time is now 6:30 p.m. on April 9th 2024 I'm calling this regular session to order can we please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge of to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay Michelle can we have roll call Mr here here Mr qu here Mr here here all right we don't have our reps yet so I'm going to slide on down um do we have anyone here in the chat for public comments no all righty and I think we're good in public here all right so I am going to move on to the consent agenda looking for a vote for the March 207th 2024 regular session minutes for release and then the warrants as listed below um does anybody have anything they would like to discuss or review and if not I'll entertain a motion I'd make a motion that we approve the minutes for March 27 7 as well as AP warrant 1149 payroll War warrant 20 um and payroll warrant 20.1 second all those in favor say I I I all right so I am going to move on to um the discussion of the postgraduate transition planning for students with disabilities Dr Kristen Campion correct yes okay thank you thank you um thank you for having me tonight um I was here I think in like July in July or August to meet you for the first time so sorry I haven't been back since but I thought this would be a good time to discuss our programming for postgraduate students so you should have a handout in your packet I apologize for the large bont I I did it that way so when I was reading in case I was nervous no that's okay it would be easier for me so um I'm just going to go through this quickly I don't know everyone's knowledge base so I apologize if you already know a lot of a lot of this background um but I do want to set the scene so um most of our students graduate with a high school diploma and um do very well in postgraduate but some students with disabilities are eligible and receive Services up until age 22 so we have a lot of students and postgraduate programs they're all in out of District placements currently we don't have any programming here for them um just in talking to a few parents I haven't had all of the team meetings for all of the students this year but we've had students over the years who have been through air Shirley Regional High School before that air before that Shirley um receiving all of their education and special education programming and then are placed out of District because we haven't had an option I think it's time to really open up that conversation and to look at the number of students as well as what it's costing us in those a of District placements so you'll see um I outlined in the handout that you know it's more than just thinking about the dollars that we're paying for the AED District placement it's thinking about what's best for our students and their families um the social relationships are key and when we take all of the students and put them in all different programs then we're splitting that cohort up and they're not able to develop those friendships or continue to develop those friendships and relationships as they become young adults these are sometimes students who may or may not um be romantically involved as well so I just think it's important for us to think about them doing their preparation here with us we know them best um and let's see is there something else to um we have quite a few students now hi TW okay um and for next year we definitely will have a couple students Aging in as well as a couple students will be aging out this year so our number is has pretty much stayed the same if we had all of our students in District with us we would have 12 students so it's a nice it's a that's a nice group that's enough to do something with sometimes in smaller districts you don't have enough students to really build that kind of classroom Community um we're cohort but I think it's time for a Shirley to really think about this now what is this going to cost and and what are you asking for so what I'm thinking about for next year and you know we we've discussed this with Dr Renda we've discussed it at the cabinet level with all the directors obviously Mrs BAC is a big part of this um as the special director we've talked to the high school administration the high school special education teachers I've also talked to the collaborative director because you may or may not know we have a program here for postgraduate students that some of our students go to but it's an outof District placement it's sponsored by the Keystone collaborative you'll hear a bit about caps tonight I think later but um we do have students in that program so um I think what I'd like to do is start the program with a couple of students not plan to bring all our students back at once but to grow it from as students are aging in and then optionally offering it to students who are in placements who might want to come back um some of one of the students that I I met with the family this year they said why do why can't my child stay here why can't they continue so I think it's important for us to answer that question they can they absolutely can and and we can do it I would argue better but at least as good as the programs that they're in so um what I'm asking for is the potential for one position and I've been in special education Administration for many years but um there's never a good budget here so I I come to you I understand that but I think if we think about starting the program with a PA professional level job coach type person who would work with one of our existing special education teachers under their license at the high school we could get the program started with a couple students as we no longer have the cost of the students going out of District then we'll have the students in with us and be able to perhaps hire the teacher transition specialist job coaches anything else we might need for the program so um I think that's basically the points I wanted to hit on do you have any questions for me anyone have questions with with hiring the new person and taking them in would that be Revenue neutral as opposed to s m My Hope Is it would be Revenue neutral if you thought about the offset of that not going out of District right so could potentially be a savings too um that that tuition is probably at least 70,000 and a PA professional level job coach might be closer to 30 yeah yeah I mean the revenue is an important part I mean I agree totally the thing you the best thing for the students is to keep them their environment as stable as you can for as long as it can because the clock is going to run out so if there's a way to try to to evaluate that Revenue neutrality that would be an important thing but it's not the only measurement clearly um P did you just is from a work load perspective is is that normal kind of par professional to the students that just one or two well I mean that would be a great ratio in any program whether it's a pair professional or a teacher um but we do have a couple of programs in the high school that that program could work with we have a program for students with developmental disabilities that has a special education teacher and Care Professionals we have a therapeutic classroom as well so uh my thought is that the students could work within those programs with the teachers there as we start um what I don't want to do is burden those teachers with additional responsibilities that they can't manage so that's why I have the conversation with the teachers to to really say what do you think like does this make sense um and they actually had a proposal that they had written one of them had written probably three or four years ago in thinking that they wanted to do this so I felt good that we were on the same page and they know that they know most of the students there there are some who have been on a district probably for most of their careers right and they don't know those students but those wouldn't be the ones we'd be recommending that would come back anyway so um it would be most of our students who came all the way through in the a public schools okay great can your um oh a chart here you have one postgraduate program at another Public School District you on the on wherever that is do you know how they're operating their program now yeah I actually was a part of building that program over at North norx that's where we have a student currently um many years ago started that program and then was a part of starting this type of program when I was at tabin for 12 years so we started with one or two kids the same the same type of model and um and both both programs are doing very well and um I think it was the right way to go I've seen other directors take all of their kids and bring and insist that everyone come back in and it's just not a good model doesn't work especially for the students don't understand why they're already there so um I think my question is maybe actually for bill so sorry for putting on the spot our budget is set like I mean where are we in terms of like the ability to amend or change the current budget for the coming year because I as I understand this is a proposal for 2425 I wanted to have the conversation to see if you were receptive to the idea given that we're inide you know our every District every every town in Massachusetts mostly is in this kind of situation I just thought it was worthwhile to have the conversation there may be potential to transfer someone into the position that may potentially through a TR or losing a job um I'm sure bill will be fiscally responsible and and advise um advise us what we should do on that but even if the budget is set you can vote in transfers uh at any time that uh we could move if we can identify uh a line where we were we have surplus funds we can move them into a salary line yeah uh once we get the program up and running U and we could incorporate them in the fall with fall transfers we do for when all the teachers are all set right um and I mean from your I so I will say I'm like yeah let's do that well you mentioned the families were like excited about the possibility that I think would be sort of my first threshold like is this what families and students want and need is this what our teachers think we can support and then sort of lastly bill from a budget perspective is there a way that we can do it where we're not going back to the towns and begging for money that they say they don't have right like how do we do this in a in a responsible way but yeah that would be my question for you is like does this feel like it can be within the realm of budget neity absolutely so um y I'm getting some comments from She's heckling you it's the Heckler suppor supportive so given that our projected out of District costs are what they are I did I think include the total that we've been we're paying um this year for students in postgraduate programs that um we have projected for next year if we were to even bring one student back yeah um or one student didn't go out we would have the potential to offset that right yeah and I think like and if you have two students it starts to become really sort of feasible from a budget perspective um I also assume there's some variability in the cost per student right like I don't think I would take that million dollars and divide it by 13 um but you know it seems like it would work out and I think again I know there's you know what is the person's salary and then there's the benefits and the other things that go on top of it but it seems like it would add up especially if you had again two students as a starting cohort it seems like it would be really feasible and something that we could again build on um Joyce I apologize traffic was what it is on YouTube um the um question that comes to mind and I think I know the answer but you know my memory only goes back about three minutes um so it seems like we had set some space when we redesigned the school that would give you um facilities that could be used successfully now I don't know if that was observed in the meantime for other programs or if that could be reclaimed um it seems simp me that we had some life skill rooms or a room yeah we do have programs in the building that are using some of those classrooms I I haven't gotten to the space discussion yet because I wanted to just come and see what what the reception was to this idea um but I will tell you that the staff and faculty and staff at the high school is like we'll find the room I mean that you know that has to be part of the formula right um we don't want to give up the library or something is my guess a big Library the first couple years it will probably be I don't know if you heard me at the beginning it will probably be um part of an existing program it no you said that I just was trying to understand that's well thank you yeah anybody else yeah um I think this is a great idea I think it's really exciting I think it would be important for the students to feel as though they belong and they're supported you know until they age out so thank you for for this to us I think it's great um just cuz I'm a little naive about what it would look like what would be like a typical day for them are they learning like life skills or are they learning like looking for employment if that's an option for them or that's a great question I didn't touch on that at all so um the programs that have worked in the past we had um two days where the students are in the high school building and they're doing it looks similar to classroom they're working on their employability skills they're working on if it's appropriate resumes okay um social skills teaching teaching the curriculum two days they're out in the community they're doing they're on job sites they're doing cohorts um work um I always forget the word that we call it there's a there's a word in the industry that is not coming to me um Enclave they're in work enclaves uh and then the last day usually it's on Friday