okay good morning everyone it is Wednesday July 2 and this is the July business meeting for the Hatfield school committee um the beauty of this is all of our names are posted so our digital recording um will be able to B greats yay um so there is no um no minutes to approve on today's agenda but we start out with public comment we have one guest with us is there anyone who would like to make a public comment today see none we will move straight into an abbreviated administrative report so Dr Driscoll the floor is yours sure so uh we have two uh parts of our administrative report today uh two updates the first is an enrollment update and the second is a hiring update um so our enrollment data right now um we have have two updates we have the um school choice numbers so new school choice students for next year this includes all students who have been accepted and committed to coming to Hatfield public schools for next year um currently we are at 27 that's down three from where we were before we had a few stud students who after they had committed decided to go elsewhere so right now for school choice students new school choice students for next year we have nine in kindergarten Four in first grade one in third grade two in fourth grade five in fifth grade three in sixth grade one in seventh grade and two in eighth grade um so we had a couple other students who were in the upper upper grades uh actually one one family um of multiple stud students who had decided to go elsewhere um so we're still continuing to work on that we have um one advertising push going right now we'll have another one um starting shortly at the beginning of August um that'll be both uh radio as well as social media advertisement we're also looking at advertising in local um malls the Hampshire mall and the hoolio mall as well and some of the things we've seen down there um the other enrollment update as I have today is projected uh class numbers for each grade for next year um so and this this includes the incoming school choice students uh everyone who we know of who may be leaving the district for for any reason as well as people who have I mean chosen as well as who have have moved out move moved elsewhere um so prek right now we have 18 projected students kindergarten 25 first grade 33 second grade 23 third grade 21 fourth grade 28 fifth grade 28 sixth grade we have 27 so at the elementary school that's a total of 203 projected um right now for next year uh at Smith Academy in seventh grade we have 18 students in 8th grade we have 33 students in nth grade we have nine projected students 10th grade we have 17 11th grade 20 and 12th grade 19 uh which is a total projected enrollment right now of 116 students so um as I said we are we are still pushing for getting more students uh hopefully we we will we really love to see um those numbers go up in the in the high school specifically in ninth grade which right now is very low Connor how do those numbers compare to last year's enrollment numbers uh the the the big discrep the big difference is ninth grade right now uh we we had a fairly small eighth grade class last year we had a number of students who opted to go uh to evoke schools those included um you know a relatively small number of Hatfield residents but a significant number of our school choice students uh from last grades eight from last year's 8th grade also chose to go um to vog schools as well uh so a number of students to Bo school Westfield uh Greenfield or um sorry um um Franklin County that's those V schools as well but overall up or overall down overall overall down slightly really really though the the the the ninth grade classes is what's kind of bringing that that total number down the other the other grade levels are pretty comparable to last year how many students were in ninth grade last year do we know um must have been around 17 yeah I want to say I want to say it was it was around 17 I I would have to I I could go back into the database and check I have to just switch years to to go back I think it was is around 17 how how many in that class in 8th grade however Connor so that class was already small do you know you know if I I may have an easier way of doing this but I can you can give me a second there there's a yearbook right outside and I can tell you exactly exactly how of course without switching over the database so give me just one quick second I think I might have that spreadsheet up as well so so I I know looking at the Historical numbers and I I would need to go back and do to do more work on it to to give a lot of accuracy but the impression that it left me with was anytime we had a smaller class we actually lost obviously when you lose a number of them you it's a higher percentage because it's a smaller starting base but the likelihood to lose seemed higher so big classes seem to hold together really small classes had a much um larger issue of having a lot of voke students or kids that are leaving for Charters or whatnot and I I mean always ninth grade is the biggest hiccup spot yeah um so last year's nth grade we had 18 students in it uh next year is projected at 17 um last year's eighth grade class had 20 students uh 20 students in it and um that's where we saw the biggest the biggest drop for sure looking at our Desi numbers for last year it shows us down three overall down 10 at the high school and up seven at the elementary school okay down how many total was that again Adam three so relatively flat but boy howdy that ninth grade class is a is a hit um do we know how many local residents we we lost um and I think I'm really particularly interested at the Elementary School Melissa do you know I I don't have those numbers uh right in front of me now the total for the elementary school is 15 residents oh I'm sorry not residents that was total students um I'd have to double check that okay so hes lost 15 total but has more than made up for that with new Choice kids okay okay um committee any other questions okay and uh how about the hiring update all right so hiring update um we'll do this in a in a few different uh kind of um routes here we we'll start with new hires uh then we'll go to resignations vacant current vacancies that we still have and then any kind of internal moves or transfers that we have have um requests that we have honored uh so districtwide uh we have John cardos uh who is our new director of student services who uh couldn't be here today um but has started on July 1 uh we uh hired Rachel ATO uh she's going to be our library technician working at both schools so she's going to be spending part of the day here at the high school and then part of the day at the elementary school as well um to to work in those libraries uh at Smith Academy we have hired Blair Shields as an ESP an education support professional uh and um officially now uh Gail Pitman as an English teacher they were with us uh this past year as a long-term sub when Jason dunan moved into the uh de of student support position um and they are uh we we offer them the position up they did a nice job for us um at Hatfield Elementary School we have hired Kim Shippy Hicks as a special education teacher for our younger younger students uh Beth salua uh as an ESP Hannah porier as an ESP and Khloe Morgan as an RBT ESP at the elementary school uh Khloe Morgan W uh also had worked in our kitchen uh as as our part of our kitchen staff prior to that and wanted to become more involved in the schools we're happy to happy to support her in that um resignations we've had a few uh recently so Jess Jessica Callahan uh was an ESP here at Smith Academy um and has moved out of state uh Anna klaki uh was an ESP at the elementary school and has moved on Kristen PLU was a music teacher at the elementary school uh and Sarah Woodard was a read uh reading teacher at the elementary school and they have have moved moved on as well Uh current vacancies right now we have one ESP position at Smith Academy um based on student need that we are um interviewing for this week so those