[0:00] Yes. But, just, just tell
[0:02] me.
[0:02] I'll write this down. I'll write it down
[0:04] , I'll write it down in my
[0:05] notebook.
[0:06] Don't throw this away.
[0:09] Jeff wants to take
[0:10] your things.
[0:12] What? What? Could you
[0:13] tell the people who
[0:15] want them that they
[0:15] can buy mine? A.
[0:17] Okay. Well, okay. Yes.
[0:23] Wait, who...Oh, I
[0:24] know. Were you there? Yes.
[0:30] I didn't know he was
[0:31] back. Er
[0:32] , technically not on an
[0:33] island.
[0:36] Yes. Yes.
[0:39] Let's talk later.
[0:40] Yes. OK. I am the main one
[0:44] .
[0:44] You are the boss.
[0:46] OK. Now this is my
[0:48] job. Good evening,
[0:53] everyone. Uh, I'd like to
[0:54] open the Nantucket
[0:55] School Committee meeting
[0:56] for
[0:57] October 6th. Congratulations. Uh,
[0:59] you have an agenda in front of your eyes
[0:59] .
[1:00] Can I get your
[1:01] approval?
[1:02] I suggest accepting.
[1:03] Second.
[1:04] All in favor?
[1:05] Yes.
[1:05] This meeting
[1:06] is being recorded on audio
[1:08] and video. We
[1:09] are opening up time for
[1:11] public comments. I don't
[1:12] know if anyone is
[1:13] online. No. Oh, dreaming is
[1:14] n't harmful. OK.
[1:16] We are closing the
[1:18] public comment section and
[1:18] moving on to the
[1:20] superintendent's report.
[1:20] Good. Uh, good
[1:22] evening everyone. Uh, we'll
[1:24] start with the number of
[1:25] students. So, our
[1:27] current
[1:29] student population as of October 2026
[1:31] is 1,604
[1:33] . This is only
[1:34] six fewer students
[1:36] than in September. This
[1:41] number will be
[1:42] relevant throughout
[1:43] the year and is an important
[1:44] metric that is
[1:45] regularly
[1:45] reviewed at the
[1:46] state level for
[1:47] funding and
[1:48] other issues. So, this is what
[1:54] we have now.
[1:55] Of course,
[1:56] we may see
[1:58] some changes throughout the year. This
[1:59] happens. We have
[2:01] added four students
[2:02] to NES. There are no changes in NIS. At
[2:06] CPS, we lost seven
[2:08] students. And in NHS we
[2:10] lost five students.
[2:13] So, this is
[2:14] the distribution
[2:14] compared to
[2:15] September.
[2:17] Beth, can you
[2:18] comment on the
[2:19] recruitment situation on
[2:21] Cape Cod?
[2:22] Yes, enrollment on
[2:23] Cape Cod is declining.
[2:26] We are seeing a
[2:27] decline in
[2:28] student enrollment in
[2:29] Massachusetts, and
[2:30] especially on Cape Cod
[2:31] , where this trend
[2:32] continues.
[2:35] This is most likely
[2:36] due to the higher
[2:37] cost of living on
[2:39] Cape Cod. They also
[2:41] see less
[2:42] growth in the number of
[2:43] multilingual students in
[2:45] their schools. So, I
[2:47] would say this is a
[2:48] trend across the
[2:49] state, but in the Cape and the
[2:50] islands we are seeing
[2:52] fewer and fewer students in
[2:53] our schools. We
[2:55] turned, as you
[2:56] advised last time,
[2:58] to the New School and the
[2:59] Lighthouse School. We did
[3:00] not receive
[3:01] a response in time to
[3:02] provide you with
[3:03] information today.
[3:04] But I did some research
[3:06] : Last year, the
[3:07] New
[3:08] Nantucket School had
[3:10] 176 students in
[3:12] grades K-8, while the
[3:13] Lighthouse School typically
[3:14] enrolls 80 to 90
[3:16] students per year. So, we
[3:21] believe that they are not
[3:22] seeing a
[3:23] significant increase in the
[3:25] number of students
[3:26] transferring to them from
[3:27] public schools. But I'll
[3:33] ask them about the
[3:34] recruitment dynamics
[3:35] as soon as we can
[3:36] contact them. So
[3:37] we will definitely
[3:38] keep you updated
[3:39] .
[3:40] Thank you.
[3:40] So I'd be happy
[3:41] to answer
[3:42] any questions
[3:43] you have. Loro?
[3:44] I have no questions
[3:45] . I just want
[3:46] to say that I
[3:47] really like the
[3:48] latest update,
[3:49] it's easy to scroll
[3:50] and read all of it. This is
[3:51] great.
[3:52] Thank you. Yes. Thank you. A
[3:54] few more things I
[3:55] wanted to share.
[3:57] Open days.
[3:58] We
[3:59] had some great
[4:00] open days last week and have
[4:01] two more coming up
[4:02] this week. So, both the
[4:04] elementary and high
[4:06] schools opened their
[4:07] doors to parents for
[4:09] two wonderful events on
[4:10] September 29th and 30th. I was able
[4:13] to attend the event at NES on the 29th
[4:15] , and when I
[4:17] arrived, it was
[4:18] very lively. There were
[4:19] many children and many
[4:21] families. I
[4:22] like that
[4:23] students come with their
[4:24] families, and it
[4:25] turns into a
[4:26] real family
[4:27] event. This is just
[4:29] wonderful. I also
[4:31] love seeing
[4:33] NES students who have just
[4:34] graduated or
[4:35] graduated
[4:36] years ago but
[4:37] come back
[4:38] to visit former
[4:39] teachers, give hugs,
[4:40] and just look
[4:42] around. It's so nice
[4:43] to see them again, and
[4:44] they love
[4:45] supporting their
[4:46] younger
[4:46] siblings. It was very
[4:48] touching. Current
[4:50] NES students
[4:51] enjoyed
[4:52] showing
[4:53] their classrooms to parents, sharing their
[4:54] work, and
[4:55] explaining school
[4:56] rules. It was a great
[5:00] pleasure to be there
[5:01] and spend the evening
[5:02] with everyone.
[5:05] Nantucket High School Open House
[5:06] was also a great success,
[5:07] and I received two
[5:08] important
[5:09] emails that I would like to
[5:11] share. One of
[5:13] them is from my father. Another one
[5:14] from my parents,
[5:15] now, now, here it is. My
[5:17] wife and I really
[5:19] enjoyed
[5:19] yesterday's
[5:20] open day at the NHS.
[5:21] It seems like it was
[5:22] one of the best turnouts
[5:24] in recent years.
[5:25] The teachers were prepared,
[5:26] organized, and
[5:27] explained
[5:28] class requirements,
[5:29] assessments, and
[5:30] course content very clearly. My wife
[5:31] especially liked
[5:34] one teacher's positive attitude towards
[5:35] all the students
[5:36] he works with in the classroom.
[5:37] I enjoyed the
[5:38] homework that
[5:40] my two children's teachers gave us. One
[5:43] assignment was to
[5:45] help the teachers
[5:47] get to know our
[5:48] children better, and another was for us to
[5:49] write a
[5:50] note of encouragement to be
[5:51] given to the students
[5:52] the following week.
[5:56] Another teacher provided
[5:57] clear information about
[5:58] essay topics for
[6:00] college admissions through the Common
[6:01] App, and also advised
[6:02] applying by
[6:03] November 1 for
[6:04] priority consideration
[6:05] for the institution of your choice.
[6:07] It was one of the
[6:08] parents. And another
[6:09] parent said: "This
[6:10] was by far
[6:11] the best, most
[6:12] organised and
[6:13] prepared
[6:14] open house my
[6:15] wife and I have ever
[6:16] been to."
[6:17] Wow.
[6:18] Therefore.
[6:18] Very nice.
[6:20] Congratulations to the high school on a
[6:21] wonderful
[6:22] open day.
[6:23] Both events had
[6:24] interpreters present
[6:25] for our
[6:26] multilingual families
[6:27] who needed
[6:28] language assistance. They
[6:30] were present and
[6:31] helpful throughout the
[6:32] evening. The educational technology
[6:35] department also worked
[6:37] to help families
[6:38] update data in the
[6:39] family portal,
[6:40] as it is quite
[6:41] difficult for us to get families
[6:42] to provide up-to-date
[6:43] information. And this is
[6:46] critically important for
[6:47] our work.
[6:50] They also helped us
[6:51] navigate Google
[6:52] Classroom—a new
[6:53] platform we
[6:54] use for
[6:55] grading
[6:57] and keeping
[6:58] progress logs in
[6:59] middle and high
[7:00] school. So they were
[7:01] there to help
[7:02] anyone who
[7:03] needed it.
[7:04] Representatives from the
[7:05] community school
[7:06] were also present,
[7:07] helping to
[7:08] register students and
[7:09] families for almost
[7:10] any of their programs.
[7:11] Swimming lessons,
[7:13] driving courses,
[7:14] adult dances,
[7:15] after-school groups—
[7:16] practically everything a
[7:17] public
[7:18] school offers. So it was
[7:20] great to see it
[7:22] turn into a
[7:23] real event for the
[7:24] whole community. These are
[7:25] community events, and that's what
[7:27] makes
[7:28] Nantucket special:
[7:29] so
[7:30] many people come to
[7:31] enjoy
[7:32] wonderful evenings in
[7:33] our schools. Therefore.
[7:35] Thank you.
[7:36] very much. Have questions
[7:37] about open days
[7:39] ?
[7:39] Not a question, but more of a
[7:40] comment, because I was at an
[7:42] open house
[7:43] at an elementary school.
[7:45] Our new principal,
[7:46] Ms. Stanton,
[7:47] Associate Principal
[7:48] Kim Albers, and their
[7:50] teams have done an
[7:51] outstanding job. And I
[7:54] must say that I
[7:55] really liked how
[7:57] the teachers made the
[7:58] students tour guides: they
[7:59] took their parents
[8:00] and siblings around the
[8:01] school. Our
[8:05] first grader was
[8:06] our guide and he was
[8:07] thrilled. But everyone
[8:09] was in the same
[8:10] position, because the children were
[8:11] proud, genuinely
[8:11] proud, of
[8:12] showing off their
[8:13] classes and what they
[8:14] had.
[8:15] This is great. This is simply
[8:16] amazing. Loro?
[8:17] I have a slightly different
[8:18] question. I noticed
[8:21] that there will be
[8:22] professional development soon
[8:23] . Is it because of
[8:24] the collaborative?
[8:26] Yes, we have
[8:27] professional development scheduled
[8:29] for October 9th, which is the
[8:30] Friday before the
[8:31] long weekend.
[8:37] It is specifically
[8:38] designed for
[8:39] our professionals and
[8:40] contractors, or those in
[8:42] specialized roles:
[8:43] occupational therapists,
[8:44] physiotherapists,
[8:45] counselors,
[8:46] social
[8:46] workers, as well as
[8:48] PE,
[8:49] health and language teachers. This is
[9:00] one of the few
[9:01] local opportunities
[9:02] for quality
[9:03] training, allowing
[9:04] them to work with
[9:05] professionals from other
[9:06] communities throughout the day,
[9:08] discussing
[9:09] topics that are relevant to them. So we
[9:14] offer them this
[9:15] opportunity.
