride block so Pride Block's the one where you can uh book um you know what teacher you want to see it could be enrichment or it could be extra help so you really have a choice of what you want to do so that's great MH you you appreciate that opportunity I love Pride block that's true yeah in half days mhm I love half too yeah I'm I'm GNA make one observation that I think is really good news which was when Patrick was welcomed lenana welcomed him and said how competitive it was and so on and I think that that's just absolutely wonderful both for you and for Patrick that you did that um and it just shows that at chumford high we're raising really good leaders yay thank you very much all right anybody else have any comments okay speaking of comment uh we're now to our first public input session is there anybody register to speak no all right we'll move on to new business we're going to jump right to new business and I'm not going to steal Linda Thunder we're going to let her um take these first couple of introductions we announced them over the summer but the individuals are here tonight with us welcome up so we have two of our new Department coordinators this summer you did receive a memo which I believe was repeated in this packet for tonight correct um giving you at least their background so we have Catherine Richard who is here from she originally was at Ando Public Schools but we brought her over to Chum we're gonna get her some Maroon move the blue over and she's gonna be coming over to chump she's our new math coordinator who um has been with us for since what three weeks now four weeks six okay six we'll give her six and we have um Dr da Mahoney who's been with us all summer and she is the new well world Language and Cultural exchange Department coordinator so they've been really brought around the district learning all the names the who what where when and why how chelsford works and they're here tonight because um you might have some more additional questions for them great it's always good to put a name with a face to we're very excited to have you guys join us and welcome you to town thank you anybody have questions or there's no way that they can just come to the meeting for two seconds we're going to have to ask some questions here okay do you have any questions this is it okay so what do you you've only been here short times so I I don't want to you know ask you things that really you need more time in order to explore and so on but we started a new math curriculum last year um what your thoughts on it so far and what do you think well I was familiar with reveal math before I came to chumford so that's a good start um I think it's a great program it really um emphasizes teaching the conceptual understanding first and that's a big thing for kids in math so I think you did well you you picked a good program so I'm really excited to work with the teachers and continue to implement it over the next two or three years as they get more familiar with it they're still learning but um they've really taken to it and I I think that um they are enjoying it so I think that's very positive wel come aboard thank you I I'll stick with a math question you know I know we have these new math coaches we call math coaches math how is that working out is is it a model that seems to be we need to tweak anything at this point I know it's new so yeah so it is new and um I'm meeting regularly with a math specialist and they are awesome um again you did well you picked some really strong candidates there um right now we're supporting teachers in open houses so we provided some handouts for the the teachers to give to parents we are really just trying to get to know the teachers because you really can't work with teachers until you build a relationship with them so especially at the math specialist level they really have to build those relationships first so we're just being available um we're creating some kind of supporting documents for the teachers over the year we'll be working on those things so um it it's it's a new position for them it's a new position for the district um so together we're kind of figuring it out um but I think we are we're having great success we've been in every building that the teachers have met with the principal I mean the math Specialists have met with the principls um last week I observed a math class with the math specialist so you know we're really trying to be present and VIs visible for the teachers and supporting them in any which way that they need we have a lot of new teachers at Central so we're really trying to support them as well Dan had a question yeah I actually had a question for am I saying your name right Dan da da da Mahoney um I'm curious uh so obviously you're you're new here at chumford and uh still getting a feel for what's happening here but I'm curious you have pretty significant experience in World languages broadly and I'm curious what your thoughts are on begin World language acquisition in seventh grade and if is that the right time for students to begin learning a language I mean philosophically I think learning a second language is great at like Earth um but right realistically in the schools I think that we are working on we're using the model that is most effective in in most public schools that was kind of my question it's really difficult to bring World Language to a younger um to younger grades unless we have a lot more access to high quality teachers um the teacher pipeline right now for World Language is really uh not great um there's not a lot of really highly qualified language teachers and so we're and we're bringing in a new curriculum um with the Wayside materials with inas Ure we have the ASL program so we have some really great programs that are already in place to support our world language our students in World language acquisition and with that implementation in the New World Language Frameworks that were uh rolled out by the state a couple of years ago we have a lot of work that we're Mak we're doing right now to move forward with Proficiency in the grades that we have cool other questions it's really interesting to see that your Bachelors is from grenell yes not too many people I meet that there now it's a very liberal arts type of school in the middle of Iowa yeah right yeah and it was Tiny back in the I mean it's still pretty small I think but it was Tiny back in the day and it's amazing because you have quite a background in very Classical Languages too um and as you said one of the key things right now is finding teachers uh for World languages I what do you think we as a district can do to um you know continue looking for the good teachers and folks who maybe something we're not doing or just you know keeping an eye open to see what else we can do to attract really good teachers I think um in high school and middle and high school teaching the hiring process really needs to start as early as possible so we can get the most qualified teachers a lot of skilled teach teachers really just focus on hiring in the spring and taking the Summers to prep for their new jobs and so any kind of delay in that process can really slow down the the hiring process and finding the best candidates the other thing that I think is always useful is building up relationships with schools like UMAS um Boston University has a World Language mat Program Salem State has a really great Spanish teaching program so building up those relationships um um and also I know that the depart um the World Language coordinator for this state his name is Andy mcdy and he's the um the World Language coordinator for the office of language acquisition for desie is very interested in promoting that that teacher pipeline um so continuing to work and reach out with him so that we're always thinking um a couple of steps ahead that we're trying to think through creative ideas and supporting teachers as they enter the um World language teachers as they enter the profession and supporting the teachers we have so they have as much training and um support as possible that's great thank you welcome aboard thank you any other questions I have one more um for for you again um I am curious so again I know you're you're new here but for me I think um I know that our district increasingly has students who speak languages other than English at home and I'm curious if in you know your early weeks here um you feel like the needs of those students and the assets that they bring bringing sometimes not an academic understanding of those languages but um