is a social you know social Awareness Day where students are getting together with we've done it with the other postgraduate programs they might simulate a dance asking someone to dance they might um be working on dating protocol they might be working on um going out you know to a restaurant and it could be for some students practicing reciprocal conversation no it's not your turn it's someone else's turn or it could be something as complex as talking to your boss about needing time off or needing um you know something to talk to your doctor about things like that so um it's really highly individualized because each student just it's a small program but the students have very diverse needs so it could be any of that all of that um and more okay great thank you um this is this is great um I'm excited to have this back um almost 20 years ago we had our um our our students here older students um it was a privilege to have Benny with us I still actually have Benny with me um and he now has two nephews so seeing him function um brilliantly and and Thrive is awesome um from a classmate perspective so to know that we potentially could have this again is huge cuz I do know some some other students that were outside of the district and they're from my observation not that their parents have told me but it does seem that there's about a two threeyear period where it's very disorienting for for the students because once they age out of the program and they're back in their home surroundings with their parents they don't know the other students or it's been a very long time and depending on what their needs are it's almost like starting over High School in order to to get back to you know where they aged out again for the next 5 to 7 years um and sometimes for their parents they feel like they're reworking on certain skills so I think that this is really great um not only for our students but again for for their parents because some of them are going to be lifelong caregivers um and they're going to lifelong be teaching these skills so I think this is a excellent idea it's well thought out and you were mindful of finances um so that I'm not going to say it's an easy build but what I will say is that it's a valuable build um so thank you I really appreciate any I don't know Benny but I wish I did yeah um so yes um I know we don't have to vote on it but as you can hear from all of us you know it's it's a let's move forward let's see what this looks like um and I think we're all pretty excited to see that come forward so thank you thank you so much for your attention thank you okay so I'm going to jump around on the um agenda so I am going to move forward to um um up the updated 2024 2025 school year calendar um so I have both co-presidents here from Azria um would you guys like me to start just to kind of intro you in is that helpful sure okay so so two things um as we were voting two items came up um coming down to dates so as the contract is written um we uh the teachers can't start on the 23rd just because of the the way that the contract is written so that's one thing that we're we would have to address the other is that there was feedback and both co-presidents were kind enough to send um an email to myself and then of course I believe you all also have the email in your folder so I appreciate that and just giving the feedback from um the teachers so as we all are working together right and try to make accommodations sometimes this is what happens as we kind of kind of go back and forth until we can find that right fit so I'm going to let you guys take it away and then I'll I'll come back after thank you m sure well marann I'm co-president of asria thank you very much for having us um as as you just introduced us in the letter um it is was I hadn't even seen the school committee meeting or anything like that but the next day we were getting messages and and texts and emails about the change um it's just a really big change I've been here for 16 years now um and it's just always how it's been and I mean there's you know different schools districts start different ways but um it's just this just was like a big Sudden Change and you know people made plans um it's and not just staff members but families as well like District families and just concerns from all sorts of um all all lots of our members um about the change um that was approved so um as far back as we can remember even before I think when we were Arn Charley the Friday was saved um as a day off and while I understand um from watching parts of the meeting the concerns and wanting us to be in school that day the way that we build the year and how we come back and the importance of that two days the first week and then four days the next week and then a full week the week after it really gives us the ability to build those relation ships slowly and consistently and also gives the kindergarten their day to shine where they're the only important ones on that day because it's been scaffolded that we come back in a slow manner it's like waiting into the pool the pool we we've adjusted everybody else back to the year they've calmed down they're used to their Transitions and then they help welcome the kindergarteners in on that first day and it's a much smoother transition for not only the students but ourselves as well and we understand you know the constraints and how hard it is for families with coverage and we appreciate that and we understand that and we hope that you'll consider if not in perpetuity at least for this year giving us one more year to adjust and adapt and then putting it into the calendar for next year so that we're all prepared for that shift um and allow us to come up with a year way to transition differently from going from a 3-day to a 4 Day to a 5-day week um we met with staff today over at page Hilltop we've talked with the staff in our building at law we've heard from the high school and the middle school um quite a bit and we just feel that because it has always been there and people have already made plans they're attending family services and weddings and activities that have been planned because we've always had that day to take it away with less than six months when we can't imagine having to cover the amount of staff that might need it or families even that have already planned that oh we don't go back that Friday we'll make that one more last long weekend everybody going in knowing that next year it's not going to be there anymore gives us the ability to plan appropriately um with plenty of time of course um so I think with that is the other thing that we were thinking about for the Friday was because we were trying to accommodate the Wednesday before um Thanksgiving right so I think what you're suggesting makes sense so that if we're going to have have new trends maybe pushing it back to the next year so that we would have um we would give hold on let me start this again cuz this happened last time so in the following not 2024 2025 but it would be 2025 2026 did I say that correctly okay so in that year when the kids come back to school they would be in school on that Friday and then we would have off the Wednesday before Thanksgiving right CU we're kind of doing a swap so that would be the year we would do it so technically in two years from this year that's when we do it so everybody has Level Playing Field and has time to plan um I think is probably the be best approach right so that we kind of move forward next year uh or one year out sticking to our schedule that we typically have to accommodate for pre-planned things we've had for years which does make sense you're right it's probably more like 50 years that we've been doing it that way so it makes it makes complete sense I know it was before I came here yeah cuz I I was here and we didn't go on Fridays yeah so so that's why I'm saying yeah so that makes total sense so I think but originally I think that's how we ended up we were just trying to make sure that we didn't add the date on to the end of the school year so that's why we were trying to switch it so I think just starting that new trend that in 2 years might be helpful but um I just wanted to explain that for the other school committee members because we had to keep playing around with those dates but does anybody have anything that they want to comment I one I can't wait for us to vote this in tonight CU that was real fun last time we're used to having days added on the end of the year you know we do snow days well so you know feel free to push us you know that to the end of the year it would also allow us more time for field trips after mcaps if it were added back to the end of the year because we have that crunch all of a sudden there's these six week we can't go on field trips and with the fact that we can finally go back and do that again it would be wonderful to have a little bit more time in June to do that okay um Erica I maybe in voting last week made an assumption that we had like engaged with sort of all the constituents who are going to have feelings about school calendars I wonder before I mean I think given the feedback from teachers it feels clear like for the coming year keep as is right like we can't run a school if people are not there right um I also wonder if there's an opportunity before we start making plans for 25 26 is there a way for us to I'd love to hear from families and teachers in a more quantifi like again you hear the anecdotal feedback I know my family loves to take that Wednesday off because we've got a big Drive ahead of us for Thanksgiving Joyce last week you mentioned like well that Friday before Labor Day we count on that because that's my one weekend a right like every family is going to have and so we have lots of anecdotal like rationale but I'd love if we could put a survey somewhere and again like to your point like we can get a year ahead and we can ask about I mean I know that we can add a day at the end of school year and there's going to be some family like well my Camp starts on right we're not going to make everyone happy but if we can have a little bit more than the like feelings um to make the decision that I think would help us not and in February is when we consult with the superintendent to just give our feedback because that's when the calendar starts to starts getting built so what I'm thinking is probably around December is is when we could send the survey out um for like for families and of course do the staff as well and then if you wanted again in February to reconsult with the staff but I think that would be good um Michelle is there any way that we could put that on the calendar for the school committee um for next year to make sure that we have that disc discuss in our first meeting for December okay perfect you always do but that way I I made sure I ask so yes I think that that would be great anybody else Joyce Joyce um so not being the educator um the Monday Tuesday Wednesday there is basically for teachers getting their rooms ready um doing some seminars and stuff right do you think that it is an Advantage for a kid any kid to get all excited about school and come for one day and then be gone for three days if we change the Friday we'll only have two days of PD this year and they would come Wednesday Thursday and have the traditional Friday off so Wednesday Thursday then a kid becomes more established understands where his roots are having a kid come I mean I don't know so tell me if I'm wrong but having a kid come from one day whip him in whip him up to hey we're going to school and then forget it yeah mhm to me that doesn't give a mental stable particularly when the kids are coming out of Co you know correct that's why we said if we if you grant us the Friday we'll only have the two-day preparation this year and then when it changes for the following year we'd have three day and they'd be there still two days CU that two days is really important the first day there nervous they're shy they're excited and then the next day they settle in and this is my room and my desk and my friends and my t-shirts so learning routines getting you know getting to know everybody and then you have a sort of full day sorry sort of a full week following week we can get into those you know and then you have so then you have Friday Saturday Sunday Monday off which is a nice long weekend for people to really do stuff it's sort of their last harah the children get very excited they tell us all their plans and where they're going and what they're doing and then they come back nicely sun-kissed and exhausted and we start again and then they're in school full time I'm running yes I mean that that does make sense I mean again regimented for me so I start 2 weeks before school I start Rihanna's um I change her sleep regimen um but for some kids a lot of kids they don't do that so they do tend to need those two days where they're in school they come home they're really tired the parents can gauge them and then kind of ramp them up the following week after they've had the vacation is what I've seen I just know for me I'm so excited she's going back to school we start two weeks before that is when my happy time starts um so um does anybody else have have any yes Jim yeah um a lot of the stuff we do the thing that we get the most input from is the calendar right that's it right and and from my my perspective I mean we don't have control over when the first Monday in September is right and that affects a lot of stuff we do and a lot of times when we get into discussion about this I feel like I'm a travel agent or a vacation planner and I'm like I'm trying to we're trying to get some way for instruction here and I know when instructions like in June it's not fun I mean I was a student you're all students in June right and as the days get longer the attention gets shorter right as you go through that so I mean I I'm fine with