[9:16] No, it's not here on
[9:17] Nantucket. It's the Cape Cod
[9:18] Collaborative, and
[9:19] they usually hold it in
[9:21] Dennis Yarmouth, if I'm
[9:22] not mistaken. Sometimes in
[9:23] Dennis Yarmouth, sometimes
[9:24] in Barnstable, but
[9:25] mostly in both
[9:26] places.
[9:27] And this is also for
[9:28] music teachers, right?
[9:29] Theater, yes, all
[9:30] experts have their
[9:32] suggestions. Not all of
[9:33] our specialists
[9:34] use this.
[9:37] Sometimes the offerings are
[9:38] slightly skewed towards
[9:39] seniors or
[9:40] juniors, so not everyone
[9:41] attends these events
[9:42] due to lack of
[9:43] relevance, but
[9:44] overall we have a pretty
[9:45] good turnout among
[9:46] staff.
[9:49] Thank you.
[9:49] Please. Finally,
[9:51] I would like to congratulate
[9:52] our principals on
[9:53] National
[9:54] Principals Month.
[9:57] We have Principal's Day
[9:58] in May, but October is
[9:59] National
[10:00] Principals Month
[10:01] . I want to
[10:03] take this
[10:04] moment to express my
[10:05] deepest gratitude to
[10:06] our four
[10:07] incredible
[10:08] principals: Mike
[10:09] Stanton from
[10:10] Nantucket Elementary, Becky
[10:11] Jand from Middle
[10:12] School, Mike Horton
[10:14] from Cyrus
[10:15] Pierce School, and
[10:16] Mandy
[10:17] Hylum from
[10:18] Nantucket High School, who is here today.
[10:19] Every day, they
[10:20] work tirelessly to
[10:21] create a
[10:22] safe,
[10:22] inclusive, and
[10:23] exciting
[10:24] learning
[10:25] environment for all
[10:26] students, while
[10:27] supporting our
[10:28] dedicated teachers and
[10:29] staff. Their
[10:30] leadership,
[10:30] dedication, and care
[10:31] for school
[10:32] communities make an
[10:33] unforgettable impact on
[10:34] all of us here on
[10:35] Nantucket. So
[10:36] please join
[10:38] me in
[10:38] thanking them for all
[10:39] they do. We
[10:44] also celebrated
[10:46] National
[10:47] Caregiver Day on October 2nd. It
[10:50] was a day dedicated to
[10:51] our wonderful
[10:53] neighborhood cleaners and our
[10:55] grounds maintenance team. We wanted to
[10:56] thank them again
[10:58] for their incredibly
[10:59] important work in keeping
[11:00] our schools and
[11:00] grounds
[11:01] clean, safe,
[11:02] and always ready
[11:03] for our students and
[11:05] staff. From early
[11:06] morning to late at
[11:07] night, they
[11:08] work tirelessly behind
[11:08] the scenes,
[11:09] maintaining our
[11:10] facilities and
[11:10] ensuring the
[11:11] smooth running of
[11:12] our entire
[11:13] campus. Their hard
[11:14] work, dedication and
[11:15] care ensure
[11:16] that our schools
[11:17] are always welcoming
[11:17] environments for
[11:18] our students,
[11:18] staff and families.
[11:19] So please
[11:20] join me in
[11:21] thanking
[11:22] our wonderful,
[11:22] amazing
[11:23] janitors,
[11:23] building supervisors,
[11:24] assistant
[11:25] janitors, and
[11:26] groundskeepers once again.
[11:27] Yes.
[11:29] And that's it. Thank you.
[11:34] Of course. We move on
[11:36] to presentations and
[11:37] discussions. We have the
[11:38] AP results with
[11:39] Director Heidel.
[11:54] Congratulations.
[12:04] So, before I
[12:05] begin our
[12:05] presentation, I want to
[12:06] first
[12:07] thank you for having
[12:08] us here. I
[12:10] know you've heard me
[12:11] say this a thousand
[12:12] times, but I'm always, happy and ready
[12:15] to share in
[12:17] our students' successes, big
[12:18] or small. I think what
[12:20] our students
[12:21] do every day is
[12:22] phenomenal, and I am
[12:24] always ready to
[12:25] celebrate them. But I
[12:27] also just want to
[12:28] mention and continue
[12:30] the theme of the open
[12:31] house, and I want to
[12:32] thank Mr.
[12:33] William Garski, who has
[12:36] been working on
[12:37] internships for
[12:38] his
[12:38] administration for the past year and this year. It
[12:39] seems to be CAGS
[12:41] he is working on. And he has
[12:43] helped
[12:43] coordinate
[12:44] volunteers for the
[12:45] open house
[12:46] for the past 2
[12:47] years. And this year
[12:49] we had about 30
[12:51] student volunteers
[12:52] from all four
[12:53] grades. So even
[12:54] some freshmen
[12:55] stepped forward and
[12:56] came to help
[12:57] that evening. So it was
[12:59] very nice that there were
[13:00] such a large
[13:00] number of students.
[13:02] And before we
[13:04] start looking at
[13:05] the numbers with our
[13:06] AP scores, I want to
[13:07] recognize our
[13:08] AP teachers, including
[13:09] Mr. Gregorich, who
[13:11] teaches chemistry; Miss
[13:12] McDonald, who
[13:13] teaches biology;
[13:14] Mr. Lucas Hayes,
[13:16] who leads AP in
[13:17] statistics; Mr.
[13:18] Kuratek, who teaches
[13:19] English;
[13:20] Daniel Clayton,
[13:21] who teaches
[13:22] English
[13:23] literature; and I should
[13:24] probably just
[13:25] take a
[13:26] second. which, um,
[13:30] to honor our, our
[13:32] dear Paige, who, um,
[13:33] taught, um,
[13:34] advanced
[13:35] literature last
[13:37] year, and, um, you know,
[13:38] when we lost her, uh
[13:39] , Danielle took over
[13:41] at the
[13:42] last minute. So
[13:43] we are certainly grateful to
[13:45] her for
[13:46] doing that and continuing to
[13:47] do so now. Um, Ms.
[13:48] Christie teaches
[13:50] U.S. government and politics, Ms.
[13:51] Lyons teaches
[13:52] environmental science
[13:53] , Mr.
[13:54] Zeckman, um,
[13:55] advanced physics, and
[13:56] Eileen Wiggins
[13:57] teaches, um,
[13:59] U.S. history. So, um, I'm
[14:00] grateful for everything
[14:01] they do. I have
[14:02] said many times
[14:03] that I was not an advanced student
[14:04] .
[14:05] That's why I'm always very
[14:06] impressed, firstly, by what
[14:07] our
[14:09] teachers do, and secondly, by the
[14:10] successes of our students.
[14:12] So let's
[14:13] look at the, um,
[14:15] numbers for the 2025-26
[14:16] school year: We
[14:18] had 144 students
[14:19] taking
[14:20] advanced courses and
[14:22] taking AP exams. This is
[14:26] a requirement to
[14:26] attend an
[14:27] advanced class,
[14:28] um, take an exam. Um,
[14:31] so we had 144
[14:33] students. 279 exams were taken by 144 students
[14:35] . The
[14:39] average score on these 279
[14:41] exams was 3.01,
[14:43] and, um,
[14:46] 69% of our
[14:47] students who took the
[14:49] exams scored a three or higher. So if we
[14:54] look at, um, by
[14:56] grade, in 10th grade
[14:57] we had, um,
[14:58] actually it should be 11.
[15:00] That's a mistake. It's not
[15:01] nine, there should be 11
[15:03] exams. Their
[15:04] GPA was 3.5, and
[15:06] 88% of them got a three
[15:07] or higher, although that's
[15:08] a small number
[15:10] because AP Biology in
[15:12] 10th grade is the only thing
[15:13] they can take
[15:15] in 10th grade. In 11th
[15:16] grade, we had 140
[15:17] exams to pass. The
[15:19] average score was 3. Um,
[15:22] 15%, and a score of three or higher
[15:25] was 71%. Um, 12th grade,
[15:28] 129 exams. Um, we had a
[15:32] 3.0 GPA, and 65%
[15:34] got a score of three or higher
[15:36] . So if we
[15:42] look at the
[15:43] five-year summary,
[15:44] which I think is
[15:45] interesting to look at, you'll
[15:46] see that, um, the
[15:47] last few years
[15:49] have been the biggest in terms of the
[15:50] total number of
[15:51] students taking
[15:52] advanced classes and the
[15:54] total number of
[15:55] exams. We, um, But
[16:07] we also had, so
[16:08] last year we
[16:10] had 152, um,
[16:11] graduates to 152
[16:12] graduates. This
[16:15] year we should have 154
[16:17] graduates. So
[16:20] our numbers are higher, so it
[16:21] makes sense that the total
[16:23] number of students in
[16:24] advanced courses
[16:25] and AP exams is, um, a
[16:26] higher number. Maybe
[16:31] a minute? OK.
[16:41] Come back.
[16:42] Here.
[16:45] Come back.
[16:48] I think
[16:56] So, I think it's interesting
[16:57] to look at the
[16:58] five-year report and the
[16:59] ... The number of AP students with a
[17:07] score of three or higher has
[17:08] certainly increased,
[17:09] partly because of the
[17:10] overall number of
[17:11] students that we had.
[17:14] But I think our
[17:16] students are
[17:16] doing well. If
[17:18] you go to the
[17:19] next slide,
[17:20] why do we pay
[17:21] attention to three or higher?
[17:24] Most
[17:25] universities that
[17:26] accept AP scores
[17:27] credit three,
[17:28] four, or five.
[17:30] is the highest
[17:31] score you can
[17:32] get. Students
[17:35] are also rewarded for their
[17:36] achievements. They are
[17:38] considered
[17:39] AP Scholars if they score
[17:41] three or
[17:42] more on three
[17:43] or more AP exams.
[17:46] AP Honors Scholars
[17:47] are those
[17:49] who have a
[17:50] 3.25 GPA on all
[17:52] exams taken and receive a
[17:53] score of three or higher
[17:54] on at least four of
[17:56] them. And also an
[17:59] AP Scholar with
[18:00] Special Honors,
[18:01] and it seems we
[18:03] have Mr. McGrady among us who
[18:04] was just such a
[18:05] scholar. I don't want to
[18:09] embarrass him,
[18:10] but he did a
[18:11] great job. These are students who
[18:13] earn a
[18:15] 3.5 GPA on all AP exams
[18:17] and have scores of three or
[18:18] higher on five
[18:19] or more exams.
[18:22] So if you go
[18:23] to the next slide,
[18:24] you'll see the numbers for
[18:26] this year. Number of
[18:28] scholars this
[18:30] year: 27
[18:32] AP scholars, 12 AP
[18:33] Honors scholars, and 13
[18:34] AP
[18:36] Distinction scholars.
