##VIDEO ID:Ormso5twvA4## hello Curtis that's better all right who are we missing Earth should be joining us Christine is absent Christina sorry is absent Jose I haven't heard from Jose Joe have you heard from Jose okay well here's Ursula I think we can go ahead and get started so I'll in Christina's absence I will go ahead and call the mount grock Regional School District school committee to order it is 6: PM on Thursday October 10th we are meeting remotely via Zoom [Music] um and this meeting will be broadcast on wiet Channel TV 1302 in Williamstown and will be posted to the Mount Greylock Regional School District YouTube page within 24 hours of the meeting would someone like to read the mission statement I can do that Curtis you been oh go ahead go ahead Julia at Mount Greylock Regional School District our mission is to create a community of Learners working together in a safe and challenging learning environment that encourages restorative based processes respect inclusive diversity courtesy integrity and responsibility through high expectations and cooperation resulting in lifelong learning and personal growth thank you Julia um first up is student council update and we have with us um two students Ian and Sarah and would you like to tag team or is one taking the lead this time I believe you're going to alternate at upcoming meetings um uh for this meeting we're just gonna both switch off the information we um I can start uh so far at Mount Greylock the sports teams have been doing really well um I've gotten some updates about the soccer teams and both of them have been doing well um the girls were just defeated in their first regular season game in three years so that I wasn't great but um most the seasons are just wrapping up student council is going really well we are working on bringing in people for Greylock talks um having a REV lunch table having more accessibility to guidance and possibly bringing in a Williams student to help out with that and uh we're still working on the vending machines from last year which is a continuous sub committee that we're doing but yeah it's going well great sine um so also from the club perspective um a lot of clubs are just getting started uh GMU um which is the Greylock Multicultural Union at our school um they're going to have a lot of events this year we're gonna try to have a December event which will bring a lot of people together and then also um I don't know if you guys were aware of this but uh we're going to do the Multicultural food fair again um so and then Debate Club is a new is something that we haven't had in a while at our school but that's starting up again um um other than that like Photo Club all these other clubs are just getting started so yeah then also uh I know that you guys might have wanted to know about how Tech stuff is going for from the student perspective is that right um so yeah so I think it's going pretty well I think most students about the phones at least they're not reacting as bad as I think they thought they would generally obviously some students um are having harder time than others there is some push back on like airpods and headphones and like wanting to listen to music more than they're able to right now um but for the most part it's going pretty smoothly I don't think there's like I haven't seen like a ton of students getting in trouble for it at least in my classes and I think Sarah you would agree so that's going pretty well for us and then great yeah I think that's the main things if you guys have any specific questions we'd love to answer but oh yeah also class officers I don't know if you guys want to know about that but um they're planning a bunch of different events uh our grade uh sophomores just had a spikeball tournament to raise money they'll be uh seniors are starting to plan for homecoming prom uh and uh the freshman class is gonna hopefully do like a bonfire event which will be fun so yeah lots of stuff going on sounds very exciting um does anyone have questions or comments for our student council Representatives great thank you guys so much for coming and we look forward to seeing one or both of you at Future meeting you're welcome to stay but you're also welcome to move on with your evening um thank you yeah you're welcome thank you so next up is public comment and I don't know Joe do we have anyone signed up in advance we do not have anybody signed up in advance okay is it is there anyone from the public on the call I don't see anyone right now um okay so we'll move on from public comment to um the Mas certificate of excellence award presentation and we do have will IO here will probably turn on his video momentarily along with his parents welcome will will is our recipient this year of the mass Award of Excellence um which is presented by superintendents across the Commonwealth to a deserving student in their school district in order to be considered for the award the student must be a member of their senior class with an excellent academic record um but the nominee must also consistently demonstrate tra of leadership social responsibility respect for their fellow students and involvement in a variety of aspects of their school community so this award like life is not solely about numbers or academic achievement though looking at Will's GPA and the breadth of academic areas where he's excelled um it made me blush a little bit made me wonder how a student could possibly explore so many areas and do so well in all of them uh and so this reward it's this award it's really reflective of the many things that you do in addition to that academic record um your contributions to your school Community as a student council and school council member where you represented your peers both in student affairs and the larger School through elected positions um it's about your contributions with the school's music lab as a guitarist and and a community Builder within that effort um it's about your years of soccer play and your and your leadership as a captain it's about um what you did on last year's trip to Argentina the way you represented the school and you supported your peers throughout that trip it's about being authentically kind hardworking somebody who leads by example and does so across so many facets of your life so thank you will for all of your contributions to our school over many years to our schools over the many years um and I look forward to award in you with the with the full paper certificate in person uh tomorrow I don't know if you want to say anything you are welcome to um but you're also not required to yeah uh thank you very much Mr Bon I appreciate um the kind words and um yeah I really appreciate it so thank you thank you congratulations will thank you well done thank you all right I look forward to the days when we get back to presenting such Awards in person it's always delightful to be able to do so but I hope you enjoy receiving it um tomorrow all right um always a highlight of the Year approval of minutes from September 12th 2024 would someone like to move those minutes for approval oh Julia yeah I will both move them and I think we have to roll call in oh we didn't roll call in thanks y yep so thank you let's do that first um go in here go ahead so Christina's not here and did Jose ever come on no all right so we'll have those two gaps okay Elfin Bine here um um okay green here is here she was here she is here okay audio issue maybe yeah I think we can count ursa's here she was on and she's still currently on the call and then Steve you're here okay all right thanks for that Julia I skip right over that um um and I'll second okay so you're seconding the minutes is there any discussion on the minutes of September 12 no okay so we can go ahead and move to approve B and I green eye open by an ey one of go over Milla I yeah we're all messed up because Christina is not here and Jose's not here and I jumped the gun Curtis sorry about that threw you off okay um thank you all for that now on to another cheery subject mcass and accountability reports um who will be leading Us in this um in this segment of our show tonight I will happily lead and and I and I'll appreciate others jumping in um all right let me prepare to share my [Music] screen does someone want to reach out to Jose by the way while you're doing that I'm not sure if I have his cell phone I can try okay oh I do have his number I can text him all right so I will dive in um um it's it's not a typo what we're looking at is our 2023 2024 so our fy2 24 mcast data review um we just received result or we didn't just receive results but results were received over the summer um after the school year had ended and um and the numbers were just made public uh about two weeks ago now um so I'm going to take this review in in a few different ways um one is uh because I know it's a special year with the um with question two coming up in November that relates to mcast I'm going to give some general information um I'm also going to give you a sense of how we work with the information um some highlights and some areas uh where where we um where we are looking to improve um so mcast is a set of Statewide standardized tests um students in grades 3 through 8 along with grade 10 um take tests in English language arts which is abbreviated as Ela um across all the results that the members of the public would see and Mathematics um students in grades 58 and uh at least one high school grade take a science mcast um test um students in grade 8 take a Civic mcast and currently state law requires that high school students meet the compet competency determination stand standard in order to graduate which almost universally is done by earning a passing score on mcast tests coming through 10th grade um so a yes on question two in November would change the final sentence of that paragraph that's on the screen it would remove mcast as uh a determining gating factor in terms of whether or not students are able to graduate um and this will talk about more uh later tonight but I wanted to flag that because that's kind of that's the Lynch pin um moment or that's the that's the critical moment there um within question two um so there are many wonderful aspects of mcast even though nobody enjoys taking it or preparing for it um they are aligned with state standards they create a measure of accountability um For What and when students are learning specific things so having that kind of a standardized test across the entire state allows both the state as well as school districts and families to monitor whether or not schools individually and districts as a whole are following those standards um that the state has put out for learning expectations especially across Ela and math um it's a source of comparative data between student groups both within schools and within districts but also across districts and when I say student groups um this looks at um students with a certain disability status students with a low income status um students with um ethnicity and race um statuses or or types um it allows school districts to view um data on how different members of their student body are um receiving working with and then testing with content across um especially Ela and math um and I think this is important to note the state does the work of developing the assessments um which allows schools to focus Less on developing the same type of assessment and it allows for consistency and comparison across districts um all of those good things said mcast does carry the same limitations that we often talk about with respect to other standardized tests um it is a limited form assessment so it's it's really testing students through a single test um that uh is considered universal which has strengths but it has the weakness of if a student does not test well under certain conditions with certain types of questions certain forms of assessment um the student will really be limited in their ways of expressing um their their Mastery of of Concepts and and and their abilities um standardized test taking is a skill in and of itself um we as a school district have not in the past um or at least in recent years actually um gone through a detailed process of teaching students how to take a standardized test prior to them entering into mcast testing especially when they're in the younger grades grades three three through six um there is no standard way that um we prepare students for um that form of assessment and I think that's an important thing to note um it is a snapshot in time as opposed to being comprehensive and continual um so it's not an immediate feedback corrective action or uh kind of course correction type of tool um that is left for other things that we do internally um bias does exist within pretty much any question that you ask in the world this this form of testing explicit uh exhibits the same um the same limitations um the timing of results does not allow for midyear course Corrections with all of the puns intended there um it it students are taking these tests in the spring um and results come back in the summer um so by the time students are entering they are now in a new school year um and that has limitations as far as how um how it informs what actually happens next um that's not to say that that you don't uh take things under advisement make individual um changes for students as well as for for teachers and classrooms um but it does limit its use so we do invest in more granual and continuous and descriptive forms of assessment and when I say descriptive I'm I'm implying that um in order to know exactly what to do next and how to do it um is something that that we leave to assessments that currently are done through fastbridge which is another tool that we use um across Ela uh and math in grades 3 through eight um but it's and and that is a form of assessment where we're able to glean a whole lot more in terms of actionable information um in terms of say what a student needs next and how to make sure that we are providing that um so those limitations but now let's let's move on to how we read and how we use mcast scores um the pure scores just the numerical score that you have those change from year to year they are not like SAT scores where a 500 is is is wonderful um every year um that