##VIDEO ID:srlKQO_q3PM## okay good evening and welcome this is the January 6 2025 meeting of the school committee happy New Year everyone call the meeting to order 502 this meeting is being both audio and video recorded would like to ask that everyone please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge of allegiance 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 with a roll call Samantha pleaseth Vasa secretary Sarah trulio Smith superintendent of schools Gregory Thompson anill Williams SC man Garcia schoola okay thank you all we have minutes for approval I would take a motion please we move to approve the December 17th 2024 regular session meeting minutes made by Anella second by William any other discussion all in favor say I I those oppose nay and all obain say was one extension so 41 thank you Samantha for those uh committee and subcommittee Communications actually uh just before we move any further we'll do that after committee and subcommittee Communications Manuel you want to start us please uh two weeks ago we had the high school concert with Orchestra chorus and band it was a really nice concert really nice turnout and then that same week the day before break the Jazz Band part of Orchestra and the chorus went to the senior home and burin park to go play some holiday music for them oh great very cool thank you emanel Amy I have an El meeting coming up um this week or next week I'm not sure and hopefully at our next meeting I'll have any last minute information to report about the gala do you have any first minute information about it um other than the tickets are on sale you can purchase them online and the gala is February 8th if there's any further information that's forthcoming I'll bring that back but other than that those are the basics excellent thank you for that William nothing to report no I don't have anything okay Sarah no we have a couple meetings on the horizon but nothing oh we do that's that's a good point um next Tuesday is our joint meeting with the Town Council for uh the budget discussion everyone wants to put that in their calendar six o'clock Tuesday at the Council on Aging y That's said that um and also if everyone noticed there's steel out in the back of the school it's going up starting the erect the school so we're starting stting to see things going up very exciting so check it out on your way out okay with that um opportunity for visitors to address committee seeing none tonight then I would ask for a Amendment to the agenda to bring 7.1 to our next uh item of business moved made by Sarah second by William any other discussion all in favor say I I I those oppos nay carries 5 to zero discussion on preschool sections okay this Loy and Miss sliding here and in your packets you have pretty substantial charts and you look at the past eight years terms of how we have divided up greement sections whether they be half day sections or full day sections and how many slots for IEP students we've been able to create depending on the uh model we're following and how many um potential peer role models we have with that Miss Lo and Miss lden I want to present the possibility for some change for next year slight change slight tweak um we had come to you guys at the end of the 2122 school year with a proposal to restructure our preschool because for a number of years which you can see by the data back of the informational sheet um with our students on IEPs um we were consistently exceeding the IEP to peer ratios in all of our classrooms not providing sufficient peer role models for our students so we did that restructuring in the 2022 23 school year started off with three full day classrooms and one day half class one half day classroom however that year we were again over enrolled so we proposed a slight shift in that model to flip from three full days in one half day to reverse that model and do one half day and three sorry one full day and three half days since that time what we have noticed is our peer enrollment has dropped significantly we've lost more than half of our peers um we've gone from the past year 31 students to 15 peers of those 15 peers eight of them are in our full day our single full day classroom that we have the remaining seven are spread out across the halfday classrooms which does not lead to a very good peer to IEP ratio again um but in a very different way than we were experiencing before of particular note um I take lots of notes every year on our programming um the numbers that I provided you are based on my notes of preschool not of information directly from the computer because we made the switch from reer to Power School and digging that data up was very difficult um some of the things that I make note of are not only the number of peers and students on IEPs but of anybody that has declined or withdrawn from the program and I try to make note when possible of the reasons why so um actually 15 of the families that declined spots in the program 11 were four year-olds and most of them cited looking for a full day program for their children which I understand um so what we'd like to propose for the coming school year is to strike a better balance instead of having three in one we'd love to go two and two we'd love to offer two full day classrooms and two half day classrooms um I counted up over the years again based on my notes um the number of students on IPS we've had every year and the highest number that I came up with was 45 by moving to a model of two and two we are able to accommodate 51 students on IEPs which would give us a bit of a cushion above and beyond our highest IEP enrollment we're currently at 31 students on IEPs enrolled in our program with 14 referrals pending there's more than 14 referrals pending but there are 14 that have um cognitive or developmental testing and they're not just like related service only referrals um so we'd be looking currently if all of those students qualify at about that same number 45 give or take because we don't know if they've qualified yet um by doing this we feel we can better meet the needs of families um because a lot of them are looking for full day options we can enhance