[0:01] Um, can you just check to make sure that your mic is on?

[0:06] Yes, I can hear you. Okay.

[0:08] Yes. Thank you. And member Gabbard.

[0:12] I think I did it right.

[0:13] Yes. Okay. Thank you. All right. Uh, the first item of business is, uh, public comment. Is anybody signed up for public comment? I don't think so. Um. All right. And so next is the chair's opening remarks. Um, I want to say thank you to Meredith Pugh for her service. Uh, she resigned last, uh, last month in July. And we I wish her well on her new endeavors. Uh, the Holden selectboard will be looking to fill that, uh, seat, and anyone interested from Holden should contact the town for the process. Um, and then just a note about the Foundation Budget Review Commission. It is in the state budget for FY 27, and it will be filled with members as outlined in MDL chapter 70, section four. So it's a combination of people from the House, the Senate, the governor's office, and as also representatives appointed by organizations such as MASC, Mars, Maslow, among others. Um, and then also, I just want to note that I plan to request training sessions from Mack and and Mars regarding the foundation budget as it applies to watch you sit with the intent of inviting our member towns. So once the school year gets going, look for those dates. And with that, I will turn it over to Doctor Riley for the superintendent's report.

[1:38] Thank you very much.

[1:42] And so, uh, just two quick items tonight. Actually, I'm going to end up deferring the bulk of the superintendent's report to Director Thompson and an update on student support. But I did want to talk just briefly about where we stand in preparation for the 2020 627 school year. Um, and give you some updates. Uh, specifically, one of the things we wanted to look at is some exciting developments in terms of our capital projects. Uh, behind me is an update of, uh, the new wraparound one way exit. Uh, at the SEC. This, um, we're currently looking at the best way to use this with the SEC staff. Uh, it will definitely allow for a far more efficient and safe traffic flow at the school that we're also anticipating, ideally for parent drop off. Uh, for a number of years, I think the, uh, students and families at the SEC, uh, every time there were, two arrivals, two dismissals. It was a scary time, I think, for any of us who have experienced it. So very excited at that development and thank Mark Wilde, our facilities manager, for his work, to make sure that project is completed. I also want to share that project is progressing very quickly at the high school. This is the floor, the suspended concrete floor. We've been hearing about this. I believe this is the third year of since we were unable to originally open the program, but we are able to tour it a couple of weeks ago when we did the facility tours with members of the facility subcommittee. It was a really impressive operation. They have been very detailed in their work, and we believe that we will be scheduled to complete on time. And so we may have to wait a week or so before we actually have the students in the area. But I'm very happy with the progress of Of this project, and thrilled that the kids are going to be able to use the space again. And then finally, another project that I think we've heard over the last few years is that of the Dawson Connector. Uh, this is a picture of where that project stands at the current time. Uh, on the right is the modular classroom, and on the left is the building proper? Uh, again, we were able to take a look at that project when we toured the Dawson School, but it's extremely exciting that that's going to be in place. I want to thank in particular, Ryan Jost, who's managed the project for the town of Holden and then also for their attention in detail and then also their timeliness in terms of getting the project started as close to the end of the school year as possible. And another project that we're very excited is going to be seen through, um, by the start of the school year. So really exciting stuff in terms of school year preparation. We also wanted to provide a hiring update right now. HR and our schools they've hired and filled over 35 vacancies across the district. That includes the majority of positions identified during our budget discussions. Of note in particular, all our team chair positions have been filled, and that's something that has been a challenge. I think these are just positions that are hard to find. Unfortunately, at a couple schools that really never got to have the benefit of a full time team chair last year. But they we go into this year fully staffed, which hopefully makes a difference for both our families and students receiving special education services. And then also the staffs themselves, where assistant principals and other administrators can be used to support the student experience exclusively, where we continue to have challenges in terms of hiring additional staff, food services, our paraprofessionals, and then also our specialist positions. And a lot of those positions have been compounded by some recent resignations and then also requested leaves. And so we have a couple of vacancies that we weren't anticipated in June. And then these have also been traditionally difficult to hire positions in the district. We will continue to monitor them. And I think there have been great efforts by both the human resource department and also all of our building principals and central office departments. So we have a decent amount of confidence that we're going to be in good shape at the start of the year. But those are the positions that currently were were actively monitoring, uh, in terms of having some vacancies potentially at the start of the school year. The other thing I wanted to talk about is the administrative work that we're concentrating on, the district as we move forward, and we have our second retreat with the building administrators coming up next Monday and Tuesday. And I think it's a good opportunity to talk about some of the work that we're hoping to accomplish in the coming year in the district and really, what you're going to hear us talking about a lot is putting the putting an emphasis on taking the district systems that have been developed and making sure that they're implemented in our buildings to the level we all want. You know, so specifically that our practices are refined to the point where we're getting good at the things we've committed to, and then also that we're aligned. So the experience that you get at one building is coherent and aligned with a building anywhere else in the district. Um, I think it's important to note that doesn't mean we're not going to be working on new initiatives this year. I think what it means, though, in terms of what we're asking staff, we're trying to be very mindful of how much we've asked them to do over the last several years, whether it be new curriculums or new systems implementations. We really have asked a lot of the staff, and so we're hoping to give them time to practice what we've asked them to implement, to make sure that it's making sense, and to make sure that these initiatives are implemented in the way that they're going to have the ultimate benefit on on students. Because of that, it's reflected in both how we're going to approach Opening Day this year and then also our initial and our initial PD day on September 1st. These are going to be building based events. And so really giving an opportunity for administration and staff to work together in their buildings, which they haven't been able to do, quite frankly, in the last few years because we've had so much professional development around the implementation of curriculum specifically. And so we're really hoping that this gives people an opportunity not just to breathe, but to really make sense of all the things that we've been asking them to do. And so they're really implemented to a level of fidelity that they're going to make a difference. And so I think that's going to be reflected again, when we talk about the district improvement plan. Yes, we're going to be committing to work about a schedule analysis at the high school and at the middle school level. We are going to be talking specifically about a portrait of learner throughout the district, but those are more, um, uh, initiatives that are more of a district lens and administrative lens than necessarily at the staff. And so for the staff, you're going to see hopefully a real emphasis on them having time to practice what we've exposed them to over the last few years. Um, in terms of, uh, anticipated communication from parents, we want to share that the Power School parent portal dates a bus stop. Information was posted today. Schedules and class assignments will be posted on Wednesday, August 19th. The clever portal. Um, the access right now is suspended for students, but it will reopen on Wednesday, August 19th. And then the MCA's family portal, which was discussed last year but never actually implemented. They actually expect that it's going to be launched this month, and once available, registration credentials will be provided to parents through Power School. Barry's talked to me about this a couple times. That will be ready to go. He gets a little leery because they announce it like it's going to happen. And it raises a level of expectation anxiety, I think, for families. But when they're ready to go, we'll be ready to go. And he has been working on that. So there's a fairly seamless, um, uh, unfolding when that does happen. Um, at that time, I'll pause in case there are any, any questions from anybody. Otherwise, we'll invite ASAP to give us an update from the Office of Student Support.

