##VIDEO ID:f-gDi5TC4KU## this government meeting is brought to you by eastw works and our local cable subscribers all right we call to order uh 50:8 it's okay we'll make that time up uh good evening everyone welcome to the third uh and final interview with our finalist candidate for the superintendent position at East Hampton Public Schools going to briefly roll call in Sam uh Sam Hunter here Eric Eric D here Laura Scott present Megan Megan Harvey here Ben Ben hery here Linda Linda Marquee here thank you okay so just a brief note to the public uh we're going to begin this evening uh with Dr balsh Who is joining us uh with a an opportunity for a 5 minute introductory statement uh then we are going to move into the first of seven questions we've roughly allotted about 10 minutes for each question Dr Balch may have 10 minutes worth of talking points for that if not we also may have an opportunity for follow-up or discussion each of those questions will be moderated by a different member of the committee and being that we are starting a bit late I give the floor to Dr Balch thank you for joining us oh thank you for having me it is been such an incredible day and process I've met so many wonderful people so I just appreciate you opening your doors and allowing me to interact with family members and community members students and staff it's been just awesome and I I very much um appreciate the process so um I'm going to talk a little bit about in my opening a little bit about who I am my leadership style and what really drives me as a leader because I think it's really important I'm going to talk a little bit about my experiences answer my questions but I think identifying your why as a leader is really important um and it really grounds you in the work it's what motivates you it's what keeps you coming to work every day um and my why is really about cultivating that sense of belonging and how important that is to me as a person um I went through I I shared this with the screening committee too and you know it it is my why I went through High School I went through my entire K12 experience just you know kind of going through the motions of school not really feeling like I had a place not really feeling like connected you know just an average student doing the average things during school and then I graduated I applied to one college and I got in and you know I was sitting in class and my professor I'm I'm writing you know attentive you know just being me and my professor said you know Michelle can we see you after a class and I'm like what did I do now he's going to send me to The Writing Center make me do some assignment over and then he said you know I think you're really smart and I think I really I think you are working really hard and you know you like look around and you're like I'm sorry is there somebody else here you think I'm smart and was somebody I respected and somebody who I thought was really smart saw me as a smart person and he's like I'm in charge of the model un team and I think you should join it I think you'd be great I was like you want me to be part of something and that moment like changed my life and I was you know you sit up a little straighter you're like wait I am smart I I can do this and somebody wants me to be a part of something and that really became my why in education I want no child to have to wait until College to have that experience and you think about our little ones coming in at prek and I want them to know that they're brilliant they're amazing they have so much to contribute they're part of something so much bigger and that the their possibilities are Limitless and I think it's so important that kids know and feel that and that leadership and teachers and people around them are letting them know so my why is to make sure that every kid know knows that they are amazing and that they can do whatever and from a very very young age so that's that's my why um my second sort of other why is more personal I I'm a mother of four children um my husband has it came with two children so you know just coming together with having four children to blended family um and really just knowing that each of my kids I have to approach them differently they're very unique they all have different things that drive them they have different ways that they learn I have to treat each and approach them differently so those moments really shaped my leadership style because I I realized oh wow everybody needs this approach you can't handle every single person in the same way you need to approach them where they where they're at and engage them in the conversation help facilitate to learn how you can really reach them to tap their potential so I think for me those are two roles and two moments that have really shaped and helped create who I am as a leader so I think it's really important that I share you know that and as I've gone through this application process and reading more about East Hampton Public Schools I think it was also important to me that my vision and Mission aligns with the vision admission of eastampton public schools and I gave you a 90day plan because for me it's important that you know when you see it in writing what my plans are for 30 60 and 90 days in the district because I think you know not only can you hear it but you can see it and read a little bit more about it and my my values are really aligned around students thriving it's very important to me and I think that aligns with my why um diversity enriches enriches us all because it is so important to we have this Rich tapestry we're a school Community people are coming together from all different backgrounds and experiences and how do we cultivate that in our schools and how do we leverage our diversity and our unique the uniqueness that everybody brings to the table I think collaboration and Partnerships are key we can't do it alone and we need everybody to come together to make educational experiences awesome and when we lean into collaboration and we're leaning into Partnerships we we make sure everybody has a SE at the table that's really important you need to bring people to the table you need to work with other people and you need to lean into other people's expertise and that's something I believe as a leader um it's very important to me to make sure that um we're gaining those perspectives because it's very important that we lean into those perspectives um I also believe that growth requires commitment and that is something that I think it's I took away from the educator evaluation system because you know you have to be ref reflective as a leader you have to be willing to take feedback you have to be willing to grow you have to be willing to think about Innovative approaches to things because we can't keep doing things the way we've always done them because it's the way we've always done them we have to be Innovative it doesn't mean that everything we've been doing isn't working but change requires us all to be flexible in our thinking and to be Innovative in our approaches and I believe that uh safe and welcoming environments are essential when you feel like you belong you will Thrive and you will bring your entire self into school that's so important we don't want just pieces of students at school we want them to feel like they can bring their entire selves into the classroom because that is the power of learning so thank you just a little bit about well said um Eric would you like to start us off with question one all right question one um so welcome thank you so much uh for that introduction now that you've been around our district for a little while and done some research um from what you've learned about our district what would you describe as our greatest assets and strengths and what are some of our major challenges um if you wanted to discuss that kind of building up from the little lisal pre through Middle School up to high school and then just on the broader districtwide I think um some of the the unique really briefly do you want me to give you a two or three minute warning sure okay great yeah I'll take a for sure um I think some of the things that really attracted me to sit in front of you today I think um the prek to 8 school is something that I think is amazing I love that students aren't transitioning from you know Elementary to middle I think it's important that kids see the same familiar faces and experiences so I think that's something that I love about this District um the the facilities just going around have been absolutely incredible and that speaks to how you value education in this community which is very important and you know just walking into the schools and