[0:00] Approval of Sherry Levy from Social Studies Teacher at Centennial High School to Assistant Principal at Reservoir High School. Second. We have a motion by Dr. Altwerger with a second by Dr. Siddiqui, Mr. Lacey. Yes, it's so corner. Yes, Mrs. Giles. Yes, Dr. Altwerger. Yes, Mrs. French. Yes, Dr. Siddiqui. Motion passes 6-0. Congratulations.

[0:29] And for the Board's information, the following transfer will be made effective July 18th. Nell DeSims, the Assistant Principal at Reservoir High School, too.

[0:36] a system principal at Long Beach High School.

[0:38] And that concludes personnel.

[0:40] Thank you very much.

[0:42] And congratulations on your promotions.

[0:44] And a special hello to CJ.

[0:46] CJ was one of our outstanding basketball players at Howard High

[0:49] and a graduate with my son in 2014.

[0:51] So welcome.

[0:52] It's good to see you.

[0:54] Okay.

[0:55] Going on to the consent agenda, restricted staff personnel,

[0:59] bids and contracts, operating budget financial report,

[1:03] school construction, monthly report, legal fees,

[1:05] Please monthly report and the meaning, meaning, meeting minutes.

[1:11] That's okay.

[1:12] Are we holding?

[1:13] Yes.

[1:14] If you need, if you want to.

[1:16] You can ask me to pull.

[1:18] Yeah, I'd like to, I'll just have some questions about bits and contracts and the operating budget financial report.

[1:25] Okay, I'll move approval of the consent agenda.

[1:28] The approval of the consent agenda restricted, items A, D, E, and F.

[1:36] Second.

[1:38] I have a motion by Mrs. Jowles with a second by Mr. Conner for items A, D, E, and F of the consent agenda restricted, Mr. Lacey.

[1:49] I just, I ask a question about something I can't, and I did, you submitted a request to have information regarding non-public placements.

[1:58] I believe we sent an email with the information.

[2:00] I didn't look at it.

[2:01] Yeah, okay, well, should I, and I'm wondering, I think that answers your question if you could take a look at it.

[2:08] I wanted the public to know that it's not.

[2:12] Where is it?

[2:12] It's going to come up.

[2:14] Okay.

[2:14] Sorry.

[2:15] That's okay.

[2:16] So Mr. Conner.

[2:18] Mr. Conner?

[2:20] Yes.

[2:20] Mrs. Giles.

[2:21] Yes.

[2:21] Dr. Altwerker.

[2:22] Yes.

[2:23] Mrs. French.

[2:24] I would like to assure that when you brought up, you brought up F as well.

[2:30] Then yes.

[2:32] Dr. Sadegi.

[2:33] Yes.

[2:34] Motion passes 6-0.

[2:35] Thank you.

[2:37] Dr. Oliver, Mr. Pindell, ready for you, I believe?

[2:40] I have a question.

[2:41] I'm sorry, go ahead.

[2:42] Mr. French, F. What are you referencing here?

[2:45] No, she just want to make sure we included those to be approved and they may be discussed.

[2:50] Let's go to the desk now.

[2:51] That, yeah, to be pulled, to be pulled?

[2:54] Yes, I know, I move them to be approved.

[2:56] Oh, I'm sorry.

[2:58] Okay, so do you want to hold it out?

[3:00] Well, yes, I would like it pulled.

[3:02] Okay. Point of order, we're pulling F on the consent agenda.

[3:09] We can amend it.

[3:13] I thought I gave you a notice.

[3:15] Well, B, so Mrs. Charles, you'll amend your motion.

[3:18] I'll amend my motion to include A, D, and E.

[3:24] To approve A, D, and E, consent agenda, yes.

[3:33] Okay, so Mr. Connor, are you seconding that?

[3:35] Yes, I will second it.

[3:37] Okay.

[3:37] Okay, so the motion is to approve the consent agenda restricted items A, D&E, Mr. Lacey.

[3:43] Yes.

[3:44] It's so conner.

[3:44] Yes, this is Giles.

[3:45] Yes.

[3:46] Dr. Altwerger.

[3:47] Yes, this is French.

[3:48] Yes.

[3:48] Dr. Sidiqi.

[3:49] Yes.

[3:49] Motion passes 6-0.

[3:52] Okay, now we're ready for you, Mr. Pindal.

[3:55] You know, I'm thinking that I really should have spoken to the secondary language

[4:00] to George's person rather than knew about my questions concerning their reading

[4:05] software, PS11, PS12, PS13.

[4:11] And I guess my question has to do with whether, first of all, whether there was

[4:15] teacher input into deciding on these programs for the new ones, which is, I think,

[4:22] Achieve 3000 has a new software solution called Empower 3000.

[4:28] I guess my question is what has been used in any other county?

[4:33] Did we look on it at any data on its effectiveness?

[4:38] Well, not to cut you off.

[4:40] Well, first of all, these are continuations of the existing programs, and my understanding is that we've actually had very good success with them.

[4:49] And that's why we want to continue with the program.

[4:52] Yeah, Doug, Dr. Walker?

[4:58] No.

[4:59] That's one of them, no?

[5:00] There are achieved 3,000, the Hutton-Mifflin program, read 180, and then foundational reading software, system 44.

[5:10] So, I'm going to speak to the success that we've had with these programs, Dr. Walker.

[5:13] That's absolutely accurate, those are programs that were sustaining that are in place in our middle schools with the system 44 and read 180 and

[5:20] achieve 3,000 in place in our high schools.

[5:22] There are reading intervention piece, which works in components with other things that we do around literacy, of course.

[5:27] But they've been having tremendous success, we've been very, very confident with their work and we'd be happy to look at the data to so you do have some data to show that yes, and we actually just had a performance review with this

[5:38] galactic team around the system 44 and we won 80 day the last week looked at the student success over the course of the year.

[5:45] I wonder if you could share that we'd be happy to.

[5:47] Okay, thank you, that's all.

[5:51] The best I've observed that and gone to the training before and I've watched, observed it in the schools is highly, highly effective, especially system 44 is very, very good and correct me if I'm wrong, but especially with those children who are very far behind in reading for various reasons and it's been very effective.

[6:18] I kind of costly, so I thought we make sure that they've had some success before we renew the contract.

[6:28] Okay, do you want to move approval?

[6:30] Well, one second, Mrs. Delacey, I wanted to make sure that you could, the non-public placement is in bids and contracts, do you want to go ahead and ask them?

[6:39] Okay. Thank you. I could, you know, let me flip on to my pages.

[6:57] You know, I flipped through. I read it online page two.

[7:08] Yeah. I was looking at the information on the early, the 7 million. How much? That was over 7 million.

[7:21] and that we're spending on private placement.

[7:23] I wanted to know the couple things.

[7:26] I wanted to know the breakdown versus

[7:31] an ethnic group, race and ethnicity.

[7:35] And I also want to know, looking at the amounts,

[7:39] the totals, I want to know how many children are in each school.

[7:45] So if you can, and I think that that was just not for me,

[7:49] But I think it's also something that, yeah, that public should know.

[7:57] Okay, and we have that information, that's.

[7:59] Okay, could you share that with us, please?

[8:04] Do you want to move?

[8:05] Yeah, the amount that we spend is, could you just tell the public how much we're spending?

[8:21] $7.3 million, okay, and there are how many schools on here?

[8:39] 24 schools, okay, and I'm looking at one school costs $106,002 per student cost, and then I'm

[8:51] in at others, you know, what is it, rich school,

[8:56] all these short havin' $155,200, $808 a year,

[9:01] I'm lookin' at others, $89,900,

[9:06] and so can you tell me how many kids

[9:08] are in each of these schools, please?

[9:10] I can, thank you, and I want to know

[9:13] the ethnicity and cultural group behind it, please.

[9:16] You want me to just read each school?

[9:18] Yes, yes, I can.

[9:18] Okay, could we just get a total,

[9:20] Ms. Alicia, and then a breakdown demographically and then we can provide this in a Friday memo.

[9:28] No, because I really think that-

[9:31] I think, well, I want to know how many kids that we, I really think the public should know.

[9:37] That's important to me, I think that there are always conversations that we have,

[9:42] Ellen, about how much money we are spending on special education.

[9:48] And there are lots of conversations that go inconsistently about private placement.

[9:55] And I think that the public should know truly that we have how many, 192 students actually

[10:03] start in off next school year, we're anticipating we're going to be starting with 162.

[10:08] We always end up by the end of the school year with give or take getting close to 200.

[10:13] So we'll start with the athlete's goal.

[10:15] Yeah, I mean, I do believe it's important.

[10:17] I understand.

[10:17] Wait, hold on, hold on.

[10:19] Do you have all that information that your fingertips, Mrs. Hitchell?

[10:21] I do.

[10:22] Oh.

[10:22] And with all due respect, just give me a chance to ask a question.

[10:27] And please let her answer.

[10:28] Can I just want to raise one question?

[10:30] I'm sorry.

[10:31] But there may be instances where there may be only one or two children,

[10:35] and there may be a further one?

[10:36] That's fine.

[10:36] No, I'm saying there may be a FERPA violation in revealing what could

[10:41] reveal who that child is in terms of making it public.

[10:45] So I just, I think that's something we need to be aware of.

[10:49] That's why we can't report certain numbers and breakdowns for certain

[10:53] classifications of students because FERPA does not.

[10:56] We have an attorney here.

[10:57] We do not.

[10:58] I'm just concerned.

[10:59] I'm concerned and I understand that so you can tell me if they're the call.

[11:05] Yeah.

[11:15] I know we can share it in the aggregate, but let's get confirmation to ensure that we're not in violation.

[11:21] Okay, I don't want to be in violation, but I want to know, for example, do we have been addicting, do we have more than one student there?

[11:32] We have a very small number there.

[11:35] More than just one.

[11:36] Two.

[11:37] Okay.

[11:38] I want to know, and that's $106,000 a year, and I just want to know at the Shore Haven, do we have more than one student there?

[11:50] Which is $155,000.

[11:54] No, basically.

[11:55] Okay.

[11:56] And so some of the schools, what's the largest amount that we have in any one school?

[12:03] and which one?

[12:05] Lynnwood.

[12:06] Okay, and that's $51,000 a year.

[12:08] How many students do we have there?

[12:10] 25.

[12:11] Okay.

[12:13] So I'm just saying that we're spending, you know,

[12:18] and that's not to say that it's not a good thing

[12:21] to support kids because we want to make sure

[12:24] that we're doing that but it's not

[12:27] as if we're not spending money.

[12:29] That's correct.

[12:30] All right.

[12:31] Also, if you can send, you did send me that information and we can get that information.

[12:35] I would like to have it because I want the public, because it's not a conversation that

[12:39] we have and it's not something that people know and I think that it should be something that,

[12:45] if it's appropriate that people are aware of and thank you very much.

[12:49] Thank you.

[12:49] You're welcome.

[12:50] Okay.

[12:51] Thank you.

[12:51] Any other questions for either one?

[12:54] Okay.

[12:54] Thank you very much.

[12:55] So the operating budget financial report, somebody pulled that.

[13:00] Dr. All order.

[13:14] Good afternoon.

[13:15] Can I have a couple of questions I need clarification about?

[13:22] Certainly.

[13:24] Starting first with the fixed charges, it says that we, it doesn't say exactly what percentage,

[13:32] or at least I couldn't tell what percentage has already been used, but we do have a 17

[13:38] $18 million balance at this point remaining in the budget at May 31st.

[13:43] On page B2, it does actually give the total budget the year-to-date actual through May 31st.

[13:53] And then the remaining balance of the $17 million, $32,337, showing the budget

[14:00] is 89.29 percent?

[14:04] Oh, it says say 89.

[14:05] It includes the percentage in the report.

[14:08] Okay.

[14:09] So my question is, given that the fixed charges was our problem in the upcoming budget,

[14:15] we had running a deficit in the fixed charges, was this, how much of this $17 million,

[14:22] dollars, do you project in the month from May 31 to June 30, we will still have that

[14:31] can be credited toward our deficit in fixed chart, the projected deficit and fixed

[14:39] charges for the 2017 budget?

[14:43] So there, I think you're mixing up two different things.

[14:47] What we have in FY17 is a cut of 39.5 million from the requested budget for fixed charges in FY17.

[15:00] Fixed charges at budget, funds, social security payments, which are the FICA charges with every payroll. It funds pension payments to the state for pension again. These occur with each pay cycle and the health charges. So the amount that the operating budget, the general fund, funds to the health fund. Those are the charges.

[15:29] is what if you follow in each of the monthly reports,

[15:33] fixed charges are reduced each month,

[15:36] really on each pay period with those related salaries

[15:40] that attribute to those charges.

[15:44] So we're exactly where we should be based upon having

[15:49] 11 months, or I think we probably had three pays left

[15:52] in fiscal year, FY 16.

[15:55] At the end of FY16, the fixed charges will be zero at the end of the year.

[16:05] There's generally a small balance left each year in fixed charges because you're budgeting based on projected salaries.

[16:15] And if we haven't had salary vacancies, we're going to have some fight us savings.

[16:23] Generally, we sweep any leftover funding from fixed charges to the health and dental fund at the end of each year.

[16:30] Right, and we're projecting to have a couple hundred thousand dollars that will be able to sweep to the health fund from fixed charges.

[16:39] Yes.

[16:39] So you're saying these numbers are as of period ending, 531.

[16:46] The new, the end of the fiscal cycle is July, is June 30th.

[16:51] Yes.

[16:52] So in one month, you're saying we're going to use this almost this entire $17 million.

[16:57] We will.

[17:00] It follows and I don't have the pay dates impact the timing.

[17:09] So some months, in this may be the case here, I'm guessing it is looking at the dollar

[17:13] road, I'm guessing there are three pay cycles that are impacting this.

[17:17] So we have three pay periods of fixed charges that have yet to be recorded in FY16.

[17:25] So when they are recorded with those pay dates having occurred in June,

[17:32] two of them in June, and then the largest, the last pay period in June occurred the beginning of the month,

[17:38] but I think 13 of the 14 days occurred in, or no, nine of the 10 pay days occurred in June.

[17:45] the pay date occurs in July, but they're charged to June, so that will be used.

[17:51] So it has nothing to do with the new budget, the same with every category here.

[17:58] All of these budgets will, at the end of June, will be working through the rest of this month

[18:06] and into really the end of the summer, closing the books, finalizing the books

[18:12] for the external audit and reconciling.

[18:18] That audit statement, again, it comes to the board every year in the fall, after the audits concluded and the audit committee's prohibited.

[18:27] That, one of the schedules in the annual audit shows the budget to actual and

[18:34] it shows basically takes what's happened here, shows it through June 30, shows that any remaining balance by any category.

[18:43] And if you look at every year, any balance in fixed charges is swept to the health

[18:48] fund, so it's always fixed charges ends at a zero.

[18:51] And in the narrative, it says, management will pre-fund the health and dental fund with any remaining

[18:58] funds in fixed charges.

[19:00] So I was, I guess, my only budget was $200,000.

[19:03] Do we hope to have, because that is a, you know, an area of concern in the 2017 budget.

[19:10] So when I saw the 17 million, I was hoping that a good chunk of that can go to pre-fund

[19:16] the health and dental so that we're a little bit less in the hole.

[19:21] So, okay, if you don't think that's going to happen, so that's really what I'm asking.

[19:26] And then I had the same kind of question for Special Ed because it's showing 12 million.

[19:31] And that's another area that I've been very concerned about because, you know, if anyone's

[19:37] been following the discussion in past meetings, I was concerned that we have an increase

[19:43] in special ed projected increase in special ed students and we don't have an increase

[19:49] in staff. So I was hoping that some of that 12 million that still in special ed could

[19:54] pre-fund the special ed category for this coming year and that perhaps we can do more

[20:03] to, you know, to keep the ratios lower.

[20:08] Same thing with the class size.

[20:10] We acted on the class size before we knew

[20:14] if we had any money left for pre-funding.

[20:18] And so-

[20:19] So-

[20:20] When looking at the balance and special education,

[20:24] most of that is in salaries and wages.

[20:27] And again, the salaries and wages in that category is at about 85%.

[20:31] When you look at the salaries and wages for all of the categories, they're really running 82 to 86% through May 31.

[20:43] And again, that's the cash basis at that point, so we have three pay periods to be recorded in FY16.

[20:50] So most of that will be used up, there will be some balance.

[20:56] The staff do look at, and we work with performance managers to project any possible remaining balances and categories and identify if there are opportunities to pre-fund items that are included in the FY17 budget.

[21:16] The priorities put on identifying those obviously that impact the classroom first.

[21:22] First, so we've been working with staff to make sure we take advantage of any of those opportunities we have.

[21:28] Can you remind me, Bev, if we have, if in preparing the 2017 budget, we presumed or predicted any balances.

[21:41] We did not fund the FY 17.

[21:45] 17, did we?

[21:46] 17 utilized fund balance, so any remaining, I think we used 3 million, I want to say, of fund balance, so I think we left a little over a million in unassigned fund balance, which is a very, very small amount.

[22:07] Now, any unused expenditures funding in FY 16 will fall to fund balance.

[22:19] So that would be then available as a revenue source for FY 18's budget.

[22:27] Okay.

[22:28] All right, well, thank you very much, that's all I want to know.

[22:35] Mrs. France, were you pulled the meeting minutes?

[22:38] The meeting minutes of 7-7-16 are excellent, and I believe that they would help us as we proceed in our duties during the month of July.

[22:53] And therefore, I move that these close meeting minutes be adopted today, but remain unsealed until July 28, 2016.

[23:05] 16. Can I? Is that me?

[23:07] Oh. Okay.

[23:09] Discussion, Mr. Dough?

[23:10] I wondered if you would accept a friendly amendment to that.

[23:14] Last year when we had this particular topic, the minutes remained available

[23:20] until the end of the process.