[10:07] Um, yeah. I just had a quick question. You mentioned the jobs that were having trouble filling and you mentioned specialists.

[10:15] Could you be more specific on that? S4:

[11:02] Okay. Thank you. Yeah, I wasn't sure if you meant, like, specialized positions or if you meant, like, specials and lunch.

[11:07] Yeah. No. And all I, you know, I apologize. Yeah. So I think we're pretty good about in terms of, uh, art music and in esteemed positions. We're in good shape around that. All right. Thank you for asking. Absolutely.

[11:21] Okay. Sorry.

[11:23] All right. This time, I'd like to introduce, uh, Um, Ace Thompson.

[11:30] Who's going to talk to us about the Office of Student Support? S7:

[13:35] Um, at first glance, you look at some of these percentages and they seem minuscule, and you look at 0.56% of students, um, exhibiting or living with homeless situations or home insecurity. When you look a little bit further, though, that's that's 36 kids. And, you know, you think that's that's half a bus. If you're if you're picking if you're just driving around town and picking up kids, that's half a bus full of kids that have some kind of home insecurity, foster care. Are you looking at 51? I think that number is comes from the state. I think it's a little bit depressed. I think we have some higher numbers than that, especially when you consider, um, the work that devra does in our communities and the beds that they continue to, to open, as well as the the families that we do have that host. Foster students in the community. Our home hospital numbers up to. We had 71 referrals this year. Uh, that's the highest in the last at least four years that I went back. Um, and I think the number one of the numbers that resonates with me is when you look at our low income population as, as determined by the state, that's over 1000 families that qualify under that designation. So it's important to remember these aren't just statistics. It's not just percentage. These are these are kids. These are families that we want to make sure that we're we're creating avenues to to access instruction that all, all kids and all families have a right to.

