welcome [Music] hi Ellie hi Jose hey Christina Joe are we waiting for anybody else on your end um I think we're just waiting for Curtis merera Boer is going to be here for the student update okay and if merera is not we can always come back okay if she arrives she's she's making a really uh herculan effort because she she just graduated so she's she's free but willing to return for for one last herah awesome [Music] um for oh there's Curtis okay so I think we can get started Julia can't join us tonight because she is away on vacation and Ursula will join us when she can so um let's get started I'd like to call the Mount Greylock Regional School District school committee to order it is Thursday June 13 2024 and it is 6:02 PM we are meeting remotely via Zoom the meeting is being broadcast on Wily Net TV channel 1302 in Williamstown and will be posted to the Mount GRE Greylock Regional School District YouTube page within 24 hours of the meeting as well as on Willy net.org if um everyone could on my committee I'd like to call the role alphabetically by last name um Christine Cony is here Constantine is here Elfen Vine is here green here Mila here I've got to remember Ursula is not here right now currently not here yes thank you okay at Mount Greylock Regional School District our mission is to create a community of Learners working together in a safe and challenging learning environment that encourages restorative based processes respect inclusive diversity courtesy integrity and responsibility through high expectation and cooperation resulting in lifelong learning and personal growth the first item on our agenda is the student upate update um from a recent grad I'm not sure if she is here yet she is is not here at the moment but if she does arrive I'll make sure to send you a message so we can try to return to her item okay great so next up on the agenda is public comment um by my calculation a few minutes ago if we do two minutes per um person that's currently signed up up we will be at about 34 minutes of public comment so if we could try to keep um our comments to two minutes that would be fantastic um and first on the commenting list is Lizzy hay excuse me Christina point point of order um do are you keeping time or do you want someone else to do that for you um it would be great it I either way is fine um I am happy to keep time I I cannot well why don't I do it and then um what how do you want to work this in terms of like 10- minute warning 15 or sorry 10c warning 15c I just want to be fair with everybody yeah I think a 10-c warning makes sense okay all right thanks thank you he let me know when my timer starting so that I can begin okay awesome good afternoon school committee and everyone that is joining us it is wonderful to be here tonight my name is Lizzie Hayne I graduated from Mount Greylock in 2018 I was a Latin and Spanish student and I won the foreign language prize at graduation because of this well there I served in a number of roles including class president I've also held Mass JCL office um as well as office on the national senior classic League executive board Latin for me as you might be able to see from all of this was so formative for me and when off to study Classics at Hamilton College um then ancient religions at Yale and now I'll be entering my PhD in ancient religions at Princeton University and Latin was the Gateway for me to study a number of other ancient and modern languages which includes Coptic Greek Old English and probably soon Biblical Hebrew now tonight you'll be hearing a number of perspectives I trust that you have read and are now familiar with a petition that has been going around the last month that my mother started in uh in that time you have received a number of letters all expressing love for the Latin program here and concern over its cancellation at Mount grock and indeed we the undersigned 500 plus are students and families alumni and Friends Latin teachers past present and future who tonight gather to Advocate the continuation of this important program of the Latin program at Mount Greylock a program that is decades old far older than me now I also want to say anecdotally um in my remaining seconds here um that as a Latin student I struggled a lot at high school but it was the Mount Greylock program that encouraged me to stick with it I did it because it was hard and because it was worthwhile to learn and tonight you have a hard decision in front of you but I want to say to yous think on this we do hard things because they are hard not because they are easy so please keep that in mind tonight thank you thank you Lizzie next we have David Rosenthal hi my name is David Rosenthal and I'm an mdphd dual doctoral student at Cornell and grock class of' 08 I sat with the school committee as a student advisor the night they officially cut the French program 16 years ago and I said nothing and I still feel ashamed for this I cannot overstate the value Latin has added to my life from Greylock it brought me to Stanford where I majored in Classics from there I traveled the world conducting archaeology research in England and France and it all began in Mrs Key's classroom where I first fell in love with Latin Latin taught me to appreciate the beauty of language The Power of Words and the continuity of Human Experience across Millennia even in the world of Medical Science I regularly find classmates and professors whose lives have been enriched by classics just last week I attended a colleague's neuroscience dissertation defense where in her acknowledgements she thanked not her biology Professor but her High School Latin teacher and when I defend my thesis next summer I'll do the same Latin is very much alive and all around us it survives in our words customs and institutions it survives in the way we understand ourselves and our place in the world in fact there is a Latin inscription on Mount grock's campus it's on the stone bench that memorializes Matias Bartels an amazing kid I was lucky enough to know who was taken from us much too soon the inscription reads Ain perpetuum frer aat W and forever brother hail and for uh farewell this line comes from cis's Carmen 101 a poem which is read every year in AP Latin classes across the country which so poignantly articulates the experience of loss and holds great personal meaning for me it fills me with great sadness that this poem will never again be read in our school what will we have lost when no student remains who understands this inscription and no one remembers where it came from thank you David next up we have Rachel Payne hi everyone I'm Rachel P I'm a graduate of Mount Greylock Regional High School of 2007 um I don't have remarks that are quite as beautiful as what was just shared but I also participated in the Latin program for six years and found incredible value in it as I continued um as an undergraduate at Yale and into Divinity School um I found that it has increased my ability to engage with all different kinds of literature and science um and the friendships formed in that program have remained uh Keystone Stone in my life uh many of my Latin classmates attended my wedding this past September and I've been amazed to see how many um Greylock grads went on to study Classics at an undergraduate or graduate level so I'm just here to say that this program has really been a treasure at the high school um I know that budget choices are really hard but just to think deeply about any alternatives that may exist to cutting this very special program thank you thank you Rachel next we have Amanda Wilcox it's lovely for me Amanda Wilcox I live on Cole Avenue to see and hear from David Rosenthal who I had the honor of teaching for a semester of his senior year of high school when he took an advanced Latin course at Williams College this is the kind of collaboration that will no longer be possible if Latin is cut at Mount Greylock most of all I am dismayed by the plan for Mount Greylock to offer a full sequence in only one World language for our regional school to offer an academic curriculum with a single World Language is to fall fall fall Force far short of what our community expects and what our children deserve I'm going to comment on the benefits of Latin however because it's what I know best studying Latin can supercharge a student capacities in every other academic subject as well as enriching their life beyond School here's how first Latin improves language arts learning students extend their powers of EX of expression and comprehension they expand their vocabulary but analyzing Latin unlocks an understanding of language structures that makes them sharper writers readers and better communicators across the board Latin complements the social studies curriculum Latin class in Latin class students learn history and geography they gain general knowledge cultural competence experience in navigating cultural boundaries with sensitivity and critical insight Latin strengthens skills students need for Math and Science as they gain fluency and confidence in solving linguistic equations with multiple variables and in toggling between macro and micro level analysis learning how tiny details shaped the big picture and vice versa Latin conveys valuable lessons in ethics and Civics as well students learn about different ways of governing and organizing Society 10 seconds Amanda I have lived in Williamstown for almost 20 years I've paid property taxes here for a decade I believe our Public Schools should meet high standards for their curriculum and its delivery I don't think that world languages belong in our bucket of extras World languages and instruction in more than one World Language contributes crucially to the Core Curriculum at Mount Greylock as it does elsewhere thanks thank you Amanda ior and Lee yeah so um I will have um um Leu living uh in um 41 month Williams Drive and I would like my daughter ivara to say first hello I'm a sophomore Latin student at Mount Greylock um I I love Latin class when I was in seventh grade and we all had the choice between Spanish and Latin I chose Latin for a variety of reasons including the possibility of learning many other languages with the foundation the that I could get from learning Latin and then a little while ago I was talking to a rising seventh grader I was going to tell her about the Spanish and Latin programs until I realized and I realized that she wouldn't have a choice and that that made me sad when I when I realized that she wouldn't have the same choice that I have and that the next Generations of students would not be able to have the course that I took um I think that there are certain priorities that there's there's some priorities that I don't think are uh placed correctly with language um foreign language in all kinds of instruction and budget cuts I know are necessary but I I think that some priorities should be reconsidered and that language is not high enough as it should be on our instructional priorities um so I would like to add that I think I'm really concerned I'm a language professional too um I'm also a parent um I just I'm concerned about this mindset in this country that you know whenever there's a terrorist attack then people think learning a certain language is important they don't realize that learning another language when children are young is really great for their cogni development so I'm concerned about that and I think because of this larger mindset in this country language programs are always the last to be added to a c curriculum um and the first to go let go and especially like in this uh decision process I think as parents um we were not really informed right we were basically just handed down the decision uh when it was made and we didn't have any um opportunities to discuss U Alternatives right this is a school district is public education I think as taxpayers and parents we have the right to join the decision- making process and we are we can make it you know we can work together to make things happen um another thing I think as a language professional I think this is also disservice to the students who are learning Spanish language here in this school district because Spanish already has a large um program and their class size is already big and now if you cut one more language those students who are in Spanish programs they are going to have bigger class size and how can you learn a language with like huge class so that this is really made it to fail um three minutes for the two of you yeah I know also uh enrollment was cited as a um reason for the decision but you know to increase enrollment there are many things that students can do and also I I know Latin teachers they also wanted to incre increase their enrollment and with students they you know they can spread the word so there are active things that students and parents can do to increase enrollment so I just I'm concerned about this whole decision um making process I will end there thank you next we have Ralph Hammond may I ask a question before I speak yes given that I'm the only person speaking on this subject may I have two and a half minutes um we need to all lot two minutes to each person I may I interject for one second I think I was skipped over I'm Amanda Bel goldm or I was after Amanda oh my gosh I'm sorry I did skip over you I apologize Ralph I I I'm not able to stay long because I have little children so I would love to speak um if if it's okay for me to join in now yeah okay thanks thanks everybody for being gracious about it okay um hi I'm Amanda Bell goldmacher Greylock Class of 2004 and now a local Arts educator and parent of two children who will one day attend my Greylock I took Latin for six years it was an extraordinary program with a national reputation for excellence students regularly won national prizes and titles from the JCL competitions many scored fives on Latin AP exams the program fostered a strong community Through creative extracurricular activities that celebrated robust Latin program was a jewel in the gry lot curriculum taught by Mar key and before her Brian McCarthy and Lola green accolades aside though many of my peers recall our Latin education as uniquely inspiring and permanently valuable you've heard from some of them here tonight um hi Rachel hi David um we went on to diverse careers including doctors Educators musicians scientists but the Common Thread many of us would site is how Latin fueled a passionate and permanent love of language I can infer the meaning of unfamiliar words in English by recognizing their Latin roots it's served me since the days of the SATs in my college level Italian classes it will serve me as a reader forever um more broadly though studying Latin connects us to a vast history seminal culture and our shared humanity and thank you Amanda Wilcox and others for um citing those matters I think about poetry architecture war and religion in a more nuanced way because of my Latin training I urge you to revisit uh reinvest in this program and to revive it the desire for learning languages still exists I see it brewing in my son as he Delights in learning words in multiple languages many young families have moved here specifically because of the strength of the public schools and we are shocked at how nonchalant and almost secretive the administration is being with this really serious decision would we eliminate the football team without warning if participation went down the French program was asked and now the Latin program was on The Chopping Block without public discussion thank you Amy Hayne for ringing the alarm Bells that's time Amanda thank you may I say one more word I just think it's very important that we remember that the covid crisis disrupted schools hugely Len R might might be Fallout from that alienating era and from frequent teacher turnover but eradicating it is shortsighted and it's out of touch with Community Values We should strive to reinvigorate it thank you thank you Amanda my turn yes thank you uh so before speaking at the May 22nd school committee meeting I noted in its guidelines the rule prohibiting personal complaints against any school Personnel nor against any individual member of the school Community I then strongly criticized an angry group of parents who at the main nth meeting violated just that rule and blame School Personnel for not sufficiently addressing what was portrayed as a calamitous amount of racism West following my remarks it was suggested that my remarks were not civil I of course disagree civility does not always preclude harsh criticism at any rate in March the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that civility cannot be required in a public comment session as long as the meeting is not disrupted with disorderly Behavior but that there's a bigger issue here the chastening of my speech doesn't jive with the governance at the previous meeting as noted at that meeting parents were permitted to flagrantly violate the committee's guideline that explicitly forbids attacking any school Personnel during public comments the attacks went unchecked and thus serious accusations were allowed good teachers at West had their reputations impune while the administration was scapegoated for not doing enough Dei work the violation of due process and the guidelines have had serious repercussions perhaps intimidation prompted inaction but effectively the guidelines the teachers the administrators ended up under an over revved bust within two days we've lost our esteemed superintendent and the Beloved principal of uh a West resign both vigorously work to promote a safe and welcoming environment I think they're only guilty of being too accommodating to fervent people with injudicious and untenable Dei demands um now I'm not I'm not I'm really not time apprciate it thank you thank you Ralph next up we have Meredith hoppen Meredith you're muted still muted Christina are you able to unmute Meredith under David Langston don't where is she I don't see her under David Langston oh I see there you go okay thank you I'm sorry I was at my husband computer and I don't understand it um I'm Meredith hoppen I taught Classics at Williams for over 40 years and retired seven years ago I anticipated that others ahead of me would elaborate on the vocabulary building the uh aspects things like that about studying Latin um I thought there might be more comment on the value of studying an inflected a heavily inflected langu language so that you really come to understand grammar um in a way that studying most other languages certainly modern romance languages and such you're not going to learn you're not going to learn it in English classes either there's enormous value in that partly because what it contributes to is the developing logical thinking abilities critical thinking abilities um the uh all kind patience uh um the ability to uh sit down for a long time with a problem and solve it these are probably the things that make doctors and lawyers and others look back on Latin as formative for them physicists scientists mathematicians look back on Latin as formative for them um it's it's very very valuable study um obviously for cultural reasons the historical um value of art architecture government all kinds of reasons Latin provides a hugely important foundation what I want what I want to emphasize that maybe others will not bring up is it's precisely the value of Latin as a so-called dead language a a language not spoken except by a few Scholars or lawyers or Statesmen for almost 2,000 years or something like that 1,500 years um it's precisely that that makes Latin so valuable it's deeply in the past a problem today that time if you could wrap up thanks okay the value of going into the distant past through language I think cannot be underestimated and I can't think of any other language we would study today where we could do that Latin is the language where we can connect to a distant past via language thank you Meredith next up we have David Langston oh David I'll just add David mostly I'm here oh you're here do you wanna there you are you want to say something yeah I was surprised by this decision um I served on the school committee for 10 years and was on the school Council for 15 years before that and uh this decision from my point of view uh strikes right at the uh heart of what I think is uh important and um must be held on to at Mount Greylock as a really fine school that prepares our students for um working at the to use an old phrase the the highest Academy is uh of the United States uh Mount Greylock has a sterling rep um reputation and I think it's uh Lang language there's nothing more important uh than background in languages uh and I really do appeal to the school committee to open this up to a a longer discussion and see if there are ways to explore other ways to solve this problem than simply um phasing out uh an important language program um of all I I was a German I took German when I was in high school uh but the the importance of Latin has been continually impressed to me partly because I'm married to uh but um uh the uh importance of um of Latin as a as a Cornerstone that's just as important as science just as important uh as math in the development of uh of a well-rounded uh student