conversational skills with some of the languages that they or their peers are learning in school are those assets being kind of leveraged and addressed through the way that students are acquiring languages so um there's a lot of languages um that are represented in the district so we have a couple of great things happening there are some clubs that are um real Affinity organizations with students from different um different perspectives and language Origins so that's a really exciting opportunity connecting with students with their Heritage languages is really valuable and we have the Massachusetts state seal of biliteracy um I have a big sticker on my door in the learning Commons um that says the Massachusetts state seal of biliteracy and um the number of students whove just checked in with me to say hey I saw this I'd like to learn more um I had a really lovely conversation with a young woman yesterday who was interested in Mandarin um the Seal of biliteracy is an amazing opportunity that the state has mve forward with and students who earn that seal after taking a proficiency test um they earn the seal upon graduation they can earn 12 graduate or 12 credits um at most state universities including this year for the first time UMass ammer so now that the all of the state schools are recognizing the Seal of biliteracy with 15 credits for earning the seal and no 12 credits for earning the seal 15 for earning the seal with distinction that really highlights the opportunities and skills that students bring from their home um their home cultures so there are many ways that we can support them that are not just within the languages that we teach in our in our program and even just when in speaking with the young lady yesterday I encouraged her to she's a a junior so I encouraged her to make sure that she's practicing her reading and her writing the skills that she may not be practicing every day at home because she's speaking and listening but building up those modalities so that they're really skilled when it comes time to take the test and then get take full advantage of the the opportunities they bring with them with their own unique cultures thank you thank you both it's nice to meet you great thank you anybody else well thank you both for being here nice to meet meet you thank you sure we'll see you in the future thank than you so thank you okay it's always good to just put a name with a face and so you'll see them around the buildings this uh this school year um all right moving up next uh third on the agenda third item on the agenda this evening is um Tess is here from District Management Group um to provide a little bit of an implementation um review as we get going into our third year of those strategic plan work uh first two years have already gone by quickly and we're entering year um three so Tesla is going to walk through um kind of our initial thinking at this point we've made some adjustments to uh some of our targets based on the two years of data we've had updated some of our initiatives um but obviously within the constructs of the five different Focus areas of the plan so Tess welcome aboard great and uh turn it over to you great good evening everyone and I know I know most of you pretty well by now but not the student rep so my name is Tess uh I'm from District Management Group and we're an organization that partners with public school districts on a variety of topics so I've been working with Chelmsford over the past three years now uh on the Strategic plan so I'll give just you know we go through this uh every time I'm here twice a year for anyone who's watching as well I have a team of District school leaders and school committee members who guide this work on each of the priority areas and our respond responsible for monitoring progress throughout the year uh same implementation approach we will take this year as uh last year and years past uh so as Jay said we are taking we took some of August and this month to review the goals finalize a set of initiatives and start to build out those action plans and then we'll track and monitor progress throughout the year uh as a reminder we have that so of course uh Jay and Linda really are the leaders uh of this work but we have that steering committee that you saw and then many other folks on district and school leadership teams res uh representing the other priority area subcommittees so I think in total there's probably like 40 people uh involved in this over the course of the year of course then trickling down to the schools uh we meet every six weeks we'll continue to do that uh to monitor progress and this is a great way to ensure that each five priority areas are not working in silos but that every District leader School leader across the district understands how one priority areas fit together uh and can problem solve as needed so that's the overview of where we are going to spend the majority of this evening's discussion on the implementation part so those initiatives and action steps aligned to the goals uh I'm not going to read this to you but always like to ground in the mission and vision of the district so what do you commit to every single day your mission and then what are your aspirations for the district and students uh your theory of action again so this is really focused on who are the critical stakeholders in the district and the role they play in achieving that Vision uh so of course direction from central office principes creating conditions in their buildings to have a welcoming environment and teachers uh teaching great every day to each and every student so going into the five priority areas and we'll go through the same structure that we have been using uh in the past couple of updates so I'll start with academic achievement uh there's a lot here and I know you have it in front of you but just want to orient you as Jay said we are 2 years into the 5-year strategic plan so we have 3 years left uh this is a very natural point in the Strategic plan to revisit the goals to see okay what progress have we made what do we need to adjust and then of course revisiting those initiatives what has not changed is any of the priorities so those priorities five years uh but want to just uh voice over quickly some of these targets so I think the headline for academic achievement one note is we all know mcass has not been released yet so that will be coming and we will set goals based on that uh third grade reading and math have been relatively steady uh over the past uh couple of years so that is that second and third row there uh a little fluctuation up in 2023 back down a little in 2024 so you can see we've set goals uh more aggressive the lower you are now and then just a little less aggressive if if you're already in the 80 plus uh percent which is great uh eighth grade is really where the focus is going to be in the upper grades over the next year just given where proficiency levels are and you'll see them uh represented in all student subgroups just that eighth grade so want to just say uh a couple things so when you look at these targets not going to read all of them to you but of course if you are in the 80% range already uh yes we want to hit 87% in 2027 85% is still really good uh and so just want to note as we continue tracking this over the past couple of years there are some that just have such a solid excellent foundation and we'll want to focus on those other scores uh quickly there were a few initiatives complete so you just heard about of the new uh implementation of the math curriculum K through 12 that first year of implementation is done of course that is going to continue but it will really just be part of the day to-day operations now and that team uh supporting that uh continuing to maximize student learning looking at schedules focused on those seventh and eighth grades just given where the data Falls and then really the team dug in this year to think about the I ready program and just how can you use all the tools as part of that uh to really support individual student learning like my path which I know we looked at in July and then the last piece and this is very connected to the equity priority is ensuring that all teachers not just special education teachers have inclusive practices in the general education classroom to meet the needs of students with disabilities and we are very intentional to make this an initiative under academic achievement because of course students with disabilities are still often in the general education classroom uh and it will benefit all