thinking about um seeing all the signs on on the walls about the clubs and opportunities and talking with the kids and hearing them talk about what they're participating in I think speaks to um the community's commitment to enriching student lives through our and through individual opportunities for kids um I the course catalog for the high school is very impressive offering a lot of opportunities the kids today talked about some of the courses that are engaging them in their learning and that they think are you know what's keeping them engaged in school and involved so I think you know having a very tight-knit Community you know 1331 students is awesome right you can you know when driving around today with a superintendent talking about students and actually like we're talking about a student who I met in class and just to get down to that level the student level is so powerful and so important and it was so it just great to hear you know talking about programs that are needed for a particular student and being able to help meet their needs and you know for eastampton when you say all you really mean all and that is just so powerful um thinking about you know from prek some of the strengths offering full day prek um the Tiny Tots program for the high school what an amazing opportunity for high school students and for Littles to be in classrooms with and seeing mentors and adults and just being in in our schools I think it's a unique opportunity that's a great I love that you're offering full day integrated prek um and you know I think for a challenge for that is expanding we definitely want to provide access to high quality instructional programming for prek because it's such a strong foundation so how do we leverage resources and Partnerships with the community expand prek would be you know something to consider um for elementary um amazing facilities um I think um some of the curriculum that I'm very comfortable with are the same curriculums that you're using in your elementary schools being a reader being a writer sips as an intervention um we are currently using them in my district so being able to have that uh knowledge of the curriculum and what it looks like in classroom practice is something I was really excited about as well I think you have some screeners to get data on students and how they're performing um learning about the Wind Block and how it's used uh the um from K to K to 8 was great today and how do we use that as an opportunity to help strengthen our mtss work what is our tier one what is our tier 2 and tier three and how can we make sure that students are getting what they need when they're in front of us so th those are um from the elementary level the administration strong Administration you have high teacher retention rates um you know those are all very important things to school cult culture and when you're retaining teachers you can really have that strong School culture which I think is very important um some of the challenges thinking about you know post-pandemic recovery has been a challenge ac across the state um and looking at some of the data the ELA data was you know just something I think that needs to be taken a look at I learned today that you're looking at some other curriculums and I think that's great when you have high quality instructional materials in front front of kids combined with high quality educ Educators that's that's where the magic happens in the classroom and that's really what you want to see and it sent a signal to me that if you're trying something that isn't working that you're willing to explore new opportunities even if it means learning a new curriculum so that was something that you know is also an opportunity for growth that you're constantly looking to improve and find ways to do that so Kudos your Administration for for taking that step because it is a hard step Middle School um the social justice plc's I think is really great talking to the administration today and learning about the specialized programs that you have for students to meet their needs um was just great and I think it speaks to the culture that you're trying to establish in your schools and to make sure kids feel like they're and programs that support them academically but socially and emotionally because we know more than kids need that and you are willing to meet their needs by creating these specialized programs I think there's some opportunity to look at um some science uh curriculum saw that you're using Mystery Science but how do we lean into um the ngss standards and make sure that we have curriculum that's aligned to the standards so just thinking about that as an area of opportunity um the high school again there's a lot to be proud of there but you have have um you know course offerings AP courses you have Pathways and opportunities for kids they saw some internship experiences that they can engage in so just a well-rounded sort of meeting kids needs um clubs and opportunities after school Sports Programming you know good things happening and a tight-knit community meeting with those students today they're they're a tough group and um it they they were asking the tough questions today and I it I left her like wow that's amazing that they're willing to sit in front of me and say what are you going to do about this and what are you going to do about that if you're our superintendent and will we know who you are and will we be seeing you they're like we go to lunch with Mrs B are you going to have lunch with us sure so I I think you know there's kids are empowered to be themselves and that was very apparent today and I think um thinking about the graduation rate 88% um great but you know when we're talking about 88% we're talking about 13 31 students it every every kid there there's students behind that data and that to me is something that you know we we need to be at 100% And we need to do everything we can to make sure that we're not losing kids and so I think that would be just an area of of thoughtfulness that you know in some programming or what you know what do we need for wraparounds why finding the why and then addressing that why um overall um I think you know it's a very tight-knit Community it's exciting to hear about all of the great things and Innovation that's happening at the schools um access to technology and you know I think just hearing even from the kids today about their experiences they are proud to be part of Hast Hampton public schools and even the staff just really like the front front office staff sitting there talking she's talking about how eastampton Has Done Right by her children and what a great way to just you know be sitting there and thinking about how proud everybody is and I could be a part of this community and to be also proud of this community alongside you thank you um does anyone have a followup question that that question that's fine that was I mean it was comprehensive and complete so that's fine we can shift it's a pretty breathtaking assessment of a district in this amount of time Sam how long do you think it took you to kind of come to grips with literally by grade level here's what you're doing right and here everything you listed are things we have discussed and that you picked up on that apprciate pretty wow okay moving on moving on yes question question two um um okay Dr balsh please discuss how you approach and deal with conflict in the various Arenas of school management uh for example Administration staff students and Families how do you define positive culture in a school community and how do you build and support that conflict is inevitable right it's going to happen and as much as we love love you know trying to make sure that we're all you know happy and confident and comfortable and but conflict will will happen but I think the defining um moment is how you handle that conflict and that is what matters and I think when you um approach conflict and you take you start by listening right Gathering the information listening making sure that you are hearing all aspects taking that breath to not come to a solution or not come to like your perceived notion of what is correct or really thinking about okay what am I hearing what is the context for what I'm hearing and you know there are other people involved in that so ga spending the time to gather the facts and information I think um being solution oriented is also very important coming from okay we have we've encountered this this problem we have this conflict you know we have gathered the information we need to have a solution now so how do we Act you know not you know in the best interest of children it always has to be about being in the