going back to what we were doing I I don't have any problem with that but from year to year this could change you know perhaps we can develop an algorithm that will just tell you well this is just where it's going to start you know and and maybe we'll get to that point um so for this I'm okay but I mean I've had people I actually I have somebody tell me that can we take a look at the the Christmas vacation and try to go like a Tuesday to a Thursday because the airf fars are way cheaper than trying to come I mean it which is true but I'm like I don't want to get to that level of detail with every time there's a holiday so somebody can go to Disney World because we're not going to win that because they want this and they you know everybody's got their own kind of thing rolling on so right now I think we can fairly safely go back to what we had before the revisions without any problem but in future years depending on when Labor Day is I can't say that I would guarantee that the Friday before Labor Day is just going to be off understood thank you anyone else cuz we oh no I would agree with Jim I think I really appreciate the feedback cuz we don't know like the reasoning I mean for me I only have a second grader so I'm like why on Earth do we do this like it's difficult for you to understand if you're not been here for 16 years um but from what Jim said just my concern would be like this winter was very mild we didn't really have snow days on that winter where we do have a lot of snow days I feel like you're getting into like the 20s of June and that could be tough I think in general for a lot of families or also I don't know what the contract States like I know they're saying you can't start before a certain date in August is there a date we have to end June 30th June 30th okay um so just something to think of on the other end we only to do that once thank you I'm just thinking with adding that Wednesday you know taking Wednesday as a full day off um which I'm fine with I just want to make sure we're kind of cognizant cuz you can't control the weather so right and I think that's where having the data is always going to be helpful having it in enough time so that we can try our level best um do we have historical attendance data Michelle can we pull that like again like it doesn't need to be super long but even if we go like the last three years like how many students are absent on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving what does attendance look like as we get into June like again if we have if we know the general perception no we're not going to make people happy um but we can do as best we can and if we can look at well when again if no one's here the Wednesday before Thanksgiving let's not make teachers show up and you know but Jo so going back to um taking the 26 27th as being um the teachers in school day you feel that is sufficient and um Everybody kind of agrees to that Union is for is for that it seem like me that um last year and I'm only doing this periphery but um it seemed like that that was an awful long period that really wasn't filled that well maybe I'm wrong cuz I wasn't in any of the things but I was there yeah sorry yeah I'm sorry yeah I I was there for a commencement and they there it was filled and I do remember they had a speaker they also had PD and then they had time to get into their class rooms and make sure that they were able to do what they needed to do at least from my perspective and the feedback I got there I don't know if you got different feedback after maybe School mode yeah I mean lots of Us come in earlier um we get in we have their names we want to label their lockers we want to label their desks we get all their books so that when they come in it's welcoming and ready and there's colorful things all over the wall and things for them to do and we have to finish all of the you know the state manded and the municipal mandate um paperwork and PDS and the time that we have to sit and answer all those questions and do all those quizzes and so Monday and Tuesday wouldn't do that for you yes that's just that's how we've been doing and this just how it's been I mean it's always just been Monday and Tuesday oh okay we were looking for more time so inevitably what the 23rd was supposed to be was for us to sit down and be able to talk with the guidance counselors and the adjustment counselors and last year's teachers and really get a feel for our students so that we could meet them right where they were when they left and bring them in so we started right on that right foot um we've been doing it for many years without that day with that de day be a bonus absolutely but because of the contract and how it's written and the way the calendar works it's not going to work this year um so you know we're certainly able to work within the two days you know three would be a blessing but they definitely need to be there the two days that first week um so that they can find them space in their home and feel like part of that community and then go relax just what you were saying for the teachers you need to S you know set yourself and then have the kids set themselves before they you know have a like when am I going back I'm such years old when am I going back um I don't know and I will say I think asking the staff for feedback on the calendar like you mentioned for December would be huge because that's another thing that I heard today particularly the meeting is a lot of teachers aren't feeling heard like did they hear you know and that's why we said we're we're coming in to to speak for them so I think that would be huge if I you know when I go back and say we had our meeting and so really really appreciate that so and we do appreciate the opportunity to give you feedback because we understand that the calendar is completely within your purview but we we we feel grateful that we have the opportunity to come and express the concerns of our members to you to work together as a team because that's why we're here awesome I'm glad oh Kevin did you have well I think so just to make sure I'm certain on this upcoming vote so if we um put this back on the calendar as a day off right for that Friday then we will also be putting on the calendar at least was it a half day on Wednesday I don't think it was the day before Thanksgiving I don't used to be a half day I think it's usually a half day we'll be putting on the I don't the last day of school go like on the on the before we moved things last time the last day of school was the 13th right of June so we can could take that day out and move the last day of school to the 13 13th yeah excuse me I'm soror um Dr Renda gave us the the revision he has and he has us just moving the last day of school to the 16th that's okay that was the thing leav the wedn but where the Wednesday before Thanksgiving yes the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is still listed as a day off and we're moving the last day of school to the 16th to the 16th and then the early release um the day before the Memorial Day Weekend okay I don't know when he gave you that revision so I because normally the the last just because I had he asked me to step in for him I was going to take his chair but I won't do that maybe next time go ahead um so he had asked me if um I would talk a little bit about the calendar and he just wanted me to reiterate that on the calendar the 23rd is not one week before the Labor Day start as the contract States um that you have to have so the 23rd of August date will be a PD day in March now which will move the last day of school to June 16th then the second thing that he asked me to talk about was that Azria would like your consideration which we just had this ation about postponing the Friday before Labor Day as a school day to the following year as many teachers have already made plans for that weekend I think we're worried that if we have a lot of teachers out that day we won't have the coverage for the students so we're asking for the Gratitude asri is asking for that Grace year for this year he didn't mention anything about the Wednesday before Thanksgiving that wasn't meent mentioned at all that was a conversation between myself and Adam yeah that that that's where the that's where the portion is that's where the uh disconnect is is because Adam had talked to you all before he had talked to me and I reminded him that the reason that we were adding on the Friday was because we were taking off the Wednesday so once we got the explanation once I let me not say we once I got the explanation I said okay well since we were changing one Trend you know we changing two Trends to favor each other we'll take a step back and go as is and then moving forward for 2526 then we can change the trends then so that's why it's written that way on the calendar to be fair Adam had had done that before he had spoken to me in our meeting um so I want to make sure that that's clear um that he he didn't know at the time when he was speaking to you so it'll stay as a 90-minute early release when it currently is not yes that was the ask and then yes and then I did forget about he did mention to me that um the PD day in March which would yes which would make it the 16th because of the PD day yes okay can we make it the 17th the last day of school and just get wins for everyone like do we like can like is that you can't just make it the 17th and give the on if we're already coming back the Monday right and is that before snow days or is that with five snow days cuz again it's silly to have one day it's with five oh so it could be even earlier right oh I see what you're saying no no it would be the it would be 17 right any snow days yes so okay I will say I think the discussion is good but with the amount of changes that we're talking about now yeah I'd feel a lot more comfortable if Adam were in the room because he's the guy that has to run the district right you know and I I really wouldn't want to vote I mean I think I think everybody here is fairly certain that I can bring it Friday before off but I would like to have ad before we voted to make any of those changes I'd like to have them in the room so how about this um cuz he he is coming he's just finishing with um the parents yeah so what we could do is I'm going to State what we're going to ask Adam for um but I think Chris has a good idea I mean if we want to have a win for everybody what we're going to look at exactly is we're going to have the Friday off we're also going to have the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off we're going to add in the PD day and then our last day of school would be on the 17th instead of the 16th here here does that sound good it makes sense but I have to go I you need I need to count the dates and make sure that that balances because I think that the PD day they're adding that PD you're adding the PD day in yeah I think that that throws off the number of days that we're supposed to the contract that's all okay so we'll reconfigure with but essentially what we're looking to do is to continue to have that Friday off that you've always had add in the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off give you the PD day in March M and then we just need to make sure we have the appropriate day for the final day of school that's what we're looking for yep okay that would be wonderful all right cuz I know in the interest of time I just wanted I I moved you guys up but we'll reconfirm with ad so that we get that right last day of school that would be great thank we just vote on this at our next meeting Adam's going to be here later so that's why moving we see it printed out I think not bad I think we we we have changes we can I think when Adam gets here we can get things cleared up if if if everybody is understanding what we're trying to accomplish I think we can we can manage a couple of day changes and right but we'll see what Adam has to say if we can Michelle has a comment yes okay all right so what I'm going to do is like I said I'm going to just bring it back when Adam is here so that that way we have it but I want essentially for you all to know verbally what we're attempting to do I just want to be clear on what the date is supposed to be you're welcome to stay yeah if you'd like to okay or you can join the zoom on your drive home yeah there you go Michelle yeah of course but I I do appreciate you guys coming back and of course we always want to collaborate with our with our teachers and we recognize that you know you are the backbone of the district we can't be here if you guys aren't there so thank you for working with us thank you we appreciate the partnership of course thank you for your time so we'll bring that back all right I am going to move um to the superintendent 2023 2024 midyear progress report this is part one of two but we have uh Mrs Tara boac here um to start for special education on the back so I'm going to report out on the superintendent's midyear report on the district strategic plan around special education where we're at so the Strategic Vision did you get a copy of the memorandum okay make sure so the the Strategic vision for the Air Regional School District is to align specialized instruction across all schools for students with disabilities to advance achievement opportunities and outcomes for academic social emotional transitional and Vocational success strengthening access to general education curriculum with effective scaffolds and supports in tier one for students with disabilities so far we have continued walkthroughs of co- talk classrooms and followed up on with conversations and then feedback from the special Educators and general Educators that are involved in the co teaching we have safety care trainings conducted at the beginning and at the end of the school year so that the students that have complex needs and need this type of training the pair