kindergarten Readiness by providing more rust Bo program for more students as they enter kindergarten increase uh pure enrollment which will in turn increase our Revenue um because we do depend on some of that Revenue Not only would it increase our enrollment but it would increase the number of peer spots in the full day program which is at a higher tuition rate and then it would also help us to better balance the perer to IEP ratios and also allow for more balanced classrooms because currently with that one full day the full full day students who have significant Challenge end up in the same room which can make for a very challenging uh school year so it would allow us to create opportunities to better separate students that may have need for separation um and we believe we can do all of that while still maintaining enough spots for students on IEPs of the 31 students this current year are all of those students staying in the prek program next year or any of them exiting and going to kindergarten 31 students on IEPs yes sorry one two five six seven 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 are going to K going to kindergart so then that would also give you like more room um if those 14 exit that leaves you 16 no 17 spots that could go to we'd be moving forward one two three four five 10 three-year-olds that are currently in the program on IPS and then we have the 14 referrals as okay all right so we' advancing those students okay ahead 14 however wouldn't necessarily be 14 is not a definite number it's other referral spending referrals right now and then how about space we know that's always been always a concern in our building um currently what I I have a plan and when we brought the ETL into the mix this year for our building I did this very mindfully where I put people thinking that if I were able to move to this model I now have a new space to shift them to so the space when we moved our um two count out of their room okay into the main hallway area I closed down an AV closet and gutted the room and got a lot of old AV Equipment out there and turn that into a counseling office um I left that space open as a spot for River Valley counseling on half of the room and a conference room on the other half of the room where we hold our act meetings hoping that if this comes to fruition I can take the ETL and school psych and move them into that space move River Valley into the space at the back of the library and then move our preschool program coordinator back across the hall into the speech room where she was before which would allow me the space to make this happen without disrupting a whole lot of people so now there's excuse me seven sections right with the three we currently have two halfday classrooms one full day classroom the full day classroom room has two teachers in it they're co-teaching I worked with um Michael fet on that last year and that is partly Why We are continuing to enroll students into that classroom as you can see on the notes we're over enrolled um we're over enrolled but we do have two teachers in that room in the full day oh how many preschool teachers are there then there are four not need to hire anybody else just simply break that co- te model apart so in each room make it clear again how many sections currently exist we currently have two half day classrooms so four four half day sections and one full day so five sections right now this would allow us to go back to four six sessions two full two two halves two double yeah oh then you will need another classroom which is your point exactly room which I planned ahead for but not teach Advantage okay I see but what about the one teacher and the old day versus the two it would allow us to have so part of the reason we had done that was because that classroom the year before was incredibly challenging it's all the students with the most significant needs in the same room um so supporting that with two teachers in that room allowed us to better meet the students needs splitting that into two will allow us to split the more challenging kids into two classrooms in order to make that a little bit more manageable for the teachers gives us options and the PA professionals are funded partially through tuition in preschool is that correct we have um I think part of one teacher and one Fair professional correct do you foresee the uh need for any more staff with this change including Fair professional I don't believe so I think we can make it work with the staff that we currently have um we're going to need to get creative and think a little bit differently because it will be taking the pair of professionals that are spread over three rooms right now and spreading them over four right um and that could look a couple different ways it could be two Paras in each of the full day programs and one in the half days or it could be one for each room of the four rooms and then the other two could be split part-time between the four rooms um on kind of a rotating basis depending on the times a day half day needs people at different times than the full day does with arrival dismissal and then full day needs them in the middle for rest and uh lunchtime because we do have to feed them when we keep them full day y just to give you a more specific answer you have um on the tuition account you have preschool teacher one preschool teacher7 of the preschool program coordinator and two paraprofessionals so this would solidify that account more so than it is right now and I do believe we could fill those full day spots we currently have a waiting list for full day spots you look at the private preschools in the area they're hiring teachers and opening classrooms right no additional impact on specials or um it would mean that we would have to add so for our full day we offer two specials um we have Rusty come in for music and then we have AP with McKenzie McKenzie is a district employee so it would just be adding one slot to each of them and in a full day class how many kids are typically enrolled seven students on IEPs with eight peers that's the maximum we're supposed to have I was just thinking like even if there was if we couldn't