[18:45] So, the College Board considers a
[18:46] passing score
[18:48] on the AP exam to be a score
[18:49] starting at a three. I
[18:52] often disagree with this
[18:53] . I believe
[18:56] that students who received
[18:58] one or two points
[18:59] also achieved success,
[19:00] because the AP course and the exam itself are
[19:02] much more difficult
[19:03] than regular or
[19:04] advanced classes.
[19:07] I think the goal is to
[19:09] help
[19:10] students better
[19:11] prepare for the
[19:12] complexity of the
[19:12] university
[19:13] program. Personally, I
[19:17] think kids who
[19:18] take AP courses,
[19:19] pass exams, and
[19:20] get an A or
[19:22] B—even if
[19:23] colleges don't
[19:24] count it—are
[19:25] still
[19:26] successful. Not all
[19:31] colleges now
[19:32] accept AP scores to
[19:33] replace courses, but it
[19:34] still shows that
[19:36] they are capable of
[19:37] successfully attending
[19:38] university. Are there
[19:46] any questions? Oh,
[19:49] I forgot to mention one more
[19:51] thing. And I thought this
[19:53] slide was here, but it's
[19:54] not there. So, our
[19:57] current
[19:58] student population: in biology,
[19:59] we have seven students. We have 26 in
[20:04] calculus,
[20:05] 13 in chemistry, 29 in
[20:07] English, 24 in
[20:08] English
[20:10] literature, 56 in
[20:11] ecology, 20 in physics,
[20:13] 25 in statistics, 33 in
[20:14] US history, and eight
[20:16] in public
[20:17] administration.
[20:20] Thank you.
[20:21] And no, I forgot to
[20:23] do the math,
[20:24] sorry.
[20:25] Laura, Laura, do you have any questions?
[20:27] No questions, thank you.
[20:29] Ben?
[20:29] Dr. Lafferty?
[20:30] Happy.
[20:31] Oh, it's exciting to see the
[20:33] kids doing so well
[20:34] .
[20:35] Mhm.
[20:36] I think they're
[20:37] doing well,
[20:38] Dr. Lafferty, and I'm
[20:39] always impressed with
[20:40] our teachers.
[20:41] When you come to
[20:42] their classes, they...I
[20:43] was in an
[20:44] AP statistics class the other
[20:45] day. It's just
[20:48] phenomenal what they
[20:50] do in class, what
[20:51] work
[20:52] the teacher gives them, and how they
[20:53] think on the go. I wouldn't be able to do that
[20:57] .
[20:59] No questions. Thank you, and
[21:02] thank you to all our
[21:03] teachers, our AP
[21:04] teachers, especially
[21:06] now, and congratulations to all
[21:07] their students. So,
[21:09] thank you.
[21:10] very much.
[21:11] Now let's move on to the
[21:12] homeschooling report
[21:13] from Dr.
[21:15] Hallett.
[21:15] Yes. Okay, this report was supposed to be
[21:17] presented by
[21:18] Assistant
[21:19] Superintendent
[21:20] Melissa DeWitt, but
[21:21] she's in training. So
[21:23] I will do my best
[21:24] to share it and
[21:25] highlight it
[21:26] properly for
[21:27] her and for all of you. Do
[21:28] you want me
[21:29] behind the podium, or are you
[21:30] comfortable with me being here?
[21:31] Sorry to interrupt
[21:32] . Just as I sit down
[21:33] . No, everything is fine.
[21:34] Where do you want
[21:35] to see me? Thank you.
[21:36] Good. So I'll wait
[21:37] until everything is ready.
[21:39] Thank you.
[21:42] Good. So, I will try
[21:46] my best to
[21:47] walk you through the
[21:49] homeschooling procedures
[21:50] we have in place for
[21:51] our families so that we
[21:53] can explain a little bit about
[21:54] how
[21:55] homeschooling requests are initiated
[21:56] and what the
[21:57] expectations are. Are
[22:00] we ready to move on to the
[22:01] next slide,
[22:02] please? Thank you.
[22:03] Good. So, the first
[22:06] step is that
[22:07] parents must
[22:08] notify us of their
[22:10] intention to switch to
[22:10] homeschooling 14
[22:12] days before the
[22:13] program is installed, and this must
[22:14] happen before
[22:15] the child is picked up from
[22:16] school. So, before
[22:20] they start
[22:21] homeschooling, which could
[22:22] happen, for example, in
[22:23] the middle of the school
[22:24] year. Well, we still
[22:26] have to know about it
[22:28] in advance, and it has to be
[22:29] submitted every year.
[22:30] So if a student
[22:31] starts
[22:32] homeschooling and the parents
[22:33] want to
[22:34] continue it, we
[22:35] must receive
[22:36] this statement every year.
[22:40] The second step is for
[22:41] students to
[22:42] be certified,
[22:43] which means parents
[22:45] confirm in writing who
[22:46] they are, their place of
[22:47] residence, and their
[22:49] hours of study.
[22:51] Finally, they should
[22:52] outline a
[22:54] curriculum, which is the
[22:54] structure they
[22:55] plan
[22:56] to use, the
[22:57] proposed program
[22:58] , the details of that
[22:59] program, and
[23:00] the hours of instruction
[23:01] they plan
[23:02] to spend on each of the
[23:04] homeschooling subjects
[23:05] . So,
[23:07] additional procedures
[23:08] that the district
[23:09] is required to
[23:10] follow to
[23:10] make sure
[23:11] parents are competent in
[23:13] homeschooling their children
[23:14] . This is essentially a
[23:16] confirmation from
[23:17] parents that they are
[23:18] able and willing to
[23:19] dedicate time to
[23:20] properly
[23:21] homeschool their children.
[23:23] They should clearly
[23:24] indicate the teaching
[23:25] aids they
[23:26] plan to
[23:26] use, such
[23:28] as textbooks,
[23:29] workbooks, any other
[23:30] teaching materials,
[23:31] as well as lesson plans,
[23:33] teaching aids,
[23:34] and standardized
[23:35] testing.
[23:36] Students are expected
[23:37] to take
[23:38] standardized
[23:39] testing to
[23:40] ensure that
[23:41] educational progress
[23:42] is occurring
[23:43] throughout the
[23:44] homeschooling process
[23:45] . So, where did
[23:47] we stop, and
[23:48] sorry, I should have
[23:49] asked you to
[23:50] move on. I'm
[23:52] not doing very well here
[23:53] . Let's move on
[23:54] to the next slide,
[23:55] please. Another.
[23:58] Yes. OK. So,
[24:00] currently
[24:01] we
[24:03] have a total of 21 students in Nanteca Public Schools.
[24:05] That's seven
[24:06] more students than in the 2025-26
[24:08] school year, and 13
[24:10] families. So often families
[24:13] homeschool not
[24:14] just one student, but
[24:15] all their children. So, out of
[24:17] those 21, we're talking about
[24:18] 13 different families that
[24:20] will homeschool
[24:21] one or more
[24:23] students, and that's four
[24:24] more families than in
[24:26] 2025. Next slide
[24:28] . So, by year and
[24:30] grade: 10 students in
[24:32] elementary school.
[24:35] Four in second
[24:36] grade, three two in
[24:37] third grade, two
[24:38] in fourth and two
[24:39] in fifth, and this is an
[24:40] elementary school from
[24:41] preschool or
[24:42] zero to fifth
[24:44] grade. And in high
[24:47] school we have eight
[24:48] students: four in
[24:49] sixth grade, one in
[24:51] seventh grade, and three in
[24:52] eighth grade. And we
[24:54] have three students at the
[24:55] high school level.
[24:57] One student is in
[24:58] ninth grade, two are
[24:59] in tenth grade. So,
[25:02] some of your questions were
[25:04] about whether
[25:05] we are seeing a
[25:06] significant
[25:07] increase in
[25:09] homeschooling this year, and whether
[25:10] that could have caused a
[25:11] decrease in our
[25:12] enrollment. We did
[25:14] n't actually
[25:15] see it. Thank you.
[25:16] I'm glad my
[25:18] assistant is here to
[25:19] help me. So
[25:20] you'll see on the
[25:21] graph that yes, this is
[25:22] by far the largest
[25:23] number of
[25:25] homeschooled students,
[25:26] but remember that
[25:27] because of the low
[25:28] total
[25:29] enrollment, it
[25:30] seems like there are a
[25:31] lot of students. This is 21 percent.
[25:35] In nine years, you
[25:36] will see that yes, we have
[25:37] definitely grown.
[25:39] There is an increase. There was a
[25:41] small jump in
[25:43] 2020-2021, during the
[25:44] pandemic, but later
[25:46] we saw some
[25:47] growth in the indicators
[25:49] . If you go to the
[25:51] next slide, I'll
[25:52] show a little bit of the data
[25:54] that we have from the
[25:54] past year, so we'll
[25:56] share some of
[25:57] the trends that we've
[25:58] noticed and also
[25:59] understand where
[26:00] homeschooling is happening
[26:01] on Cape Cod
[26:02] and the islands. You
[26:05] will see this graph
[26:06] or chart
[26:07] showing different
[26:08] communities. We have 1.03% of
[26:10] homeschooled students
[26:12] —this is our
[26:14] homeschooling rate
[26:15] , meaning only 1
[26:17] % of 25-26 were homeschooled
[26:19] . That was 19 homeschooled students
[26:22] last year out of 1,843,
[26:24] not including
[26:25] preschoolers.
[26:26] Regional data
[26:27] suggests that
[26:28] we have lower homeschooling rates
[26:30] than most of our
[26:32] neighbors on Cape Cod
[26:33] and the islands. Falmouth is
[26:35] slightly higher—1.47,
[26:37] Plymouth—1.92, as well as
[26:39] Sandwich and Bourne. You will
[26:41] see very high
[26:43] rates in
[26:43] Provincetown.
[26:45] has a very
[26:46] small district, so
[26:47] even a few students
[26:49] make that
[26:49] percentage jump.
[26:51] This is a
[26:52] kindergarten
[26:54] through 8th grade only school district. So, you'll
[26:55] see it there. But we are
[26:57] roughly on the same
[26:59] level. Sandwich and Bourne
[27:00] have slightly higher
[27:01] rates than the rest of the
[27:03] counties. Chilmark, a
[27:04] very small
[27:05] community on
[27:06] Martha's Vineyard, also
[27:07] has a high rate.
[27:08] High percentage. We
[27:10] need to think about
[27:11] percentage, not
[27:12] quantity. So,
[27:14] moving on:
[27:16] total number of
[27:17] students on Cape Cod and the
[27:18] islands—358 active
[27:20] students
[27:22] enrolled, 25 of whom
[27:23] later moved out of
[27:24] state. 19, when they
[27:28] finished
[27:29] homeschooling, whether
[27:32] they went to high
[27:33] school or somewhere
[27:34] else, moved
[27:36] out of state. 19
[27:39] came to, um,
[27:40] public schools, eight
[27:41] transferred to
[27:42] private schools in the
[27:43] state, and five
[27:44] stayed and
[27:45] switched to
[27:47] homeschooling. I believe
[27:50] this refers to the
[27:51] dropout status of
[27:52] students who may have
[27:53] dropped out of school.