students so those were some of the major changes here let me pause and I'll just take any questions before we go on to the next because there's a lot anybody have any questions I was just going to ask so when you set the benchmarks for like 25 26 minutes were they already preset or do we adjust them based on what we saw in like last year yep so we adjusted those based on the past three years of data so we had set targets two years ago based on 2020 well you know not 2020 data 2021 data 2022 data Etc now that we have three years of data the new targets are based on that okay okay any other questions on the academic piece just one question on the to be determined under 2024 actual um that's because we don't have cuz everything else is actual yep 2024 mcast is not being released until September 24th it's embargoed all right thank you good one other thing I just want to call out here because we talk a lot about strategic plan driving day-to-day actions of a district and your budgeting process and I think the addition won the investment in the new math curriculum but now the new math specialist being you know that is in direct response to the Strategic plan and the data you're seeing uh so I just think it's great to see that in practice in the district I do have one more comment because I always have to make this comment to keep it up in the Forefront um the part about promote inclusive instructional practices with the in the general Leed classroom I'm really really glad that we've got that in the academic piece and not just the equity piece because obviously it ties together but as it also goes hand inand with the rolling out the new role of the power professionals I think it's really important that we remember that we have to look at the new roles therefore for the special ed teachers and the General Ed teachers as the power professionals role is being redefined we have to keep that in the Forefront that those other roles are also redefined as part of that yep great I'm G to keep saying that I can I can talk to that in this next one as well actually something tomorrow um great so just want it so this is the equity priority again focused on achievement for students with IEPs and students who are economically disadvantaged um we in the past had used data based on mcast for ELA and math and the reason was you know that in academic achievement we use I ready uh prior to this year the district wasn't able to disaggregate I ready data for students with IEPs or not or students who are economically disadvantaged or not uh that was something through the Strategic plan realized okay we need to do this uh so you did uh and now we are going to be using I ready data in order to be closely align to the academic achievement priority we didn't want to be using different data sets uh for different groups of students because it really should all be working together kind of as Susan just said um so you can see here we uh obviously are waiting on that mcast data for the first one but this you see the first four goals are all related to reading and math for students with IEPs in third and eth grade and then the below there are students who are economically disadvantaged same thing reading and math third and e8th grade uh I think the story is very similar here as all students where you can see uh that third grade is performing better uh but eighth grade is where really where things are lagging behind so those initiatives that we just reviewed for academic achievement are going to have an impact here as well so they don't live in isolation uh a bright spot I really want to call out is third grade reading uh for students who are economically disadvantage their actual 2024 83% of students uh were on grade level which is the exact same as all students so there is no achievement Gap uh in third grade reading for students who are or are not economically disadvantaged uh which is great so continuing on that path um so with that just uh one initiative that has been complete related to support for students who are economically disadvantaged uh the par professional roll out has already happened and actually tomorrow there's going to be a professional development during the half day for par Educators special education teachers and general education teachers all focused on adult collaboration and how those roles need to work together and the impact that role has on others so very related uh to what Susan just talked about as well uh the rest of the initiatives I'll just voice over are really focused on understanding where are students with disabilities receiving instruction and is it in the least restrictive environment as possible uh so that students with disabilities are accessing The Core Curriculum by content strong teachers Etc uh so there there's actually many detailed initiatives in order to get that to ensure they have those opportunities uh so with that let me pause and take any questions here questions on um I see the line that says set targets goals and actions to bolster the least inclusive environment for students when appropriate I'm concerned what the whenn appropriate means because to my understanding it should always be in the least inclusive environment possible for students the least restrictive environment possible yes at least restrict sorry that's a yes we'll we will update that that not at all thank you when you said I even got scrambled with my own speaking about it but maybe that's why it stuck out to you um well the when appropriate Str as well yeah so it's just that you know each and every student lease restrictive is going to mean different things for them so the goal is not always to have every single student in the general education classroom 100% uh but for them to be in the setting that best meets their unique needs yeah I think it's the when appropriate because in any student case the amount of inclusion may be different but it's always appropriate to have the least restrictive environment possible so the when appropriate feels like it's uh it's a it's a little bit of a concerning mod to me because it to me implies that there isn't always the goal of a least environment and yeah the typo is still thr up great well we will certainly update that typo and then I think uh you know we can play around with the language just because I think the over yes the overall goal is that each and every student is in what is least restrictive for them and so we want to just make sure that is clear in this yeah can I just add a comment I think maybe instead of when appropriate it a comment something to do about how it's really um geared to look at individual students so that we don't fall into that pit of the least restrictive means everyone should be in General Ed because that's not appropriate yeah yeah I think we can say something based on their needs something like that I think the word was supposed to be more defining bolster than anything else bolster how you know appropriately bolster bolster it was supposed to be more of a link to that I think but the words in this one got a bit up yes I'll go back and talk I'll go back and talk to this team Maria to see what they did that's any other questions on this area great great on um social emotional learning so so much to celebrate here so in every area and we celebrated this last time uh they have either maintain or grown uh over the past two years once we got that Baseline data so again I said this with academic achievement um like 89% of students 86% of students reporting they have supportive relationships uh really just is incredible and so you can see we have some very the group has sent some very aggressive goals uh and so they are going to strive for those goals but don't want to lose sight of just where you are now um and reaching kind of that same caliber uh so you can see here you know the other two priorities areas you saw some new initiatives some that were going to be discontinued here this group is going to continue make some slight adjustments to their current initiatives because they are working uh so no sense in changing things up all the time just for change sake uh but going to continue here with what is working for them let me pause these are like actual all based on surveys of students yep yep the Panorama survey of students does it take we know take place at the beginning of the year end of the which is it um for the for the panoram pan the beginning of the year and the end of the year do both so are these the end of the year numbers or these yes that would be the end of the year end of the year numbers okay