best interests of children you know I think when we start to engage in Conflict at you know various levels I think sometimes it we're talking about adults but we really need to be continuously focused on shifting that to the students right and how are our decisions going to impact students and I think we also have to be very transparent in the when we come up with a solution and we have a proposed solution we have to be transparent we have to let people know where we're think we're heading with this solution so that there is very clear and consistent communication that people know that there was a followup that happened and that you know we came to consensus and here's what happened so you just have to be very clear when you're engaging in these that you're listening you're looking for a solution you're going to work on that solution you have to also let people know that you're committed you know when you do find that solution to seeing that solution through often times you know there's a solution and you're like whatever happened to that remember we said we were going to do that but making sure that you're following up and that you're you're communicating what that follow up was is very important to close that Loop so you don't just have all of these sort of open Loops of communication um you know and I I think about conflict and you know I think from like the district perspective a recent conflict and you know just give you an example um we've had this long-standing partnership with an organization and I you know met with them as a chief instructional officer and I you know here's our expectations here's our priorities for the year and I was very clear about what our priorities were and they okay yes those are also our priorities but you know we we might have some of our own I said well you know if you're going to be working with us these are our priorities and you know these are expect ation so we were very laid out the conversation at the beginning of the year priorities for the year here's how we're going to meet them and then I was getting some feedback from some principal saying oh they have you know they thought I should do this or they wanted me to work on that and I was like H that's I I thought it was pretty clear about what I wanted from this partnership so I met with them again and I said oh you know I'm I'm just wondering why you decided to um uh have this be a goal for this school and they said well you know we we did this and it was kind of aligned and I said well I I was really clear you know but you have to think about the investment that you've made you know you you have there's there's budgetary considerations in this so you know give them another opportunity I'm very clear here's my expectations you know and here are our priorities and so we go back I'm still hearing sort of the same thing and you know I brought the the them back and I said you know I think we're going to have to part ways on this because you're not aligned to our vision and our mission and our priorities for our district and it was a tough conversation this is a partnership that had been going on for many years and I think it's really important that you know when we we do encounter some conflict that we're grounded in our vision and our mission and our priorities because when we start to deviate from those that's when you know conflict and confusion arises so I think it's important that we also address them give people an opportunity to revisit those expectations and then you know if you are not aligned and we don't see this really this partnership coming to fruition that we're willing to address it regardless of sort of the implications it required members of my team to have to step up to take on additional work when we had that meeting we said all right this is what's going to happen and my team was prepared to meet that challenge to do the work that needed to be done um and you know the it the decision really came down to assessing kids right we we were like I think we're over assessing students we want to limit the number of Assessments that that were introducing to kids and they had some assessment benchmarks that they wanted to land on but you know we were sticking true to our values about thinking about assessment and what kids need so I think that's kind of you know an example of a conflict and you know it wasn't easy but I think we're we acted in the best interests of students at that time so um I think you know it's important that whenever we do uncover sort of conflicts that people have access to resources you know training and professional development are so important that when a conflict does arise that we have a plan to address it because it might just be one conflict but it might be a confli a conflict that other people may encounter so we want to make sure that we also are making plans for training professional development and resources to address you know sort of whatever it is because if it's a trend we want to be prepared to address that as a whole staff and to make sure you know when we're giving training and professional development everybody benefits right you're gaining new Knowledge and Skills and experiences and that's really also important that ongoing training I think also an important part of addressing conflict is through coaching and um in constant feedback and reflection so I think for me I'm somebody who loves feedback um I was in charge of the educator evaluation system for Springfield Public Schools and from Rolling it out to getting everybody the training and support they needed so for me it was you know I I love this feedback and I love watching people grow and develop so as a leader that's what brings me joy when I see people experiencing um Joy in their positions and they're feeling successful because I'm clear not only about their roles and responsibilities but that I'm supporting them and if we do encounter some sort of conflict that I'm willing to support them coach them develop them and make sure that they have what they need to be successful that's a really important part and for students um I think that sense of connection is really important we um in spring in Springfields we are doing something called the primary person model and it's where every kid is connected with an adult so we're piloting it in some schools every kid needs a champion so how do we connect a kid with an adult to be their Advocate to be somebody that they can turn to somebody that they can rely on so for me that was so important um as a way to address conflict they know who they can go to right CU sometimes kids don't feel comfortable reaching out to somebody or they might not know who to go to how do we make those connections make kids feel like they have somebody in their corner so that's something work I'm I'm proud of and work that's going really well and it's helped address conflict because you know kids are going to their trusted adult in the building and knowing that they have somebody thank you um I do you have a follow go follow um thank you that was really that was a great answer um sometimes we have conflict uh between students or between students and families outside of school that then affects um The Experience in school and I'm just wondering kind of what your approach is to dealing with that um that kind of scenario yeah what happens outside of school does impact the culture in the school so I think addressing that as uh as an administrator is very important and to make sure that we're comfortable reaching out to families and saying you know hey this happened outside of school you know but it does have an impact on what's Happening inside our school so making sure that you're reaching out to those families and addressing that think that constant communication and I think you know we also need to become more confident and reaching out to families when good things are happening as well right to you know I as a parent myself I'm like I see the school R the school is calling right so how do you take away that anxiety from parents and you know and let them know that when the school is calling it was like there's a chance it could be for something amazing so and you know that has happened right and you've been pleasantly surprised but I think it's great that you know we're making sure we have consistent communication so that when you do call a family about something that happened outside of school they're not like oh what does this mean or you know that you're just making sure that they know because you know they might not know either or you know I think it's important to just keep everybody in the loop and keep everybody sort of aware of what's happening and and that