##VIDEO ID:DqQbgOM5PeM## [Applause] [Music] so today is Tuesday October 8 2024 this meeting is being video and audio recorded for future cable broadcast uh we ask that you please silence all cell phones for the duration of the meeting sorry I was going to do that after the local but got Mr Hood yes Mrs Gomes yes Mr HRA yes uh and we will uh stand for the Pledge of Allegiance FL flag the United States of America the repic for what it stands for nation indivisible liy and justice for all okay uh so the next item is the consent agenda everything listed in the consent agenda was distributed in advance of the meeting does anyone have any requests or something to be removed from the consent agenda and discussed and voted on separately uh so may I have a motion to approve and accept the items listed in the consent agenda including the minutes from September 10th 2024 so move second all in favor Mr Hood [Music] yes uh I believe we do not have anybody signed up for delegation okay so seeing no old business I believe we will go into new business okay so first up we would like to share our mcast results from Spring 2024 and I'd like to call to the podium the principles Mrs Sylvia Mrs chzn and M rieri uh the director of curriculum and we will be going over with you the results but overall we're very pleased and obviously we always have work to do but um so with that being said take it away good evening so tonight we're going to be presenting on the the spring 2024 mcast results overall our accountability ratings increased for both schools and we have out performance State on the majority of tests and can I just add that this is at a time when the majority of the state is still feeling the effects of Co that you know they're still not caught up but I feel like in a cushion it we we're okay in terms of preo you'll see so we'll discuss our accountability ratings the performance of the overall District each individual school and we we'll look at some area comparisons and talk about good steps so here are our accountability percentiles the accountability ratings are calculated by desie based on the achievement student growth English language proficiency and chronic absenteeism for each school and schools are kind of are compared to schools that are other like schools so in our case elementary schools that are pretty much K to four or k to 5 maybe K to 6 and then Middle School is 6 to 8 generally um and each school has gone up and their accountability percentile AES is at 93 and FMS is at 55 this is the achievement distribution for grades 3 through 8 in ela so on the left hand side is our school district and on the right is the state and overall we have outperformed the state in ela in grades 380 this is the achievement distribution for math grades 3 to8 and again overall the district has outed the state this chart here is the district and school um achievement and growth in ela for grades the growth is for grades uh 4 through 8 and the achievement reporting is on grades 3 through 8 um the Red Dot there is the Krishna Elementary School the yellow is the Ford Middle School the green is the average or the district average and then that star there is the state so typical growth is generally anywhere between that band between 40 and 60 so um AES actually had high growth anti achievement in in um Ela and for Middle School um while we outperform the state in ela we are within the typical band of growth um but fell a little bit behind the state in growth and this is um the school achievement in grow for math in grades 4 through 8 and again the uh well the colors actually have changed so yellow here is the Krishna Elementary School and again on that higher end uh um of the typical band for growth and high achievement um and the Ford Middle School is the Red Dot there so again kind of on that lower lower end and falling behind the state as far as growth um but did outperform the state and achievement okay I'm going to turn it over to Mrs syvia for Middle School princip this chart shows from 2020 1 through 24 and Ela 5 through 8 consistency showing small increases through the years the percentage of meing are exceeding is higher than the state same thing in MA 2021 through 2024 where the red May dip and the other columns may increase that is a good sign schools at 47% with meeing and exceeding the states at 41 3 through five science so this is the science curriculum they begin in grades three and four at e and then come over to FMS for grade five and the test is on grades 3 through 5 standards 6 through 8 we do have a dip this year keep it in mind that last sorry last year we did begin the new science curriculum the open sad and we piloted the new we piloted an S version of an updated demcast as well so we're not exactly sure how that scoring is in comparison to the state it was a two-day test the first day was traditional um questions like past years the second day was more Hands-On um inquiry based that not everyone in the state piloted but it was the first year pilot the first year open okay and with um the elementary school um as uh M had mentioned before we did outform state um we have um regained a little bit of our um progress from the last two years from 20232 so that's also a good sign and for math again we are perform the state um and we also after a little bit of last year have also moved a little bit forward as well so very with those results so up here we have uh comparisons of our how our school districts performed on the test compared to the state and also other local school districts in the area um this is just kind of for a reference generally when we're compared to other school districts these districts are not necessarily considered our D districts or districts that kind of more closely resemble our