##VIDEO ID:s6JEPtu5Szo## it being six Thursday on T excuse being 6:30 on Tuesday October 15th uh hereby call the meeting of the garden school committee to order and ask the clerk to please call the role okay Rachel Cormier present an pres frer present Shannon Leon present Jennifer pavin pres Robert schz Mayor Michael Nicholson pres Mark pelo superintendent presid Nora Morris student re pres and Dr and Jo West are here thank you very much please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance iedge ALG to the flag of the United States of America to the stands Nation God indivisible Li and justice for all the first item on our agenda is Item B open time for the general public is there anyone here from the general public who wishes to be heard seeing none moving on to item C recognitions by the superintendent Dr pelo yours well I would like to um introduce Nora Morris um Norah is a senior for at at the high school she's the class I believe Treasurer and secretary for um uh the Leo club and you're also the president of no place for hate which has been around in Gardener Public Schools um for about four years now would you say right so we welcome Norah as the student representative [Applause] welcome I'll just throw out there that I sat in that seat when I was a senior in high school so it's a good seat to be in looking forward to seeing what you do next uh and it's really neat that Massachusetts requires by law that we have a student on the school committee to get that student perspective and I think it's really important so welcome aboard and happy to have you with us thank you uh item D the consent agenda this was included in your packet with information is there a motion on the floor move is there a second motion made by Mr Schwarz seconded by m Bo Leighton to adopt the consent agenda as presented is there any discussion on the motion seeing none we'll put the matter to a vote all those in favor say I I oppose nay motion carries item e subcommittee reports beginning with the finance subcommittee Mr lefr thank you the uh subcommittee met on October 9th um the committee reviewed the expense report general questions were asked and answered with various line items uh Mr hark noted that the garden High School sub uh substitute line was already in the negative um you know Miss pen asked about the deficit and if there was any specific reason um and basically the there was a uh maternity leave I believe and there was two other leave I think uh that sick so there was just a lot of uh uh needed coverage there and not only that we we probably had it um not enough in uh on that line item for the budget and we will be uh increasing that uh next time around when we do the budget we'll increase that line and make it more realistic um but I think that's going to level off I think uh soon once the maternity leaves over and a few others that were sick are back um let's see Mr Hawk noted uh movement in positions since the budget was created um and Miss vicory moves the funds in salary lines to reflect the movements uh again that'll show negatives in one spot already and uh so we end up moving the money around as those positions uh get moved around uh Mr AR noted that the elll teacher line was negative but we are charging uh 20,000 plus each month to the uh $104 a day uh immigrant funding from the state this line uh item should become a positive in about 3 months um and let's see also Mr AR noted that the new fence at Watkins field Watkins field is near the facility sh uh the field uh the fence near the facility shed was installed um and included a gate uh for the facility's vehicles that was completed and also the garden High School uh HVAC project is nearly uh to the end at the end and we're waiting on uh the fabrication and installation of a catwalk um and then a few punch list items um before returning in the summer uh for the final electrical work um and that was it thank you very much any questions commment concerns on that report from the finance subcommittee thank you Mr chairman moving on to the policy subcommittee Miss Hurst um we met on uh September 11th um did several policies that um we just marked as reviewed um we have um six tonight for first stre and 11 for second read those policies will be on the agenda coming up shortly is there any questions comments concerns for that rep report from the policy subcommittee thank you madam chair moving on to item F student Advisory Board uh nor the floor is yours thank you um our September well cut winners were Erica ly Yani Le Leona Hudson and Allison Clark they were chosen for representing our core Val values which are Community appreciation responsibility and Excellence the Junior and seniors are tied for the best monthly attendance for September and all the students were awarded a prize our early college program is also a great start with 98 Juniors and seniors participating in the program we also have 20 students participating in the new MVP program with monite tech which is going very well 10 students are in the carpentry program and 10 students are in the electrical program students go to monitech for their vocation weeks and take their academic classes with us um we're also having 15 students take Taking Automotive classes at Mount wus Community College and the 8th grade Orient ation on September 28th went very well with a large turnout 8th grade students were welcomed into the high school and were able to get some great information to start off the year and they got to meet with