[15:09] So to that end, we we've worked really hard over the last few years to, to build systems, to, um, to work on the registration and residency process. We spend a lot of time working with families on how they can meet the residency requirements on the on the different steps that need to be taken. We work closely with families and with legal on custody reviews. McKinney, Vento, foster. And also we've really amped our up our work on language and hardships. Um, these are these are intentional steps that we're taking, and you're going to see our numbers are up, our percentages are up. And I don't think that's because more kids and more families are in need. I think we're doing a better job of identifying them. Uh, when you look at where we were two years ago with 14 families with, um, with home insecurity, you know, we're up to 36 now. Some of that I can be honest, I think it was weather related. We had some tornadoes and some other things that rolled through and really impacted people's housing situations. But we also we have families that are living in campgrounds and then moving into other, other temporary living situations during the winter and then returning to campgrounds. Um, you know, our foster care numbers continue to increase, and I'm going to point out the home hospital because that that percentage rate that amounts to like 10 or 11 more kids this year. And I think part of that is because of our attendance initiative, I think we're doing a better job of noticing when kids are missing 14 plus days, and we're making sure that they realize they have access to continue instruction, even if they're going to be out. Um.

[16:59] Overall, our attendance rates have really, really gone well. I pulled out the 2122 baseline because it makes us look really good. I think that was probably we're coming out of Covid and it was the peak of chronic absenteeism. Remember chronic absenteeism was 10% of the school year, so 18 days or more. And at that point, we had nearly 20% of the population that were meeting that. It slowly dropped every year until we got to 10% this past March. That being said, that's the whole when you look at some of our risk families, we're not necessarily seeing that same decline in chronic absenteeism. They've all dropped. I can tell you all four of these categories have have come down in the last two years, um, especially, but it's disproportionate. When you look at our English language learners, they're twice as likely to be chronically absent as the general population. Uh, our low income. Similarly, our high needs students is identified by the state. And I do want to call out and I wanted to to flag students on IEPs because while that's still nearly 6% above the average. That represents a almost 7% drop in chronic absenteeism over the past year, and I think director Jan DeAngelis and the special ed department have done a fantastic job of really focusing on that area of need, and it's reflected in these numbers. There's more work to do. Um, but we're getting there.

[18:47] When you look at.

[18:50] 1 to 5 hour stability rates, what that means is students stay within the district. Overall, we have a really strong stability rate, again, where we're finding, um, some disproportionate percentages when you're talking about English learners. You know, there are 1 in 6 Ell students leave during the year and 1 in 10 are likely entering after the start of the school year. Are low income students twice the rate as, uh, as a typical population? Um, we're still I think we're doing a good job of making connections with these families. But this is continue is an area that continue to work for us.

[19:34] So what what are we doing? What have we done? Where are we going? Um, so we've we've really tried to tighten up our registration process. We're still working on that. Uh, the IT department is bringing on an additional program to help us with the registration, hopefully streamline it. I know that I've talked before about the need for central registration. I think that's something that needs to come down the road. I don't think we're there right now. Let's see how the technology rolls out. But I do think that's something that we should continue to talk about. Um, we've spent a lot of time working with principals and with counselors on home hospital, and I think our work with our attendance task force has really brought that to the forefront, so we're continuing to see progress in that. We've also worked really closely with the special ed department, with Devereaux and with, you know, DCF and and streamlining our foster care identification and as well as our McKinney Vento. I think the next step, and I'm going to talk about it a little bit, is creating a system for fee waivers. I know that I've listened to enough school committee meetings where we talk about how fee dependent a lot of our activities are. We're talking about sports, field trips, dances, extracurriculars. Um, so before the start of the school year, I'll be uploading onto the website in an avenue that we can we can put some waivers into place.

[21:01] An example of some ways that we can support these families. As we've started working with this group, my friend Ben and Ben, I found out, is short for benefits. It's not a person. Uh, it's a it's an online platform that is agreed to to partner with us and create local resources. Um, for families, it's a simple, anonymous way for families to, to get on, plug in their information, and it connects them with the with resources that there that are applicable for them. Uh, it's at this point it's philanthropically grant funded. So there's no real concerns about government government funding shifting. Um, and it has been around for a little while. It started out in Colorado a couple of years ago, has been moving east. This is their first kind of foray into Massachusetts. I'm excited to be a part of that, that initial surge. I think it'll be a great, great opportunity for our families.