of professionals and The The J general and special Educators have this training the director of special education director of student services special Educators and school psychologists have continued to revise resources and purchase new materials that we have needed for students assist the superintendent assistant super superintendent has created a shared resource sheet for materials needed for special Educators to use with students with disabilities an example of that would be if our reading programs the Spire or the Wilson programs he's had a a Blog that we can do that our specialized programs use some teach town and some other areas of um need that they have and we'll put those in there as well next we have to develop an effective co- teing model to ensure students with disabilities progress with grade level peers co- teing teams at each level at the elementary level we are sharing across grade levels and are looking at this model more closely to ensure successful scheduling of services and placement of students walkthroughs scheduled co- teing observations and follow-up conversations have provided feedback for what is working and What needs Improvement continue to look for grant opportunities to expand our Co teing for general education General and special Educators and then finally plan and Implement effective transition between schools and programs the educational team leaders have began working with the special Educators early on this year to ensure a smoother transition between buildings and programs to include par professional placement and we also working towards more common planning time for special and general education teachers as this has been identified as a high priority by co- teers so that is a brief overview of where we're at do you have any questions anyone go ahead Jim on the um the co- teing which I was very interested when the first time they brought that up and how has the um what is our long-term marriage rate there I mean you put people together it's kind of like this forc blind date kind of thing and sometimes you get it right and sometimes you not a fault on either one he just like just not a match thing how are we doing on pairing people together and having them stay together or in short order do you go like this is not really the competition we have not had to do that yet but I imagine that that could happen right we so far all of the teams that we've had I mean we did have one teacher leave mid year that was trained in the co- teing so that was we had to pretty much pivot to something different for that grade level but that has worked as well we I try to meet with them as often as I can or even if it's just passing by in the hallways are quickly going into the co- talk classrooms just so that I can get a sense of how they're feeling um how the students are feeling and how that's working I feel as though they have been very honest with their feedback on what is and what isn't that has not been a complaint yet like I'm not working well with her but we know that that could happen because even the strongest team sometimes just need a break from each other which is why we're looking to expand upon the Educators that we have C that are in that have been through that Cod teaching training so that we can switch them around if we need to I mean it'll be harder I think at the upper level but so far that's working but we are going to be ready for that challenge when it happens excellent thank you uh anyone else go ahead Joyce so I I think um listening to this it sounds good but I would think one of the most difficult things would be when the kid is going out of fifth grade and we need to put him in sixth grade or um making the building transition and do are we keeping one of those teachers with that and developing new organization or does it when you get to Middle School does it get real stressful so I this is I'm going to give you really honest feedback this has been the toughest transition has been from fifth to sixth grade we have an elementary I mean I was an elementary educator special ed and General Ed and it's um it's a smaller environment meaning that we don't have as many transitions we often work with the same student day after day after day through Ela mathematics uh science and social studies we then have the expectation that they're going to seamlessly move into sixth grade and be able to transition through a waterfall type of schedule which switches every day and has like six or seven transitions for them during the day in a far larger building and that does not work well for all students especially students with some complex disabilities or may have anxiety and have a hard time with that we've identified that and I think the CPAC I've worked pretty closely with them and they have been really instrumental in what we need to do and what we need to look at when we're moving our students and you know the unfortunate thing is when something happens and it doesn't go right it's a it's a terrible thing for a child and the family involved but you have to take that experience in what happened that negative piece and you have to strengthen and grow what you're doing so this year the transition piece start started far earlier Lee migrants the educational team leader for the middle and high school she um made it her goal she went through this uh Sly ETL program this year so her goal was to strengthen transition for those fifth to six and then 8 to n 8 to9 can be complex too but the students are already used to the waterfall type of schedule and and all that it's just the programming here is a little bit different which we're working on as well so she started the that um document she shared it with me early we started working together on that she started working with the second ETL that we have for the elementary buildings and then they started reaching out to all parties that are involved so that how do we make this a seamless transition or as smooth as possible we need to get the students over there we need to make sure that parents feel comfortable invite the special educator from the middle school or the high school over for these meetings and so we're hopeful that this year will go better you know every year we want to improve on that it it is a difficult switch it be difficult for me so yeah no me I'm still like what is that schedule but where do I have to yeah so um all we can do is just try to continue to strengthen how we're doing these Transitions and listen to feedback honest feedback like this did not work sometimes that really those hard conversations are the best conversations we can have because even when somebody is coming at you and they're really upset because it didn't work well we have to take what they're saying now and figure out how do we make it better so that the next family doesn't feel like that so I feel this year we are better along that journey I mean ideally it would be lovely to pick the staff up and move them all but we can't so and then you have another PS yeah exactly uh anyone else thank you um just one question for the coop classrooms I know some of the grades are much larger than others are you having any issues with the ratio um I know like the second grade class is just a lot bigger than the others for whatever reason so has that been a challenge with the classroom it is but I feel that um I will give you a little credit here um I feel that Dr render and I this was identified early on that some of the classrooms were set up they were not scheduled original schedules were not like that but then there were we had seen that there were some schedule changes that we didn't know of so there was a higher number of students with disabilities in one general education classroom and it has been an interesting way to find this out but it also has made it so that he and I are sitting down with the building principles and we're looking at how the students with disabilities are placed for next year and I did add this into um one of my bullet points students with disabilities will be the first that are placed so that we can say okay we have 15 students with disabilities in grade two well we know we can't put them all into one grade two general education classroom we have to divide them up so he and I are sitting after the placements are done to make sure that the placement of students with disabilities is equal and that the special education and general education teacher doesn't feel overwhelmed it's not fair to the students with disabilities it's not fair to the students without disabilities so do you look like at their different um individual needs or individual um abilities like in how you split them up or is it just kind of the numbers yeah we do okay yeah it does like we don't we typically if we had three students in I I'll say fourth grade that had articulation goals they only had speech and language IEPs those three students would not be placed with students that might have services in the BN C grid that might need um reading support or math support we would put just those students um there have been a couple of pockets that we have you know found this year that were placed inaccurately but we now will make sure that that doesn't happen again okay thank you yeah placement could have been um much better this year so not just second grade there was a kindergarten yes uh classroom also where it just it should have been two it should have they it should have been split into two classroom okay um you know moving forward that won't happen again um where we're like um Mrs B had mentioned we're going to look at every single class list and improve and that's really more of an issue at an elementary level than middle and high school just because of how placements go that that that kids are are especially at the high school more spread out um but um I think I probably know the second grade classroom um that you're referring to and yeah that that that should not happen again that classroom um was it was there's too many too many students with mights yeah absolutely I will say that the positive that I feel came out of that is um we have met many times with that co- teing team and we have gone in I walk through I try to go through there a couple days a week just walk in and see where are you at what do you need and um Dr renda's been very good with that and they will stop and be like okay like last Friday you and I were in with the special educator what they have noticed is because the class was set up like that it was an unintentional thing that the compassion and the acceptance from all the students has really grown and risen so I try to think like wow that is a really great thing for us as a district to raise more compassionate in in accepting students and that was a nice conversation that came out of that because they were unfairly placed in that so you know it it's when you're implementing new programs we're not we're going to mess up right the administrators are going to going to mess up teachers teachers do what times do I'm going to mess up but we um the teachers here are great I mean I'm going to say they let us know when we mess up but they do let us know if something's not working and and why and sometimes we can address it immediately and sometimes we have to wait until the next next year to address it this is one of those things we have to wait and kind of make sure it doesn't happen again um because you can't just will nearly move kids classrooms you know come October or November um but this is something that we will absolutely make sure um that we we need to make sure that the special educators are pre-ingestive it um it caused it caused a lot of stress for um teachers and administrators and some kids and and we're going to make sure that doesn't happen again and I I'm not trying to be critical I think the teachers are doing an amazing job like we're well that team that second grade team is unreal they're fantastic I just was kind of curious like cuz I think you also are getting to know them like especially kindergarten I think you don't even know who these kids are for a few months right like I'm meeting my kindergarten all over again every day but I think um I just think that's you know just to make sure that we do have like a plan for when it kind of gets out of hand when it's too much for one the placement should be the the the teacher should have the most say in the placements now there's always going to be reasons we make some changes and you'll have adjustment counselors administrators saying oh no these two kids kiddos can't be together or or overrule it at times but the the the second grade team and the special Educators should be making the class list for the third grade team they know those kids better than anybody know them better than than the administrators the adustment councils they certainly know them better than us so when when you do that and then things oftentimes there's lots of changes that happen over the summer typically those changes don't work out for the best the the teachers know the kids they should be making the majority of those decisions within some guidelines right because there there there are certain guidelines that we need to follow when we do that and and that was supposed to happen and it and it got undone and we're going to make does doesn't get undone this year and I think it's also fair to State too that we had an influx of movements at the beginning of the school year I think we had like I remember talking to Kristen I was like God we've never had 25 students with disabilities move in this quickly and none move out so it was you know how do we place them so I do think that that we've had those follow-up conversations because I think I I hope that the teachers feel supported in that they can come to us whenever they you know and and I'm okay if they need to vent or anything like that cuz I think it's really important they're there work every single day