interviews are scheduled for tomorrow actually uh we have a uh music teacher at Hatfield Elementary School um and uh that um there are interviews scheduled and and that have happened for that uh we have a special education teacher for the star program at the elementary school schol and at the up and another special education teacher opening at the upper level um for the Elementary School uh there have been interviews for the for that for that upper level uh special ed teacher position uh those are completed and and we're checking references on those uh we also have three ESP positions we're still looking to fill at the elementary school so we're we're working on that um scheduling interviews and um we keep we're we're keeping promoting uh those vacancies as well um in terms of internal movement um right now we have uh our Amy Huds for has uh requested to move from first grade to second grade Tim Kyra uh from kindergarten to first grade uh Lisa Swanson from uh special education to first grade and uh Jody brush from preschool to kindergarten um so those are uh and sorry the there is one more um Leah Gardner uh was the full-time band band director here uh in music music teacher here and we'll now be doing a halftime here and halftime at the elementary school did I hear you say two first grade teachers Tim Kira and Lorie Swanson Lisa Swanson Lisa Swanson Lisa Swanson yeah yes y did Megan Wheeler leave us Megan year leave yeah she's on yep okay so all of our grades are covered it's just specials and support staff correct and coaching we have a anyone would like to coach our Middle School boys soccer team or jb/ Middle School boys soccer team we're still looking for a a coach as well okay can I go back to the um enrollment numbers for a question I'm sorry it didn't occur to me to ask regarding the grade nine is that group of nine students going to be taught as a group of nine students are they going to be split uh for two sessions of English and two sessions of math and there'll be there'll be primarily one class for all their core subjects the only time that they may be um really splitting is for some of their elective classes so if some students uh want to take an art elective that might be with other other grad as well or or band um where there it's you know High School band not just nth grade um those that would be the the case then foreign language too um but oftentimes the uh you know the the ninth grade class is able to um kind of merge with the um the eth grade class too when the schedule allows and if we were to get any more students for that grade how many more would it need to be that you would split them it would it would need to be a pretty significant number more um you know I I there's not I it's hard to give a a hard number without looking at you know the the students in the class the needs in the class but um you know 15 is usually 15 or 16 is usually a pretty good you know class size it's it allows for you know pretty individualized attention as well as um as well as you pretty pretty great group work and and good discussions with a group of that size so I would say you know that you know for for a single class that you know eight to to eight or nine of what we have you know that we that we're projecting up to that number would be good um so we we we' need a pretty significant influx okay good thank you does that grade affect our staffing needs at all it it doesn't specifically this year no because we've we've uh created the schedule in in such a way that allows for um teachers to be teaching kind of other electives or or in other other places where that one uh core class would have been are we losing any electives or any AP courses or anything because there's just not enough kids we're not no the only uh the only class that we um aren't running this year that was an AP was an AP Computer class because we didn't have students that were interested in it what's our degree of confidence on being able to fill the the openings I I think particularly in special ad the um I I can let Melissa speak to it a little bit the um the the challenge I think will be the star room um that that's a uh different certification level that's needed for that um for that placement and so we um we are are looking to fill that we've we've posted and reposted and advertised um so we'll keep we'll keep it that we've also been in communication with some other um other groups particularly the field Center about how you know they might be able to help support um if we're you know if if we are unable to fill it or if we need to partner with them in in other ways I had a candidate who interview I interviewed yesterday and I've already started calling references so fingers crossed that she's interested and I did forewarn her about our health insurance well better start right committee is there anything else you want to ask before we move on okay um so we're scheduled to talk about school choice seats specific to the sixth grade um Dr Driscoll sure so we have um uh a particular situation here which uh I've been been in touch with legal about um in terms of policy and changing and seeing if we can avoid this in the future and it really doesn't look like there's a good or um easy way to do it there should be but there just isn't so the situation we're in is we approved I believe three spots in sixth grade it was a a slightly bigger class um we had uh three app uh two applicants two or I three applicants um so we may have approved four spots I think we had we had four spots three applicants we then had a family move out of town a family with two students in the sixth grade moved out of town they would like to stay in Hatfield Public Schools um so they would have to apply for school choice so when they moved out that dropped our number our enrolled number down too right because they're you know that number is out but it didn't automatically open two more slots up for school choice um so I'm re I'm recommending that we open two more spots up to be able to accommodate those students who are already pfield students and have been for a long time to stay in in District they've already applied for school choice um so one has been accepted and one is on the wait list at the moment there are no others on the wait list for that grade correct no no and it would not change the number of students at all is this something that we can address in our school choice policy like can we create a priority slot for for students who move out to stay we we could do something like that possibly um I'd have to check I'd have to run that through legal what I what I was hoping we could do is just put something in the language that we would approve a certain number of spots or you know a number up until the until the the cap of whatever the grade level was reached um but but that they they can't when that can't won't work apparently do we have a policy on the books that speaks to students who leave and want to stay in District midy year yeah okay so that's a midyear policy if they move out say in January or February then um they you know they would stay through the end of the year then then reapply for school choice at the end of the year um but this it doesn't that policy doesn't it it doesn't apply to students whose family may move out in the summer months whose families might move out then okay and legal said there's no way to give priority so I mean we do give priority to family members right we didn't we didn't talk about priority when I asked him there that's something I could could absolutely run run by uh legal for if we if we were to do that um what I what I was thinking wanting to do is uh find a way that that the you know the number of slots would automatically more slots would automatically open if people moved out um because it wouldn't change the total number at all okay so I'm going to recommend that we break this conversation into two parts dealing for this very moment with this one particular grade which is scheduled for vote on our agenda and then we can have more conversation