[0:00] Educating, informing, serving. FACT TV, keeping government
[0:04] honest.
[0:06] You are watching a FACT TV presentation of the Westminster Center
[0:09] School board meeting.
[0:14] A special meeting of the Westminster School Board.
[0:16] It's special because tonight is family night at the Westminster
[0:20] Center School, and that's the reason we're starting a little after 6:30.
[0:24] A great night here. So nice to see so many families and teachers and
[0:28] others.
[0:29] So we'll call the meeting to order officially at 6:36,
[0:34] and do a quick round of introductions.
[0:36] We'll start with the superintendent.
[0:38] Andy Haas, superintendent.
[0:40] Cheryl Terrell, chair of the Westminster board.
[0:43] Margie Perry, Westminster board. Tee Mielze, Westminster board.
[0:47] And we know that Brian Bosma will be here in a moment.
[0:51] He's been out doing storytelling for family night here at the school.
[0:55] And Karen Blanchard is traveling, but maybe she'll try to stay longer to see if
[0:59] she's able to.
[1:01] Any adjustments to the agenda?
[1:03] I do not.
[1:05] All right. Great. Any communications that have been mailed out?
[1:09] Hearing none, we'll go right ahead.
[1:10] And the next order of business is to review and approve the minutes from May
[1:14] 7th. Need a motion.
[1:16] I'll make motion to approve the minutes from May 7th.
[1:21] Oh, great. Any additions, corrections?
[1:25] I have none myself.
[1:29] So all those in favor, signify by saying "aye."
[1:32] Aye. Aye.
[1:32] Any opposed?
[1:33] Okay, we have a quorum, so we're able to do this.
[1:37] But we're continuing.
[1:40] And reports, finance report was sent to
[1:44] us, and it doesn't look
[1:48] like it's going to be online. I've got a question.
[1:51] Yep. And, he gave me some
[1:54] information, so I-
[1:56] Why don't you start with that?
[1:57] Yeah. So, I can put it up there if that's easier.
[2:01] To kind of... So let me...
[2:05] Of course,
[2:06] me trying to play it might actually raise more questions.
[2:09] I do apologize for that in advance.
[2:17] I'm not sure that you need to share it, because we only looked at it.
[2:20] Okay.
[2:21] If you can just offer what he provided-
[2:23] Yep
[2:23] ... I think we might have some vital out of it.
[2:25] I think we might just give that back after these last slides.
[2:28] Sure.
[2:31] Do whatever you think.
[2:32] So, on the statement that he
[2:36] provided, the first one, which is the
[2:41] financial summary report.
[2:43] Yep.
[2:44] You'll see there's, I highlighted
[2:47] 262,278 in
[2:51] change in the revenue
[2:53] line.
[2:55] You see that from future tax reserves.
[2:58] Right.
[2:59] That money is what you all
[3:03] had on a warrant article,
[3:06] and that correlates to your beginning balance of
[3:09] 264,588. And the slight
[3:13] difference is that after
[3:16] the auditors, they went through, there's an adjustment of about $2,000-
[3:20] Okay
[3:20] ... in change, and that $2,000 will get adjusted
[3:25] at the end of the year a little bit. So that's that little bit of difference.
[3:28] And so
[3:30] as you carry over that first line in the general fund,
[3:34] you'll see the current balance of 796,000.
[3:38] That is if we were to close the books to yesterday,
[3:43] that's what your fund balance would be.
[3:46] And so if we closed the books yesterday.
[3:51] The 246,356, so the next
[3:54] line down,
[3:56] that would be if we hypothetically
[4:00] continued out through the end of the year with encumbrances.
[4:05] So the first line would be like if we closed the books
[4:08] yesterday.
[4:09] Mm-hmm.
[4:10] And then the next line down would be if we were to include all
[4:14] the encumbrances and go through the end of the school year, right?
[4:17] Right.
[4:17] So that's why you see that $500,000 difference
[4:21] in those two lines.
[4:23] And so,
[4:26] he just wanted me to point out those few differences, and that is
[4:29] for you all.