makeup um of the district but I did just kind of put this up here cuz often times um it's nice to know how we performing against other local area school and this is something that the school committee has asked for in the past so that's why we've included it um anything in green so aish it um any of those the reason that aish is in green here is because we've out formed the state on that test so that green is caring pushing it to the state and not other necessar public districts and um and then here is the same comparison chart but for grades 5 through b and there are two assessments where the district did um under that we did underperform compared to the state and that was that 8ighth grade Science assessment on pilot and new curriculum here and the eth grade math um by one point and all other areas we were able to outperform the state and then this is very similar but just looking at grades 3 through a overall and Ela math and um science and I threw this data chart on there for your reference this is kind of just the over the overall view um of the numbers of students in the each category meeting partially meeting um exceeding and not meeting expectations and just gives you the idea of how many students are in each group what the participation rate was um and the grow so in summary both as and FMS continue to increase their accountability ratings overall we all perform the state and Ela and math and science overall um AES outform state in growth and achievement FM underperformed the state in growth um and outperformed the state in achievement in ela and math and our next steps are to continue to provide interventions for identified students examine data on a regular cycle and work with Educators to help provide data informed instructional decisions provide ongoing professional development to ensure appropriate implementation ation of our high quality curriculum materials um continue to follow the the action steps on our strategic plan um and examine our approach to lesson planning um our curriculum is you know their they big our curriculum is big and you would never get to every activity that is in in our curriculum you wouldn't be able to do that so how do we work in teenss to really pull out what are the most high quality activities that we can be doing with our students from within that curriculum um and ensuring that our educators are you know continuing to use the district's approved curriculum and assessment um according to the assessment and pacing guides that we're getting through what we need to get through and um continue to work with families and Community Partners to ensure that we're getting students to school CU if they're not here they're really not worning what they need to be so we need we need kids in school it's a good place to be and we're hoping that our responsive classroom and all the other um efforts that our administrators and teachers are are making you know help with that as well any questions so it's so concerning to me about the the math curriculum 5 to 8 um is it based on these results are we changing the curriculum at all or thinking about it or what other things besides those bullet points are we doing to help bridge the gap because just personally now looking from seventh grade to eighth grade math it's like a huge jump like a lot of kids can't even wrap their head around it so what do we are we doing stuff doing things in the seventh and eighth grade to try to connect the build a bridge of learning the new curriculum because I believe this year in eth grade there is a new curriculum or something's changed where things are more rigorous this year I was told by one of the teachers because I I've already had meetings about math so I'm starting to get well versed um I'm just wondering based on these results what changes are we making or are we not are we just trying to you know see what happens so um we're not changing the curriculum that's the same it's the savis Envision curriculum um there are two tracks there's the algebra track and then the grade eight grade seven and grade eight track um we have added a math interventionist to the Middle School um but as far as the curriculum I think what we need to really again look at is what are the high quality activities that we that we can be pulling out um one area that we identified was that we wanted to have more student engagement more student talk um more students grappling with with the curriculum and working with each other other to solve problems um and so we're doing a lot more of the vertical thinking tasks on the board where students are kind of up out of their seats we purchased whiteboards in all they're put up in all of the math classrooms and uh we actually just took a learning walk last week I believe it was through the grades 5 through 8 math cuz we're looking at it closely um to see you know what's happening and what we saw was High student engagement um students working on grade level material and grappling with that and problem solving together so um it looked really great and what we want to make sure that we're doing within the classroom is also addressing that tier two so when students aren't understanding the lesson when they aren't getting it right what are we doing within the classroom before they get to an interventionist to make sure that they're understanding the material know I just had comments but at the end of the uh at the end of the we at the end or the I I have one or maybe two questions as well okay go ahead the questions and I just got a a statement thank you for can I just if you go back to the accountability percentiles for a minute so how do I so it sounds like we calculate that based on a number of indicators and then also similar schools no we're just the indicators so is