when we get to we're g we I mean we have a policy in front of us today to talk about some of this so um is there anyone who would like to make a motion about adding two seats to the school choice count for sixth grade Kathy's muted but I see a finger is it two spots or one because you said one student was accepted but the other was not one is on the waiting list but we lost a slot in process so we had two kids leave the grade yes yeah so is the recom recommendation to open two spots Connor I would recommend to open to open two spots just to keep the option open to keep that grade level at the same um the same size because if we open one spot um it still wouldn't change but it it would just potentially drop that number by by one in cap it one one less than we had um originally planned for all right then I'll make a motion to approve two open slots for the sixth grade for the coming year second any further discussion uh committee if you can um let's do a quick roll call just to make this super clear um so for those of you that are on mute here we go um bud I anybody that just jump in as you Engle heart IM I green I well bench ey okay so that's a 5 sorry next time we'll do a show of hands and I'll just call out what it was for the computer remember the digital note taking that's the that's the reason for some of this okay so we have two additional slots approved for for sixth grade and that solves that for now um next up I believe there's an interest in having a co-op for field hockey um for this coming year Connor yes we have two um uh two schools I'm just going to pull up my phone because I have a believe I have a text from uh Jason Duncan here y we have two schools that we're looking to C up with this year um to try to uh make sure we're able to field a a robust field hocket team and keep our program going um that's with Hadley Public Schools um so um with Hopkins Academy as well as with Smith vocational um so we've uh their schools are on board and willing and excited about it um and we're we're looking forward to it uh it would not impact our students abilties to play if we if we said yes it wouldn't like we would never we would never like cut someone from the team to give uh spots to folks who were um not from Smith Academy so so in case that was a concern transportation for the other two districts is on them it is on them yep yep they are responsible to get the their players here to practice into games and to the school before the games and then we would transport from here and they'll all be planes for Smith Academy as Falcons they'll all be Falcons yes that must burn Hopkins a little bit even if they're Eagles yeah and any additional costs from having a larger team is offset by the other District uniforms equipment stuff like that you know I'm not I'm not 100% sure how that works if they would order more more uniforms or not um but I know we have we have capacity right now with our current you know the the uniforms that we have that we've ordered we order for a team and the reality is if we you know if we don't have a co-op then we likely will not be able to field a team um and so that's you know we have enough we have enough uniforms for a team that we we would like to field our athletes pay a fee will these athletes pay the fee to us as well yes I believe they do okay is there motion to approve the field hockey Co-op which would allow both Hadley and Smith voke to join us in field hockey for this year so moved I'll second it okay Kathy did a first Becca did a second um by show of hands all that approve the field hockey Co-op that's a 0 vote go Falcons so thank you um so with that we're going to turn it over to the policy subcommittee we have two conversations today um the First on cell phones Miss bench okay so uh the policy I'm sorry it's a little loud here policy subcommittee took feedback from the last committee meeting and we did make some revisions um to our proposed policy um we also noted at our July 11 subcommittee meeting that none of us had received additional public feedback about the policy um no emails or other communication um since our last reading so the committee has available to them um two versions of policy jid student cell phones and portable electronic devices um one shows edits that we made and one is um a clean copy that reflects what it would look like if we Ved on it uh Kathy if you have anything to add not really uh we we really I think did our diligence on this one and tweaked and made it as best as we could for now uh I think we have the understanding that we'll look at this as the year progresses as we get feedback from teachers and administration uh before we think about any adjustments but as with all policies anything can be changed Connor what does enforcement of this policy look like for you so at the um High School level the secondary level Middle High School um it will likely look like um the they're called Yonder pouches they're pouches that um we we we will have um students can put their cell phones in at the beginning of the day um they as they come into building they they put them in they tap them and they secure them so the the pouches lock at the end of the day they can unlock them um to go outside I've spoken with a number of districts that have implemented and they've um they have had a lot of success with them um it sort of takes the takes the enforcement of the policy uh off of you know off the plate of of teachers um because it's you know just the expectation that you know students do that and if they don't do that then it's you know hey you know it's you know you know you know you're supposed to do it and and you didn't it makes it easier because it's not a you know you don't have it's not you're just not just asking kids to have it in their pocket in a way you're having having a a physical thing that it's locked into that they you know ensures that they can't access it um so it's easier to to to monitor so I've I've heard good things about them and I think that's that's likely the direction we'll be going in um because otherwise it's you know it's a a policy that's just kind of left up to each person to enforce at the um at at at his or her discretion which I think consistency with something like this is the key and what about are we getting those pouches through a grant I'm sorry Christie go ahead yes so great so those against this didn't have to spend any tax dollars there's a plus um Melissa what does this look like at the elementary school those pouches were Al actually also purchased for grades four through six here in the building as well so the Upper Floor will also have access to these pouches that we can ask students to put any of their devices in as well because historically what will tend typically tend to happen is that kids will go to their locker so they can check their phones so if we can do that for the upper grades as well that would be fantastic so we do have them for grades four through six if we need to get more for the younger grades we can but at this point I don't see it it's not as big of a concern for the younger grades at this point but if it became one we could potentially get more for the younger grades if need be how is this getting communicated to to staff in terms of what's expected for them for enforcement as well as are we um is there a plan to let families know about this I I understand it'll be in the handbook as well but um this is a bigger change than some so is there for that yes there there is so it's going to be communicated out when we make our um our handbook changes we will send a communication out to All Families um with with those changes highlighted as well as this new policy um we wanted to make sure that everything was approved first before we did that uh um you know just so there were no changes be you know between we wanted to do it in the right order um and so now if you know if this policy gets approved our handbook revisions can reflect it um more clearly and then those that can be communicated to students and parents the