[22:02] Um, as I alluded to, we're going to go live on a fee waiver Initiative is a website and in a form that families can fill out when and when activities come up that they're concerned the they won't be able to pay. We're going to cut out the a lot of the middleman. They don't have to talk to the teacher or the principal. That'll come to the central office and we can process it. Um, it should increase efficiency. It should increase confidentiality. And it should hopefully allow more, more ways for for students to access these the same supports and the same activities as their peers.

[22:43] Moving forward, we're talking about technology registration improvements, automating our workflows and making the overall experience for families easier. I don't know how many people have registered on power school, but this should this should make it a lot, a lot smoother for families and for the building level secretaries to to process. Um, we're really working with people on early identification, um, creating stronger partnerships, making those relationships, and building capacity from within the department. Uh, in terms of programs. We're talking about fee waivers, my friend Ben, and, you know, deploying attendance interventions. So we're we're going to continue that focus this year and see if we can if we can make some real impact, especially on some of those, some of those subgroups.

[23:36] Um.

[23:37] I think I think there's a particular focus on our ML and Ell populations and see what, what we can do to help support them.

[23:49] Um, I think it's important for us to remember we're talking about kids. This is in all numbers. This is all data. We're going to know if this is working. There'll be data points, but really it's going to be the that we're identifying kids sooner and we're getting supports in place quickly, um, that we're, we're reducing barriers and we're making it easier for families to get what they need. Um, we're connecting them with their resources. And, you know, I do think that you'll see data points in terms of improving attendance. We've already started to see some of that.

[24:22] Um.

[24:23] You know, the goal is that all students, regardless of, you know, subgroup or need, are accessing the same as all of their typical peers. And we're making that as smooth and seamless as possible.

[24:36] That is what I had for you. But I'm here to take any questions or.

[24:44] Any questions? Yeah. Um.

[24:48] Passion area for me. So I will not ask all of them.

[24:52] But, um, I'm curious when you're talking about foster families, I know that you got access through various means to know who is formally placed in Foster care.

[25:15] Are you also considering students who may be informally placed in temporary homes, for instance, with grandparents or other family members because of myriad reasons? S7:

[25:53] Yeah. It depends a lot on sometimes on teachers just being what teachers know. You know to it's a tough nut. I just wondered how you were thinking about it.

[26:02] You know, I think the focus at this point is really on the registration process and trying to catch it, um, catch those kids and those families when they're, when they're coming in the door. I think some of that is through relationship and trust. Yes. Right. And so some of that is also being able to have those conversations, not necessarily in that main lobby. Um, but it's a it's a conversation that we're having.

[26:25] Can I ask a couple more?

[26:26] You can ask as many.

[26:29] Um, I wondered when you're looking at the chronic absences among the Ell population. Um, have you noticed any correlation between upticks in their absence rate and ongoing disruptions in the enforcement of immigration policies?

[26:48] That's a great question. I haven't done that dive yet. Actually, I have a meeting scheduled this week with our multilingual instruction. Well, what's the title MJ with MJ. And that's one of the one of the conversations is what are what are we doing.

[27:11] What do we need to look at to get a better understanding of what's going on with the L population around attendance? S9:

[27:17] But it's something that occurred to me and I think I'm grateful for the opportunity to present because that was something that, as I was doing this day to dive, that that really resonated with me is that that we have some things, we have some work to do there.

[27:29] Last question. When you're looking at fee waiver programs, um, have you thought about how how deep the blindness of that program goes? I don't know if I'm asking that question.

[27:48] Right, but how how deep at the school level will knowledge of who's on fee waivers go? S7:

[28:20] Okay. Thank you very much. Always appreciate it. It's exciting and work that you're doing.

[28:24] Oh thank you. Thanks.

[28:27] Um, member Gustafson, did you have a question? Do you? And then. Scott, you'll be next.

[28:31] Um, I have a couple, but, um, I do want to thank you for this update, and I'm so excited about the fee waivers. We've been talking about that for years, and I'm glad we have some things going on with that. And, and a lot of these other work. Um, because a lot of this, a lot of the needs of these students, as you saw, the numbers look really small. Um, and it's it's hidden in our communities. People don't think that we have some of these, um, students facing these issues. So I'm really glad that we're being proactive. Um, it's my, one of my. So I have two questions. One is very nitpicky, but when you're talking about the low income, I know the state has a certain threshold that we have to they use in the data. Um, and you talked about families that are living like, paycheck to paycheck. How are we finding those people? Um, like, is there how are we getting, I guess, this information in these resources, this is available out to families because not all of them are captured in that state data.