their teachers and also got tours of the building we held our annual open house on September 17th to a small crowd then smaller crowd than usual but families did get to attend and were able to meet their students teachers and check out all the great stuff Gardner has to offer and on September 18th we hold we held our annual safety assembly for all our students which with our Garner Police Department students were able were presented with the information run hide fight a safety drill will be scheduled at some point during the school year for practice the All City band night was held on September 27th at a very full Walkin field to a large crowd of spect Spectators our fall Athletic program is off to a great start again this year the fall teams are working very working very hard winning games and meeting and meets meets and representing the high school well the new ghs cell cell phone policy is going extremely well students have been turning in their cell phones at the start of class and are able to focus on their academics better and the teachers have also been doing a great job supporting this initiative and from my perspective it's been going well at first it was a little tricky cuz everyone had to turn in their phones and we weren't really used to that but over time you know it's just become second nature which I think if we keep implementing this policy it should be so that is all thank you very much any questions comments concerns for M moris all right thank you very much looking forward to your reports from here on out uh moving on to the next item in our agenda agenda item G new business item number 3642 policies for first reading these are included in your packet for information for vote at the next meeting uh policy J IA student dress code jjd athletic policy jjf Student Activities account jjif head injuries and concussions in extracurricular athletic activities JK student conduct and jka AA physical restraint policies and procedures these will uh for information this meeting and voted on at the next meeting correct M right thank you uh next item number 3643 second reading of policies uh policy a c non-discrimination policy bhe the use of electronic messaging by school committee members ehaa District security relating to technology uh ehb data and records retention J GBE Personnel use of Technology i j n DB acceptable use of Technology JJ oae field trip approval form wow i j n DD policy on staff use of social media jih searches and interrogations KD CB districtwide and social District website and social media kdd news media relations news releases Mrs Hurst um out of all those ones that you just read so eloquently thank you we have six that are for adoption so I'm going to do that in two separate motions right we have ehaa just District security relating to technology ehb data and records retention GBE personal use of Technology jnd policy on staff use of social media kcb District website and social media kdd news media relationship news releases so I make a motion that um we adopt those six policies please I'll second motion made by Mrs H second by attorney pen to adopt these policies these are new policies that are not being amended these are new is there any discussion on that motion hearing none will'll put the matter to a vote all those in favor say I I oppos nay motion carries Mrs Hurst okay then for second meing we have AC non-discrimination policy bhe use of electronic messaging by school committee members um IG NDB acceptable use of Technology JJ oa- field trip approval form and jih um searches and interrogations um I make a motion that to approve these five policies as brought forth by the committee motion made by Mr second by m w Leighton to adopt these policies as amended and presented in in the packet is there a discussion on the motion hearing none all in favor say I I oppose nay motion carries item number 3644 superintendent goals attorney P I'll make a motion to approve the goals as presented second motion made by attorney Blen seconded by Mr lrer to approve the superintendent's goals as presented is there any discussion on that motion um I just want to note that the superintendent had gone over them last meeting or so we're just voting on them tonight is there any further discussion on that motion the information was presented last meeting all those in favor say I I oppose nay motion carries item number 3645 District Improvement plan um actually uh Dr Goen went over this last time as well um this is your packet again continuing um a lot of the work we're doing focused on rigor in the classroom um um really structuring um common planning time to make sure that we're doing the best we can for our students learning but also being very supportive in the classroom having focused on our mtss for both social emotional learning behaviors and academics so um that's pretty much what our plan is and it's still going in the I believe right direction our outcomes seem to be getting better each year um I'll make a motion to approve the the Improvement plan second motion made by attorney P second by Miss Hurst to approve the district Improvement plan as presented at a previous meeting is there any discussion on that motion I'll second that it's s been second um all those in favor say I I oppose nay motion carries item number 3646 curriculum coordinator update this was included in your packet for information is there any questions comments concerns thank you Dr Goen item number 3647 director of multilingual Learners the this