get an extra section open for specials there could be the possibility to sometimes flaps those with proper paas going into sare yeah bring 24 and 24 together right bring in more kids let's do it any other questions okay uh take a motion to approve plan for the preschool for the next sorry stay the same or do we at tuition or at uh that'll be a separate discussion yeah okay you could keep it the same it's projected with using the same look at it we'd have more full day tuition coming in coming in okay all right thank you and you're not recommending that right now in terms of your level no okay yep I mean yeah okay anything else if not I would take a motion to approve as discussed please make a motion to approve modify ation of the current preschool um structure to from sorry help me out I don't know how you want me to word it two half day and one full day two half day one full day two full day and two half day two full day and one half day or next count next school year or next two and two yeah two and two two and two next academic year thank motion made by Amy second by William samtha yeah yep two and two on that last part yep cool um any other discussion all in favor say I I I those opposed nay that is five zero thank you hey when did we get to see the the I was there on Tuesday New Year's Eve and it wasn't done yet and then I came in on Thursday and one of the teachers said the fence is up oh it is um yep I've got to go out there and just check and make sure swings have been attached and all the little there was little bits and pieces um on fortunately though now that it's winter and the snow's coming don't plow the playgrounds and the slides and everything get really icy so we may be looking at like an early ceremony okay um everybody out there and use it looks great great good stuff thank you for coming hope you appreciate it okay let's go back into order of our B excuse me we have a discussion of the f 26 budget development yes you want to touch on this Gordon yes please so in your packets uh M Blair put together a very comprehensive overview of where we currently are with some look at um in terms of salary scales where we're going um and so certainly I can't do the same Justice that U Mrs Blair unfortunately couldn't be with us tonight um can do I will walk you through it quickly and um certainly if you have questions that I can answer I'll answer those and any that we can't we can bring back to Future uh budget discussions so just to give you an idea the top part of the document that she put together giv you an idea of our Chapter 70 over the years and um this fiscal year we have from Chapter 70 which is the funding that comes from the state we have 15, 299,792,458 [Music] regarding what Chapter 70 would at least have to go up to each year for a municipality and it started at $30 excuse me $30 per pupil and ultimately was moved up to $60 per pupil last year that's actually what we received was the $60 per pupil minimum in terms of our increase um if you look going down look at the chart it breaks out our budget from fy16 to fy2 25 um between Chapter 70 local contribution and overall percentage increases in both situations slow me down if um okay uh as you go to the second page it gives you a list of our entitlement grants and um how currently we're using them things like Title One title 2A title 4 um the big one obviously special education idea Grant and then um a smaller one Early Childhood Grant and used both um in special education programming Esser 3 uh which officially ended on September 30th of 2024 um has not only over the past year plus funded a number of things it also funded some things that um we have to think about terms of Summer Academy programs uh ongoing professional development it funded curriculum materials over the last few years and software license then at the bottom of page two you have an idea of our involving accounts these are accounts obviously um hence the name that um can remain um and turn over year each year uh it's not money that you're returning back at the end of the um fiscal year uh one of those accounts is broken out um more specifically and actually we were just talking about this in terms of um the tuition revolving account because the one area where you do take in tuition is our preschool and um tuition that is taken in then is used to go back to supporting the preschool in providing um support towards the preschool teacher salary preschool coordinator salary and two par professionals and then it gives you an idea of projected uh rollover at the end of the year and um how we would look to utilize that those funds next year we're rolling over substantially less than last year little bit less yeah I think that's part of the reason why um certainly it's it's good to add another section full day but the fact that we're down with your role models which then puts us into a or balance between IEP students and um uh non students it also um affects the income makes sense um then continuing down that page another uh account is the circuit breaker account and this is the the money that that uh is reimbursed back to um school districts when they um at the um late spring generally is when you're doing it you're putting in for um and requesting reimbursement up to 75% of money that you have spent in support of a child on an IEP above in this year's threshold is uh $52,000 in change excuse me the only money that uh desie reimburses on is that money that is spent above that 52,000 and of that money once you've gone through the formula and shown how you've expended These funds um you're going to be reimbursed 75% of that money and if people remember back to um a previous meeting earlier in the fall uh we actually with transportation which just recently was added over the last two years to circuit breaker there was such a demand for both transportation and tuition and academic support that the law actually reimburses forces Desi to reimburse tuition and academic support first that was all reimbursed at 75% and then whatever is left over for the from the um funding that's been appropriated in that given year was basically reim ver for transportation that ended up