you're willing to address things because it does impact academics and it becomes barriers and we need to do everything we can to remove barriers for kids thank you else going to move on to question three with Linda um get my glasses so um you just spoke a little bit about engaging with students and families I am a big advocate of we it is our responsibility as a community these these children have been trusted to us so describe the methods by which you engage with students families and a larger Community um that what do you find effective and meaningful why do you what do you aim to achieve through this engagement and how do you ensure Equitable um reach across the population and employ cultural competency and inclusion I'm excited to share a little bit about the work that we've done current District or on the portrait of a graduate because they think that just speaks to the power of bringing people together in service of children um the portrait of a graduate was an initiative that we took on to help create our vision for our district and we had focus groups we did surveys we went to faith-based organizations we went to the community we went to um we went to dance halls we went everywhere to get to find out we asked parents and community members we talk to students too and teachers like what are your hopes and dreams for kids and what Knowledge and Skills do they need to possess by the time they graduate to make sure that they're successful not only while they're with us but after they're with us so that work was so transformative to me as a leader and something I'm so proud of because we ended up with this vision and when I see this Vision I see the entire Community it's just so incredible to see the voices of 2500 people sort of jumping off the page that was co-created it was the first time we ever engaged in my district in co-creating a a vision for the district and that that just ensures buyin right we did it in a very authentic way they felt like the community felt like they were involved in that they also created it so we're talking about our vision it is it is the community's vision it's not just about um that so I think opening that dialogue between central office staff between families community members was just so powerful and as a result of that and just hearing from the student voice was just so incre incredible during that time and we're like all right how do we do more with the the students because at the end of the day it's all about them just like you said and how do we make make sure their voices are heard so we did these things called student Summits and we brought kids together from all across the district and we asked them questions again how how's it going what do we need to do to better in this District you know how do you feel when you get a grade how is your mental health we asked them they went into focus groups we had students facilitating these conversations with each other and we we were process Observers during this time we sat back we didn't say anything we just were notet takers and hearing the kids talk about their experiences and schools and how we need to do better by them was just incredible and we had students from you know our International Academy so we have a school you know just making sure that equal representation was there because for us it mattered everybody had it wasn't just our you know kids on student council were there it would we said we we need we need all we need representation from every kid we need the kids that aren't coming we need to hear from them because we need to remove those barriers so um we did that and what was amazing they said you know we can't learn without relationships and we we are not we cannot hear you if we don't think you care about us so that's out of that came the primary person model the kids told us and you know we brought them come back together and we said you know what we changed our district priorities because of what you said and they they're like you listen to us and you actually change what you're doing because of something we said and even when they were sitting in front of us they're like I think this is the first time anybody asked me how school was going and how we can change school so I think that was something really speaks to the power of Leaning into student voice leveraging that student voice and having student voices Drive the process um and you know bringing in that larger Community to help support the work because we can't do it alone we know we can't do it alone when we're all working together it's always better um and there's more opportunities for for kids um and you know we um are also doing a survey for parents we do one for parents families staff students and in those survey we're asking them questions about you know do they feel like their students feel like belong would you recommend your school to somebody else you know do you have um our kids do you feel like your kids have access to opportunities in school before school after school we're asking them and we use that data to make decisions about our budget about programming and that's an important part of it um we also we do student um we do parent focus groups as well family caregiver focus groups that's an important part of our work because we want to make sure that we have representation from everybody cuz we have to shift from this like come a you call approach to education but to meet people where they are and how they need to communicate how they effectively communicate so we have to increase opportunity and frequency and ways in which we communicate because it can't be just because I called you I need you to come down we have to think about it a little bit differently to maintain that cultural confidence are there any any followup questions to this about community and reach out you Ben no I feel pretty satisfied with that yeah yeah um yeah I I um you hit a lot of key points that were certainly um that speak to me and speak to my heart and again I I feel that we as a community work together to educate our children yeah we find a lot of feelings in this group true big feelings uh moving on to question four Sam yes um um the question is how would you define the purpose of special education and then describe examples of how you ensure that students with disabilities and their families can access the full life of the school in both academic and non-academic contexts yeah um so for me special education is about making sure that every student experiences high quality educational experiences and that we are addressing their needs their individual needs and for me I think a shift in um we talked about this a little bit earlier is moving from compliance driven special education to supportive um special education program I think you know we often think we have to do this we have to do that and thinking about approaching special education from really looking at a student in their needs and how are we going to meet their needs um in a way that works for them I started off as uh a special education educator I was a special education department chair I got my master's degree in special education so special education is very near and dear to my heart and when we do special education well everybody benefits and we can unlock every kid's unlimited potential when we are meeting their needs and I think you know the new IEP process thinking about that and how it centers around a student and thinking about how we even approach IEP meetings for for families um I think it's really important that we shift to you know what from that that asset orientation lens for special education and I saw that you have a can do pack which is awesome because it is about what kids can do we have to stop thinking about it from what kids can't do and you know it's very unique to be sitting in an IEP meeting as a parent and thinking about you you come to a room you're with professionals who are using sort of edes speak acronyms and you know how do parents feel when they're coming in they're talking about their kid during this meeting and their scores and the you know and the shift to the new IP process I think aligns to what my belie about the educational process or the special ed process is like you know the we have a whole person we have a whole amazing kid in front of us let's talk about who they are as a person who they are as a learner who they are academically socially behaviorally because that paints a picture that tells the story we need to talk start talking about kids as a story about their life they're you know we can't approach an IEP meeting with just student work samples and data and yes that's part of it but you know we're so much more than just