said the meeting or exceeding expectations category of achievement um is generally a pretty good measure of whether or not a student is um acquiring ing the um the skills and knowledge that the state views as being important within Ela and within math um student growth percent percentiles SGP um is a much more uh nuanced on Inc complex measure of um measure of achievement in that it is and I am borrowing the state's exact language here the degree to which a student's achievement has changed from the prior years uh to the current year in comparison to other students in the same grade who performed similarly in the past so the state makes an effort through the SGP metric to um discover peers for students so that if they scored in one way in uh in recent years um they're looking at how are students growing in terms of their um their ability to uh test well within a certain area um relative to grouped peers um the average s SGP per grade and subject across the entire state is 50 um so it is fair to say that generally if you're higher than 50 it means that your growth is greater relative to like uh peers than um if your growth is is a 40 or a 30 um meaning some of your peers um grew in terms of their knowledge knowled at a faster rate um so for an individual uh this data can be used to say how well did a student demonstrate standards driven knowledge um and the SGP drives how did the students achievement grow relative to peers per the SGP calculation um more importantly for us here tonight is how we read and use the mcast as a as a district and on a and on a school level um we generally get to understand based on the results how our students are achieving relative to state standard expectations that's that's just the Baseline um far more detailed nuance and important is giving is that it gives us the ability to identify areas where curriculum and Pace are not aligned with standards um so when we look at data we are able to see individual question by question section by section uh how students are performing so we are able to see within a specific classroom environment if there is say a single question where every student in the classroom was unable to answer that question satisfactorily um that is an area where principes with teachers will pick up that question inspect what it was asking of students and be able to then um turn around and say how are we teaching this what can we do better um what do we do next that's something that we do within individual School offices um and and individual departments and grade levels within schools um it also allows us to identify differences in results between different student groups um so generally if you were to look at and I'm going to go in ahead and jump forward to a scatter plot here if you look at a scatter plot comparing where um students in with a Green Dot here are students within a certain cohort certain grade certain subject um being mapped by their SGP and their scaled scores um based on whether they have a high need status or not um so green is high needs yellow is is non High needs in terms of status we're able to look at this and when we move our cursors over this um when we are within our offices we are actually able to see the individual student names and then drill down into um that individual student scores um within each question within a specific uh within a specific test um the value here is immense in that we are able to look at patterns between um control groups and specific groups and be able to understand exactly um how and and and try to figure out why different student groups might be responding to teaching and then testing differently from other student groups this plot here is an actual piece of data within one grade one subject one school um within our district and what it says to me is generally the students within this classroom um they did a phenomenal job of growth within this subject area um they also gener scored a whole lot higher than most students within the state um in terms of the distribution between students who have a high need status and students who don't there is no distinct pattern indicating that students with the high needs status were not as able to um to perform or grow more importantly um than their peers and so on a classroom by classroom subject by subject basis this this is the kind of data that we look at within schools um to try to determine if there are patterns that are concerning or if there are patterns that are um that are exhilarating um so that we can try to try to understand what's happening here yep I'm sorry I don't know if you saw my hand I just didn't want to miss my chance um sorry if you said this and I missed it but what's the difference between the yellow and the blue dots uh the the blueish green dots here are students who have a uh who have high needs status flag um and the students in yellow are students who do not have that flag as far as their status so identifying differences in in results between different groups is an important aspect of what we're able to do in the background with this data um we're also able to compare within those student groups across different classrooms different schools within the district so comparing how results are are coming in across or to elementary schools for example and then do comparative analysis across um our district and other districts that we would view as being as being peers sometimes it can uh indicate areas where for instance our director of curriculum and instruction will reach out to another district and say gosh what are you doing with your math curriculum this is pretty amazing I I would love to spend some time with you um just as an example um so those are positives that come out of this testing being done universally across everybody in the state and in a way that allows us to also look at breakdowns within different student groups to make sure that we do have Equity um and opportunity across equity in Opportunity across all student groups um so I've already been talking about the what happens um we have discussions around what when and how to teach specific things question by question stand standard by standard um discussions around discrepancies between different student groupings within say an individual classroom or an individual grade um if differences exist why do they exist and how can we create more equity in the opportunity that our students have to to excel um and it adds to the conversation around each cohort each student each each teacher um uniqueness in all ways both in terms of wow look at how for instance I'm about to talk about sixth grade at lbur elementary look at how they did what can we learn look at how wonderful that was let's let's look and learn um let's try to figure out what happened during that year that led to such incredible growth and and and results um and the same thing can happen um in the other direction where if there are discrepancies between two classrooms we're able to dig in and say what created these discrepancies and and how can we better um better equip our our class rooms and our teachers to to help their students um so now I'm going to have two highlights and then just some general general areas uh for improvement um I'm showing you this because it looks like Mount Greylock is at the bottom of some list um that list is the accountability percentile which is just an absolute measure of achievement um by our students across both Ela and math combined scores um in grade es um in grades uh 7 8 and 10 um for us here within this Middle High School example um it looks like we're at the bottom of a list but I think and we'll jump back to it in a second Mount grock Regional School is tied for 18th in the state out of 330 Middle High and high schools um and was and was one of only two combined middle school high schools in the top 21 there um it's that's a wonderful data point to have It's a Wonderful data point to highlight and to make sure that um is is written everywhere that we can um it helps inform who our peer group is who we're competing against who we can learn from who we can who we can adjust with um in terms of our teaching and our opportunities it also highlights the student body size discrepancy that exists as well as the limited number of combined middle school high schools that perform as well as um that have students who perform as well as our middle and high school um so as I look through here the other thing that's that's a little bit more anecdotal is I believe within this list we are the only School West of 495 so every school here is somewhere within 45 minutes say of of Boston um which is a pretty remarkable data point in and of itself um in terms of being a combined Middle High School um when you look at the grade served column um the only other combined middle and high school on this list is bos Boston Latin School um their enrollment 2400 students our enrollment this is total across grades 7 through 12 553 uh they're also an exam School Joe you have to test into that school I think yes yeah um so when you look at the student body numbers um when you adjust for the fact that we have a combined middle and high school um if our student uh if our distribution of students across grades 7 through 12 was taken into account we would far in way uh be the be the smallest school here the the closest with be um or I'm I'm sorry the bronfield high school is is another one but they are also I believe um they are a school with some special characteristics as well as far as student body and um and how they operate um but we are far and way I mean we are a very small school relative to um many within this list which does not necessarily indicate how your Ela and math scores should go but it does inform how we think about um how our how our curriculum how our program of studies evolves over time um to meet student needs to comply with State Standards um and to provide our students with all of the opportunities to excel um alongside and relative to peers within Massachusetts um so wonderful job by Mount Greylock here uh any questions just on this slide before I move past it because I I know there's a lot here okay um so the other highlight and and I chose just two although there could have been some some others um to pull out somewhat similar to this um lanb elementary schools grade six in both Ela and math um the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations relative to state state levels very high but when you look at their average SGP meaning how they how each individual student performed relative to um to their peers Who had who had taken the test uh as well in grades five and four and three um they were Skyhigh something happened within that sixth grade classroom environment that that was pretty stellar um learning what happened how to pattern after it how to to replicate it um is is a very worthwhile Endeavor um and I just like to publicly publicly note that that the teachers and and the students within within that grade level last year um really knocked it out of the park so wonderful job now turning to areas for improvement our eighth grade math numbers um both in terms of absolute scores um and achievement as well as SGP scores they were lower than everywhere El within the district and this is all public data so I'm not I'm not going to um I'm not going to going to hide from it but I'm just going to say eth grade math is definitely an area where where we are paying attention um we're trying to understand uh is it a matter of um of curricular alignment with State Standards um is it something else did everybody have the flu on the day of the test but still but still took the test um and so um I'm just putting a pin in that letting you know that that we have noted it we are working on it um and it's an area where where we know that that we can improve as a district I'll also say that yep go ahead I I was just G to say that that it also makes Mount Greylock um 92nd percentile all the more incredible given given that achievement uh um relative to you know the fact that grade seven 8 and 10 are the only three grades that are included um within that scoring uh within that ranking sorry Carrie no that's that's a great thing to point out um so I'm just wondering if you have any data that you can share with us tonight on um the pattern for eth grade math in the last you know five years what how our scores have been our scores over time it it it it's an area of concern for me as an interim superintendent and I know that for the prior superintendent um that it was an area of concern for them so as I look back through um the last three or four years in particular um it it has not been an area where we have scored as highly um as as others um so yes there there is a pattern there it is it is not a one-off thank you um and then across the district our our scores continue to be higher than State averages however our SGP scores have plenty of room for improvement um so the the general story here is Mount Greylock grades Seven 8 and 10 um in terms of achievement um uh percentages doing great scoring really well relative to other schools um but when you look at individual class rooms grades um test results um we are a wonderful School District with plenty of room for improvement um and the question by question standard by standard um analysis there by principles with teachers um is certainly happening so that we can continue to to improve everything that we do within our classrooms um but with that said I can either pull up the publicly available data if if people would like to be able to just see that link and and take a look at it or I can leave it at that and um we can have a discussion Julia unfortunately the publicly available data is under system maintenance right now so I tried to pull that up and it is um scheduled for tonight from 5:30 to 9:30 h i I did not do that I promise I'm sure you didn't and I'm clicking over there just you get something different that's the screen I got so um but I also I I I you know that it's unfortunate and I Carrie I was going to look at that to try to just give some data behind the the eth grade history um or I was looking for that for myself um the the I just want to thank you Joe um because I I actually deeply value the mcast um I'm disturbed by question two um because I