[27:54] Maybe I can
[27:55] share more
[27:56] information
[27:57] next time regarding
[27:58] this slide. Maybe it's a
[27:59] little unclear to me
[28:00] .
[28:02] Finally, here are some
[28:03] resources that have
[28:04] been used
[28:05] to prepare and
[28:06] assist our
[28:07] families as they
[28:08] study and
[28:09] consider whether to
[28:10] homeschool their
[28:11] children. So,
[28:13] there is an online portal
[28:15] where parents can
[28:16] get information
[28:17] and then either ask
[28:18] questions or
[28:19] start the process.
[28:22] Our school
[28:23] policy I HGB clearly
[28:24] outlines the rules and
[28:25] procedures for
[28:27] homeschooling. You can
[28:28] move on to the
[28:29] next slide.
[28:30] Do you want me to
[28:31] come over? Do
[28:32] you want? That would be
[28:33] great. Thank you, Mandy.
[28:35] Therefore. Amanda Bartley.
[28:39] So, can you
[28:40] go
[28:41] back one slide? So, as
[28:42] I understand it, when we
[28:44] see 358 active
[28:45] students, active students
[28:46] mean that there are students
[28:48] who are enrolling and
[28:49] those who are dropping out of
[28:51] school. So that
[28:52] takes into account our
[28:53] kindergarten class that is
[28:54] coming. This
[28:55] takes into account our
[28:55] graduates who are
[28:56] leaving, in addition to
[28:57] any students who are
[28:58] coming into or
[28:59] leaving the district. So, that's what
[29:00] 358
[29:02] active students mean. This
[29:03] data applies to all
[29:05] Nantucket public schools. So, for
[29:06] the last one, um?
[29:07] So, sorry, not just
[29:08] homeschooling. This is
[29:10] all Nantucket public schools
[29:11] .
[29:12] out of state.
[29:13] So, I think this
[29:14] slide was added
[29:14] here because one of the
[29:15] questions you had at the
[29:16] last
[29:17] school committee meeting
[29:18] was what's
[29:19] happening with
[29:20] attendance trends. So,
[29:21] 25 of our students, I
[29:23] believe, don't quote
[29:24] me, but I believe
[29:26] 25
[29:27] students have moved out of
[29:29] state in the last 90 days. 19
[29:31] transferred to
[29:32] public schools in the
[29:33] state, eight
[29:34] transferred to
[29:35] private schools in the
[29:36] state, and five
[29:37] switched to
[29:38] homeschooling.
[29:40] Thank you.
[29:43] Thanks for the "call a
[29:44] friend." I appreciate it.
[29:46] So, let's just
[29:47] go back to the
[29:48] next slide with
[29:49] resources. Yes,
[29:51] the policies and procedures
[29:53] are available on our
[29:54] website, and there are,
[29:55] you know, clear ways to
[29:56] consider
[29:58] homeschooling.
[30:01] And also the laws and
[30:02] details, as it is
[30:03] important that our
[30:04] families
[30:05] considering
[30:06] homeschooling understand
[30:08] the requirements.
[30:08] And that's all for now
[30:10] . And Melissa has the
[30:11] last slide. If you
[30:12] have any questions, you
[30:14] can of course
[30:14] contact her.
[30:16] She is certainly
[30:17] more
[30:18] knowledgeable about
[30:19] homeschooling than I am,
[30:20] and she will be happy
[30:21] to discuss
[30:22] trend analysis,
[30:23] regional
[30:23] comparisons, and
[30:25] any
[30:26] policy and
[30:26] compliance issues
[30:27] you may be
[30:28] interested in.
[30:32] I have questions,
[30:33] but I'll leave them for
[30:35] Melissa. That's exactly what
[30:35] I would recommend.
[30:38] Thank you. We all agree to
[30:40] postpone our
[30:41] questions until later.
[30:42] Perfectly.
[30:43] At the next full
[30:44] meeting, we
[30:44] will have a small
[30:45] question and
[30:46] answer session so you
[30:47] have a chance to
[30:48] chat with her.
[30:50] Thank you, and it looks like we're
[30:51] moving on to the
[30:52] final requirements and
[30:53] recommendations for
[30:54] high
[30:55] school graduates.
[31:00] Congratulations. Amanda Bartley,
[31:02] I'm the Assistant Director
[31:04] of Learning and
[31:05] Teaching, and with us
[31:06] today...
[31:08] Good evening, everyone. I'm
[31:10] Jeb Gately,
[31:11] Executive Director
[31:12] of Special
[31:13] Services.
[31:14] Our
[31:16] high school administration is also here to
[31:17] help answer
[31:18] questions about
[31:19] this presentation. With
[31:20] us are Mandy Hillel,
[31:21] Jen Serradalis, and
[31:22] Tracy Mayo. So,
[31:24] today we are
[31:25] presenting new
[31:26] requirements for
[31:26] graduates in
[31:27] Massachusetts. You can
[31:29] move on to the
[31:30] next slide. We'll
[31:35] talk about
[31:36] what these requirements are, how
[31:37] they will affect
[31:40] Nantucket High School graduation rules, and then
[31:41] move on to
[31:42] discuss the impact
[31:43] on special
[31:44] categories of students. This
[31:48] report was released in June
[31:51] 2026. It is brand
[31:55] new and
[31:56] prepared by the
[31:58] State Graduation Board. The
[32:02] State Graduation Board was
[32:03] established by
[32:04] the Governor. So,
[32:06] we have the
[32:07] governor's office and DESE, the
[32:08] Department of
[32:09] Elementary and
[32:10] Secondary Education. This is
[32:18] an initiative of the
[32:19] Governor's Office, and
[32:20] the reason for its appearance is "
[32:21] Bulletin 2", which
[32:22] eliminated the MCAS requirement as a
[32:24] competency criterion
[32:25] , while maintaining
[32:26] the requirement for
[32:27] determining
[32:28] competency.
[32:37] Since this requirement
[32:38] was removed, each
[32:39] district now has its own
[32:40] definition of
[32:41] competency for
[32:42] mastering
[32:43] English,
[32:44] math,
[32:44] science, and
[32:46] successfully completing the
[32:47] curriculum.
[32:52] But it looks
[32:53] different in each
[32:54] district. So the goal
[32:57] was to make the requirements
[32:58] a little more
[32:59] uniform across the
[33:00] state. That's
[33:05] the background to this
[33:06] conversation and the reason for
[33:07] this report.
[33:11] The report begins
[33:13] with the vision of a
[33:14] Massachusetts graduate. You
[33:17] can see here, in the
[33:18] center of our graphic,
[33:19] that the goal is to
[33:20] educate thinkers
[33:22] , active citizens,
[33:23] and learners
[33:24] across the state. So,
[33:28] you will see these
[33:29] ideas being actively
[33:30] prepared: creative
[33:32] problem solvers, self-aware
[33:33] navigators, conscious
[33:34] co-authors,
[33:35] responsible
[33:36] decision makers,
[33:38] and effective
[33:38] communicators will be
[33:40] woven into the
[33:41] recommendations made.
[33:43] by them.
[33:44] Next slide.
[33:45] Thank you. Um, so "
[33:47] Strong Foundations for a
[33:48] Bright Future
[33:49] "—that's their structure
[33:50] here. And here are four
[33:53] components of what
[33:54] they want to see
[33:55] from our
[33:56] graduates. Core
[34:00] courses, summative
[34:01] assessments,
[34:02] after-
[34:03] school planning, and
[34:03] culminating experiences.
[34:07] By this, we tried
[34:08] to explain how it
[34:09] relates to
[34:10] classroom learning,
[34:11] demonstration of
[34:12] mastery, and
[34:13] college and career readiness.
[34:15] There are many overlaps
[34:16] between many of these
[34:17] different fields.
[34:18] Next slide,
[34:20] please. So, I just
[34:25] talked about those four
[34:27] areas that went
[34:27] horizontally. Now
[34:29] they go
[34:29] vertically. These are the same
[34:31] four things. And we
[34:33] tried to take, um,
[34:35] recommendations. So everything here is still under
[34:38] development.
[34:40] Recommendations from the
[34:41] release report and
[34:42] what are the
[34:43] estimated timelines and
[34:44] impact on us. So you
[34:48] see the first one here is
[34:50] about the core
[34:51] courses, and that impacts
[34:52] us because we have to
[34:53] implement
[34:55] that by the next
[34:56] school year for the
[34:57] 2031 graduates.
[34:59] These are our future
[35:00] ninth graders. And I'll be
[35:02] back to
[35:03] talk more about the
[35:04] core courses in a
[35:05] few minutes. But the
[35:06] main impact here is that
[35:07] we have to
[35:08] implement "Mass Core."
[35:10] So I'll come back to
[35:11] this because I need to
[35:11] go into a little more
[35:12] detail. And, um,
[35:15] the changes we'll
[35:16] need to
[35:17] make. Regarding the
[35:19] final
[35:20] assessments, the dates are yet to be
[35:21] determined.
[35:25] DESE doesn't yet have all
[35:26] the guidance for districts
[35:27] on how
[35:28] to respond to this, which
[35:30] was released by the
[35:31] governor's office in
[35:32] June. Therefore, these are only
[35:36] approximate dates.
[35:38] Planning after
[35:39] school, I'm really
[35:40] excited about it. My Cap
[35:42] is my
[35:43] career and
[35:44] academic
[35:45] development plan. This really
[35:48] helps students
[35:49] think about what they will
[35:50] do after
[35:51] graduation,
[35:52] whether it's
[35:53] college and career readiness or
[35:55] college admission. But
[35:58] it will be built into the
[36:00] work we
[36:00] do. I think we
[36:02] will consider this around the
[36:04] 2028-2029
[36:06] school year. And the
[36:09] final experience
[36:11] is a kind of
[36:11] creation of a portfolio of
[36:13] works. And the high school
[36:17] has started this work
[36:18] over the past
[36:19] few years. So
[36:22] what happens next is that the state
[36:23] will develop fairly, um,
[36:25] somewhat stricter
[36:25] guidelines, within
[36:26] which we will have to navigate,
[36:28] so to speak,
[36:30] using rubrics
[36:31] that we can then
[36:32] provide
[36:33] feedback on at the local
[36:35] level. Next
[36:38] slide, please.
[36:40] Amidst all this, you
[36:41] will see financial
[36:42] literacy as a
[36:43] mandatory requirement.