and Mount Greylock has a long history of excellence in going back to l green uh in the Latin program and it really bothers me to see that it would be pushed aside even if the enrollments are low there are other ways to solve that problem I think through collaborative associations with other schools enough said thank you David next up is Amy I'm not gonna try to pronounce your last name I apologize right hi I'm Amy Holtz appful um thank you for for listening to this commentary um I am a parent of a student Ezra who graduated last year and I'm so I'm speaking in that capacity um to really try to encourage everyone to rethink this um I I I am not the one to um validate the many things about Latin that are incredible um Amanda and and and Meredith and others have have done so um and and so I won't speak to that but I I just want to say that when Ezra when Ezra came into Latin um it was early on in his career as a student he was a shy kid um and he found do Dr level's class and it it was a a space of belonging for him it was a space where he really opened up as a student and it was a thriving program it was a thriving program when he came into Mount Greylock um and it was partly because it was actually 99% because it was great teach ing um and that is what you need to inspire kids to want to be in the room to take Latin you you have to have good teachers um and and Put a Little Love into it he went on to take Latin um with Amanda at at Williams he he took another class in Classics with Adon deel he took a class with Jeff Israel in the classical study of ancient um judaic literatures and now he's um in college um studying philosophy and German as a result of um the logic that he came to understand and learn through his encounters with Latin uh he wrote his college essay about the anid uh he was inspired he this was a kid that was inspired and and please don't don't stop um giving that opportunity to other kids um you know I I I'm speaking for Latin but there has to be some some way for us to think around this problem we just keep cutting things as as a response to these budget crises but we we've got to start prioritizing things like language and the Arts rather than time Amy the track thank you thanks thank you Amy next we have David Bartels David you're muted hi good evening Marcus urelas in his meditations the famous Roman Emperor wrote practice really hearing what people say it's pretty amazing isn't it the most powerful person and one of the most powerful empires of all history wrote this in his private Journal this say important advice for everybody and I would urge for the school committee as well thank you for this opportunity to speak my name is David Bartels I am a proud alumnist class of 2002 I studied Latin for six years AP Virgil AP Avid Calis my wife uh Dr Devon Bartels also studied Latin she was educated in Virginia uh but did the IB and EP program herself she chose me to speak tonight because I am the mounty we are citizens of Williamstown and the parents of three future mounties I graduated M Greylock I went to college at Princeton where I met my wife I went to Harvard Medical School where uh my wife did as well and we're now physicians in Brookshire County I I mean it when I say that Latin was and is crucial to the path that I took and where and who I am today like this chorus of voices I'm Gravely concerned about this possible elimination uh briefly uh I did ask to sign up for two topics I think I'm still limited only to two minutes um I want to congratulate the school committee for thinking about the cell phone issue and I think these are two aspects of the same issue we all want the best for our children we want to strive for excellence um we want the best for our students we want high expectations of our students by potentially eliminating cell phones and reinvigorating Latin we can strive towards that Excellence Latin offerings are invaluable for learning grammar syntax developing rhetoric developing creative language use it's foundational for understanding other languages foundational for understanding Western culture and literature for understanding world history it's far from dead it is uh that's a limited view because studying Latin is actually a world a view into um a whole culture really it's invaluable for logic critical thinking expanding your vocabulary understanding our constitutional republic our legal system science medicine it's also an Avenue for self-expression and translation during a potentially tumultuous time in all of our lives or adolescence and it gives us Insight one one one 10 10 more seconds here it gives us insight into issues of Love death friendship loneliness and our place in the world um so I'd urge you to reconsider this I do not the die is Yet cast on this issue and I also want to say thank you to David for um touching upon the inscription on my brother's bench thank you David next we have Chris level hi everyone I'm Chris level I live in Williamstown and I taught Latin at Mount Greylock from 2019 through 2022 latin's obviously a subject near and dear to my heart and I want to urge the school committee and the district to rethink this decision restore the program uh other commenters have spoken so eloquently about the unique value of Latin as a subject and the differen it's made in their education and their lives and I think anything I could add at this point would be Superfluous um but I would like to make a point about the Power of Choice so when you're in the early years of high school and middle school you don't have a whole lot of opportunity to choose the courses that you're going to take we know that when students get to actively shape their education it increases their engagement and their excitement in school and I think we've heard so many people talk tonight about the results of the choices that they made reducing Mount Greylock World languages to just one removes one of those opportunities for a student to make a choice and I also want to bring up a point of comparison um from another local school I want to bring up the World Language programs at lenux Memorial Middle and High School where I currently teach lenx has a smaller student body than Mount Greylock even though Middle School there begins in sixth grade three World languages are offered at lenux French Latin and Spanish each language has a full range of courses from 7th to 12th grade each language offers AP courses in sixth grade students take an exploratory course in which they take each language that we offer for a quarter so they can make an informed decision about which language they will take as a seventh grader at the high school level we encourage students to take two languages in a good number due I believe Mount Greylock students deserve the same same opportunity to choose between language programs as in a step towards that goal I urge you to restore Latin thanks thank you Chris next on up for public comment we have Ash Bell how do I remove my picture you have to stop your video whoever that was this how you remove your picture um hi uh so my name is ashbell I live at 31 Church Street uh in Williamstown um and I am a um I'm a trained teacher I am um an independent educator currently and as an educator I always am striving to continually learn and better myself as so many teachers across the world do um and it's impossible to do that without transparency constructive feedback and continued training um our teachers stand in front of diverse classrooms they strive to present diverse representation in the books that they choose to read in their classrooms and they love our kids providing teachers with the ongoing training and support that they need to be able to teach a cross difference is Paramount to supporting all our students in the classroom without structural support training and direction we're leaving our teachers vulnerable um vulnerable to being in situations that maybe they don't have the training or the best support to handle um I think that it's really important um to provide that training within the structure of the school um and not have our teachers piece meal it together for themselves um I know that I told my child's teacher about a training this year um and she showed up and it was beautiful and fantastic and wonderful but she shouldn't have to take her own personal time to be able to feel confident in in classroom and teaching all of the students um that should be part of her job um and so I am speaking in support of the proposal to be able to get the teachers some more deib training thank you thank you Ash next up we have twink my name is twink Williams Burns and I'm a proud parent of two Mount Greylock Regional School District students um I'm one of the parents who spoke at the last school committee meeting about the racism that my children and other black children have endured in the district it was difficult to share and I know it was difficult to hear and while I never intended for those comments to hit the local news I have to say that I'm truly heartened by the many conversations they have sparked since especially towards collaboration I've heard from parents in the district who want their children to graduate as strong leaders and positive community members in our increasingly Multicultural and globalized world but most importantly I've heard from teachers who want so badly to bring broader representation into the content they teach but don't feel prepared or supported by the district to do so and therefore are left feeling fearful of doing it wrong in fact our calls for Action are largely in support of teachers who love our children deeply who work hard every day and who want to navigate difficult topics and conversations well and with with support I've personally seen multiple teachers invite tough conversations precisely because they want to provide an excellent experience for every student in their care I know they're not the only teachers who feel this way and my assumption in fact is that most teachers throughout the district feel similarly these teachers need and deserve to be supported in incorporating new more inclusive material into their classrooms without fear our children deserve to have the adults in their world work together to keep them all safe in all ways at school that's why I fully support the proposal set forth by su interim superintendent Bergeron it's a commendable example of collaboration across many stakeholders I urge the school committee to vote in favor of it thank you thank you Twi twink next we have Bonnie hi I'm Bonnie Hartley I live at 76 Hall Street and I'm the parent um of an elementary child and I'm speaking um regarding item xdb um I want to State endorsement and support of the bias Improvement select board funding proposal on the agenda um and I think that the proposal as laid out is actionable immediate term focused and will reduce disconnect between stated policies and the um experience that's happening at the the front line um these are key elements that concern parents par had voiced and worked to develop a bias protocol proposal and I think Mr Bon's proposal keeps with the overall intent of the parent proposal um I hope the committee will offer um full-throated support of it showing a true collaboration and partnership for when the proposal is considered by the select board well there's more work to be done as we all know beyond this one proposal I think it's tangible focused actionable and will improve quality of life for students and families and I would specifically like to thank Mr buron for his leadership in navigating this issue thank you thank you Bonnie next we have Ally everyone I'm Ali Cory I live at 31 Church Street in Williamstown um uh like the past few speakers I'm here uh to speak in strong support of The Proposal um around bias incident uh response and protocols and procedures um and uh I have a one child currently at West another child who I expect will start at West soon um I come from a family of public Educators my mother taught and was an administrator in Boston for um 30 years her whole career my dad taught in the Suburban school system outside of Boston and my grandparent at least one grandparent um was also uh was also a teacher um and and uh the reason that I support this proposal um to Echo what Bonnie just said and what twink said is you know this come this came through a process where where parents brought something forward super I'm grateful to the superintendent or interim superintendent Joe berson for for picking this up and and uh and moving this forward um it's an important collaboration between parents administrators and teachers um and just what I can speak of from my from my mom's experience as a teacher is you know she was working 15 to 18 hours a day and I know that many of our teachers around here are working that much and what that can get in the way of is time dedicated and allocated to to keeping track of precise protocols and procedures um around bias response uh and such and so um uh what I'm hopeful about this proposal is that it will help uh just streamline and cl clarify that process and build it into the structure of the school a little more um to be able to support uh the work that they do uh with our children thank you thank you Ally next we have Charles Charles here okay don't see Charles I don't hear char Charles so we will move on to Tanner Colby hi everyone um I'm here to speak on the issue of the uh the student use of personal electronics and the wait until 8 program and I'm not going to make any big uh speeches or arguments because I don't think it's necessary I think we all know and certainly everyone in the administration knows that the studies on this are pretty well settled and what these devices are doing in schools so I just want I'm here to say thank you to the administration for tackling this issue and to say that I and dozens of other parents are here to help in any way we can with uh getting students on board and getting uh parents helping out with a wait until late program or whatever happens um just very excited to see this happening and um hope to see it move forward thank you thank you Tanner next up we have Charlotte hi so sorry for weird location I'm helping out at some morning side for their parade um I'm just coming to the school committee to speak about the phone policy um I'm a rising senior I've been away for the past semester um without a phone you know I was in DC taking a semester program and you know I've had a lot of experience you know o over usage of social media and I really think that there's a big difference between a seventh grader and a 12th grader looking at this policy I went to a meeting about two weeks ago I think it was so I'm a little odd breath I was running out of the parade um and I I just want to bring attention to like a lot of the conversations about the parents a lot of them have been R Rising eighth eighth graders or Rising nth graders about the parents and it's just something to note that like a policy applicable to a seventh grader might not necessarily need to be applicable to a 12th grader there's a lot more responsibilities um anlock often Prides itself on preparing students to be well equipped for college or professional career and one thing is that is time management self-management and so I really just want that reflection and noticing the different responsibilities thank you thank you Charlotte okay I don't have anyone else on the list so I think we can move on to our next agenda item Chistina are you taking public comment from the floor or we can I I didn't see any hands up I was looking through the screens I think I I would just like to note that the school committee received um 45 emails of public comment in the last uh 10 days or so and um a number of those were for Latin a number of those were for for Deb um some of them were for the um cell phone policy and I'd just like to thank all the community members who wrote to the school committee uh to express um support or uh concern over uh you know the various items that we're we're dealing with um at this meeting so just want to put that out there thank you Ken okay Susan merer has her hand I oh thank you I I am so sorry I um I have not participated before and I read that and I don't have anything more eloquent to say on the Latin topic than has already been said I will say I'm a physician and a writer and intellectually Latin was as formative for me as it has was for the people who already spoke but also say that my daughter is just just completed her seventh grade year and that class is so invested in their Latin study and devastated by the fact that they went to school in the last two days and the classroom has been turned into a Spanish classroom and I agree that s we should be teaching Spanish but we have a community of students who want to study this language we have an incredible amount of brain power evident in this meeting and there has to be a way to reconcile those thank you s I'm going to flip through my screens one last time I don't see any other hands up so let's move on to the next agenda item Joe I didn't see our student speaker I have not seen her enter so I'll just keep an eye out and okay she does we can hop back to it okay great so next up approval of minutes um oh and I I apologize I should have mentioned earlier that um superintendent mcandless wanted to be here but he could not be here tonight um and so we are looking to our interm to continue moving forward on uh the work that Dr mcis had started I just wanted to mention that before we move on um okay approval of minutes do I have a motion to approve the May 9th 2024 minutes so moved Curtis moves do I have a second second Miller Miller seconds uh any discussion on those minutes hearing none all in favor conry I Constantine I Elfen B ey green I Milla I thank you that motion [Music] passes do I have a motion to approve the May 22nd 2024 meeting minutes so moved seconds to help the note any discussion on those meeting minutes okay hearing none all in favor conry I Constantine I Elfen Elfen by I green I Miller I thank you those that motion passes okay next up on the agenda um we have public comment policies and practices um we received the school committee received um a letter of concern from the union asking us to more strictly adhere to our public comment policy and for commenters to stick to the real Spirit um and topic of the items listed on the agenda um so um I mean the fact is that a number of statements were made during our last meeting that we and our staff cannot discuss publicly and in some circumstances we disagree um and would want would want to discuss and there's no real legal or productive way to carry on discussions on topics in a public meeting um so we do offer um meetings and conversations outside of um our public meetings so that we can meet and have these more informal conversations about these matters um and we do have formal and informal Channel for receiving complaints from the public um so that we can carry on detailed conversations and um do constructive work so um you know I encourage anyone to reach out um we can talk about the sort of how you might report a complaint um based on what it what it is um so for example if reporting a bias-based incident you would you know um there we have a a Anonymous incident um report that you can file you can report it to a trusted staff member um you can report it to the principal if you felt that those weren't being answered correctly you would then go to the superintendent if you felt the superintendent wasn't responding appropriately you can go to the school committee um trying to think anything else anyone wants to add I think we're going to talk about this more when we get to the um you know the the more the further discussion about the Deb proposal um and Equity audit um but it you know the a lot of people are unhappy with the way public comment went on May 9th and I was the you know interim or I was standing in for the chair who was not able to make the meeting and you know the fact is it's it's very hard um when you offer people a a route to discussion and they choose public comment as a way to make public um make very public um some issues that they they were unhappy with how they had been dealt with up to that point um we're we're all in a tough position um because we need to respect what's being said we can't comment on it we aren't in a position to comment on it and yet it becomes the truth of what happened when it's not the truth for everyone involved in that situation necessarily um so I I understand the the letter from the union I I also understand that you know we can't deny people the right to speak if we're going to have public comment so um it's it's something that you know maybe is worth considering in the future whether public comment is serving the purpose that it is meant to serve I think tonight it it really did serve the purpose that it is intended to serve um when it's used less than appropriately we run into situations that are um more difficult potentially explosive and have unintended consequences and um you know that's that's a risk we run when when we offer public comment Steve uh yes so I'm not quite sure what the best solution is going forward uh it might be worthwhile to have a you know document