but listening to them we we have taken into account like what happens if we do have that many if we already have six in a classroom and there are only 18 five move in in the same grade we can't that we can't do that because it's we'd be over in ratio so so you know so we learned a lot for our conversations anybody else priv question yes what is the ratio it varies in each classroom we do have some C- teaching teams that have about five students and then we have that second grade classroom has 10 yeah um K was at nine at one point that classroom is down six seven I think it's six well one has related just related services but six that um seven seven and some eight and one I mean they're within the limits but they have increased because we've had more movements so we that's one thing that we're discussing can't lock the door no no I think there's something against that Tera I think this was um slowly losing my voice apparance L um I think this was an excellent program and marker for US um to see where special education is going I have to say that one of the highlights that I've seen in these last couple of years has been more communication um not just between the administrative staff um but more communication and input from the the families the parents um and the teachers um one of the nice things that I have heard from the special education staff is that they do feel heard it's not an expression or a saying with a smile on their face where they look like they're being held hostage uh so I appreciate that um I also appreciate the genuine um care and thoughtfulness that's going into the program it has been a huge lift and I think we do need to recognize that um I know for myself several people that had gotten frustrated and just moved physically moved their homes out of the district um to address frustrations since I've seen you take this over really work on it um and communicate and voice your concerns it it's definitely um changed so I want to really commend you for that and say thank you for being open and honest and even falling on your sword sometimes when honestly it was out of your control and there's really nothing you could do about it um I truly do feel blessed though that I do work with the best special Educators I feel like I am part of the best Special Education team I feel having Kristen and then just the special education teachers the related service providers the school psychologists the Care Professionals like I feel like we are such colleagues and everybody works so well and really you're only as strong as your people and each other so and it's really important to respect each other where we're at and I think that that has worked well so perfect thank you yeah thank you no question no I think that's it thank you than thanks okay Adam I'm going to catch you up because I jumped all around like this was a chess board I apologize no no worries the PTO meeting went very well they very very receptive to excellent to the information and going to town meeting and voting to to um improve the budget then it's worth it so um next I have actually I'm going to back up a second so we did um have Azria speak so where we had landed was a little bit different than um the calendar that you had out there so we wanted to be clear on what the actual day the LA actual last day of school would be so where we landed was of course have Friday off have the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off and have the PD in March which we thought would bring us to the last day of school being on June 17th instead of 16th but we want to have Clarity before we vote be the 16th 16th would be 180 day school year and 17 is 181 day school year right but if we have the March 14th day then it would have to be 180 day school year which would be the 16th originally it was the 13 yeah so it would be the the if we have the March 14th Professional Day M that would be 180 day school year okay it would give us four professional days where we tip right this school year we had three professional days three full yeah um so with with the March 14th added it would be the 16th the last school day would be Monday the 16th at 18080 school days not 181 okay and that would also include that putting keeping that Wednesday um off correct the Wednesday before tgiving Thanksgiving yes okay that's what we wanted to make sure of so is everybody did everybody get that teach were and Tuesday and then the kids were Wednesday and Thursday in August teachers me Monday and Tuesday we um both Azria and and um Mr clear Mr planket and I messed up on the 23rd we all forgot that we cannot actually start school on August 23rd it is were actually you might not have been in that meeting so I'll take you off that my apologies but we we were looking at a way to get uh that in and all of us the the the people that should look at the teachers contract before we make any decision none of us did and we forgot that we can't it says it right in the contract that we cannot start we can start the earliest is the Monday before before Labor Day right so yeah that that uh we we'll own that but yes that with having the the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off and I believe what what Azria was asking was just the year for that Friday to transition because people have at plans look at the calendar again next year what's that you look at the calendar again next year well but I think what we'll do is we'll send out messaging um to remind people that we we will be planning on having school this day please don't make make plans while we were talking with Azria um Chris had actually come up with a great idea and um Michelle was kind enough to put it on for next year's agenda so actually sending sending out a survey to teachers and families that first around the um first school committee meeting that we have in December get feedback so that by the time we would review in February we we'd have a better understanding of the calendar and we can just kind of keep that as like a a rolling assessment um for each year um that was the only other uh portion you weren't here for um so you know what uh do we as long as this is what I'm going to do next if you have a comment just let me know otherwise I'll we can vote on the calendar now that we know what the actual last day of school is I'll entertain a motion can I ask one question absolutely I'm so sorry it's okay the Friday before Labor Day is a day or we will vote for it to be a day off for school except for kindergarteners was that right no no what I had mentioned before is our administrators really like that day okay because it gives them a day where they can having the 5-year-olds kindergarten kids come in is very um nerve-wracking it was the the only time in my professional career that I was extremely detail oriented um as an elementary principal and it's you know you have kids who will come in that won't speak won't tell you their name they're coming off of a bus right so um it's nice to have that it is really nice to have that day where all I as I'm speaking for myself now but um principal deppy and principal Le I I know share this it was really nice to have a day where everybody's already started I don't really have to think about all the other grades I could f focus on everything being ready for those 5-year-olds coming and that is happening on Wednesday what days are the kindergarten two okay great I was like I know the kindergarteners come one day different and I just cannot remember when it happens so Ad ministrators work that day yeah okay though teachers have it off yeah okay all right so sorry to add of course um for I mean this would be like for a next year question but that thing in the contract that says they can't start on the 23rd is that like could that be something that got changed because I'm just thinking um for families in the district it would be much easier to CU no one would even notice that they were having a PD day in August but to have a random day off in March is just going to be more challenging so if they were willing to change the contract I think that a lot of families would appreciate having one last day to make arrangements it is a negotiating year next year so that that absolutely can be brought up okay I know it's not partent now I just kind of for my understanding usually um when we we've had the contract uh when we're doing the contract negotiations we'll tend to review things like that like little the nuances that come up in between each contract um each negotiating year so that could be one more thing that we'll add on there to review as we discuss contracts with the teachers okay thank you I mean it was clear that we're right everybody's trying to help yeah and work towards a schedule that works for everyone so the fact that we could start earlier than the 23rd doesn't mean that we will just gives you some latitude so if you get in a pinch like we're now you'd be able to move somewhere and everyone be okay with it right exactly and that would be what we would communicate at negotiations but yeah I think that that's a it's a good highlight and it'll be just to give them that day I think they do need more time I mean that's a lot to set up so I want to give them the time they they need to be prepared for the school year so right absolutely if that would help them then I just think that would be I don't know it would make more sense for it to be in a row like for the three days yeah yeah makes sense anything else yeah okay so I'll entertain a motion I'd make a motion that we approve the school year 2425 calendar with August 30th as a day off for students um November 27th as a day off for students and staff and the last day of school falling on June 16th and we're approving the PD day in March and a PD day on March not 16th no 14th 14th great sorry thank you second um I think you have to say that the first day of school for students then is the uh 28th and the 29th because they're giving up that PD day of Wednesday so Wednesday and Thursday are um starting school all right so I'll make a motion that the first day of school for kindergarteners is August 27th first day for all the grades August 28th no no no no kindergarten September 3rd no oh Kevin are you able to make this motion I'm sorry I was a GU preschool you're right kindergarten is yeah okay is kindergarten the 27th I thought it was the Tuesday no September 3rd September 3rd oh great all right but and none of that has changed I knew this was going to happen Michelle my all right calendar as the calendar as presented because this is right this is great then I'll make a motion that we approve the calendar as presented in our materials second all those in favor say I I that was great I was tracking so closely and I thought I had it nailed you almost we created that confusion so I am grateful to be the chair thank you very much everybody um thank you have a good night okay so now we are going to move to me one second guys just so I can make sure I Orient myself correctly did that okay so we're going to move to the draft of the 2024 2025 school committee meeting schedule Dr Renda we do have a draft meeting schedule for the school committee next year it would have our first meeting on Wednesday um August 21st here in the high school media center um I believe that the only other type of change that would be different would be on 116 instead of 115 because of um an election we would have the meeting in the high school media center on a Wednesday when it would be typically be a Tuesday and then the other thing that would be odd would be Wednesday May 7th it would be a Tuesday in Shirley it would be pushed out pushed up a day because of a town election okay any questions anybody do we need to vote on this yes that's what I thought okay no they can't you can't oh I'm sorry this is the first read my apologies you it's the first read does anybody okay so does anybody have any questions doesn't sound like it cuz I don't mind voting tonight I think if we vote on it now if any the next year something should to happen and we're going to have to move a meeting date and that's a pretty easy thing to do at least this will put us our schedule on faor absolutely Joyce i' make a motion that we accept the draft meeting scheduled for um 2425 uh starting on 8:21 I would second that motion all those in favor say I I all right okay so I do not have any chairperson's notes however I do have um we do have a chair if I may interrupt we do have a update for the um communication audit results part of the superintendent's goals thank you every time well I swear it is um Madam chair because we we are going out of order go ahead I'm so sorry Adam go ahead please do the superintendent report well there actually isn't a superintendent report tonight there's nothing to report but we do have a update on a midyear report on the communication audit for the communication goal yes that I would love to umie with you and then there is something um with uh within 48 hours notice um there's anou that we'll get to a little bit later from caps that they would are requesting the school committee vote on um and we'll we'll talk about that in just a few minutes so we have some results from the communication audit and overall I'm pleasantly surprised it's overall um fairly positive I believe from um many of our parents we had 107 responses it's fairly typical about what we get with responses it's just over 5% it would be nicer to get 20 to 30% response rate but um we'll go through some of the answers and then what some of our next steps are to to improve um so the first was the awareness of various communication channels and about 75% of our families are saying that they they know how we communicate or know aware the channels that we we need and it's it's very low for people who who aren't aware now that doesn't necessarily mean they they like all of those channels but they are aware we're fairly consistent with