[23:23] Isn't that the end of the process on July 27th?

[23:26] Yes, maybe that's what you mean.

[23:27] Okay, so that's good.

[23:28] Okay, I'm sorry. I was forgetting when the last date was because we needed to

[23:32] I'm saying close a business 27th, I said 28th to give Kathy that sounds good.

[23:38] Okay, so who made the second?

[23:39] Do we have a second?

[23:40] Dr. Citi?

[23:42] So we have a motion by Mrs. Franch with a second by Dr. Citiqi to approve the closed meeting

[23:48] minutes and to keep them unsealed until the end of the process, which she said, July 28th.

[23:56] So it's July 28th, right?

[23:58] Mr. Lacey.

[24:00] Thank you.

[24:01] Mr. Conner.

[24:02] Yes.

[24:02] Mrs. Giles.

[24:03] Yes.

[24:03] Dr. Altwer.

[24:04] I was not present at the meeting, so I'm not sure I should vote.

[24:07] Yes, you can.

[24:08] You can.

[24:09] Okay, then, yes.

[24:10] Okay.

[24:10] Mrs. Frantz.

[24:11] Yes.

[24:11] Dr. Sadiqi.

[24:12] Yes.

[24:13] Motion passes 6-0.

[24:15] And now, I'll move approval of consent agenda restricted items B and C.

[24:21] Second.

[24:23] For the motion by Mrs. Giles and a second by Dr. Sadiqi for items B and C.

[24:28] miss the way, see?

[24:29] Yes.

[24:29] Miss O'Connor?

[24:30] Yes.

[24:31] Mrs. Giles?

[24:32] Yes.

[24:32] Dr. Altberger?

[24:33] Yes.

[24:33] Mrs. French?

[24:34] Yes.

[24:34] Dr. Siddiqui?

[24:35] Yes.

[24:36] Motion passes 6-0.

[24:39] Okay.

[24:40] Going on to the consent agenda.

[24:44] I'll move approval of the consent agenda consisting of donations and meeting minutes of 6-23-16.

[24:51] Second.

[24:52] Motion by Dr. Siddiqui and a second by Mrs. Giles.

[24:56] Mr. Lacey?

[24:59] Yes.

[25:00] It's so conner.

[25:01] Yes.

[25:01] Mrs. Giles.

[25:02] Yes.

[25:03] Dr. Altwater.

[25:03] Yes.

[25:04] Mrs. French.

[25:04] Yes.

[25:05] Dr. Sadegi.

[25:06] Yes.

[25:06] I should pass a six-year-old.

[25:11] Okay. Great.

[25:12] Administrative agenda.

[25:14] Policy 90, 90.

[25:16] Wellness through Nutrition and Visual.

[25:17] Physical activity.

[25:19] Annual report.

[25:20] Mr. Eastham.

[25:46] Good afternoon.

[25:47] My name is Frank Eastham.

[25:48] Executive Director of School Improvement and Administration.

[25:52] And I am going to be presenting the annual update on policy 90.

[26:00] Policy 90-90 wellness through nutrition and physical activity is placed a greater focus on nutrition and

[26:06] physical activity in our schools and community in order to foster a safe and healthy learning environment for all students and is aligned with vision 2018

[26:16] outcomes

[26:18] Thank you, Shane

[26:22] In accordance with this policy, HCPSS has adjusted programs and practices to align with recent research in the areas of health wellness and

[26:30] and to student achievement.

[26:33] New opportunities for staff to positively impact

[26:35] their own wellness have been created,

[26:37] both at the school and the county level.

[26:42] Policy 90-90 includes the following components

[26:45] related to health and nutrition education,

[26:49] physical education and activity,

[26:51] nutrition services, school-based wellness teams,

[26:54] staff health and wellness and family and community involvement.

[27:02] The focus on professional development

[27:04] and classroom instruction is on the skills students need to make healthy choices, analyzing

[27:09] influences, assessing valid and reliable information, communication, decision-making, goal

[27:16] setting, and advocacy. By focusing on skill-based standards, students acquire knowledge and skills

[27:22] needed to make healthy nutritional choices throughout their lives. The March Health Education

[27:28] Retreat for the Health Education teachers was led by a national consultant who focused on supporting

[27:33] in skilled-based national health education standards.

[27:38] HCPSS strives to provide all students

[27:40] with the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity

[27:43] throughout the day by implementing the five components

[27:46] of comprehensive school physical activity program.

[27:49] They include physical education, physical activity

[27:52] during the school day, physical activity

[27:55] after the school day, staff involvement

[27:57] and family and community involvement.

[28:01] Students can accumulate the recommended amount

[28:03] on a physical activity during the school day

[28:05] through formal PE classes and recess,

[28:07] as well as through physical activities

[28:09] during instructional times.

[28:12] HCPSS has utilized a fitness grant assessment tool

[28:15] for many years.

[28:16] This last year, teachers reviewed guidelines

[28:18] and best practices for using the tool

[28:20] to focus on how to be active for 60 minutes

[28:23] by developing a yearly plan,

[28:25] which includes goal setting, quality instruction,

[28:27] and ongoing formal assessments.

[28:30] Many schools have had some very successful

[28:32] wellness committee, activities that support the goals of 60 minutes of physical activity daily.

[28:38] For example, Northfield Elementary conducted several wellness events which include student staff and the community throughout the year.

[28:45] They implemented a plan to train staff on how to utilize a variety of brain bit break resources.

[28:52] A brain break is a short mental break that is taken during regular intervals during classroom instruction.

[28:57] Brain Bakes are usually limited to five minutes and work best when they are incorporated with physical activity.

[29:07] The Food Nutrition Service website continues to serve as a resource to schools and the community.

[29:12] The website includes Nutrislyce, a 21st century communication and marketing tool for school nutrition programs

[29:18] with one stop shopping for menus, nutritional information for parents and students.

[29:24] Nutri-Slices has also assisted food nutrition services with providing allergens and nutritional information to school nurses and parents.

[29:34] The breakfast in the classroom has expanded from 13 to 15 schools this past school year.

[29:39] And compared to last school year, the breakfast average daily participation has increased 31% and

[29:45] that's a goal we've been working on for several years because we struggled with that several years ago within the state.

[29:52] The Ashton Dietitian Program was also implemented.

[29:56] This program provides staff the opportunity to obtain advice on very-

[30:00] Various topics such as high blood pressure, diabetes, weight loss, healthy snacks, lifestyle changes, fat diets, exercise, pre-diabetes, weight loss, surgery, organic and non-organic foods, kidney transplant, and hyper and hypoglycemia. Food and nutrition services also continues to offer more menu items that represent a greater variety of options. Mr. Ralph conducted five

[30:29] I have taste test at Marriott's Ridge High School, Howard High School, River Hill High School,

[30:35] Mountain View Middle School, and Ellicott Mills Middle School, and the student feedback gathered

[30:40] through these food tastings and formed the development of the food meals program.

[30:45] New hot items on the breakfast menu were added to increase protein content, and through

[30:51] a grant from Horizon, fresh fruit and vegetable salad bars were implemented at Bowman Bridge,

[30:56] college, Laurel Woods, and Tauwitz Springs Elementary schools to allow staff and students

[31:01] the option of selecting additional fresh fruits and vegetables.

[31:05] We have a video of the grand opening to show you.

[31:25] Three schools chosen to participate in a grand provided by the Rising Foundation.

[31:30] And this is actually the first phase of that grand is a fresh fruit and salad bar and today

[31:36] of our opening day and we're at that bar.

[31:38] Actually, the real goal is to encourage students, particularly the younger students to eat healthy

[31:45] or healthier, but we are going over and beyond the minimum to encourage them to eat more

[31:53] fast food and vegetables because if you can, what I would say incalcate good habits in terms

[32:00] of eating healthy at younger ages, those good habits will persist as kids go right to the high school.

[32:06] We have a salad bar. We used to have it just in little squares and you know, could take one thing.

[32:13] I like it now because it could be bigger now.

[32:19] So they all went through and was so excited and taking lots of different things.

[32:23] Even I saw kids trying to spin it, some things that they might never have seen or tried before.

[32:28] And then when we just asked for anybody who wants to come for seconds,

[32:31] we had another whole line. So it's been a huge success.

[32:33] I got apples, carrots, grapes, it was all good.

[32:41] I went to visit Laurel Woods last week to watch them.

[32:44] They had already started last week.

[32:46] We kind of had a staggering opening for all three schools.

[32:49] We've learned a lot, but I might get to learn from those administrators

[32:52] and how to implement this.

[32:54] We were able to meet with our staff, especially our lunch monitor staff,

[33:00] to talk about how to best implement this.

[33:03] We have been getting nothing but extremely extraordinary

[33:07] processes.

[33:08] It's really going well.

[33:10] As a matter of fact, we have seen participation in our

[33:13] overall media program improve as a result of this.

[33:17] So it's really going well so far.

[33:19] Before I had the salad bar, I would eat junk.

[33:25] Now you junk and salad bar.

[33:30] There you go.

[33:31] I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge our

[33:34] Chief Accountability Officer, Ms. Chesney and Mr. Ralph for their work.

[33:39] Tremendous work on this initiative really has proven to be successful.

[33:43] And we're looking forward to expanding it as we study the impact for our school lunch program.

[33:50] For the 2015-16 school year, we partnered with the Howard County Health Departments,

[33:54] Healthy Howard Program to provide training which was available to all schools.

[33:59] These trainings focused on impact of wellness, on academic achievement,

[34:03] effective school wellness teams and transforming policy into action.

[34:08] As part of the training sessions, a sustainability roundtable was conducted in February, where

[34:14] 17 schools attended.

[34:15] This event provided schools the opportunity to share and receive information about effective

[34:20] wellness initiatives and resources in an effort to strengthen the school-based wellness teams.

[34:26] In May, the schools came together for a sustainability resource fair where schools shared

[34:32] required successes, current practices, barriers, and lessons learned.

[34:37] Some of the wellness activities implemented in the schools include a chopped competition featuring healthy ingredients,

[34:43] exercise breaks during instruction, eat a rainbow, which is an incentive program for

[34:48] our kindergarten students to eat fruits and vegetables, our family fit nights, and

[34:54] the green apple day of service, an event to harvest the green garden to prepare it for

[34:59] upcoming school year clean up the school grounds and to do additional project on the school grounds

[35:03] and also our girls on the run competitions.

[35:09] Working with our families and communities

[35:11] is also an important component of the wellness policy. In collaboration with the Maryland Youth

[35:16] Cricket Association, the physical education teacher at Bonnie Branch Middle School implemented

[35:21] the first after school cricket club in Howard County. These students were a part of the Washington

[35:26] in Middle School Cricut League, which is the first middle school Cricut League in the country.

[35:32] Bowman Bridge Middle School students had a very successful season and came in first in the league.

[35:38] There are plans to expand this club to other schools in Howard County during the 2016-17 school year.

[35:44] Not only were they first, they were undefeated.

[35:46] There you go.

[35:49] Cedar Lane partnered with the Special Olympics to provide students, parents and community members with an opportunity to participate in their challenge day event.

[35:57] The day began with the parade of student athletes followed by students participating in physical activity events as they traveled through a variety of stations throughout the school.

[36:09] During the upcoming school year, staff have plans to work with engineering students in the ARL to elaborate on the development and functioning of the stations.

[36:18] The commit to be fit employee wellness program worked with fit to order to bring health and wellness to staff and

[36:25] families who attend and students who attend Howard County Public School System.

[36:29] Fit Family Night is a new program that began in January 2016.

[36:34] It's a two hour event that encourages healthy living.

[36:37] Parents and students exercise side by side.

[36:41] Children enjoy nutritious snacking and a dance party while parents learn key lunch box strategies to pack wholesome and tasty lunches their children rule love.

[36:50] Exercising include yoga, karate, zumba, and boot camp.

[36:56] The vision of the employee wellness program is centered on the premise that when we feel our best,

[37:01] we can do our best and serve as role models for the lives we touch.

[37:07] Some examples of recent commit to be fit activities include the second annual HCPSS 5K run walk that was held in October 2015.

[37:16] 2015, the fifth annual health and wellness expo, which was held in May, and

[37:21] included keynote speaker, Mim Senth, who shared how mindfulness is being used in

[37:27] educational environments in an effort to manage stress proactively.

[37:33] Also expanded program offerings include Virginia Pulse Health Activity Program,

[37:39] onsite fitness classes, monthly commit to be fit presentations,

[37:42] operations, wait watchers, and walking Wednesdays.

[37:47] In implementing the wellness policy, schools have partnered with many community organizations to encourage healthy habits related to nutrition and physical activity.

[37:58] To enhance support for schools with the implementation of policy 9090, resources for effective wellness teams will continue to be provided to all schools.

[38:07] Regular monitoring of vending machines in high schools will continue in order to ensure compliance with policy 90-90 standards.

[38:15] A comprehensive list of activities implemented by wellness teams in the schools will be shared with the Howard County School Health Council.

[38:23] The Food Nutrition Services Office will continue their efforts to receive input from all stakeholders regarding the menu options available for students in the breakfast and lunch programs.

[38:33] programs, and they will implement strategies to increase participation in the meal program

[38:38] for all students, but especially for our students who are eligible for our free and reduced

[38:43] meal program.

[38:45] At this time, if you have any questions, I will attempt to answer them.

[38:56] Mrs. French, I just wanted to ask about days of taste.

[39:00] I attended a few years ago, one in which the students were very enthusiastic and

[39:07] So, my question is, how many schools is that presented in?

[39:14] Is it still just a limited number and is it limited to just one grade level?

[39:21] Let me ask Ms. Rangos if she knows that answer.

[39:31] Hello.

[39:33] It was great to watch their faces.

[39:38] And then they try and go, oh, they're surprised, they're shocked, they pulled it in.

[39:43] Hi, I'm Linda Rango's coordinator of health and physical education.

[39:46] I can answer part of your question.

[39:48] It does support the fourth grade health education curriculum.

[39:51] So when they do come into the school, we want it to be an alignment with the curriculum.

[39:55] I do know there have been challenges with getting volunteers.

[39:58] It's a huge challenge.

[39:59] You mean with chef volunteers?

[40:01] That?

[40:01] And people have come in, there are always teams of volunteers in the community that would come.

[40:06] So I know that's been a struggle the last few years, so I can reach out and get some data about how many schools actually were impacted this past school year, but it is a wonderful program.

[40:16] So it's not restricted right now because of finances, it's because of maybe those funds did not come out of school system budget.

[40:25] We did not pay for that program.

[40:26] Yeah.

[40:27] Amazing.

[40:30] Well, the chefs that I observed were absolutely wonderful.

[40:35] Thank you.

[40:37] Dr. Altwater.

[40:41] Okay.

[40:42] I know that we've made huge strides in the food and nutrition area in the meals, and I

[40:48] think that's great.

[40:49] I have a couple questions about our food service.

[40:54] Okay.

[40:54] We see Mr. Ralph.

[40:57] Uh-huh.

[41:05] Good afternoon.

[41:05] I'm thrilled that we're going to have this tool where people can rate the food that the parents can for the young ones and then the students can too, so I'm looking forward to seeing that.

[41:19] I was wondering a couple of things. One is, is there any attempt to do local sourcing of fruits and vegetables and meats and do we have contracts with local farms?

[41:34] Yes, we do source from local vendors to take all our fresh fruit and ready tables are

[41:42] sourced locally.

[41:43] And when they say locally, according to Merlin State Department of Education, within

[41:49] Merlin, we are trying to narrow that, say, to how it can keep our its environments.

[41:55] But we do have all our fresh fruit and ready tables grown in Merlin.

[42:00] In the matter of fact, if you were to look at a venue,

[42:02] you would never see something like pineapples.

[42:03] And there's a reason for that.

[42:05] All the pineapples in the United States are important.

[42:08] So you cannot put pineapples in the hands.

[42:09] Most of them, right?

[42:11] And so everything we have in that menu,

[42:13] they're professional food and vegetables are local.

[42:15] That's great.

[42:16] OK.

[42:18] Is there any attempt?

[42:20] I think I've asked this before, and I

[42:22] think I don't remember what the answer was.

[42:24] But I know that we have so many different ethnic groups

[42:27] in our community.

[42:28] and a lot of children who are used to foods from their own ethnic background and then kids in general love food, you know, ethnic food.

[42:38] So I was wondering if we could possibly consider expanding our menu to include some foods like Papusas, for instance,

[42:49] from El Salvador,

[42:52] yeah, Salvadoran, it's a Salvadoran dish where we have huge Indian community and I know, what do you think?

[43:03] That's something we can show you look at because we are quite conscious of the diversity in our country and that's something we are conscious of and we're going to look at.

[43:15] Now, we can't guarantee it is going to be in the menu every single day, but maybe once

[43:20] a month, we can put a treat out there, whether it's an Asian dish or a Chinese item or

[43:25] something like that.

[43:26] But that's something we can surely think about.

[43:28] Yeah, because we have so many people in our community who know how to cook those foods

[43:34] and could give us direction.

[43:41] So how much of our food for lunch is pre-packaged food or processed kind of food and how much

[43:52] is is made in the kitchen?

[43:55] How much is cooked in the kitchen versus packaged?

[43:59] Because I'm just wondering if we could.

[44:02] most of our lunches, all our lunches are hot lunches, but we resource what you call

[44:11] items or commodities. They call it commodities. It's kind of pre-packaged, but they are cooked

[44:16] all warm, you know, made kitchens and then satellite it back into the cool.

[44:21] But they're not made in our kitchens.