on best practices or common practices for Effective public comments that we can share with people you know before the meeting to just remind themselves I know several times we have people who start telling stories about you know their children which we're not supposed to be discussing in public or they start talking about you know individual teachers and they might think they're doing things in general but they're doing it in such a way that it really does highlight a specific item there's also the danger of things being selectively enforced in terms of who's allowed to say things in Greater detail or pushing the envelope and you know this might be something that would be very good for the policy subcommittee to think about and come back with some suggestions as to how to go forward I think one of the strengths of our district is the fact that we're small enough that we are a community we can talk to each other both on the street as well as in meetings you know we do better as a district when we have the lines of communication open and I think it's extremely valuable to have the public comments both people who are writing in and people who are speaking up at the meetings but we have to do it in such a way that we are respectful and cognizant of all the issues and the hopefully unintended consequences that may happen with how some things are discussed so thank you thanks Steve any other comments on that from the committee before we move on to the next item on the agenda okay so next up school committee seats on the November B bot um we have three seats that would be on the ballot they're currently held by Julia in Williamstown Jose in Williamstown and Ursa in Lanesboro um Ursa will hopefully be at this meeting later but I did speak with her and she indicated that she would be um pulling papers and Julia also said that she would be pulling papers um essentially for we can ask Jose what his plans are for um for your name to appear on the ballot in November um it's a four-year term you need 45 certified signatures of registered voters voters and these can be voters in um both lboro and Williamstown but we encourage you when you pull out your papers to get a sheet for one for each town because the signatures you know a lboro voter signature can only be verified in lboro and the Williamstown and Williamstown so um it's best to keep the signatures from the town separate um the deadlines the deadline to submit your nomination papers to the town clerk for that certification is Tuesday July 23rd at 5:00 pm and um then certified nomination papers um have to be at the district office August 208th at 5:00 p.m. and my understanding and Carol's not here unfortunately so I can't I should remember this because I've done it twice but I think the town I think the town clerks call you and say your your papers have been certified and then bring them to um to the district office that's correct so any questions from the committee on that Jose do you want to share your intentions no thank you Christina um I I'll try to keep my my uh Preamble very brief um but I first want to acknowledge the incredible number of people uh community members across lanb in Williamstown that are here this evening um it's a real Testament I think to how truly incredible our community are you know and it reflects our dedication to public education and and our dedication to ensuring that our school district is a home of learning and belonging for for all our kids um I want to highlight to all of our wonderful you know neighbors that are here this evening um that for two years running when you adjust for inflation our communities uh across lpor in in Williamstown have decided collectively to cut the budget to cut our support to our school district and that's just a fact um whether you know folks were able to attend Town meetings whether folks were able to engage in finance committee meetings or select board meetings or even school committee meetings the reality is is that collectively we all agreed to cut or reduce our support to our school districts and that comes with consequences um I would hope and I I think the verb I'd like to use is beg plea that each of you maintain your commitment to our kids and to our communities continue attending our school committee meetings continue to have your voice be heard when Finance committees are thinking about or deciding upon what our towns are willing to support um we heard I think each of you clearly about your the value that each of you place on world languages on an inclusive and diverse support of a diverse Community one in which all of our kids not only feel belong belonging but but truly belong um that uh honestly is the real reason why I decided to to join the school committee four years ago four years ago with Curtis um you know we were still in the midst of the pandemic in the midst of the pandemic and I'm proud to have served with with each of my school committee members um this Preamble is longer than perhaps should be because it's almost deciding in real time what in God's name my heart is telling me to do but uh I I will plan to pull papers and to to run again um and to join uh uh each of you in support of all our kids to keep this work going to do the work that we all know each of us know we've got to do for the sake of our kids thanks thank you Jose okay moving on to business administrator report we are going to ask Joe to put his business administrator hat on thank you very much and I apologize for taking people through some uh far more dry material here for a little bit but we'll return to the heart of of many matters U momentarily uh can I just ask Joe um would it make sense to perhaps move up the um superintendent report um while we have folks on the meeting um we we certainly could the the wait until 8th topic I think probably should come after the student know devices policy but we could okay take the remainder we could take b c and d prior to everything else if the committee was willing is a yes Christine is a yes are you un I'm sorry could you repeat the question krie yeah I was just suggesting and I'll I'll move um so people can actually vote if you want um but I'll move to um take items a sorry b c and d uh from under uh item 10 move those up uh in front of the business administrator report and leave item a until after the policy discussion does somebody want to second that second okay any discussion all in favor conry I Constantine ey Elin Bine ey green ey Miller I thank you that motion passes all right end of school year updates um very celebratory today was the final day of school uh as of tomorrow it's the it's the first day of summer um Mount Greylock graduation uh this past weekend beautiful event um I still revisit the student speeches every once in a while over the course of a difficult week this week and I I get choked up in beautiful ways because of the ways our students lead us the way our students reflect the good that we can produce um and the way they care for each other and that's that that within Mount Greylock is um that is for sure and they put it on display Whenever there is the opportunity to do so um so congratulations to the students have graduated um moving on to other other places other things um the two elementary schools uh they also graduated their uh sixth graders over the over the last 24 36 hours um congratulations to all those students who are are moving up along with um those who will join us from Hancock and new Ashford um as we uh as we welcome them into Mount Greylock um in the in the fall um so the school year is done um we have a few weeks prior to all of the summer activities begin um within our buildings uh across a variety of programs um so staff are are going to get some much needed rest and uh and then dive back into the work that's the end of school year update that I've got um Latin program changes discussion um first I want to thank everybody in the public who who wrote who petitioned and who came to speak tonight um the the depth and breadth of of what they brought was um was really compelling and it's and it's an indication of how strong the program has been um in terms of its impact on students for for many decades um across many teachers who have who have come through that program and and delivered that to students um including our current teacher um who's been a wonderful asset to students um and and really given them many opportunities within Latin um the the way the discussion has progressed over the last couple of months was not the way the administration or the school committee I think would would want um for a decision of this magnitude um it should typically start as a school council discussion about priorities um ideally we begin to have and and this is asking a lot quite honestly of our school councils but I think it's it's an important thing to do um to ensure that they are looking at priorities outside of the budget cycle but saying what if what if funding does decline what do we lose because oftentimes school council discussions are far more about here are the asks here are the additions that we want to have um but I think it is both healthy and needed within this Financial climate um to start to have some of the more difficult and challenging discussions that does not mean that school councils make the decision because ultimately the Fiscal Agent in charge of of making those difficult decisions is the school committee um but the situation that we found ourselves in over the last couple of months is one where um we did not see the retirements and departures that that we had um forecasted as a part of the budget development um during the time that the budget budget was originally developed um we were not projecting any impact on the program of studies um when various pieces fell into place it forced us to say can we do we need to accelerate those difficult conversations that that we projected needing to have over the course of this coming year um and that's where as we presented the budget as we talked about we might need to accelerate change we might need to consider program of study choices um that's what we were starting to allude to so that we hoped that we would have gradual discussions and Community discussions around priorities and and how to make sure that our needs our students needs were met um that said the position that we're in right now is one where um it is purely a financial decision um and if we were to try to change that decision we would need to potentially produce other tradeoffs um other other other equally painful um items for discussion so at that point I'd love to turn it back to the committee and and and then we can we can get into more detail if needed Steve so uh thank you for the you know update and trying to put things in perspective could you tell me or tell us you know how much money would it cost to to put the ladin uh teacher back to the level we have this year the one-year Financial impact was uh about $65,000 and the the multi-year course that that then also puts us into is one where um given that we're planning on phasing out Latin as a language it would mean um additional changes next year to allow one additional teaching capacity for Spanish and two creating more flexibility within scheduling at Mount Greylock um as currently and and this is a this is a joy and a benefit but currently when establishing schedules you need to ensure um that other um subject areas electives and and also um required courses are available to students across the two languages that that creates often times smaller class sizes by the nature of the scheduling in those other areas than is really necessary because we need to schedule around two languages which which is not um it's not a bad thing but it is a financial impact Type U thing for for the school and for the district um so that's a long- wind way of saying first year $65,000 after that the progression is is trying to figure out how to um preserve everything else that we can using the flexibility that's created with being able to modify the schedule of the of the school so I I think we heard you know very eloquently spoken a lot of you know strong arguments in favor of keeping loud and I understand the financial difficulties and the challenges one of the things we do have to be aware of is we have lost some you know families over the years um and I am concerned about you know retreating on academics we don't have any languages in the elementary schools we used to have French Latin and Spanish then Spanish and Latin and now just Spanish um I understand that some things happen when you are in a small District you know a little bit either way can have a huge impact in terms of you know budget impacts we're not a huge District where we can absorb some of the these things more easily I would love to see things preserved at the status quo level for one year to give us time to try to find a long-term solution we hit families with this with very little notice we had a lot of people who made plans assuming certain programs would be in play if necessary do we have funds we can use from excess and deficiency from school choice that we could use to pay for something like this again I'm I'm worried with people looking at Greylock and trying to decide is this where they want to go these are the stories they're seeing they're seeing us you know retreating academically I understand why but it makes me concerned and I'll just say this is why I have been arguing at every school committee meeting for months now that we are doing bandaids we need to talk to the state government we need to talk to the federal government about what are the priorities on spending because we're spending things on X which means we don't have dollars for y and it's hitting us right now so thank you Jose thanks Chris and thank you Joe um I'm just going to Second aspects of of what Stephen just shared I think um I think what we heard this evening uh certainly has resonated with me and has reflected my my impression of a process terms of how this process unfolded uh I think when we as a school committee voted to move a budget forward to our Our member towns um I think we might have discussed the budget very differently had we known the consequences of of what we were were deciding on um in addition I think given I you know my perception of the of the genuine and and Broad interest in a second Global language and then maybe in particular it's it's Latin with within the middle school high school it seems to me that you know trying to find the right word here but I think I would implore us or or the district to to to return the Staffing level of Latin to what it currently is to ensure that Rising seventh graders have access to this language it would allow us as a district and as communities to return to this topic when we start thinking about next year's budget come January February and if this is something that our communities truly value truly want to see I would again I'm going to use that word that that verb beg us to participate in those conversations we think about next year's budget to ensure that we have the resources we need to fully staff Global languages and to do the work the incredible work that I think our communities uh want us to do and perhaps even need us to do so I think my my request Joe if at all possible is to you know kind of seconding Stephen toit to hit pause in in some ways in this decision that was made um to buy us time to think about how we can more adequately and sustainably um provide this opportunity for our students Carri thanks Christina um so I'm going to put on my finance committee chair hat here and just express some concern concern over using $65,000 from school choice um for in a year that where we've already pulled more from school choice than what we were comfortable doing um I mean I suppose we have would have the option of going back to the towns and requesting a special town meeting as well I'm a little concerned on that because the vast majority of folks speaking are from one of our member towns and and I don't feel that both our member towns are represented in this conversation and that is also a concern um we did talk a little bit as a committee about evaluating um and I suppose this would start with school counil um what is that second language that we should be off in I don't think we want to be a single Language School um but is it Latin is it Mandarin is it another language all together um we do need time to figure that out but we also need money and we simply don't have the money in the budget without making some very serious decisions about where it's going to come from so I'll just put that caution out out there I am very supportive of the Latin program I am also um concerned that we're working within a very tight budget we had an unexpected change in retirement plans and we now need we now need to figure out how to how to address that thank you Carrie and I apologize to community members who have not attended a school committee meeting but we only allow comments from the public unless it's a public comment um time and that has ended Curtis I do want to say to anyone who does want to make uh to communicate something to the school committee at this time but public comment has ended you can fire off a quick email and most of us are I mean we're all on Zoom right now so my email's uh there so it it might not get shared publicly but you can try to communicate with us at this time it's just we don't have public comment uh at this time uh I had a question uh in regards to the percentage increase uh that was asked of the towns in this year's go around of the budget we am I correct in my Rec uh remembrance that uh they the towns specifically wanted to keep us at about 3% from leansboro and 3 point something from Williamstown or was it four uh in terms of percentage increase from last year to this year's proposed budgets the original request from the Two Towns prior to the start of this budget cycle was to keep our increases to 3% or lower um at the end of the day our increases were 3.9% for Williamstown 3.38% for lboro thank you the the reason I asked that is because I was thinking of one public comment uh that Drew the comparison to Lennox public schools which is a uh smaller School District but does offer three foreign languages um that District just put a 6.5% increase in the ask for from their town uh what's what's their mask again the millionaires um so I I do I do want to have Latin this year next year forever my brother as a Mount Greylock student uh flourished in Latin um I took Spanish I also sucked at it um but uh yo estoy mui Gordo Stan um but uh I also want to have a diversity Equity inclusion and belonging director and I want to have a dedicated art teacher in the middle school so that there's art classes for all and my shopping list is way longer than you could possibly uh imagine um and like Jose I uh joined uh at the peak pandemic because I I really like spending time on Zoom um I I would urge people when giving feedback to school committee and School administration decisions and participating in the form of public comment as we did tonight which I thought was incredibly uh productive profound and robust um I would urge people in the Public Square to remember that school committee members are all volunteers this is an all volunteer army not not getting paid to do this and uh some of us are putting in hundreds or over thousand or two hours a year uh out of dedication to this work so I openly welcome any and all criticism of decisions questioning of decisions and the back and forth in the Public Square about that um if you could do it in a way that remembers that these people are human beings that would be great um because I have heard and read some comments that are absolutely insulting and denigrating to dedic ated members of this committee who've been on this for years uh and years and since that's the thing we're trying to teach the children to think of each other as human beings uh if the adults could practice that a little more that would probably be all right in regard to the current decision that lies before us regarding Latin and funding it in this coming school year do I want to do it yes am I clear on where I can get the money from no would I openly welcome any and all uh anyone want to write a check for 70k feel free I would love that I don't know how that works legally in terms of a donation funding a faculty position uh but then again that's not a thing uh but then again neither is funding it out of the track and field gift uh from Williams is my understanding so we should probably stop uh criticizing prioritizing track uh over Latin when that's not a thing that happened um yeah sorry that was a bit of a meander uh I would love to have Latin next year and every year uh I hope we can find a way to do it but right now uh looking at the math which is the thing I teach uh I don't currently see it uh and I am looking for it Jose thanks Christina and thank you uh thank you Curtis um Joe just um could you walk us through just the short-term implications of of drawing down our um school choice funds for instance to to return to full Staffing for Latin what would what would you what could you describe for us what the short-term and maybe even