with how we do that um our current communication practices on uh how satisfied are our our staff and parents with the communication practices again um this could be better um this is just right around 65% uh are scored a four or five that they are uh satisfied or very satisfied with our current practices um our community feels that the most effective way to communicate is through email uh next would be school newsletters the automated phone Falls uh the district website's getting very low scores social media is getting very low scores too I'm a little surpr that was surprising to me um and then parent teacher conferences were were fairly low at uh 25% again this um how often do you have an opportunity to provide input and feedback to the district and um this this could be better so we have just about 60% uh just over 60% of our parents saying occasionally frequently and 33% saying rarely so we are missing a big chunk of our of our families um who who think they never have an opportunity uh to provide us input or feedback Dr what were you looking to kind of learn from this question because I wonder if some of this is the interpretation of the question like when you say District related matters or does that mean you're looking for parents that have an opportunity to talk to a teacher or is it specifically more talking to the administration or the district or we're really going General with this so we we were thinking teacher uh building based administrator or or District administrator now we we could send out something to get more specific with that but I I you know quite honestly at 33% and then some of the open response questions really kind of illuminated this uh I believe um but that's that's too big of a chunk to be missing 33% of our families feel like a lot of parents would look at this and say Well they're not thinking of being able to give input to their teacher their as a district related matter so I wonder if some of the wording of this is that's that's certainly possibility we could we could break certainly send a followup and break this question down you get you get that I could be just me no that's it yeah I mean I feel like on I wouldn't say it's urgent for like follow up until you do this survey again but I think I could imagine like breaking into the um how we summarize some of the open response questions might illuminate because I think it's I think it's both really I think that um well we we'll we'll get to it then uh what type of Engagement opportunities would would you find most meaningful uh people seem to like surveys um 80 80% or resp Serv to but what's your overall response rate well we have to remember these are the people who are feeling actually right um but there was a there was a request really for some focus groups and some virtual Town Hall meetings and you know we we've done more coffee with cabinet this year but it's it's not enough and it's the the results from this are very clear we're not doing enough focus groups we're not doing enough virtual meetings we're not doing enough face-to-face meetings with parents and we have a plan to address that so the clarity of communication um though this question wasn't very clear because it's supposed to be a 1 to five and the scale is 1 to six uh I don't know how we missed that but U overall if if we if we make the assumption that those sixes are are high scores and with with the fives people are feeling that the communication is fairly clear so we we did summarize uh the open response um uh questions and there was a lot of overlap with with there were three questions but the responses were really it was interesting people were really reiterating the same answers uh to those questions um language access so it came up translation translation translation so we we do a good job at translating our emails uh but that's about it the survey for instance we didn't send it out um translated we need to come up with a plan translation plan I I'll get into that um teacher communication came up often um the ability to communicate with teachers if you we did break this down by school um we saw this more of an issue at the middle in high school than we did at the elementary schools um that doesn't surprise me um uh quite honestly in the elementary schools kids are typically with one person for the majority of the day and and there there tends to be uh more communication uh another theme was um having a centralized location where this information is kept other email um we're not sure how to how to do that I mean we can certainly save our emails as PDFs and put them up as links on the on the website but that's not going to be that's going to be very cumbersome to go through um so we're going to investigate what some other school districts do and how we can make that better one of the things that that we certainly want to do is have updated school calendars that are live on each of the websites and have a district calendar that summarizes some of the events we can't put every event on one calendar it it will you won't be able to read it there'll just be too many um but we do need to do a better job at figuring out how to have all of this information from these emails and some of the things that are in social media in one spot where parents can go and find it um there was a many requests to have uh the school committee votes and the school Community Information shared um there's a very easy way to do that um we believe that we we'll get to some of our next steps but that that came up uh several times um inclusive engagement uh strategy suggestions for after school events virtual meetings more diverse Community um involved in our opportunities where we we are accommodating a varied schedules and preferences so we have to do a better job of being available when parents are available so that's that's after school hours um and then feedback and collaboration so encouraging regular feedback from parents holding problem slobbing discussions creating opportunities for collaborative idea sharing think T like sessions were recommended so focus groups more face- tace uh meetings of parents so really what um some of our next steps and we're going to we're going to go over this with with building principles also to kind of get their thoughts but we're going to start putting all the votes in the weekly updates um you know not the consent agendas but the fact that the calendar was just voted and approved that can go in the weekly the next week weekly update yes you may have to wait till the minutes are approved at the next meeting because I'm not sure it's official until the minutes are approved for the previous meeting okay we will I'm not sure we'll check in with masc for that and and and do uh we could we could um put the flag those as tenative until minutes are approved though we could have like a little statement that says that and have those just keeping but I think that no we appreciate that we don't want to post it if if we can't but we will we will put those whether it's after the minutes are approved or if we can do it immediately after the vote we can include that in the weekly update and that will keep parents up to date about what this committee has voted to approve her no problem anything officially I think you have to but I think the schedule that we have like as a parent when I'm reading the weekly updates typically come out before the school committee meeting so I think we would be technically covered like the first time you would have to be mindful but after that the rotation should be fine because of the timing of the weekly updates prior to school committee meetings you would be doing the prior meetings vote sure so it it should work itself out we can figure that out certainly um so we're going to have coffee with cabinet or focus groups uh once a month before school committee meetings so we'll we'll have it uh one month it will be here in the library or the cafeteria before the school committee meeting the next month we would have it in Shirley in the in the library or the cafeteria before the school committee meeting um that way that will be an open form for parents sometimes there'll be an agenda um we're we're here anyway um and that will become routine people know they can show up we will be here no we are publishing the agendas ahead which should do right so oh I'm I'm glad you mentioned that so the agendas will be in the weekly updates the the active agenda will be added to the weekly update also um we're also going to start a discussion with azri now actually we mentioned it with them today about a protocol for for teaching communication because that was a theme that came up um and rather than just kind of come up with the system and impose that on teachers we'd rather work with the with the with Azria and come up with something that's agreeable to everybody we also want to train building administrators to run focus groups so it's not just being done at a district level before school committee with the superintendent assistant superintendent business manager so that principles and assistant principles can do this uh with parents um we have to improve our translation and what our translation plan and protocol is uh there's plenty of apps I was going to bring we have a pocket talk um you heard anybody heard of this pocket talk it's great it's it looks like a phone um it's almost like Google translate but works much better um I was going to bring it tonight so School K could play with it but then I used it today and it didn't work right so I didn't didn't want to uh we had used it several times in the office and it worked perfectly and then I was using it with Azria today and it said some things it shouldn't have said um so I want to make sure I figure that out um before we have kids use it and before it's on um in a school committee meeting um but there's other there's other apps that we we can have there's apps that will translate um pictures and texts and PDFs uh and we we need to get better at that um and then another theme was people do not like our website um we need to improve the website the flow of the website how we use the website how it's updated um and then this is this is an ad this was not from the survey but we have a Power School parent portal which we are not utilizing um for everything that it can do it can do a lot of we can be pushing out a lot of information through this it's an app you can have on your phone so it's very passive you get a notification that information's right there uh we're not using it uh up to its capabilities so U that is a add-on that wasn't part of the uh communication plan but as of right now these are some of the steps that we're going to take to improve um communication now some of this is just telling you that we're going to figure out how we're going to do that it's not an actual flushed out plan but that's that's the takeaways from from the communication on any questions I have one um so one of the things that comes to mind because my daughter's in high school and I'm wondering maybe more specific to Power School having the teachers post their um why can't I think of the word what is it called it's basically the outline for this thank you the syllabus and how they're going to grade um because there have been a couple of times where I've had to go back to a paper document and like really hold on to those documents throughout the year to remind the teacher of how they're going to grade because sometimes the communication changes and if in fact they do want to change how they're going to grade then update the syllabus in um in power school would probably be helpful um because there's sometimes I'm coming back and I'm like I I don't quite understand um and then that way instead of the teachers having to have maybe multiple different conversations um it's just sitting right there and I don't know if that's going to fall technically under communication or if that would fall in my mind I'm thinking that's more CL you know orienting to the class in power school but I think that would be extremely helpful on the high school level um for parents as well as students I just have a blanket rule if you weren't there in class if you didn't do the work it better be in the next day but that's me um and I hold my child to that not every parent does that and that may not be what the teacher communicates in particular situations so I have to check whether that would be a power school or Google Classroom okay I'm not sure that we have syllabus in power school I'm going to have to there isn't right now we get just a paper we get like a you know they probably print a PDF but what my ask would be because parents can't see in Google Classroom put it in power school Under like forms or something like that even if all teachers submitted it so one of the thing I think that's that's that's a good idea and I thought you were going to go to grading and it kind of it's grading is involved but but grading in the um timeliness of grading is something else that's it's also that's communication right um now it is negotiating year and I think both of these things are are things that we're going to to to absolutely have to bring up at the negotiating table um the the grading uh will come up when we have invite Azria back before the end of the year to talk about the on demand conferences but the on demand conferences which we we had started this year and then we we hadit a speed bump with that because of grading um really is communication and timely communication when when a student is struggling so that that isn't on here because we've already started that but um the the switching from a a um one um schoolwide conference parent teacher conference to On Demand conferences should help increase communication to parents drastically the high school does it a little bit differently they have Student Success plans when a student is in danger of failing um but that those are