[29:32] What I think that that speaks to the problem and some of the struggle we have, and that's where the hope is. If we have this system, we can get it up on the on the website. Um, we're more likely for, for families to self-select and to and to share that they're, that they're having some financial.

[29:46] Are we are we planning to push this out through, you know, school updates and things so that the principals are letting them know that we have these resources, and here's a page you can go to it just without identifying anyone individually, just letting people know it's it's a resource. Yeah.

[30:03] Um, I wouldn't say I have a formal communication plan, but I've got lots of ideas.

[30:07] Okay. That's good. Um, and the other thing that's more practical for School committee that I was curious about is you talked about needing an increase in people in a couple of points where we either have someone who's been hired, it sounds like, or whose skills you're using. Um, and then in the things that are coming, you'd mentioned we need people to help with some of this. I'm curious in what what kind of staffing, um, needs would would allow you to support these students and families.

[30:38] And so.

[30:40] To make sure that I'm understanding your question, are you talking about, like, early identification through the registration process? Are you that would you either either. Oh, so there's a there's a couple of different avenues that I feel like we can pursue for that. And, you know, I'm not ready to to plant my flag in the hill and say, this is this is what we we have to do.

[31:10] We've had some conversations around like, this is is this a registrar and a clerk, or is this something where, you know, where we're looking for additional supports in the in the building? S8:

[31:11] I'm not ready to say what is the right solution, but it's something that we're continuing to, to consider and talk about.

[31:17] And what's going on with the registration process. Because you mentioned it's tech. It's through power school now. So it's not in the buildings with the secretaries. Or is it still how is. I wasn't clear on that process.

[31:30] And I know I can trust Barry to to correct me if I go too far astray. But the pre-registration process primarily is done on power school right now, and then the building level secretaries approve it, create the power school accounts, and then families can complete it through their families. Do have the option to bring it in in paper and to and to meet and sometimes, um, depending on the technology needs. Sometimes they do. Um, but I do know that the IT department is bringing in a separate add on. Is that fair to say or replacement? It's a replacement. Um, to, to make that a little bit easier and streamline. Is that fair? Yes. Well.

[32:08] I appreciate that. It's been a while since I've had to deal with that. So thank you.

[32:12] No problem.

[32:13] Thank you for your work.

[32:14] Member Hedstrom.

[32:17] So it was really encouraging to see the progress we've made in decreasing chronic absenteeism. Um, down to 10%, but 10% still seems like kind of a high number, but I don't really know what to compare it to. Do we know what the baseline was like 15, 16, 17 pre-COVID years? What like what are we shooting for? As a.

[32:36] I.

[32:36] I don't have it off the top of my head. I can tell you that when I looked at our numbers last year when we were doing the attendance task force, we actually aren't far off from the state average as a whole. We're actually we're not in a horrible place. Um, not where we want to be. I don't think we're in the top.

[32:52] Half.

[32:52] But like, we're somewhere in the middle. If I remember correctly.

[32:55] Um.

[32:56] I think where my focus really is on those, those at risk populations that are, that are outside are disproportionately affected right now.

[33:04] That makes sense. I mean, obviously zero is the goal, but also probably not realistic. So I just I didn't know if 10% was good or. Yeah. Thank you.

[33:13] I think uh, not to be lost though. You know, Scott, I mean, 18 absences, one out of ten kids. It's a lot. Yeah. And, um, like, I'm very thankful for the efforts of both, uh, ace and, uh, Joan in special education to specifically make an impact on that population. But I think when we look at our English learners, uh, we look at our high needs population in general. Um, it's a real big key. You know, I think a big correlation between, uh, those groups and then also their achievement levels. We all know this. You missed one. I remember missing a day of school and you go back to school and you felt like you missed a week or a month. You know, you missed so much and it was really just one day. And so when you compound that and it approaches 18, 20 days, I think it's a significant driver in terms of their educational experience. And I've said this before and I applaud ace for this, too. It's reflective of our relationships with our families who are at risk. You know, we really need to and I think Aces led some of this work, um, build those relationships, let people know we're reaching out because we care, not because we're looking to penalize or condemn. And that's going to hopefully make a difference. But I really think it's a key, um, to our, our achievement data as well, you know, really working on it. But you're not wrong. One out of ten, 18 plus absences, it's a ton. It's a ton.

[34:37] Thank you.