okay that's but the group looks at the beginning of the year numbers too when when is that dat of that should be they they're probably going to send those out in October yep so that will be data that in last year too that the group looks at just to see like okay are we way off from where we ended the year do we need to adjust our initiatives at all to make sure that they're addressing the needs of the current year great other questions on this area great uh all right human capital so here this was new last year just in terms of data collection so and again this is very connected uh to academic achievement actually and the equity priority so measuring the percent of teachers and staff who feel prepared to differentiate for diverse student populations uh whatever their needs May be and then teachers feeling equipped to provide culturally responsive instruction so as you remember we've talked a lot and years ago about diversifying the applicant pool uh For Better or Worse you all have a very high retention rate so it can be difficult to really aggressively um diversify that applicant pool so that is still an initiative and goal but this year really focused on how do we support the staff that we do have uh to differentiate which you saw on the academic achievement priority area but also to support staff uh in their Readiness to provide culturally responsive instruction to students so those will be two new ones this year questions here any questions okay all right next one last one all right a lot here uh this is J slide um so here we've got uh same three goals uh that we've had so related to the short-term capital plans the maintenance work orders uh and the APPA standard of cleaning so doing very well maintaining you can see those targets uh increasing a little bit uh over the next three years those short-term capital plans uh the preliminary review of monthly midyear and work order statuses that will continue to be tracked so that things get done in a timely manner uh and then the APPA standard of clean uh cleaning maintaining your cleanly less level uh going two and three measuring success that way so the first uh three since there have been success that are those are going to continue on and then there is one new initiative this year because it is directly aligned to the operations and Facilities priority uh around the new school building project so moving it just from the eligibility pH to the feasibility study uh so that can support overall enhancing educational facilities to provide students with safe and modern facilities that support Innovative learning so I think that was a great addition this year you know two years through the Strategic plan uh everything going well in this priority so a great time to add something new to support uh so let me pause and questions here questions here more question for super I know we talked about a new system for tracking work what have we transitioned over to that yet or we I know we're talking about work with the town on that no it's in process so the um program we use is called School dude they just have like an upgraded version so we're still going to be in that program uh but we're going to have additional enhancements that are going to be built out so we have um transition meetings already set up with brightley as the name of the company now um to get everything kind of converted over but um Christine at DPW is going to be providing us with the quarterly reports so we'll receive our first one in October detailing the work from July August to September and we have embedded Within These targets um like when we look at those like the emergency tickets we want to make sure we had 100% rate then the high range ones were like a 90% rate so we have all those metrics but we're going to be using the same system just with enhancements but the work's ongoing go just mention one other thing I you know starting the year looking at the numbers in the elementary level and so on and I know this is not one of the initiatives here but I think it would be really important for us to start some initiative where we start thinking about plans for in between now and when the building is done M what do we do as uh we we get more students and less spaces available um just if it's not this year I think at least by next year we should definitely be um starting that as some initiative yeah yeah just to that too I I um requested a report from the town on that West Campus development to just kind of let us know the status and whatnot where that's at but um I will give you the final October 1st student enrollment numbers when they're certified by the state that's usually like in the November December time frame but that is on my radar so we're going to be watching the enrollment and um I'll make recommendations to you as we go great thank you right any other questions right right uh all right well I know I have one initiative to update based on your feedback so thank you for calling that out so we'll incorporate feedback into today's conversation and even just your questions are always helpful for the group to consider as they're working throughout this year uh the steering committee will work to finalize the initiatives that we just reviewed developed action plans for any new initiatives and then similar to last year if you remember each subcommittee uh presented to you just a little bit more in depth on what was happening in that priority area uh kind of similar to what Jay just said you see some data up here but that's pretty high level there's data throughout the year that's being tracked uh and so they will come to you with their update throughout the year and then I'll do my midyear I think uh update this winter as well just one little piece I talked to Diana before the meeting Diana is going to join theal group so she's gonna um participate on that committee so we'll have three different committee members on three of the different committees so we're looking forward to that we just can't all be in the room at the same time I know I already F we just have to coordinate that yeah I didn't want to have to kick anyone out anybody have any final questions right well thank you for coming as always thank you for and and we'll get you a final set once we get the mcast data and everything for those um the last couple of targets we'll we'll get that out to you great good all right thank you thanks Tessa than you thank you um next up is uh for so this is um we just prepared for you um some draft goals uh for review and discussion both um on the school committee as well as the superintendent goals that align to the different areas of the um strategic plan work in the district as I mentioned um we do this every year to kind of put together our priority areas not focus it's nice to have the school goals be aligned to the district goals obviously the superintend goals and school committee goals um so this is just an initial um thought to share with you can obviously walk through answer any questions um I know Dennis previously like you let the committee members kind of weigh in give additional information and then we'll finalize it at an upcoming meeting in October so I don't know if everybody had a chance to look through all these um so any comments or suggestions on either our goals or the superintendent goals you ready yeah I'm I'm ready okay um the first one on this is our goals or superintendent I'm on the superintendent one is is that okay yeah absolutely um all right so on this one the first one one of the questions I had is about and and just tell me if it's already being uh measured here but comprehension and I think writing how does that fit in here um it says the scull will be measured by the percentage of students taking adequate annual grow and amcas that doesn't test writing it does right what do you I'm sure not sure what you mean so I'm so the percentage of third grade students meeting standards in Reading based on I so reading right um the percentage of third grader students meeting standards in math okay and then eighth graders and for that is only on math and not reading for eth grade because that these align to the Strategic plan academic areas I thought I saw reading on that one am my wrong they had scores for reading I know but yeah reading and and math and math yeah reading and math for eighth grade right not just oh I'm sorry we have the scores on the Strategic plan it's just we have been focused more on math has has been the the I but for third grade we're measuring both correct doing both reading and math correct for eth grade