data and we're so much more than just a student work sample you know how how is that student grown how have we met their needs how are we coming together as a team to address that it's very important and I think when you know that cultivates that sense of belonging that's so important um I I was at a large Comprehensive High School and scheduling was a big thing around special education and we got when we got scheduling right it was so good for special education students so we have like a a college prep course we'd have um a sort of an inclusion classroom and a in a sub separate classroom scheduled at the same time so kids can move fluidly right they can you know there are times there are opportunities where kids can move into an inclusion setting because it might be a higher interest area for them or it might you know you have to make those decisions and when we make those decisions kids win because you know we're being we're not being stuck in our our ways because kids kids have opportunities and there might be something happening you know during that time kids going about let's push them into inclusion let's support them here and then just making sure that we're flexible and Nimble enough as as an organization and as a community to be able to make those shifts because they're they're good for kids and you know in some of our high schools we have integrated programs and our life skills kids are coming into regular college courses and it's amazing to see it is just truly incredible to see um kids working together and kids rise to the occasion that we set for them I truly believe that and to see you know somebody drop something kid help kids just helping out each other in in just a seamless way because they've created that culture and we have to create that culture first right acceptance belonging those are foundational those have to be your core beliefs because when people feel welcome and they feel like they belong that's when you know you'll you'll unlock their full potential the door the doorway I'm sorry motion this is a great example of how we cons serve energy I did hear the bills to light up Mountain View are pretty excessive you should have seen what white Brook was like okay we knew it was coming too I saw it happens every night and we Act surpr [Laughter] right and go I you were it seemed like you were in the completing a thought did were you in the middle of a thought no no I have um I have a followup if that's yeah if you unless you have more I'm just here to offer some scaffolding if the lights interrupted your flow of thought why don't you go ahead with your followup Mar yeah you go right ahead right FIB um we've had some discussions in our committee that were centered around you know we were supportive as a body of the removal of the 10th grade hcast as a graduation requirement but we wanted to be sure that every time we communicated that support that we offered the caveat and discussed the Nuance of the impact that it will have on admittedly a small population but a population of special education students that are at a higher grade level they're going to be 10th 11th 12th graders and Beyond and I'm just curious to hear what you think about that impact on those students who may um pass that or you know where where the nonp passing of the mcast allowed them to kind of gain access to some additional years of schooling where that automatic kind of protection and additional support for them may not exist in the same way anymore and just how you view our responsibility to special education students that might already you know would be the equivalent of a 13th or 14th grader but just you know really need just a little bit of extra time to fully prepare them for a for a full maybe they've met their academic requirements for graduation but they haven't quite met the um they still require some additional support they're not quite ready to to go to work or go to school without additional support well said thank you yeah yeah I think it's like we're building programs that meet their needs in the schools I think that's essential and you know I think we have an obligation to those kids to make sure that they're successful um whether they're graduating whether they're leaving to make sure that we have programming available for them and that we're creating schedules for them and that it is something that it's their right to have those it's their right to have that vocational programming or you know however whatever their needs are that we're making sure that we're meeting them because again it's about the greater good right where it's about the community and how the community impact it is going to be in every kid matters and when we're meeting you know we're giving that Extended Learning opportunity for those kids it it it benefits everybody so I think regardless of you know what transpires and they they're deserving of that opportunity for to continue to make sure that you know when they do leave the high school that they are ready and that they have the skills that they need and whether that's an extra year then you're a student for another year and we're going to provide you with those opportunities and those supports that you need to make sure that you're successful so without that parachute of mcast you see that as being a policy a carefully crafted policy on the district level how do do we leave it to discretion special ed director like how do you see the implementation of something like that I think that would be exct Lively I think that would be something you'd have to work very closely to make sure you know it's Staffing to resources as well but I think it's an our duty and obligation to make sure that those kids get those experiences anybody else have any other follow-ups thank you so much we're going to move on question five okay all right um uh regarding assessment of students and evaluations of Staff what are your preferred tools and methods to gather data for various groups and across grade levels discuss how you use that data to inform choices around curriculum programming and Staffing and specifically how you'd apply that in District such as our I I think I spoke to it a little bit right and I think assessment data is important um and I think it does help us make decisions um I think that you know it's one aspect right um but I think you have SC two screeners you have a Ela math screener I think that you know gives us data about interventions and staff that will be really important I think regardless of you know what tools that you're using you need tools that give the right data at the right time um and that you're making sometimes I feel like we're data rich but action poor right we have a lot of data but what are we doing with that data and how is that data informing our instruction so thinking about what kids need and what the data is telling us um to provide those supports you know thinking of about tier 2 supports I think for kids in tier three to make sure that you know we have the tools and resources for those kids to meet them where they are and to push their learning um and I I think every assessment that we give kids has to have a purpose and if it does not serve a purpose then I I don't know why we're doing it because kids encounter a lot of Assessments and we need to make sure that they're not feeling the burden of those assessments and you know we're using the data that we do have whether it's unit assessment data right how are we using those as benchmarks to figure out what kids know how are we using informal assessments at the end of class how am I gauging all right did did I meet the lesson objective for the day did I do did you did what I taught translate into learning I think those are really important and when you have a really good sense of that as an educator you know that is assessment data and that's that should be used to guide instruction so I think has to be clear has to be purposeful and we have to be whenever we engage in an assessment it has to have a clear purpose and I think that is very essential um I think you know it also helps shape your mtss and I I really believe that when you have a strong multi-tier systems of support it not only tells you what to expect but it tells families what to expect it tells you know I think when you are leaning into those mtss supports you like you're trying to design classrooms that meet the needs of all kids because that's really important how are we meeting the needs of all of our kids in the classroom and knowing our data using that data effectively tells a story about students um I think you know using and curriculum and academics is one aspect right we get data from students all the time and