[34:39] Um, member Brennan, did you have a.

[34:40] Yes? Okay.

[34:42] Um, so just to help me understand chronic absenteeism a little bit more. Um, is this only kids who have unexcused absences, or are these kids like, they have a legitimate medical reason to be out? They've notified the school. They're going through the bright program like everything is. They're getting all their needs met.

[35:11] Is that still under the chronic absentee bucket, or is it just kids who are kind of, like, absent a lot, but not getting what they need? S7:

[35:31] Okay. Because I feel like for me, it's hard to piece apart kids who are missing a lot of school when they shouldn't be, and kids who have, like, legitimate medical things that come up and therefore they hit that year. 18 absences. But it's just that year because you know what I mean? Like versus a kid who's missing it year after year after year. Um, and I didn't know if there was any way to kind of tease apart the kids who are getting the services that they're supposed to be getting. And it's those sort of a one year situation versus something else. You know what I mean? Because I feel like when we talk about it, I feel like we're looking at it as an issue that needs to be addressed. And I don't know how many kids are really. It's a one time situation and it is being addressed.

[36:17] Does that make sense? S4:

[40:04] Um, members Sam and Garrett.

[40:06] Um.

[40:06] Just real quick, I did a very quick, uh, desi data dive, uh, of public reports, and it actually made me feel a little better because in comparison, you know, we're not alone in this issue, and we honestly look like we're doing pretty well compared to a lot of districts. So, um, there is lots of publicly information available in the regular profile pages. If anybody wants to take a look, I think you can break down into the subcategories, which obviously we still have a lot of work to do on, but, um, just a simple little search. Uh, you know, we're definitely not alone. And we're it's good that we're improving and we're doing pretty well compared to a lot of other districts, so thank you.

[40:41] Um, member Klein and then member left.

[40:45] I just wanted to thank Director Thompson for the presentation. Um, I'm intrigued by the the, uh, my friend Ben program, uh, and I just looked it up online, and it looks like there's only eight states in the United States where the program is ongoing. So it's, you know, substantially unknown. And I think I'm just wondering what we can do as a school board to make it more visible within our individual towns, or what's doing what's going on within the schools, and what can we do within our towns. I'm just wondering if you have any recommendations.

[41:19] So, uh, the representative from my friend Ben that I, that I spoke to a few weeks ago and I was in recent communication with he's going to put together some, some flyers for us. Um, and as I said, he's the the plan is that they're going to tailor it a little to our community and have local resources added to it as well. And so then I think it's a matter of us sharing out. And if you want to speak to it at any school committee meeting, I'm sure that wouldn't hurt.

[41:44] Oh thank you.

[41:48] I was heartened by your report of the high mobility. Excuse me. Um, stability rate that your schools enjoy. Um, and I was filing that in my head alongside the information we heard from the planning council back earlier in the summer, when the study that they had done about people's attitudes about staying or going. I thought that was good to hear that. You've got that high stability rate, to put it in perspective, to make people feel really good about that. I spent my career in the district that was on the other end of the stick. We had 90 plus rates of mobility in among our schools. So, um, that's a really strong pillar for you guys to stand on here.

[42:34] Thank you.

[42:37] I had a question just about the communication piece. Um, uh, have you looked at how, uh, communication is going out to families when there is this kind of marker of chronic or a lot of absences? Um, and in terms of how consistently that's communicated across the schools.

[42:57] Mhm.

[42:58] Uh, that was something that the tenant's task force took, uh, took a real close look at. Uh, we were able to build some consistent language and communications, uh, across schools. And then uh, with the help of the IT department, we were able to automate some of the, some of that process. Is that perfect yet? No. Um, but it's substantially improved, I'd say, through the second half of the year when we were able to implement it. Um, but it's something that we're going to continue to focus on.

[43:25] Um, have you seen a difference in how families are responding once they've received that communication, or is that still kind of is it? Like is it a high response rate? Middle. Low.

[43:37] That's a it's a good question. I can make up a really good answer right now, but I'd have to.

[43:44] But I'd have to talk to the to the individual principals on the levels and get some feedback on that. It's a good question. Well.