we're only doing math why no she's on my um goals oh sorry um that has just been what we've been focusing I mean we have the reading as well yeah cuz cuz what concerns me is I think the reading is the worst um no the math was worse oh it was it worse than reading well that's why math was that Focus yeah yeah and but like the thing we just got we did have both actually so obviously looking at both it's just not called out like it is in the in the initial strategic plan just called out math but it looks like we're looking at both anyways you know yes but the but the priority does say math on the Strategic plan right right right now right we were never like forgetting about reading right when we did a strategic plan but our Focus even in the Strategic plan was really on math because it falls down so much by that grade level that it it what can we do in between what's missing between third grade and eth grade these are just snapshots right so I mean we have the data for single grade level even at the end of I figur it was June or July when we looked at the data we had all the different areas and we looked at like successes and areas of need in all the different areas this is just the snapshot to kind of align with as a district we pick third and eighth grade as our two Focus points before the kids went up to high school it doesn't mean that we don't have the other data well I know that and I know we have the data but I think when we look at this and we look at your your goals and our goals M I think that we're looking at what are we going to do over the year that makes us achieve these goals and if we're not focusing specifically on that reading goal as well uh in the eth grade I don't want to see that go by the wayside in any way and because already yeah Dennis I if we look back Dennis is right the math is bad but uh is is worse than the reading lower the math was just they're low and so and that's a huge transitional year and so on so to me that is such an important piece of information and goal I don't want to interrupt you I just have a does I ready test reading for eighth graders it does okay because we don't have that in the Strategic plan either so you probably had third grade in there because thir third grade's the precursor to reading like learning to read so that's why we had to focus on grade three reading just to make sure that if our students don't have those foundational skills they are not going to get additional schools skills as they go forward so when it comes to the eighth grade reading scores they're they're nowhere near what's happening in math so it doesn't mean that we're not focusing on reading but we're putting additional resources that are necessary in for math like the Specialists like we have reading Specialists but we didn't have any math Specialists right so if a student is not doing really well in third grade on reading let's say and they're one of the I don't know 15 18% that are not at grade level then what happens to them between third and e8th grade is obviously really important because when it gets to the eighth grade so do we need by tracking that we'll be able to decide whether we need interventionists or more right we would give them either they' work with a re specialist working with an interventionist and then if they need to go past the tier two support then we would be probably bringing them up as an S that's think it should be part of this what we're tracking and part of our goals to make sure that that's also being focused on I think this is just linking directly to the so with the academic priority is there's focus on mathematical achievement particularly Elementary Middle School to create a strong Foundation it doesn't even say anything about reading we just happen to report the reading scores as well I I understand that but I I don't I I think there should be alignment between the goals and the Strategic plan absolutely but I think there since there is already an assumption that we're also checking to make sure that we're not losing ground in other areas that may not be listed as priorities if we're going to mention third grade reading because it's important why aren't we also just for for parallelism if nothing else also looking at e8th grade um I not because that is necessarily the current priority we could even phrase it as you know looking at the data in math and conf you know maintaining oversight of the data um in Reading at third and e8th grade you know to ensure that there continues to be progress or something like that so I think the problem then with this goal is that it's the sentence says by June 2025 the superintendent will complete the strategic planning process on academics etc etc is this to limiting that we're limiting it just to the Strategic plan or do we want to open it up more broadly on academics that's the is that what you're asking well I mean here's my so this if you go on to continue reading that it says the ef3 focus on mathematical achievement Gap so like this is directly tied to the Strategic plan and those were the the areas we we we always said we were never going to forget about reading we were just we were doing um better in Reading than we were in math that's why the focus of the Strategic plan knows a math but even when Linda does the academic updates or we do the iary data reviews we look at every grade level it's just that I wouldn't necessarily for like the purposes of my evaluation and whatnot and putting evidence together for you I just wouldn't be putting evidence for every single grade level together these are like the snapshot ones we picked but we we are looking at all of the other data points that's right I realize that this is part of performance so and we do the evaluation based on whether or not the goals uh have been met and we also uh you know there were contractual things there too and so on so I understand that I just honestly think that um if we're going to get academic achievement and we're going to be able to move forward academically that we need to make sure that both of those areas are really a focus in order to achieve this goal and I'm not saying that you forget about it cuz I know you don't forget about it it's really important and you can't really do m without being able to read well but um we've got to be able to make that a focus so that we return to it um otherwise it's just out there I would also add that if we're going to mention reading at all I I I don't necessarily see why we can't mention third and eth it already mentions third grade reading which already is beyond what is in the Strategic plan well the Strategic plan has third reading the Strategic plan does does not include e8th grade reading but does include third yeah it reports it but it doesn't really have goals about it right reading now what is the reason we say in this procedure plan third grade reading we have third grade reading but the initiatives the action steps underneath are not are the action steps are all related to mathematics yes they are and the reason that third grade is in there because there without the foundational piece we wouldn't be able to move forward with the mathematics right no that I understand okay that's why the third why the is because we're just aligning that right to the three data points we had in the the academic no I totally understand that but I think so for me and maybe I'm wrong I see the Strategic plan as a tool that we're using to continuously move forward uh you know move ourselves into the future and um make sure that our students can keep up with with what's going on in society here and what they need the education for and so on it's a it's strategic it's it's thinking in the future um this right here this onee snapshot of this of what's going on in the academic uh realm I think should include more than just what we're doing strategically to get to that higher level and say math where we know the scores are lower this should be about what's happening in the district overall in the performance at these two levels because if it needs more and during the year we see okay the students are really not doing well they're not even going to meet that goal you've got to start thinking okay next year we better be bringing in some more literacy Specialists or interventionists or whatever is going to be so throughout the year it's very important to look at those data points since see what's going on with them and then see how what the reaction is administratively on how we're going to correct that so that's why I'm going to I recommend that I I would also add