[36:45] Um, we already have a course in
[36:46] financial
[36:46] literacy, and it's
[36:48] part of our
[36:49] current
[36:50] graduate requirements. Um,
[36:51] on-the-job training
[36:52] that is related
[36:53] to the My Cap program. Uh,
[36:55] FAFSA and MASFA: students can
[36:57] choose whether to
[36:58] participate in these,
[36:59] but we are required to
[37:01] provide information
[37:02] about them. Artificial
[37:05] intelligence and digital
[37:07] literacy—that's a
[37:08] new, um, component
[37:09] here. By the way, we
[37:11] added an
[37:12] artificial intelligence class in
[37:13] high school, a
[37:14] semester-long course,
[37:15] right? This year. Um,
[37:18] as I understand from
[37:20] reading this report,
[37:21] there is a module that
[37:22] all students
[37:23] will have to complete either
[37:24] independently, or as part of the
[37:25] course, or we will
[37:26] integrate it into the
[37:28] learning process. Um
[37:31] , and also civic
[37:32] readiness. Um, so
[37:35] we have our community
[37:36] projects, action projects,
[37:38] implemented, um, both in
[37:39] ninth grade and,
[37:41] I think, in 11th
[37:42] grade. Is that correct?
[37:46] Yes.
[37:46] okay. I was
[37:48] right about that.
[37:49] 11th grade.
[37:50] Okay,
[37:54] next slide,
[37:55] please. So, another
[37:57] thing that's already in place and that
[37:58] they're going to
[37:59] expand is
[38:01] achievement awards. We
[38:03] already have the
[38:04] seal of
[38:05] biliteracy. Um, this is the only
[38:07] seal currently
[38:08] in the state, um,
[38:09] other than innovative
[38:10] ways. Um, we
[38:12] also have
[38:13] innovative ways. Um
[38:15] , in the future they're
[38:16] talking about
[38:17] adding all these
[38:18] other accolades. Um,
[38:20] we don't have
[38:21] any guidance yet on
[38:22] what that
[38:23] will look like, but they
[38:24] say there will be a
[38:25] minimum amount
[38:26] that each district will be
[38:28] required
[38:28] to offer.
[38:32] Next slide.
[38:33] Okay, MassCore. So, um,
[38:36] the idea here is
[38:37] that students
[38:38] will complete MassCore, which is a
[38:39] rigorous
[38:40] curriculum that
[38:41] meets
[38:42] college admissions requirements
[38:43] and
[38:44] leaves all
[38:46] post-secondary education opportunities
[38:47] available to all of
[38:48] our students. Um, as you
[38:53] can see
[38:53] on the right, the requirement for
[38:55] English language and
[38:56] literature is
[38:57] four units or
[38:58] four credits,
[38:59] math is four
[39:01] credits,
[39:02] science is three
[39:03] lab courses,
[39:04] history is three,
[39:05] foreign language is two,
[39:06] physical education is
[39:07] required
[39:08] to offer it, um,
[39:10] once a year every year,
[39:11] art is one
[39:12] credit, and
[39:13] additional courses. When
[39:16] we move on to the
[39:17] next slide, um
[39:19] , I'd like to provide
[39:20] some data. I'll dig a little
[39:22] deeper into
[39:24] MassCore when we
[39:24] compare it to
[39:26] Nantucket High School. Um, 46%. I
[39:32] wanted to look at
[39:33] the data across the state:
[39:34] how many districts are already
[39:35] compliant with MassCore and
[39:36] how many of our students are
[39:38] currently compliant with
[39:39] MassCore. So, 46% of
[39:42] high schools that
[39:43] provided
[39:45] graduation requirements are fully
[39:46] compliant with MassCore.
[39:48] That is, we are talking about about
[39:50] half of the state. 24% of
[39:51] schools are lacking just
[39:53] one subject. And 82% of
[39:57] Massachusetts graduates already
[39:58] meet
[40:00] MassCore requirements. That's why the
[40:02] graduation board
[40:02] said, "We can
[40:03] make this our
[40:04] first step
[40:05] since we're pretty
[40:06] close to
[40:07] doing it
[40:09] statewide." The table above
[40:14] shows the percentage of
[40:15] high schools that are
[40:16] already compliant
[40:17] with MassCore, by
[40:18] subject area
[40:20] . And our district is shown below
[40:25] . So, in 2023,
[40:28] 99.3% of our students
[40:30] met the
[40:32] MassCore requirements. In the 24th — 83.1%, and in the
[40:38] 25th — 77.1%. It's simply a
[40:41] difference in whether
[40:43] our students choose
[40:44] courses that are part of
[40:45] MassCore or not. So, when
[40:51] we look at the
[40:52] next slide, it's
[40:53] just a quick overview of where
[40:54] we're doing
[40:55] well. Okay, in
[40:58] English language and
[40:59] literature we
[41:00] meet the requirements
[41:01] . In history and
[41:02] social studies,
[41:03] we meet
[41:04] the requirements. Where there is an
[41:06] asterisk, we need to
[41:07] make a few
[41:08] corrections. And where there
[41:11] is an X next to
[41:12] foreign language and
[41:13] arts, it is not a
[41:14] current
[41:15] requirement, so we will
[41:16] make some changes.
[41:20] Next slide,
[41:21] please. Going
[41:24] a little deeper, when we
[41:25] look at
[41:25] math, the correction
[41:27] we need to
[41:28] make is the
[41:29] addition of Algebra 2.
[41:31] Currently, the
[41:32] graduation requirement is Algebra 1 and
[41:34] Geometry. So although
[41:37] we
[41:37] are in line with the number of credits, students
[41:39] will have to study
[41:40] Algebra 2. A
[41:42] slight
[41:43] adjustment is needed with science. We now
[41:47] offer
[41:48] computer science, and it
[41:49] can count
[41:50] as math
[41:51] credit. According to MassCore,
[41:55] computer science can
[41:56] count as either
[41:57] math or
[41:59] science credit. And
[42:00] it
[42:01] will count
[42:02] as a laboratory
[42:03] science course.
[42:05] Next slide,
[42:06] please. Actually,
[42:09] go
[42:10] back one slide. Sorry,
[42:11] I didn't stop at
[42:12] English language and
[42:13] literature, and this is
[42:14] important, the very first
[42:16] line. ESL Levels 1 and 2
[42:18] can
[42:19] count as
[42:21] two ELA units. So
[42:23] when we come back
[42:24] in a few minutes and
[42:26] talk about the impact
[42:27] on
[42:28] English learners, that
[42:29] will be a positive step
[42:30] for us. Next
[42:32] slide. Regarding foreign
[42:34] languages, we currently do not have
[42:35] such requirements, so we
[42:37] will need to add
[42:38] two units of the
[42:39] same foreign language
[42:41] . So, you need to
[42:42] take two years of
[42:42] Spanish or two
[42:44] years of Latin. You can't
[42:45] take one year of one
[42:46] and one year of the other. It is
[42:48] also likely that
[42:50] exemption will be provided upon
[42:51] proven
[42:53] language proficiency. This again
[42:56] needs to be determined by DESE as to
[42:58] how this will work in
[42:59] practice. Regarding
[43:04] physical education,
[43:06] we have 2.5 units, which is
[43:08] above the Mass Core requirements.
[43:11] So, as we add other
[43:12] items, we
[43:13] may have to
[43:14] discuss that. But this is
[43:16] just a potential
[43:17] possibility, and we still have a
[43:18] lot to
[43:19] figure out. Regarding
[43:21] art, we
[43:22] will need to add
[43:24] one unit as a
[43:25] requirement. And then
[43:27] the number of additional
[43:28] core courses
[43:29] will decrease as
[43:30] we add other
[43:31] requirements and the number of
[43:32] elective courses
[43:33] will decrease. Okay,
[43:36] I'll give the floor to
[43:37] Dr. Gately.
[43:38] Good. So, one of the
[43:41] questions that arises
[43:42] with any changes
[43:43] to graduation requirements
[43:44] and
[43:45] curriculum is how
[43:46] it will affect our
[43:48] special
[43:49] education students. When we
[43:52] look at
[43:53] special education students,
[43:54] they are guided by an
[43:55] individualized
[43:56] education plan, and
[43:57] we are very fortunate in
[43:58] that regard because
[43:59] the changes that we will
[44:00] be implementing in
[44:02] special education are
[44:03] really about
[44:04] how the IEP
[44:05] will meet the
[44:06] basic requirements that
[44:07] students need to meet.
[44:10] And this process
[44:10] begins long
[44:12] before high school. It
[44:14] starts from the
[44:15] moment a student
[44:16] becomes eligible for
[44:17] special education,
[44:18] they begin
[44:19] this
[44:20] planning process.
[44:23] When considering
[44:25] competency definitions, they
[44:25] need to
[44:26] demonstrate
[44:27] mastery through
[44:28] coursework, as
[44:29] well as completing
[44:30] thesis and
[44:31] portfolio projects. And
[44:34] this is again an
[44:35] integral part
[44:36] that will be part of their
[44:37] individual
[44:38] learning plan,
[44:39] probably starting at the
[44:41] beginning of high
[44:42] school, to begin
[44:43] to identify what exactly
[44:44] they want to achieve
[44:45] and demonstrate through
[44:46] their academic
[44:47] success. And this is
[44:54] actually, although it may
[44:55] seem like a difficult
[44:56] task,
[44:57] it is actually...how would it be more correct to
[44:58] say...For
[44:59] many children, it is more
[45:00] encouraging to have
[45:01] the opportunity to prove
[45:02] their competence
[45:04] than to try to
[45:05] succeed in a
[45:06] test that
[45:06] most have difficulty
[45:07] coping with, especially if they
[45:08] have
[45:09] learning disabilities.
[45:16] They
[45:16] will continue,
[45:17] all special education students
[45:19] will continue to
[45:20] be required
[45:21] to meet local
[45:22] district requirements such
[45:23] as credits, passing
[45:25] scores, and
[45:25] civics and
[45:26] financial
[45:27] literacy. There are no
[45:28] exceptions to this
[45:30] . There is a point to
[45:32] consider, as
[45:33] Mandy just mentioned,
[45:35] regarding world languages.
[45:41] We have students in the language arts program
[45:43] who are being
[45:45] considered
[45:45] for
[45:46] world language exemptions simply because
[45:47] of their
[45:48] ability to learn
[45:50] English; With all due
[45:51] respect, if you have
[45:52] dyslexia in
[45:53] English, you will
[45:54] also have it in a
[45:55] foreign language. So,
[45:59] that makes things
[46:01] ten times harder. So
[46:03] this is one of the options being
[46:04] discussed at the
[46:05] state level. This
[46:08] comes from discussions with
[46:09] other
[46:10] special education directors in
[46:12] my college.
[46:15] When considering
[46:16] DESE requirements, I believe this
[46:17] last statement is
[46:19] extremely important
[46:20] because it
[46:21] allows districts
[46:22] to provide
[46:23] reasonable flexibility,
[46:24] such as
[46:25] adapted
[46:26] mastery demonstrations, to
[46:27] help students with
[46:28] disabilities
[46:29] complete the core
[46:30] components. So this is
[46:34] another integral
[46:35] part of the educational
[46:36] plan where we look for
[46:37] accommodations to
[46:38] provide access for
[46:39] children, because, again
[46:40] , I've said this
[46:41] more times than I
[46:43] can remember,
[46:44] special education
[46:45] is about providing
[46:46] access for students. It
[46:47] doesn't change what
[46:48] they are learning. So,
[46:50] the curriculum
[46:51] remains the same. It's all about
[46:52] how
[46:53] they can
[46:54] access it.