there a benchmark score that is considered or when I look at 93 like that's 93 out of 100 so that's great or how do I look at interpret that okay so the 93 is compared to other schools okay okay so if you can actually I can get you the information of where you can find how it's all calculated and all of the like the like the numbers so for example chronic absenteeism there's like you can get four points for that um and um so I'm not sure exactly like I don't have the numbers in my mind but yeah like um so the all of those all different um categories carry different weights so they're not I wouldn't say that they're equally like achievement isn't 1/4 of the calculation and student growth is not 1/4 of the calculation so they all have different weights and it's calculated you can see that on our on the school and District profiles you can see um it actually breaks down it breaks it down even more by the student subgroups and more information as far as that goes um but then once we have our number the then that number is then compared to other school districts is there a one particular or maybe there's multiple because if you just look at it you go wow 93 in the elementary school 55 in the Middle School can what's the driver of why those scores are so different so this is falling in the 93rd percentile compared to all schools that are similar that are similar it's excellent 90 to get 93 at the elementary school and I think our Middle School is very typical a lot of middle schools you see a very big dip um in the percentile rankings um why why what are common you know there have been some years we receive zero points for attend um we just don't get the Four Points based on attendance I mean again the student growth that we t aled about that's a factor that's that factor carries weight and so when we're um below the state in growth we need to really look at that and say what what can we do to um increase the growth and now the state is counting attendance even more heavily so we're doing everything we can we're making phone calls when kids are absent we're following up with students we get them in for meetings after so many absences because it does impact our scores excuse our unexcused so we can excuse parent no but the state doesn't take that as an excused op the idea is kids have to be in school to learn and you know as much as we say we we have some some issues with attendance issues it's not as bad as many many districts are facing right now in the state we're very fortunate um you know I'm really proud of the Educators in this district for these scores um you know the fact that we're continuing to move in the right direction um after Co and that's not what most of the districts in the state are seeing right now so you know we know that we have work to do because unless it's 100% of all kids meeting the standards then we know we haven't hit everybody so we've got to continue to look at data do the work that they're doing um to continue to make improvements and move in the right direction just one more question so when does um the curriculum director decide that it's time to move on to a different curriculum after looking at you know not just this but other other means of examining what the kids are doing cuz I saw on the um math like f Haven has a higher math score than us I'm I don't think we're using the same curriculum as Fair Haven but when do you decide like how many years do you wait until we change it's typically a 3 to 5 year cycle so I mean we can and we've and we kind of last year started having these conversations of do we want to start exploring other options should we be exploring other options um or do we need to kind of look at our instructional practices perhaps um because you know I we are seeing the growth and achievement with the same curriculum it's a k to8 curriculum and that doesn't mean that it's the same throughout all the it doesn't mean that it may better serve an elementary population than it might a middle school population but there could be a lot of factors and that's something staff years that because I was thinking from a budget standpoint you know like should we start looking at if we're if the scores aren't moving the way we want them to move are we looking at a 2-year rather than a 5-year contractor things like that it's really hard because it takes teachers a little while sometimes you will see a a routine dip in scores when you start a new curriculum right there's a lot of PD that goes with it and that's why the typical idea is the 3 to 5 years because you invest a lot of money in the curriculum but in terms we're looking at data not only at our data but we're looking at other communities and we'll make the phone calls hey what are you using you know we can we do visits we've sent our teachers and principls over different schools just to see what they're doing um we've done that before too so we're open to those ideas as well and again like we're looking at instructional practices um we are we're working with our school instructional leadership team to really kind of try to identify a few problems of practice around our data to to dig deeper because there are so many factors there's so many factors that could be involved um and so how do we kind of parse out what we think it it could be in vertical alignment are always something to really look at that you ride yourselves after the to set meetings and things like that with like six to 7 7 to 8 to make sure they're all aligned okay just looking at just looking at the the broader picture that uh with with MC scoring Massachusetts rates uh one of the highest in the nation and and we're above the state so it shows of how you know our students are becoming more prepared than they ever were uh you know to go on and