[44:24] Some items are cooked from scratch, but our facilities here in Howard County,

[44:31] It's like on like Montgomery County where they have a huge kitchen facility and all the stuff they do is scratch cooking

[44:38] We do not have facilities so elaborate that we can do scratch cooking in our schools. Oh, we don't

[44:46] So Montgomery County, they do but we don't Montgomery County has a billion probably twice the size of this

[44:52] That's here really do all the cooking and from scratch

[44:57] Okay, I'm just wondering if we

[45:00] We could kind of have as an initiative over a period of time doing more and more cooking in our own facilities rather than using packaged foods that are often high in sodium. They might not be, you know, the healthiest food.

[45:18] I am sodium.

[45:19] Well, I am really correct you, we are not high in sodium because we have to, by law,

[45:24] follow the strict guidelines in terms of sodium and all these other nutrients.

[45:28] As a matter of fact, the law has even got more stringent for fiscal year 70, whereby nothing

[45:35] over 200 milligrams of sodium cannot be in the menu.

[45:38] So sodium is highly controlled even in terms of whether something is packaged or not.

[45:45] Okay.

[45:45] Okay. Our kitchen staff, the kitchen staffs, do we have chefs in our kitchen? Or are they...

[45:54] No.

[45:54] What are they?

[45:56] We have what we call...

[45:56] We work in our kitchen.

[45:57] We have what we call cafet. Every school out there has got what we call a cafeteria manager.

[46:03] And then on the then there are cafeteria assistants.

[46:07] So we have no chefs.

[46:08] We don't really have like say executive chefs.

[46:11] Hmm.

[46:13] We have a nutritionist, we have a nutritionist who determines the main dietitian and a dietitian and a lot of expertise.

[46:22] Yes. Okay. All right. Thank you very much.

[46:28] Thank you

[46:35] for your report. I just, I don't have any specific questions, but I just wanted to give thanks for everything that this program and this policy is doing.

[46:48] And everyone's participation, I think, you know, one of the best things that the board did was, you know, hire a dietician and then put this policy in place.

[46:58] All the fantastic things Mr. Ralph is doing, the taste testings, I would like to see the taste testings expanded to more of our, get more of our student voice, get more of our high school students involved.

[47:11] do some of the, you know, ethnic selections.

[47:16] Make sure that we're accommodating our

[47:19] Jewish community, the Islamic community,

[47:22] in terms of their dietary choices.

[47:26] And the school-based wellness teams,

[47:29] because we really can't get this off the ground

[47:31] unless we have teacher, staff,

[47:34] and administrators on board.

[47:36] I really like the changes in the breakfast program and it's just come along really well

[47:46] and I'm really pleased.

[47:47] So thank you for everything.

[47:49] Thank you.

[47:50] Good job.

[47:52] Yeah, good.

[47:53] I just, one of the things you talked about is increasing the modeling of these fresh foods

[48:00] and good nutrition, especially for our children who have subsidized lunches.

[48:05] Could you just point out, again, the fact that we expanded the lunch program throughout the summer in terms of making meals, hot meals available to children from essentially two to 18 across the county at key centers.

[48:20] I just want to highlight that was a tremendous effort and I think it's made a difference this summer to the health and wellness of the whole community.

[48:28] We have lunch centers and Mr. Elf has more information about this, but in several different communities that are intentionally located where our students who would likely need those lunches live, and can walk to the schools and they are hot lunches each and every day.

[48:49] There isn't forms that you need to complete.

[48:53] There's no documentation, the students who need the food can come to the school and get a hot one to each and every day.

[49:00] And I know that there are some of the nonprofit organizations in the county have come together in order to make sure that children can get access to those places.

[49:10] If it's a little bit too far to walk, or if there's an issue, certainly children that are participating in summer school programs have access to this.

[49:18] But the fact that the outreach has taken place to make sure that children across the county if they have need of this basic sustenance have a way of getting not only the basic, but something that is nutritious, warm and substantial.

[49:38] Yes, this is for Linda.

[49:43] You are our representative on the Howard County Wellness Council, Health Council.

[49:51] And I think this sort of will answer some of the things that some of the questions that you have, Dr. Cedigi, because I didn't make it to the annual meeting, but there are some changes that have been made on the Wellness Council to reflect a greater diversity of, can you just tell us a little bit about that?

[50:17] I have been on the school health council since 1992, and that has always been our goal.

[50:23] It continues to be our goal to have a diverse council that represents our stakeholders in

[50:29] Howard County.

[50:31] So we have had some success in the past year to try to increase.

[50:36] One thing we did is the meetings were always in the morning, we changed them to the evening

[50:40] to try to get community members to attend.

[50:43] And we got a different, we got different members to show up at night than we do during the day.

[50:47] During the day you get a lot of school system and health department people, it's part of their job.

[50:51] And at night you get the day-

[50:52] And also people who, parents who stay at home, and our work so, and we've, and I just, I'm sorry to cut you off, but just, and students, so can just tell us how that has changed.

[51:05] Well we had wonderful student representation today to hear the student voice related to wellness.

[51:11] Not just nutrition, but they came and talked about mental health.

[51:15] So we want to hear them represent the different components of wellness, including food and fitness.

[51:21] But that was a good change to be able to have the student voice.

[51:24] Because that's something that's been missing, because they never wanted to miss class during the day.

[51:29] So I don't know how they fit it into their schedule at night, but they managed to do it.

[51:32] And they were very, very important part of the work that we did this year.

[51:36] Good, so how many students were there?

[51:38] Well, we had one that was regular, and then when depending on the topic one month that we had a panel of six students from the different high schools that talked about mental health, and we want to continue to expand that student involvement because it was so successful in eye-opening for all of us on the school health council.

[51:56] I knew it would be.

[51:58] And just, Dr. Sadiqi, just to mention about the food tasting,

[52:02] I am not very knowledgeable of what they do in family and consumer science,

[52:07] but I knew Lori Collins did an amazing job of doing different programs

[52:11] and promoting.

[52:11] Last year it was focused on fruits and vegetables.

[52:13] This year was grains and unfortunately for us, she retired,

[52:18] but her good work will continue, I'm sure.

[52:20] But so there are different avenues that we use in Howard County schools

[52:24] to get kids, not just phase of taste.

[52:26] There's multiple ways to increase student participation in trying different foods.

[52:31] I just had a, there was a young lady I met over the weekend and she said, well, the board

[52:38] needs to improve the school meals and I'm like, well, you know, there are opportunities.

[52:43] I said, won't you have a small work on that, you know, because she was, she was from Wild

[52:47] Lake.

[52:47] So I didn't hear a Wild Lake mention, so maybe next year we can do a tasting at Wild Lake

[52:51] and get them involved.

[52:52] also.

[52:52] That our student member of the board.

[52:54] And our student.

[52:55] Sorry.

[52:57] He's from LA.

[52:58] Was that your question?

[52:59] No, no.

[53:00] Well, I did want to mention, I think I wanted to mention that.

[53:04] I did.

[53:04] Also.

[53:06] Well, I do want to say thanks to the Horizon Foundation for, you know, getting

[53:11] and cooperating with us with that grant.

[53:14] And I know Mr. Ralph is looking at more grant opportunities.

[53:18] I think one of the most important things for years and years and years we saw

[53:22] our participation rate in our school meals program drop, you know.

[53:27] So the fact that it's increasing steadily is just to make sure.

[53:31] And how long does the summer meal program go until do you know the dates?

[53:43] We have two components of the summer feed and program.

[53:46] There is a regular summer school, the majority of which ends next Friday.

[53:52] And then there's just a few high schools and open sites that go until July 29th.

[53:58] And as I'm here, I mean, I can take the opportunity to inform you based on trends that we

[54:04] are seeing so far.

[54:06] We are destined to serve at least 16% more lunches this summer than the last summer.

[54:15] Very good.

[54:17] It's a great service that the school system provides.

[54:21] Absolutely.

[54:22] Thank you very much.

[54:24] We appreciate that report.

[54:25] and all the work you do for us.

[54:28] Okay, so now we're going on to the school resource officer.

[54:32] Yep, and the memorandum of understanding.

[54:53] Welcome, Mr. Burnett.

[54:54] Good afternoon.

[54:55] Good afternoon.

[54:56] Good afternoon, Dr. Fouce.

[54:58] Good afternoon, chairs.

[54:59] My name is Kevin Burdett.

[55:00] I'm your coordinator of school security.

[55:02] I'm here today to talk about the school resource officer program.

[55:06] And I have to let you know in advance, I don't have a video.

[55:11] It's kind of an over-achievement.

[55:16] It's a program that I'm very proud of.

[55:19] Actually it was a part of starting the program back in 1996.

[55:23] Back then it was called the high school liaison program.

[55:26] We were two officers and one sergeant and I was that sergeant.

[55:33] We rotated between ten high schools and we did a good job and we were actually one of

[55:39] the first school systems in the state of Maryland to have police officers in our school.

[55:43] And if you think about it for a minute, 1996, we've been in the school for 20 years without any significant incidents.

[55:50] And I'm very proud of that.

[55:52] In 2001, the police department applied for a grant and we were allowed to get one full-time police officer in each high school and one alternative school.

[56:04] In 2011 we are able to expand to the middle school programs where we have three SROs assigned

[56:12] to six middle schools and at this time what they do is a split time between the schools.

[56:19] This program is consistent with vision 2018 as far as the safety of students, staff and

[56:27] all Howard County public school facilities.

[56:32] A little bit about the program overview.

[56:35] First and foremost, the SROs are police officers, and of course, they contribute to the overall safety of our schools.

[56:43] They also act as a junk faculty members, mentors, they co-teach in various classes and health and social studies, and they participate in selected after school programs.

[56:56] This gives the SROs the opportunity to develop positive relationships with students, families, school staff, community members.

[57:03] And at the same time, it gives the students the opportunity to reach out to SROs in a non-confrontational setting.

[57:12] Students are provided with necessary skills to resist peer pressure, as well as media pressures,

[57:17] become critical thinkers, problem solvers, and avoid making unhealthy choices like substance abuse and joining gangs.

[57:29] A little bit about the training that SROs receive.

[57:32] Of course, they received their normal training as police officers, which is a rigorous six months of academy that they go out to 12 weeks of field training.

[57:42] Some of the training specific to SROs are school-based policing, youth culture, students with disabilities, especially with autism, students in social media, and threat assessments.

[57:57] Again, SROs participate in structured after-school programs that promote positive student behaviors and they also provide instructions to school staff as it relates to human trafficking, gangs, child abuse, and emergency response.

[58:14] And all this is consistent with the Safe School Act of 2010.

[58:21] SROs, they teach students the role of law enforcement and society.

[58:25] They enforce laws, but at the same time, they coordinate with administrators on when and where to enforce laws.

[58:33] It's not always a situation that if a student conducts an act that rises to the level of being criminal,

[58:40] that penalty is going to necessarily result in the rest.

[58:44] The options are to allow the school to implement their administrative sanctions.

[58:50] And that way, that may in fact be more, let's say it's more, it's better than putting the person into the juvenile justice system.

[59:00] They also provide individual mentoring to students and they act as a resource to all the county government support systems.

[59:09] Some of the youth programs that these police officers participate in and they bring our students to is the Pledge Camp, which targets ninth graders.

[59:16] actually persons going, students going into the ninth grade, and that's a week long program.

[59:23] It's held at one of our schools, and it just influences children, students to take healthy choices.

[59:30] Can't bear track is one of my favorites.

[59:32] That's been around for a long time since the 70s.

[59:36] They actually take 75 middle school students out to Western Maryland, and they stay overnight.

[59:42] And trust me, there's no air condition now that it's time.

[59:45] We don't have to go to Western Maryland to see bears.

[59:49] Learn experience.

[59:51] We have the Explorer program, which is affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America, as well as the Police Youth Academy, which is for students who are interested.

[1:00:00] I'm interested in careers in law enforcement.

[1:00:03] Future development. The police department has

[1:00:06] applied for a grant to expand the middle school program by three officers. What this will do

[1:00:11] is allow the police officers that are, well, the schools that are involved now to have

[1:00:15] one full-time officer instead of having an officer to split time between the schools.

[1:00:20] And that's one of our biggest complaints that our SRO's not in the school. He's at the other

[1:00:24] school. Why can't we have an SRO here full-time?

[1:00:30] Questions?

[1:00:36] Ms. Philae, I appreciate it.

[1:00:41] First of all, I remember back in the day when we used to have the officers that now it's Lake Elkhorn, but I went around middle school for a long time, you know, in the 70s.

[1:00:54] And I remember having kids who went to the camp during the summer.

[1:01:02] I just appreciate it if you would just tell people your background in Howard County.

[1:01:10] My background, I retired police officer, I served for 25 years, I retired as deputy chief.

[1:01:17] I have a number of assignments leading up to that.

[1:01:20] It was detective, I was a police officer, I was in recruitment, it was a commander of internal affairs for five years.

[1:01:27] So I've been around Howard County for a long time.

[1:01:29] Then I got involved with the school system and enjoyed the staff that I work with here and I'll be here for a while

[1:01:35] Right up great job

[1:01:39] Did you have a right mr. Lacey or any of these board members a ticket?

[1:01:49] He's probably responsible for those those the

[1:01:53] Vehicles that take pictures

[1:01:55] There's no comment.

[1:02:00] Mrs. Frantino, that came after he joined us I think.

[1:02:04] I think I asked for this to be put on the agenda because we haven't had a report in

[1:02:11] a long time and when there was a great, well there is always a great concern about bullying

[1:02:18] but when Ken Olman was county executive, he pulled together a group of citizens.

[1:02:25] and I was a representative for the board, and we had talked about updating and revising the SRO memorandum of understanding between the police department and the board.

[1:02:40] And so it has that been done in the-

[1:02:45] The most recent revision is January 2015.

[1:02:49] Then it's been done.

[1:02:50] And that is until that's for five years, that's good for five years.

[1:02:53] that's great. I think this is an excellent program and for one thing it provides great

[1:03:01] piece of mind to everybody in our buildings if an emergency or if something comes up

[1:03:08] and they say what should I do? And I also think that having an SRO present daily provides a calming

[1:03:19] effect and an accessibility.

[1:03:25] I don't know what the right word, but it's it. But every

[1:03:29] time I've seen an officer, they've been accessible. They've been standing around the students

[1:03:35] joking, talking to them on an informal basis. There has not been any of this, you know,

[1:03:41] you. And so just a calming conversational tone while hanging over the railing, for example,

[1:03:51] you know, out in the hallway, it does really help students when they are thinking about

[1:04:00] choices that they make later on. And so one other issue that was big was gangs. So how

[1:04:10] How is it happening, how is it going on now, or what is the status right now, has it increased a lot, or is the, in other words, do the SROs keep any data?

[1:04:23] Do they report to the police about their findings, or what they're dealing with?

[1:04:29] How do they, how are they evaluated?

[1:04:33] Actually, one of the reasons this program was started was because we were starting to see an increase of lower level street, excuse me, community gangs.

[1:04:44] And actually, it's been state status quo, we have not seen an increase, they're staying about the same and I think that's a good thing.

[1:04:51] Yes.

[1:04:52] So I just like to add to your comment, the school system needs the police department to help keep us safe.

[1:05:01] But also the way times are now, the police department needs a school system because it gives them the opportunity to get and interact with people in a positive way.

[1:05:14] Thank you.

[1:05:16] Thank you.

[1:05:17] Dr. Altberger.

[1:05:19] Yeah, I feel good about our SRO program.

[1:05:24] I know a lot of other districts around the country have had some horrible incidents and we don't and

[1:05:34] do or haven't and I'm hoping and praying that we keep it that way.

[1:05:39] I do have a couple of questions.

[1:05:41] In terms of charging kids, do SROs actually,

[1:05:49] do they ever charge kids with some kind of-

[1:05:53] Yes, I do, SROs are police officers, however, it's a different time.

[1:05:57] Depending on the offense, for most minor offenses that student would be charged,

[1:06:01] First, basically the officer would process the paperwork, turn it in, the parent would pick the student up from the school, whereas if it was in the community and the same offense happened, that officer would more than likely take that student in the custody, and take them to the police station and proceed charges down there.

[1:06:17] So they don't do that, you don't take them down to the, to the majority of the time they do not, it is a very serious offense than they would.

[1:06:24] Do we keep data on how many children are charged in our school system for what crimes and in which schools?

[1:06:35] Yes, but we have to do a better job of that and that's actually going to be a requirement of the MSTE for the next year.

[1:06:41] Yeah, I think that's a very important piece of information that we need to have, maybe sometime next year we can get a report on that.

[1:06:50] Absolutely, and if I can just say related to that, the data that we do collect is not as clear as we would like it because the arrests are counted if the arrest occurs on school property, it may not be school related at all, it may be on a Saturday night in a student walking through the field and a police officer happens to see something going on that shouldn't be going on.

[1:07:17] So, and it isn't just with students, but it's adults.

[1:07:20] So, those arrests numbers are skewed a bit, as well as our sorrows also work events at

[1:07:28] Mary-Whether in other events in the county.

[1:07:30] Paraseros?

[1:07:31] Work at Mary-Whether?

[1:07:33] Other events.

[1:07:34] Over time.

[1:07:35] I'm on opportunities.

[1:07:36] Thank you.

[1:07:37] Congratulations.

[1:07:38] Yes.

[1:07:39] If they arrest a student, that particular arrest is counted on their ID numbers.

[1:07:43] So, that's what Mr. Burnett is talking about.

[1:07:45] So we need to be careful about how we track it and just differentiate all those things.

[1:07:50] But it would be, I think, very important for us to know.

[1:07:56] And I just hope that we're not charging kids for infractions that should be disciplinary in nature,

[1:08:06] and should be the purview of the administrators rather than getting them into the criminal justice system.

[1:08:12] I mean, getting a kid involved in the criminal justice system can have enormous

[1:08:20] effects on that child for a long, long time, sometimes forever.

[1:08:27] So I would really like a report on the charging situation and something on how we distinguish

[1:08:37] between infractions that should be dealt with administratively versus infractions

[1:08:42] actions that should be dealt with in terms of criminal justice system.