update was included in your packet for information is there any discussion on that update just that the numbers are not saying staggering in a bad way but the increase I think um just in the last 90 days of the number of students and just um kudos to the the team the elll team in the district for keeping up with it and for keeping these kids serviced any other comments questions concerns thank you Dr Simpson item number 3648 Grant administrators update this was included in your packet for information is there any questions comments concerns on this update thank you director done item number 3649 special education update this was included in your packet for information is there any questions comments concerns on this update thank you director West item number number 3650 special education parents advisory Council update this was included in your packet for information Mrs Hurst do you have any oh it was in Miss West report oh it's in Miss West it was included in Miss West report you are right is there any questions comments concerns on this update um I was just going to note just to reiterate it that um there's the first meeting is being held um Thursday from 6:00 to 7: virtually so just a reminder folks excellent any other questions comments concerns moving on to item H Communications Dr P um just a few things that I want to mention I'm really excited um we had our welcome back events um which are um somewhat new we had open houses before but now we also have the welcome back events before school starts for many of the schools um and it went really well very well attended very good feedback from um parents and uh as well as staff so I was really excited to to have that kickoff I think we're going to do some tweaks um um as Norah had mentioned the high school had low attendance so I think they're going to try to figure out do how how they're going to do something differently to make sure we're reaching our families um also I want to mention um we just um I say we um uh director West um Amber Gman who's our director of mtss and I went to Chicago we were asked to go to Chicago to speak again at a few of our put on a few workshops um at the uh International Conference on PB is and it was just phenomenal some of the things that we took back were great but honestly um being able to to speak and to network at some of these things we really got some made some great connections and um really showed what Garden is all about um I have to say amber did um a session on Friday which was the last day of the conference the last session of the conference and it was um packed the the the all all the seats were taken there was standing room only um and it's just it's just a really great conference for us to go to but it's wonderful to be invited and recognized each year for the work that we're doing here in Garder and it's an International Conference um also I'm thrilled at with the high school and the middle school um with the c in in the alternative school with the cell phone policies it really comes down to you know teachers really supporting kids and making sure they're focused on this that's what makes this work and then administrators who back up the teachers starting out the year like that was just a phenomenal just phenomenal parents have been on board wholeheartedly with this um because I think we all recognize the distraction that cell phones cause sometimes even school committee meetings but I think it's really I think this has been a great policy and it's really dropped the numbers of um um office discipline referrals at the high school they're down 75% um since um uh compared with last year at this time so it's things are going very well there um and again just the focus on curriculum you know walking we've already done some walkthroughs of common planning times and of course we're going in classrooms and some of the things that we've implemented are already taking hold our teachers are working really hard in those common planning times to plan and then they're implementing it in the classroom so we're already seeing things improve so we're very excited about this year um and I'm just really excited Sports went off really well um the um the uh homecoming homecoming I was going to say open house I open house I get out of my head uh the homecoming went really well and I'm I'm just really thrilled with the start of the whole school year that's all I have to say thank you very much any questions comment concerns moving on to item I final comments of the school committee is word lighton thanks um just to echo on the cell phone policy as a teacher and the parent of an eighth grader thank you thank you so much uh principles teachers if you're hearing this um and students for cooperating and taking this seriously um it is it's just it's I I'm not going to get on a soap box about it I teach high school so um that's all um but um I have kind of a bigger thing that I wanted to bring to the comments for today and it's concerning question two which is coming up um on November 5th up for a vote and this is to to remove mcast as a graduation requirement for Massachusetts students and there's um there's so much information out there and I'm just saying this because the more you say it the more people know but these are downstairs in City Hall if you want one it has the full um uh proposal for it so if you haven't gotten one of these in the mail people I don't know where the cameras are but um if you haven't got one of these get one make sure you're informed