[46:55] Next slide,
[46:56] please. Ahem. A
[47:04] very valid
[47:05] question arises regarding those
[47:06] students who fall
[47:07] into the category of
[47:08] special needs
[47:10] . What does this mean for
[47:11] them? Therefore,
[47:13] equivalency for
[47:14] specialized and
[47:15] substantially
[47:16] modified
[47:17] individual courses
[47:18] means that students
[47:19] studying a
[47:20] life skills program or a
[47:21] substantially modified
[47:22] core English course
[47:24] can have these courses
[47:25] count toward
[47:26] graduation under certain
[47:27] requirements. And the first of these is that the
[47:31] course structure meets
[47:33] state standards
[47:34] , including all the
[47:35] fundamental
[47:36] concepts that students
[47:37] should master within the
[47:38] framework of a standard
[47:39] course. The learning can
[47:42] be significantly
[47:43] adapted or
[47:44] modified according
[47:45] to the needs of the learner. Again
[47:46] , how the
[47:48] learning plan is designed
[47:49] will play a very
[47:50] big role in this.
[47:53] Demonstration of
[47:54] mastery through
[47:55] portfolios,
[47:55] alternative
[47:56] summative
[47:57] assessments,
[47:58] on-the-job training, or
[47:59] effective
[48:00] demonstrations within
[48:02] their
[48:02] Individualized
[48:03] Education Plan (IEP)
[48:04] will also be
[48:05] considered. And,
[48:07] of course,
[48:08] director certification. Ultimately, the
[48:12] school principal must
[48:13] officially certify
[48:14] that students have completed
[48:15] specific
[48:17] course requirements, and a student with an
[48:18] Individualized
[48:19] Education Plan (IEP)
[48:20] is equivalent to a
[48:21] traditional course.
[48:25] Um, one of the things
[48:26] I also have
[48:27] high hopes for in terms of
[48:28] transition planning
[48:30] is what
[48:31] Mandy mentioned, My Cap.
[48:33] We have been
[48:34] involved in
[48:35] transition planning
[48:36] for students within IEPs for years.
[48:38] So, starting at
[48:40] age 14, students should
[48:41] start
[48:42] thinking about what
[48:43] their
[48:44] future looks like: whether it's
[48:46] college and career readiness, or a
[48:48] job, or a
[48:49] host of other things. And
[48:51] they can
[48:51] change these plans
[48:53] several times
[48:54] during the period from
[48:55] age 14 until
[48:56] graduation or
[48:57] reaching age 21.
[49:01] But in designing a
[49:02] graduation schedule,
[49:03] mapping out
[49:04] coursework,
[49:05] making sure
[49:06] they meet
[49:07] the requirements of each
[49:08] school year,
[49:09] it's a very specific
[49:10] plan within their
[49:11] IEP. If a student has completed the
[49:14] academic program
[49:16] but has not met their
[49:17] transition planning goals
[49:19] for
[49:19] independent living,
[49:20] vocational
[49:21] training, or
[49:22] post-secondary
[49:23] education, the district
[49:24] may not release them.
[49:25] Therefore, they must
[49:26] demonstrate
[49:27] success in
[49:28] transition planning as well as
[49:29] meet academic
[49:31] requirements for graduation.
[49:33] We are incredibly
[49:34] fortunate in our
[49:36] district to have a
[49:36] dedicated
[49:38] transition specialist who
[49:39] works with our
[49:40] students, every single one of
[49:41] them, starting at
[49:42] age 14. And one of the
[49:45] initiatives
[49:46] we're working on as a district
[49:47] is ensuring that
[49:48] students are
[49:50] active participants in the
[49:52] decision-making process. Over the
[49:56] past two years,
[49:57] statistically, we
[49:58] have seen more
[49:59] students participate in
[50:01] their IEP meetings,
[50:02] but we are still working
[50:03] on this. It's intimidating—
[50:07] going into a room
[50:08] full of adults and
[50:09] trying to explain
[50:10] what they want, but
[50:12] we've also seen
[50:13] great success in CPS and
[50:14] NHS over the past 2 years
[50:15] with IEP meetings
[50:17] conducted by the
[50:18] students themselves. Students conduct
[50:19] their meetings
[50:20] independently. So, this
[50:21] also gives great
[50:23] hope. So that's what
[50:24] we're looking at from a
[50:25] special
[50:26] education perspective, but as
[50:27] Mandy also pointed out, there's still a
[50:29] lot of "what ifs." We have
[50:31] n't received all
[50:32] the information from the state yet,
[50:33] but once we
[50:34] do, I would
[50:35] say that in terms of
[50:36] special education,
[50:37] we have a lot in place
[50:39] to
[50:40] make this
[50:41] transition. Are there any
[50:43] questions?
[50:45] Good.
[50:46] Yes, it happened here.
[50:48] Laura.
[50:49] Yes, I have a few,
[50:50] if I may.
[50:51] Another slide about
[50:53] English learners, sorry.
[50:54] Oh, great. OK.
[50:55] I'm at a
[50:56] loss here, I just
[50:57] want to make sure.
[50:59] What directly
[51:00] concerns us?
[51:01] Oh, yes, yes.
[51:03] I had it, yes.
[51:04] OK. So,
[51:06] regarding our
[51:08] English language learners and the
[51:09] implications for them: as
[51:11] we have said, if
[51:12] our students are at an
[51:14] ELD proficiency level of one or two,
[51:15] those
[51:16] English as a
[51:17] Second Language lessons
[51:18] will count
[51:19] as
[51:20] English language credit for up
[51:21] to 2 years.
[51:25] Our ELD level
[51:26] three and four students will be required to
[51:28] complete 2 years of
[51:30] English language instruction.
[51:33] Regarding the
[51:34] foreign language component, our
[51:36] students will be able to
[51:36] fulfill this requirement
[51:38] through their proficiency in their
[51:39] native language. We
[51:42] don't know exactly what
[51:43] this will look like yet.
[51:44] This is probably
[51:45] due to the imprint of
[51:46] bilingualism, but
[51:48] perhaps only
[51:49] partially, not
[51:50] fully.
[51:51] Next steps.
[51:53] Next slide,
[51:54] please. We are limited on
[51:58] time as our
[52:00] high school curriculum
[52:01] is published in January.
[52:05] Graduation requirements
[52:06] are defined in
[52:07] school committee policy.
[52:12] So we will need
[52:13] you to vote
[52:15] for a policy change
[52:16] this fall, by December,
[52:17] so that we can
[52:18] meet the
[52:19] MassCore requirements, as our
[52:20] future
[52:21] ninth graders
[52:22] need it for graduation.
[52:27] Regarding everything else,
[52:28] we are still awaiting
[52:29] further
[52:30] guidance from DESE. However,
[52:33] in our conversations we
[52:34] express
[52:35] enthusiasm about it.
[52:40] This is a great opportunity
[52:41] to think about high
[52:42] school not only on a
[52:43] statewide scale, but also
[52:44] on a local level,
[52:45] about what changes we
[52:47] can make and
[52:48] how to use that
[52:49] to make learning
[52:51] truly engaging and
[52:52] meaningful for our students. This is
[52:57] fully
[52:57] consistent with our
[52:58] work in the field of
[52:59] applied learning
[53:01] . So, we are on the
[53:01] right track.
[53:03] Okay, question.
[53:04] Laura.
[53:05] I cannot guarantee
[53:06] answers.
[53:09] I personally
[53:10] need instruction
[53:11] on MassCore, because what is it, a
[53:13] replacement for the MCAS assessment?
[53:18] MassCore existed before
[53:20] .
[53:20] Of course.
[53:21] It works like this: graduation requirements
[53:23] are set by
[53:24] local districts.
[53:26] Mhm.
[53:27] But MassCore is a
[53:27] recommendation made by the
[53:29] governor's office,
[53:30] as far as I understand.
[53:33] So many districts
[53:35] adopted MassCore even before
[53:36] that. The point now is
[53:40] that all districts
[53:41] must adopt MassCore,
[53:43] as the
[53:44] competency definition that
[53:45] was in effect through MCAS
[53:46] no longer exists. So
[53:50] how do we do this in an
[53:51] equitable and meaningful
[53:52] way across the
[53:53] state?
[53:55] Can I ask you one more
[53:55] question?
[53:56] Please. I
[53:57] just want to
[53:58] add something. Public
[53:59] colleges and
[54:00] universities
[54:01] require
[54:02] students to complete the
[54:03] Mass Core program. So
[54:04] we want to
[54:05] make sure our
[54:06] students have the same
[54:07] benefits in
[54:08] the future as
[54:09] students in other
[54:10] Mass Core districts.
[54:12] You know, I haven't
[54:14] heard anyone mention
[54:15] framework programs for a long time.
[54:18] Do they still exist,
[54:19] or is it more of a
[54:20] curriculum thing?
[54:22] Standards.
[54:23] Yes, standards.
[54:24] They are still active. The
[54:27] Massachusetts State Curriculum Framework applies
[54:28] to our classes. But
[54:29] that's not what we're
[54:30] talking about now.
[54:31] But will they be
[54:32] reviewed
[54:33] based on this?
[54:34] is more about the
[54:35] content of what we
[54:36] teach in
[54:37] each of the lessons. This also
[54:40] determines what
[54:41] subjects are required
[54:42] for graduation.
[54:45] Of course. And I have one more
[54:47] question. Some
[54:49] of these points
[54:50] seem more
[54:51] subjective,
[54:51] such as
[54:52] assessing
[54:53] self-awareness or
[54:55] communication effectiveness. I
[54:59] understand that you don't
[55:00] have all
[55:00] the answers because this is a
[55:01] new initiative, but are
[55:03] there
[55:03] tools to
[55:04] evaluate this?
[55:08] I think this will manifest itself
[55:09] in different areas,
[55:11] right? Some of the "soft
[55:14] skills" you
[55:15] mention are likely to
[55:16] come into play during
[55:19] post-secondary education planning
[55:20] , and also, excuse me,
[55:21] going back to that
[55:22] slide...During
[55:23] final activities
[55:25] and portfolio work
[55:26] . It will definitely be
[55:30] visible there.
[55:32] Especially for
[55:34] 12th grade students.
[55:36] Yes, but we will
[55:37] gradually move
[55:38] towards this.
[55:39] Mhm. So
[55:40] after-
[55:41] school planning, My Cap,
[55:42] actually
[55:43] starts in 6th
[55:44] grade. This is a
[55:45] 6th-12th
[55:47] grade curriculum that we
[55:47] need to implement.
[55:49] Of course. I would
[55:50] personally like to
[55:51] hear more about this
[55:52] in a different format.
[55:54] Just suggesting.
[55:56] Regarding...
[55:57] Specifically regarding My Cap and Mass Core
[55:59] . There's
[55:59] a lot of work
[56:00] ahead for My Cap,
[56:02] so...
[56:02] Okay. Thank you very much.
[56:05] Thank you.
[56:07] Yes. Thank you. Wonderful
[56:09] presentation. Ahem. Would it
[56:13] be unfair to
[56:15] say that DESE is
[56:16] a bit confused
[56:17] after the
[56:18] governor's orders?