[1:08:49] But that makes my understanding of what is specifically in the MOU.

[1:08:53] Yeah, and it's anything that can be handled administratively.

[1:08:57] I'm certain that we are, I don't think any police officer wants to be arresting young children.

[1:09:02] And in so far as, again, we're getting into that, these are juveniles.

[1:09:06] And so their confidentiality falls under legal guidelines, what we can and cannot release.

[1:09:11] If there's one arrest, let's say I'm going to make up a high school, River Hill High School,

[1:09:16] and we release that in a report, it identifies that student, reaches their confidentiality,

[1:09:21] we would be violating law.

[1:09:22] Well, of course, we wouldn't want to do that.

[1:09:23] But we would, I think, as a board, we need to know what the situation is.

[1:09:27] Now, now.

[1:09:27] Board gets memos anytime there is a very serious situation that escalates to a police matter.

[1:09:32] Okay.

[1:09:32] But we're good about communicating that information out.

[1:09:34] No, you're right.

[1:09:36] I think we do get that.

[1:09:36] I'm just in terms of statistics on that information, I think we need that.

[1:09:45] The last question, I think I know the answer, but are the SROs carry loaded weapons?

[1:09:55] Yes, they're really soft.

[1:09:57] Right.

[1:09:58] And I feel very uncomfortable with that, having a loaded weapon in the school period.

[1:10:04] but I would prefer it to be a stun gun or something like that.

[1:10:07] They're not allowed to carry stun guns in school.

[1:10:09] I'm sorry?

[1:10:10] They don't carry stun guns in the schools.

[1:10:12] I'd prefer a stun gun versus a loaded weapon, but anyway, all in all, I think we do a like outstanding job in this county.

[1:10:23] Especially when you hear the nightmare is in other places and I just want to give a shout out to and I remember her name, but

[1:10:31] the, um, the, um, SRO at Wallet Lake High School.

[1:10:37] She's-

[1:10:37] Ref- Ref- Refray Shams?

[1:10:39] Yeah.

[1:10:40] She's-

[1:10:40] She went to Wallet Lake.

[1:10:41] She's wonderful.

[1:10:42] What?

[1:10:42] She graduated from Wallet Lake.

[1:10:43] Oh!

[1:10:44] Okay.

[1:10:45] Yeah, she's- I get- I hear good stuff about her.

[1:10:50] Okay, so I need to ask-

[1:10:52] Oh.

[1:10:52] I'm sorry.

[1:10:53] Yes, she did.

[1:10:53] Go ahead.

[1:10:55] Yes.

[1:10:58] Thank you.

[1:10:59] Since we're giving shout outs, I'd like to give a shout out to the, um, the-

[1:11:03] person at Harper's Choice, because I, you know, see her, let's go to the shot there.

[1:11:10] I think that a lot of us are very concerned, first of all, I'd like to know, I don't know

[1:11:16] if you keep statistics on that or not, but the ethnicity of the children, the kids that

[1:11:23] are being arrested in our schools, because if we look at, you know, what's happening nationally

[1:11:33] and we'll see what's happening as far as disciplinary referrals as far as

[1:11:42] disciplinary actions. If we look at the suspension rates, I just think it's

[1:11:49] noteworthy to determine that we are, you know, whether you're driving or

[1:11:55] whatever that we have empirical data that shows us that there are certain people that are

[1:12:04] more likely to be suspended, arrested, I have a brother who served 18 years in prison.

[1:12:11] So I get that.

[1:12:15] I just wonder how many situations we have.

[1:12:18] I think people are concerned because you've seen incidences where the SROs are throwing

[1:12:25] the kids against the wall or being abused and I just want I think that we all want to make sure

[1:12:31] that none of that is happening and and especially in the county where we reside and we're responsible

[1:12:38] for the success you know the success of children so do you see any escalation or I've not seen any

[1:12:47] escalation no not at all and the trainings that the people are getting they're concerned they're

[1:12:52] They're dealing with understanding, they have an background in dealing with children from a variety of cultures.

[1:13:00] And yes, absolutely.

[1:13:03] And I'll say we work hard with our administrators to make sure that our SROs are not enforcing discipline.

[1:13:09] That's not the job of the SRO.

[1:13:11] Exactly.

[1:13:12] The SRO is there for the specific roles that Mr. Burnett talked about.

[1:13:17] And they're called to incidents only when they need to be.

[1:13:23] They're not out there patrolling looking for kids to misbehave and then deal with them.

[1:13:28] In fact, the SRO, if they see a student misbehaving, will call for an administrator to deal with a student rather than dealing with a student themselves.

[1:13:37] As well as our staff members, also, except in extreme danger situations would not have the purview to ask a SRO to become involved.

[1:13:47] that has to come through administration.

[1:13:49] Okay.

[1:13:49] And I just want to say that my brother's gelling was due.

[1:13:53] President was due to drugs and not anything violent.

[1:13:57] Thank you.

[1:13:59] Thank

[1:14:02] you.

[1:14:04] I saw on the agenda it said MoU, but I don't see the MoU with their documents.

[1:14:10] Was it supposed to be attached?

[1:14:12] We can provide that for you.

[1:14:14] Thank you.

[1:14:14] Okay.

[1:14:15] And thank you Mrs. French for bringing this report forward.

[1:14:17] I think it's.

[1:14:21] I think it's a really important service that we work with the county to provide.

[1:14:29] My question was that it's a great goal to be increasing the amount of at the middle

[1:14:38] school level, but is it enough to have just one at the high school level, especially when

[1:14:44] And you look at high schools like Howard that's approaching, you know, 1,400 students.

[1:14:49] Well, that's a staffing issue for the police department and there's always a cost associated

[1:14:54] with that.

[1:14:54] But we haven't had any issues with

[1:15:00] Only having one resource officer at the high school that have been able to handle all of the affairs there. Quite effective. Okay. And my second question, which not I just lost my thought was,

[1:15:20] I don't, I just lost my train of thought with, I guess I'm being similar to this little delicy today. Things, sounds going around, we're disturbing, and I lost my train of thought. But I'll, if I

[1:15:32] I think I'll look it back to you, thank you.

[1:15:39] Okay, I guess two things.

[1:15:41] One is that I wanted to applaud the expansion at the middle school level,

[1:15:47] because I think that one of the most valuable things happening through the program

[1:15:51] is the establishment of community relationships and the fact that students,

[1:15:55] see police officers as someone that they can connect with and

[1:15:59] speak with and recognize and feel that they actually are part of their community and

[1:16:05] not something isolated or disconnected.

[1:16:09] And so it's good to see that the administration is looking at providing the funds that will make it possible for the police department to expand that if you get a grant.

[1:16:20] I understand that everything has a monetary cost.

[1:16:25] The other is that, I think we really need to look positively at the fact that we have not seen the increase in

[1:16:35] and gang participation that one might expect, given the rapid urbanization of this area and the impact from neighboring counties who are experiencing big growth in these areas, which is very disturbing.

[1:16:50] So I think that we can point to the effectiveness of these programs in many ways as to helping control that and help students see that there are other pathways for them and that there are ways in which they can live a healthier.

[1:17:05] and safer life, and so I want to salute the officers who are serving in this way, and the collaboration that makes that possible, because it is a community issue, it is an exclusively a school issue, and that once there's a way that the police department can track the incidents in a way that more effectively denotes what's happening within the school day, and that school time frame.

[1:17:34] as opposed to things that are happening on school property or that relate to students that will be helpful in getting a sense of how this is working across the board because I do believe that these officers are better in policing in other aspects of their lives because they've had the exposure to the students and the interaction with them all along they have a way of establishing a rapport that's different and of noticing things and being attuned to what issues might develop because they've

[1:18:04] they've developed that.

[1:18:05] So I think it is a model we should be proud of and to thank the county government for

[1:18:11] understanding that this is a community thing that we all have to work together in order

[1:18:16] to manage.

[1:18:16] So thank you.

[1:18:19] Mrs. French?

[1:18:20] I'm sorry.

[1:18:21] We're not supposed to be talking a second time and I didn't forget this but oh dear, I'm

[1:18:28] sorry.

[1:18:28] I just

[1:18:32] want to thank you and extend my thanks to all of the SRO's because I have seen

[1:18:38] them work so effectively with students and we're doing shout-outs.

[1:18:45] I was at Reservoir High School, one of my cluster high schools this year, and the SRO

[1:18:50] with the PTA president and with a student presented on human trafficking.

[1:18:56] And it turned out that the woman who sat next to me was not from reservoir.

[1:19:04] She had read it in the newspaper and she came all the way from the Waverly area

[1:19:09] and drove down to hear the presentation.

[1:19:14] And so there is a lot of community outreach in so many ways that we're not aware of

[1:19:21] in passing on really vital information

[1:19:25] because understanding the issues

[1:19:30] and how we deal with these issues

[1:19:32] is very important to be a solid supportive community.

[1:19:37] So, thank you for your leadership.

[1:19:40] Okay, but I'm gonna ask a silly question.

[1:19:42] Did you or the SROs have anything to do

[1:19:45] with all the bear sightings?

[1:19:47] Mayfield Woods, Waverly Elementary,

[1:19:51] I mean, that bear, and over July 4th, he was in Katen'sville.

[1:19:57] He hasn't found an area yet, but there's a lot of these.

[1:20:01] We know it's the same bear.

[1:20:02] The bear got a lot of steps in.

[1:20:04] So they were, so you monitor and you also recommended the lockdowns of the schools when the bear was nearby.

[1:20:12] Yes, we did.

[1:20:13] I'll tell you, it's important, human safety.

[1:20:17] Thank you. Dr. Sadeeke?

[1:20:21] Yeah, those bear tracks.

[1:20:23] Bear tracks all the way from Western Maryland.

[1:20:27] I did recall what I wanted to mention was

[1:20:30] that not only the SRS player important role for our students,

[1:20:33] but I think when the other important role

[1:20:35] is working with our administrators

[1:20:37] in terms of making sure our buildings are secure

[1:20:41] that came out of our safety summit that we had in 2012, 2013.

[1:20:46] Thank you.

[1:20:49] Okay. I think that's everybody that has any more questions. Thank you. Very, very much.

[1:20:53] Good job. Thank you. Very well done. Dr. Kuznet.

[1:20:56] As we transition into the next report, I just want to give a shout out to one of our

[1:21:02] Dunlog and rising ninth grader, former Dunlog and student who's soon going to be

[1:21:06] about Hebron ninth grader. Ryan McClure, he's here tonight. He's working on his

[1:21:10] equal scout. So congratulations. I hope you're learning a lot, Ryan. You look

[1:21:14] So forward to ninth grade.

[1:21:15] Where's Ryan?

[1:21:16] I think.

[1:21:17] Hello.

[1:21:18] There he is.

[1:21:19] Okay.

[1:21:24] He's one of two students that joined us tonight with their Eagle Scout.

[1:21:26] We had another student here, Max Kippenbach.

[1:21:29] Actually, Max is not one of the Howard County Public School students.

[1:21:31] He's a Mount St. Joe student, but he was here also working on his Eagle Scout.

[1:21:36] So good luck to Max as well as Ryan.

[1:21:38] This is a good meeting.

[1:21:40] Yes.

[1:21:40] Very good.

[1:21:41] A discussion.

[1:21:42] Okay.

[1:21:43] Now we are on the school suspension report.

[1:21:49] Welcome.

[1:21:49] Thank you.

[1:21:53] I'm still Frank Easton, Executive Director of School Improvement Administration, and I have some folks joining me for this for your report.

[1:22:01] I'm Caroline Walker, I'm one of the curriculum directors.

[1:22:04] If they were back to it right now, no, we wouldn't wish.

[1:22:07] And Grace Chesney, Chief Accountability Officer.

[1:22:19] What I'm going to do tonight is talk about what my role is, or our office's role is specific to suspension.

[1:22:25] So we collect, analyze, and report data to stakeholders.

[1:22:29] Those stakeholders include MSDE, Board of Education, administrators, teachers, parents,

[1:22:36] students, and the community at large.

[1:22:38] We provide data that are meaningful and actionable.

[1:22:41] We provide data to stakeholders that are timely and accessible.

[1:22:46] We provide tools and reports to stakeholders that are easier to find and easier to use.

[1:22:51] and the reason why I use ease areas because they're getting better and better over time with feedback

[1:22:55] from our stakeholders.

[1:22:59] In addition to that, we also provide data coaching to leadership teams

[1:23:04] and to teams within buildings. Annually, we provide a suspension report to the Board of Education

[1:23:10] that includes trends and gaps. We also benchmark against the state and other LEAs in that document.

[1:23:18] It's a 56 page document, about 15 pages of text and figures and another 40 pages worth

[1:23:25] of tables.

[1:23:27] Data are presented as tables and graphically.

[1:23:34] In those reports, we disaggregate the data at the district level by elementary, middle

[1:23:39] and high, by grade level, gender, race, ethnicity, student group, the number of incidents,

[1:23:49] the

[1:23:49] We also look at the number of suspension per individual students.

[1:23:53] We look at infraction types and accommodation, meaning we also look at the data by level race ethnicity and gender.

[1:24:02] So we do a variety of data points together.

[1:24:05] In that particular report, we do not look at the data by school level.

[1:24:14] In this slide, you can see that the out-of-school suspensions and

[1:24:19] expulsions are decreasing at both the state and the district level.

[1:24:22] You can also see that our suspension rate is about 2.5% compared to the district that's at 4%.

[1:24:29] So about 1.5 percentage points less than the state.

[1:24:33] When we look at all LEAs, which are 24 out-of-school suspension rates range from 1.5% to more than 14%.

[1:24:43] We're in the bottom core tile, so we rank about sixth.

[1:24:52] When we disaggregate by race ethnicity, we see that suspension rates decreased for

[1:24:57] each of the student groups between 2012 and 2015.

[1:25:01] We also see that the largest decrease occurred for African American students about a one percentage point decrease compared to Hispanics, which was a point one percentage point decrease in whites, which were a point six percentage point decrease.

[1:25:16] But what's most noticeable in this figure is that African-American students are suspended at a higher rate than their non-African-American peers.

[1:25:28] In this slide, we see that when we're looking at the data disaggregated by service group,

[1:25:35] we also see that the rates decrease for each of the student groups between 2012 and 2015 with the exception of ELLs.

[1:25:43] And I'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute.

[1:25:45] We also see that the largest decreases in suspensions occurred for students receiving free or reduced price meals,

[1:25:53] which was 1.6 percentage points, and for students receiving special education services.

[1:25:58] And it was about a 1 percentage point decrease.

[1:26:02] When we look at data, we often look at it by percents, but it's also very important to look at it by the end size.

[1:26:08] Sometimes we have student groups that may be 10.

[1:26:10] So if one student suspended, it looks like a 10% suspension rate.

[1:26:14] So for ELLs, we actually had 28 students suspended in 2012 and 33 students suspended in 2015.

[1:26:25] So it was a difference about a five students, but you can see that it did generate an increase.

[1:26:31] In addition to reporting the number of students suspended, the number of infractions,

[1:26:37] the number of times an individual student is suspended in our report.

[1:26:40] We also report by the type of infraction, and we, again,

[1:26:44] disaggregate that by race and ethnicity and by other data points as well.

[1:26:55] Schools have access to, in addition to race, ethnicity, gender,

[1:27:02] et cetera, they also can look at the data by referral type.

[1:27:06] When they're doing their analysis, they can look at it by infraction type by location.

[1:27:11] So where did it occur in the school building?

[1:27:13] What time of day did it occur?

[1:27:15] Did it occur during school hours or outside of school hours?

[1:27:18] They can see what interventions were put in place and they also can see what consequences were put in place.

[1:27:28] So one of the things that we have worked hard to standardize in the district is a data protocol that we use.

[1:27:36] And it consists of four components, which are assess and analyze, completing a root cause analysis,

[1:27:41] this, creating an action plan, and monitoring progress and outcomes.

[1:27:47] So when we're looking at suspension data, whether we're looking at the district level or

[1:27:51] the school level, we're looking at what is the current state, what are the gaps, what are

[1:27:56] the trends, what's the desired state, when and where are behaviors occurring, who is referring

[1:28:02] and who is being referred.

[1:28:04] So when we look at when and where, is it in the hallways, is it in a particular classroom,

[1:28:09] is it occurring after lunch, et cetera.

[1:28:13] And who is referring, is it, create five teachers, is it's Mrs. X, and Mr. Y?

[1:28:21] Is it substitutes, so where are these referrals being generated?

[1:28:27] And then who is being referred, and it's not just by student group.

[1:28:31] It could also be individual students, where individual students are being referred multiple times.

[1:28:38] After we've identified who is being referred, where they're being referred, etc., we want

[1:28:45] to really do a root cause analysis.

[1:28:46] When we looked at the data earlier in the aggregate and we only have a 2.5 percentage suspension

[1:28:52] rate, it looks like we're good to go.

[1:28:54] It's really important to delve down into the data not just at the district level but also

[1:28:58] at the school level.

[1:29:00] So after we've reviewed the data and identified some particular areas of concern, then we

[1:29:07] We want to understand why these behaviors are occurring.

[1:29:10] Does it have to do with supervision?

[1:29:13] Does it have to do with the structures in place, possibly your schedule, behavior management

[1:29:18] and individual classrooms?

[1:29:19] Does it have to do with mindsets, expectations, engagement in the classroom, the school or

[1:29:27] classroom culture, or the skills and knowledge of the teachers?

[1:29:32] When we look at action planning, what instructional and programmatic strategies will be implemented

[1:29:38] to support what those root cause analysis showed us?

[1:29:43] Will there be professional learning provided?

[1:29:46] What structures will be modified?

[1:29:48] So will we have additional staff in the hallway during transitions?