know it's not the mcast are not the be all end all but what you just described for how the mcast are used and the importance of um our ability to have a standard test that is as um I you know consistent as possible across the state to really allow us to understand what our students are learning and where we might be able to improve and grow as a district I think it's incredibly valuable and so to hear you talk about the test and how it's used in that way within our district um is is incredibly wonderful to hear so thank you the the data itself matters of course um and I'll say for the public anyone who ever wants to spend time with me digging into the data I've got a lot of experience looking at this data I actually love the data I'm I'm happy to spend that time with anybody who wants to do that um but I do think um the most important thing about the data is the way that the district is using it and what you've just described um is like music to my ears thank you daeve thanks Julia Ju Just supporting what Julia said um you know this is exactly what you hope to get out of a test you know other things you know what else the test is being used for that's a different story uh just so the public knows because a lot of people are you know trying to decide how to vote on issues like this we don't have questions that that we can post so that people in the community can see what the test looks like to see the level of questions correct those are available on the uh State the State website okay they are on the State website okay y perfect thank you and I think just um we can again we can save this discussion for later where it's on the agenda or we could have it now but um the the only thing that would change if question two is passed is using the 10th grade mcast tests as a graduation requirement for diploma nothing else about how we administer the mcast would change as far as I know that's that's the only um that's the only change from question two um is the graduation requirement um so but again we can come back to that um why don't we finish at least finish the discussion of the mcast report and I agreed Jo thank you so much that for that sort of comprehensive reporting on on the mcast other questions okay all right um Jose has joined us welcome um and so that should be reflected in the minutes um Jose did you note what time you joined do you did you happen to check your watch or anything like that I'm G to say 634 okay great thank you um all right on to the finance uh subcommittee report so we just met and we had a couple of motions to approve or recommend to the school committee approval um Ursula do you have those minutes handy do you want to read the motions is L still with us yeah I am and I apologize I don't have them handy because I took them on my work computer and now I'm home uh but I did email them to Steve do you potentially have them right there in your email yes sororize second I could pull them up but it wouldn't be quick so I should get them um well we we did have them on the agenda um so the first motion I believe was to uh well actually we can take them in order it doesn't matter what Mo what order we took them in but we moved both of these the FY 24 close out um and the FY fy2 was it it it was really just that we we took and the expenditures all related to yeah so the fund expenditures and the ending balances um we we uh approved those at the finance committee level and we um moved to recommend them to the uh school committee for approval so there're essentially motions on the table um but since we only have one vote on this agenda um is there a second to the FY 24 closeout motion and then we will go on to um discussion would anyone like to Second Curtis okay thank you Curtis all right so um Joe sure um so the the expenditure file uh the PDF that you have there um that is all of the detail except for for individual invoices um individual people being paid by payroll um so that expenditure file has every amount of money spent out of these various funds um and what it was spent on um the fund balances report is really what at the full school committee level I think is is the more important um picture and story um it starts with the general fund where our expenditures lined up precisely with um the amount of money that the school committee had voted to spend um that it had received from our member towns um and from the state um in terms of the revenue picture the revenue picture is actually a little bit more variable year toe and in in this year was Rosier than we had expected in that both our um investment income which is really interest on bank accounts as well as um our Medicaid reimbursements um through the efforts of the special education office to receive um reimbursement for various funds expended um um on reimbursement eligible expenses if I said all of that correctly um those revenues both higher than than expected so the end result is although we spent the exact amount that we said we would spend we brought in more than we had predicted um which is going to allow us to close our excess and deficiency which is the reflection of uh general fund um balances it's going to allow us to close our excess and deficiency higher than we had originally expected um which is good because that keeps us up up close to that 5% cap um on our our net budget um so that the planned expenditures that we have here in fy2 significantly spending down end um they will happen but they will not impact the end of year um balance in as significant a way as they otherwise would have um so that's a good story um the next color coding down uh various Grant lines um federal and state and uh and local uh grants that we receive um all of that good stories we ended up being able to apply for and receive um more grant funding than um that we had originally um projected there as well um our teachers and and our departments applied for Grants like for instance the credit for Life grant that you see there um was able to fund um the the finance fair at Mount Greylock and and some other opportunities um for students and so on um all of that's good then you move down to revolving accounts um and the story is uh not quite as good but at the same time it's quite acceptable um if I'm talking in in voting terms um our school lunch account um we in if you look back 3 four five years ago um um we would often need to um address that account through bringing funds from other places to make it whole on an annual Bas on an annual basis um this past year we actually saw Revenue coming in from um federal and state reimbursements far exceeding what we um had traditionally seen um which meant that we were actually able to close that account out without needing to apply other funds um um and instead it ended with a with a positive yearend balance um that's something that uh we have been working with looking at trying to figure out what does that mean for um whether or not we need to appropriate as much money uh in the future um and how we can best utilize all of those funds that are um within our school lunch um Services um this is a good point to also note um just because I think it is related um we have been making efforts alongside Mount Greylock eats which is uh the um this the snack and breakfast program that that we're trying to operate um for the students in most need at Mount grock um we are actually looking at expanding um potentially prior to the end of this year um if not then in time for next year to be able to offer breakfast programming um that is fully reimbursed by state and federal sources um so for all our stud yes that that's for all students yeah yeah so so we're looking at that there's a whole lot to figure out um but the but the positive news is that generally the momentum um is there in the correct direction and and we've got a lot of supported s uh supportive sources from the state uh working on that so good news there um school choice circuit breaker tuition um those those three uh major accounts um we needed to spend a little bit more choice in tuition than we had originally projected um in order to make everything whole that's really um spelled out in two parts one is substitute costs again as we move through the end of the year higher than than we had ever uh wanted or or projected um to our circuit breaker reimbursements for the year which were based on our F1 23 um performance in terms of what what we could end up seeing reimbursements from the state on um on a circuit breaker basis um that those reimbursements were not as high as we had originally projected so we were not able to spend as much out of that account um as we had wanted so we did end up applying more choice in tuition um that and we had originally projected to to make up for that um and then the last two lines here within um part within um the the data presented um athletic and co-curricular participation fees um we did receive a a question from member of the public about whether or not we could eliminate um all activity fees and and ticketing um within the district and uh these lines are extra important to note um I think tonight and going forward as far as Revenue across both athletic and co-curriculars um that's in terms of of fees of All Sorts that Revenue amounted to right around $71,000 um within that Revenue column this past year that is the amount of money um that we would be talking about making up for in some way if we were to not charge those fees um so as we move towards the FY 26 budget development process and that top iPic is under discussion um that would be an important number for us to be keeping in mind looking at uh referencing and understanding as we um try to determine what it means what kind of adjustment is it a is it a fine point adjustment around exactly how much we charge or for which programs we charge is it something where we attempt to talk about it in the large um are there other ways for us to make up those funds and so on um so that's that I think I probably rambled I think we talked in um in the finance subcommittee about potential for targeted Outreach um more aggressive targeted Outreach to families that might um appreciate the assistance of um you know and and finding ways for community members to contribute um whether it's scholarship funds you know uh funds that that could help to pay for you know membership or not membership participation fees and things like that but um for those in the audience we the email was basically um a concern that we both charged participation fees and charge families to go to games and performances for which we are charging participation fees and that those fees are all you know cumulative um and can be a burden on some families and we definitely acknowledge that and would like to find ways to help amarate that yeah uh Julia um I just want to reflect the other component of that message that we received was um we don't we haven't historically or aren't currently being um as clear about ways to ask for a you know um fee waivers uh and so that feels like an important first um certainly Outreach is good but also just making it really clear um and I guess just related I'm wondering I know that in other places where I've signed my children up for things um there's an opportunity to give to pay more than what is right so we talked about that as well exactly a donation is that allowed for the district um yeah yes yeah so in some way it is we just need to figure out how to word it so that that solicitation is legally appropriate as opposed to not but yes somehow yeah other questions I have a question about how to deal with the vote since we voted we took two votes in finance but we only have one vote on this agenda I'm thinking what we should do is withdraw the Motions from finance and just have one motion to approve the close out which would Encompass both documents all right so whoever seconded those motions from Finance Curtis do you mind withdrawing okay good John okay so let's start over um I'm sorry I didn't catch that discrepancy but um could we have a motion to approve the FY 24 close out which would include uh both the yearend fund balances and the year end expenditures I'll make that one thank you Ursula would anyone like to second second Curtis thank you all right is there any further discussion all right um let's roll call First okay thanks I think that's me thank you uh Constantino oh by an ey green I Malloy I Miller I terrific okay thanks everybody um okay uh Jose good timing policy and governance subcommittee you are up thank you Carrie and uh apologies for being late we have a a newly christened 15-year-old in our house as of today so happy birthday and uh teenagers are scary teenagers we know this we all know this all right um we've got uh a policy sort of uh integrated or combined set of policies into one coherent policy U BH on public comments at school committee meetings um it's listed as a discussion item um Julia uh will likely have a record of this if not a memory of this uh it was I think an an information item ages ago um and we had needed to wait for feedback from uh individuals regarding aspects of of this policy um what I might ask if Curtis is okay doing it is just just to have a read of uh of the policy and then and then open it up for discussion uh policy BH public comment at school committee meetings all regular and special meetings of the school committee shall be open to the public executive sessions will be held only as prescribed by the statutes of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts the school committee desires citizens of the district to attend its meetings so that they may become better acquainted with the operations and the programs of our local public schools in order that all citizens who wish to be heard before the committee have a chance and to ensure the ability of the committee to conduct the district's business in an orderly manner the following rules and procedures are adopted one at each regularly sched ed school committee meeting individuals or groups group Representatives may be invited to address the committee the chair shall determine the length of the public participation segment two all remarks will be addressed through the presiding chair of the meeting three speakers will be allowed three minutes to present their material the presiding