policy says that in the handbook it will give further details about confiscation and storage so what is the plan there for confiscation uh is it a staff member that brings it to the office or does an administrator come to the room it the depending on what the situation is uh it could be either of those um typically in I would say because it's um because it's less disruptive um a quick call to the office someone could go down and take the phone and bring it back to the office that way the students in class um doesn't doesn't miss things um if it becomes more of an issue then yeah it might be an office referral where a student would be required to bring the phone down to the office uh meet with the dean of student support and then um leave the phone in the office they can text all the way there so I have one edit request I think that's small uh while we're on this particular subject so there paragraph one two three 4 the new line um it talks about shall be stored the update said um by School Administration in the building central office would we want to make that instead read by School Administration in the school's main office I just want to make sure that the policy doesn't require Elementary phones to go to Smith Academy yeah I think that makes sense that was the intent it was at each building's central office I read maybe maybe I come up with a slightly different ver vernacular um I think of central office is the place where the superintendent sits so I agree I think it could even say each building's main office or in the school's main office or something like that it's a small tweak but just looking for clarity um and the other one was I had was a question um talking about for elementary students that they wouldn't be per permitted it says they wouldn't be permitted to use cell phones while on the bus do are they allowed the other electronic devices on the bus because in other parts of the policy it specifies cell phones versus other devices so I I'm asking a question of intent there I think generally we're not asking any to have any electronic devices on the bus we don't food all of those things are clearly articulated in the handbook as far as bus expectations so the fact that we've had complaints about kids accessing scary things uh videos and such um that they were sharing with a neighbor that they were sitting next to is part of the reason for wanting to Ure that the kids on the elementary are not using their phones during the ride but no other electronic devices have ever been allowed on the bus policy team was that intended to cover other places I think most places you've spelled out both that place you didn't spell out both so I think that was what I think for clarity we could add in uh cell phones and other electronic devices so we just consistent throughout the whole thing that that's a that that's fun I just don't want to have somebody come back and said well I could my switch didn't get included here so for those of us living with the pre- lawyers just all about closing the loopholes i i i GA I I appreciate knowing that the the subcommittee didn't hear any additional feedback um any other committee members hearing feedback about this I think there's been a little buzz anything you worth sharing today I had a random interaction with a rising senior who happened to be at the hospital um touring for a day and so I just took a moment to ask her hey have you heard that we're discussing a cell phone policy what are your thoughts and she kind of just indicated not super excited about it um but that was otherwise like from the community at large I've heard nothing about anybody else Administration are you getting feedback not not other than we've already had we did have a meeting with students um who you know kind of outlined their concerns and how they would like to have cell phones during specific times and um but again many of many of the concerns that they um many of the concerns that they brought up I think speak to some of the reasons that we like to like to make this change um because we we want to encourage more more face-to-face socialization more personal interactions more um Lively discussions you know more um more volume in some in some cases as as counterintuitive as that might might sound um you know I think that you know I think that's a a thing that may have been been lost a little bit recently I haven't heard any feedback from families other than like I said any kind of complaints that I've heard via the bus I haven't included students in conversations around changing or having a policy but I'm sure once they hear that there is one I will probably get lots of feedback from students that they're not happy about it however for the most part if they were accessing their phones it was generally because they were leaving class to use the bathroom and then stopped by their locker or it was the very end of the day as they were getting ready to walk out we'd see a lot of kids with their phones in front of their face so again it's not been as interruptive here but I could potentially see it becoming more interrupted so I think this is a good policy to have I would also um add an an encourage anyone on the committee who has has not is we we have offered a um a summer reading book to the community um to to teachers as well as community members and to the the committee um the the book is called the anxious generation and it's a a really fantastic uh sort of Deep dive into some of the effects that that um smartphones um in in particular but also uh social media have had on youth over the past you know 15 years or so um and it really takes a look at some of the the data in some of the studies and that have have and trends that have have come about and are are correlated with increased um uh use and and it goes significantly deeper than that but it's a it is a good read I think it's a worthwhile read um and we have plenty of copies here at the Smith Academy office that I would love to get into people's hands so please come pick one up if you'd like awesome um maybe you can make that offer when you put the notice out absolutely that might help and a reminder of what the phone number is because maybe people will need to remember that there is an alternative to reaching your student in the day um is there any additional convers from the committee about this policy before we put it up for a vote this is our third reading and so I think the interest is in passing this or not today Connor I have a question about um it's not part of this policy but as far as getting teachers and staff and even administrators to be you know good examples as well so that they are also not checking their cell phone throughout the day we're not asking this of our students we're demanding it at this point we are telling them this is how it's going to be yeah it'd be nice if we could you know walk that line as well yeah the expectation will be um you know professionalism um which includes not you know not not being on your phone when you're in front of students and when you're working with students um yeah I think the other thing I have thought about too is just and the pouches it sounds like we'll clar will help clear this up but is in consistent enforcement of the policy um because I think what would be a shame is if we pass this policy and then we have a mix of enforcement um which would be a horrible message so yeah I and I would agree with that and I think that that's part of the reason that uh we are looking at the the pouches is for that specific purposes um you know right now you have have the case where I mean there is a policy in place that says we people shouldn't be using cell phones um but it's the the the challenge is in the consistency uh and by having something that simple I think it it alleviates that um that challenge quite significantly any other conversation guys off she's ready to make a motion I am I'm ready to make the motion go for it I make a motion to approve policy jid with the two amendments uh that were suggested okay there a second