[1:29:52] Maybe that will have an impact on suspensions.

[1:29:55] what cultural shifts might need to occur, so will we do additional training.

[1:30:00] On mine sets, et cetera, and expectations, engagement. What resources are required to implement effectively, so as far as professional development is concerned, et cetera.

[1:30:17] Before you put an action plan in place, you also have to determine what data will be used to monitor that progress up front, and you also need to determine how often that data should be collected. And it's just not quantitative.

[1:30:29] quantitative data, it's that qualitative data, it's observational, making sure staff are in the hallway, so we want to monitor that on a daily basis or what does that look like as far as an individual staff member who maybe needs additional support with behavioral management.

[1:30:49] How often are we making sure that certain things are being put in place, etc.

[1:30:56] And monitor processes and outcomes to understand whether or not the strategies were implemented

[1:31:03] as intended, are there tools needed to monitor, for example, rubrics, et cetera, is meaningful

[1:31:10] timeline for monitoring progress developed and is progress towards the goals and target

[1:31:15] discussed, shared, and acted upon with stakeholders.

[1:31:19] So it's not just something that we say we're going to do, we're going to have conversations

[1:31:22] about that.

[1:31:23] So it's that continuous cycle.

[1:31:28] So next steps for our office as a whole, we'll continue to develop reports to meet the

[1:31:35] needs of stakeholders and will work collaboratively with stakeholders and we have throughout when

[1:31:38] we're developing reports and synergy, develop suspension dashboards and I'm going to show

[1:31:44] you what those look like which will be available in late 2016.

[1:31:48] In the fall of 2016, we're going to continue to provide data coaching at the school level.

[1:31:55] And Eva Yu and I, Eva being the coordinator of research and evaluation are members of

[1:32:00] the MSDE Disproportionality Work Group.

[1:32:03] So we get to hear firsthand what's happening with taking place in other districts and how

[1:32:08] reporting will take place in the future.

[1:32:12] Having access to data is really important.

[1:32:15] And if the data is not accessible, it's hard to make it actionable.

[1:32:20] So we're in the process of developing these reports, or dashboards, in the upper right hand corner, the principals will be able to see what the top 10 discipline reasons are, and they'll also be able to see a count of those.

[1:32:33] They'll be able to see trend data for in school and out of school suspensions, the number as well as the percent.

[1:32:41] They'll be able to see trim data specific to the type of incidence, and

[1:32:46] they'll be able to see it in a stack bar graph as far as the numbers are concerned.

[1:32:50] And the bottom left hand corner, they can see the type of incidence.

[1:32:53] And then the number in each year, and if they click on that number, it'll expand where they can see additional information.

[1:33:01] And then in the right hand corner, the number of incidents where students are repeat offenders.

[1:33:06] So, they've been suspended or referred multiple times.

[1:33:10] This next dashboard, what it shows is the actions that took place, so was there a conference,

[1:33:18] was there a suspension or a detention, and that is available on trend data too, and you

[1:33:23] can drill down into that as well.

[1:33:25] And the upper right hand corner, as far as severe actions, so Dr. Altberger asked about

[1:33:31] So you'll be able to see the number of arrests, the number of expulsions out of school suspensions and in-school suspensions.

[1:33:39] So the principal will be able to see at their level a director will be able to see at their level and district level administrators can see across the district.

[1:33:49] In the bottom left-hand corner you can see the location where those incidents occurred and in the bottom right-hand corner you can see the time of day.

[1:33:57] So these dashboards provide quick information to the principal to be able to see what's taking place.

[1:34:04] The only thing that's slowing us down right now is resources.

[1:34:07] It takes a great deal of time to put these in place.

[1:34:10] We can pull that data and make sure that that data is accurate.

[1:34:13] So our goal is late fall to have these available to administrators.

[1:34:21] And now I'm passing this along to school administration and curriculum instruction

[1:34:29] We know that monitoring the data is important and it guides the work that we do.

[1:34:35] We also know managing the practices that occur in each and every one of our classrooms helps to support our efforts toward reducing suspensions.

[1:34:43] But we know what the core of the issue is dealing with mindsets and making sure that our staff members in the building have a mindset that builds inclusive environments.

[1:34:51] And school environments are built on trusting relationships between students and school staff.

[1:34:57] Schools provide the instruction and support necessary to address the student's academic and behavioral needs.

[1:35:04] School safety and academic success are created in strengthen when students are effectively engaged in their learning,

[1:35:10] when positive relationships exist between students and school staff, when families, communities, and school staff work collaboratively to support positive student outcomes.

[1:35:19] schools provide behavioral expectations for all members of the school community that are fair and

[1:35:27] developmentally appropriate. Educators and other adults within the school teach students to

[1:35:32] behave in ways that comply with policies and expectations outlined in the code of conduct and

[1:35:37] that contribute academic achievement in school success. This is achieved by fostering, teaching,

[1:35:43] and acknowledging positive behavior, focusing on preventing misbehavior before it occurs, and

[1:35:49] And providing necessary supports and restoring relationships among all members of the school community when the need arises.

[1:35:58] The student code of conduct serves as a disciplinary framework that supports behavior and discipline policies.

[1:36:04] Student discipline regulations are progressive and reflect a disciplinary philosophy with the goals of fostering teaching and acknowledging positive behavior and are designed to keep students connected to school so that they can graduate college and career ready.

[1:36:21] Schools use a continuum of consequences and responses and interventions to teach students appropriate behavior to correct any harm that results from misbehavior.

[1:36:31] Removing schools from school through exclusionary and disciplinary measures are used only as a last resort.

[1:36:41] To develop a systemic plan to address the number of suspensions and the disproportionality of suspensions among student groups,

[1:36:47] time was provided for school-based staff this year to provide perspectives on reducing suspensions and suspension disparities.

[1:36:55] This information along with the review of literature on effective discipline was incorporated into a plan that is going to be implemented next school year.

[1:37:07] By amplifying student voice, which we've heard a lot about in the last couple months,

[1:37:12] educators share decision-making power with students concerning all aspects of their education.

[1:37:17] student, student voice represents more than just creating a space where students can be

[1:37:23] heard, but also where we can learn from students and where we can lead with our students,

[1:37:29] which is the highest level of shared leadership.

[1:37:33] Student voice also provides students a way to make a difference on issues that impact schools

[1:37:38] and the school communities.

[1:37:41] Students identify policies and practices that will cultivate safe, inclusive, and empowering

[1:37:47] school environments and they can really lead to school culture changes and help us to implement

[1:37:52] the initiatives that we know that will make those changes.

[1:37:58] While our suspension numbers are

[1:38:00] declining, we recognize that because out of school suspensions negatively impact a student engagement

[1:38:06] and achievement, even current rates are still too high. Equally important is that while the

[1:38:12] suspension rate for African American students and Hispanic students, students receiving special education

[1:38:18] education services and students coming from less affluent backgrounds have declined significantly in recent years these students are still more likely to be suspended than their peers.

[1:38:28] The risk that students from these groups are less likely to experience various measures of academic success increases our urgency for action.

[1:38:37] These targets focus our efforts on ending the cycle of over-disciplined disengagement and academic struggle for students in these particular student groups.

[1:38:47] To reach these two objectives, we are focusing on expanding research-proven strategies for creating positive school environments.

[1:38:55] Maintenance of a safe and nurturing learning environment and reduction of succensions are outcomes that are central to our school systems vision that every student is inspired to learn and empowered to excel.

[1:39:04] Students simply can't uplive up to their academic potential if they're not engaged in the classroom.

[1:39:09] Just as rigorous academic standards start in the primary grades in order to ensure that students graduate college and

[1:39:15] career ready, so must we start early in developing trusting relationships, holding all students to

[1:39:19] high standards of behavior and academics and investing in students in their academic and

[1:39:24] educational success and that of their classmates.

[1:39:31] In order to achieve the desired result of reducing suspensions, we must go beyond to the core of the issue,

[1:39:38] creating positive learning climates for all students.

[1:39:41] We are leveraging successful behavioral frameworks and implementing new ones that are showing

[1:39:46] results.

[1:39:47] The Gallup surveys and other qualitative and quantitative data have already helped us

[1:39:51] to determine what aspects of school climates are nurturing and robust in which need further

[1:39:54] attention, improving climates in an ongoing process, and data need to be collected and monitored

[1:39:59] on a regular basis to ensure continuous improvement.

[1:40:02] PBIS and restorative circles are two examples of behavioral frameworks that have been proven

[1:40:06] been successful in increasing positive student behaviors

[1:40:10] and helping the Howard County Public School system reduce

[1:40:12] suspensions in recent years.

[1:40:14] We're making sure that PBIS is implemented with fidelity

[1:40:16] and consistency all schools.

[1:40:18] We're expanding initiatives such as restorative circles

[1:40:21] to additional schools where data suggests such practices

[1:40:23] can produce a significant positive impact on school culture.

[1:40:30] Analysis of school level data has already helped us

[1:40:32] to identify schools, students, and staff members

[1:40:34] who would benefit from more focused attention.

[1:40:37] Schools are assisted in determining the best supports

[1:40:39] efforts to target specific staff and student behaviors, targeted professional learning opportunities will continue to be offered at schools to support the creation of strong behavioral management teams and school administrators are connected to community resources to help develop more comprehensive safety next for their most at risk students.

[1:40:57] We will continue to ensure that school staff have access to interventions and support services as well as adequate training and professional learning to administer discipline effectively and appropriately.

[1:41:07] partnerships with community-based and local organizations will help ensure that school and staff and students have the supports that they need.

[1:41:19] Consistent data, as Ms. Chasney shared, is crucial to plan success.

[1:41:24] Not only do we track these behavioral outcomes, we may just ensure that they're consistently implemented.

[1:41:29] It's the quality of the professional learning, it's what's happening in each of our classrooms.

[1:41:33] This look at data in a qualitative and quantitative fashion is going to anchor our continuous improvement in this area.

[1:41:39] At

[1:41:47] this time, if you have any questions, we will answer them.

[1:41:52] This is the lazy.

[1:41:55] Now this is fantastic, really good job, because this is what is needed very much and it's

[1:42:03] ongoing, continuous improvement.

[1:42:06] I just had a phone call speaking with one of my friends who is a teacher and I think that

[1:42:14] But in some schools there are so many problems that occur due to socioeconomics and other

[1:42:26] factors, community factors, all kinds of other things that are just an example.

[1:42:35] When I taught at one school for many, many years, and then I moved to another school.

[1:42:41] So one school had large numbers of empowered children who had many, many, many, many needs.

[1:42:47] They needed, you know, materials, supports from home.

[1:42:52] They may not have had homes, they could have lived in.

[1:42:55] Some of them I learned later lived in cars, sometimes they were homeless.

[1:43:01] Then I went to another school where those kinds of problems

[1:43:09] or concerns or life situations

[1:43:12] were not as acute, and I found that in the school where there were a lot of situations

[1:43:19] where the kids had extreme needs, the staff was just overwhelmed and in many cases burned

[1:43:30] down.

[1:43:32] And so the first and in fact had a nightmare that some kids that I taught said to me, you

[1:43:38] You should have sent me to the office.

[1:43:42] You were a terrible teacher, blah, blah, blah,

[1:43:44] which is the worst thing anybody wants to think of.

[1:43:46] It's putting so many of their years in education.

[1:43:50] What do you do when you have such a strong concentration

[1:43:55] of needs in one school?

[1:43:57] And my friend said, well, just send them to the office

[1:44:00] or nobody's helping us.

[1:44:02] What are we doing?

[1:44:03] We're so burnout, I want to quit.

[1:44:06] But what do you do to help a staff when the concentrations of poverty in the particular school are so overwhelming?

[1:44:17] And not just all the staff, what do you do?

[1:44:23] I've taught in schools that are 90% plus farms, 75% plus farms, has to do with expectations, structures you have in place, and the type of instruction that's being provided.

[1:44:34] There's only, we can't control what happens outside the school day, we can only control what's happening within the school day.

[1:44:40] So to really look at that data and to understand why these referrals are taking place and what it is we can do to make those adjustments.

[1:44:48] But I think that we can be very successful, but we have to look at that data and see what's under our control and make those changes.

[1:44:56] And I think it does have to do with high expectations and structures and respect.

[1:45:00] So as far as students are concerned, it's not just that you have the high expectations, it's that you're also supportive of them as well.

[1:45:09] I do work, yes.

[1:45:11] And I think the other thing is that not waiting for the behavior to occur, but actually making sure that you have structures in place that are able to identify our students, who we know come to school each and every day with a lot on their plate.

[1:45:26] And so at many of our schools, you will see administrators and other staff members out in front of the school, even those who don't have aren't doing bus duty, just greeting the students at the door and checking them out and making sure that they're in a good place and if they're not in a good place, taking them to a resource that can provide some support for them right at the beginning of the day, I know that at the school where I was principal, the guidance counselors would be in the hallway, and at first when I asked them to be in the hallway in the morning,

[1:45:56] They pushed back and said well we have so many students who want to see us in the morning and I said that's okay

[1:46:01] You can divide up your department

[1:46:02] But we want to make sure that all corners of the school were covered so that our students are assessed each and every morning

[1:46:08] at schools with

[1:46:12] Students who have high needs it's important. We look at the way we

[1:46:16] Use the structures that we are comment that we commonly have in place and many schools teachers have duties at our school

[1:46:22] I had a teacher with the strength of empathy, and I put her in the hallway outside of the cafeteria so that when students signed in late they could see her in the hallway before they got to their classroom and she would give them some encouragement.

[1:46:39] I know you got here late, you look like you have a lot in your mind, there's anything you need to talk about before you get to class and she would actually just walk that hallway for the first 15 or 20 minutes in the morning.

[1:46:49] And I think that our administrators are looking for opportunities like this to put measures

[1:46:54] into place that are preventative so that we can impact students.

[1:46:59] As Ms. Chesney said, we've also been working in the past several years to make sure that

[1:47:04] our classrooms are engaging through our ESM initiative, through our Gallup strengths, where

[1:47:10] monitoring students, and we're using that data to determine where our students are engaged

[1:47:16] some areas that our students may not be engaged this past year, we expanded that to grow strong in the middle.

[1:47:23] At every administrator meeting this year, we took at least an hour out of our day to make sure that we were focusing on strengths and

[1:47:33] engagement, because we know more than anything that it is the mindset of our staff members, of the people who are working

[1:47:42] interacting with our students and the instruction, the first instruction that they're receiving

[1:47:47] in their classroom that's going to make a difference and it's going to keep the students

[1:47:51] engaged in the learning and that's going to prevent the unwanted behavior that we're going

[1:47:56] to see in the classrooms.

[1:47:57] Well, I want to add something else because this is something that I've observed in the

[1:48:03] last three years because I was, you know, I just wasn't there but since I've been volunteering

[1:48:11] hearing in the schools, I see, in some cases you have staff members who are so toxic.

[1:48:20] And I also see the same toxic staff members come back and sub in the schools.

[1:48:28] Where is the evaluation process for substitutes?

[1:48:32] And what do you do to affect the mindset of a person who can be a good person?

[1:48:42] But they're entrenched in their thoughts or maybe burn out or anything else.

[1:48:48] What do you do to affect that kind of change?

[1:48:52] And what do you do to evaluate substitutes in a building who are impacting the mindset in a particular building?

[1:49:01] So one of the things that Ms. Chesney talked about was when we do data analysis,

[1:49:05] we look at where the infractions are occurring.

[1:49:08] Where are the referrals coming from? Where is the misbehavior beginning?

[1:49:12] And we are able to track that whether it happens to be a teacher who may need some professional learning and need support in order to deal more effectively with students or with substitutes.

[1:49:25] And we have a lot of substitutes I can tell you who are outstanding who come to school each and every day and substituting as you know is not an easy job.

[1:49:32] It's probably next to bus driver one of the most difficult jobs in our system.

[1:49:39] However, not everybody has a temperament where they can be a substitute because the stress level is so high and you have to be able to build relationships with students on the dime at beginning at the very beginning of each day, and if we have substitutes who aren't working out, we have a process in place where we can put them on a do not use list and they're not used for a particular school.

[1:50:05] There are some substitutes who are very good at one level, who are not good at another level.

[1:50:10] And so administrators do have the ability to select the substitutes that they want in their building.

[1:50:21] Mrs. Brent, many years ago, when you were principal of Oklahoma Mills, I attended a workshop you gave for the new teachers in which you talked about their mindset and how a lot of times they inadvertently set up students for disrespect.

[1:50:40] which is a large behavior number suspension for suspensions.

[1:50:50] And that's true.

[1:50:52] A lot of us, as adults, think that we're fine.

[1:50:55] We're not saying anything offensive when we actually are.

[1:51:00] Did you want to comment on that before I asked my question?

[1:51:02] Well, I would say power, the research shows us that when we look at misbehavior,

[1:51:06] the power is, power struggles are probably the number one reasons that students misbehave.

[1:51:12] And the workshop that you're talking about managing the dynamics of power, I'm actually

[1:51:16] going to be facilitating with our pair of educators at the pair educator conference in

[1:51:21] August.

[1:51:23] And it's one of the most favorite activities that I do each year because, first of all, the

[1:51:29] pair of educators kind of like substitutes as Mr. Lacey said are often put in situations

[1:51:34] where they are put in charge of student and at the student's most challenging moments.

[1:51:42] And we want to work with our staff members and our parent educators to ensure that they have the techniques in their toolbox to de-escalate students and to manage the dynamics of power so that they don't escalate the student, which could cause a referral.

[1:51:58] And we know that suspensions do not just happen.

[1:52:01] They begin with a behavior that often turns into a behavior, another behavior that causes a suspension and so it's really getting at the classroom level with instruction, academic behavior and social interaction among our students and our staff members that we have to continue to do that will impact this issue.