that while I think alignment is good with strategic plan and the goals of both the superintendent and the school committee I don't want that to be our our trap I don't want to be limited to only having goals that are directly derived from the Strategic plan because while the Strategic plan was developed well and intentionally it doesn't always respond to evolving needs that might arise on a year-by-year basis I'd also like to bring up that I know a number of us have brought up our our concerns about reading comprehension and about the writing curriculum and I'd like us to have some way just making sure that we're still looking at that across this school year MH that that is at the root of my concern so said it so so you would like it to say what it says third grade to say the same for the eighth grade well include eighth grade I don't know if we want to expand it to do more of what writing as well all of us has talked about includes writing it's that comprehension piece taking the reading into do they really understand what they're reading and I think you and this is me a parent talking uh and not really a teacher or anybody who has methodology in this um but I think you have to be be able to talk about it and you have to be able to write about it and the only way we test our students is through writing communication is spoken word is not one of the ways uh that they're tested so it would be the only way to evaluate it whether that or not there's actual true comprehension coming out of this and it's going to become more and more important as we move forward to have this basic skill of comprehension um in education in the early years so just I I don't disagree with what you're saying I I just um historically what we have done is Tred to for the goals because again we we can't do everything right we I understand so our Focus has been primarily on um math it doesn't mean that we stopped doing the other initiatives but we had done a literacy adoption we have that in place that's why at the elementary level we're focusing on math and again this is just for the last two years this third year was aligning to those standards it doesn't mean we're not going to look at other things in the district we're still going to report on all the different um grade level data for ELA and math using mcass and I um so that is stuff that we're still going to be looking at okay but if we put it here in goals including our own goal of monitoring that and so on accountability to it right then I think it's part of what we have to perform during this this coming year includes our it puts also an Honus on us as a school committee to make sure that we're tracking that as well CU from your goals we're going to set our own so um I I just see that this particular part of the goals needs to be a little more beefed up which might include it was not a great descriptive way beefed up which would include the writing part and the reading and the the Reading part would be on the eighth grade level writing for me I think is really important all the way through but at least making sure that the comprehension is there out grid the grade three when do they get tested on mcast in writing do they and they do in the spring it's part of the mcast part of the mcast exam it is right it's not part of I it's part of mcast okay wait we wouldn't have a we'd have to wait for mcast because we don't have a I ready doesn't test writing we have our own writing prps right right so why don't we keep going and um we'll come back to this uh any other areas in the superintendent gools any wants to talk about um okay on action steps under that goal one so same um still sorry building upon the work of that I would think it should be uh work closely with both the Special Education team and General Ed team to support the implementation of the newly defined role so we're on goal two then then uh so we're on goal two Equity yes you are right uh so you say it again I'm sorry was okay so um adding both general education and uh special ed um I think Sue pointed it out in uh when we were going through the strategic plan that it was important to have that general education in there because really the change in the role in the implementation of the par of professionals will impact greatly both uh the general education uh teachers and the special teachers in the redefinition I think this is just a wording thing like the Special Education team is basically the special ed like administrators that are part of the focus group that we have working on this it really isn't a general Ed team we just have General Ed teachers throughout the district obviously that are going to be working with us I the reing on this one again aligns to the Strategic plan workor but it's working with that um special ed team primarily uh the two Amy the special ed shairs um as well as there was a working group we put together that's going to meet over the course of the year to monitor how this is going that does have teachers on it it has um General Leed teachers it has pair professionals on it okay that's kind of the group that's leading this and that we just term as the special ed team okay um so it includes people from both the special ed group and the General Ed on the working group okay administrators yeah but the primary focus of this work is the special ed directors and the chairs um but the working group had regular red teachers General Ed teachers um in Paris okay and that group's going to again they agreed to stay the same and they're going to meet um three times over the course of the year to help monitor the progress yes okay because one thing I've come to understand from being part of the Strategic thing is that actually at every level every building level it the principle has a lot to do with decisions that are made in special ed right and how thing IEPs are implemented and so on and so it's it's the is this the team we're talking about or is this a different team special this the special ed team again I view as the the director of bed Amy R Amy mats and the assistant director the special ed chairs okay so there's different chairs in the district as well as the working group um who again is about 12 or 14 that we working that that has the general teacher the pars on it and that team so it's a bigger group it's a bigger group The working group correct okay and a lot of their work is focused on supporting and the change for General Le teachers but there's really no General Leed teacher group okay I don't know if that makes sense other comments on this area not on this area okay all right uh any about social emotional learning uh human capital yeah I just I had one kind of thing I notice which is that the human capital goal includes a specific or I should say an explicit mention that um instructional staff will receive professional development and training to better support divers student populations and there aren't necessarily any action steps related to that um I'm not sure if there could be some action steps even if it is you know continuing to monitor um the confidence level of I know that's listed under conduct newly developed staff survey and analyze results but I think specifying that we're specifically looking to make sure that our educators are feeling equipped to provide that culturally responsive instruction and or something to do with how we are kind of auditing the instructional materials we're using or whatever whatever the action steps are to make sure that that's happening it feels absent um I'll look at that one too in the wording a lot of that also would mean like when you analyze the results if there is say like extra PD or something that comes up that you need that that would obviously be implemented as part of it um it might even be a phraseology thing where like that first action step could be more explicit about yep I can look at that for thank you all right uh anything on F facilities and operations okay and engagement state level organizations right okay all right so anything on school committee goals I go because they for me because they align with what we would do in terms of um the first set of goals um I would then want to look at that in light of whatever was go you know if any of our input today was going to change anything out there yeah it does uh yeah cuz I doesn't call out specifically grade levels or and our our goal here doesn't call out like the other one it just says you know implementation math curriculum it does say measured by yeah yeah and I feel like when we're talking about our supporting the educational programming