about because this is going to deeply affect education in Massachusetts if it passes um I wanted to I could I could sit here and like regurgitate the statistics and stuff but I wanted to share something a little more personal um as I mentioned I do teach high school I'm currently an academic coach right now at caer school in Fitchburg and this was my f these past two years have been has been my first time teaching High School since I was 22 which is a minute ago and uh so um we're going to call this student um Samantha because that's my sister's name just letting you know no real names are being used here but um this is a real story about a student who is being impacted by this right now um Samantha is a junior now Samantha took the physics Ela and geometry mcast last year and in the middle of this um past September uh she found out that she did did not pass the ELA and the math mcast um what she now has to do is suspend all of her work in her current math and Ela classes just this is the way we're having to do it right now to get tutored in a subject that they haven't done since May Junes um as far as geometry and for ELA the retake is November 6th so the student found out that they did not pass a graduation requirement test and they have to retake it November 6th with in addition to trying to manage their other classes for their junior year um in addition they have to retake the geometry mcast in April I believe I think it's in April almost a full year after they've taken the course so they have to suspend what they're doing I think they're in um Cal calculus right now actually um because of the test and if they don't pass it this junior year they have to retake it their senior year and if they don't pass it their senior year it doesn't matter whether or not they have gotten all A's if they have completed their coursework their gpas they will not get a diploma because of the test the mcass is it has value as a piece of the puzzle and I think that any I mean we talk about data here we use data to make informed decisions as a school school committee and as teachers um but it cannot be and again this is my opinion as a teacher it cannot be the only factor in our students moving forward with their lives and that's again this is opinion um I if you are not informed about this or if you haven't really looked at it and you have children grandchildren nieces nephews and stuff who are going to be affected by this just take a look at it make sure that you know what your what you might be voting for going in um and like I said like the the main the big points is truly a student's GPA teacher assessments and coursework alone will not allow the student to graduate if they don't pass these tests if we replace the mcast with something more comprehensive that takes these things into account if we really lean into the Frameworks and the standards that Massachusetts already has in place that are really wonderful we are we are in the top of the nation for a reason we are I think we are the most at the top in the nation um if we can do that and we can really start to begin to regain trust in the communities and in the schools and in the work that we're doing together the students are it's going to be less stressful for them but it's also going to be better for them because they're going to have a c cumulative right right yeah cumulative look at their success rather than just if you don't pass this one test you don't you don't graduate um so uh that's that's my little my little Soap Box moment and um I want to uh thank um David tibo Munos right I said it right okay andelle um his daughter shelle for coming um David has been working on the uh vote Yes on two campaign and um I I'm very thankful that you took the time to speak with me and aelle as well to um get me a little more informed and to kind of give me a little bit of the courage to get up here too and kind of speak my mind um so thank you get informed um and vote for everything on November 5th but um that's my Spiel thank you thank you so much thank you Miss word camera's right there thank you all right up people thanks thanks Mrs HST I just wanted to thank Norah for coming on board here I think it's really important for um you know the student ra and for them to have a voice and for us to hear what they have to say and what's important to them and uh I really appreciate her taking the time to be here thank you um I just wanted to mention in regards to the cell phone policy that it's not just in Garder that this is being implemented I believe probably almost every District across the state has tried in some form to do do something this year um because I think all the data just points to the fact that it is it's causing a lot of disruption and um I think from what I heard from my son as the first week of school was a little rough but then after that the kids just started to realize what they needed to do and start you know the expectation was set and this is what they have to do and I think it's a good idea and I think it also helps to allow the kids to separate from their phone and be okay with that because I think we all get a little too attached to our devices at times um and I also want to thank Nora thank you for coming and presenting tonight and welcome than nor do you have anything you'd like to say um just a little bit about the phone policy and I think everyone what everyone said was uh very accurate and very true um this is really the only way that we can really like get our education