chair May permit extension of this time limit four topics for discussion should be limited to those items within the school committee's scope of authority the authority of the school committee primarily concerns the review and approval of the budget of the District's Public Schools the performance of the superintendent and the educational goals and policies of The District's Public Schools comments and complaints regarding School Personnel apart from the superintendent or students are generally prohibited unless those comments and complaints concern matters within the scope of school committee Authority the five the chair of the meeting after a warning reserves the right to terminate speech which is not constitutionally protected because it constitutes true threats that are likely likely to provoke a violent reaction and cause a breach of the peace or incitement to imminent Lawless conduct six written comments longer than 3 minutes may be presented to the committee before or after the meeting for the committee members review and consideration at an appropriate time seven typically the school committee does not respond to public comment only the superintendent the chair or other members of the committee at the chair's discretion will make responses to concerns raised during public comment eight votes will not be taken on matters originating during public comment nine sign up instructions will be provided for those who wish to participate in public comment thank you Curtis um before we we jump into discussion I thought it might be useful to frame our discussion um there two topics that uh truly warrant discussion I think one is focused on this draft of of this new policy um and there's a second uh topic for discussion that um we can decide when it's most appropriate to have it and in what what Forum um and that's regarding um what we as a school committee hope to achieve uh through public comment and you know and and whether we are open to other ways that we can receive feedback from our constituents but uh regarding this particular policy it's really points uh four and five um that have um we have been thinking about probably the most and it's response to um a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling in on March 7th of last year regarding um public comment or the ability for school committees to require civility or civility restraint uh during school committee meetings the um Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that that um was prohibited that the school committees cannot um or speech protected um or constitutionally protected that you know we we we can't limit certainly what or control what what's said um and I'm looking at Joe Julia and Curtis to make sure I got the context right so Jose does that mean that um we can't we can no longer say that that comments must be limited to items on the agenda is that the I think we we can't um control any anything you know that I mean we you can see the language that we're using here that the chair on0 five um you know not all speech is constitutionally protected and so there are some forms of speech uh that certainly once those lines have been crossed the chair reserves the right to terminate that speech um point four I think and Joe can can help me here is um really an attempt to offer guidance around the the types of comments that would be helpful and appropriate to a school committee meeting and then um point8 highlights I think this question uh Carrie and it's you know I offered um because we aren't we aren't voting on this but um there was a suggestion raised that the language of that point be amended to make it clear that um public comment or or types of public comment not tied directly to agenda items won't result in votes during a school committee meetings we we won't amend um an agenda based on what we receive during public comment right so I guess what I'm wondering is even if we can't prevent people from making comment on anything that is within our purview are we um interested in as a committee in removing all language encouraging people to speak to matters that are posted on the agenda um so that's one question I have and my second question is um in number seven um because we do not generally respond to public comment should it say that um instead of will make responses should it say may make responses fa yeah I well well would love to hear from other folks but that that certainly makes sense to me um as I navigate between the zoom May respond to concerns right yeah Julia I think is gonna speak no I I'm just as a member of the committee and responding to Carri your point I think I think we discussed that we can encourage to speak to the items on the agenda but we can't stop somebody from speaking to right but we've removed it all together and in this policy it doesn't it's not present at all so I would recommend adding it if we want to maintain that practice not to say that weol about how you read and this is just to make sure it could be that the language and point 4 needs to be edited or altered to reflect this but I think I think that was what we were hoping to achieve by point4 [Music] um even though you know we don't make explicit you know that a request to tie public comment to agenda items um there's a framing there that we thought was flexible and and um potentially yeah I just wonder if we can do both we can request that people tie their comments to items on the agenda and then acknowledge that you know people have the right to speak about anything within our our purview Steve oh sorry what we also um discovered or Andor discussed is that they could speak about anything um you know which is why we might be talking about your second topic of how we want to handle public comment yeah Steve Steve so yep so one possibility is for people to speak about an item they'd like the school committee to take up in a in the next meeting and that would fall under you know requests for agenda so that's one way to cover it and I think it's sometimes good to remind ourselves why we have items there's a lot of material to look at and prepare for meetings to think about things and this is why we like to have at least my understanding of why we like to have uh comments from the public related to the agenda items so that you know the committee has adequate time to prepare to have the material ready to be thinking about things and not necessarily doing things on the on the Fly is that how anybody else remembers things from previous years or Stephen can can I just confirm I understood what you're saying that we asked people to speak to the agenda items because we will have had documents that help us prepare or we will have done whatever preparation we do in advance to prepare for those items that that was my understanding as to why we did a lot of this in the past so that when we we don't start a discussion without having done some of the work beforehand to have an informed discussion and so that the people asking the questions are also informed by the documents which are posted publicly right and in fact those are supposed to be posted you know two days before the meeting so that people can look at things and that if there's an item people would like to discuss you know let the committee know before the agenda is set I think I I certainly you know that resonates with me and and sort of speaks to my memory of uh how public comment has worked for us um you know I I have found that probably nearly all of our constituents that um you know share with us views or concerns via public comment they've all been very useful and tied to you know generally to items on our agenda um I think the issue and this kind of speaks to this this second point for discussion um if we allow public comment we have to allow there's it has to be a lot of latitude in terms of you know unless there's speech that is not constitutionally protected um we have to we have to allow folks to speak as soon as we create that space for public comment they could speak to any concern um and I think and they could speak about it in however way they'd like um calling out individuals in the school committee for instance or you know and that's that's the um that's what we have to allow right Joe I think if I got that right yeah yes yeah that these are the are the core changes driven by really case law and resulting recommendations from the masc um on the topic y um Stephen and Julia I'm trying to remember some other items is is it the fact that we are a committee meeting in public which is different than a public meeting that helps influence why we want the public comments to be related to the agenda items and not just taken from anything because there are different types of meetings I I think I think your question is a is a good one I think it could speak to the type of language we ultimately adopt on um attempting to frame the type of types of public comment we want to receive um but we have as soon as we allow public comment um we have nothing at our disposal to limit constitutionally protected speech you know they could speak to any issue whether it's on our agenda or not right and and that's what happens at other public meetings like select board meetings um but I mean I think we we have at least maintained the practice whether we can yeah okay Julia I think this might be related to Steve's point but um are we are we moving into the conversation about or are we having that second conversation later or are we goingon to do that now yeah that's a great question I think what I'd like is to make sure we've heard from from all of us here tonight you know any feedback that they you know anyone would like to share regarding this policy so Carrie you've offered some really good points for us to consider when we convene later this month um but if there are other folks that um would like to share and this includes folks who are watching us right now um wherever they might be or folks who want to tune in later please please let us know if you have comments regarding this policy um I don't want to preempt folks raising their hand but that second Point uh Julia I I wonder if it should appear as an well either as an agenda request item at the end of our meeting to you carry that something that we can can add to our November's meeting agenda um or if and I don't know how request to our subcommittee could get made this could be something that we as a subcommittee consider and report back on I mean there lots of ways forward but just curious about um because that that topic of you know what is it that we're trying to achieve out of public comment and you know are other way I don't think there's anything that precludes you from having that conversation now okay as part of your report does anyone object to because it is a it's a policy and governance subcommittee report there is one discussion item under it but you're not requesting a vote or anything you're asking for you know just some conversation around yeah I guess possibilities right there would be useful information for the subcommittee when we go back if we gather from this meeting one way or the other you know some sense of what it is that we as a committee are trying to achieve by allowing public comment um you know I I'll just start us off by saying my experience of public comment and my nearly four years of being on the school committee has been you know resoundingly positive I know that issues we we have had issues in the recent past um but from my perspective the loss of not uh allowing public comment the way we have allowed it I think um far outweighs the gains in terms of exposing us to risk or you know you know I think risk is the biggest issue that that we face um there and I think Joe can can speak to that um if you if you'd like did you want are you talking about additional ways Beyond public comment to gain public input well in the in the our current setup um where we you know we allow public comment from from anyone really who who is attending and and we allow folks to submit written comment that we we then read during public our meeting I think um there probably some details that I'm missing there but um in this you know given what we've been told we can and can't do and given the the you know the new version of this policy um it does expose us to to risk if members of the public choose to you know call out members of our staff in by name for instance well I I I think what we're getting at and and it could be additional policy or perhaps it's just procedure if the school committee did not well I think ultimately it needs to be within policy if we were to do it um some public committees they have a formal process for a member of the public submitting public comment prior to a meeting and then posting that alongside the packet so that it can be incorporated and potentially reviewed prior we don't have a formal process like that um it could be a way to allow the committee to receive this information ahead of time so that it becomes a little bit more actionable than on the Fly incorporating it into your thoughts um it would also if the policy was worded correctly or or in a way that allowed for it it could allow ow us to um reach out to the person who submitted it for clarification or detail or to provide some kind of um you know it it would also be conceivably a way to know like if something is about to be said that that is um that we if we were to release information to the public we would be required to redact information like say a student's name um we when re when we release public records we are required by law to redact information that would be considered um confidential to a student or or confidential related to a Personnel record um we could talk about having a detailed process for making sure that before the district publishes this because this is really where a place gets into trouble with public comment is if somebody stands up they use their constitutional right to talk about something but that violates typical school policy around disclosure of information that's where the conflict crops up if we received public comment and we made sure to publish it but if we redacted with a note saying this removed because of this that would allow some form of recourse conceivably for the member of the public to say you redacted something