I I would advocate for including uh in that list something that's broader than just the new curriculum in mathematics um that has to do with academics because it does mention other things Beyond academics that I think are important to include there um but I think results of you know student achievement um including you know monitoring Equity gaps in other academic areas feels like something to potentially include following the mention of the new curriculum anything else in that area maintaining highly effective staff anything I have one that I'd like to add on that I may fit here may fit under financials is something that we're going to definitely be engaged with quite a bit halfway through the year is negotiating new contracts and I know we've had that in the past I look back I found the goal from 2122 when was the last time so maybe something similar to that because that is certainly goal of our it was in 202 that a goal or an action step under this goal it was it it would be it would be an action on this goal yeah that's what I was I was thinking like and it could be here Financial I don't know what you want but I know we have that the past and I'll look you know okay to negotiate the contract right yeah cuz that's certainly going to be something we're going to be engaged with um and then anything maintaining aligned Financial facilities again something here I don't know something about the new building proably just keeping updated on number three seem to include that that's what I was wondering at Le yeah progress of that and just so we could be more it does we could be more explicit yeah more explicit than that and just for our advocacy of that to with you know education advocacy to I go over Stu of the other but something like that I can better okay word that in thre yeah uh is it okay to go back for a second on the highly effective staff yeah is the the goal here just to have a diverse not just that's a lot to accomplish a diverse student um staff that meets you know mirrors our own students is that the goal here the simple goal or just or is the goal to have highly effective staff period I think it's both and is is how I interpreted it so if it's both the other thing I I think is important and we already started having a discussion of this at the school committee was we did the professional development and we looked at that whole thing but as we've been hearing we have a lot of new staff and so on so maybe uh another action step might be to evaluate and make sure our mentoring program is as um good as it can be for might fit into the number one though with the teacher preparation programs that would include mentorship part of that yeah that really is part of yeah okay and add in that yeah well I think MERS ship is our in-house teacher preparation yeah I feel like it it goes Beyond liaising with existing teacher prep programs and more about what's happening inh house okay um I think that you made a point though because that's part of maintaining that staff you know not only how do we attract um new people but how do we maintain the ones we have and so a mentorship program can be a big piece of that but I'm thinking Beyond even the mentorship program right like I'm thinking a lot of the other py things we learned about last month feel like they're all they're not all about mentorship right but they're all folded into I think something that we can have as a goal which is to to continue to review what the district is doing to support the ongoing um maintenance and strengthening of the of the faculty we have actually that and that will include a mentoring program so that's kind of a broader way to include that and I think the end result of good program like these attract more people so in the end your goal will is met by you know because people will apply to districts and want to be in districts where they feel supported and they can both transition and well and and remain there and continue to grow so I think the goal in the end gets met if both of those are good programs and we saw that you've got quite a bit going on in professional development all right anything else in financial or policy I feel like the policy one is uh Brad enough to cover yeah we we about anything that might arise yeah at some point we will sit down with the policy subcommittee and kind of look at if there are any big changes I don't think that like last time we did it there was some big changes especially in the financial side it doesn't look like a lot but we definitely there was a lot coming out of Co and everything adjust we could we could review though and and and see then bring back any any maybe changes to what we have already sure that shouldn't be too bad okay right anything else anybody would like to add or comment on right so we'll kind of work on these yeah work I'll work on some drafts with Linda and then um get them out to you so you plenty any time to read before the next meeting and then if you feel it's appropriate we'll put it back on um and go from me sounds good thank you all right thank you next up tonight is um gonna actually ask Joanna for a uh budget transfer thank you there a memo in your packet tonight and I'm requesting two budget transfers as part of the um fiscal year 2025 budget uh the first one is um a budget transfer from the salary Reserve Lane change account um we had one line item of budgeted of $171,400 this transfer is moving $146,900 to the appropriate places exactly got it and can I ask so this amount is one month's worth of it's the full year that that it takes for all each month the lane change it's an annual figure it's an annual figure that's the difference between what they were making to what their new salary is that for the lane change yeah increases the budget but that much in that align item right well yes correct we had increased it already but we put it in one line now because we don't know if people are going to achieve the degree or not at the time we to put the budget together now we know because they produce transcripts so we have to go sprinkle the money into the proper salary accounts so that's what we're doing so these lines are just the different categories of what kind of teachers they are correct and like what location they're in yeah right congratulations to them all this is greately right other questions hey we'll take a motion I make a motion to approve the uh two budget transfers as presented just the first one we just just doing the one for that oh let me say it then the bottom I make a mo I'm going to revise my motion I make a motion for the lane changes CHS art rooms and CHS science lab Renovations uh transfers no we we're doing the lane changes first so one in the bottom of this right here the red oh okay sorry about yeah I recommend the school committee vote to approve this uh FY 2025 local operating budget transfer of 146,147 from the salary Reserve Lane change account to the various labor accounts as presented I'll second second okay any other questions okay we'll do a roll call Diana hi Susan I Maria I I who was there okay a second budget transfer is um requesting a shift of budget funds from an account we plan to be favorable which was the retirement sick leave buyback account uh to the local Capital land and buildings account and this budget transfer is to account for a little more work that we did uh over the summer in the CHS art rooms and the CHS science lab Renovations and the amount is $ 27,7 like to just remind you why you are going to be favorable in the retirement um sickly buyback account um we budget for this um to pay it out in July of every year um but if we have a little bit of favorable variance in June um we pay it in June and then therefore we did that you approved that um in fiscal 2024 so we expect this account to be a little bit favorable uh this year for those um that we paid in June rather than July covered last fiscal year in other words right and remember we're going to pay these again in January um a retiree has a choice of when they want to receive the funds and that has to do with tax reasons that they make on their own any other questions on this one no just one comment the rooms looked wonderful they did actually yeah y all right I'll take a motion here comes the art rooms I recommend the school committee vote to approve the FY 2025 local operating budget transfer of 27758 from the account noted to the total Capital land and buildings account as presented I'll second the motion okay any other questions right Diana I Susan I Maria I I one zero thank you very much thanks J uh item