[1:52:24] And yet our staff sincerely wants to do right, and a lot of it is just we don't know.

[1:52:35] I mean, you opened my eyes to a few things that I was saying that I didn't realize, oh,

[1:52:41] and so I keep believing in the good of people that we always want to do better, be better, and get along.

[1:52:50] So thank you, I'm glad that's still going, that's ongoing.

[1:52:55] The one question I have, or I have a few, but there's, it's a not numbered,

[1:53:03] but the graph regarding suspension and expulsion rates by service group.

[1:53:11] I wanted to ask about special ed, because I know that if a child is

[1:53:20] with an IEP has a behavior that is suspendable.

[1:53:25] Does not that go to the IEP committee first and does not that committee determine whether or

[1:53:32] not it's a part of their disability before they, so I'm looking for Miss Fitzgerald

[1:53:41] to give me a clarification with how are we counting, are these just suspensions

[1:53:48] Students by students with IEPs or have they already been reviewed by the IEP team and so a student with an IEP does have protections, but they can be suspended for up to 10 days before the IEP meeting needs to convene to discuss whether it's what we call a manifestation of the student's disability, but they can be suspended for up to 10 days.

[1:54:14] Just like any other student, we just need to make sure that we are providing a free,

[1:54:18] we need to continue providing a free appropriate public education.

[1:54:24] But they can be suspended for up to 10 days, just like any other student.

[1:54:29] Okay, I didn't know that was the threshold.

[1:54:34] I'd like to add that school, special education IEP teams, they don't wait until the student gets to

[1:54:42] to that eight, ninth or 10th suspension.

[1:54:45] They're having meetings to looking at reviewing the IP

[1:54:48] to make sure that the appropriate supports are put in place

[1:54:51] for the students and if the behavior, the cause of the

[1:54:55] suspension was a manifestation,

[1:54:57] they want to get to that behavior as quickly as possible.

[1:54:59] And how the students, right?

[1:55:01] Many times students that are being suspended

[1:55:03] multiple times have behavior intervention plans

[1:55:06] that the teams will be working together to revise

[1:55:09] and look and see if they're, you know, they need to put, they need to put other things in place.

[1:55:14] So that a student isn't.

[1:55:16] If, if the child is suspended, we're still required to provide the services during the time the child is out of school.

[1:55:22] After the 10 days.

[1:55:24] After the 10th day.

[1:55:25] All right, okay, thank you for that clarification.

[1:55:30] The other, our printout is not very clear and my iPad keeps blanking out on me.

[1:55:38] So there was, there was a graph where you showed the times of the day with the most

[1:55:47] in number of incidents.

[1:55:50] And by far, the largest number of incidents happened between 6 p.m.

[1:55:57] And I can't read it, whether it's, but it's after school.

[1:56:04] So, how does that affect our suspensions, the pale green line at the bottom, it's?

[1:56:14] This is an example of dashboards that will be provided in the late fall, so this is just sample data.

[1:56:22] This is not actual data.

[1:56:24] Actual data will be provided at the end of November, but it will be great for

[1:56:30] administrators and to be able to use this.

[1:56:35] All right, if that alters my thinking.

[1:56:38] There you go.

[1:56:39] I'm, I missed that clarification earlier.

[1:56:43] All right, will I have access to this dashboard?

[1:56:47] Or will only administrators?

[1:56:49] I think only administrators, but we can do screen shots

[1:56:51] and show you things at the district level.

[1:56:53] But isn't it cool how data visualization makes you look at things

[1:56:56] differently than just looking at data and tables?

[1:56:58] Absolutely. Or words. So on the left, were a list of, I believe, behaviors? On the left, bottom, hand, and

[1:57:10] where? Where are these incidents? No wonder the numbers didn't add up to 1208. I understand. Okay.

[1:57:18] Okay.

[1:57:20] So, what do you, where do most of the incidents occur now if this is not accurate?

[1:57:29] This is just a screenshot or a?

[1:57:32] I haven't actually, we did not aggregate locations. So, what we did, I shared the kind

[1:57:38] of data that we can't, that we've shared at the level by gender, by race ethnicity, et cetera.

[1:57:46] we did not capture and report out the location at the school level, they can do that.

[1:57:51] And our PBS teams do look at that kind of data at the school level.

[1:57:57] The times of day, the location in the building, where they're occurring.

[1:58:02] If they're occurring on particular days, the day before a break, for instance.

[1:58:09] So that guides the actions that the behavior support teams take at the school to determine

[1:58:15] and what needs to be put in place.

[1:58:18] Okay, and some of it, we created ourselves with the construction of the building.

[1:58:23] Like at Mount Hebron and at Glennell, there were always, or there had been hallways that were so tight,

[1:58:32] where the mainstream of the students would have to go by to get to the major stairwell, and through renovations,

[1:58:41] We've eliminated those areas because there were just so many student behavior problems there just because of the overcrowding.

[1:58:49] That's a great example of the kind of analysis that the PBIS teams do in the schools to determine if they need to adjust traffic patterns in some of our schools.

[1:58:58] There'll be hallways that you can only walk one way and then another whole way that you can only walk the other way in order to prevent those kind of opportunities for students to bump into one another and to have conflict related to that.

[1:59:12] Thank you.

[1:59:15] Thank you.

[1:59:20] Thank you for the report, and I wanted to thank Dr. Fouce, Ms. Chessney, Mrs. Wise, because

[1:59:27] this is a plan, and this is an HCPSS systemic plan for reducing suspension.

[1:59:34] I mean, the board has gotten data before, we've talked about it, we've talked about it with

[1:59:40] community groups, the Council of Elders. We've never really had a really good systemic

[1:59:46] plan that really addresses not only at the school level, but at the system level. I really

[1:59:53] like the ideas and outcome to the strategies that really focus on professional development.

[2:00:00] Or implementation of customized plans for students if necessary. So I think, you know, we look at this data and say, oh, yeah, that's great. We're trending downward. But there's that 2.5% that if we don't get that 2.5% we're not going to make it to goal one of vision 2018. So I think this is a great plan. I like, I really like the dashboard. I think that's going to be great for the schools to use.

[2:00:32] You know, you walk a fine line in terms of information and reporting, but one of the questions

[2:00:40] that always comes back from community groups and in parents is, you know, what data can

[2:00:45] I see or what information can I see, so Ms. Chessney, can you expand on that in terms of

[2:00:51] So access is limited as far as your role is concerned.

[2:00:57] So if you taught an individual student, you'd be able to see data on that individual student,

[2:01:03] but you wouldn't be able to see it across the school.

[2:01:05] Administrators can see data across the school.

[2:01:09] Aggregate data can be shared.

[2:01:10] So we also look at not sharing data below and in size of 10.

[2:01:15] So if we're reporting out at the school level, they might have to look at that

[2:01:19] that below an end to be able to address some of the issues that are taking place,

[2:01:24] but we don't publicly report out in sizes that are less than 10.

[2:01:30] And that's all based on FERPA laws and the laws.

[2:01:35] But permissioning to different data sets is based on what your role is in your building.

[2:01:43] Right.

[2:01:44] Needs to know basis.

[2:01:45] Education will write to that.

[2:01:47] Right.

[2:01:47] Yeah, I just wanted to make that clear for parents, because we always get asked, you know, why I want to see the data for my school or my son's class or things like that.

[2:01:58] Okay.

[2:01:58] Thank you very much.

[2:02:00] I just wanted to echo some of the things we're hearing from others, but mostly it's about the proactive approach, both in looking at what the sources are, what the conditions are, that lead to these actions in order to affect change before the explosion.

[2:02:17] happens. And I think that's the only way in which a strategy is going to be successful

[2:02:22] because looking at it after the fact and trying to go someplace doesn't work but being

[2:02:28] able to put together teams who understand what to look for and supply teachers with the

[2:02:35] skills or support staff or administrators with the skills to see something before it becomes

[2:02:43] an issue to understand that we do have a broader responsibility than just, you know, maintaining that in the classroom we need to look at what's coming to us and being prepared to deal with this and understanding what we're sending children back to in order to help them also understand how they can control their own actions and how they can be part of the team.

[2:03:05] So the strengths, mindset, and engagement strategies relate to staff and students as well.

[2:03:14] And that is only that when we all come to that same place that we're going to have an effective piece.

[2:03:19] And we've already seen it starting to work.

[2:03:21] And I think the fact that we have very clear objectives here and that we have the tools that help us understand and manipulate really using information.

[2:03:29] Sometimes we get lots of information.

[2:03:31] But if people don't know what to do with it, or that the information itself doesn't lead to a supportive action, then it's just data.

[2:03:40] And it doesn't have any role and we shouldn't be collecting it because it's not appropriate.

[2:03:45] But I think everything we've seen here is Dr. Sidiqi said, if this is really a strategic plan to look at how these particular findings impact the ability of our students to be successful.

[2:04:00] That doesn't just mean academically, it certainly is our main focus, but it's also to be effective in life and to be able to function as the people we all know that they can be.

[2:04:13] So I'm very encouraged by the information here, and it's not just about reducing by one percentage point, though any drop, I like being sixth, which means we're the sixth lowest, I like that.

[2:04:27] But it's really about what have we done in particular groups, and where high incidents were occurring where the same children were coming back through the cycle over and over.

[2:04:40] It's really using the information in order to make effective, take effective action.

[2:04:45] And that's empowering the students to take the responsibility but also empowering staff to be able to be proactive and positive too, so.

[2:04:53] Thank you, Ms. House.

[2:04:54] Thanks, it was still easy.

[2:04:58] Yes, there were three things I wanted to talk about.

[2:05:02] First of all, number one, I was really shocked by the suspension of kindergarten children.

[2:05:10] You know, I mean, just when I was reading the report, talked about kids.

[2:05:14] Suspending kids from kindergarten is pretty shocking to me.

[2:05:19] I just wanted to mention that that is,

[2:05:24] maybe it was in the, that they are being suspended.

[2:05:29] Yeah, but nevertheless, just, you know, can the garden get, come on.

[2:05:36] And I wanted to ask, we were skewered or have been skewered by various groups,

[2:05:42] by not listing the suspensions by school.

[2:05:48] Is that a problem as can you, you know, go ahead.

[2:05:52] But we could provide it at the school level overall.

[2:05:55] However, when we start to segregating the data, the incisors become so small that it

[2:06:01] turns out to be pages and pages and pages of documents with NA on them.

[2:06:06] So you saw that we have more than 40 pages of tables, and that is at the district level.

[2:06:11] If you were to segregate that by the school level, you wouldn't have data to share.

[2:06:16] Like I said, it would be NA, an asteris.

[2:06:19] And they can share overall data, but we couldn't show it disaggregated.

[2:06:24] So we can figure out how many suspensions overall we have in, say, Wild Lake versus Oklahoma's.

[2:06:31] We could look at the number of incidents and the number of students that are suspended.

[2:06:35] But then with the suspension rate was, but I wouldn't go deeper because of the incident.

[2:06:40] Okay, the other thing that I noticed in the report was,

[2:06:46] Now Montgomery County has three times the numbers of students that we have, but there's suspension.

[2:06:53] See, I don't think six is so great, you know, being number six.

[2:06:59] What I looked at Montgomery County, what in the heck are they doing?

[2:07:05] They were strategic about reducing their suspensions, and I think that we are being strategic

[2:07:09] about how we're reducing our suspensions as well, because they're just, and I haven't

[2:07:14] I've heard Mike Ranson are lots of people complain about, you know, the discipline.

[2:07:23] And the other thing that's important to do is a suspension is a suspension is a suspension.

[2:07:27] What we want to do is change the other behaviors.

[2:07:29] We don't want to not suspend kids.

[2:07:31] What we want to do is address the behaviors as far as students and staff are concerned.

[2:07:36] And in some systems, they just don't suspend.

[2:07:39] However, some of those behaviors may still exist, so we want to make sure that we.

[2:07:44] They often call it something else.

[2:07:45] Yes, but I'm just saying that Montgomery County can't call it something less to that level.

[2:07:51] Otherwise, it would be a cur- I mean, you know, they're at the lowest level of all.

[2:07:57] And there would be a huge exodus of their staff and everybody else.

[2:08:02] If- all right, I'm talking- all right.

[2:08:05] Okay, thank you.

[2:08:08] Just Dr. Altberger had a couple questions, but she had to leave.

[2:08:11] And the interest of time, I'll go- going to email them to you, okay?

[2:08:14] And she can present them as a board reported at a future meeting if she would like it known to the public or one of us can

[2:08:20] Okay, thank you. Thank you very much

[2:08:24] Okay, now we are on to the Board of Education school cluster assignments and

[2:08:29] Then along with that right after that is the committee and community assignments

[2:08:35] Well, it's D&E. Oh,

[2:08:40] that's funny on this new one. It says the other way

[2:08:43] Okay, are we miss a tank? So you going to what are we doing with that? How do you want to do it?

[2:08:49] We're going to vote on it just as is.

[2:08:51] We want to read them out loud.

[2:08:53] Typically, the board just makes a motion and we vote.

[2:08:55] Okay.

[2:08:56] The board report is on board docs.

[2:08:59] Very good.

[2:08:59] Go ahead, Mrs. Jowls.

[2:09:02] Oh, I'm sorry, Mrs. French had her button pressed.

[2:09:06] The clusters are first.

[2:09:08] I was just going to move that we adopt the clusters as presented.

[2:09:12] Sorry.

[2:09:13] Second.

[2:09:15] We have a motion by Mrs. French with a second by Mrs.

[2:09:18] Mr. Zokon or Mr. Lacey?

[2:09:20] Yes.

[2:09:20] Mr. Zokon or?

[2:09:22] Yes.

[2:09:22] Mrs. Giles?

[2:09:23] Yes.

[2:09:23] Mrs. French?

[2:09:24] Yes.

[2:09:25] Dr. Sadegi.

[2:09:27] Yes.

[2:09:28] Motion passes 5-0.

[2:09:29] And that was the cluster assignment.

[2:09:31] That's the cluster.

[2:09:32] That's the cluster.

[2:09:36] Next is the committee assignments.

[2:09:38] Mrs. French?

[2:09:40] I would move that we defer committee changes until December.

[2:09:49] and continue with our existing committee assignments.

[2:09:55] Does anyone like, want to second that?

[2:10:00] I'll make a comment.

[2:10:02] Okay.

[2:10:02] Well, we have to second it.

[2:10:03] So I'll have to be second for this.

[2:10:05] I'll second.

[2:10:06] Okay.

[2:10:07] Part discussion.

[2:10:08] Part discussion.

[2:10:08] Dr. Saviki.

[2:10:10] Well, I don't think it's necessary because I mean we've, this has happened before.

[2:10:16] I mean when, when Mrs. O'Connor and Dr. O'Connor

[2:10:22] or Alt-Werger came on the board, I mean we didn't do that at that time, we made our regular

[2:10:28] changes at our regular time and then as new board members came on, we adjusted accordingly.

[2:10:34] So I don't think it's necessary to do that at this point.

[2:10:37] Thank you, Dr. Sardiki.

[2:10:38] Mrs. Delasi?

[2:10:41] So it reminds me of the Congress and the President with the Supreme Court appointee.

[2:10:48] I just think we just carry on as we normally would.

[2:10:54] Okay. Can I hear a new motion?

[2:10:58] I mean, an act on the motion?

[2:10:59] Well, then that's all right.

[2:11:00] The motion, it doesn't exist.

[2:11:02] It doesn't have a second.

[2:11:03] Oh, she's seconded.

[2:11:04] Oh, you seconded it.

[2:11:05] Sorry.

[2:11:06] We can go through that process.

[2:11:07] Yes.

[2:11:08] And then we can have another one if we want.

[2:11:09] Sorry.

[2:11:10] Go ahead.

[2:11:10] So we're going to vote.

[2:11:11] Yeah.

[2:11:12] Are you going to withdraw?

[2:11:14] We voting.

[2:11:15] To make it easier, I'll withdraw.

[2:11:17] Okay.

[2:11:18] Okay.

[2:11:19] I mean it's also that we accept and adopt the microphone.

[2:11:24] Microphone in turn to the other way.

[2:11:26] I'll make a motion that we adopt the Board of Education,

[2:11:31] may have been BOE Committee and Community Assignments as on the list.

[2:11:37] Second.

[2:11:39] We have a motion by Ms. Charles and a second by Mrs. Zocona.

[2:11:43] Is that correct?

[2:11:44] Yes.

[2:11:44] Okay, Mr. Lacey?

[2:11:45] Wait a minute.

[2:11:46] I will vote in opposition because we were all asked to request a committee that we wanted to be on.

[2:11:54] Wait a minute, and my request was denied, and so I will be voting now.

[2:11:59] Is that a point of order?

[2:12:01] You won't pass.

[2:12:04] Okay, ladies, I'm sorry, is that a point of order that you wanted to add?

[2:12:10] I just made a statement, okay.

[2:12:12] That's it.

[2:12:13] That's fine.

[2:12:14] Go ahead, so we have a motion.

[2:12:17] We have a second.

[2:12:18] No, we can vote.

[2:12:21] All right, motion by Ms. Giles, second by Ms. Soconner.

[2:12:26] Mr. Lacey.

[2:12:28] Yes.

[2:12:29] Ms. Soconner.

[2:12:30] Yes.

[2:12:31] Mrs. Giles.

[2:12:31] Yes.

[2:12:32] Mrs. French.

[2:12:33] No.

[2:12:34] Dr. Sadecki.

[2:12:35] Yes.

[2:12:36] Motion fails for one.

[2:12:40] So we'll bring it back to the table, I mean, the next statement, correct?

[2:12:43] All right, whenever the board wants us, wants me to bring it back.

[2:12:47] Okay, thank you.

[2:12:48] So next meeting, or the motion fails because we need five.

[2:12:52] These five.

[2:12:55] Because this is something the student board member can vote on, so we need five for it to pass.