medium-term consequences of doing that might be sure the the shortterm is the the Practical source of funding for making this change would be school choice um so we would we would draw that revolving fund down by an additional $65,000 um the impact of that is that given the deficit spending that we're already doing against both school choice and tuition as well as end to try to keep things as status quo as we can in this coming year um it will mean that um it's it it'll mean that we're going to need to make some potentially even more difficult and more sudden changes as we look at the FY 26 budget the the one for the 25 26 school year um in that if we spend funds down that we have and if we do that in a at a rate that is increasingly unsustainable as opposed to a little bit unsustainable um we're going to put ourselves in a situation where it's possible that coming out of school council and school committee discussions over this coming year that we might need to rather than gradually reducing a program um eliminate it all together and cut in in other places and and that's not a I don't mean that as a threat at all because actually my heart is certainly with trying to preserve everything that we can and give ourselves time to make good decisions I I just want to let you know that when we come back and we have new discussions a uh nine months from now um hopefully on the tales of robust school council discussions and school committee discussions about priorities um that is probably what we would be doing we would be saying we really need to pull back U material in a number of ways and to just to if I may speak a little bit off that question for one moment on the topic of Our Town support of our school district uh we did as a part of this budget cycle do a a fairly robust comparative analysis of um our sources of funding and our spending per pupil compared to many other districts across the state um the reality is is that in Berkshire County we are we are a school district where the state get given its methods of calculating need we are one of those regions that that the state says you don't need nearly as much money per pupil from us the state and federal in terms of Grant sources as neighboring North Adams Pittsfield um other Regional School Districts that are rural so the state and federal money does not come in nearly as um significantly to us on a per pupil basis um and so that shifts the burden to our local towns our local towns have for many years very thoroughly supported our school district in in a way that has made it what it what it is today and hopefully what we can preserve it to be um there are other towns within our state including towns within our County that see far more Economic Development happening within their borders that Economic Development leads to a larger tax base overall and so you don't have individual homes property taxes increasing at nearly the rate that our towns H have seen um so on a personal level as a citizen Within These two towns I I I think the answer probably needs to move away from let's just increase property tax rates and instead let's find a way to grow the grow the base that our towns have to work with in the first place that would allow a 6% increase to happen with a whole lot less pain to homeowners within our member towns um I'm G to get off that soap box now but I just I think it needs to be repeated many times um so that we start to have all of the difficult decisions um made within our towns as opposed to just about uh what to cut or what to add within a school district in order to hit a certain percentage Christina I'd like to follow follow up on that and a few other comments um that were made um so you know much like the Dei be work that we're doing this is very much everyone's issue right this is um all citizens all member towns you know we need to wrestle with this as a team so that we can figure out how to fund what it is that we want to do and need to do um the program pramming that has been cut in the recent past has been primarily Athletics I believe um you know we we did have in addition to French we we also taught Latin I mean not Latin sorry Italian so before I came to GAC Italian had been cut um and then French was cut after I left and then um field hockey was cut with proposition to and a half and much more recently um Alpine skiing was cut and that was really uh let's put everything on the table see what is the most expensive program we offer with the least participation and Alpine skiing was it and it went um I think David Langston was on the school committee at that time it was a really tough decision other programs have moved to co-op Sports uh football I think swimming wrestling you know we have a lot of Co-op Sports because we have fewer students participating and the cost of that programming um becomes exorbitant when you when the population um is also uh declining these are really tough decisions these are all painful um and they affect our students in extraordinary ways right and perhaps Latin is a different situ ation maybe Latin can't be put in with all these other programs that have been cut or reduced or modified um maybe there's a way to do Latin that is like a co-op sport where we're not eliminating it all together but sharing it with another school or with a region we just we don't know that yet um and I very much without my finance committee hat on would very much like to take the time to further explore is Latin you know the right program for Mount Greylock should we be teaching Mandarin is there a way to make Latin work where we could um find funding from other sources is there a way that we can share our Latin program with another school and um you know make it work that way but it worries me very much taking um more funding from school choice at this moment in time when I know we already took more than what we wanted to take and next year we've all said we've all said many times next year is going to be harder um we have towns that have committed to not raising their their tax rates and in order to honor those commitments they are you know keeping a very close eye on these conversations at the schools thanks Steve or Jose I think you had your hand up first uh I think Stephen was ahead of me but he uh Stephen I will defer to Jose oh okay well not sure that's a wise choice Stephen but we we'll roll with that um the uh what was the the question uh is regarding process in terms of how these decisions typically typically get made um and I know we have precedent to to to lean on but who who does this decision or reside with um Joe and um if we you know could pause the decision at a mo at the moment you know and and utilize funds that do exist in in our school choice account um to return Staffing for Latin what might a process look going forward um to evaluate you know the sustainability of of two Global languages or in in you know in this case uh continuing our offerings for for Latin the best process for making these decisions um is to First have the the individual school buildings school council take up the discussion um so each of our three schools has a school council um those councils become increasingly important when you are in an environment where you you need to make difficult decisions and and you need a building itself to prioritize what various things mean to them um we in the past as a small school district I I think have leaned far more heavily on on the school committee being the the traffic area for all of that um I don't think that is a good or practical decision given the way that one society's increasingly complex and two our our student and staff and administrative voices within each building really need to to take a lot more priority and responsibility um for understanding the the depths of detail that exist within any decision and within any opportunity um so ideally and I'm going to push for it wholeheartedly whether A Change Is Made um By Request of the school committee here tonight or um if a change is not made and and we simply need to make sure that that we revisit the decision over the course of a year and and consider bringing things back or or making different decisions things should can and should go through the school council where they start to talk about priorities good and bad um and really so that by the time a budget decision is made it's coming out of that prioritization um as opposed to from from any other source yeah thank you Joe I I wanted to apologies for interrupting I just wanted to um follow up so there's an opportunity for us tonight as a school committee for one of us to move uh or to make a motion to return I don't know what that motion might look like but effectively to return staff levels to Latin is that is that something that you just indicated I think we would need to move to take more funding out of school choice that is we we vote the money right okay if the money is not there the programming is not there okay so if we approve taking additional funding out of school choice then there is money to sorry is that right Joe I mean yeah that that's 100 per correct that the other challenge is that there isn't a vote here on the agenda related to changing the budget but I I think what what has happened in the past and what we should do in this situation is if the sentiment amongst the school committee looks like they really want the administration to to change the way this next school year will operate um at some point in the future we would end up needing to vote in favor of of being okay with drawing that that additional fund right who would you need Joe to get to capture that sentiment or to gauge that sentiment tonight um without emotion uh it's not clear to me that you you know necessarily how we view this issue do you what would you recommend this really goes I think to Christina and Carrie as far as what they feel comfortable with from a governance perspective so there is no vote on the agenda and I think you know I we could we could have a special meeting you know to to take a vote on this um I was going to say the July meeting but the July meeting I think is now a retreat for the are we having a regular meeting as well in Ju we were gonna have that discussion later but I see the idea was can I make a quick comment well I just want to finish my thought here Steve um I I think we in order to have a discussion we would need to know um I mean I feel like it can't just be should we keep Latin or should we not keep Latin for I mean should we phase it out should we not phase it out I mean there needs I'm not because on a on a financial basis the answer is you know clear we know what that decision is going to entail but we haven't had time to really do an analysis of uh or to have the school council do an analysis so what you're really asking Jose is to put the breakes on and continue as is and give the community time to do that um and so I think what you're asking all you're asking for is the money that's right yeah exactly and and an opportunity to kind of allow the process as Joe articulated it to play out yeah yeah so I think that needs to be a vote on the next meeting whenever that is sorry Steve go ahead so a couple of items one is can we have an informal poll of the school committee at some point tonight to just see how many people would be interested in having a discussion on trying to preserve for one more year the ladin program if nothing else we can always bring this up can request this as a future agenda Topic at the end I think it would be more appropriate to have it right now and just get some rough sense of is this something the community is willing to consider I remember the first uh committee I served on we had a huge discussion about whether or not we could afford to keep the after school bus and we're told we would actually lose the support of one of the member towns if we put it back in the budget and it was a very difficult decision but we did do it and we've been able to keep it ever since as has been said before this was really sprung on the community and I understand why but without adequate time to you know really assess the impact this is going to have I'm actually worried even if we do support Lin for one more year at the status quo what would you do as a seventh grader when you're trying to decide what language to take would you take Latin which may be on the chopping bark next year you again we need to have these conversations and it's not a 5minute conversation but I think it would be useful right now to see is the school school committee willing to consider trying to have a longer conversation now before schedules are set for the fall thank you another point of um detail is that uh given that the schedule has really already been set at Mount Greylock um we do have the the course selection forms that Rising seventh graders had completed prior to the decision to not have students entering Latin within seventh grade so we we have that data um but we also have a situation where there are plenty of other parts that would need to move in order to recreate Latin within within the younger grade levels um and so that's the kind of thing that we would need to move on uh preferably a month or six weeks ago um we'd need to to Really shift in high gear to try to figure that out um now so I would I would say this isn't the kind of thing that can um be decided in August it would it would need to be a request to have a meeting very soon in order to make that practical I'm happy to make that request at the uh future agenda items depending on what the vote is the informal vote is right now Jose do you have your hand up yeah thank you uh Christine I just I just it seems to me maybe the most um it seems clear to me if we in in any case however we are going to proceed um we need to be able to deliberate the use of school choice funds to in this case um return Staffing for Latin to its current levels I think the sooner we can meet to make that decision or at least to deliberate a potential motion the better um and it seems to be that well a special meeting is is definitely needed uh very soon soon as we can schedule it um and sorry Stephen I I wonder if we don't need informal vote at this stage uh but instead to to schedule a special meeting we can formally deliberate a a motion to utilize school choice funds um in this particular way in the case of I mean I I I think it would be useful to have an informal sense of are members of the committee open to having a special meeting to consider putting Latin back in the curriculum for the status quo for one year and if you know there's not a majority that are willing to you know strongly consider this then I don't know if a special meeting is worth the time you know I I think we need to see that there is a majority of the committee present today that believes that this is a topic that is worth discussing further with a chance of finding a change in status from what we have now and if it's only one or two of us that you know believe this is worth considering and exploring as an option then I don't know if a special meeting is worthwhile but if there's three or four of us that are willing to because you know again we don't have a full committee tonight then I think we should have a special meeting as soon as possible due to the time sensitive nature right fair enough would would you like thumbs up or or some sort of indication of of opinion Christina could could I just ask before we do something like that um Joe you mentioned you have data from incoming seventh graders I assume you could get us data for the last five years years of of Latin as well kind of thing it would be helpful to know how much new information um can be provided or how much information can be provided to the school committee in addition to the budgetary discussion um that could help us to make a decision um in addition to the public comment that we've already heard on this topic I I can certainly pull the the last five or 10 years worth of enrollment data yeah okay and how about some comparison data with what peer schools are are offering um not just in Berkshire County but across the state you know are they phasing out Latin programs and introducing other programs um you know what what is the um best practice what what is considered best practice right now you know if we were to clear the slate and offer language what would we be offering kind some some form of that comparative data I can certainly produce quickly and so uh scheduling a meeting one week from now or two weeks from now what either one would work or yes what one week from now would would certainly work NE next Wednesday is juneth right and so th Thursday would be would work I believe the 20th M okay then I I I would be fine doing that meeting I think other people should also specify what information they would like in order to uh be able to have that discussion yeah thanks Christina and thank you Carrie um you know the although I I believe there were exchanges I don't know exactly when we were told that um cutting Latin was being considered but where it was publicly disclosed with that was at our school committee meeting you know roughly a month ago um I do worry that circumventing process and and not including our community members uh whether they that that be through you know public comment during school committee meetings or contacting individual school committee members or you know speaking to your description of how the process really should play out Jo which is through our school councils that we haven't allowed any of that to happen and I think Carrie speaking to I think to your to your questions um I think it seems to me the most appropriate space or spaces for these deliberations to happen regarding our offerings of of world languages and and our support of them I think we really do need our school councils to be involved uh you know in in in every stage of this process and that from my sense Joe was just never never allowed or certainly this decision was not a product of school council's school school council participation and it you know it's just um I hate to use I'm trying to find the right word to use here uh it seems that the the thing that we should do is to allow that process the process to play out the way it should um and that that means I think if especially because we do have the funds available to consider using those funds to to allow the process to play out appropriately arst what are your thoughts on a special meeting next week so uh as uh one of the teachers that teaches at a school whose last day is next Friday um next week is a nightmare uh so I don't know that I can make a meeting on Wednesday or Thursday I'm trying to look right now if I can move the thing off of Tuesday I think I could do Tuesday of next week yeah I don't think we could get we couldn't post the uh right because it's Thursday right uh wait we we could post that gives us Friday and Saturday Friday and Monday yeah we have Ursula and um jul not here so we don't know their availability yeah I don't know when Julia will be back because she's on vacation right right but I mean I might post for maybe you know two days just to be safe to give us flexibility we're also asking if if we're asking for data collection Tuesday what about two week very difficult to yeah what about Thursday the sorry to interrupt Christine what about Thursday the what's that 27th are people available that Thursday and does that time frame work in terms of this I also don't want it to hinge entirely on whether I can make the meeting though I am very interested in talk interested in talking about this uh but two weeks gives more time for data collection analysis and funding investigation and all that kind of thing I mean we have limited limited options but if two weeks Works did Jose Steve Carrie that work yeah I mean as well students will be able to change their course selections if we bring things back so are there any deadlines we need to be aware of for that I'm going to need to go back to the principal in the guidance office and try to figure out what the ramifications would be of of making that change um I'm not 100% sure of that from the seat what the timing would look like what kinds of discussions would need to be had with families and and how that would happen um I don't think there's good precedent for that that I know of but um they are always first times I I would just like to add that even though process wasn't followed and I total I I really do sympathize with that issue um ideally Joe used word ideally we would have followed that process but we're not allowed to run a deficit um and we currently without making any modifications to Latin we're running a deficit in the next budget [Music] um and so the administration did the responsible thing which was to find the money in the budget so I I I think we need to understand that this is a a particularly um difficult situation um and that process as um as much as we try to follow it um it's not always uh it's not always possible decisions were made triggers were pulled things were moved forward with that understanding that we we the administration saw the budget issue and that the resolution to that budget issue is now a very unpopular one so we as a school committee are now wrestling