that you shouldn't have I disagree with that and I want the chair or the state to to get involved because I think that you did something you should like it's that's the kind of thing where you might gain benefit um but protect in some ways while maintaining transparency or accountability I I should say accountability I think um as far as making sure that people are able to say things that that they want to that's one thing um uh another option for public input would be some kind of formal policy and process where um upon upon receipt of a request to a request to discuss a matter um the chair will assign a member of the committee to uh have a discussion with that member of the public and then report back so that there was a chance to like receive and process the information in a way that said like I met with this person they said x and y and z I then reflected upon that with the superintendent or with the St I I asked the question so that now we can make this information more actionable ahead of time so that we could say there was a complaint about X and here's what I have done in response so that a publicly elected official is is then um having a discussion being accountable falling within the laws hopefully processing the information and making it so that the committee can then use it and say well you know like we know that we don't have that procedure or we didn't follow that procedure and and here you know and here are the consequences or here are the responses that have already happened like it would give a little bit more of that um so those are two things that I can think of that that we've talked about in the past one is receive public comp uh public input in written form and publish it um with some amount of caveat there and the other one is to assign somebody to have a discussion so that there's a dial dialog ahead of time which would allow for additional these are all things that could be enacted in addition to the public comment policy right in my mind to provide additional tools for public input no that's super helpful Joe and Julie I just want to acknowledge I see I see your hand I just wanted to you know we could maybe see where we are right now in terms of our current policy being like an in member um the other side of that is that you know not we there's nothing that requires us to to allow public comment at all there's no legal obligation you know we we don't have to allow it um which seems too extreme and then Joe has given us some sort of you know intermediate mechanisms by uh by which we could allow public comment but um do it in a a careful and thoughtful way Julia I have a a few different thoughts here um one is um the origal question is what is the like what is it about public comment that we are seeking um and I think I certainly public input on the policies that we need to be addressing like understanding the public perspective is is the most important thing um but I think about the reasons that I have seen people either come to meetings or reach out to me personally I think there's a vast majority it is about policies that we're discussing and then there are sometimes things that are not actually within the purview of the school committee and I don't blame the public at all for not understanding what is and is not within the purview of the school committee um but I do think that um for our meetings to be I you know orderly and allow us to have as broad input as possible I'm not actually sure the current way we do things really helps us understand all all the input that we might want to be taking into into account so what one of the things that's on my mind is um I the people who have the ability to show up I are are a small portion of the population so I wonder if there isn't a way and and if there I like the idea of people sending written comment um though I don't like that it's only written um and I wonder if it could be video or a you know somehow an audio clip or something to just allow people to um submit comment in in a variety of forms um which also then allows us to hear it and process it in advance of a meeting rather than especially when it's emotional um to be able to like really kind of sit with it and think about it rather than have to like react quickly in a meeting um and then I'm also wondering if you know maybe a third way that I in addition to the two that Joe described we have had public hearings before on a on one topic um and so finding a way to um we you know do them every year on the budget but we did it on the track and field um finding a way for those things that we know are hot topics to create the space so that people know they're not showing up to a multi-hour meeting um but that they're part they can be part of the entire meeting that is focused on the topic that they're interested in so that's more work for us um but if they hearings maybe we don't have to have all of us on those um so that was another potential idea and I had another point that I forgot well thankfully I think we're going to have some time to you know I think we should spend some time thinking about this um but no that's that's great thank you Julia um I don't know if if Curtis Steven or or Ursula have some thoughts they'd like to share I guess in in terms of moving forward and our next meeting prior to the next full committee meeting uh and with the plan of discussing this uh further and with more uh specificity uh I I want to summarize the uh policy and government uh subcommittee's request for any and all input from community members and committee members and uh stakeholders on whether we want to change enhance uh or or supplement in any way our public comment contribution opportunities by either uh changing the format somehow or or adding events that are free of a full meeting wherein people can give comment and not be locked into two and a half hours of fun uh two to four hour uh that's that's basically the the what we are asking for any any thoughts around uh how if if at all we alter the way we take in public comment and to specify the purpose of public comment what we hope to glean from it and how we hope to use it to inform our practices Etc uh that's the information we're looking for from people and our next meeting as we'll say at the end of this one is coming up uh October 21st so that's uh 11 days from today if you want to give us some input before that that would be lovely thank you Curtis um what I I think uh you know probably the most immediate need is to um revise our current policy so that it's in compliance with state and federal law um that that's the most immediate need and uh so I think at a minimum you know the full committee can expect some version of this policy be DH back to you all um the conversation or this this really important topic on you know what what is the what do we see as the role for public comment and then how do we you know want to allow for it or or not um you know may take us uh some time to get to get right thank you thank you Jose and and the policy and governance subcommittee for your work on this okay on to the business administrator's report yes the only item here uh and really this is just so that that they've been recorded in in public um quite honestly I don't have any real discussion items here but the the Student Activity accounts um across the the three schools um their activity and balances are are there available within the packet U as PDFs um Student Activity accounts um generally they're they're much simpler at the elementary schools um where typically the the sixth grade classes um do uh fundraising and and um well do fundraising for activities that they are doing uh throughout the year um whether they are specific uh events or field trips um and there are uh smaller activities there related to just things that um the principal is um executing on behalf of the school where uh funds arrive um and then are spent um and uh small account balances based on state guidelines are allowed to be carried forward from year to year um at Mount Greylock uh there's a whole lot more activity within Student Activity um related to all manner of um activities I'm losing it here but um those account those account balances um Carry forward across the different classes um and uh and across all of their different activities um so they are in the packet um if there are questions quite honestly I one one of the other divisions of responsibility and uh labor within a school district are um Student Activity accounts are within the purview of the principles and the treasur as opposed to really um on a day-to-day basis within the business office or the superintendent's office um but I I'm uh I'm bringing them forward tonight because that's the annual um annual it's tradition so are there any questions and probably if you have detailed questions I would end up uh going back to the treasur and the principles okay I set activity enough times that I can now retire oh thanks Joe do you want to just move right on to the superintendence report or do you want us to come back to you at a later date no no that that sounds great um so first off uh the spirit day of dialogue happening at Mount grock on October 25th um It Dating way back into May and June um we had started communicating with the team from the Department of Justice um in that uh we knew that they offered a special program um to students within school districts that's called Spirit which stands for school student problem identification and resolution of issues together um the idea is to is to bring together a diverse group of students across typically a high school um where doing it within our middle and high school um to enable them to identify and collaboratively work on things that the school and maybe the larger Community can do better um so it's uh about taking student volunteers having them work with volunteers who are facilitators um along with the Department of Justice uh team that specializes in this type of work um and um they come together for a day of dialogue and that day of dialogue is October 25th um during that day um they are broken up into groups they talk about things that that can be done better within the school within the community um and they in various very purposeful ways um mix and match those interests those needs um and then they end up coming together at the end of the day um to uh create a set of issues that they have agreed as a group that they would like to work on along along with the school administration um with the Department of Justice Representatives as facilitators moving forward um this is a wonderful idea for a few different reasons um one the focus on getting students to volunteer and recruiting students to participate and having them come from as diverse a set of backgrounds and interests as possible um is a broader um more diverse picture than say the student council which would commonly be viewed as the group that works on student interests within within a student body um and that is wonderful because it brings more students into the mix than than are commonly interested in being elected to to serve on the student council um that's part one part two is that in a year like this where we have an election where we have a process that might leave students feeling not as empowered within their lives their communities their world um as as we would hope um this type of an effort is is one that can allow that local feeling of of control and influence and positivity um so it felt like the perfect time uh to work towards it um and three it's the type of spirit once again pun intended um that is really helpful to Foster within a school community so that students feel empowered to work on things along with the with the school administration um to create uh a better environment um so uh a lot of planning's been going into the works we have a a group of facilitators who have volunteered um to uh not just spend October 25th with us but also um do a facilitator training on October 23rd um so thank you ahead uh to that group of individuals um and then we have a group of students that have volunteered and been recruited we're we're still looking for more students so if you are listening to this and if you are saying that program sounds amazing um please do reach out to principal shuts um via email inperson uh student square whatever it may be um please do express your interest um because we are uh we want to welcome as many students into this as we can um we're aiming for 60 uh right now we're at about half that um which is still a highly productive uh possibility but we would love to welcome more um so I will provide another uh update in November for how the day went um and what types of things we are working on as a school Community um but I wanted to make sure to note all of it tonight ahead of time any questions on that all right I'm excited about it next up I'm going to do a screen share this is what the field and track project looked like as of two days ago um as you can see track coating done some of the the seating of disturbed areas growing in and the sod is down um all of those rows that you see are are fresh sod that was rolled out on that interior playing field um the next thing that's happening is um and I didn't manage to get updated uh aerial photos today um but the track markings have been measured out and kind of pre- chocked in um and the crew that will be painting all of the lines and numbers and other markings on the track um they are going to be working as soon as the weather is dry enough to allow for uh the necessary time for uh that paint to dry um once that's done um and actually kind of concurrent with it the area to to the left where you see uh raw soil um they're doing their final grading there um of it and then they'll be hydro seeding it I believe they're coming out this weekend actually to to do that because at this point um all of the black top the asphalt is in um the fences around say like the throwing Sports uh cages stuff like that all of that going in I I saw people putting up fence uh fences today um the fence around the track was complete as of yesterday in time for the cross country meet and all of the um activities that were happening on campus last night um so the project will for all intents and purposes be done uh by sometime next week we think