being around 40 to 44% which was Far different than um school districts were expecting keep on yep okay uh the next chart excuse me and Page provides you a look at uh school choice over the years you can see when we began to participate um back in fiscal year 21 um gradually we have almost balanced it out where we were if you look at the chart back in 2015 we were sending students out um and there was no there were no choice students coming in uh and over the last few years we've gradually uh balanced that out so that uh it's about equal I think uh last meeting but if not on here um the rollover is actually a little bit healthier than we originally thought earlier in the fall as we were looking at um how special education costs specifically some of our at District tuition costs have um increased we were worried as we're transferring money ultimately um Al although it's going through different accounts first um we're using school choice to help offset those Rising costs we were thinking we were going to be lower closer to 300,000 in terms of our rollover we think we'll be um somewhere in the neighborhood of 450,000 which is a good thing we always uh as a district look at school choice and our participation in school choice in March at one of the March meetings so that'll be something that obviously we'll discuss and uh will'll be timely moving on to uh um page five uh one thing I uh well it's it's in there in Bolt so I didn't neglect to say it um 83% of the school Department's budget is um encompassed in salary and then uh that leaves about 177% for everything else that we spend money on and um just to give you an idea of um some of the things we're looking at as we look at what does level services mean because that's always a number that's really important especially as we prepare to speak with the town um you have an idea of the projected um salary scale for teachers uh in the middle of page five and then um where we've gone with our pair of professionals uh in both cases those were really successful in in my opinion negotiations and um I think we are where we should be um and certainly with the par professionals over three years because we knew that it was going to take three years for that contract to really get to the level of um more of a living wage if you will and I think we're we've achieved that as we move into and look at next year and um that's some of the feedback we're also getting from our Union Officers whether it be Unit A or Unity e so that's nice to hear that wasn't the case if we went back three years however it does make U the uh level Services number a little bit more interesting as we calculate that percentage uh two associations with whom we will be negotiating this year will be our secretaries Association and our custodians Association they're smaller um units 19 and 18 respectively um and so those negotiations probably the next um school committee meeting I'll ask for uh representatives to be part of those negotiations one for each that gives you a look at the uh the current hourly wage structure in in both contracts we also have excuse me I apologize uh we have 15 administrators uh four central office clerical staff um seven of these contracts are going to be negotiated I we'll bring those as we start that negotiation process as we've done in the past we'll bring you a a spreadsheet so we can discuss that and get parameters for all of those and um make sure that we are able to negotiate fairly those contracts as well then um depending on the changing needs uh we do right now have 15 employee at will contracts um actually I think one of those cont contracts may go out of existence this week and so hence the um the need for something like this as um needs arise but you're not sure if they're going to be permanent you may contract um with someone who can provide those Services mostly uh IEP Services um during a certain period of time and then ultimately the hope is skills are gained and you can move forward and start to reduce some of the employee it will contracted needs in essence it becomes like a contracted service page seven um why you really starting to look at um the biggest um operational expense in terms of special education and how much money um goes into tuitions and whether they be day tuition itions or um residential tuitions it's a significant amount of money that is involved um upwards of four million and that's something that um last time we were talking about just the fiscal update um we provided a couple articles just that uh looked at the costs across the Commonwealth that districts are facing with special education because costs are continuing to go up um we were worried two years ago at this time about the um 14% increase that Desi was allowing and thankfully and it could be the fact that um we had Esser sort of booing if you will other areas of the operational budget so we didn't feel that 14% increase as much and we're really starting as well as other districts are are starting to feel it now and then you have a breakdown of um some of the uh software lure that um we currently have and this is something that we review every year and so there are items on um or that were on this list two years ago that no longer on this list um if folks are not utilizing it then we remove it the challenge is that um just to as you go down student instructional software things like adios um things like illustrative math or IM licensing I am licensing K5 and 68 um McGraw Hill reveal Wilson language foundations those costs are associated with the curricular materials and we're in this age where we're no longer utilizing textbooks right so you don't purchase a textbook and say okay we should be good in that um subject area for the next eight to 12 years hopefully not 12 but sometimes that happen um you're paying and I have to give the um I guess the uh companies credit here because they found away because for a while it was the Wild Wild West so to speak where you weren't really paying for the resources and you were getting a lot of them for free you paid an initial fee but now they found a way to make it um so that it's an annual fee so if if we continue to utilize