with this right we're as essentially asking the administration to go back on our decision that they made and this is going to create a lot of work for all the people who executed this decision um and I understand why this conversation is happening at this school committee level because we heard a lot of public comment and that is the value of public comment right but um it is it is an administrative responsibility to to make the budget work once has been voted um finding more money as as um after the budget has been voted is um you know it is another approach it's one that we're talking about doing it's one that I'm not comfortable doing and I have some evidence that the administration shouldn't have made that decision right [Music] um otherwise we're questioning the structure that we have in place right to to make our school district function so I think that's part of why I am wrestling with this whole conversation as much as I support Latin as much as I support process I support the work of of school governance councils you know I sit in all those finance committee meetings as does Steve right as does urula as does Joe and we we talked to the town finance committees and um um we as a school district make hard decisions that's what we do um so we have a a we have at least two members now who are asking to go back on this decision to find time to have the further discussion um and again I'll just say again that that's going to cost us $65,000 at least this year um so I almost feel like if it's really just about process if it's really just we violated process even though we had to make we as a district had to make a quick not a quick decision had to make a decision about where we were going to find the money um I would just offer to to make a motion to um you know take $65,000 out of school choice now you know even though it's not on the agenda you know it's not unheard of to have a motion that's not on the agenda um or or this conversation is going to continue gonna create a lot for people so just off of that Jose um do you want to go first Jose or do you want me to go first this time how how about I defer to you now and then and then I'll wait okay so I'm always very concerned about making sure that whatever we do we're allowed to do and you know while I would be thrilled to do the $65,000 I I I'm not sure if we can actually have a motion like that unless V instance the chair declares this uh a situation that could not have been conceived of you know 48 hours earlier and given all of the emails we've been receiving about Laden I I don't think you can make an argument like that we could set up a very short five minute school committee meeting on Tuesday where the one agenda item is to vote on you know $65,000 to restore the status quo again I understand the difficulties the administration was under but for instance when we have policies we have a first in the second read so that we have the opportunity of members of the community to tell us hey you missed something you may not be aware but here's a consequence of what you're doing this is how it's going to infect affect people you may not have been aware of and I think we're in a situation like that where things moved quickly there were reasons why it moved quickly but I would like to pause for year and then reassess we do have the rainy day funds that's what this is for this is not for small things this is a big thing to see the academic retrenchment like this and the signal that this is sending to the community to uh families about how we value academics and diversity of cultures of options of what people are going to study it just makes me very concerned to see all of this dropped I would love to see this you know supported for another year with conversations going forward about what is the long-term solution and the last thing I want to just put out there in terms of budget is we have paid for a tremendous amount of things out of the Williams gift where the towns have asked us to take that and not keep the money in the endowment where it's earning interest and so we have you know helped the towns a lot over the years by paying for things from that and not asking the towns for money we you just just for what it's worth I'm just you know putting that out there I strongly support a five minute meeting hopefully on Tuesday to just do a you know 65,000 let's keep the status quo happy to do that um I do feel like we're we may be creating a bigger sword to fall on next year I'm just gonna just gonna say that and I would really like to hear from I'd like to hear more of a representation from both towns um I'd love to hear from community members who are on a fixed income um who don't necessarily have kids in school and you know in terms of trying it's so hard because we want to do everything for the kids we want to give everything to the kids but we have limited funds so I'm happy to to set up a quick meeting on a vote next Tuesday um if all five of us can go then that's you know that's the five of us um and I just I think it's important for us to all understand the implications of this for next year on not just the budget but also on the students because if we determine next year we we have to cut this program then those kids that started up are are going to be in the same place um so is that what we want to do a Tuesday one agenda topic five minute meeting Jose I see your hand is up sorry yeah yeah thanks Christine I'll just to answer your question yes yes I think that is certainly what I would support um and then to just to follow up I I I suspect there is an opportunity for us to learn something here there something went wrong I think Joe you had articulated some some aspect of our budget projections uh didn't quite work out the way we had intended um in the four years that I've been on the school committee this is the first time certainly that I can recall that we're in a situation like the one that we we're facing um I given that the implications of this decision are so drastic in terms of curricular options for our students uh I I just don't see a Way Forward um the right way forward without being truly inclusive of our of Our member talents just as you as you indicated Christina uh you know if this is something that we are seriously going to consider then it's something that should be you know we should be talking about frequently and and often and it should have been something we had talked about uh when we were considering our budget for fiscal year uh 25 you know and it was it just wasn't and as a result um know we voted not knowing truly what the implications or or Consequences were going to be of the vote that we that we made and I think that's a real problem and it's something that I hope that we can Rectify so that this doesn't happen again so that uh our our kids aren't our curricular you know options and and the the the ways that we support our children aren't aren't impacted in such an such an unfortunate way thanks I would just like to clarify this was not a bait and switch this was a change of circumstances so we all voted a budget with a certain understanding of where the money was coming from and that reality changed so you know that's that's the reality that we're dealing with I I don't want people to think that we were deceived as a committee or that we deceived people who uh supported the budget um that that's just not the case yeah and apologies if if the language I used um suggested that uh apologies but I I do think we should not find ourselves in this situation again I think whatever we can learn from this circumstance to prevent this from happening again is something that we should learn and take to heart uh thank you I uh also wanted to Echo that this there's there was no duplicitous uh if n nature of any event this this is purely uh people doing math with changing numbers if you've ever seen the movie hidden figures uh my perception of the budget process is a lot like uh the math that was required uh to to put humans into outer space and on onto the moon uh you have what you think is going to happen and then you have what happens uh and we can make the plan and then what happens will sometimes impact that plan uh particularly when numbers from the state uh are are sometimes not as robust as we estimate they will be or not as timely as we are used to them being and both of those have been the case a couple of times in the last few years um uh to the scheduling of a five minute meeting to vote on uh this uh if it's a five or 10 minute meeting I I can make either Tuesday or Thursday work I can duck into a bathroom stall for a f minute Zoom uh I might be off camera it depends on the stall um but I I share the trepidation of drawing more from that fund that we have already drawn from more than we are comfortable doing I share the trepidation of the knowledge that next year is almost assured to be harder uh in terms of the budget decisions that we will be uh in a position to make um I have a really weird thought as sometimes happens um in terms of a route for funding uh and this is something I was talking and again this might be something I'm just trying to put into a community member's ear to run with I don't think this is a thing that the school committee itself is a body to pursue um but both of our main member towns of leansboro and Williamstown the two largest towns that us um have a cannabis excise t tax that is a 3% tax on cannabis sales within those two towns it goes to the town budget into the general fund it is not earmarked for any one thing or another we also have state taxes uh to the tune of 20% uh on those sales in those two towns and the state uh divies that fund into some school building or after school or not into school budgets themselves but if the towns earmarked those funds specifically to be added to the school budget or included in a school budget uh that would not raise the percentage of property tax for the residents of those two towns and last year I believe lboro generated about $40,000 in excise taxes on its one dispensary and Williamstown over 70,000 so that's $110,000 that isn't marked for any one specific thing uh it goes to the town's General funds but I would imagine if enough public pressure or public inquiry into having those funds earmarked for our Joint School District were to take place that the uh bodies that govern those budgets for those towns uh might be amenable to uh doing so just an idea that I have that isn't the purview of this committee but is an interesting thing that's sitting out there in terms of where to get fing uh moving forward uh just wanted to throw that idea out there and see if somebody in the zoom runs with it in a way that I in this body can't and won't thank you Curtis I think we should move on to the next agenda topic um because we have a packed agenda it is8 o'clock so if we could move on that would be great Steve you have your hand up I was just going to say very briefly um repeating a point made earlier from several people that this was not a bait and switch this was something that happened unexpectedly this is what happens when you have a small school district where you know one or two uh items can have an incredible impact you when you have a large District you can easily absorb factors like this this is one of the reasons why I've argued with the state legislators that we need to revisit how formulas are done this is Us in special education this is hitting Us in classes like this this hit us with covid metrics this is a problem being in a small rural District where one or two items can make a huge uh impact so thank you thanks Steve Jo all right uh next agenda item D di deib update um first I'm going to do a spring 2024 um update that had previously been planned and then um move on to the Williams select board Grant opportunity proposal um that uh you have in your packet tonight so I'm about to share my screen and hopefully you can see that now nods yes great all right um spring 2024 update first and let me try to hide more of these things okay um I'm going to take a look at our students our staff our community walk through the various initiatives uh the various successes and challenges that that we're currently happening um and to start with I'm going to revisit um the report that we had commissioned back in 2021 uh the listening and learning project um where um numerous surveys age appropriate uh were sent to all students within our district uh as well as families and staff um and within that project um one of the outcomes was this factual statement which is despite how much smaller the student of color population is reports of racial bias outnumbered reports of any other type of bias um there are two really important elements within that statement to me first it illuminates the lack of racial diversity that exists within our area within our student body um that is a true statement it's also something that's changing quickly our our student body is becoming more diverse at a rate that is um much faster than than many other communities um that is a wonderful thing thing it means that in many ways we are we are just playing catchup um with suburban and urban districts within our state and around our country um but second something that it also States is that within a small group of students within our student body um significantly more incidents are happening per capita um and and that is a very difficult thing to to stomach um as you as you look at the data um in addition to that that element of the report um there were there were widely felt biases um that that came through within within all the survey data one was that the the district is often um cited by families as one where there's preferential treatment for athle for athletics um and for and for higher-end academics um that that somehow being an athlete or um being a high- performing student puts you into an advantage position relative to others within the district and that that poses a challenge for many students within our school district um as well as and this is a decades long topic um that we can never lose sight of within the Lanesboro versus Williamstown conversation um normally indicated as a proxy for socioeconomic bias um that we continue to have challenges there as well um in addition to the the real keynote Cornerstone which is the fact that our student of color population is um suffering from uh numbers of of bias incidents far in excess of their of what you would expect given their given their population number um other specified biases um are also indicated within that report which is uh within gender girls in the Mount Greylock Regional School District experience gender bias behavior both from their fellow students and at times from teachers in the district um another thing to keep in mind ideology students who hold viewpoints different from from the majority of their classmates can feel unwelcome bullied and as a result unwilling to participate in class um I I'm using this as as the introductory slide um just to indicate where we were in 2021 and where we need to try to get to um as we are now in 2024 um and and we need to get through 2025 2026 and Far Beyond and try to be a better stronger district and Community than we were in 2021 and quite honestly than than we are today uh next if we look at our staff we have a district full of Educators who are dedicated to the education and well-being of their students um they are approaching change and there is a lot of change on a on a daily and yearly basis right now far more quite honestly than than we would see a decade or two decades ago and improvement with courage and dedication and we need to support them in that work we need to continue developing systems of support placing them in the best position to succeed and helping them through the challenging times that will come with any change um as new curriculum is rolled out as um new student needs are identified as student population increases as it has um in all of our schools over the last few years um all of those create stresses on our on our Educators um that we need to help them respond to help them adapt to um that said many of our Educators right now are hurt are hurting they are questioning each word they say and each interaction they have or enter into um with each other and with students um and when you think about a workplace where that is true um it is something that we as a community we as a district um we as individuals making decisions we really need to be mindful of um and do everything that we can do in support of them um within this moment in time um there are there are are so many negatives in this world that are swirling around the people who who live and and grow within our district and the people who work within our district who hopefully also are living and growing um and so the rest of this presentation also keeps that that truth in mind our families and Community um reflecting back upon the the first slide around our student population um we need to look at at the disproportionate experiences of students of color uh as they are reported both firsthand and third party um when families come to us expressing that pain we need to understand that that it is being felt disproportionately from other families other students within our district and that pain is real um we need to figure out how to have those conversations flow through us and and and we'll get to that later as we talk about incident response and and the efforts that we have going within the school district um the reports of bullying bias gender-driven incidents and incidents of intolerance of different viewpoints are also very real um we we cannot uh sleep on that or assume that it needs to be true um those are all areas where we are not unique there are many communities like ours um but we hear within this within this committee within this District we do have the ability to forge our own progress um to measure it and work towards a a better light for for all of our students for our families for our staff um so the the idea that um these things are out of control or or not um that we cannot make measurable progress quickly um we need to take that uh within our responsibility and and know that locally within a small community we do have the ability to make change and hopefully make that change quickly uh and in a positive way our incident protocols um this is something that has been highlighted recently um that we have been paying attention to over the last um six to nine months in terms of knowing that that we would be um taking a fresh look at those um trying to update them in ways that will that will be supportive of our students um but I want to put the spot light on our student handbooks um and our reporting processes so our student handbooks are the official spot for incident Protocols of a number of sorts including bias based incidents bullying Title 9 UM and those handbooks are distributed to family families annually and families sign off saying that that they have reviewed them um second the in-person method of reporting an incident um is certainly the one that is used most often within our district we also have an online form um that that we introduced this past spring and that we need to try to encourage um new and more frequent use of in place of other uh more conversational um perhaps more third-party ways of of reporting incidents um in terms of how and this speaks back to um what uh had been stated earlier in in this meeting um the proper escalation of individual incidents should follow um at first reporting to a staff member is any staff member that you trust um is a perfectly fine path um after that that information should flow through to and if it has not been addressed by the staff member up to the principal um if the principal handles that that incident in a way that is not suitable um or is perceived being uh inadequate the superintendent should be contacted and if the superintendent has not responded to that incident um in a way that feels appropriate per protocols um and and appropriate for the situation then the school committee chair would be would be the next step um so this is just to to remind all of us in the community of of that progression that escalation um that that is available um so all of that said as far as where we are right now within the summer work um that we have planned uh each of our school buildings will be revisiting And discussing internally requesting Community input and revising the various incident protocols that we have in place um we're going to try to continue learning from best practices and other parts of the state and Country um and something that's become very clear to me over the last few weeks is that we need to elaborate on the whats and wise of how incidents are responded to within our district um we need to provide that detail before families experience the results of our incident response um so that so that they can know what to expect and and and why um and that's an important element of communication that I don't think we and many other school districs have traditionally done a great job of um and and I look forward to taking that on this summer along with communicating those protocols in more ways and repetitiously um so indicated up above that the