number six is the Personnel report uh and this is the big one uh because this documents all the activity we had um throughout the course of the spring for individuals who are actually started work for us on the first day of school um a lot of these people were obviously hired through the spring and early summer but they have an effective date of 826 because that was the first day that they report to work um but this is just a detailed listing of all of the new staff hired to the district and as you can see we've hired um quite a few um we had a handful of um resignations uh since the end of the school year um this also captures people who left at the end of June uh as well uh they didn't necessarily leave just at the start of the school year that's why the effective dates 612 uh and then we had a couple uh actually we had a retirement and then just a few people who already work for us who just changed jobs in the district so that's documented for you as well um this is just to give you a sense of the um the movement of staff and the welcoming of new staff to the district any questions on Personnel are we all set with psychologists are we all on board board yeah uh and I didn't know the exact date but the last psychologist did start at Center last week okay so um we were able to hire three and um good to see you guys thank you for coming nice to meet you oh okay we'll have to hurry up so we can get some pizza um so yes so the last one came on board last week so um that one was hired and uh we actually hired our last teacher as well um to fill in a life skills position at Center so we're fully staffed as far as um all of our professional staff in the district and we've actually had a um we had a number of par professional openings I mentioned but we've had a good number of highs over the course of this last week up to two weeks so we're in very good shape on that front as well okay any other questions on Personnel okay moving along next um so this is a packet that we're going to receive quarterly from Valley collaborative so Valley is a special Leed collaborative um I serve as your rep on the board there under the um regulations with collaboratives they have to make sure that they're sharing information with their member districts so we're one of the member districts so Chris Scott is going to put a packet together for us that has Val's um quarterly updates um information on different programs that may come up um if there were any changes to budget or items to make sure that all the different School committees are kept apprised of what's happening at their uh their collaboratives so this is just the quarterly report from Chris D like all the activity through through um the last quarter of fiscal 24 um so what we'll do is just vote to accept the report as a report of progress and uh place it on file okay do we have an idea are we going to get money back from last year from them again yeah we are getting money back from last year um the board will meet again at the end of November they're just doing their closing of the books and they're being audited to be have everything closed so we have a ballpark idea what the number is going to be but we'll have the final number uh in November okay but it's in line with what we had U budgeted remember this year we budgeted for a credit because we knew so right now I think there's 300,000 okay in the 2025 budget and then uh see where right great so we should be in good shape on that front all right uh I'll take a motion to accept this okay I make a motion that we accept the quarterly report um data September 12th 2024 uh from valy collaborative I'll second okay all right all in favor I I I was Zero great thank you and last for me tonight just the approval of um two field trips uh mcarthy Middle School seventh and eighth grade um student leaders go into a u leadership conference on October 16th in Manchester New Hampshire um not overnight but it's out of state and then uh Parker Middle School grade 5 student students go into the McCall Shepard Discovery Center in Conquer New Hampshire um they cannot all go together there's too many there's not enough buses so um they're splitting it up over four different days different teams going each day uh and those are dates in November again they're just day trips but they are in New Hampshire so that's why they're coming before you so I'd recommend approval okay the first one um I move that we approve the McCarthy Middle School student leadership um field trip to New England League um of Ms students leadership conference on Manchester New Hampshire it's in Manchester New Hampshire I'll second okay so all those in favor I okay um second is um I move that we accept the field trip to bip Parker uh grade five students to the m mof sheeper Discovery Center and what date is that this is a couple there's four dates November okay there you go 12 19 21 and 26 okay in carer New Hampshire I will second that as well okay right all those in favor I I okay both approved wow everything's in New Hampshire huh be very excited all right thank you very much okay uh that's it right yes all right anybody have any leers on reports a quick one I have one I was at the Harrington school PTO meeting on Wednesday they've got a really good group this year um a big board and a lot of people attended in person and um through Zoom so I was really glad to see that a lot of things coming up for the year one of them tomorrow is um they have one of their D to donate days at papaginos tomorrow since it's our release day anyone who wants after school get your lunch or dinner at papaginos and mention Harrington School and I'll get some money on that and then when you're finished at papaginos then you can head over to chelsford Elks to get your free ice creamic the Strategic plan steering committee has their kickoff event um tomorrow evening at the um Elks and 53 what time 530 p.m. they're doing that and then just another aside kind of a good news on this strategic plan um work that I'm doing for the town I have a meeting set up up the end of next week with the 8th grade student government at McCarthy and we're going to do a meeting in the box with them to give them an opportunity to voice their feelings and opinions about uh what they hope for the future of Chelmsford so I'm really looking forward to doing that giving them an opportunity to feel like their voices really matter in the town and make them feel like you know true student leaders so I'm looking forward to that that's terrific um Central PTO met uh and I attended that meeting uh on September 11th the next one is November 13th um there's a lot in store for the next couple of months they have their spiritwear store ongoing um they have an op in student directory that they put together every year that's in the process right now they have picture they scheduled for October 21 they have a big ice cream social coming up October 10 tent 5 to 7 in two shifts and it's free this year their trunk Retreat um is October 19th from 1 to 3 those are all coming and their rain date is October 26th and then recycle day for them which uh which is with McCarthy will be November 2nd um they have all board positions filled to Co in each one of the positions they always do that and it works really well for them they have volunteer signups a Facebook page and the Center School Facebook group page as well and they have a PTO website that people can check um the report was that there are 486 enrolled students five sections at each grade level except for grade two and a lot of new staff members including they were very happy that the psychologist was on board MH okay anybody else um I I haven't met with any of mine since then but I did just want to take this chance to spread the word that the first PTO meeting for the year for McCarthy and Parker has been postponed it's now going to be held on Thursday October 10th at 6:30 at the McCarthy Library rather than this Thursday due to a variety of conflicts yeah and uh Alumni Association attentively is meeting on the 25th just wait and hear back if that's definitely not so okay all right any new items people would like to bring up okay just a reminder on the 24th this is a town committee meeting with lawyers so if you want to attend that I sent you that email other than that I don't have anything else anybody else no okay uh public comment there's nobody here and we didn't receive any emails before the noon deadline so I think we're good there uh so take a motion to adjourn I will move that we adjourn second all in favor I I thank you thank you