straight and have everyone doing the best to their ability without that distraction because last year I was a teacher for 8ighth grade and I know how hard it was really telling people please put your phone down and then they would be like oh just help me do my work but this year I'm also going to be continuing that and I'm really excited to see how it is compared last year when we did have our phones and it was like a choice obviously teachers told us to put away but some students chose not to but this year when we have the rule implemented to see how the students are the difference I'm really observant and I love to just notice those differences and yeah um also my old school that I was at before I moved to Gardner is also doing the phone policy with um collecting the phones before class and then giving it after class and I've been hearing a lot of stuff so it's really cool to compare and contrast um what's happening in our district and what's happening in the other side of Massachusetts so it's really nice thank you thank you Mr Schwarz November 5th is coming it's going to be a close race everybody needs to vote every vote counts I've heard stories a lot of stories about I'm not going to get involved I don't like either one of them but you got to vote if you don't vote you don't have a say on the outcome early voting starts the 19th of the month through to uh November 1st everyone received uh a mailin application if you want don't want to vote in person vote by mail it's important that everybody votes thank you thank you Mr I just want to welcome Nora thank you and uh that's it thank you thank you Mr cor I want to welcome Nora as well it's one of my favorite parts of being on school committee is getting to know the students every year I really appreciate you taking your time I know you're very busy with all your activities but it's nice to see you here and I look forward to getting to know you through the year um I know everybody else has touched on the cell phone policy but I just wanted to reiterate that as well um having a child at the high school I know how hard it is and how distracting it is to have that phone um I also know as a parent how easy it was to text her whenever I thought of something I wanted to say and it's it's reworked my mind of oh no we can wait till 2:35 to say that um but I also want to commend the staff and the admin and the teachers and everybody for taking on that task because I'm sure it was daunting to have to deal with students and parents who maybe weren't as happy with it but to put everybody um in the same level of concentration I think is very important and it's a distraction they don't need to have during the day thank you I just again Nora welcome to the school committe looking forward to having you with us uh throughout the course of the year um I guess congrats to the cats all around with the uh sports teams and how we've been doing across the board with you know I mean I was at the homecoming game with a couple of the city officials and was blown away by the not just the people in the crowd or the team's performance which were both great but the amount of spirit that was in the stands too it was just U it's neat to see the school culture being as positive in a way as it is uh and seeing how that's carried throughout just not the high school at that one event but all the times I visited the other schools in there so uh thank you to our teachers staff and administration everyone who's been involved in making that happen uh it's great to see City Hall connected with the schools again with the homecoming dance that was here uh this past week uh with I haven't seen Perry auditori that full I think ever so that was great to see that many students involved and we'll have the fall play here at Perry Auditorium in a couple weeks too for the high school uh so because the auditorium is still under renovation so if you're looking for the fall Play It's At This Auditorium don't go to the high school or you're going to run into a bunch of scaffolding um a couple of our students in our early college program met with representatives lotnik and I last week uh through their membership in the United Way youth Venture about uh talking about new initiatives and programming that they uh wanted to put together and I was actually really impressed how thorough their Pres presentation was and uh what's you know their ideas are where they'd like to see the city move forward in the future so it's nice to see our students getting involved in that way and uh just to Echo what Mr schwar said earlier so early voting does start on uh October 19th uh the early voting polling location is in Perry Auditorium uh and then we'll break out to the five different locations for the Ws on Election Day itself but early voting will only be in Perry Auditorium or by mail so don't go to the Elks and think that you can vote before election day um if you want to vote before election day for early voting it's in per Auditorium and then the five different WS will be at their regular spots uh on Election Day itself and then voting by mail is already live uh so you can do that now the uh specimen ballots are posted in the city hall hallway in front of the clerk's office and that's all I have for this evening there are no executive sessions this evening is there a motion to adjourn so moved motion made by Mr Schwarz second by attorney pen to adjourn all those in favor say I oppose nay motion carries thank you all very much see you next month e