which is amazing it's uh ahead of schedule um it it's gone beautifully wonderfully um what we are going through a process of doing right now now is uh final accounting making sure that we know all of the different outstanding um bills that exist so that we can pinpoint exactly how much we have to um acquire bleachers hopefully audio system and make sure that all of the loose track equipment that that we are responsible for purchasing directly um understanding what our final budget is there um we will be within the U the prescribed budget and and the fundraising that we already had going um a stretch goal or a stretch thing that I would love for us to think about um as a school committee as a district um that I have not been able to apply as much bandwidth to as I would like um is we have this blank canvas all around the track I would love to start to also talk about trees that will eventually provide shade um what it might mean to potentially do some targeted fundraising um so that we can uh plant trees potentially have them have donors names on them and create a really wonderful environment on the outside um and then the other thing that I should note here within all of this is um so given where we are in the project we are in wonderful shape to um have the track and field uh Team utilize this facility fully in the spring so we're we're there um short of having rain every day between now and the start of of of the Season not allowing for track painting um and part two is the sod is starting to root um we've had some pretty interesting weather of late and we don't know what what the what their winter will look like um so the sod is is looking great doing great um but how it roots and and to what extent it is uh ready will determine when in the spring we can start to be on it um so I think it's probable that we'll have a lacrosse game at some point um or a pair of so that there is there is equity there for uh the girls and boys lacrosse teams um in the spring but I don't think it will be at the start of of the season I think it might be towards the end of the season because we're we want to make sure that um this Turf is in good shape for many many years to come so utilizing it for a month when we shouldn't um would be shortsighted at uh at best um so we're going to pay attention to how it's doing um and if we need to um or because we will need to we will start the varsity seasons on John T Allen field um which I have an exciting update for there too um through a lot of effort by uh robuk within the operations um the director of operations role here um we have uh National Grid um through a grant program we're going to be able to replace the lights that are currently up at jont T Allen with um high efficiency LEDs um this is an Energy Efficiency type Grant so that we can actually replace not just the bulbs um but the fixtures up top um including with hoods that will decrease light pollution um at no uh at no real cost to the district um which is huge um so people will see that happen sometime before de December 31st because that is our uh deadline for being able to utilize that National Grid um opportunity so that's that's a nice little upgrade that's already in the works there for John T Allen as well um I think I covered everything that's great news Joe um so the the timing of the use of the saw that was in the original plan right I mean that this isn't this isn't something that we're just announcing now that it had always been plan that the sad would most likely be usable uh The Following fall from when fall of 2025 so but but we're hopeful given given the timing that we might be able to to hold an inaugural event on it at some point in the spring we'll see that would be great um and my other question is um I I want to say I saw some fundraising effort for some track equipment going on already is that is that true didn't I does that ring a bell with anybody no okay that would be news to me but wonderful news to me um okay yeah Ursula did you have a question before uh Joe answered it I didn't let him get to it I was gonna ask about timing of use but he got there so okay thank you all right um yeah next item yep uh so school year update I I'll just leave the field and track just I just love looking at that image I'll leave it up there uh school year uh it's it's been off to a a fast-paced good start um I was I was uh I was thrilled that our student council Representatives uh Sarah and Sabine brought up the the student own devices topic um we will be talking about that more in in November but it continues to go largely really well um one thing to note CU I didn't mention it within the fy2 uh start of the Year update um and I think it's just worth noting for everybody um the month of September in terms of both student and staff attendance related to sickness um was probably we we don't have concrete data but as anecdotally it was the worst on record um for us that that we can ever remember um and it was not any one thing it it was Co it was flu it was stomach bug it was it was all of the above um and it was impacting everybody equally so it it wasn't just students it wasn't just staff um and that could potentially have a budget impact we're certainly looking at it very carefully um but it also I think begs just the question of what does that mean for the remainder of the school year The Optimist says great everybody's been sick once um now they're ready to go for the remainder of the year uh the other view is okay people have all been sick in September um let's hope whatever vaccinations apply help in uh September and October and November and we don't have too much uh rebound or additional sickness um in January and February um but that's definitely a to determined um kind of kind of deal for us so I I just wanted to highlight that because I think from all aspects whether it's operational um in terms of substitutes and in terms of the impact of student absence um but also the the financial impact um it's something that we are keeping a close eye on because September was not not a good one in that regard and that's it oh I I should note um we will start having principles back in November and December as we start to look at um uh School Council budget priorities but also just what we'll start to do like year thus far in review um sessions with them in November and December and January great thank you for that um any other questions before we move on to um what's happening with Mas see stuff no all right thank you Joe um okay so in the packet and we've seen these before I believe are the uh resolution there's a link to the resolutions that are being voted on at the um conference in November Julia is our um delegate to the delegate assembly so it will be her responsibility to vote on the resolutions and I believe um last year we can do it however we want this year but I believe last year um well actually I don't quite recall we have the options I won't say what we did last year we have the options this year of voting on the particular resolutions right voting to approve or not approve or uh to give Julia the the um Authority essentially to vote as she determines best based on input from the school committee and what she hears on the floor of the delegate assembly right so we've already um determined her to be the delegate so if we want to delegate to the delegate the authority to vote on our behalf that's one way of doing it um or or we could vote the resolutions um Steve you had your hand up uh yes uh my feeling is that we send a delegate to something like this so that they can hear nuanced conversations and there's often things that you don't think about when you're writing it that it could be interpreted this way or it has this consequence or what not and I would be very hesitant to lock Julie into voting a certain way I trust her to listen to what's going on taking as input what we discuss and then I'm quite happy to give her authority to vote as she sees fit okay um so we should go through the resolutions um so Julia can get that feedback but Julia go ahead and maybe maybe we should wait on this one I can wait until we go through each one because I have particular a particular question about one okay Risa I was just going to say I also fully trust Jula to vote on our behalf okay so let's go through them um Curtis I won't make you read them um but if you uh if you would like Curtis or anybody else uh we could at least read the names of the re resolutions and then um you know discuss each one in turn you want them all named and then we discuss each one or want to just name them one at a time we name one at a time and then we'll see if anybody has anything to say about it sure do do we have text that we can share for people looking at home it's linked to the agenda right I'm just saying to just put that on display right now like we did for the fields Joe do you want to do that I don't or you could give me I would I would love to okay can you all see that should I if you're able to make it bigger yeah that's great okay how's that yeah so there it is resolution one development of an alternative to the high stakes mcast test okay uh yeah Julia that's the one I have a thought about um which you can imagine based on my comments earlier today um I'm not I do not believe that the mcast are the perfect test um so I don't necessarily want to um my perspective is could it be improved sure um could there be an alternative possibly but the last therefore be it further resolved that masc urges Massachusetts to enact a moratorium on mcast testing effective immediately I would want to um propose that that gets stried stricken taken out um and I I sat through a um workshop on these and heard that they actually request that kind of amendment to be sent in advance which I have not done because I don't want to speak for our committee so I was hoping we might be able to um talk about that as an amendment um that might go to the masc my two cents on this is that my my only object and I've as you know I've spent years pouring through uh mcast data uh and data driven instruction is kind of my bag and uh that I also would feel comfortable uh proposing an amendment to strike that one passage from this uh in particular because my my one objection if I could call it an objection to the mcast is that it's used as a graduation requirement and I feel that question to addresses that for the people of the state to to to to decide uh and with that on a ballot uh coming up in uh 26 days or 28 days whatever it is uh I would be totally fine asking to have that be stricken from this resolution uh and if you scroll up Joe um to the top of the page there is another therefore and that's where that is is part of this uh resolution therefore masc urges Mas or Massachusetts to develop an alternative to the high Stak mcast test um but oh no that's not the graduation requirement still that's just the test all together okay so yes um yeah I I would have no problem Julia with your um submitting uh an amendment to this um what do other folks think I don't know who picks first because see I I agree I don't know uh if we need something more formal than us just stating that yeah no I think it's just feedback We're Not Gonna Take votes on these because we don't want to bind Julia to anything um and that won't I appreciate that and now I after tonight's meeting I will actually send a proposed amendment to to um the masc just striking that one therefore it resoled yeah great um yeah vertis resolution two resolution two increase compulsory attendance age all right and then do you want to read uh the therefore maybe that's what we should do is therefore it be resolved be it resolved rather that uh masc recommends that the Massachusetts legislature increase the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 18 can I ask a question sorry if I'm a little dense on this one but is that just saying that right now you could drop out of high school when you're 16 but that would be 18 If This Were to okay y consensus to approvals anyone object to this okay I think it makes sense okay uh resolution three oops resolution three safe storage of firearms I don't anyone could see my hands I and Carrie um I believe this is something that our committee took up in the past and it might have been a version of this resolution the language seems very familiar um but just wanted to to raise this is something that we we've considered in the past and actually I think approved formally yeah we have supported in the past I think the issue was that it didn't get voted on at the delegate assembly last year so um it's back on the docket should I read the therefore yeah that'd be great thank you therefore be it resolved that masc recommends all districts direct their superintendent and staff to create an appropriate communication to parents and Guardians that explains the importance of secure firearm storage to protect children and teens from unauthorized access to unsecured firearms and their legal obligations consistent with Massachusetts safe storage law and then there's a furthermore furthermore be it resolved that masc urges other communities to work with their local law enforcement agencies Health agencies and nonprofit organizations to collaborate and increase efforts to inform District parents and guardians of their obligations regarding Secure Storage of firearms in their homes and vehicles yeah I think there may have been some objections on the floor last year about um that this is n really in the purview of school committees um to be um dealing with this issue um I think that was the main objection last year but um we did as a committee vote to support it okay Steve has up oh go ahead Steve no I was just going to say what you what you just said Carrie that you know this almost feels like a me too that this is you know something good but is this something else that we want to add to the task for our administrators so is the language that this now must be done by school districts no it says recommends all districts recommends there's no um right so as long as it's just you know recommends yep I don't remember what it was in the previous uh iteration yeah but I'm just I'm just always worried about uh your finite resources being tasked to do more and more good things but there's only so many