[56:21] Well, the
[56:21] governor's report didn't come out
[56:22] until June. So I
[56:24] want to be
[56:24] fair,
[56:25] you know? These are two
[56:26] different bodies, and DESE should
[56:28] help the districts
[56:29] figure it all out.
[56:31] But what they were tasked with
[56:32] finding out
[56:33] only happened this summer. And these are
[56:35] very big changes. Um, the
[56:39] superintendents' association
[56:41] has been very clear about giving
[56:42] districts
[56:43] enough time and
[56:44] resources to
[56:45] implement this.
[56:48] That's why we've set
[56:49] tentative timelines
[56:50] based on our
[56:51] assumptions about
[56:52] how things
[56:53] will play out and
[56:54] when we should
[56:55] address these
[56:56] issues. And it's not all at the
[56:57] same time.
[56:58] Mhm.
[56:59] My second question, a
[57:00] very minor one, is about the
[57:02] timing. In the
[57:03] next steps slides, you
[57:04] mentioned that
[57:07] policy changes are needed by December 26th. And
[57:08] then there is a note that
[57:09] the curriculum
[57:10] is published in January. All things being
[57:12] equal, wouldn't it be
[57:13] better to wait
[57:14] until January?
[57:16] Well, we need it
[57:17] for the
[57:18] curriculum. The
[57:20] policy changes must
[57:21] take place before
[57:22] the program is released
[57:24] in January.
[57:24] Oh, of course.
[57:25] At the end of January. Yes
[57:27] .
[57:28] Uh...
[57:28] Yes, if you allow me.
[57:29] Now about something else.
[57:31] First, Mandy
[57:32] mentioned the Massachusetts Association of
[57:33] School
[57:34] Superintendents
[57:35] . They
[57:37] openly and clearly
[57:38] stated that such
[57:39] changes also have
[57:40] financial consequences.
[57:45] We are in a
[57:46] pretty good
[57:47] position, but it is
[57:48] likely that we will have to
[57:49] hire
[57:51] teachers, for example, of a
[57:52] foreign language, as
[57:53] required by Mass Core. We're
[57:57] not sure yet. We
[57:59] need to
[57:59] analyze
[58:00] the situation for
[58:01] the graduates of 2031,
[58:03] since the changes will
[58:04] affect them.
[58:07] Regarding policy changes:
[58:08] yes, we should
[58:09] change the rules so that
[58:10] the curriculum
[58:11] is adapted to
[58:12] them. If we introduce
[58:17] Algebra II as a requirement
[58:18] under the
[58:18] Mass Core standards, we will
[58:20] implement it and
[58:21] make sure that all
[58:22] curriculum changes
[58:23] occur
[58:24] accordingly. And
[58:29] to be clear: this
[58:29] will affect two
[58:30] curricula.
[58:33] We believe that
[58:34] two programs will operate
[58:35] simultaneously.
[58:36] One for ninth
[58:38] grade and the other for
[58:39] grades 10-12 for the class of 2031
[58:41] . Then
[58:42] next year it
[58:44] will be 9th and 10th grades, and
[58:45] then 9th, 10th, and 11th. This is a
[58:50] slow
[58:50] implementation, so to speak, but
[58:51] once the ninth grade
[58:52] starts, the
[58:53] process will move quickly.
[58:57] After that,
[58:58] active
[58:59] forward movement will begin. So,
[59:01] it won't be too difficult for us to
[59:03] make these changes to Mass
[59:04] Core. We already have a lot
[59:06] prepared.
[59:07] We have implemented
[59:08] financial
[59:08] literacy, which
[59:09] was not the case in some districts
[59:11] , and this is important. We are already
[59:12] close to
[59:13] where we need to be, with
[59:14] some
[59:15] necessary adjustments. I
[59:16] don't think this will be
[59:18] any dramatic
[59:19] change or shift
[59:20] for us. Moving
[59:22] forward and building out
[59:24] My Cap, as well as other
[59:25] elements that
[59:26] we still have little
[59:27] information about, such as
[59:28] final
[59:28] course assessments,
[59:30] who
[59:30] will be responsible for that, and
[59:31] some aspects of the
[59:32] portfolio. Although we
[59:34] already have a graduation
[59:34] project for
[59:35] senior students. So that's
[59:37] also an advantage,
[59:38] since we've already
[59:39] steered them in that
[59:40] direction. It's still a
[59:43] little bit undefined,
[59:44] we need
[59:45] more help,
[59:46] so the Department of
[59:47] Education is trying
[59:48] to do everything they can,
[59:49] and the Governor's office and the
[59:50] Board of Education are
[59:52] pushing. So we
[59:55] will see things
[59:56] change
[59:57] pretty quickly, but it
[59:58] will still
[59:59] require guidance and
[1:00:00] active
[1:00:00] representation from
[1:00:01] school
[1:00:02] superintendents. I will
[1:00:05] say it.
[1:00:06] Dr. Oliver. It's like
[1:00:10] starting to build a
[1:00:11] house without any
[1:00:12] plans.
[1:00:14] We have a concept.
[1:00:17] It will be interesting to see
[1:00:18] the results
[1:00:19] at the end of the year.
[1:00:24] Good. Do you have any
[1:00:25] questions? I'm
[1:00:26] fine.
[1:00:28] It's like I'm
[1:00:29] graduating.
[1:00:31] Yes. One more year.
[1:00:33] I'm curious, what
[1:00:34] items cause
[1:00:35] you the most
[1:00:36] anxiety? What
[1:00:38] subjects are we not
[1:00:39] coping with and which
[1:00:40] seem likely to become
[1:00:41] problematic?
[1:00:42] Yes. I think we'll be
[1:00:45] fine, I'll
[1:00:46] tell you about our
[1:00:47] staff now. I think we will be
[1:00:52] fine with art. We
[1:00:53] believe we have
[1:00:54] enough staff to keep
[1:00:56] everything in
[1:00:57] order there. We will need to
[1:00:59] carefully
[1:00:59] examine the issue of
[1:01:00] foreign languages ​​and
[1:01:01] determine when expansion may be
[1:01:02] necessary
[1:01:03] . This may
[1:01:05] not be the 29th year, we'll have to
[1:01:07] see which one
[1:01:08] , but such a need will
[1:01:10] likely arise. Uh
[1:01:12] ...As for
[1:01:16] math, the
[1:01:17] Algebra 2 requirement is something
[1:01:18] we need to
[1:01:19] investigate further
[1:01:21] , how many of our students are
[1:01:22] currently not
[1:01:23] meeting that
[1:01:24] expectation. Many
[1:01:28] respond, but
[1:01:29] some choose other
[1:01:30] options for earning
[1:01:32] math credits. And so—in the
[1:01:34] penultimate and
[1:01:36] final years.
[1:01:37] So we need to
[1:01:38] look at this a little more
[1:01:39] carefully. Uh, as for
[1:01:42] the others, I don't...Did I say
[1:01:46] something wrong? I
[1:01:48] guess I didn't quite
[1:01:49] understand what you just
[1:01:50] said about
[1:01:51] math. Because they
[1:01:52] need four
[1:01:53] credits in math.
[1:01:54] This is what our
[1:01:55] students take, right?
[1:01:57] Yes, but the changes
[1:01:57] are that
[1:01:59] they will have to
[1:01:59] study algebra two.
[1:02:02] And not all of our Now
[1:02:03] our requirement for
[1:02:04] graduation is algebra
[1:02:05] one and geometry.
[1:02:07] Good.
[1:02:08] So, there are a certain
[1:02:08] number of students
[1:02:10] who don't study
[1:02:11] algebra two. And this
[1:02:13] will be interesting. So,
[1:02:16] for example, if we
[1:02:17] have students who
[1:02:18] start with if they
[1:02:19] start with
[1:02:20] pre-algebra, that is,
[1:02:21] if they took
[1:02:22] pre-algebra, then
[1:02:23] algebra one, then
[1:02:25] geometry, they
[1:02:26] might not take
[1:02:26] algebra two in the
[1:02:27] last class.
[1:02:31] They may decide to
[1:02:32] take a different
[1:02:33] math class.
[1:02:34] Statistics.
[1:02:35] To become, yes, exactly. There may
[1:02:37] be another option
[1:02:38] they will choose.
[1:02:40] So we'll just
[1:02:41] need to
[1:02:42] look at it a little more
[1:02:43] carefully. I don't think
[1:02:44] it will have a
[1:02:45] huge impact, but
[1:02:47] it will affect a certain number of students.
[1:02:49] Thank you.
[1:02:50] But we can
[1:02:51] prevent this because we
[1:02:52] will know
[1:02:52] in advance, because for
[1:02:54] most students
[1:02:55] this will be the course for the
[1:02:56] penultimate
[1:02:56] grade.
[1:02:57] And there is no
[1:02:58] way it
[1:02:59] will start sooner
[1:03:03] than we expect.
[1:03:04] I can answer that
[1:03:06] . No, that's impossible.
[1:03:07] It would be massive uh
[1:03:10] Street protests.
[1:03:12] Yes, a rebellion by the
[1:03:13] district
[1:03:14] superintendents,
[1:03:15] including me. It's
[1:03:17] just that it's difficult,
[1:03:18] but like I said, it's
[1:03:19] not too heavy a burden.
[1:03:21] This is the right
[1:03:22] direction for us, but
[1:03:23] they won't
[1:03:24] accelerate it. The
[1:03:26] deadlines they
[1:03:27] set
[1:03:27] will remain as they
[1:03:29] are. I don't think we're
[1:03:30] suddenly going to say that
[1:03:31] everyone should have everything.
[1:03:33] So, this is going to be a
[1:03:34] training program—
[1:03:35] it's like a contract, right?
[1:03:37] So we need to
[1:03:38] implement this for
[1:03:39] our
[1:03:39] ninth graders, because
[1:03:40] this is the expectation
[1:03:41] they have when they
[1:03:42] graduate.
[1:03:43] They will know what
[1:03:44] courses they need to
[1:03:45] take to
[1:03:46] graduate. So,
[1:03:47] MGM.
[1:03:48] And so we will consider
[1:03:49] this at the
[1:03:51] policy subcommittee meeting. So, Laura and
[1:03:53] Tanya, get ready. We
[1:03:55] will call you in for a
[1:03:56] review, and then we
[1:03:57] will share our
[1:03:58] proposed
[1:03:59] policy changes and
[1:04:00] ask the entire
[1:04:01] committee to comment.
[1:04:03] Thank you.
[1:04:04] And thank you both.
[1:04:05] OK. See you later.
[1:04:06] OK.
[1:04:07] Wait. Wait.
[1:04:09] We don't have
[1:04:09] the technology. That's it.
[1:04:11] OK. Where are we? Good.
[1:04:13] So, the
[1:04:14] committee discussion and
[1:04:15] vote that
[1:04:16] needs to happen.