I think we need to not think about data so narrowly right it's not just numbers what are kids saying what are they feeling what are our referral rates look like what are our communication with parents those are all those are data and we need to really think about those and how are those driving our decision-making and our priorities as a district for Staffing I think we look at data we look at eval Val ation data I saw that 100% of your educators are evaluated that's a that's great um and you know in talking with um the high school principal assistant principal how are we you know evaluating Educators in a way that's developing them again another set of data what are we constantly giving feedback on as a an administrative team that drives PD right for giving feedback on the same thing okay we we know there's a need so now we address that for professional development so thinking about data strategically and having when you're looking at data to serve a purpose as well um I think at the end of the day you know it's not just about collecting the data it's about using it effectively and using it in a way to benefit kids that we're not looking at assessment punitively as well like you know we're it's a it's a a moment in time but it's a moment in time that tells you what kids are learning and what unfinished learning we need to address I think it's really important that you know we are addressing great level standards right because it's really important but when we see that there might be a gap um that we're going back and addressing that Gap because the further we get the Gap widens and we just have to make sure that we don't see those gaps widening um and speak speaking of gaps I think that's another data point that you need to take into consideration when you have a gap in your data that tells you that there is an inequity happening and that inequity needs to be addressed need to uncover need to find the root cause of that and I think for me as somebody who just got their doctorate and spent a lot of time and data and research making sure that you're using data to make small incremental changes is something that is I I believed in before but now I it is solidified in my mind that you have a data you identify a cause you know you take a look at what you're going to do about it small step and repeat the cycle again and that's how you really use data to inform your work and I think that when you do that strategically you do it thoughtfully you do it well you'll see progress and because I think when you make sweeping changes is it doesn't really it doesn't land with people you know you're trying to do all the things all the time all at once but if you start slow and lead to incremental progress you're going to you're going to see awesome things happen faster you got to go slow to go fast yeah does anyone have any followup questions I don't think I have any follow questions I just wanted to thank you for addressing the data we do have but also highlighting that data we don't have those gaps is so important just um thank you pass it on all right next question six from Ben hi uh discuss your views on the successful integration of Technology into teaching and learning across grade levels how do you balance the clear need for digital literacy while still maintaining a focus on improving critical thinking and encouragement of creative self-expression what are the greatest benefits of and areas of concern around technology as it impacts education right great question key word there I think is balance and when you find the right balance I think it's where kids benefit right they need access to 21st century skills right they need to be critical thinkers they need to access technology but we have to do it in a way that doesn't detract from learning and um in my current District we have a CS forall initiative so what we we had teachers create modules that address the digital literacy computer science standards you know I think it's really important that kids know how to be good digital citizens because that's the world in which we live digital citizenship is really important and I don't think kids fully understand the implications of social media and and the internet and it's our responsibility to teach them how to be good digital citizens um but we also know that we have you know science theaters to address in ela but how do we do it in a way where we're combining the two so we created these modules where you're sprinkling in a little bit of the digital literacy computer science standards into Ela into math and was it a lift yeah but it was great work and kids are getting access because we know that they need that um and I think the way in which we also use technology is important and there's a model it's called the sammer model and it's a substitution is where you take you know you have a computer and you're taking this computer and you're just like instead of you're typing in a Word document you're just sub you're just substituting augmentation is where you sort of change the task but you're still basically just using it for substitution purposes modification you're changing a little bit but where we really want to where like the amazingness happens is the the redefinition process where you're taking technology and you're using it to transform your classroom you're giving kids access to opportunities that didn't exist before technology and that's where we really see the benefits of technology and that's where you know in our class class rooms that's the sweet spot where we want to see things happening like going on Virtual Field Trips if we're talking to people across the country we're talking to people across the globe those are the powerful experiences kids need in our classrooms you know we know that they're accessing technology when they leave our schools all the time right but how do we as a district and as Educators transform that for them and that's again where we really want to see and get teachers familiar with right it's a lift there are some people who love technology and there are some people who are like nope I am not a technology person and that's okay but where can we identify teachers who love technology and leverage them as our Champions you love techn okay that's great so let's create a a like a a module or a unit or a project where you can Thrive and again that builds leadership that builds like joy and excitement for that teacher so how do we lean into our experts in our classrooms who love technology to be able to support some of that work thank you um follow-ups um I a followup thank you um I had never heard of that samur model before so I'm going to look more into that thank you for bringing that to my attention um what do you think about I'm curious to hear kind of what you've encountered in regards to um using AI in a school setting and I know like there's been masc has put out some new policies we haven't really quite had the chance to dive into that that here but I just have a feeling that um that's going to become a bigger Topic in the next few years I be curious to hear your thoughts so I think when I'm not afraid of you know AI I'm like all right if you can help me write this better continue okay for sorry for um AI in terms of you know just how we could use it in the classroom I think that that's yes that ter that AI um but I think when you know we're um thinking about teaching kids how to use it and when to use it um is very important right there you can use it for some things but you know we really want to have kids writing reading and relying on their their gifts and talents first and then you know exploring ways and you know there's some amazing things that AI can do it can write songs and help kids Express who they are they you can ask AI to generate a picture some kids aren't good artists so if you can have you know a a computer AED use of you know drawing it's amazing kids get to express themselves through ART in that way and I think that's powerful and I think some kids are you know maybe just not comfortable speaking but they're they're happy to talk to a computer and they're happy to help like have a partner in AI so I think there are some things that are really good but I think it's all about making sure that kids know the parameters and know when to use it um and you know you're not going to have ai generated paper right because you know you need to be expressing your own thoughts and ideas and we wanted because for me I think think when we're asking kids to write a paper if they can have P AI generated it's not of high quality yeah right we want to make sure that when we ask kids to write a paper it's they're reflective they're synthesizing we want