these resources which gives us license to print and use the materials as well as use slides that are from the manufacturer for say um lesson planning and certain things that you used to find maybe in a a teacher's resource book um and I know I'm dating myself and you would pull out that that overhead and put that on there and you would use that and you you know that might generate other things in your lesson plan now all of that's online all of it's digital so I'm sure that um at some point there will be a market adjustment because districts are going to figure out okay how do we live effectively in this new world and keep budgets under control but right now it's it's challenging um those are those are bigger numbers and we had the uh benefit of Esser to initially get involved but now we're moving it over to operational budget is that something that we could still look at usage for because there are a few 1 two 3 four five six just by my like rough estimation that provide similar services that are not tied absolutely to a curricular resar no I think we can we should look at usage on all of it okay um what we were talking about as we were getting ready for this meeting is we definitely want to do that but we don't want to pull things away way that are supporting people as they continue to get into the curriculum and seem to be y knock on wood um hitting a stride with it which we're excited about and so um tough part to I think your point is we're looking at okay what are some of these others that we can knock out the unfortunate thing is have the the same cost would be nice cost true they might balance out might balance out some of and it might give us the ability to support Miss Brown as she's continuing to push for the curriculum implementation of correct the core high quality instruction materials right how identify how we further into the resources that you have U that's a great Point rather than spreading out Le too much Choice might be time to kind of look at that pull back in and then explore what we actually do need as opposed to carrying because like I said I think there's one two three four five six roughly that have similar similar and and the nice thing is uh we're starting to see that in some of the common planning time Jes in terms of as agendas are set they're asking how is this resource working for you which is great because you're getting direct feedback um during the common planning time meetings so the last part um gives you a look at the collaborative costs and um the different programs that are um coming through the lpvc lower Pioneer Valley educational collaborative I know that was very quick and um not as in depth as Blair might have done but if you you do have questions that I might be able to answer now or I can back to you thanks Moran sure yeah let's bring it back again when Pam's with us again yeah and uh we'll just go thank you that was good terms of budget development we're meeting with each um of the building principles or probably their full team if they have an assistant principal as well as um with um Jenny and uh Dr Sullivan and uh student Support Services just to get an idea but we also know that a lot of what's driving the increase is um you know just getting the level services so very aware of that uh but we do want to make sure that we're discussing one of the need that we know okay if there's another way to get at it we'll try to do that um without necessarily going to the town for exorbitant uh percentage uh initial discussions as you know very informal uh have been going well and we have uh some formal discussions coming up with Town Council and you know I think right now discussion has been around level Serv serves um with expenses being eyed for um level funded possible level funding I'm underline right now possible still have room to talk always room to talk any other questions on the budget process so far uh so please mark in your calendar if you're available for Tuesday at 6 PM okay all right thank you Gordon for that you're welcome we have another check from grenn and Barrett for which school is this for map Maple stades I'd take a motion to accept check please make a motion to accept um 2024 commission check from grin and beer Enterprises am of $1,264 to Maple Shade School gift account motion made by anthon second second by William discussion say I I I those oppose nay that carries five to Z great thank you okay we're GNA go on to uh old business naming the new nitorum as we began our conversation last meeting it is the the job of this committee to come up with a name for our new pool facility and so uh we discussed it briefly last week and our last meeting we thought we'd bring it back and Sarah you weren't here perhaps could offer a voice of reason um so with that I would open up to discussion anybody anyone but Amy want to say anything right now go ahead nothing no I have nothing nothing how about this is my new thought then was um Redstone Quarry Natatorium it has a historical reference to the town the building when The Architects were designing it took from the AR from the quaries the rigid edges and such in terms of the facade of the building red stone is the right color and a quarry is a big hole in the ground full of water how could it be any better than that discussion sure the best I don't know that was my thought I think um you have to say Cory would just be read well but that makes it historical that's the historical part of it a mouthful it is a mouthful but we could short we could shorten it to the quy I thought we could put on the wall on the inside welcome to the Quarry or something like that yes Cory U I just wanted to I think names that were thrown out in the last discussion uh and certainly have been thrown out um in discussion with the School building committee uh Spartan nitorum Spartan Community nitorum East Long Meadow community nitorum and then El community atorium and there may be one more I think those were the ones that were yeah I mean I I I was one that was a big push for the community in the name because we wanted to focus on the community that's what we told the community when we asked them to vote for it however