second that motion okay um all approved raise show by raise of hand okay all opposed any extensions one exstension so this passes with a 40 one abstain and um I'll just let you folks know that I did uh type those edits in as they were discussed so um Connor I'll send over a clean version with the edits great thank you very much great awesome okay so policy continues back to school choice so sorry I had so many tabs open I'm off I'm off mute now um so yes the school choice policy so um back in I believe April we made some sort of shortterm amendments to policy jfbb which is our school choice policy um as a subcommittee we would like to make some more uh long-term adjustments to the policy just to sort of refine our process um make the policy more clear put us on a better timeline honestly um for um accepting school choice students and moving that forward so um the committee has um in front of them um both an edits and a clean copy we made some significant edits a lot of it was sort of rearranging but um some of it is uh a change in content so because of the number of changes we are recommending this as a first reading um because of our earlier vote today uh regarding the sixth grade I will say that subcommittee has actually talked about that exact scenario a number of times and um Dr Driscoll has been working with legal to try and see how we can write our policy to sort of reflect that scenario where we do have um a change in the base number of students in a class and how that would be addressed so um Kathy if you have anything to add uh I'm sure the committee would love to hear it but I'm interested in hearing feedback uh from committee members on what we have drafted okay so nothing additional so this is the first just sort of sharing in general the expectation first readings broad directional what do we think is the kind of feedback right now seing yes exactly Adam and amand in particular um the rolling admissions so as written as presented here or there's really no changes right so this still presents with accepting rolling admissions throughout the school year right so our current policy does not have a provision for Rolling admissions so we've kind of we voted a couple months ago you know what I mean we've done it in a series of committee votes but the policy wasn't really reflecting rolling admissions so that's one of the bigger changes so I was I've been given the impression from uh kind of from teachers that the ring admissions created a lot of hiccups this year and I don't know that I like the idea of continuing rolling in missions I'm just reading it over again and for some reason I keep not getting access to these documents so if anybody could give me access that would be great okay that's good to know if you can request access to those that will help too because then somebody will have an email I'm sure you have um in the access so folks when you set up shared files for Aman in particular I have asked the district to remove her old District email because I think it's confusing and so it may be that you're granting access to a defunct email account the old one I just put these in the folder for this meeting yeah that was supposed to be set so that she had access but if it's linked in that document that may have the problem so um so Aman I can see that you're on the policy update sheet when you go to link when you go to open those links are you still having an issue yeah you're not on there so I just shared the edited version with you so Connor we probably need just as a side note we probably need to do some text support I don't think that all of that got quite right um Aman you should have both of those my apologies can I jump in here again please so rolling admissions the Hatfield Public Schools will allow rolling applications for midyear School admission every school year based on spots currently available so that line is you know we can apply we'll take a student in September for they can join during the school year at any point during the school year if there's a slot available is what that implies right well in in item two it does say it does put a little time frame on it um because our intention was to sort of freeze rolling admissions when we're assessing in how many we're going to be taking for the whole school year does that make sense Y come in between after March before December yep so like from March after we've accepted everyone at the regular time until December when we start looking at the the numbers for the next year like over the summer or in early fall people would be able to apply through school choice and then that would freeze and you'd have to do the regular regular thing I mean I guess we didn't get many kids after March no and typically we typically we wouldn't so this is really about kids that would come in sept let me can I rephrase that we didn't get any kids many kids you know after March for the current year but several for the the next year right we're just rolling admissions is only talking about students that are that would come in that school year right so it's only like the beginning of the Fall where we could have someone's start in the middle of the school year really yeah our last applicant was in febru I mean the student last school choice was February we had a lot of people coming to in January but not it tapered off in February and February 26 was our last um school choice applicant so in speaking with I had had emailed Dr Bremner about this at one point and um asked what she taught about it and she you know recognizing that last year we kind of had a dysfunctional school choice admission basically because of you know waiting for the override before we could take school choice kids so we didn't get what we wanted so that's what we did what we did going into the winter um but she appreciates that like if if you get with school choice kids you get would you get and if you get have a kid coming in who has needs you really have no time to prep if you get a midyear um applicant and it seems unfair to the district and to that student to take them in ill prepared if they need additional support that we don't yet have if they need an ESP that we don't have ready to go if our teachers aren't prepared for them that's my concern about continuing rolling admissions yeah I would I would say that that is that is a concern and a valid concern too um and something that we have seen play out um in you know in in real time can we have conditions on students that do requires like if they're in special education or or need any extra services that they are have an application cut off or no no you can't you can't have any any restrictions whatsoever on um who can apply or you know you can't you can't make a different set of standards for students who are maybe on an IP versus not on an IP um I considering that takes longer to consider or have services for them yeah um that runs against the the it's not legal to do that um under the statute of for school choice right I just wanted to mention that it's um sort of outlined in item six at the very end of the policy that last part of the policy is really in line with just how the statute is written so the RO admissions really is for September October and November because we cut off December 1st and in those first three months of school it would seem to be not as disruptive as taking a student in January or February which this policy is now saying won't happen so we'll have a freeze for December January February and half of March and as uh both administrators have said we don't really get any new students after March 15 so the option also is there for them if they want to accept in March that they join us in the fall they don't have to join us for the end of the school year well I think we we have at least one Savvy family who didn't want to take the chance of the lottery and came in and became a school choice family at the very end of a year um they they were planning to um but then they then they were told that they they were they they did get into the school