all things that are are tied into this and the timeliness and and availability of that data for parents so they have the opportunity to parent um it's something that is a button for me as a parent um if if I don't know how my if I think my my child is getting an a for eight weeks and then 24 assignments are corrected over a weekend when grades closed on Friday and that grade drops it's really tough for me to hold my kid accountable um I might be stating a personal experience right now but uh it is it happens right and we have to um we have to work at at improving that now that I haven't got any phone calls that has that has happened in air Shirley but um having that in so parents know how kids are doing is important so they have an opportunity to improve Joyce did I see your hand up yeah please uh thank you um so um on demand conferences is that from either side well we always have we've always had on demand conferences if a parent requests it parents can request a uh teacher conference at any time and we will find coverage and make that happen but uh we are thinking more of on demand when we see a drastic change in grades or for the elementary kids we have a little bit different criteria a change in Behavior a change in affect we we have a a list that um Azria and um can be side it can be from either side but there are very specific triggers where teachers requ a teacher is forced to request a conference and that could be a phone conference it can be uh virtual Zoom Zoom or the parent can come in uh we feel if we can get this up and running we'll actually have more parent teacher conferences than we have when we have the two nights a year is so the statement that a parent can always get a conference I don't know if if that's a policy I'm trying to go back through my policy brain um or if it's in the handbook I will say from experience at least in the middle school that is not a true statement even during conferences there was a window you could call you could request I was given the there was one teacher that was available of the five teachers during and so I don't know that that is necessarily true that a parent can request to have conferences with all it's absolutely not true in the two conference States because there's just not enough time right right can't do it when when I'm speaking of a parent can request a conference if you call the middle school and request a conference with a specific teacher tomorrow you were denied I need a phone call immediately yeah I'm I'm talking about that type of conference but the on the two nights there's no way we could do it totally right and so that would be I just think again like clarify because again if a parent like I would like to talk with English and math and they're like oh well there's you got science right like you think about like how do you like accommodate and say well if you want to talk to like this is again you present two windows or two days logistically it's not possible how it's communicated how things could happen outside of that window I think is important that is the problem with the with the two nights a year for conferences because there just isn't enough time yeah but the on the on demand and really what should be happening now and if it's not we need to fix this immediately if a parent has a concern and needs to talk to a teacher we need to figure out a way to to make that happen whether that's in person a phone call or or virtual um so if people have request in that and that's been denied please contact the superintendent's office and we will Rectify that immediately the two days of conferences oh I can only imagine what that is like it's um they 10 minutes a piece um if it's if if there's if there's real detailed concerns it's not enough time um typically you know this it's not much different from when I was in the classroom typically what happens is you get a lot of parents who come in who you get to tell lots of good things for and the parents that you really need to speak to aren't able to come for for whatever reason and it could be an inconvenient time they might be working at night they might not have a ride Ian there's I we do virtual now so so that that that probably isn't as much of an issue as it used to be but they might not have a device so these on demand conferences that are triggered by students grades and behaviors um should be more effective yeah yeah they're going to be longer than 10 minutes right and um it's it's going to be about a specific need or or an issue that that a kid is having rather than um you know I I don't go go to I don't go to parent teacher conferences anymore for my my daughter who's still in high school I I went long enough I don't need anyone telling me that she's a great kid i' would rather that time go to parents who who kids are struggling and the teachers need time with with those parents um you know maybe they want to see me I I doubt it um but we need to shift right because exactly what you're saying parent teacher conferences don't work the way that they're currently set up it's it's just we're just running people through as fast as we can because we have to so one of the questions can we extend those times I mean say you have one night we would have to that would have to be negotiated yeah right I mean communication sometimes is more important than what anything else they're doing yeah so maybe that's not keeping it like oh here now or nothing you know um and it's very difficult it's always been it's always been the problems yeah and you know part of the the On Demand is a lot of parents might want to meet during the lunch break um and not come in at night and we we have capabilities of doing that now where we we really didn't before we always had a phone call we could do a phone call but you know being able to do this on on zoom and share your screen and and kind of share well it's they're pretty effective they can be pretty effective in fact um I probably should have been virtual tonight because there were more PTO not here but there are more parents attending the PTO meeting virtually than they were in person um so you know it's it's a it's a tool we should absolutely use um as effectively as we can U I have a question so um your bullet point when you're talking about discussions with Azria about you know what that protocol is for Teacher communication um I don't know if you have it on your list but maybe what could be added is for those teachers that are not technologically sound if they're identified which I'm sure in their assessments from the building leaders they would be having a separate protocol from them would be really key because I know several times I have my daughters had a teacher who is not intentionally like ignoring an email and I'm well aware of that because I have a rapport with the teacher but that's me not every parent has that so then it looks like we have a teacher who either doesn't care or is ignoring your email when in fact it's that they're just not as technologically sound as others so maybe even having a separate protocol or there's maybe um like I don't know if you have um subject leaders but someone else is on that email or some kind of mechanism to track that so that we're appropriately kind of reflecting our teachers because I have had a couple of instances where like you know someone will make a comment and I'll say oh no I I know from personal experience they just don't they don't do well with technology um so if there's a kind of discussion that can be there for just that that subgroup of people that are still struggling or they're learning so that we make sure that they don't fall through the cracks or that the parents don't fall through the cracks I think maybe a transition plan or PD right because what I find happens at times is our system flags messages a Spam yeah um and then you might if you don't if you're not good about checking spam you might you could miss an email that's happened I believe that's happened with with some of you emailing email mine in other administrators so uh that's part of it but but um we could have a transition plan I don't think we can have an alternate plan where it's it's you know it's 2024 um and Tech this email communication and and zoom and and other virtual meetings are it's business as usual we don't have any teachers um that would be struggling with technology that didn't work through Co and everyone we have since Co is more technology savvy than probably all of us right because they're they're very young so we we can come up with a transition plan but I don't think an alternate plan okay because the expectation is that we are using this technology absolutely anyone else yes TR sorry did you one oh I'm sorry did you have one J okay um so looking at the 105 and 107 responses out of 1,700 um how do we Chase feedback by way of you know said you want to do a survey about the calendar and stuff I bet you get a bigger response from that than you'll ever get from any of these attach it to it so percentage wise that this is insignificant well from a measurement perspective I think it probably statistically like again you with a survey if you're getting five like you're getting the ends of the spectrum the Spectrum like this is would be sound from a sampling perspective I would guess it's when they call elections at 5% it's it's kind of the same the same rationale we we should try to get more responses than I me chasing through PTO encouragement and various other things absolutely I think part backup did you get that survey let's get it in this is how we know do not just from Administration but for some of your accessory things and I can think of a number of them right now that you know if you saw 500 yeah now you're now you're talking about crosssection I think one of the ways is next time we will have building principal send this out um my guess is that um if the building principal's name is on an email it probably gets open much sooner than if it's the superintendent's name um so that that that could help uh but the the I the other part of it though is is we can't just rely on surveys I I think having this regular um meeting with cabinet or you know the superintendent before school committee meetings if people know that's a standing meeting um that they can come to once a month either in air or or or shirely that and they they need to talk then they'll show up um hopefully so that that could be part of it uh you know otherwise we we could also send out a I guess we could send a connected voice message saying that you know we just sent you a survey please take a minute to open it and take a look at that that that could probably help too you know you don't have to kill yourself do it but you got to get yeah I would think that 100 100 say for L of using little extraneous numbers I I don't disagree with you I've sent out lots of surveys um when we break a 100 and not just here when we break 100 I'm I'm kind of pleased that we got 100 responses um it it's service tough but we we can certainly try some things to to up because you want to know you're doing this because you want to know right so um you want the input you want to understand you want to improve so it it but how do you knock on doors basically well it's it's it's frustrating right I mean we're we're sending out a survey to to get this information you get7 responses which is probably fairly representative of what what the majority would answer but when you when you looked at some of the the the open responses in detail a lot of them are contradictory more emails too many emails right so you know sifting through that data to to figure out being you know it it's it it's tough so we try to to to pick out kind of the the themes through that uh knowing that no matter what you do um you're never going to make everybody happy and and someone's always going to want it different um but we you know we have to stick to if it's if it's important enough to email maybe it should also be on social media or if it's important enough to put on social media we should probably send it out in an email we could could also consider a connect ad uh really there should be three three tiers of of messaging when it's important in in email connect ad right now social media maybe that that should be switched to the website um or both you know but you know we have some we have some ways that we we need to improve but also to remember um when you're putting out surveys and things like that we're now in a data heavy Society like I have I have three computer monitors at home I mean I mean at work like I'm working with three computer monitors I'm hyperfocusing On One multitasking on another and then I'm skimming on another um and I know I'm not alone in that so that's the flip side of why you end up having 107 is because by the time I get done with work even the kids I mean look at they're on social media all day long well you know what I mean like they're looking at stuff all day long and there does come a period where they do stop scrolling because they've had so much information pushed to or past them so I in a perfect world we probably have higher like super high numbers but I also want to balance that with saying that as much as we're pushing out another reason why we're getting less people is I see data all day long like I have a I shut everything down and won't turn it on till I get to work to make sure that I'm not constantly looking at something um so there's that too uh does anybody have anything else Jim didn't you have something yeah um just a a couple obervations I look at it I mean you see that the um on the scale of one to five two people voted as low as they could three times in a row right that's the way the world is right no matter what happens no and and it goes to the um sampling the reason that a lot of the not that it doesn't show Trends but it shows Trends from a population of people that answer service yes is is what