I believe that we now can make it a community pool by scheduling events H you know having the wreck involved having the townside involved open hours for the public and start that now to to make it a community pool and then maybe we don't need to put in the name I think Redstone Cory though has a sense of community in that name the history of our town yeah we could even put you know some historical pictures on the outside or something of there is an actual Redstone quy it's the one behind grao right is that one no I think that's Redstone the one I don't know where it is but 83 where the um that's Brownstone Gardens where Brownstone Garden is is that where you're no the other way uh by like uh the other Countryside like you go across there's a quarry there too yeah there's one over there I think Redstone is the one over off of um Elm Street oh okay I trust you more than I trust me on that on that it used to be a swimming hole there's pictures of people swimming and they had signs up and life cards and all that it was a real thing not that we'd ever let our kids swim in a quy anymore but why a pool named a quy there yeah that's like the new version it's a new version are those photos we can actually get access to yeah have go to Redstone Cory uh East Meadow on Facebook there's a group and I'm gonna PR them Ian like high quality phot I'm sure the originals are in the his building yeah yeah I mean that sounds cool to me if we can actually it what do you think Emanuel I like it you like it cool great good I like the idea of the quy because that's a long well Redstone you can't just call it the quy quator just doesn't do it how about the Redstone Community atorium well I think the quy is important though that's historic commun is longer so basically be it would say Redstone quy Natatorium I mean obviously but I don't know it's a thought I like it I like it I I will I will personally say I would have liked I would have also liked the Gord Smith nitorum as well just so we're clear um support didn't see right I I do think you know on the record I think for someone that has been here to put this thing together for the last 10 years um there definitely is honor in that as well um even if it's you know 50 years Gordon's gonna be around for another 50 so we're we're good um I I would make a motion that we we name the um name it the Redstone Quarry medori motion made by William second second by Sarah any other discussion no all in favor please say hi hi hi those oppos n here's five to zero great thank you do a street easy yeah for Rich yeah no that's Gordon Smith way I appreciate I appreciate allra give me your driveway the sidewalker there you go the statue there we go no need spart helmet on you we got is this is all coming together ni on his horse maybe I can similar isn't there a quarry man statue there is a quy man I could for that as long as you're on a swimming horse seahorse there you go in a quy water seahorse fresh water seahorse okay okay that was great thank you all uh let's see we have the approval of third grade field trip to the Connecticut Science Museum in Hartford and there was a a mistake um it's actually Mountain View you said Maple Shade Mountain View third grade Mountain View third grade as you can see um this is uh the third grade team and um they have the support of Mrs santanello and they are looking to go in May uh obviously it's uh across state lines it's a Connecticut Science Museum in Hartford um roughly 93 students and possibly 40 adults else is what you I think parents uh each room would probably have at least one parent volunteer great any questions if not I would take a motion to approve the field trip for Mountain View I'm sorry I do have a question we don't have the May date so I'm assuming because science a and math mcast per in grade three in May that this is going to be built this will be around that yeah their schedule okay there's no date schedule for mcast and they would have to avoid that okay all right any other questions a motion I moved to approve the Mountain View third grade field trip to the Connecticut Science Museum in Harford Connecticut in May of 2025 as presented second by discussion fav say I I carries 5 to zero and finally the 2025 2026 wow I said it calendar year calendar discussion sure following along at home um I apologize I didn't provide um this year's just so you had a look at we haven't changed as we went into drafting mode we didn't change much and next year is U very similar in terms of how the calendar breaks out to this year um such as if you look at August um I thought that uh this year we had dipped into August as are as we were going to dip before the calendar changed again but nope uh next year the 25th will be our first day back with staff of August um at least in the draft version and um basically we have just moved the same um date forward into the 25 26 school year one area to look at would be the holiday break this year we um knew that we had extended it a little bit and didn't bring everybody back on that Monday the 23rd next year that type of situation happens on the back end where um we will be coming to school the 22nd and the 23rd but um would recommend that not bring everybody back for Friday the 2nd but rather come back from the break on January Monday the 5th other than that there's um there was only one item that was um discussed uh briefly at the collaborative meeting and it was just looking at the um the January professional development day is right where it is this year this year it falls on the 29th next year it would fall on the 28th um there was some discussion given to possibly putting it on March 4th um which still gives you another um three and three and change in terms of weeks in March and as well as April and May and a little bit of June in terms of last year the discussion centered on you know if you have your professional development day uh in March are you able to utilize some of the the information that you're being provided on that day um and so at least the discussion was that there would be time to do that um I'd like to brainstorm some ideas about the holiday break sure either thinking about ways that