protocols are within the student handbooks and the student handbooks are distributed prior to the start of each school year um we can do a more prodigious job of making sure that those Protocols are front and center um for families for staff um at all times and that especially when an incident occurs um that the protocol is well known and and available to um to whoever might need it might want to know what what is there uh in terms of curriculum you know now we're starting to move across the the various aspects of our uh deib um efforts every new curriculum selection process um that we've had over at least the last five years and I think for many more years uh before that has and will continue to have a lens towards honesty and completeness centering the historically marginalized marginalized voices and experiences um a spotlight there is our um two-year-old Elementary Ela curriculum and the social studies curricula that we've been piloting in fifth and sixth grades um and uh expanding to fourth grade in this coming year um were were selected and have been um continually developed with a mind with a with a key lens towards um making sure that that they are um true in their representation of history that they present numerous viewpoints um within all aspects of what they do um and that they um Center voices and and authors and and um and aspects that had not previously been centered um that said they are not perfect by any stretch um we need to continue to in invest in um augmenting what comes through curriculum providers um and giving our our Educators as many um tools and and improved capabilities as we can um to present uh additional content and to have the tools necessary to present that content in a way um that has the best impact and and sets students conversations up for for Success um so these Investments um Ela being something that um was decided back uh right right around the start of the pandemic and social studies which has been um the investigating history program was an investment that that we made um with the Department of Elementary and secondary education where we are one of um I believe only 66 school buildings um out of the 1800 schools in the district to um be selected and and be robust participants within that program so so we are um in a small number um piloting a program in collaboration with the state um that is that is really forward looking but also respectful of of all the challenges that many Elementary School um social stence curricula have had in the past um so it's these all form a good foundation um we need to continue to work to augment and to adapt those um and to support our Educators in the delivery of that content and and the conversations that ensue um Beyond just the the curriculum choices that we make how we prepare our Educators to to teach um within those curricula um we are making new efforts to communicate our curriculum more broadly um this is an area that that is complex and it's fraught with uh many many challenges um but trying to make it clear to families um what we teach and why we teach it um is something that has been an area of focus it's definitely a work in progress I think we're going to start to see um some of the fruits of all of that labor um as we move especially within the elementary schools into this coming year um it's been a focus for the team and it's going to continue to be a focus for the team because we understand that um we need to um give families a solid sense of what we're teaching and why we're teaching um we do have uh in collaboration with the Department of Elementary and secondary education um a a really robust effort um to ramp up um our curriculum review process to move Beyond just the core curricula themselves um but to actually look at every piece of content whether it's a a book a classroom book poster um side sidebar conversations that happen um to make sure that all of that falls within a uh comprehensive curriculum review framework um that has a very um close eye towards um biases towards um increasing the diversity of of voices and authors that are included um and towards preparing Educators to best deliver that content um that said comprehensive curriculum review framework um that that we've that we've been in the process of implementing um is is one thing the other side of it is that when Educators want to bring new content into their classrooms um we we need to and and this is going to be a new thing in this coming year um we're trying to facilitate additional teamwork around the introduction of that content so if a teacher finds a great piece of content um that they pick up that they would love to bring to their classroom to make sure that that they have a ready team available to talk about the challenges associated with that content before it is put in front of students um not just how to best present it um but what questions what what convers ations to expect and and what conversations to expect students to have um as they as they exit the room as they're on the playground so that we can be in the best position as a district um to support students in learning valuable um challenging topics um and doing so in a way that is productive as opposed to um in a way that leaves some conversation some ends open um to potentially negative consequences for have a student um interacts with that content or or with each other following following what they learn um within our staffing um Joe can I ask a question sorry on the previous slide is there also thought about how to best inform families prior to introducing new content so that they can also be prepared for those conversations at home uh yes that's also a a challenging place [Music] to create um promises and tons of detail um I think Curriculum maps um what would what would sometimes be called a syllabus um that is a that's an area where we are investing in it we are going to have uh visible progress on on our website and and communicated um as we enter this new school year but at the same time doing it in a way that is comprehensive and that ensures that any conversation that's had in a classroom um any piece of content that a student picks up um will be um I it I think at no point in time will we be able to promise a comprehensive look at every detail that will be discussed in the classroom but making significantly significant progress in that regard um is is something that we are already doing and and I think we'll we'll see benefits there um and we'll adjust and expand as we as we move into the future so that's just a way of said it's similar to me just to draw an analogy here um we've also had an effort underway within the school district this year um to ensure that um as we put out schol Food Service menus that we make it clear what allergens what um what challenges might exist for students within the food that we feed them um that sounds like an easy it sounds like a wonderful thing to do um but at the same time the number of times that that there's a swap um because of of an inventory issue or um a slight change in in the recipe that uh that a manufacturer uses that changes the ingredients um that is a challenging uh challenging task given given the changing inputs and the and the changing environment um I think that curriculum and and being able to uh prepare parents for every detail of what's going to happen in a classroom it's similar um and that we're we're going to make a best effort um we're certainly going to be able to do an expand a job beyond what we've done historically um but it's not going to be perfect in creating the expectation of perfection ction um would be uh setting all of ourselves up and especially our Educators in our classrooms um for failure in that regard so I I wouldn't want to make that kind of a promise does that address the [Music] question it does thank you Joe okay um Staffing um and when we talk about diversity equity and inclusion and belonging within our staff and we're talking about our positions how we describe them where we post them when we're when we're hiring um how Market ourselves to candidates how we screen and interview and how we make decisions uh around um hiring that's only through the hiring process the retention process is is its own um its own snowball of of needs and and uh areas to make sure we're paying attention to um why do we do this why are we talking about this it's because students need to see themselves reflected by staff um we have a significantly um rapidly increasingly diverse student body which is wonderful um we're coming from an environment where if you looked at our school district 20 years ago um it was even less diverse than it is today by a long shot um seeing that diversity increase in students our staff diversity is not increasing at nearly the rate um that are that our students have and there are a number of reasons for that one is that um we don't see new staff popping into the district um in the way that families can move into a district and enroll many times we have staff members who are with us for for decades um as opposed to years or two years so naturally change within our school district is going to be slower um on the staff side than it is on the student side um but we also have um a far less diverse uh licensed teacher population within Massachusetts and I think broadly within New England um than than we do general population um that's for a number of different reasons one is career choices two though and I think this is far more important um is that our state's educator lenser process is one that is wonderfully detailed wonderfully comprehensive um but it also does not lend itself to uh rapid change and and to a diversification of of people who are passing through those processes and gaining their lure um we need to catalyze that we need to um be a part of the change to make sure that uh more people are passing through those processes and and eligible for and and U able to uh find employment with us um in terms of how we're tackling that right now um we are posting more broadly and in non-traditional places um we are uh using resources like the berer black uh berer County black Economic Council um in Pittsfield um networking through them to try to gain applicants um we are looking at um or we are already using um job boards in in New York state New York City um those are situations where traditionally um School spring as a very common uh educator um job posting board um was really the the catchall for for how public school districts we hiring Educators we're far we're traveling farther abroad in terms of where we're posting our jobs um and and that is starting to yield um a a more diverse applicant pool um but it's but it's not nearly the Panacea that that uh that one might hope um I talked about um utilizing professional organizations with within Berkshire County to extend our our marketing um we need to through our extended Community um do an increasingly good job of trying to Market job opportunities um to communities that traditionally might not have looked at Mount Greylock Regional School District as their IND their ideal employer um within our screening and interview processes um moving more and more in the direction of a completely blind process that's very open-minded in in terms of um the backgrounds of candidates um perhaps the lenser status of of candidates um trying to figure out how to make sure that we have as broad of a catchment approach as we can um to Bringing people into um this district and then being able to retain them um is an area that we've been looking at we've certainly been working with um various uh organizations and administrators in uh higher education to try to figure out how to tackle the problem of um how can we um more broadly recruit and then get people into um Masters in Ed and then lenser um processes in a way that will help us diversify our our employment um our employment uh or yeah our employment of people um and then lifting up and prioritizing our H our HR processes in general um this is an area where um all of our princip the superintendent's office the entire district office um has really tried to put a um a spotlight on the HR processes that we're using and um continual Improvement year-to year um I think we're going to see and be able to talk about um a number of different areas in this coming year um that are finally coming to fruition around the ways that we um go through those um so that's something to look for as we look at uh August in September um and the the last bullet here was one that I already that I already touched upon um is that we really need to um remove the barriers to people being able to um come and work for our school district the same thing is true for all public school districts across Massachusetts um we happen to be in an area um with a far less diverse applicant pool typically um than than many areas so we need to work extra hard um and it is worth it and our students need it and so it's an area where we really need to double down and that is not necessarily an area that requires budget changes on our part it just m it just requires that we think in more creative ways and that we really get more aggressive about um posting and putting ourselves into um other markets uh additional programs and I apologize for the length of this I wanted to try to touch upon um lots of different areas that that I know that people wanted to hear about um but also that we will um end up having expanded conversations on um as we move through the next few months um in terms of measuring our progress in equity inclusion and belonging um we started to use panorama education as a survey tool um about a year and a half ago um we um need to expand our use of that tool and perhaps Branch out um probably Branch out into other tools in that um we can utilize Panorama right now to create bite-sized surveys um that could be um put out uh quarterly um to our students and to our staff to try to gauge their sense of equity inclusion and belonging um those bite-size dipstick type surveys um are um things that we are going to be rolling out uh in this coming school year um students and staff will see an initial survey out shortly after after they restart school um and then we will be continuing with that process um every couple months as we move through the school year so uh look look out for that and look out for the data uh that that comes from those processes um we have made significant improvements in my opinion with um the tools that we use to communicate with families um through parents Square um that roll out happened um over the course of the last year it allows us to deliver news feed like um information to families um do it in a way that uh immediately comes to them in their preferred language um and that allows 2A Communication in a lot of instances um in in ways that previously uh with the tools that we were using was not that were not possible um in addition the parent Square our website use um this year uh I I'm not sure how much all of you noticed it but there was a lot of change within our websites in that if you look at five six years ago um when we first brought three school districts into one there were three very separate websites with very separate navigation um opportunities and a district website that was as disjointed as can be um we've made significant gains over the last year in terms of um creating consistency between the navigation across the three schools um and and beginning to pair down and and make more accessible the district level website um what we need to do as we look at um this summer and into this coming school year is to take advantage of that and really start to make sure that that priority information is um front and center you as you enter those websites so this would include student handbook information um making sure that all of that information is very much front and center um as people utilize our website in order to make it um a tool both for communicating in good times but also making sure that that that people have um options and and know what to do with their fingertips um when things are not going well um in terms of building our restorative practices um within the restorative justice this world um we are a school district that has uh I think um tiptoed into it in a number of different areas but we have not invested nearly as heavily as we can and should and that's something that we've been talking about for the past year and we have um lined up um significantly more areas within our school district where um first off we are building U the concept of restorative Circles of um developing relationships that will then be useful within restorative practices um whether it's when things don't go well and we are in incident response mode or trying to prevent things from not going well in the first place um by by continually developing relationships um so the types of things that we've been doing um within our elementary schools and middle high schools um inter Middle High School in terms of um bringing students together in environments that are circle-based that are developing Mutual understandings that that are developing relationships in ways um that that previously were not happening um as robustly or as intentionally um those are areas where um we are seeing a significant ramp up um as we look into this coming year um particularly at the Middle High School where at the uh grade seven and eight level um the the crew concept um that we had talked about at the school committee um over the last couple of months um will be uh continued in terms of its pilot form um from what started this past spring and used um much more frequently and robustly um as we uh move into the fall and winter of this coming year um and that is also related to developing our mentoring and Advising programs um the the concept of um students knowing that one or more staff members are close to them are there for them um that those relationships are strong um that's an area where traditionally within middle and high schools um there there is not time within the schedule there are not ways to um really facilitate those relationships very intentionally at a structural level um and that's an area where um we are certainly expanding our efforts um it started it didn't start but it continued and and and uh took hold more with the creation of of the middle school dean position um a couple of years ago it it uh became more robust with the introduction of the crew concept within grades seven and eight at Mount grock this year and all of that is going to continue to build as we as we look into this coming year um hopefully in a way that allows restorative practices restorative conferences um within incident response to be more productive and used in more environments where and I'm I'm not trying to be pithy here but in order for these practices to work well you need something to restore in the first place um and so Mak sure that um we have build built those foundations very intentionally um so that then uh what happens next when things don't go when things don't go well um that's something that we need to make sure that that we are investing in and ensuring happens I'm going to end on a on a on a higher note but also with a real plea to um to families within our district um our students are really leading the way uh when you look at this Photograph here this is from the the recent grock Multicultural Student Union um International Food event um where on a Friday afternoon um families and staff gathered um to eat food that um many families and staff members had um had brought in from uh cultures around the world um it was a beautiful event the students were Joy um the the leadership that they showed in both developing the event as well as speaking um during that event it it was really a a wonderful thing and it's the type of thing that we need to see more and more of um part because we need to have a community that's stronger in in living together and and in understanding each other um but also part in that it just richens the the the community that that we have in terms of the type of experiences that people mutually understand and enjoy um and do together um so part of that's about the relationships that people have the other part is just broadening the horizons and and and welcoming people into um environments and opportunities that they might not otherwise experience within their homes or or within their um immediate friend groups that they've had for for many years um and so we need more family involvement in in our community life and in our celebrations um our family and staff uh organizations whether whether it's um the p4g parents for Greylock group or the lboro elementary school PTO or the williamtown elementary school um families and staff for West um those organizations need our families involvement they need our staff involvement um and we have been making efforts across all three schools over over the last couple of years um to better facilitate more robust organizations coming out of covid it was not um you know every group had taken a real a real hit in terms of what they were accustomed to doing the the types of of efforts that that parents were used to making um and and we've been trying to reinvest in those areas because ultimately