[43:54] Is there any other questions or discussion? Um, I also want to thank you for this presentation. This is something that I know. Some of us who've been on the committee for a while have been wanting to see and really dive into this data. Um, I know from my first year on the committee to now our, our low income percentage was, I think, around 10%. And to see it now at 15%, that is a sizable number of students. Um, and if it's reflecting better capture changes in the times that we live in, I don't know, but, um, it does I mean, it does seem like it has better capture. Um, but I also very much appreciate your framing of looking at the populations that need a disproportionate amount of resources so that they can enjoy the same level of education experience. Um, I think that that's a lens that we frequently kind of forget about. And so I'm very glad that you're keeping that front and center. And I hope to continue to see that with, uh, the work coming out of your office. And thank you very much.

[45:00] Thank you.

[45:01] Um, did you have another. Okay. Um, then in that case, I think we will move on to thank you for the recommendations requiring action from the school committee. Um, I will accept a motion or. Actually. I'm sorry. Let me just go back one second and make sure.

[45:26] Were there any other questions or discussion on the superintendent's report as a whole? S4:

[46:12] All right. Now we'll move on. So recommendations requiring action from the school committee. I will accept a motion to approve the consent agenda. Number one, motion to refer policy 3.3 policy relating to education, Aids, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases to the policy Sub-Committee two. Motion to Refer Policy 6610. Policy relating to pupil services. Health to the policy Sub-Committee three. Motion to Refer Policy six 160. Policy relating to pupil services. Postgraduate students to the policy Sub-Committee and for motion to Refer Policy 6561. Policy relating to pupil Services. Driving and parking to the policy Sub-Committee.

[46:59] So moved.

[47:00] Second.

[47:01] All right.

[47:01] So Paula and Scott first and seconded. Um, any, uh does anybody wish to remove an item from the consent agenda?

[47:13] All right. Um, then we'll move to a roll call vote agenda thing. Um, I can we can go around the table to let me go have. Yeah. All right. Remember? Gustafson.

[47:27] Gustafson. Yes.

[47:28] Remember? Lindstrom.

[47:29] Hedstrom. Yes.

[47:31] Yes.

[47:32] Yes.

[47:33] Yes.

[47:34] Brandon. Yes.

[47:36] Klein. Yes.

[47:37] Streaky.

[47:37] Yes.

[47:38] Left. Twitch. Yes.

[47:40] For sure.

[47:41] No.

[47:42] For sure. No. You said no. Okay. Um. And remember. Norway.

[47:48] Norway. Yes.

[47:49] And member Varden.

[47:51] Martin. Yes.

[47:52] All right. The motion passes. Uh, with majority. Um, next is the secretary's report. Um, I'll accept a motion to approve the consent agenda. One motion to approve the regular session minutes of July 13th to 2026. And two. Motion to approve the executive session minutes of July 13th, 2026.

[48:18] Uh, member Brennan. And was that given member Varden? Okay. Um, does anybody wish to have, uh, either item removed from the consent agenda?

[48:30] I'm not sure I'm making the request to have one removed, but I'm not sure if this is a Scribner's note or if it needs to be changed. But in the, uh, minutes from the last meeting under school council reports, there is no substantive statement. It's just the template. So just let it go.

[48:48] Yeah, that's that's a just a Scribner error kind of thing. Yeah.

[48:52] I figured I just want to be sure.

[48:53] Yep.

[48:54] Um, okay, then, uh, let's go the other way around the table. Member. Fisher.

[49:00] Um, no.

[49:01] Okay. Um, member left with that, which.

[49:04] Yes.

[49:04] It's Twiki. Yes.

[49:05] Klein. Yes.

[49:07] Yes.

[49:08] Yes.

[49:09] Beardmore.

[49:09] Yes and yes.

[49:11] Yes yes, yes and yes.

[49:13] Uh, member. Gévaudan.

[49:16] Lauren. Yes.

[49:16] And member. Laura.

[49:18] Laura. Yes.

[49:19] All right. Oh, and I forgot to vote on the last one.

[49:22] To.

[49:22] Abstain. But on this I'll put an abstain. For this one I will vote yes. Okay. All right. Uh. Motion passes. Uh, next is the treasurer's report and financial statement. If anybody has any questions, direct them to the chair of Business and Finance. Chair. Brennan. Subcommittee chair. Brennan or myself? Um, and next up is subcommittee business. Uh, member Brennan, do you update business and finance? Uh, sure.

[49:49] So, business and finance last week. Um, and we mostly discussed, um, the wrapping up of FY 26. Uh, director Jersey is hoping to close out FY 26 this week. Um, and we are looking on budget, right. Landing the plane right on that mark, as she usually does. Uh, which is wonderful. Um, and also, um, with, um, our new, uh, Business. Um, associate business director there, getting caught up on, um, everything that was happening this spring, which is great. And they're making really fast progress. So that's wonderful. And you can see all that in the reports that were sent. Um, and then we started looking a little bit at some policies, and that's pretty much where we. Oh, and we looked at the, um, grants and uh, the grants and revolving accounts for the year.