we can capitalize on the front end and maybe not bring students back on 23 and 24 and do parent conferences or PD or just close or on the back end not bring students back on the second and move the 20 we're not bringing kids no I know not bring them back but bring teachers back on the 2nd of January for their PD day and not have them back on the 28th move from the 28th to the 2nd I just feel like there's time there yeah where we can Flex 28th are you talking about 28 January instead of doing it on the 28th just bring everybody bring the staff back for Friday the second why not bring the kids back then though then we're gonna lose another day that month yeah then we do it on Monday the 23rd terms of PD I don't I think we should come to school then too you're going to put two days at the end of the school year those two days are not going to be used for instruction they are so argue with me all you want but Sarah so the 18th and 19th are though if you back it up if you have a full week There's a big difference between and then we have to start figuring out ways to ensure that they are because it's not happening it's not happening consistently what 18th and 19th December oh well I like the idea of the second as a professional development day and then they come back and they have that actually has um four consecutive weeks of instruction in January and and that has historical precedent um there was when we used to have more um professional develop full professional development days to play with um there was a year where you came back um similar to this year where you're looking at the second and third at the tail end of a week and because there were two professional development days they had one in the fall and they set this calendar I was assistant principal at the time um they set the calendar so that we had two days of professional development which gave some momentum people came back um if you started with something on that first day you had time to see it through on that second day and um it it worked out pretty well so not the 28th or the fourth not the but the second for that day and then you can continue to create continuity with instructional weeks rather than chopping it up bringing the teachers back on the second right second professional development right I mean if but if we're being honest one the kids don't come back on the kids tend to not come back on that second right like we saw this week you know last week they didn't come back a lot didn't come back on that for us a lot didn't come back on Thursday and Les even Les came back on that Friday um and if we if we're really trying to trly give our teachers time to re-energize letting them not come back to work on the second as well makes that happen I mean because we're trying to make sure the kids are ready um because again having kids in a room where the teachers still mentally still not in the room it it doesn't it doesn't help it just doesn't work so I mean we want to make sure both are ready to be able to engage in in effective learning I say start break on the 20 23rd but bring teachers back on the second that would be my proposal and not have the half a day on the 23rd no have it on the 23rd no say I'm saying break starts on the 23rd have you gonna bring the school Monday no it's 2 I'm sorry 22nd sorry I'm looking at the wrong calendar start break on the 22nd start break on the 22nd give them those two days 22 and 23 okay well if you're going to give me the if you're going to give them the I'm saying me but going to give them the 22nd and the 23rd then then they've had a then they've had a full rest yes they will have almost two full weeks two full weeks I think that's a waste of two days let them out of on the 19th I want you to tell me what is going to happen on the 22nd and 2 the same thing that's gonna happen on the 19th if they don't come to school the 22nd and the 23rd we have to figure out some happy medium because bringing them in the 22nd and the 23rd again thinking about operationalizing buildings we're looking at a budget Transportation attendance 180 days but we still are gonna have 182 put them on to the 23rd and 24th of June but then no because then we're gonna with the five we're gonna get rid of the 28th because now that will be part of their break okay the one now adding one yeah one it's one Emanuel what are you thinking here like Sarah idea here but yeah a longer break the kids get two weeks the kids get two weeks the teachers are prepared and ready to come back in January for that PD on the 2nd um or the second and the 5th you know if you do consecutive ones as you were mentioning before and everybody we don't have this we don't have be nice so you just do the second and then you then the kids come back on the fifth on a full week yep so the kids are out 17 days 17 days you need that 22nd off do the kids need to I get it it's weird to come for one day how about we come 2 and we give them the 23rd off what are we going to come a half day on the 22nd no they won't do anything then give them a full day 22nd 23d Off full day 22nd half day or 23rd off I like your idea Sarah my first instinct was like kind of like you like no let the teachers have their break but you know I think there's going to be some they're not going to be thrilled I don't think when they hear that that's an option or that we're asking them to come back the second but in a way it might be nice you know easing back into it coming back back in having a day where you're really focused before the craziness ensues again um might be really beneficial tend to be quiet I mean it's it's less stressful um you know you're you're a little bit we we've seen some interesting attire today um so so yes it it is easy I but I don't think kids need the 20 I don't think they need the 22 off 20 I I don't know I mean it's weird to come back for one day but well is it effective to come back for one day I mean that's the catch right I mean we I I've seen buildings where 25% of the kids don't come in yeah but the unfortunate thing is you will lose but doesn't the Friday become the Monday though Gordon um no matter when it is message we have to there is an element