have a successful secondary education um this all comes through the the testing the mcast you know testing and putting the Spotlight on achievement I mean there a great discussion that we come even from the school commit to refine continue refine and make progress and how how our children have made progress uh uh compared with before mcast testing was in 1993 I didn't realize in before 1993 the only High School uh requirement for for graduation uh was a four years of gym and one Civics course uh and in some some uh in some school districts just had kids in school just mocking time and as long as they behaved themselves they moved on and therefore their their high school diploma was worth very much so this has all changed and this you know and it's uh and and we we should really uh you know with with you know under covid our children had a little setback but the discussion had the healthy discussion we've had basically shows if we want to refine and make make up any gaps we have and and and we're ahead uh even from other neighboring districts I would say that you know what uh concerns me that if we ever took the the requirement uh which is on the ballot by the way of removing any testing uh you know on on high school gra requirements how how much of a setback it could have in the future in the sense of future funding because accountability put everybody on notice and you sure so as that you know the state legislature has put continuously put more money uh and into it we we've had low class sizes we've had curriculum reform all these things have gone and they could be endangered uh on if we took away started reducing the testing uh for for for I I don't know what reasons so I just wanted to just toss this out them uh to the public to consider uh you know uh you know question two uh but uh the uh we should very be very proud of how far we've come and we don't want to lose we just want to continue but the uh you know uh in the future as far as the refining of what we have to have so I you know I've just been little studying on on this on this issue and I a lot of things I didn't know but uh we we uh we should preserve and grow what we've had because we Face some tough budget times as we well know and we need State support uh in doing it we can't we can't do it on local funds uh and uh and uh we had we and the only way is accountability would lead to uh more you know continued funding so I hope I haven't talked too long thank you guys for pres I just want to say overall we we're moving in the right direction and that um we also just received a grant for math tutoring in grades 4 through 8 from desie um and in addition to we now have a math interventionist in place at the elementary school and at the middle school so I think those are also um will be helpful factors thank you thank you so next we have uh budget transfers and we actually don't need a vote there was a memo in your packet from the business manager I don't want to read it to you but in aligning with the policy he's just basically reporting out that um transfers between accounts must be submitted to the school committee for approval and he's going to do that quarterly so this is just a placeholder to get it on the agenda um and that there are no budget transfers you know required at this time as 77% of our budget is made up of instruction um and programs and other school districts so many times if a budget adjustment is needed it's likely that it will not require a vote as a transfer most of or much of the time um do you have any questions on that it's in the packet okay so no vote and then the next um you go look at C D E F G H and I those are all uh policies that the policy subcommittee has taken up recently and this is all for the first read there's no vote on these um but I'll just re list them it's AC non-discrimination policy including harassment and retaliation ac- non-discrimination policy including harassment retaliation e e I'm sorry ACA non-discrimination on the basis of sex aa- NIS non-discrimination on the basis of sex under Title 9 including sex based harassment acab sexual and sex-based harassment and retaliation acga civil rights grievance procedure and acgb title 9 sexual discrimination grievance procedure and you might wonder why we're doing all these title9 um policies and it's because there's been a lot of changes over the past several months with these title nines so we as a committee subcommittee decided to really take this on we're putting the first read out to give you time um to read through it I know that Mrs Gomes would like to speak on it she's on the policy subcommittee meeting uh and um obviously if there we can have discussion tonight and then we'll have the second read in the vote um next month so if if the committee so desires oh so I I thought the other I thought we would have a full committee today so what I'd like the committee to do as being on the budget I mean on the policy sub commmittee is read through everything again um in the next meeting that we have bring your questions and in scenarios so we can really talk about about it and see what else we can add to this policy or what if anything or take away from these policies because these are des's policies they're not ours so with um some legal advice you know we can alter revise if we see fit so again just take the time read through this these are important policies in our school district um and I feel that you know as a as a town that we should definitely put our stamp on it and and make it our own so again all your communication for the next meeting would be welcome all Dr ba I know I think I know the answer this question but these are maybe des's uh policies but I presume we would rely on external legal counsil to review our final yeah so