it's going to make us all stronger um it's going to make a lot of the work that we do um easier um and and with more positive outcomes and so it's an area that we need to continue to really place a lot of emphasis on um and this next year we'll be challenging locally um just given all of the change all of all of the challenges that that we know exist but also for our country um the election in November will will I'm sure um not make it easier for for anybody to uh walk down the street to to converse with their friends uh their families um in in ways and so we really need each other we we need to find a way to build community um to facilitate the types of relationship strengthening that um that needs to happen within within our small environment um in order for us all to succeed um so this is this is definitely a plea for um as people are thinking about what to do with their with their evenings what what to do with with their kids um we need to figure out ways to to build these community events and um welcome people both into our schools and and into each other's uh locations as well so um all that said we can certainly talk about that um any aspect of of what was just presented um or we can jump into the select board Grant proposal that that you have in your packet um and that does have a vote on it for tonight Jose yeah thanks Joe I I just wanna you know I can recall um a time when we as a as a school committee did not regularly or as openly talk about um diversity Equity inclusion and belonging as much as we do now and and I'm really grateful um for for the work that we're doing and the work that you're leading us on Joe um and I think that's reflect in in you know the um what you've just shared with us in your slides uh I just wanted to bring up uh just a sort of a general question and it sort of reflects the um bias reporting and the sort of escalation protocol and maybe even more broadly around accountability uh I think in uh one of the slides you just shared with us um there was a a point there about measuring progress uh with respect to our work in in this area um um there are concerns and perhaps even experiences by um caregivers and parents in our district who have worked through or or um navigated our current protocols and found them to be you know uh for lack of a better way of expressing it lacking frustrating and maybe even ultimately harmful [Music] um can we or how how would you how should we perhaps um or could we think about those protocols differently so that we can ensure accountability and ensure appropriate action when when incidents do occur um I I hope that question was clear but I was just just hoping you could just speak to um the experience that that many of our our families have had um and the desire to to see things done a little bit differently I'm not wholly sure if I understand the question there yeah I can yeah apologies and maybe if we we revisit the slide Joe um under bias reporting and and uh I think it's three or four preceding this and there's like a a chain of sort of um points of of interaction uh or or engagement where we go for from staff to principal superintendent and then and then ultimately the the school committee uh chair [Music] um that sort of sequence of conversations is kid for some folks is protracted and um not transparent and frustrating um and prolonged in in ways that I think many see is is just being ultimately harmful um and so was just on that particular point and we can sort of think about it even more broadly around accountability like how do we maintain or ensure that we are held accountable for how we address bias incidents and how we you know ensure progress on this work just just curious about um our the opportunities that we have to amend our protocol so they are more responsive transparent and effective hopefully that is a better phrasing of the question I guess I'm still not really understanding where the I I like I I would um just for instance let's take a a rigid step through through a fictitious experience um so you your yeah what I might say Joe apologies your child I mean I can well I was gonna say apologies Jo because I'm I'm um sensitive to the fact that it's it's uh I've lost track of time here I don't know Christina will will remind us soon maybe maybe um the more pertinent can I can I just ask Jose you're saying that um we have families who aren't AR aren't following the protocols because they find it too long of a process and too frustrating if they feel like they've hit a dead end at one because I I hear these I do hear these comments like I've hit a dead end I'm frustrated I the administration's not responsive but then I find out that um like key people weren't talked to right so like the principal never heard about it or it never Rose to the superintendent before it came to the school committee so I get your point that people are are either not aware or they're skipping steps or they're just feel like they've hit a roadblock and going any further is pointless because they are not getting the degree of response that they want so I mean I I think we've all heard the stories about frustration um but we do need to have a protocol and we need to have um clear direction to families of how to follow it in order like we need to know that families know what the protocol is I think before we change it right apologies uh Carrie the no I think rather than uh families or incidents or cases where where I think I think the majority of the cases certainly that I know of families parents or caregivers are are following the protocols as as they are laid out from from start to finish um certainly my experience as a school Committee Member uh I am not aware of all the incidents that do occur but we were once made aware certainly early on in my my ten years as a school Committee Member and you know so it seems this is a a protocol that have evolved or at least played themselves out differently and certainly um as they as we do um as we as we you know do carry them out you know are aren't effective I think is is is certainly the the way many families experience them and so I think perhaps the most pertinent question Joe is you know when we get to your proposal or considering your proposal you know could we imagine um this this committee that that could be constituted uh recommending um amendments to this protocol would would that be something that we can imagine this task force um supporting you know ways of of of thinking about um you know this this protocol being construed to be to be more effective responsive and transparent some something that's key to the to the proposal is that it it it wouldn't be a local committee making a recommendation um the the proposal is is proposing for lack of a three-hour in better better phrasing The Proposal is proposing that we um have a committee select an outside firm that specializes in or or that has a specialty within their larger organization in uh reviewing in in this one instance policies uh procedures and practices of of how to respond to bias based incidents or to bullying incidents um and those firms have um experience and vision into hundreds of school districts approaches to responding to bias based incidents and the and the goal with a proposal like this is to have an organization like that um review what we have and then to make recommendations to the school committee for modifications um that would lead to better outcomes um and and that's something where then once those recommendations go to the school committee um the expectation would be that the superintendent's office would develop an action plan um building off of those recommendations that the school committee can say this is what was recommended how how are we going to get there um and then the superintendent's office comes back and says well here you know we need the policy subcommittee to implement this we need to make these changes through um principls and the school councils again uh with student handbooks and then we need to train staff and and ourselves and educate families in a change in how we respond um to incidents so that's that's what we're looking that that's what the proposal is looking for um and and what we can do internally is is we can do our work this summer um revisiting and looking at uh best practices that we know of um but the the value of having a third party um do that is they have experience and vision into many public school districts um and and that's what they'll bring to the table if if the select board allows us to uh go forward in that way thank you Joe Christina I'd like to move that we accept the proposal for 2425 um diversity Equity inclusion and belonging work so that we can continue this discussion would anyone like to Second car's motion I would second Curtis discussion so this is the side we're looking at now uh yes this is this is the slide um I also bring up the the full PDF of The Proposal but but it's in both the the school committee pack and the public um packet so I can we can do it either way or or I can stop the screen sharing and and we can discuss I don't think anything on this screen um for those of you on the school committee uh none of this would be new um all of this is what we've what we've learned um between the last meeting and and this meeting tonight shall I stop the screen sharing and we'll yeah and we'll talk that's good so the oh sorry some see your hand up uh yes two quick questions so the first in terms of the cost so there would be money provided by the town would that cover all the expenses or would there be additional costs um the way this proposal is written um we would uh develop an RFP so the the interim superintendent would develop a committee um assemble a committee consisting of roughly equal parts of um families uh family staff and uh the school committee um we would then go about a process of developing a request for proposal that request for proposals would probably um although it'll be determined by a committee um probably have a listing of things that the uh that we're interested in having a consulting firm work on um those would be prioritized in a way that a few things are required a couple of other things might be selected based on based on uh cost and funding availability um RFP uh is nominated to as many qualified firms um as we can we receive responses um and then the point at which we would determine um exactly how much funding was used um would be when we're looking at the responses and trying to figure out how to maximize um what we're able to have given available funding we're hoping that the Williamstown select boards arpa funding um would be available in full um if there was a gap between that that um and what we really wanted to try to accomplish um we would need to try to identify um additional possibilities for funding um and that could come from a grant from another party um or or from the school committee deciding to allocate um specific amount of funding um from other sources so I I think it I think I can easily speak for the entire committee when I say we all agree that this work is important and that this is something that needs to be done my main concern is making sure that we spend the money in a way that will lead to results and I have seen numerous times experts being brought in and things being done where it almost feels more like we're checking a box that something has been done rather than putting something in place that's going to make real progress and that's my biggest concern about how this is done especially who is brought in you know do the people who end up coming in have an agenda do the people coming in have you know a real track record of making a difference that they can point to and so I would urge us to be very aware and very concerned about that before we go forward to make sure that we are using funds like this to really solve the problems to really create an inclusive environment because you know I've seen far too often uh people basically say if you're not with me if you're not doing it the way I want want then you are wrong and you are evil and it's sad but there is definitely an element like that that we need to be aware of to make sure that if we do this it's going to make things better and not just exacerbate tensions that exist so thank you yeah I would I would just like to talk a little bit about the work that we've done um already um I think there have been a number of comments about we what we've done hasn't worked or um it it's been a waste of money or it hasn't been effective and I would just like to say again because I think I've said this before is we don't know what has been effective truly um we've been investing in this work in ways that have been thoughtful um our faculty have been working with Consultants several years now and gaining Insight gaining experience gaining knowledge about this work uh that is very new to many of our faculty um and to many of our students as well our students have engaged in deep conversations with people that we've brought into the district um and so I see it all as foundational to the work that we are trying to set ourselves up to do moving forward um I don't see any of it as wasteful um and I think the um conversations that have happened over the last you know two three four years have all been useful conversations to prepare us for doing this work you can't just start from nothing right you can't just say we need to do this work and and then you you do it it there has to be a buildup there has to be and it's too slow for some people and I understand that it will always be too slow but it is a process and we were talking about process before um and how important it is and I think we all agree that process is important this is where we are in this process and we have done a lot of work to get us to this point and now we are ready to move forward with something you know more structured and more um you know you could say more intentional but I don't think so I think we've been intentional um and it progress is is not fast it's never fast enough um but we are grateful that the funds are being made available um so that we can invest in the work that that we in a way that we haven't been able to do so far we are at a point where we are very much ready to do this work the district is ready our faculty are ready clearly we are ready um and now we have funding being offered to us and um our who are um who have been struggling are are wanting very much for us to accept these funds and to uh engage in this work and I think that's what the the vote is tonight is um to do that to move forward and I'm grateful to Joe uh for spending the time in to articulate what this process will look like over the next year and um you know I think we just again we need to do the work thank you Carrie very well said Jose thanks Christina thank you Carrie um I just want to just follow up very quickly uh car's comments by acknowledging um the important work that community members have have done to both develop this proposal um and to help us as a district and as a community you know move forward and uh that that work um took time energy and know and I think we you know I think I'm I'm certainly and I'm sure we all are grateful for those efforts um you know we can't move forward unless this is truly a community Endeavor you know one that [Music] um most stems from community experiences and and aspirations for for our kids so I want to acknowledge that uh um and also acknowledge that that that you know the role that Joe has played in in taking that proposal um and amending it to the form that you know that we're we're seeing tonight and we're considering as a as a motion to vote on thank you thank you any further discussion okay hearing none all in favor conry I Constantine alen B ey green I Miller abstain he that motion passes with four eyes and one exension so what is the next step um in terms of the select board I'll I'll communicate the proposal uh as voted along with the vote um and I'd like to include the the public support um somehow for that proposal um get that all over the select board for their next meeting um and then I'd imagine that that some number of us uh will be uh presenting and and there um I think it would be very helpful if it was um I will certainly be there and I'll be prepared in in all of the detail um but school committee members and um and community members uh who are who are a part of this I think it would be helpful for for us all to be there do we know when that meeting is know the date I I believe unless they're on an abnormal schedule uh it would be rather than this coming Monday it would be the Monday after that which means the 24th yes the 24th all right should we um jump back up in the agenda or yes okay business administrator report it feels like we're going back in time but that's I guess necessary uh lboro Elementary School uh fiveyear copy lease um you have in your packet uh a lease proposal from repeat business systems um this is on the agenda for a vote by the school committee because any um any contract any agreement that school district wants to enter into that is longer than three years um needs a an affirmative vote by the governing body which is you um and so unless anybody has or even if people have questions or want to discuss it um it would be great to have a motion to approve the uh L Elementary School uh copier or lease as supplied in the packet Curtis moves great and second a second J second any discussion all in favor can I just ask do we get to trade out our copers for newer models as they yes yes yes okay we we uh we we still as much as we are moving into a digital world um we we give our copers a fair amount of use um so five years is about as long as you might want to hold on to one of them right now all in favor conry ey Constantine ey bin B ey green ey Miller ey thank you that motion passes um the next item is is really just an informational item um the field and track project continues to move along um beautifully on time um and within budget um we are making some changes within um how we utilize our architect and our and our uh owner's project manager um in that thankfully the architect has not needed to spend nearly as much time on uh problem solving and adapting uh designs um to the the conditions that they're they're finding on site um but we are utilizing more OPM time um on site for um monitoring making making adjustments and recommendations on the Fly um it's something where uh we're currently on a track where um at some point towards the end of the summer we would have already fully utilized uh their time for the contract as it's just a built-in number of hours um but we want of course them to continue at the pace that they're headed right now and um successfully close out the project in September and October um and any uh punch list work that needs to happen U next spring so um to that end um net no change to the project um we are decreasing the total amount of money that we will have uh sent to Cha as an architect and we're going to increase um by a roughly commenced amount um the amount of money that will'll be going to scansa um as the owner's project manager it's all what both firms want it's for the best interest of the project um and it has no Financial impact um which is a good thing um any questions there fy2 budget approval update um we uh work through Lanesboro town meeting on Tuesday night um our budget and its Associated items uh flew through town meeting um without uh without any challenges which is great um so we as of right now um it's been many months in the making but we have a fully approved ready to go uh fiscal year 25 um budget so both member towns are are on board um and we are set to go that's the update there any questions all right uh preliminary fy2 24 fourth quarter budget update um this is really just a quick note to say um we are quickly moving towards the end of this fiscal year um it's going to take us uh two three four weeks into the next fiscal year to make sure that all purchase orders are closed out um that all outstanding items are dealt with and that all funds um are are received from all parties that that we receive them from so that we will then be able to go through the process of um down to the penny knowing exactly where every fund is going to end the year and how we're going to submit our endof year report um so at that point um and I think it will be the August meeting given the meeting schedule um we'll have a final look at here's here's where we ended um as of right now um things are looking like uh within all of the different moving Parts um we're going to come out of the Year okay um but it certainly has uh just like last year it's it's been a it's been a bit of up and down with unexpected um mandatory um mandated costs mandatory mandated gosh I am losing my mind at this point um they are uh you know we we've experienced plenty of them this year as well um which is nothing that anybody dealing with finances ever likes to uh likes to have bills come their way that they need to pay um that mean they need to to shift other things around to to make that possible um so uh fingers crossed for fy2 um that it's uh a more stable year um any questions there all right uh thank you policy all right so