[2:13:02] Okay, so going on to the community campus overflow parking lot, lease agreement.

[2:13:09] Mr. Guest.

[2:13:17] Before we do this, I have to make a motion that we bring this issue off the table because

[2:13:23] as we tabled it at the last meeting.

[2:13:26] Ms. Lacey, can you stay?

[2:13:27] Yes, I just need to do it.

[2:13:30] But we need to vote on this to have a discussion.

[2:13:33] Okay, so call the vote.

[2:13:35] All right, so we have a motion by Mrs. Giles to bring the report off the table with a second by Dr. Siddiqui.

[2:13:43] Ms. Siddiqui?

[2:13:46] Yes.

[2:13:46] Ms. Soconner?

[2:13:47] Yes.

[2:13:48] Ms. Giles?

[2:13:48] Yes.

[2:13:49] Mrs. French?

[2:13:50] Yes.

[2:13:50] Dr. Siddiqui?

[2:13:51] Yes.

[2:13:51] Motion passes 5-0.

[2:13:52] There we go. Okay, now you can go.

[2:13:55] Now we can call Mr. Kiss.

[2:13:56] Hello.

[2:13:59] I'm here requesting your approval of this lease

[2:14:03] with the library system to allow them to place

[2:14:05] a modular building on the Elkridge Overflow campus parking lot.

[2:14:11] I'm happy to report that since our last meeting,

[2:14:15] that both schools have reached out to their communities

[2:14:17] with communications regarding this matter.

[2:14:19] And staff is verified an additional approximately 100 parking spaces of availability behind the middle school to accommodate additional parking needs for special events.

[2:14:32] And at this time, I'd be happy to answer any questions.

[2:14:35] I'd love to move that we accept it.

[2:14:38] You can.

[2:14:40] Tanya, discussion?

[2:14:42] Yes, my discussion will be that I just wanted to make it clear to everybody that we have an amazing partnership with our wonderful

[2:14:48] library system, the battle, the books, the spelling, the Rube Goldberg talent, all great stuff.

[2:14:55] At the time that this action was presented to the board, we did not.

[2:15:00] We have all the facts. We were simply not ready to make an informed decision. We didn't have the info about utilities. We didn't have emergency equipment access. Nothing. We base all of our decisions on what is best for our students. We put safety first and to suggest anything other than that was just inaccurate by anyone. I'm sorry, and I feel terrible that the public was misinformed, not by us, but the public was misinformed and that we were, it was irresponsible to suggest by anyone that we didn't wish to co-op

[2:15:29] from with the library because of course we did.

[2:15:33] We just needed all the facts first to make the absolute best conclusion.

[2:15:40] Any other discussion?

[2:15:41] Oh yeah.

[2:15:41] Yeah.

[2:15:42] My button press.

[2:15:43] Mrs. French.

[2:15:44] No.

[2:15:45] It went back.

[2:15:47] Sorry.

[2:15:48] It says position again.

[2:15:49] Sorry.

[2:15:50] Go ahead.

[2:15:52] Yes.

[2:15:53] I absolutely agree that the library is a great partner.

[2:15:55] We want to work with the community.

[2:15:57] Two questions.

[2:15:58] One is, I just wanted to clarify the reportables, correct, the reportables that you're using,

[2:16:06] modular units.

[2:16:07] It's going to be used for dropping off and picking up the set correct.

[2:16:11] That's correct.

[2:16:12] And the important thing that has a capacity limit of 21p.

[2:16:16] Okay.

[2:16:17] And then the other question I had was, is there anything in here in the event that we need

[2:16:24] to make changes or if it's not working as we expected or if it's becomes an issue with

[2:16:30] the parking or the school events and how do we come back? Is there something in the

[2:16:37] MOU that would give us the ability to come back or the library I'm sure would be willing

[2:16:46] to cooperate with any of the terms and conditions that we set forward.

[2:16:53] But certainly, if you'd be more comfortable, we can take that and take it back to Leo

[2:16:59] and have that added to it, just not a problem.

[2:17:02] I don't want to delay this, but I just want to make sure that everything's in place

[2:17:08] if we need to make any changes that opportunity is available.

[2:17:12] And I would like to say that the libraries made it very clear that we will be in collaboration

[2:17:17] throughout this time.

[2:17:18] Very good.

[2:17:20] I don't think I can honestly say that we had no doubts about the library and us working well together.

[2:17:26] This is a matter of miscommunication from the onset that we were not even informed.

[2:17:30] We didn't have all the knowledge that we needed, Mrs. French.

[2:17:35] Well, I had, I have great faith in the library system.

[2:17:41] In fact, I've met a lot of the librarians through simulated congressional hearings because

[2:17:47] because they give their days with our fifth graders and they do a lot of other wonderful things.

[2:17:55] The only part that really bothered me was the fact that the portable was already on our

[2:18:00] property before we knew about it.

[2:18:04] That bothered me.

[2:18:06] And I don't know who did it or whether a construction guy with a trailer did it without anybody's

[2:18:13] an knowledge, but that part bothered me.

[2:18:16] The one question I have in the MOU was 9.1, quiet enjoyment.

[2:18:22] I have not heard this term in a legal document.

[2:18:27] Could you please explain that?

[2:18:29] I am not a lawyer.

[2:18:33] Okay, it says the board warrants quiet enjoyment of the least premises.

[2:18:39] That doesn't mean that they have to be quiet on the parking lot, or must be a library legal term, but I'm not like it could be.

[2:18:48] It was just different, sorry.

[2:18:54] Mrs. Dahl.

[2:18:56] Oh, no, I just support what's been said before, is that obviously our relationship with the library, the A-plus partnership is unique in the state.

[2:19:06] And we collaborate, we support, and supplement one another, and it's a wonderful relationship.

[2:19:15] And to be able to find a way to make this work over the time of the construction is terrific.

[2:19:21] And as I understand it, lists have already been conveyed to the library of the possible dates where there could be concerns.

[2:19:28] So that everyone is aware of where the rubber meets the road, so to speak in some of these.

[2:19:36] and that everyone has already agreed, especially the PTA's, the administrators and library administration have all talked about this and have plans in place to make sure that it works.

[2:19:47] So I think we're well positioned to make sure that the communities serve, the schools are served, and that everybody it's a win-win.

[2:19:55] Mrs. Delaney?

[2:19:58] Yes, and in case Phil Lloyd, who's part of our,

[2:20:07] no, it was my southern accent, Phil Lloyd.

[2:20:13] I know him well.

[2:20:14] He was part of the best class ever next year, maybe.

[2:20:21] He's the head librarian there, and in case he's watching, no, it's nothing to do with the

[2:20:27] library at all, we just want to make sure that it's a safe environment.

[2:20:33] I just, you know, there's a lot of traffic, there's a charge across the street.

[2:20:38] I just want to make sure that we just want to make sure that what we're doing is for

[2:20:43] the greater good of all the community and that it's going to work well with the after school activities and sports and for everything else.

[2:20:55] Okay, thank you, Mrs. Elysee.

[2:20:56] I think we're all set for the vote, Mrs. Hanks.

[2:20:58] Okay.

[2:20:59] We have a motion by Mrs. Giles and a second by Dr. Siddiqui to move approval of the lease agreement, Mr. Lacey.

[2:21:05] Yes.

[2:21:06] Mr. Conner.

[2:21:07] Yes.

[2:21:07] Mrs. Giles.

[2:21:08] Yes.

[2:21:08] Mrs. Pratch.

[2:21:09] Yes.

[2:21:09] Dr. Siddiqui.

[2:21:10] Yes.

[2:21:10] Motion passes 5-0.

[2:21:12] Okay.

[2:21:13] Thank you.

[2:21:14] Mr. Giles.

[2:21:15] Just like to acknowledge that the Chief Operating Officer from the Library is here, Angela Braid.

[2:21:19] Thank you for attending tonight.

[2:21:21] Thank you.

[2:21:22] Hello.

[2:21:22] Thank you.

[2:21:23] Thank you, Dr. Fouce.

[2:21:25] Okay.

[2:21:25] Okay, Program Agenda Alternative Education Program Report.

[2:22:16] Hi, Mrs. Padoozy.

[2:22:17] Hi, good evening.

[2:22:18] How are you?

[2:22:18] Good, thank you.

[2:22:19] Welcome.

[2:22:19] Good.

[2:22:21] As you said, my name is Jennifer Padoozy.

[2:22:23] I'm the coordinator of Alternative Education and one of the programs that I oversee is our in-school

[2:22:27] Alternative Education programs.

[2:22:29] So I'm pleased to be here tonight.

[2:22:30] Thank you.

[2:22:33] As we know and it's no coincidence I'm sure that this is on the same agenda as many of the other things

[2:22:38] this evening.

[2:22:38] We here in Hard County have natural progression of supports for all students, which you heard in the last report from Mr. Eastham.

[2:22:47] Those natural progressions can include everything from classroom management in our regular classes to our check-in check-out, PVIS.

[2:22:55] There's a wide range in all of our schools that work for the majority of our students.

[2:22:59] But there are a portion of our students that that just is not as enough, and as you talked before about that 2% that we really are focusing on.

[2:23:06] When you look at alternative education, I'm really talking about that 2%, where it's just not enough.

[2:23:14] And they discovered that obviously back in 1996, so there was a work group initiated.

[2:23:19] It was called the Disruptive Youth Task Force, that the time Dr. Hickey was our superintendent, and he initiated this.

[2:23:25] To really look at what is it that we need to do for this additional support that students are going to need?

[2:23:31] At that time, three elementary schools piloted alternative education programs.

[2:23:35] So that was in 1997, which is when I happened to come to Howard County from Baltimore County.

[2:23:40] And at that time we were really looking at the needs of all students, but they decided to really focus on early childhood.

[2:23:47] And at that time also appointed was a coordinator of alternative education, which was Dr. Craig Cummings, which many of you know.

[2:23:54] And he remained in that position until three years ago when he retired and when I was appointed to this position.

[2:24:01] The vision of alternative education, as you can see, is really that we help students improve their academic and behavioral skills so they can perform successfully in school and meet or exceed established performance standards.

[2:24:12] If you look at that, it's no different than what we hope for any student.

[2:24:16] We also help students develop the academic and interpersonal skills needed to participate responsibly in a diverse and changing world.

[2:24:22] And as was stated earlier, I believe by Ms. Giles, Howard County has changed since 1997, quite a bit.

[2:24:28] And our program really is to help our students and families move with those changes in a productive way.

[2:24:38] So rather than read it to you, I've listed all of the schools that have the programs in place.

[2:24:42] And when I see the programs, I want to be clear, as you saw in the suspension report.

[2:24:47] This is another level of intervention, it's another level of support.

[2:24:51] So I want to be clear that it is a portion of what students experience throughout their day.

[2:24:55] So they are in regular classes with students.

[2:24:57] They are operating in their day just as any other child would.

[2:25:01] But what we identify in some of these schools is that there is a need for additional support above and beyond.

[2:25:06] So these are the schools that you'll see at elementary, we have 14 schools that have alternative education staff, and that's a teacher and a paraprofessional.

[2:25:17] We have 10 middle schools that we have alternative education programs in and we have eight of our high schools.

[2:25:31] Once a school is identified as a school that is going to receive the support staff of

[2:25:35] alternative education, it is the responsibility to submit to me and to their principal a program

[2:25:40] plan. That program plan is very individualized based on the needs of the school. I know many

[2:25:45] of you are looking at this picture. This is a Harper's Choice and these young ladies are

[2:25:49] girls' group that received their CPR certification, so it was a very happy day for them. The schools

[2:25:55] make the decision on really what the needs are. However, my office really takes a strong

[2:25:59] responsibility takes a very seriously on what is expected to be in that plan.

[2:26:04] So each school is given a template.

[2:26:06] That template includes a plan of operation, entry and exit criteria, transition and

[2:26:12] articulation, parent and community involvement, staff development, community resources,

[2:26:19] and school-based problem solving teams make those decisions based on the demographics,

[2:26:24] the needs, and their data.

[2:26:25] So as I was listening to Ms. Chasney explain what's going to be available for us, it's wonderful news because our

[2:26:32] programs really rely on that data to make the decisions and where we need to put the support.

[2:26:36] So it's already been very helpful and we've been able to use what is available, but

[2:26:40] it sounds like it's going to be even more direct, so we appreciate that.

[2:26:46] Everybody asks how many students do we service?

[2:26:49] On an average of about 700 students per year receiving direct alternative education supports.

[2:26:54] I want to be clear though, our alternative education teachers and

[2:26:57] and paraprofessionals, they're part of our student service teams in our schools.

[2:27:00] So these are the students that are on the caseloads.

[2:27:03] It doesn't mean that they're only servicing that number.

[2:27:05] So we are looking at the one, two, three percent of the highest need students.

[2:27:10] However, as we know, just like any of us who've been in the classrooms,

[2:27:14] if the student has the need, we're all going to jump on board.

[2:27:16] So there's many more students that receive the supports from these programs, but

[2:27:20] those are the direct services.

[2:27:22] And these are deep-run students who are doing a bullying prevention lesson for

[2:27:26] for our second graders, so that is their activity.

[2:27:30] Once a student is identified through the school-based student problem solving team to need the

[2:27:36] supports, then it is expected that the alternative education and collaboration with the student

[2:27:40] support team develops what we call an individual student plan, not to be mistaken with an

[2:27:45] IEP, an individualized education plan.

[2:27:48] Students who receive alternative education supports do not have IEPs, so there's not an overlap

[2:27:54] of services. Students who are receiving services through my department, our students are really

[2:28:00] demonstrating a high need in behavior, academic goals, not related to a disability.

[2:28:05] So once these students are identified through the student, and it's SST or IT, I know you

[2:28:11] hear a lot of the different terminologies, but through the student service problem-solving

[2:28:15] team, then we develop these plans. These plans are quite intense intentionally.

[2:28:23] They're

[2:28:24] route of the problem as we talked about before.

[2:28:26] This is a proactive approach.

[2:28:28] We're not looking to react to what's happening.

[2:28:31] We're trying to prevent it from happening anymore.

[2:28:33] The students that were servicing what we have found

[2:28:36] the common denominator is they've experienced trauma.

[2:28:38] Some sort of crisis, something has happened in their life

[2:28:41] that has really derailed them from being

[2:28:44] independently able to manage school.

[2:28:46] If we can get to the root of that problem

[2:28:48] and we can help them overcome it,

[2:28:50] then we know they're gonna be more successful

[2:28:51] and have a much higher likelihood of being successful both in their school environment as well as in the community.

[2:28:57] So it's not a magic wand, and it's a lot of trial and error.

[2:29:00] But the plan is designed to identify what is the root of the concern, and

[2:29:04] then really work with the staff on how we can help overcome that.

[2:29:08] It's tricky, I'm not going to lie, that there's a reason that there is a need there,

[2:29:13] and the needs that our students are experiencing, even if I guess I've been in the system 20 years now.

[2:29:17] And the certainly increasing, the needs are increasing to a point where we have to really adjust our mindset and we're doing that.

[2:29:25] And I'm very proud of the staff out there, and we can talk a little bit more about that in a little bit.

[2:29:29] But the staff that is working in these programs are some of your most dedicated, devoted, creative,

[2:29:34] above and beyond staff members you'll ever find.

[2:29:36] And yes, there's a plan, but it goes much further than that plan.

[2:29:42] Then what I expect of them is they have to provide to me an end-of-year report.

[2:29:46] And that report, again, also quite extensive, and I'll explain to you what is in that.

[2:29:51] But that is really so that I can also get a broad stroke of the overall school.

[2:29:54] I'm out in the schools every day, every other day if something gets in the way.

[2:29:59] But I'm really-

[2:30:00] In those buildings and working with the staff and the principals and the kids and the families. And so I get to know the families really one-on-one. But sometimes then we can miss the bigger pictures. We talked earlier, Mr. Lisa, when you said, do we get the school reports? Can we analyze it by school? Because we know there's going to be trend data. This gives me my school trend data. Are we effective? Are we really doing what we need to do to meet the needs of the students on a broader scope, not necessarily individualized schools? So students, excuse me. So what this includes is for every student that we service.

[2:30:29] They provide me what I call their bag data.

[2:30:32] It's the behavior, attendance, and grades.

[2:30:35] Then the alternative education teacher is expected to take that data, and

[2:30:40] they provide me a written summary and a plan of improvement.

[2:30:43] Even for most exemplary programs, there's always room for improvement and we know that.

[2:30:47] So what I expect them to do is really look at what is gone well, what isn't going well,

[2:30:51] what could we tweak, and when they provide that end of the year report, I meet with them all.

[2:30:55] I meet with them regularly every month, I have professional development with them.

[2:30:59] But I meet with them at the end of the year to look at the end of the year reports and

[2:31:03] then equate that to the program plans.

[2:31:05] Is that an alignment or do we need to adjust that program plan accordingly?

[2:31:09] Because there's a different need in the school that may not have been there before.

[2:31:14] Even our youngest students, so I should have said and I know I stated that we service elementary, middle and high.

[2:31:21] We service students as youngest three years old now.

[2:31:23] We have some of our pre-K programs and I want to be clear.

[2:31:25] I think sometimes people are afraid and saying, well, the students being tagged, they're in all dead.

[2:31:30] I want to be very careful with our semantics.

[2:31:33] As I work with my staff, there is nobody who is in or out of an alternative education program.

[2:31:38] This is a service we provide, it's a support.

[2:31:40] So we don't label kids and say they're in or out, what we're saying is they receive and need these services.

[2:31:46] So even our youngest students, unfortunately, as we know, they experience some traumatic events.

[2:31:51] And especially our youngest one, sometimes can't communicate to us the impact that is had on them.

[2:31:56] So we are servicing kids now, which has not always been the case as young as three.