[50:48] Any questions?

[50:50] All right.

[50:50] Um, then, Scott, uh, do you want to give you an update or.

[50:54] Sure.

[50:55] Um, yeah. So policy subcommittee last met on July 22nd. Member Beardmore was elected vice chair of the policy subcommittee. Um, we all agreed on a methodology for reviewing policies this year, and also reviewed the list of policies that were left over from last year. We mostly decided on both counts to continue the work that the subcommittee was doing last year, because it was going well. Um, this year in particular, our focus is going to be on district personnel policies, many of which haven't been reviewed in many, many years, some over 30 years, which is a little scary to add up, but we will be proceeding with that. Our next meeting is actually this week, Wednesday, August 12th at 630.

[51:38] Um, do you have a motion? S1:

[51:39] I would like to make a motion. Yes. So I moved to refer policy 1520 policy relating to school Committee operations. Policy development to the policy subcommittee second.

[51:50] All right.

[51:51] So Scott moved it. Malia seconded. Um.

[51:55] Any discussion? S10:

[52:29] Don't forget your original motion was amended. So it wasn't it wasn't all yet. Don't take them.

[52:37] Many things are.

[52:38] Mindful.

[52:40] All right. If there are no other questions and we'll go to a roll call vote. Um, let's start with our members online this time. Uh, member. Lori.

[52:50] Uh, Lori. Yes.

[52:51] Member. Gévaudan.

[52:53] Dawn. Yes.

[52:54] Um, and now we'll go around. Uh, member. Gustafson.

[52:58] Gustafson. Yes.

[52:59] Hedstrom. Yes.

[53:01] Yes. Beardmore. Yes.

[53:03] Yes. Yes.

[53:04] Klein. Yes.

[53:05] Yes.

[53:06] Left. Witch. Yes.

[53:09] Um.

[53:10] Fisher. Yes.

[53:11] Okay. And, uh, chair votes. Yes. So the passes Unanimously. Thank you, Scott, for bringing that back to policy. Um, and next, uh, legal Affairs subcommittee.

[53:22] Uh, this subcommittee hasn't met since our last update to the school committee at its July 13th meeting. And our next meeting is scheduled for October 15th.

[53:31] Okay. All right.

[53:32] Um, I don't believe that Superintendent Goals has met yet. Um, and then next is facilities. Uh, Natalie, do you have an update? Or we can wait for the next meeting. Um, we.

[53:46] Have done all of the school doors. We've gotten that out of the way. Um, and we will, I'm sure, update on those as we figure out what we want to address. Um. We met. I don't I don't know what day we met. It was last month. Um, and I was elected vice chair. Um, that's. Yeah. It was mostly just the school tours.

[54:08] Okay, great. Thank you. Um. And audit advisory board. I don't believe you've met either.

[54:20] Um, and, uh, Dana, do you have an update for for CPAC? S3:

[54:42] Thank you. Um. Next is unfinished business. There is no unfinished business. Next is new business. Is there any new business? Um, any new business should be, uh, sent to the chair with a written explanation. Um, and now we have a motion to enter into executive session to discuss strategy for contract negotiations with all bargaining units, as the chair deems of discussion and public session would have an adverse effect on the district's bargaining position not to return to public session.

[55:15] So moved.

[55:16] Second.

[55:17] All right. So, Sam and Garrett and Beardmore. Um. And, uh, we'll start again with a roll call vote. Uh, member Fischer.

[55:27] Um.

[55:27] Sure. Yes.

[55:28] Left with. Yes.

[55:30] Yes.

[55:30] Klein. Yes.

[55:32] Member. Brennan.

[55:34] Yes.

[55:34] Sam McGarry. Yes.

[55:36] Beardmore. Yes.

[55:37] Orson.

[55:37] Yes. Rostrum. Yes.

[55:38] Gustafson. Yes.

[55:39] And member. Laura.

[55:41] Laura. Yes.

[55:42] And member. Govardhan.

[55:44] Gordon.

[55:44] Yes.

[55:45] All right. And chair votes. Yes. Uh, so motion passes unanimously. Uh, we'll now go into executive session.

WRSDC Meeting • August 10, 2026

Transcript