them to reach those higher levels of blooms we don't want to them to just be able to spit something out that AI can generate so I think it's also speaks to what we're asking kids to produce um so that's balance but there there should be some policy I think we're we're in the middle of drafting some policy about the US use of AI because if you're not clear if you don't have a policy kids are going to do it so how are you going to be clear about what is appropriate and what is not and when to use it and when not to so yes policy for sure thank you love that answer yeah yeah all set all good all right there's a big one questions have well they're all big yeah they're all big my dissertation topic you Best For Last uh Finance question number seven uh describe your experience in developing and managing a comprehensive School District budget including considerations for both recurring and capital expenses in a district such as ours which has maintained level services in recent years but has a keen appetite for the expansion of programming discuss how you might access funding for that and what that potential timeline might look like all right so I currently oversee a budget of 21 million for my department so um and I have 11 directors that have various contents and they all have grants payrolls so uh the the budget aspect I'm from very comfortable with you know 2124 million budget um currently how I'm operating um I think you know the the great part of about that is is um you're I think when you develop a budget you're making sure that you align your budget to your District priorities I think that's where you have to start because you when you think about the budget it's a document it reflects your priorities it reflects what you value and I don't think people really you know take that into consideration when you're presenting a budget it lets the community know where you're investing and I I think that's something that you know you're like wow that's powerful so the not only the power behind the budget but what it s what message it sends to the community so you have to be very considerate in your budget and to make sure that it does align with your priorities so when I I go through a process with my team right now I'm developing a budget and they come to me with our budget and this is the same thing that you would do you know in in a with a school you develop your budget make sure that there's input from families teacher staff and students because that's how you develop a budget that is responsive to your community and responsive to your priorities that budget gets developed I get the budget and I say all right this aligns with the priorities I'm not sure about this one you know I'm going to ask a follow-up question on that um because I want to make sure that we're consistent in that what we've set as our priorities we're addressing through our budget and then you know just making sure sure that you know we don't have anything in there it's just oh this is because the way we've always done them well you know if we are we have different priorities there are things there has to be some give and take and to make sure that we are being really reflective in our budget process and that we are analyzing every aspect of the budget and thinking about how this impacts kids and you're going to make your budget decisions based on children it's not based on adults we are here to educate children and our budget needs to reflect that I think for um so making sure that there's Community input and once I develop that budget you have to you have to put it out there you have to really be working closely with your budget Department this work doesn't happen in isolation either when you're developing your budget and prioritizing um Finance subcommittee should also you're part of the budget we work together and it's very important that everybody is at the table making sure that we're not only sharing what our priorities are but holding each other accountable to that budget that's very important to me and I think when you do that you everybody becomes really clear on what the priorities are and in transparency in that process because if you don't know what I have in my budget that doesn't feel good to you right if you're like where do this come from I as a superintendent want you to know that whatever is in the budget we've talked about we've addressed you know you're very familiar with and you're on board with as a a school committee because that's what's important and you know when you feel like things aren't done transparently and that there are things that are in the budget that don't align to a priority you know that's where conflict or you know some tension arises so I think it's important that there are those conversations that happen um and that you know when the budget does come together that you do propose it to the community and that you do have input from the community does this feel like it represents who we are as the community and what we value and we do that in my current district and it's been great we've gotten some amazing feedback from the community and it has also helped us increase buyin they're like oh I see that you might have a budget shortfall here I'm willing to help you sh of that Gap it's been great we've had people come and they're like oh we didn't know you did that and we didn't know that you'd be willing to help us so that's been something that's been powerful and it also again increases transparency like you know and you hear like we can't afford that but I think when people see the budget like no no we really when we say we can't afford that we really mean we can't afford that so I it's not just something that we're saying that we we're hiding this money it that it's very done very transparently so I think that's very important which leads me to like okay so if you have a very tight budget what do you do and I think it's important that you you know are reaching out to um to Partnerships and reaching out to foundations and philanthropic organizations I've had the opportunity to work with some amazing philanthropic organizations and I think that's something I could bring to the district those Partnerships those experiences that grant funding um because it's really important and when you have a tight budget and you have kids that have unmet needs how are you going to get there and then is a part that's something I work very hard to make sure that we have an answer to those unanswered questions and grants is something that you know I approach every Grant application there's a lot of Grants desie puts out a lot of Grants but there's two parts of the grant process you have to have somebody that's like willing to do the work and then it has to be sustainable like what happens and sometimes you lose sight of that like what happens after the money goes away well you have somebody who has a job and that person is impacted by your decision so being very thoughtful in that process on which grants you go for and how they impact the budget later on so I think that's also really important so you know while grants are good for some things I think when you think about grants for personnel it becomes a lot trickier or if you have grants that support programming and the programming is going great and you're like great but the grant is over and now we l this program and it's gone it's like feels like a little bit of a rug pole for people so I think we have to be very intentional about you know how we shape the budget I think would you lean into philanthropic organizations Community Partnerships Community foundations I saw that you elf Pro like it's amazing it is so exciting and how so how do you leverage those Community Partnerships to to to get get what you need in East Hampton and to make sure that kids are benefitting so um I think that's I think approaching the budget transparency but being creative too and I think it's important you know just some of the budget items thinking about deeply special education programming and the cost of special education programming Transportation are all areas that you really need to be Innovative and talking to um Dr Lively and the central office team we know that we have some kids that are going to have some needs so how do we work with other communities potentially to create create like programming that addresses students specific needs but if you're engaging with Northampton or Holio or how do we come together is communities to pull resources to open a classroom to to make sure that we have those so being Innovative and having relationships with other communities is important and you know throughout my experience I've been able to H build great relationships