choice for the upcoming years they they didn't attend on the final day of school this year no which was that which had been their plan to do at the point that someone is that Savvy and wants to game this I'm like game the system like come for the last day go ahead yeah the only thing I would say to the the rolling emissions piece is that um you know it did it did allow us to increase our numbers a bit this year U that being said there I think once the school year starts you know I um the goal and the hope is that um you know August 20 well 26 when when staff starts is that all prep work is ready to go everything is set uh we have things in place that we need we have have the people in place and the the training set up that that they're going to need um and so you know it it the things do change I mean we could have we we could have someone move in um that that has uh fairly heavy IEP or or needs and we need to to accommodate that um but you know to to to set to set our schools and our teachers and our teams up for um the most success possible it you know it it may be worthwhile to consider you know that we have we have these school choice openings that we have have made available um we we know who we got kind of through the summer uh and and we've prepared for that um it may make sense to to say okay this is what we prepared for this is how we prepared for it uh and and and we are going to we are going to cut it off at a certain date um to you know to to really focus on stability and implementing those plans that we have prepared for and then those you know the um the you know just just putting those those things in place that we've already already considered U rather than keeping you know keeping the option open more than it already is for um for a large change to occur which which could have have Ripple effects across a school or a grade level or a district do you guys have the numbers on hand for the number of student school choice applicants that we got based on when they came in so how many how many do we get September through November how many did we get December January February and the first half of March just looking at sort of those couple of breaks of time I know we got new students in some of them were moved into the district some of them were choice so I would really be interested to see when all of that happened so that we could kind of get a feel for how many students are we really looking at based on this last year which is our one year of rolling admissions de yeah the this past year I don't have the I don't have the numbers right in front of me I can REM if if my memory serves me correctly which it it may not be correct but um I we had uh after so the the previous the previous deadline I believe was October 20th I want to say um would have been the date October 1 sorry that's when you could get credit for them from desie to get funding oh correct okay so the October 1st I believe this year we had one student start after that time um but that same student um uh went back to her previous school after um after a short time here um so the you know the that that didn't really affect us at Smith Academy that way I think there were more than that Haley had a couple join seventh grade mid year oh correct but but those students uh they were residents I believe they moved in or chose to come back okay and the elementary had a number of students come correct um correct mid year like December um even after that I think Melissa what have you got number wise so we started one of the things again because you've been asking and looking for this data we've been trying to highlight and put the dates of students when they actually arrived starting um in January we had um one family move in with two students into Hatfield on January 29th I have one student I into kindergarten that I'm not 100% sure on January 17th if he was a that they were a choice student or not we did have a family move into town Rel they again residence January 2nd we had a choice student in on February 26 um and another family came in oh and that was it so those are the ones that at least we started tracking as far as like putting down dates highlighting them on our CL our big list here um of students who have moved in so the choice numbers I want to say are was one and the students or possibly two and the rest other four or five were residents we did have a b actually that we did have a big influx of I'm sorry two more kids sorry they weren't highlighted um three of them actually came in in January also right after basically the winter break so there was a a handful of people that had toured in um November December and the families decided that it was a clean break after the Christmas vacation to start school so we had three different students choice in from Holio that came in um one set of siblings and one other that came in after the fact so at least five that came in right after January between that January and February 1 so so there were five choice and two new residents yes okay any insight about sort of that October November window no not that I can again s moving forward we are much we're going to make sure that anytime a student leaves or enters we have called a coding them onto our list so that we can answer that specific question and track that over time we just started doing that this year starting in January yeah so districtwide it sounds like it was sort of pretty even new residents coming versus adding choice at the elementary level that is correct well and particularly once we balance out the Smith Academy was almost all residents so if I can just take a minute to share what Dr Brer had emailed me this is from back on May 16th if that's okay with everyone um she said this is a balancing act as we are trying to grow enrollment in a perfect world we know about next year's students by early August so that we can plan higher if needed think about scheduling needs and meet with the previous district and parents any students that join from the week before school starts forward it is a reactive planning model not proactive which would also be true for anyone moving into the district or if they're placed here through DCF into foster care Etc um she's unsure if there's a model around a delayed start for a school choice acceptance so you know if we could accept them but give us two weeks give us four weeks to get our ducks in a row she's not sure if that is allowable or not um but she kind of was cautioning it's advisable I read that as it's advisable to have a good amount of leeway and if leeway isn't possible with rolling admissions throughout the school year then stop the admission process at some point in the summer so we can be well prepared so that we're setting up our students for Success so I think that's really worthwhile feedback thank you for sharing that um having the prep time it sounds like there were at least a big chunk of the school choice that came into the elementary school if they toured in the fall and they waited till after winter break they did give us that kind of not like they did give us that opportunity um to [Music] plan if in fact they shared if they had plans they shared them Etc what's the experience Administration in terms of if a students if a student that's coming to us or coming back to us has needs are we getting that information in a timely fashion that we can be proactive it really depends on the family and it's not always a guarantee so we have had students who we have heard might have some um some needs but it's not articulated until they step through the door that it's like oh and by the way so we we were have not always been privy to details that would have been incredibly helpful to have known previously before the student started that's not always the case when a family choices or student in sometimes there's not any kind of need they just come on in and everything looks great but then other times that's not always the case so it really depends on the transparency of the family yeah I would that they um you know they