things that can be done there's other members of the community to work on stuff too sure okay thanks um resolution four resolution four school bus stop arm surveillance act and enforcement penalties therefore be it resolved that the Massachusetts Association of school committees weird that they spelled it out for this one but none of the others um calls on the Massachusetts legislature to enact legislation to pass into law the ability for cities and towns to install on all school buses Live digital video detection monitoring systems for the purpose of enforcing violations against the owner of a motor vehicle whose vehicle failed to stop for a school bus when required to do so by law so this this is um imposing a a demand on the legislature um and really all of these resolutions are are meant to be uh lobbying uh plat you know toward a lobbying platform for masc so um so that makes sense any issues with this one so yeah go ahead uh so my question is always is going to be the expense and who's going to pay for this right so I know that there's often cameras on buses for inside stuff you know how much are we talking about to put cameras on the outside to monitor so what I read this to say to pass into law the ability for cities and towns oh okay um which currently I I guess currently an officer has to witness a car drive past the arm this would allow a city or town to VI to have a video be sufficient okay that that's my read anyway and and I would feel good about that knowing how people pass signs I I just can't see the very bottom of the resolution right now ah thank you yeah the second sentence of that okay yep okay perfect Okay resolution five resolution five aligning taxing Authority with the required local contribution therefore be it resolved that the Massachusetts Association of school committees calls for the enactment of legislation that would increase a municipality's levy limit by the amount of increase of the required local contribution in excess of 2.5% granting the municipality the ability to raise local revenues mandated by mgl Chapter 30 Chapter 70 I believe Chapter 70 sorry no worries Joe what do you think of this one uh both of our member towns contribute far in excess of the of the minimum um we we locally would not be impacted there are some places in the state where um the the towns or cities are are uh at or dangerously close to that minimum um this would just make it so that rather than there being two votes in order to get a budget passed um meaning one one to approve the budget one to approve going above the Lev uh the the increase um limit based on on two and a half um it would simplify that I I not selfishly but but in in the interest of school districts I I support the idea of making it so that budgets being passed don't require two things to pass and instead one um when really legally uh per the state your your required local contribution is your required local contribution I think there are a record number of districts across the state who are having to um take that second vote um to to go beyond the two and a half percent um that the overrides uh I forget the number but there uh you'll probably hear it Julia on the floor this Julia one one thing to note cuz I could see people I could see opponents conflating these things I don't think this resolution means that like let's say we if we were to propose a budget that pushed our towns above the above the two and a half we would still be subject to proposition two and half because we would not be doing it only because of required local contribution and I think that that's a situation that a lot of towns are in this year too it's it's where there are already far in excess of required local contribution but their requests on a budget basis trigger proposition two and a half um so they're separate topics in some ways but Y no I think I understand that distinction all right resolution six resolution six support of legislation to improve the fiscal health of rural school districts therefore be it resolved that masc urges the legislature to pass comprehensive legislation encompassing all recommendations from the legislative Commission on the fiscal health of rural schools report a sustainable future for Rural schools anyone else not know what this one means because I'm not really sure so there was a rural schools report which had a number of recommendations um and I think they're require they're requesting that the legislator sorry legislature yeah and I think it's really about the like feasibility of to allow rural schools to be financially feasible um with declining enrollment or because it's so hard to and with that extra help from the state that's my understanding I'm going to drop the is enabled for some reason so I'm going to drop the link to the uh report in the chat Okay resolution seven resol resolution 7 fully adjusting chapter 78 for inflation therefore be it resolved that masc calls on the Massachusetts legislature to advance legislation mandating inflation index catch-ups to Chapter 70 Foundation Aid that fully accounts for realized inflation that has occurred since the passage of the student Opportunity Act be it further resolved that masc work with the Massachusetts legislature to ensure in future years where realized inflation is above the 4.5% annual inflation cap in subsequent years inflation index catch-ups are made to chapter 78 and that realized inflation is used in the formulas to calculate Cal at chapter 78 in perpetuity I in I privately call this the make the math match the reality uh proposal yeah hard to argue with that resolution 8 Equitable funding for non-regional school districts with high Transportation costs well I think it's further up there's like four gra paragraphs of there four uh therefore be it resolved that the state recognizes the financial challenges faced by many non- Regional School Districts due to their higher Transportation costs and longer routes the state acknowledges that non-regional school districts should have access to financial support similar similarly to Regional districts when costs are extraordinary a special fund shall be established to provide financial assistance to non-regional school districts with higher Transportation costs this fund shall be known as the extraordinary routes Relief Fund the funds provided through this program shall be used exclusively to offset Transportation costs including but not limited to the purchase and maintenance of buses fuel costs and driver salaries eligible non-regional school districts May apply for Grants from the extraordinary routes Relief Fund to cover a portion of their transportation related expenses an oversight committee composed of of representatives from non- Regional School Districts Regional districts and the state's education department shall be established to ensure the fair and transparent allocation of funds from the extraordinary routes Relief Fund probably something we would have been interested in prior to you know F regionalizing can can we get backdated pre yeah good luck with that all right where are we resolution nine yes okay is the Assumption um people are good with that one yeah yes any question I have no question on it Okay resolution nine msba grants evaluation for chapter 74 therefore be it resolved that the Massachusetts Association of school committee either spell it out or don't guys just this back and for is ridiculous uh calls upon the governor and the legislature to support the expansion of capacity at the current chapter 74 schools and to work with districts that lack access to vocational technical schools to create programs and be it further resolved that the Massachusetts Association of school committees calls upon the legislature to convene a special commission to consider changes to the current law and regulation relating to the overall authority of the Massachusetts school building authority alternative overall financing and structures standards for project eligibility appropriate financial assistance based on the nature of the school and the projects being considered potential differential requirements for elementary middle schools comprehensive high schools and Vocational Technical and agricultural schools and other such matters as effects vocational and Technical education so I think Curtis you might have just read resolution 10 it's okay expansion and capacity and that makes more sense program yeah sorry that's my fault my fault I didn't scroll I didn't scroll properly you know I won't be reading that again um the chapter nine therefore be it resolved I vote resolution nine therefore be it resolved that Massachusetts Association of school committees sorry ah one too many uh times reading that phrase uh call upon the Massachusetts legislature and msba to create an evaluation an evaluated tiered system to separately assess the cost of one Elementary two comprehensive high schools and three Vocational Technical and agricultural schools resulting to true cost reimbursement for each School category well I think the discussion on these is going to be pretty interesting so yeah any comments or questions on nine or 10 or or any of the other ones yeah Julia just a um philosophical question my leaning would be if I don't think it really impacts us I'm happy to support it the danger of course is unless unless I feel like it's um I guess unless I feel like it's bad for Education the question is we it is a finite pot of money and a lot of these are about pushing the legislature to increase funding um but again like I feel like that's a debate that is maybe bigger than me so I just want to name that and if anyone wants to push back on my perspective on that I'd love to hear it and I and I think these The Vocational and Technical School group resolutions are about the needs of vocational technical schools and I say go anyway Curtis I I I have no additional comment aside from that that's exactly my feeling on it yeah all right um okay so now we go to the position on question two and I believe that um do the expiring resolutions get oh the expiring resolutions right um and Carrie sorry Carrie Stephen had his hand up just very briefly okay yeah I was just goingon to add very briefly um similar to what Julia said is to just remind everybody that there is a finite amount of money when you choose to spend something on X that's less money you have for why unless you can of course support efforts that grow the PO so that there's more to share more to distribute and I think it's great to just keep making that point that these are often wonderful things that would love to do but as we've had many difficult conversations over the year on over the years on this committee we can't do everything and we have to decide what are we going to prioritize and what will we not be able to do if we're now mandated to do this that's why I'm very glad when I see suggest recommend rather than mandate in the proposals um I guess the other thing to keep in mind is that um these resolutions as I said just a few minutes ago will direct the masc staff and those lobbying on behalf of masc how they should um you know spend their time and and our money as school districts um before the legislature so that's another finite pot like they they can't Lobby everything so where do we want them to really spend their focus this year um that's another reason for for for making your opinions known um okay so the expiring resolutions does anyone understand if these are going to be voted on the following 11 resolutions set to expire this November unless reauthorized by a vote of the delegate assembly so I don't know if you're going to take each one Julia or if you're if they're going to try to um bring them all make them all yeah again so this is just a ton of of resolutions that if they're also um brought back to life so to speak like how can MC possibly um Lobby all of these issues I guess is my my question the one that I requested um not expire was the one on I think the committee supported me on this poverty and children yeah so maybe that's also the question are there any that we want to ask to be reconsidered right so I guess that's the one that I particularly are there others that folks want to see brought back to the the Forefront I I'll just add that from from my Rel ly limited perspective the the chapter chapter 70 inflation related topic is I I I think it would impact every school district in the state and it would really be advocating for overall respecting the fact that that funding formula it doesn't really do what it says it does I think major focus on that would be would be key to me and then this full funding for individuals with disabilities Education Act um the costs associated with special education and the way that um expectations are set for opportunities but funding does not align with that mandate um that's another area where I feel like it it impacts every every school district um and so I would hope that the masc finds a way to um put its weight behind those two because they impact everybody they are massive but they are worth the effort well said I would go so far as to say of the 11 expiring uh resolutions I there's not one on there that if people were saying hey we want to extend this resolution and not allow it to expire that I would vehemently object to it being extended like there's nothing on that I'm like this is awful or dumb or repetitive per se uh but yeah uh I I'm I'm not so do they just say we do do we want to extend all of or none of or do they peace meal one at a time go through the expiring resolutions I think this is the first year that they're doing this because um this is the first year that they have set resolu or last year they uh there was a vote to set resolutions to expire so I think this is the first year that they're going through this process of bringing them back yeah well I I do hope they as as terrible as it is for uh time considerations I do hope that they individualize uh the vote to if if it is put to a vote to extend each of these things it shouldn't just be one blank you know what I mean because they're just so variegated and all over the map yeah that would make more sense it would yeah which of course does not guarantee it will be so uh but I look forward to hearing back from our delegate about how that whole