[4:32] And then-
[4:34] So just to clarify, you're basically saying that one is as is
[4:38] today, and one is if replicated that?
[4:41] Right.
[4:41] Uh-huh. And I'm still not quite sure which
[4:45] one you're talking about, the fund balance,
[4:50] the function summary, or the fun- not the function summary.
[4:55] The function summary-
[4:56] The balance is one.
[4:58] I'm talking about three different sheets, that's what I meant.
[5:02] Yeah. So which one are you talking about?
[5:04] The first one I'm looking at is if you're looking at your reports-
[5:08] Yeah
[5:08] ... it's the
[5:09] FY27 Westminster
[5:12] financial. So it's the very first one
[5:15] on your reports.
[5:18] The function?
[5:18] And it says it, it's... At the top it says Westminster School District
[5:22] Fund Balance.
[5:22] There's three sheets on it.
[5:24] He sent us three sheets. I was just wondering which sheet you're
[5:27] referring to.
[5:32] The fund.
[5:32] The summary or the balance?
[5:39] I'm looking at on Diligent.
[5:42] So-
[5:44] The summary page?
[5:46] Okay.
[5:46] The full summary?
[5:48] Summary.
[5:49] I may be looking at something different.
[5:50] I'm looking at a PDF, so I'm not looking at-
[5:53] Yeah
[5:53] ... the spreadsheet that you're looking at.
[5:55] Okay.
[5:55] So I apologize.
[5:56] It's the fund balance. You said that.
[5:58] Yeah, this.
[6:00] Yeah.
[6:00] So it's the fund balance.
[6:02] That's what I thought, yeah.
[6:03] Okay.
[6:04] All rightI see.
[6:07] So it's got a fund number of
[6:10] 1011001100110051006.
[6:15] Yeah.
[6:16] Okay.
[6:17] Yeah. Okay.
[6:19] So those are your fund balances.
[6:21] Right.
[6:25] And which
[6:26] column was the one that's extrapolated?
[6:29] So, it's the-
[6:32] Not the current balance
[6:33] ... the row. The second row that is highlighted-
[6:36] Yeah
[6:36] ... that's general fund.
[6:38] Oh, I see. Future year. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[6:42] Yeah.
[6:46] Again, I apologize, I'm not looking at the spreadsheet, so it-
[6:49] Right
[6:50] ... looks slightly different. So,
[6:53] if I pull that up.
[6:54] And these two both say general fund.
[7:01] Then we can see the other special reserve funds that we have set
[7:04] aside.
[7:05] Right.
[7:08] Yeah. I wonder, oh, it includes . Okay. Okay.
[7:12] Yes.
[7:12] I... Okay. The first one's where we are actually,
[7:16] the second line-
[7:16] Yes
[7:17] ... is.
[7:18] And we don't usually have the capital projects and the outdoor learning on a
[7:22] sheet, do they?
[7:23] No.
[7:23] We do have them? Okay. And it gives us the, the-
[7:27] So-
[7:27] ... most of the balances
[7:27] ... yeah, so these are each one of your fund balances as-
[7:30] Mm-hmm
[7:30] ... they existed.
[7:34] So that's pretty good, 246 to the good.
[7:38] Correct.
[7:38] If we-
[7:38] Now, that's going to fluctuate.
[7:40] Right.
[7:40] So we haven't finished the year yet.
[7:43] Right.
[7:43] You know, um-
[7:43] But that's
[7:45] best guess-
[7:46] Best guess, right
[7:47] ... for now.
[7:47] Correct.
[7:47] Then that's good. Okay.
[7:49] Yes.
[7:54] Um,
[7:56] so if you go to the function summary-
[7:59] Yeah
[7:59] ... so I'm now on the spreadsheet.
[8:02] Yeah.
[8:02] So on the tab that says function summary.
[8:05] You're going to see that 262,298. It's highlighted-
[8:09] Yeah
[8:09] ... as a fund transfer.
[8:11] Yeah.
[8:11] Okay. And when that's put in, you're going to see that
[8:15] you're looking at a negative because he has to
[8:19] show it in this current fiscal year.