[1:04:17] Vote to
[1:04:18] approve a donation of
[1:04:19] school supplies with an
[1:04:20] estimated value of
[1:04:22] $1,200 from
[1:04:23] St. Paul Church for students and
[1:04:24] staff at Nantucket Elementary
[1:04:25] and Middle Schools
[1:04:26] .
[1:04:27] Accepted.
[1:04:29] Second.
[1:04:29] Who is "for"?
[1:04:30] J.
[1:04:31] Vote on
[1:04:32] approval of the minutes of
[1:04:33] the meeting of
[1:04:35] August 25, 2026.
[1:04:36] Accepted.
[1:04:37] Second.
[1:04:38] Who is "for"?
[1:04:39] J.
[1:04:41] Approval vote...
[1:04:43] Wait, did we
[1:04:44] get that? OK. I
[1:04:45] wanted to say that I didn't
[1:04:46] even see the
[1:04:46] minutes for September 1.
[1:04:47] OK. Sorry. It
[1:04:49] was not crossed out on the iPad.
[1:04:50] Vote to
[1:04:51] approve
[1:04:52] the memorandum of
[1:04:53] understanding regarding
[1:04:54] teacher assistants
[1:04:55] for the 2026-2027 school
[1:04:56] year.
[1:04:56] Accepted.
[1:04:57] Second.
[1:04:58] Who is "for"?
[1:04:59] Y.
[1:04:59] Voting on
[1:05:00] approval of transfers
[1:05:01] and accounts.
[1:05:02] Accepted.
[1:05:02] Second.
[1:05:03] Who is "for"?
[1:05:04] Y.
[1:05:04] And now we
[1:05:05] will move on to our
[1:05:06] representative on the
[1:05:07] student council,
[1:05:08] Natalya Penkova.
[1:05:09] Congratulations.
[1:05:10] Natalie.
[1:05:13] What would you like
[1:05:14] me to talk about?
[1:05:17] How have the last
[1:05:18] few weeks at school been
[1:05:19] ? Were there any
[1:05:21] concerns from
[1:05:22] your classmates? Is there
[1:05:24] anything we
[1:05:25] should know about? How are
[1:05:26] you doing with sports? Are there
[1:05:28] any performances being prepared
[1:05:29] ?
[1:05:29] Well, there are
[1:05:31] no problems now. I think
[1:05:33] everything is going well. I
[1:05:36] mean,
[1:05:38] school spirit week is starting soon. He
[1:05:40] will be here in 2 weeks, I'm
[1:05:41] almost sure. They're just
[1:05:44] starting...
[1:05:45] a drama club. They
[1:05:47] are preparing a performance.
[1:05:50] Rehearsals for "
[1:05:52] The Murder Was Slayed."
[1:05:53] Done. Yes, "
[1:05:56] The murder was
[1:05:57] committed." Or
[1:05:59] delivered.
[1:06:00] OK. "
[1:06:01] The murder was
[1:06:01] committed." This is great.
[1:06:03] I was a little
[1:06:04] confused. Plans for
[1:06:07] Homecoming.
[1:06:08] Well, people
[1:06:10] are starting to vote
[1:06:12] on the design of
[1:06:13] the corridors. I'm pretty
[1:06:15] sure the theme for the
[1:06:17] Homecoming dance has already
[1:06:18] been chosen. And we already have a
[1:06:21] set date for the
[1:06:23] dance—October 24th. And the
[1:06:25] school
[1:06:27] spirit week I
[1:06:28] mentioned will last
[1:06:29] from the 26th to the 30th. The Island Cup
[1:06:33] falls on Halloween, the
[1:06:35] 31st, which is also when
[1:06:36] our Homecoming game will take place
[1:06:38] . And the bonfire and
[1:06:42] fan rally from the
[1:06:44] Boosters Club—on the 30th. So, yes
[1:06:47] . This year we are also
[1:06:52] planning two trips:
[1:06:53] to Iceland and Italy.
[1:07:00] I have planned, but a
[1:07:01] trip to Italy—
[1:07:02] from the Latin
[1:07:03] club, it will be very
[1:07:04] interesting.
[1:07:06] Oho. Yes. This is fascinating
[1:07:08] .
[1:07:08] Hot.
[1:07:09] A lot so far.
[1:07:10] And do you need
[1:07:11] vaccinations?
[1:07:12] Apparently.
[1:07:13] Probably.
[1:07:14] And Natalie, I
[1:07:15] apologize. Can you
[1:07:16] tell me a little about
[1:07:17] yourself? What grade are you in
[1:07:18] ? What are your
[1:07:19] hobbies?
[1:07:20] I am currently in my
[1:07:21] second year. As for
[1:07:24] my interests, I
[1:07:26] really like art
[1:07:27] and sports. I play
[1:07:29] tennis. That's it.
[1:07:32] Perfectly. Thank you. And thank you for being
[1:07:34] here. This is going to be a
[1:07:35] great year. Do
[1:07:36] we have any questions for
[1:07:37] our representative?
[1:07:38] No. Welcome,
[1:07:40] Natalie.
[1:07:40] Perfectly. Congratulations.
[1:07:41] Thank you. OK. So,
[1:07:43] reports of subcommittees
[1:07:44] or working groups. Is there
[1:07:46] anything?
[1:07:47] Nothing. Does
[1:07:48] anyone have anything?
[1:07:49] Um, no. Regarding NET, we
[1:07:51] are preparing for an event at
[1:07:53] Level Press in three weeks.
[1:07:55] Mhm.
[1:07:56] Yes.
[1:07:57] This is a networking
[1:07:58] event to learn
[1:08:00] what NET is. NET usually
[1:08:02] remains a bit in the
[1:08:03] shadows. In the past. So
[1:08:08] we need to become
[1:08:09] a little...NET needs to become
[1:08:10] a little more well-known. For
[1:08:13] those who don't know, the Nantucket
[1:08:14] Education Trust is a
[1:08:15] non-profit
[1:08:16] organization that has
[1:08:18] been around for quite some
[1:08:19] time. It has a
[1:08:22] dual mission:
[1:08:23] supporting public
[1:08:24] schools through gifts
[1:08:25] and donations. They are
[1:08:28] regular
[1:08:29] sponsors of the "
[1:08:30] Journey Across the
[1:08:31] Strait" project, thanks to which
[1:08:32] our
[1:08:33] tenth and
[1:08:34] eleventh graders
[1:08:35] attend colleges. And
[1:08:41] NET also manages the Cal
[1:08:43] Pond district, which is
[1:08:44] populated entirely by Nantucket
[1:08:46] Public Schools educators
[1:08:47] . This is
[1:08:53] affordable housing for
[1:08:54] our NPS employees.
[1:08:57] We are very happy that NET
[1:08:59] supports us so much.
[1:09:04] We are planning
[1:09:05] to expand a bit as
[1:09:06] we hope to have more housing built in the
[1:09:07] coming years
[1:09:09] after
[1:09:10] the completion of the
[1:09:11] field development on the
[1:09:12] site directly behind the
[1:09:13] football field where
[1:09:14] our buses are currently parked and will
[1:09:16] soon be moving. That's
[1:09:20] it.
[1:09:21] By the way, regarding this,
[1:09:22] today I happened
[1:09:23] to see two different
[1:09:24] bus drivers
[1:09:26] driving at the same time. So it
[1:09:27] was really nice
[1:09:28] to see two big
[1:09:29] buses on the road.
[1:09:32] We have drivers who
[1:09:33] can help us,
[1:09:35] and another candidate on
[1:09:36] the way who is
[1:09:37] about to take the
[1:09:38] exam. We are very
[1:09:41] close to
[1:09:42] signing the contract
[1:09:43] and hope to
[1:09:44] make an announcement
[1:09:45] before the next
[1:09:46] meeting. Therefore.
[1:09:47] Perfectly.
[1:09:48] Thank you. I know we
[1:09:50] have a number of subcommittees
[1:09:51] that need to start
[1:09:52] scheduling meetings.
[1:09:54] Agree. And if
[1:09:55] you'll allow me, off the top of my
[1:09:56] head, we really
[1:09:57] need to reach out
[1:09:58] to
[1:09:59] teacher assistants. The current
[1:10:01] letter of intent
[1:10:02] voted on
[1:10:03] was a special
[1:10:04] agreement for this year that
[1:10:06] addressed some of the
[1:10:06] discrepancies between
[1:10:08] what was agreed to in
[1:10:09] our
[1:10:10] teacher contract and what
[1:10:11] should be agreed to
[1:10:13] for the
[1:10:13] teacher assistant contract,
[1:10:15] as they were still
[1:10:16] working to our
[1:10:19] Friday
[1:10:20] 2:20 pm dismissal schedule.
[1:10:20] A.
[1:10:21] So we needed to
[1:10:22] make a few
[1:10:23] adjustments to
[1:10:24] make sure they
[1:10:25] could help
[1:10:26] us, especially with
[1:10:27] supervising students
[1:10:28] who stay 10
[1:10:29] minutes longer on
[1:10:30] Fridays. So, we are
[1:10:32] very grateful to them and glad
[1:10:33] that we were able to provide them with
[1:10:34] some support
[1:10:35] this year, and all of that
[1:10:36] will cease at
[1:10:37] the end of this
[1:10:38] year when we
[1:10:39] move on to
[1:10:39] negotiations for
[1:10:41] next year. So
[1:10:43] .
[1:10:44] Thank you.
[1:10:46] want to know.
[1:10:47] It's all you.
[1:10:48] Good. So our
[1:10:49] next
[1:10:50] agenda is a seminar.
[1:10:51] We often hold a
[1:10:52] workshop in October to
[1:10:54] share with you
[1:10:55] our 2026 MCAS ratings
[1:10:56] and reporting
[1:10:57] , and then our
[1:10:58] principals and
[1:10:59] assistant
[1:10:59] principals will come
[1:11:01] to share
[1:11:02] their
[1:11:02] school improvement plans.
[1:11:04] So, this is the meeting
[1:11:06] for next time.
[1:11:07] Most likely, we
[1:11:09] will be in IS. It's more of a
[1:11:11] workshop-style work environment. We
[1:11:15] don't need cameras,
[1:11:16] but we will still
[1:11:17] provide a
[1:11:18] hybrid format for those
[1:11:19] who want it at that time.
[1:11:23] So, that's all.
[1:11:24] Thank you.
[1:11:25] I have to say, I
[1:11:27] really like the
[1:11:28] social
[1:11:29] media posts from
[1:11:30] public schools. So,
[1:11:31] whoever was responsible
[1:11:32] for this, it was really
[1:11:33] nice to see what was
[1:11:34] happening in the
[1:11:35] district. So thank you
[1:11:36] to whoever is
[1:11:37] doing this. Well, that
[1:11:39] concludes our meeting. Can
[1:11:41] I get
[1:11:41] a motion to
[1:11:42] close the meeting?
[1:11:43] I suggest.
[1:11:43] We will assume that you
[1:11:44] proposed it and you
[1:11:45] supported it. How do you like
[1:11:46] that? I
[1:11:46] support. Yes.
[1:11:47] Good. All in favor? By.
[1:11:49] Good evening.
[1:11:53] Good job, friends.