with other community members and I think that's some a strength that I bring to the table is those Partnerships you know I'm coming from a large District so you know bringing bringing those relationships and you know just knowing that you know along the way you've met and made these connections with other people and their positive connections that you can leverage as the superintendent and it it helps it makes a difference does any have a follow up I almost did but then you answered it I would love to hear more about how you um do the uh you said you present the budget the community and then parents were providing feedback and input on it um I would love to hear more about how you do that so we we do publish it on our website um we have a we have a survey that you know is open-ended and you know people give feedback and they do they that's one of our higher levels of interest because they're taxpayers dollars right tied to that and people are like how are you spending my money and I want to know how you're spending it um and then we do focus groups so we have parents come in we talk about the budget we talk about our priorities and we have um even staff and students come in and we go over like here's how we're spending the majority of our money for the upcoming year how does this feel and I think it's you know when you keep it very simple you keep you know you're really just soliciting feedback to help shape that process thank you that sounds great I love that idea if you know I have a piece a question that's been kind of floating to me at every one of these questions and I'm just going to ask it because I'm just curious and I I have a feeling too that I think um I have a feeling I bet a lot of community members would ask you the same question if they had the opportunity um you're coming from Springfield Public Schools and you've been there for the majority of your career which is the third largest school district in the state um I would love to hear you just talk for a few minutes about why East Hampton that and I think I've gotten teases of it when you talk about that individualized Focus but I don't want to speculate I would love to just hear your thoughts it's a great question and somebody asked me that today and I think I think it is something like all right there's 70 schools 24,000 kids okay um but I you you did nail it and I you know I think you know you're trying to meet so many needs in such a large community and I work really really hard and for me it's you know I I feel like I want to see the fruits of my labor and in a in a large District while you're making you know incremental change it it is hard to see you know sort of the the positive impact that you have and I think when you're talking about a small tight-knit community you can see the impact of your work and you know just going around with superintendent today and having the kids like hi superintendent oh I'm over here oh are you going to have lunch with us and I was I was like oh that's so amazing and to feel that sense of community and even after leaving the screening interview I was like that felt really good and that didn't feel like an interview that felt like a place where I can be me and my authentic self and I think sometimes it's great to be in a place where people know you and know how you operate and how what drives you and motivates you in in a small tight-knit community and people can feel like they can pick up the phone and I do miss those close relationships you know coming from a school I had amazing relationships with teachers and I I had a team and it was us it was us against everybody and I've loved that and that's where I really felt like I was with people who had my back who supported me who we were all working together and that feels good and then you go to you know central office and it's just like one steep you know one step removed you know 33 elementary schools it's hard to get around it and I love engaging with people I love engaging with kids and it's hard to not know a kid's name for me like I like oh I wish I remembered your name I wish I could call your name out right now when I saw you in the hallway so that personal connection with people is something that I would really love to get back to yeah I mean you hit on it you mentioned the 100% graduation rate and I think we are a committee and in a community that feels like anything less than that is a failure like we're not going to be satisfied until and that's across the Spectrum that's our special ed students that's our El students that's expansion of preschool or every kid every family wants their kid in preschool we want that kid in preschool every every kid a path to graduate you know absolutely anyone else um we would love if you have any closing statements we'd love to hear your thoughts this was a pleasure and um yeah go right ahead I think you you did sum it up a little bit I've been in Springfield for 20 years and I mentioned this at my screen this is the first time I've interviewed ever outside of my district ever ever ever so for me it was when I went to my screening interview I was like I hav't interviewed I think since I was 23 like for a job outside of Springfield so um I think that speaks to my commitment and my intentionality and what I choose to do I will engage in work that fulfills me that feels like it fits for me and I'm not going to in I'm not going to do anything that doesn't bring me joy or that I feel confident that I can do so I think you know I really want you to know that I take commitment very seriously I'm very very hardworking individual and you know just going through the schools I see myself here I see myself as part of the community I feel like you know I could spend a long time here and it felt very good to be part of um smiling faces and being brought around and people like nice to meet you oh it's great to meet other people and I mentioned before um I have four stepchildren and I've spent like decades on soccer Sidelines lacrosse football dance Sidelines cheering my kids on and you know I think that Rita Pearson if anybody has a TED Talk Rita Pearson every kid needs a champion like that is me I I am a Rita Pearson fan and I believe that and when you feel like you have somebody cheering you on from the sidelines who is invested in your success I think that's where it just becomes so powerful in those Rel relationships matter and you know I I am that person cheering people on on the side and I would love to bring my skills gifts talents to East Hampton to cheer on everybody be part of you know all of the amazing things that are happening after school before school during school being visible the kids are they are going to hold you accountable for being present in the school and I loved that because accountability also matters to me and I'm true to through my word and if they want to see me I want to see them and I think it's great when you know we're empowering kids to feel like they're part of something and that they're willing to hold the superintendent accountable too I I was like I'm here for this this feels very good um and I think again I mentioned you know the values that I hold very much align with the values of this community inclusion equity and that sense of belonging and I I think but um I'm excited about the possibility to be part of the next successful chapter Bravo thank you so much for the cameras uh a motion to adjourn please oh wait you know what before we do that let me just a quick note to the public for the four people who might watch this in in its entirety I hope it's more than that um we will be convening at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday December 7 we expect the first 30 minutes to be a lot of boring housekeeping and then we are going to recess if we finish that up early because at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday the 17th we will open up the public speak uh related to the superintendent search we would love to hear the Public's comments you can email us ahead of time you can show up in person you can attend remotely and offer your thoughts following that public speak uh we will then move into our public conversation and deliberations and and uh my intention is to adjourn that meeting by 9:00 p.m. so we will either have a decision that evening by 9:00 p.m. or we will conclude at 9:00 p.m. and reconvene the following day 6: p.m. on Wednesday the 18th so stay tuned motion to adjourn please U motion to adjourn thank you Sam second second thank you Eric all those in favor I oppos exensions motion carries good evening and thank you so much this government meeting is brought to you by eastw works and our local cable subscribers