[2:32:00] And of course, we can service kids actual 21.

[2:32:02] So the range of what we provide is quite different.

[2:32:06] Which is why when I say to you that it's individualized by school,

[2:32:09] of course, it makes sense that it has to be quite different for those different age groups.

[2:32:13] But even at our youngest age, what we know is what is our end goal.

[2:32:17] Our end goal is that our students do not have any barriers to them.

[2:32:20] that when they graduate, not if, when they graduate, that those doors are wide open.

[2:32:26] And as Mr. Bernett said before, as soon as they get into that juvenile justice system,

[2:32:30] some of those doors can close.

[2:32:32] So our job, and one of our jobs, is to make sure that those doors remain open,

[2:32:37] that their academic progress is monitored closely, and that they have the opportunity to graduate.

[2:32:42] And I'm very pleased to let you know that this year, 46 of our seniors,

[2:32:47] Excuse me, 39 of our 46 seniors graduated in May.

[2:32:51] Five of our seniors will graduate in July if they successfully complete summer school.

[2:32:55] And I promise you, I'm on them and watching them closely.

[2:32:59] And so that means obviously that the numbers look very good as far as the end result.

[2:33:04] When students get the services that they need, that is very focused and

[2:33:07] direct, then they're more successful.

[2:33:09] And the earlier we can do that for them, the better off they will be.

[2:33:15] I've only been in this position for three years.

[2:33:17] But I could tell you that in the three years I've been here, it is more evident that it ever was to me before

[2:33:23] that the in-school alternative education programs are critical support for the students that need it.

[2:33:29] And without those staff members out there, and who knows if they're watching, go enjoy your families.

[2:33:33] But they know how much I support them.

[2:33:36] They know that we're in the trenches together.

[2:33:38] I've intentionally put my office at homewood so that I don't forget the needs of the students and staff that we service.

[2:33:44] Because it's critical to me and it's critical to this community that they continue to get those supports and that we do so in a way that is responsible, respectful, and not be afraid to have the hard conversations about what our families need and make sure we're there at all walks in all situations to provide it for them.

[2:34:02] So I appreciate your time and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

[2:34:08] Thank you very much. Any questions? Mrs. Lacey?

[2:34:12] I think you do on a super job.

[2:34:14] Thank you.

[2:34:14] I think you're a special head background and all the other administrative, all the other things that you bring to the table.

[2:34:22] You've done a fantastic job.

[2:34:24] I want to ask in looking at the qualifications of alternative ed staff.

[2:34:36] Have you considered, and I brought this up to a couple of people earlier, a social worker

[2:34:43] and an educator?

[2:34:45] We have, in some of our schools, in two of our high schools at Resvoir and at Hammond,

[2:34:51] we do have a social worker on site, 50%, and I say 50, could be give or take 48 to 52%

[2:34:58] of our staff members do have a social work background.

[2:35:00] So, back when Dr. Cummings originally was hiring people at that time,

[2:35:04] majority of the staff that were hired were individuals that had social work background.

[2:35:10] What we have found is that the educators that are put into the places

[2:35:15] to be the alternative education teachers really do have the mindset of a service provider

[2:35:21] such as social work, but we know that they also need additional training.

[2:35:25] That there are some aspects to that that may be missed because that's not their certification or the degree.

[2:35:29] which is why I have those monthly professional development meetings where we talk about what community agencies are available.

[2:35:35] How do we reach out and make sure that we have food clothing housing for our kids?

[2:35:39] How do we provide mental health support for our families and crisis?

[2:35:42] So some of those social work aspects to what our students, we know that what they need,

[2:35:47] we certainly do try to provide that through more the professional development side of things.

[2:35:52] Because I know that the education piece is extremely important to bed.

[2:35:56] We can't have James Lamont's, James Lamont's every and all of our buildings because he's got the education background and he has the social work background.

[2:36:06] But I think that social work piece is so great that if we could have the co-teaching, the co-process of, because we've got a teacher in a pair.

[2:36:15] I just wonder if we could ensure that we move toward the social work perspective and

[2:36:24] the educator perspective in that dual role.

[2:36:28] What are you doing to alleviate burnout?

[2:36:34] That's why, as I said to you earlier, when I tell you how amazed I am at the staff,

[2:36:41] there's a few things we talk about regularly.

[2:36:44] It's a tough job, but it's also the most rewarding job.

[2:36:49] The places that we will go for kids, whether we're going to

[2:36:53] shelters to find, I could tell you the other day when one of our

[2:36:58] family's houses was burning to the ground.

[2:37:02] I and the two people who work with that student were the first ones there, but

[2:37:06] honestly, I think at the same time as some of the emergency vehicles.

[2:37:09] because there is such a devotion to the students.

[2:37:14] We don't have high turnover in the three years that I've been there, only one person has left.

[2:37:20] Part of that is we build each other up as much as we can.

[2:37:23] Part of that, I hope they would tell you and I believe they would, is that they know I'm out there with them.

[2:37:28] So they also know I'm out there with their principals, their principals doing incredible jobs supporting them.

[2:37:32] They know it's a hard job.

[2:37:35] We're not seeing the burnout rate within our staff.

[2:37:37] However, that doesn't mean that we don't have a need for them to also have an opportunity to get their own supports.

[2:37:43] And sometimes we do have to provide that for them.

[2:37:46] When a student goes into crisis and we all have, we all know there's some terrible stories.

[2:37:52] The staff members experience that crisis right there with them.

[2:37:54] So we do access the employee assistance program, if need be.

[2:37:58] We do make sure that if I need to be out there to be in their classes while they can have some time, that's what we do.

[2:38:04] It's just critical that they know they have the supports in place.

[2:38:07] But I appreciate you recognizing that because it is a tough role.

[2:38:11] But I do believe really, really strongly that it is one of the most rewarding.

[2:38:17] And when those kids come back and they have met those goals, and all odds are against them.

[2:38:22] It'll take us another year or two and we'll have to regroup again, but it gets us through.

[2:38:27] I appreciate your perspective, though, thank you.

[2:38:29] Thank you.

[2:38:32] Yeah, thank you for your report.

[2:38:33] I think it brings this issue to the community, to the parents and the school system, and

[2:38:41] I agree that the teachers and the paraprofessionals that are working with these families, it takes

[2:38:49] a really special person, and you do become a family and work together to make a situation for

[2:38:57] these kids better, but I think, you know, you really laid out a great plan, and the American,

[2:39:05] I don't have it in front of me, but the American Academy of Pediatrics recently put out

[2:39:08] something regarding, you know, toxic stress and children and the impact that it has on

[2:39:13] them, and some of our kids, you know, live it every single day, and to have these resources

[2:39:19] in place for them, and that you're continuing to look at improvements in ways to improve

[2:39:24] the program.

[2:39:24] I think it's great.

[2:39:26] Thank you.

[2:39:26] Thank you very much.

[2:39:27] Appreciate it.

[2:39:33] I want to reiterate the statements that have been made before.

[2:39:37] It is about seeing things ahead of time, not waiting until something gets broken.

[2:39:43] And about making those personal connections, we know that's true for every child, but especially children who have experienced crisis.

[2:39:50] And return to that crisis sometimes every single day.

[2:39:53] Okay, so the model that you've established here in the relationships that those teachers and staff members have built with these families is at the core of what educators do and we should all as a community be grateful for their dedication and the expertise that they bring and I do appreciate that the success means more when you've had to come farther and so in some ways they're very lucky because they're able to touch someone and truly

[2:40:23] really be part of a life-changing experience and I think that's part of what shores people

[2:40:29] up is that they know they actually can and have made a difference but we do need to make

[2:40:34] sure that we appreciate that level of commitment because it's beyond some of us to be able

[2:40:39] to provide that and so that we have and are blessed with people lucky enough to find that

[2:40:45] strength we should be very grateful for.

[2:40:47] So thank you.

[2:40:48] Thank you.

[2:40:48] I

[2:40:52] remember a number of alternative ed staff behind the curtain at narrow weather, just in tears, just because the students they were mentoring made it and it was very obviously very impressive to me.

[2:41:13] I wanted to ask you, you talked about mindset.

[2:41:20] Can you elaborate more on mindset because you said you'd refer to it later?

[2:41:25] Can you talk about that?

[2:41:27] Absolutely.

[2:41:27] I think one of the things that we have really found is a, and I say as a team, there's 70 plus

[2:41:32] of us that get together and what we realize is that we can get very entrenched in the negative.

[2:41:37] We can really dwell on everything.

[2:41:41] Yeah, it's, you know, and we, we start our meetings with celebrations.

[2:41:45] And I know that sounds hooking.

[2:41:47] Anybody who knows me knows I'm not a real touchy-feely person.

[2:41:49] But we have to because there are celebrations happening out in our buildings all the times.

[2:41:54] And yes, we have to recognize the true needs of the students.

[2:41:57] But if we flip that mindset to talk about how is it that they can overcome it?

[2:42:02] Not how is it that we can help them ignore or avoid?

[2:42:05] It's never going to be the reality.

[2:42:07] So we've worked very hard on one.

[2:42:09] Again, the semantics, as I said before, we're not in alternative education, we're receiving an alternative

[2:42:14] education support.

[2:42:15] Just like a support is a reading support, a mass support, this is behavioral and

[2:42:19] academic support.

[2:42:20] That mindset has shifted, I think, in the few years that I've been here, really shifted for

[2:42:24] the staff to recognize that you're an interventionist, you're responsible for

[2:42:29] identifying the root of the concern, root of the problem, and helping to figure it out.

[2:42:33] But you're not doing it in isolation, you're doing it with the entire staff in that building.

[2:42:36] everything, everybody that walks with that child has an impact on them.

[2:42:40] So whereas the mindset used to be in isolation, we'd pull the students out and we'd work with

[2:42:44] them independently and we'd say, well, the problem clearly is that you're hungry.

[2:42:50] So I'm going to give you a granola bar, that's not the problem, the problem is much bigger

[2:42:53] than that.

[2:42:53] And then they go back into the environment and it's not fixed.

[2:42:57] So the reality is what we're shifting is, the responsibility is on all of us, it's on you

[2:43:02] as you know, you take that very seriously and it's on us and the schools.

[2:43:05] But changing the mindset as being a practitioner, to figure out what it is that we need to do to find the full range of supports.

[2:43:13] I also work with, obviously, the Department of do-vinyl services, Department of Social Services,

[2:43:18] Howard Community College, Free State Job Corps.

[2:43:21] All of that is so that we can provide all the supports a family may need.

[2:43:26] So it's no longer about I as the alternative education, I'm going to fix them independently.

[2:43:30] There's the burn out comes that Mr. Lacey was referring to.

[2:43:33] When you realize that this is about bringing in everybody to support that student,

[2:43:37] it's just a different mindset that I find to be working much better.

[2:43:41] I also find it to be healthier for the family, the student, and certainly staff members working with them.

[2:43:46] So that's what I was referring to.

[2:43:47] Oh, that helps, thank you.

[2:43:50] The other question I had was at Appendix Day.

[2:43:54] Could you please elaborate on that attachment?

[2:43:58] Absolutely, so this document has been developed and revamped

[2:44:02] obviously as the state requirements have changed, but we use this as our exemplary document when we're looking at programs.

[2:44:10] So as I told you before, I go out to every program and then I meet with them at the end of the year.

[2:44:14] We use this document as kind of a check-in-mount system that I use with the administrators as well as the staff, so

[2:44:20] that we look at this and say these are the components that we know are research-based, that we know, and again,

[2:44:24] through the work of the task force years ago, and that we continue to review to look at that, that we know that these aspects

[2:44:30] of the programs need to be in place for it really to be exemplary and working productively.

[2:44:35] Not every program has it at all times and there's different reasons why.

[2:44:39] It may be that the students that they have don't necessarily need the supports in here.

[2:44:42] It may be that the administrative team has changed focus for a certain reason.

[2:44:47] But we use this document to go out when we have those meetings to say what is in place,

[2:44:51] what's working, what's not working.

[2:44:52] So it really is a framework for us to use.

[2:44:54] We don't use it as a check-off if you only have 80% of this and that's where you stand, not at all.

[2:44:58] but it is used as a...

[2:45:00] The framework for conversation and reflective tool for the alternative education staff as well as the administrative staff and student support team to really look at this regularly and say, are we there? Is this what we need to do? Otherwise, we get off kilter and we start working in isolation and we don't want that to happen. So this gives us the full range that is necessary. Okay. Do you? What I hear from some people is a complaint that people in the local schools do not want to

[2:45:29] And deal with certain students who have issues and they just automatically want to have them go to Homewood.

[2:45:37] So can you talk a little bit about how you deal with that or intervene or-

[2:45:42] I'm happy to, whatever.

[2:45:44] So one of my other responsibilities is I'm the chair for the Central Admissions Committee,

[2:45:49] which is the committee that looks at any referrals to Homewood and considers that that's the right placement for them.

[2:45:55] So well before we get to that place.

[2:45:58] I am intimately involved in that referral, if you will, but also just the process.

[2:46:04] The expectation is, there is a flow chart I could provide for the board.

[2:46:08] It's a different part of the world than this one so I could certainly provide it.

[2:46:12] But there is an expectation that the student problem solving team at the school base level,

[2:46:17] if they have exceeded what they believe to be all of their supports in place at their school.

[2:46:21] Whether they have alternative education supports or not, so the schools that don't have it,

[2:46:25] We all know, still have students who have behaviors and or academic needs that need to be met.

[2:46:30] So if at any point, a school feels that they have exhausted every possible resource that they have, whatever that may be.

[2:46:37] And they feel that they need more.

[2:46:38] The expectation is they reach out and contact me and they do, I promise you they do.

[2:46:43] And my job then is between myself and the resource teacher, Lisa Bertucci.

[2:46:47] We go out and observe that student multiple times, meet with the child, meet with the family.

[2:46:52] We work with the student service teams.

[2:46:54] We kind of go in as the check and balance to say, is there anything else that we could be doing?

[2:46:58] Because, quite frankly, and I know you see the principle of homewood here,

[2:47:02] quite frankly, we don't want ever to have a student have to leave their homeschool.

[2:47:06] It's necessary sometimes, but we don't want that.

[2:47:08] So we try very hard to make sure that we have put everything in place that we possibly can.

[2:47:14] It isn't until I am done with that consultation, and when I say involved months before we get to

[2:47:20] that place of making that referral.

[2:47:22] Then if we have exhausted everything,

[2:47:25] and based on my recommendations,

[2:47:26] we still are just not meeting with success.

[2:47:28] A student is still in crisis,

[2:47:29] then we can get to the point of that referral,

[2:47:31] and it comes to that team.

[2:47:33] And I do want us to,

[2:47:36] you know, you had made a statement about people feel like

[2:47:37] there's some people out there

[2:47:38] that don't want to deal with the kids.

[2:47:40] And I've heard that as well.

[2:47:41] So I have found, and again, in this role,

[2:47:46] as prior as a principal, but now in this role.

[2:47:48] Although I think sometimes that sounds like it and feels like it in the moment because

[2:47:52] something happens and it's egregious and they've disrupted the school environment and people

[2:47:56] are in reactive mode at that time, I think that sometimes can be perceived as that principle

[2:48:01] wants them out.

[2:48:02] And I do challenge us all to look back a little bit further because I can assure you that

[2:48:07] long before that incident that administrator has been working with me and we have been trying

[2:48:12] what we can do for that student, there becomes a breaking point, I understand that.

[2:48:16] But the breaking point, I don't think is that they want them out.

[2:48:18] I believe that strongly, although I know that's perception.

[2:48:21] I don't believe our administrators want kids out.

[2:48:23] What I see those administrators do for those students in the highest-need students on a daily basis.

[2:48:29] It's unreal.

[2:48:30] It is unreal, if, you know, I have a story for every principal after that I could probably tell you.

[2:48:34] They don't want anybody to leave their building, but there are times and it does break their heart that they just can't.

[2:48:40] It's at a point that there is nothing else they can do in a comprehensive setting.

[2:48:44] And that's when we get to the place.

[2:48:46] And Homeland is not a punitive place, as we know.

[2:48:49] Homeland is a gift.

[2:48:50] And if a child needs those supports,

[2:48:52] then they absolutely should be given the gift

[2:48:55] of going to Homeland.

[2:48:56] But it is a long process, it is not a reactive.

[2:48:59] And I certainly find the staff, look, on any given day

[2:49:02] with my own children, could I say do I want them out?

[2:49:04] Of course, I mean, that's the reality.

[2:49:07] But the bottom line is you're never going to give up on them.

[2:49:10] And I don't find administrators giving up.

[2:49:12] I don't find teachers giving up, I just don't, I'm humbled by the work that's happening out in our buildings.

[2:49:19] It's so wonderful to hear you.

[2:49:21] Thank you.

[2:49:22] You're welcome.

[2:49:23] Thank you very much.

[2:49:24] With that in mind, I want to acknowledge that Mrs. Maddox, Mrs. Tina Maddox is out there because there she is.

[2:49:30] It is still one of the most engaged.

[2:49:32] Yeah, we'll walk into the building and the teachers in that school are highly engaged.

[2:49:40] The whole staff at that school is so highly engaged in the energy that you all put into the program.

[2:49:44] I mean, our students, I just, we want to really thank you for.

[2:49:47] We thank you, I'll make sure that they get that recognition, thank you.

[2:49:51] You're welcome, thank you for all you do.

[2:49:53] And we have the public form, but we don't have anybody officially signed up for that.

[2:49:56] So, would anyone like to come forward for public form?

[2:49:59] Okay, so we'll close that and we are officially adjourned, get home safely.

[2:50:05] We could just make for 10 minutes for members.

Jul 14, 2016 Board of Education - Regular Meeting Pt. 2 (3. Consent Agenda thru 8. Adjournment) - Howard County Public Schools

Agenda

Transcript