you get right it's like your package was delivered how do we do know can you stand in the line afterwards a few questions about how represented you know everybody gets all that stuff all the time I think what what is more effective um is something more targeted you know if you like you know you can have coffees and and you have your open meetings and you have people who that's their form that's what they do but if a car goes out and says to you say go to the uh Beth L's third grade one of the third grade classrooms and uh send an invitation to three people to come have coffee at 6:00 I just want to sit with them have a cup of coffee and and see what's going on which three people it's like the uh alphabetically the third person the 12th person and the the 19th person people normally don't get talked to you'll get real information also when you start to Target particular areas talk to your staff with the people who deal with the parents all the time which are like principls assistant principls counselors the athletic director who talked to parents and say hey in your normal conversations just try to sneak in this one question and see where we're going with that that's the real information because there's that that big silent majority that is never going to to stick their nose into anything like this but when they're asked and they're listened to they have incredible information you can make huge changes because this is the rank and file these are the people that are supporting what we're doing they just are never going to fit into this hole and the only way to find them is to do that it's it's it's analogous like the best leaders we ever had came out of World War II not because they went to World War II but because they volunteered and a lot of them would drafted in who would never if there weren't War were two they never would have been in the military they wouldn't have been in a public space but because they were in that and it triggered something they became congressmen and Senators you know all that sort of stuff happened because of that event but you need some way to do that and the way to do that is to just invite somebody CU most people aren't going to say no most people will say I can't really do it Tuesday and they like oh what works well I work second Shi oh perhaps we can have lunch and if you end up having lunch with just two people you can go a lot deeper in a lot different areas and that will make a big difference that and that kind of personal contact all those people have circles that kind of personal contact gets out now you're a listener because people are talking to me the superintendent called me I lunched with the superintendent I never met a superintendent in my life and he was asking me questions then he or she tells their friends and they're like now we have access so that that part of it has to be it has to be kind of like a blunder plus shot and you'll pick up you will get actual real time action actionable information that will help you immensely it help us all immensely that is true okay yes um four things I wrote notes usually it's three this time it's four um in terms of looking at the survey dat I mean one thing that I'm wondering is if when you send emails can you see open rates or click rates in terms of like how many people have opened this email um how many right so that would be I think something to look at um again is this representative again that data point I think can help you um social media is great for putting fun things on there and frankly like Facebook doesn't want to or isn't that motivated in prioritizing your communication getting to the right people right like you're not selling a product you're not paying for ad space people are going to see your post 4 days after you posted it right like it's just not going to rise to the top so it's great for celebrations it's great for the you know here's you know the picture of the sports team important messages unless you are creating groups and like tagging everyone in the group like people aren't going to see it on the sort of timeline that you want it to go out um I think this survey I'd be curious from the like how does a data break out if you take everyone who was neutral and below and everyone who was positive and again see where the data sort of comments fall could be a way to break it up um and to Jim's point about how can you get more targeted with the engagements I mean I love the idea of focus groups and the coffee groups those are the same families that you're going to get if you go to an open house or the PTA meeting or like those events um you collect data about who shows up to stem night you collect data on who shows up to um conferences if you look and see what elementary school um students haven't had a parent go to a school event those are the parents that you call and do the special right like you can get really targeted with your personal Outreach again we can add lots of things but you're going to get very similar voices from an equity perspective like finding ways to engage the folks who are not leaning in because either they they don't know how there's a variety of reasons why they don't but I think there's a way to get really targeted without adding more events where you're hearing the same voices and amplifying the most engaged as opposed to finding ways to bring in the least engaged those are my four yeah but we can find a ways to do that and even if you need us to partner with you when you're doing the targeted engagement I think a lot of times um particularly when I first was getting involved is if I don't see someone who looks like me thinks like me or is in a similar experience to me I tend to be Leary of that person um particularly when you're coming from a minority and not in just the sense of race but when you when you have that Minority perspective that you know is going to go against the grain sometimes even having someone who looks like either they're going to be objective or may even have the same opinion as you come alongside that person it helps as well so even if we need to assist you in saying hey I'm inviting you um and the person happens to be there um that can help as well cuz I didn't even think about you know really targeting things too but it is something that my mind immediately went to is that some people don't engage because it could be cultural it could be systemic situations where they just don't say anything cuz they're afraid somehow their kids going to get targeted um for whatever reason and I know that can sound like it doesn't make sense but I can tell you that especially in our cultures in our communities it's one of the things that parents um are concerned about and just depending on their interactions experiences or temperament they may not be willing to um so that's another thing too is we'll partner we help we'll whatever it is you need I think this is an interesting idea yeah um so how about this we will come um to the next school committee meeting with a plan a plan on how we can have targeted uh face Toof face meeting with uh some un I don't want to say unengaged parents but um parents that we don't typically hear from and so that will be the Wednesday after break Yeah Tuesday Tuesday May so we will add that I think we will will keep the the meetings um before school committee we're here anyway and I'd rather give parents an opportunity to come talk to me then break down and end up getting some fast food before school committee will help me make better decisions but I but we can we can certainly do that in in smaller groups it it is interesting Sometimes the best information that I I receive is when we have an upset parent that I meet with face to face and we figure out why they're upset and what happened and and typically there's always a very legitimate reason they're upset and we usually make some change because of that so um we'll come with the plan for that on Wednesday May 1st Wednesday May 1st thank you for the feedback any other not uh good Fe back thank you and actually it's much easier to do that and to run a focus group yeah yeah just have to be a person okay that is it for the communication audit okay just as a note I think um I attended the PTO meeting that you did that had to be remote because of the weather but it was really it was really well received and I think everyone asked a lot of good questions and that was like a good turnout yeah that was a a decent turnout like for a PTO meeting 41 people that's we don't usually present the 41 it doesn't sound like a lot they don't that many don't show show up yeah good good good I just want to say thank you that was really good well thanks I I didn't um I couldn't see anybody who was in there because it was Ral but I I appreciate that you attended and there were really some really thoughtful questions um it was great and I think people are going to uh come to town meeting and vote and they're going to talk to their talk to their neighbors and um Mr quinty I think you're right that will probably spread a lot more than an email saying please come to town meeting and vote for the um uh school budget thank you okay Adam so to make sure I don't skip anything else the only other thing is is that we do have we had a request from CS caps yeah and we believe what did I put this now they're asking to have the school committee vote to approve theou now that is that is we typically don't ask school committee to vote on M um we are with Keystone and we the school committee would vote to be part of Keystone but the mou would simply be reviewed by the business office and signed by the superintendent so I believe all they actually need is the signature of the chair but they're asking for a vote um we would ask you to consider that tonight but I know you haven't had an opportunity to read theou we have reviewed it it's pretty pretty commonplace if you're comfortable and you're willing to do that tonight great if you would like the opportunity to review and vote on it on in the next meeting that's that's um perfectly fine too so I've I've read it but I want to make sure that everyone else has the ability to review and then um we Reed this email today that's that's why it'sin 48 Hours yeah Joyce I just did a quick look through and we've seen these before um but we do Keystone but we have a couple of students that do go caps time right we have more than than a couple I believe there's four students that attend CS I and actually br break it down if we would have been a member of caps last year we actually would have saved something like $114,000 on the tuition that we we spend so fiscally when we had presented this couple few months ago it because of the students that we have there now it makes no sense not to be part of it because the the discount we get for the tuition we save money even after we spend the I believe it's $7,000 to join organizations can be a better match because of other things that they have well we're still a member of Keystone also yeah so they they do offer some similar services and some different services but because um Keystone's often full um we we have sent kids to to caps and other collaboratives and because of the number of kids that we have there uh we save money from day one if we when we join Madam Jared make a motion that we um vote to accept um the caps is it not really caps collaborative agreement oh there's a wording in here um I think I missed it uh collaborative agreement collaborative agreement is that all we [Applause] need you have a second second okay do we need to do roll call for this vote because it's in agreement or can we do no okay all those in favor say I hi hi okay up okay um I know we didn't uh do discussion but I would just add because we were couldn't figure it out a few weeks ago cap stands for Central Area programs and services as listed in their Preamble of their mou thank you it wasn't bugging me anymore but um nice I had spent way too much time trying to find it and couldn't and so I it was the first thing I looked for when I saw this thank you for that I don't think their only location is Westminister don't they St um yeah they have several locations we we do have the Caps program Elementry program located at p htop and made then absolutely outstanding addition students and staff are absolutely wonderful um I believe some of the staff is teaching some sign language over here right at the high school high school students s yeah it's great it's been fantastic okay I am going to move on to Communications any announcements um yes announc you announcements um announcements for April 9 2024 on Wednesday April 10 there will be 90 minute early release for preschool through 12 and late start to preschool professional development for teachers lunch will be served and dismissal times for The High School Middle School are 12:50 p.m. lowly white and Page Hilltop at 1:4 5 p.m. on Thursday April 11 there'll be office hours with Miss Eric span school committee chairperson from 6 to 8:00 p.m. remote on Monday April 15th through Friday April 19th there is no school that's April vacation week and on Monday April 22nd and Thursday April 24th office hours for Miss America span school committee chairperson 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. remote on Thursday April 24th special education parent advisory council meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Middle School library on Wednesday May 1st school committee meeting 6:30 p.m. high school media center on Sunday May 19th the Janice resan run for Education 5K competitive race 2K Fun Run and walk um lots of family activities and events kid activities inflatable Games music and barbecue Reg ministration opens at 10:00 a.m. High School awesome thank you so we do not have an executive session tonight so I'll entertain make a motion we adjourn at I can't see the clock 837 35 34 34 second all those in favor say I I right good night everybody