when the policies are crafted it's um masc which is in charge of the school committee the association they put out the recommended policies and within each of those policies you'll see references to legal to laws to reference and resources of where they get this information from and I think you're able to compare what we had in the past versus what's new um but yeah we're you know we've been tending to go with the masc policies for that reason but there's always some exceptions to the to the rule of that um and certainly it's a vote of the full committee so that's why we always especially with this many policies we take the time to do a first read and then another read um and you know definitely have the discussion of any concerns you need a motion to uh table it to the next meeting Le or or we just uh just a first read first okay thank you and just so I'm clear we are updating these because there's been a lot of changes there is no uh ing deadline that says we have to have these updated by a certain obviously sooner is been yeah that's why we're taking them on now I mean the last update was in August this year so we're right you know in line with that most schools are doing it now okay so moving on um I have nothing else but um just to continue down in your packet you have the director of Technologies update um he'll be reporting live next month you also have the business manager update um and as you know he's not here tonight because several of us have that meeting in a little while for um project 211 and I sent you an email on it today but it's been established for school districts and towns to work together to get the necessary attention from the state uh legislature to challenge the current chapter 74 formula because we're one of those districts that only get the minimum so as far as facilities our draft investment rate audit was received on October 4th and we're going to review that document very thoroughly before we release it to you so probably within the next month um Gil Associates will be coming out in October um that that's the same company that did the roof repair they're going to be analyzing the water intrusion problem in the gym closet at AES so that's on the docket Food Service um a cushion it along with 161 other schools were selected by desie for an administrative review and a procurement review during this school year um and both reviews are conducted to ensure compliance with National School lunch program and the school breakfast program requirements so this is very routine and Transportation I'll just highlight that we have regularly been reaching out to Amaral to communicate changes to check on changes and voice other concerns is definitely been a lack of responsiveness um but the situation seems to be slowly improving um as we've included the ownership more regularly in our Communications and that basically highlights what you have in your packet from the business manager uh so Dr Billy just so I'm clear on your last comment around the situation seems to be slow because we are now including uh those folks you referenced we are starting to see a response from them is that what we slowly okay um we haven't been pleased with the lack of responsiveness because you know we have to answer to families with changes we requested meetings um you know I don't want to speak for them but they they seem like they have a lot going on um but that's you know we're at the point where we if we don't get responsiveness we'll be coming back to the school committee to talk about other things other avenues in terms of our agreement yeah so just so I'm clear is there anything and I don't remember in the contract that uh pertains to responsiveness and those yeah we can withhold payment sure okay so we're not there yet but I'm just letting the committee know that we've had some concerns this year and that is all I have school committee okay okay so where were you on the report any any any school Committee Member report I just uh be unethical for me to you know try to tell you know tell anybody how they should vote on a ballot question I just want to but I certainly hope on question two that just people just look at it and just study it and thought in in my previous comments taken consideration but uh I just want to clarify that I hope people just study it but I in no way am I telling people how to vote on that okay uh so we we also had um communication information District newsletter a newsletter FMS newsletter Dr we had the Personnel report right um yep I soccer field letter soccer field letter alphab best update which that program has started oh good y good so it is up and running it was a little bit of a slow start with the company but we've ironed things out and the school district was able to get some um compensation in terms of credit for families you know they had offered a week and we said no that's not enough B Bas on four times of being late with the start date and you know continuing to tell us start Monday start Monday and it doesn't start so we negotiated a month of free care for the families who have signed up I think we talked about this last time but I think especially considering that it was a little uh clunky maybe to get going I think you know reporting back after I don't know 1 month two month 3 months whatever it is and just it's definitely on our timeline back to the committee just to see what's working what can be improved and so on you got it we had the school Neil's program so I think that's it for tonight yeah wi for the bestest meeting fastest meeting of all time all right so I guess with that then I would ask for a motion to close the meeting make a motion to ajour Second Mr Hood yes Mrs Gman yes Mr help yes meeting 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