there is I mean legally what we what we require is the records request the records release um that gives us the the the you know the document to look at which isn't always um you know it's not the same as meeting someone it's not the same as talking through a plan with someone it's not the same as as um seeing what you know what a plan in one District might look like in place in our district there's a lot that goes into it um and and I would you know I would um I would agree with with Dr brener um that the report that that or recommendation that that she had share that um it can be difficult to plan and and the only thing I would add to that is because I did I did ask this is that um we can't if our policy is to accept rolling admissions um we can't put any delay that we we would want to put in I don't think we could we certainly couldn't put a you know a delayed start in specifically for students who had uh Ed plans we we absolutely couldn't you know couldn't say oh you know because of your your students iip we need a month to prepare or need two weeks to prepare before they can start um I don't believe we could do that I I don't think we could do that with everyone as a blanket statement oh you've applied you can start in 3 weeks um it's more likely we could do that than than just for students who might be onps but um we we we certainly couldn't couldn't make that restriction I don't think anybody would want us to to make any distinctions um Becca before I I'll hold it there I um yeah I just was hoping maybe Administration could uh clarify for me and maybe it doesn't matter if we can't do a delay anyway I know our student services director isn't here but we can't even have any of those sort of planning meetings or anything like that until a student is actually enrolled in our district correct correct like y we wouldn't even be able to have that discussion until they have committed and we have accepted them no that's correct and and and that would look that that would be a meeting that would be a team uh an IP team meeting typically uh which would happen within a you know a week or so after after a student started right and I think the only sort of thing that the you know Massachusetts law says about those team meetings in regards to school choice is what is at the end of our policy correct yeah I mean it's essentially a transition meeting that a student a team would have at the end of one school year before the start of the next school year um to transition to the next year it just happens you know immediately and um no but I you know I would say say yes I I think that there we we've seen and we've heard that that it rolling emmissions does at times put a strain on on resources both Human Resources Financial Resources um it can it can do that um you know that was that was the and we recognized that in last year when we were trying to get our our numbers up that there there was a trade-off there and there is a trade-off and that's something that the committee has to has to um think about if you know if the you know what the what the balance is there um because most of the new students came in came into the elementary school I'm going to be specific to Melissa with this but um do we know out of those five new Choice families that came in midy year how many of them are coming back and or or did we lose any of those to next year that we know of all of them are coming back so so the reason we did this initially was we knew that if we took them sorry sorry are you referring to the the ones I was just mentioning that came in in January those students any anybody that came in post October that we that was part of rolling admissions so it could have been the sort of one that came in in February as well it could all stay okay so that was so the strategy of taking them late was so that we kept them knowing that if they went somewhere else mid year they were likely to stay wherever they landed I I guess I would be curious to learn from legal if there is the option of of of a delay of some kind to be built in for Rolling admission not specific to students with for any student for every student um that would give the district a little bit of time with records or you know if they're there is some way to have more information before they start that may not be I'm hearing you Connor that that's probably not possible but I guess I just want to make sure that we're asking the question assuming it applies to everyone um and I mean it would be helpful for any teacher to have a little extra time to build an to help a student roll in before they got there that would no matter what the student was need was sure um this is just a thought just because this is like big picture policy um would there be an interest or do we see a benefit in basically instead of doing it fully rolling having like a second start time like allowing being like you know what after winter break this is when you can start if you want to start mid year I mean a lot of families sort of voluntarily chose to do that like is that something that the committee would be interested in exploring I have to say in a way that appeals to me more than having that September October November window when they're not going to get a lot of like you kind of don't know if it's not gonna if you need a change in that window um having everybody start together also feels like it might have a lot of advantages and the way that it's structured right now the time that I would expect to be the most popular is that January start you would be blocked from that the way this is structured currently it would also more likely build in that sort of transition opportunity because they would know there was a like here's the day we're all starting back that's an interesting idea and I do I do think we want to it almost be like a separate set of of um deadlines I mean we wouldn't want to accept rolling applications until December 31st if they were going to start on January 2nd um you know we could we could have you know deadline a deadline to start in the fall and then a deadline to start in the winter right like a win admissions yeah ex except that we structured those timelines so that we were out there first getting School of Choice applicants at the beginning of the year instead of later in the year when other schools are already doing their acceptances so we have to keep that in mind as well that we want those admissions for the first of the year to be able to make a determination by February for the fall so I don't think I don't think that I wouldn't change the annual piece I think the question is how do you run if you can restructure how you count because that's what this would change right so there's a rolling admission piece of the policy that has its own timeline similar to the annual but it wouldn't be it's like if you want to come next year here's the timeline in process if you want to sh if you want to come during the school year here's the timeline and process like if if you don't start with us in September then you could choose to start in January yeah and I think if we were to go this through I would not call it rolling admissions um we could Wordsmith it in policy but you know like off cycle or Mid Winter admission deadlines or you know something else Adam does that start to speak to your con the concerns you're raising or is it a little bit I I don't and I'm I'm wary just based on the experience of the last school year but I certainly like that idea better than just kind of continuous rolling admission um it allows families to want who are considering coming here a chance to plan and you know if they're having a bad experience at their school system it might not be so reactionary like I want out and I want out now and I want to start next week it's you know we apply in November 1st or whatever and then there's this six week cooling period basically where we get to get our ducks in a row they get to back out if they decide you know what things are better than we thought um so I certainly like the idea better I