of that I think to the same exent not to the same extent I think as you get right up against Christmas Eve yeah um it's a different energy sure than if you've removed it and you're going back to the 19 there it's just a different energy right it would be a full day I you know I can't um contradict that there was probably less rigor going on on 20th um but I I think it you know we do have dedicated staff and they they do prepare full day and and try to sort of meet the energy jump in here Manny if I'm incorrect I think the energy would probably be less so on the 19th than would be what we see on the 2 23rd I agree regardless of grade level if we came the 22nd would it be less than it would be the 19th if you come to the 22nd and and it's one day for that week you're not going to have you're going to have an attendance you're coming on in 22nd situ 2 I don't think you get would the 23rd change that if we put the 20 kept the 23rd cuz that's the original I mean if you come on the 22nd and 23rd you know then you're right back to where we are I think everybody would hate the second then in terms of coming back for people oh a give and take what do you think an anthel I like not having the 22nd and 23rd because I think that any celebrations that they are having with their kids they're going to do it on Friday because no one is going to come we're not going to gu have guaranteed attendance on the what does what does next year look like before we start setting precedents terms of 26 27 yeah no 23rd 24th talking about the 26 27th school year yes I'm sorry I thought you meant the month day of the month so next year Christmas is on or the year after of Friday so the that's different so we would go so play it out then Sarah would we go 21 22 back to half day 23 yeah 202 but then the half day that 23 is okay I don't love half days that's 26 no that's right yeah so you would have one two three full days that week and then a half day 23rd coming no the 23rd is a Wednesday next year the 20 oh I'm in 2026 end of 26 202 see Christmas is on Friday christas on Friday yeah can't take the whole week off no no but you can stop no you would do it you probably do a half day that Wednesday yeah right why is it any different this time because because of the way two days three days instead of two because of the way New Year's Falls you can use that that end of it I just don't know that we need to burn the first end of it I really you're swapping it swapping out one day when you think about it because then we're not burning the day on the 28th right you're getting a full week of instruction that week as opposed to gaining one day of instruction two days before a holiday to me that 28th will be better served will work in better service of students being in class as opposed to another day off in that Marth personally I'm just trying no I I agree with the second I think that's great you're thinking in order to make people contend with the second we should give the 203 not just that but for Effective what's going to be most day yes eff with all around I mean also recognizing um that everyone needs a break at that point every everybody needs a rest and a lot of people they travel it's hard when I know it's just days though yeah but it's hard when Christmas Eve is like the next day and they're at work the day before right it's nine days of school is the break nine days for nine days of school one two three four five six seven eight nine teachers would have nine school days off kids would have 10 school days off yeah because you're not including like they wouldn't been right it's two full weeks right plus three weekends they get the weekends no matter what you don't you want to come in on the weekend Greg i'm one five has to go back to the collaborative no you're the final we have typically work want to send it back in consultation are they meeting again me we are meeting two weeks how do you think it's gonna go no you don't know I don't know I I think it's a good idea I like it oh feeling good about it like it hey I'm fine democracy but then it's like being able to think through like January then the only other day we'll have off well there'll be an interruption is MLK February we have February break and we have parent conferences at Meadowbrook and then March you get four full weeks four full weeks like that is it's hard when you come off of a November and a December that are choppy if you can really use January February in March to like build that momentum again going into you know the end of the school year assessment season like so it pushes one80 to June 15th and it pushes five snow days to June 23rd that's still early to get out we'll just pray for Less we'll pray for Less snow days in the wash that'll be the year probably gonna have at least one snow day so You' be walking into the 16th which is fine because that's a Tuesday no one likes to come Monday does this does the 12 and the 22nd account for of these potential PD days in green no only one okay I'd have to remove one okay yeah so what do you recommend to go back to collaborative or do you want to I'm to talk about it with the collaborative and just say like this is a a a different approach to try to honor time off but at the same time use our time efficiently in service of professional learning and in service of of students instructional minutes being consistent and coherent over time and then that gives them the full month of January the full month of February full month of March April May and June to implement what they've learned in professional development when does collaborative meet again meet on the 22nd be us again no no our next meeting is 27th because it part Luther King Day on 20th okay well I can bring everybody's good with that we'll send it back with those ideas and see how they bring it back sounds fine right good discussion thank you everybody for that with that sadly enough we have come to the end of our meeting oh so again remember next Tuesday six o'cl and uh I would take a motion to adjourn please don't move motion made by second by William discussion all in favor say I I I those oppos nay that carries five to zero thank you we are adjourned