next up on the agenda policy subcommittee um Jose this is you I've heard rumors that we might get to hear a lot of Curtis's Voice tonight that is that is something I think uh many of us are are hopeful for um we have five items listed as information items meaning that uh we will be or the school committee we can expect to see these again as discussion items at our next full committee meeting um but most importantly uh there is a discussion item uh in preparation potentially for uh a motion for us to vote on at our next full committee meeting um and that is this new policy on student owned devices uh policy JT this is where I'll ask uh Curtis to clear his throat and uh and and and read us or walk us through I think literally read read this policy for us all right on policy JT student-owned technology devices Mount Greylock Regional School District Limits The Presence Andor use of student-owned technology devices within its schools as part of the district's effort to encourage students to focus on in-person learning and Social Development and improve student well-being during school days student-owned technology devices are defined as any device capable of communicating via text or voice with another device and that is not provided to the student by the school district such devices include but are not limited to mobile phones tablets laptops personal computers smart watches smart glasses gaming devices and other wearable technology devices building principles have the authority to categorize a device as a student-owned technology device in recognition of the fact that the technology landscape evolves quickly student owned technology devices must be powered off and either not present within school buildings or stored in a school designated location throughout the school day this policy does not apply before the start of the school day or after the end of the school day exceptions to the above presence and use rules may be made by building principles primarily for medical or educational purposes student Don devices lost or stolen while at school are not the responsibility of the school district thank you thank you Curtis uh you'll see there are several policies that are cross-listed some are Revis some are new and those are the policies uh that are listed as information items uh at our last committee meeting Jake um gave us a brief explanation in terms of why we're you know where we were why these changes are being considered um at our subcommittee meeting uh which was intended by a number of parents and caregivers including to current students uh we we we received feedback uh on this proposal generally the feedback was very positive but we did receive some concerns or there concerns were raised around um the use of audiobooks or non-lyrical music for instance to uh as sort of study AIDS uh by certain students during the school day uh and a desire to sort of access those um apps or those sort of mediums during the school day uh but uh it sounds like given some of discussions during our subcommittee meeting there are potential means to provide opportunities for students to to access audiobooks and potentially music without um the direct access of of a phone or or personal laptop for instance um Joe would you like to I don't know if there's anything I missed or there's any followup that you want to uh add before we open it up for discussion the only other thing that I'd add and and it speaks to um the students comment at the outset of the meeting during public comment is is the idea that um we should consider some kind of uh graduated gradual um set of rules here um and the response that was given during the policy subcommittee meeting and and I'd like to give it again tonight is that this really isn't about trusting somebody and and it's not about thinking that people are not mature enough to to use devices I mean I I know that I I see adults all the time using devices in ways that their ability to interact with the human that they're in a room with um and and so this policy is really about trying to focus the energy and the interactions that we have within our school buildings so that they are around the iners interactions and interacting with the with the people and the content that you have there that's placed intentionally there for you um and if we could do that for every adult in the room um whether it's um in a classroom environment or in a conversation potentially conversational environment within a cafeteria um I think we would happily consider that as well you know that that's that's a that's a separate issue in some ways in terms of how and why and what needs to be negotiated and who needs to okay it and what kinds of exceptions do you need to have um given certain requirements for for staff and within their work um but this policy is is not intended to be punitive and it's not intended to indicate that we don't trust um it is intended to create very intentional interactions within space that is school um and so I just want to make that clear that that that's where it's coming from um and that's what we're trying to do thanks Joe um I will uh just add that we uh considered some questions um there's that uh that might be you know relevant to our discussion now one of which is um many of our students are caregivers of either siblings or um parents or family members um are there ways that we can support uh them sort of Meeting those responsibilities so we we had considered that and and um you know the main office was going to be an important point of contact UM for students with with family members uh in addition we had considered you know a concern that some some parents and caregivers do raise you know um what about the unfortunate incidents of emergencies that arise on our campuses um and the need or Desire by parents and caregivers to quickly um get in touch with students uh you know the response that we received Jake was at this meeting was that you know the most important um way for our students to to stay safe in an emergency is to to to be present and and aware of instructions that are being given in person and phones and and you know devices um can get in the way of of just that uh and that was the response that that we received um but I'll like to open it up to discussion for uh and to hear from you while Stephen I see your hand yes thank you um so I guess my question is making sure we have heard adequately from the students who will be the ones most impacted by this you know it it seems like we're having a oniz spits all policy uh it can be modified by the principles and the high school is very different than the middle school is very different than the Elementary School uh in the 21 Century there's often needs to communicate with you know families during the day you know lunch and breaks these are great times to do that I know a lot of students who use their phones you know for academic reasons as well and so I'm just very worried about you know changing policies like this without adequately hearing from the students who will be the ones who will be the most impacted the the best Avenue that we have for communicating with with students um especially at the older age levels is is to go and spend time with the school council uh with the student council sorry at at Mount Greylock um that is something that we did uh prior to the policy subcommittee meeting um we had a a wonderful discussion with a really thoughtful group of of students um within Mount grock Regional School um the sentiments range from okay um to oh you that that's going to be a change but but I I understand why why you're why you're proposing it um to quite honestly some amount of relief um because as we'll get to when we talk about the wait until 8th initiative um a decent amount of cell phone usage is driven by the anxiety that somebody might have sent you a message or that you might be missing out on the group chat that's blowing up right now now because so and so said something to somebody else and you need to see it and you need to respond um and what that does is if you have an environment where nobody is doing that you you begin to to etch away at that anxiety you begin to make it so that you are free from um that burden and so I think to have rules that that are not as uniform as as what we're proposing here um puts a real dent in that one of the big positives of a of a of a policy like this um and so i' I'd hate to see us somehow start to to pick and shoes and to create more moments where um where we open the door to that anxiety and that um challenge becoming more prevalent again yeah thank you Joe and thank you Stephen for that I want to um for folks who are still here who may may listen uh at a different time our subcommittee meetings are public meetings and we welcome um any and all members of our communities to attend and provide feedback and public comment um we will be meeting on June 27th to uh consider this proposal consider this uh policy again um and there will be at our subsequent um full committee meeting um date to be determined will be another opportunity for members of the public um students and and parents and caregivers alike uh to provide feedback on on this policy before we we uh potentially uh vote on a motion to approve it other feedback or comments yes Stephen uh just following up something that um you just said and Curtis just said to just encourage members of the community to take the time between now and the next few meetings to send us letters where why is this a good idea why is this uh potentially a bad idea what do you like about this what are concerns you have and you know come to the subcommittee meetings they are entertaining even if Curtis is not reading thank you Stephen we we do try um I can you know summarize that the the majority if not um outrightly all of the The Correspondents we we've received from parents and caregivers have been uh overwhelmingly positive and supportive of of this policy um and I think the data or the research thus far speaks to you know the potential for this to have a big impact on Mental Health wellbeing you know wellbeing um you know creating a culture and and a true sense of belonging uh and academic engagement during the day I that's it for me Christina thank you Jose thank you Curtis okay so we're going back to superintendent report a just in case people are having trouble following wait until 8th is a uh a national campaign um largely of uh families organizing around the idea that um you should and and this to to me it's uh that the eighth is not nearly as important as the wait um but wait until eth is is a program that supports the idea that you should not um have a have a an individual have a cell phone until at least 8th grade um part of what exists within our culture right now um is and and I think it would be interested I I would be interested in in polling um how many people have purchased a mobile phone um given a mobile phone to their child largely because the child said every one of my friends has a phone I'm the only one who doesn't doesn't have this tool I'm am missing out on every opportunity in life that that I could have and you are ruining my life by by doing this um I feel like I'm repeating a conversation that I've had uh about a thousand times um and so wait until 8th is is is a program that's really designed to um encourage families to have discussions amongst each other um to work together um to resist the idea that everybody needs to have a phone because everybody else does um and and so you know that along with just all the studies all the research that shows that even if you are in isolation um having you in isolation utilizing a mobile phone rather than spending time with the broader world around you um is uh is healthy um especially as your brain and as your social interactions are developing and changing as rapidly um as uh younger folks um are so um this is really just a notification item to let you know that um alongside this this new policy alongside the efforts that we are going to continue to have to bring in speakers and to and to bring in education um for students and our community around um what it means to have mobile phones what it means to have social media as prevalent as it is um that uh we're going to try to help families organize uh amongst each other um in campaigns to try to make sure that um peer pressure is is not the driving reason for somebody to have a phone um and so that's that's what we're doing here with wait till 8 and and I think families will will hear more from us as a school district from principles um and hopefully from their uh parent family staff uh organizations as well um as we try to um make progress here as a community and then I think that's the end of the superintendent report great thanks Joe any questions for Joe and wait until until 8 school committee Retreat July 11th at 4 um I don't know where four came from to be quite honest with you essentially the the thought processes we could um as a school committee meet in person and start working out um some of the details um of the upcoming Year's superintendent search um this is a night where um Glen coocher from masc and Liz Leon from masc could both um come up here and and present some of the materials they have around the search process um I think Glenn suggested four so that he could get back um but he is flexible um because I had originally proposed five um knowing that you know people like myself have jobs um that don't allow them to mean up for but I could certainly make some adjustments so anyway we just wanted to throw this out as a discussion to be in person similar to The Retreat we had last summer um uh one of our members suggested um this switching the meeting to a retreat because we've all sort of on the calendar um and have made time for it within our summer schedules and summer summer uh schedules are difficult um to coordinate so any thoughts on that Steve I see your hand up yeah Ju Just unfortunately something has come up I will be able to participate remotely but I will not be able to be there in person okay we could probably get a some kind of technology for you we can walk around with a laptop or something um anyone else thoughts so Christina the four o'clock is the proposed time I would 4:30 um I there's just no way I could get up to uh Greylock at 4: okay so um I mean do you want to make it five uh is that a lot easier for you sounds like it is it it's fine I can make 430 happen sometimes I can have a lead foot we'll just hope that the um Town Police is not on yeah don't incriminate yourself here a public meeting um yeah and is my my other question is um I is the whole meeting the about the search or is there like a meeting with masc staff and then regular meeting no it's just a retreat okay it would just be a treat so it's we're talking like two hours hour and a half yeah two two hours I think that we were successful with that time frame um last time and maybe we can arrange for some drinks okay Jose Curtis does that work for you I'll be coming from the dentist oh okay so we won't give you any snacks just water yeah okay they have nice nice bubblers up at the uh Middle High okay so um Joe the next agenda item is to move into executive session are you gonna create a breakout room I have a breakout room ready to go okay um do we need a screen Christina you're going to need to because you're the host I can't add you to it so you're going to need to go to it yourself everybody else on the committee will naturally be moved there okay um I tried to chat with willinet to let them know that I don't have the ability to put up a slide while I'm there so hopefully it'll just be okay or people will just see a blank screen for some stretch of time okay all right um I apologize I should have probably tried to figure out how to do that um hes this meeting okay um I would like to make a motion to enter into executive session with intent to return to open session pursuant to mgl chapter 30A section 21 A2 to conduct strategy s sessions and preparation for negotiations and contract negotiations with non-union Personnel director of special education services and interm superintendent contracts second thank you Carrie all in favor conry I Constantin I Alin B ey green ey Miller ey okay thank you it is 9:35 and we will head into executive session e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e okay it is 10:08 and we are back in Open Session and all yawning after four hours and eight minutes of a meeting so next up on the agenda we have director of special education services appointment and contract um I would like to make a motion to appoint Noel Sullivan the director of special education and services position and contract and approved contract as presented second any discussion yes my zoom kicked out for a minute can you tell me who made the motion and seconded to adjourn uh yes it was hold on I wrote I made the motion to move out of executive and Curtis C seconded and so just for clarification for the record Noel Sullivan is currently the interim director of special education services and we're moving her into a permanent position any further discussion all in favor conry I Constantine I Elfen b i green I Miller I thank you that motion passes and just gratitude to Noel for serving in this role and for doing it so excellently thank you Noel oh she's still awake too I'm impressed okay um next up on the agenda interm superintendent appointment and contract and I would like to make a motion to approve Joe berson as our interm superintendent and approve contract as presented second any discussion um does someone else want to Express gratitude this time I'm happy to do it but I don't look so happy Joe we've already worn you out sorry no no it's it's I I just want to let you all get get to your bed soon yeah well the this business of serving as uh business director or business manager and interim superintendent and assistant superintendent like all wrapped in one um we're just very grateful and we're hoping that we don't burn you out um before your time and um looking to um you know the rest of our District staff um as well to um help us through this year because um it's it's it's going to be a challenging one but we're all we're all ready to do the work and we're grateful for everyone's the role that everyone plays in helping us get there thank you Carrie okay any further discussion all in favor conry I Constantin ey Elfin B ey green I Miller I that motion passes thank you Joe uh the next agenda item um is really a moot point because superintendent mckenas is not here tonight so we will move on to upcoming meeting policy subcommittee meeting June 27th at 5:00 pm uh there is an in-person school committee Retreat July 11th starting at 4:30 pm and ending at 6:30 p.m. um Finance subcommittee July 25th at 5:00 pm that's tentative um we are proposing August school committee meeting of um the 22nd um and that's it do we have a what time next Tuesday are we posting a meeting for uh Tuesday Tuesday we can do the regular time we can do 5:30 whatever makes sense to most people revity of this is the meeting is this the special meeting yep yeah five five minute 20 minute meeting uh whatever works for everyone else works fine for me on Tuesday for that I won't be able to make it on Tuesday oh I have a meeting starting at 5:30 so if we wanted to schedule it at 5 I could do that but okay we can do Thursday at five does that work for you Joe Thursday or Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday right on Tuesday I mean and again uh if if Thursday works better for people I given the shortness of the meeting I can tuck into a stairwell or something for it we never really know how short a meeting is gonna be Curtis yeah that's true and and if there's going to be a change there I'd rather start working on it sooner than later yeah all right that's fair uh yeah Tuesday 5 o' um I have no other items agenda requests Christina before we get to agenda requests could I just mention a couple of masc things um because I was at this meeting last night there is a summer Institute um offered by the um Massachusetts Association of school committees everyone is invited to sign up for it you should have all gotten an email for it but um there um you can always go to the masc website and um you know look at the agenda and see if it's anything that you're interested in um they are going to be talking about um uh Labor Relations and and contract negotiations which is not something that we're focusing on right now but there are some other topics as well that um are of Interest around um strategic planning you know Finance um Deb work those kinds of things and then also the uh registration for the fall conference in um in November um registration is open for that if anybody wants to look into the agenda for that as well great thank you Carrie agenda requests would someone like to make a motion to adjourn so moved Curtis moves do I have a second car Carrie second she beat you to the punch all second him again like I did before earlier today all in favor conry I Constantin ey Elin by an ey green ey m i hey this meeting is adjourned it is 10:16 PM short one so short hey I remember when we were hitting five hours like every month do you remember way back that was aw