process uh on unraveled is the word I almost said uh it could be a doubly long delegate assembly Julia bring Julie bring snacks I will I hear you I hear you um K do you know how many um different agenda I um legislative agenda items the Mas typically tries to go into the season with so they've had um you know 10 to a dozen voted each year and they've had the entire backlog of previously voted but wow necessarily right so that's the reason that they're setting them to expire because they want to um refine what the you know the agenda is going to be so I think it will be uh less than it has been even if all of these are are back yeah okay y all right um so question two um I believe Steve and I are both presenting at A League of Women Voters event next week on the different differing positions on question two um I would like to share I shared uh Ursula posted about this on social media and I shared a link to um there's a there's a tus report that also gives a very nice kind of balancing of T tough's policy um report and um the masc executive board took a vote um which reads as follows um the executive committee of the Massachusetts Association of school committees voted unanimously the following statement with regard to the high stakes graduation competency standard in question two quote masc does not support the use of high stakes tests as a requirement for graduation diploma we urge the voters to vote Yes on question two we urge the legislature to act expeditiously to rethink the entire mcast system to create a more Equitable and reasonable set of Competency standards for a high school diploma so I think there's a lot to be said on both sides of this I just wanted to let folks know uh that the executive committee did take this vote there are lots of resources available um that will speak to both sides of the issue issue um but do folks want to um talk about the pros and cons now or what would you guys like to do can I ask a process question first I'm just curious wasn't question two on this list of resolutions a year ago that went to the Mas C delegate assembly the equivalent of question to I don't know um I went back and I thought I saw that one District it was sponsored by one District okay so then I was surprised if it had been approved by that one District why the masc would ALS I like I wondered if it was not agreed to by the whole delegate assembly but then the board of the ASC still put it for put that statement out do in a way that felt like does that adequately represent the masc membership at large right and I don't know if the statement does reflect the Mac I know that the MTA as a whole um is is supporting question two and maybe Curtis can speak to that I know that the Mas the superintendent Association is not supporting question to um I know that there are folks coming out on either side of this um in lots of different places um and I valid concerns all around I think the main just of what I have heard from the masc board is that um the there's some frustration with the Board of Education right um with desie about U really not listen listening to what teachers have been saying about the amount of time and effort that they spend teaching to the test that they could be um using more productively towards student learning um and that the concerns about um alternatives are ill-founded because there are lots of state standards that uh the Board of Education still imposes and right so on districts and that if we teach to those State Standards then we should feel confident that our curriculum is such that we can um establish a graduation requirements just as we did prior to 2003 or four which is when the mcast became a graduation requirement when um you know the mcast system went into effect I think shortly after Ed reform in 1993 and it was I think in 20 2004 that the 10th grade test was used uh started to be used um for uh graduation requirement so it's the graduation requirement piece that um folks have an issue with so ctis do you want to speak to that from the perspective of the MTA uh I I can't claim to uh represent the MTA by any stretch or the the majority opinion of members or administration of the MTA but I can tell you uh a as a classroom teacher and a a member of a union of teachers uh anecdotally uh in the three districts in which I communicate with classroom teachers including the one in which I teach uh there is an overwhelming support for question two amongst classroom teachers particularly amongst core teachers who teach tested subjects um and a large part of it is not just we ac anecdotally I have seen students and families harmed by this as a graduation requirement and there are students who fall into that Canyon between students who qualify for uh supports and accommodations uh and in particularly that extreme end where they get an ALT to the mcast which is as we know numerically incredibly rare to qualify for and you only get so many that you can get basically uh and students on the other end uh who uh are proficient enough in in their scores to qualify for graduation there's this Canyon between the two of students who don't qualify for services but for whom that standardized test uh for whatever reason becomes uh it just becomes the enemy and for them they they fail it the first time and know they have to retake and retake it till they graduate with the few opportunities they get to do so and it the the more they encounter this barrier the further away from success they feel and are and these are students who uh are on the cusp of Honor rooll grades in terms of their academic Mastery in the classrooms but when it comes to Translating that Content Mastery to the shape of the 10th grade mcast they they for whatever reason are not able to bridge the gap between their master and expression of that Mastery in that format and uh I also agree that the the data from it throughout the years of testing is invaluable and really great for shaping quality instruction and finding the things that work and reinforcing those and finding the things that don't and addressing those Deltas those areas of that are in need of change but in terms of making it a graduation requirement uh there is a a tremendous amount of uh classroom teachers paraprofessionals special education Specialists who feel that it as graduation requirement is a burden that is both unnecessary and ineffective uh and that we can do better in terms of the graduation requirement component uh but that they also don't want to throw they don't want to throw out the whole baby with the bath water you know what I mean they're they it is a useful tool for shaping instruction uh and giving us the data to compare uh the SGP is in just invaluable uh that that component they want to keep but it's just the graduation requirement and that's why they're so very much in supportive question to and Joe um what have you heard from the superintendent um Association about this the mass while it agrees that the mcast is not an ideal gate for graduation um that in the absence of something else that will be used Statewide eliminating it will put local school districts in a difficult spot as far as determining what they will use as the determination of whether or not people can graduate um now I I think probably the fairly quick response back from others would be well was it really that that bad prior to 2003 2004 um and and part of the response there I I I believe although this is again it's anecdotal um as I was not a school administrator in 2001 um is is that uh it used to be the case that some school districts had Fairly stringent requirements for whether or not you could graduate as a result of various things others made it relatively simple so the the concept of a high school diploma um was not as meaningful as it has been since mcast became the standard um and so really that's the that's the Crux of the issue at hand and that's why Mass I think representing administrators would probably be in the in the seat of trying to navigate what to use in place have said we agree with you that standardized testing is not ideal but we need an alternative before we we take this leap other thoughts on this matter yeah Julia um ctis I really appreciate you putting into words kind of the experience that you and teachers are seeing for families um and for for students I am my my gut instinct is what will happen to the validity of the data if kids know their test score doesn't matter especially adolescent kids right like third fourth fifth graders they're going to do what they're asked to do by adults the time they're in 10th Grade they're going to be like ah I'm not going to worry about that test so what happens to the validity of the data and is there um you know how do how how can we maintain the Integrity of the results of that assessment if it's not a requirement for students to pass that's like a totally open question I don't know the answer to that um there's also I um we are spending a tremendous amount of Massachusetts State taxpayers money and I think that they are owed we are owed State you know taxpayers are owed um to Joe's point a um a an a good bar for what our tax pay our taxes pay for in terms of a high school education a good consistent bar um so you know I this is like a a really diff I hope everybody thinks about this in a as like and struggles with this question as much as we are with this group and I know people are going to fall on both sides um but I personally um am worried I I I wonder if there aren't ways to close that Chasm or that Gap that Curtis described um because at the end of the day I also as a former 10th grade m teacher um I remember studying that mcast test saying yeah our high school students need to be able to do these things um and so how to close that Gap so that so what Curtis describes doesn't happen um but I'm worried about having nothing um in the inter so personally I I fall down on the no on question two um but recognize that that is a it's a there's a lot of important opinions here a lot of important perspectives to take into account so Steve I see your hand up but Joe you also wanted to did you have your no you'll wait okay Steve so um I agreed to go on the discussion because they needed someone to take the no side Julie if you would like to go I would happily happily seed my spot I'm also torn on this um to me one of the big reasons to have a test like this is to make sure that school districts are providing a certain you know basic level and that hopefully this is assessing this so uh thank you for letting me know that you could actually go to the website I've started to look at some of the math questions and I have some concerns and I don't want to say too much because I haven't looked at it too carefully about is this really the skills we want someone to have when they're graduating from high school is is what we're testing really the right things I'm always concerned with absolutes that you have to pass this as opposed to you should be a you know this is one way to demonstrate that you have done what is required for graduation if you're not able to pass this this indicates that this is something we should look at more carefully I had a student who had you know not done well on the graduate school version of tests like this but he was one of the top 500 people in North America on math competition and that was a much better data point they could take things into perspective so I I know I'm flip-flopping on this um I think this is a very good conversation to have as to where do we want to go and my concern is moving from what we have right now um immediately implementing everything like that uh versus using this more as a diagnostic trying to figure out overall how is school's doing overall what is working what's not working the test if it's done appropriately should not you know to pass you should not have to be teaching to the test to pass you should have basic skills where it should not be a problem to do well on the exam you might have to test you might have to teach to the test that's different but you know a certain basic level of Competency one would hope if the test is written well um would not be that hot and so I want to look at some of the practice tests first before I say anything further going back to one of the conversation points we had earlier that this is why we don't bring up something with no notice without documentation to look at so we can sound intelligent and not rambling and so I will stop rambling all right well if there is nothing more to be said on that except to encourage people to become you know knowledgeable about the the um you know the differing positions on all the ballot questions um I did we did link to the conference schedule I know in the past uh committee members have taken some interest in what is being offered and requested that people if possible um at least attend you know certain um you know topics of Interest so if you have any feedback for me or Julia um just let us know if you think there are things that uh the committee would be particularly interested in hearing back from you said you linked in the chat oh not linked in the chat sorry linked on the agenda got it got it got it y yes I'm sorry yep yeah I have identified things that I want to go to so definitely get your vote in if you want me to go to something and I'll I'll make sure I you know bounce between things if need be when I opened it up and looked at it in the very first thing was CH I can't remember how its phrase but challenges unique to Regional School Districts I was like yeah that's on my list like I bet that's number one yeah that's on my list yeah Julia if you have like a a document that highlights what you're attending and can share it with me then I can try to attend um other things yeah okay great all right so upcoming meetings policy and governance as stated earlier is meeting on October 21st at 5:00 pm over zoom and the next school committee meeting is November 14th at 6: PM are there other items not anticipated no all right so are there any agenda requests hearing none seeing none is there a motion to adjourn so moved all right Curtis moves Julia seconds uh we'll roll call out and the time is 8:31 PM Bowen I Constantine I doin B ey green I Malloy I Mill I good night all good night everyone bye G to stop recording