don't know if I'm there yet but definitely an improvement I I would like to see if we find ways to solve for the problems without just ditching the opportunity to accept kids except for the start of the year like I'm I'm not adverse to the like I I think it's worth solving um and I'm not denying the issues but I but I think finding ways of doing it without just blanket stop is ideal it might be worth reaching out to teachers sorry Becca I didn't mean to cut you off go ahead it might be worth reaching out to teachers or the teachers union to find out what their past experiences been and how they feel would be an appropriate way so we're on the same page so we don't feel like we're just handing this to them that that you know it's a system that's set up that they're comfortable with as well well I'd also like to see our new student services director weigh in like that's right pretty key um so just from like a subcommittee standpoint I feel like this has been really helpful for a first reading um does I'm just interested if anyone has any feedback on the first section or are we mostly just concerned at this point at sort of workshopping the midyear question I'm thrilled that the timelines moved up like all of that first section made a lot of sense we just tried to like sort of clean it up clarify make the lottery easier also require people to respond to us within a certain time frame so and I feel like that worked better this year like we did a test run of that and it seems like worked yeah I agree move it up get everything done early you know we're in Friendly competition with all the other schools in the area for students let's get that done early and if we can work on this for preschool applications as well that's a different policy I think that needs revision but same idea earlier better uh yes all our deadlines had aligned before and I assume that we will align the deadlines yeah absolutely we'll do that definitely for preschool Connor when you're checking in with legal do we think we need to check in about the possibility of like a single midor start time or on the conversations you've had y yeah I will um I I think that I that's certainly worth worth asking um and I think that would probably be more um I think that would probably be more legal not be the right word more acceptable legally um than having just a delay of of a couple weeks um after an applicant a few weeks after an applicant and and would certainly allow for better planning okay if we have a similar timeline set up for the second admission for January we can build that in that delay that gives everybody the time to prepare yeah if we're if we're saying a January second start time or you know maybe maybe it would make more sense to do um oh well that would be different at both schools you know start of the second semester I was thinking at Smith Academy but you the elementary school does trimesters um but we could you know we could have a date based on that if we if we would rather do that um but you know I would say assuming January 2nd is the start date maybe like November 10th or 15th could be the cut off um to give that amount of time that what we wouldn't be able to do is you know say someone um had applied and had um you know significant a significant number of services and we would need to hire some folks in the event that we couldn't hire people uh we still wouldn't be able would wouldn't be you know wouldn't be a possibility to to say oh sorry we you know we couldn't find someone so we we couldn't restrict someone from coming but Le it would at least allow us to plan and have those meetings ahead of time which would be would be good Becca um you said if you had any questions about the first section it's just to me there's a little um lack of clarity it says by January 31st the school committee will vote on the number of slots available on February 15th or the Monday following there'll be a a lottery but it doesn't State what the deadline for application is and I feel like it would fall somewhere between those two dates yeah we we didn't put one in right up until the deadline I guess yeah t typically that that um it would be you know people would be able to apply right up until the lottery so until the day of um and then that becomes the deao deadline of of of when we accept accept applications we can we can clarify that though I think that's a smart move we can know hopefully manifest that we want to have a lot of people all the way right till the till midnight the night before or whatever it needs to be so this will be back in September or yeah yeah whenever whenever policy comes to the full committee again we will strive to have a second reading are we having an August meeting we are second reading in August I would be happy to put it on as a second read in August because we'd like to be able to get this updated because until then right we have existing policy which will continue rolling admissions so um yeah I mean the sooner the better with this because I I know it's it seems early given that it's only it's July but time is ticking December December 1 isn't too far away it really is not so um if the committee is able to meet um in the next several weeks that would be great if you guys can keep this one trucking yeah okay and if I can find the tab that has my agenda in it here we go Speaking of meetings Speaking of meetings so um Connor and I sat down and looked at some of the things that are coming um I'm going to look to have a school committee calendar out in the next week or so for you guys to take a look at um so that we can have a a deeper conversation in August My Hope Is that you will spend some time thinking about it um so that we can finalize it in August and have it ready to go um the interest is in not having a deep dive every month but probably we'll cut those in half um and work with Administration so that we're we're finding a really good balance between the information the committee needs to have and the amount of work it takes Administration to prep for it so that we're asking for efficiency as best we can on that front um and that those could become more informal um also we need to do things you know if we're talking about sixth graders moving and stuff like that those conversations need to happen early um so the calendar will take that into account what I would like um to see from you guys while we're all together for a minute um scheduling everyone has been a challenge for the summer um certainly this I think this work today what is the feeling for August would you like me to make an attempt to do just another Zoom meeting that would be probably a little bit easier no matter where folks were or would you like me to find an evening in August thoughts I think we should start with the evening meetings people expect that of us um often our July meeting has been a casual meeting but August is the start of pretty much the school year where we vote on the handbooks and things like that where folks might have more interest in what we're discussing and voting on so I think an evening meeting is more accessible to the public than 10 o'clock on a Wednesday morning I agree if we can make it work yeah so with that I'm going to ask again for folks to send me their absolute NOS so if you will take a look at your month of August and tell me what is out of out of the question for you um if we're looking for evenings we probably need to keep it to a more likely we're going to find Mondays that are open um because at the point we're meeting in the evening we're back at Town Hall we need to be able to book John which means we can't Tuesdays will be select board meetings Etc so um we can start there does that work so we'll try and get August booked this week so that everybody has it on their schedule okay any other um calendar related stuff with that see none is there a motion to adjourn I will make the motion to adjourn seconded all in favor that's everybody thank you all for today really appreciate it thank you everyone particularly Take Care thank you bye bye