[8:22] Yes. Mm-hmm.
[8:22] And that's why. If you were to take that
[8:26] 262 out,
[8:28] you would then see that positive 264 that you see
[8:32] on that other page,
[8:34] yeah, as a starting fund balance.
[8:39] Does that make sense?
[8:40] Yeah.
[8:41] So we're subtracting it this year, then put it into next
[8:45] year, hoping no-
[8:47] No. You're subtracting it from this year because
[8:51] you asked the voters to use the money
[8:55] from--
[8:56] Because it came into this year, remember, 125.
[8:59] Mm-hmm. As a reserve.
[9:01] As a reserve fund, and then you asked the voters to apply it.
[9:04] So therefore, the dollars have to be accounted for
[9:08] in this current year. So the money came into the general fund-
[9:12] Mm-hmm
[9:12] ... this year. And that's that 264
[9:16] that's on that fund balance page.
[9:18] Mm-hmm.
[9:18] And that's that 264,588,
[9:21] and then it has to be shown that it goes somewhere.
[9:25] And so, that's that money coming down.
[9:28] So on that function summary page, it has to be
[9:32] transferred somewhere, so that money is shown as
[9:37] being transferred out, and that's why you see it as a
[9:41] negative. But you still do have that fund
[9:45] balance of 246 at the end of the day.
[9:51] So we're fine.
[9:52] Yeah, so you're still
[9:55] showing a positive at the end of the day.
[9:57] It just, we have to show the recording for the accountant.
[10:03] And-
[10:03] It was never part of our budgeting.
[10:05] Right.
[10:05] Right.
[10:06] And the accountants... And I asked Ed, like, "How come we
[10:10] can't show it sooner?"
[10:12] Because as it's showing, like, you look at your month to month to month, and you're
[10:16] just like-
[10:16] Mm-hmm
[10:16] ... getting big numbers. This is why we like to show the quarter leads.
[10:19] And he says the accountants don't like we show
[10:23] it until the fourth quarter, because that's when they
[10:27] know it has to happen, even though
[10:30] in March is when the voters vote for it.
[10:33] But at the end of the year is when it actually doesn't happen.
[10:36] So that's the reason. So-
[10:38] I think that was the major category of questions that I had.
[10:41] I don't know if anybody else has any more.
[10:43] And then we'll know a whole lot more when everything actually goes to
[10:46] June 10th, June 30th. One thing, though, it is a fiscal year
[10:50] 27. The top is 26.
[10:54] That is correct, and I will have it corrected then.
[10:56] Exactly. Yeah. I do have one, someone-- Sorry, for the
[11:00] further question on
[11:03] the function
[11:05] summary. We're quite a bit off on health
[11:08] insurance.
[11:12] We were like $15,000 off.
[11:14] Yeah. Tell me what line.
[11:16] It's line, it would be
[11:19] 29 on the,
[11:23] yeah, on the function short.
[11:26] A function short.
[11:27] Thank you. Absolutely.
[11:32] So
[11:34] that can be for-- When we do health insurance, we're taking our best
[11:37] guess and-
[11:39] Because you don't know what people are going to-
[11:40] Well-
[11:41] ... choose, what plans
[11:42] ... what happens is, midyear is when we do open enrollment.
[11:46] Yeah.
[11:46] We'll start there.
[11:47] That, yeah.
[11:48] That calendar-
[11:48] The date has changed
[11:49] ... that change is mid-year.
[11:50] Yeah.
[11:50] But the other piece is, when we do budgeting at the beginning of the year,
[11:55] we have teachers who will move, right?
[11:57] We have some teachers who leave us-
[11:59] Mm-hmm
[11:59] ... and then we have teachers who join us, and they can
[12:02] change their plans.
[12:04] Mm-hmm.
[12:05] So they're like-Their life events may change.
[12:08] They can get married, they can
[12:10] add people to their
[12:14] plans, people can come off.
[12:17] So there are things changing in
[12:19] their family structures.
[12:24] We could maybe plan for a teacher to take,
[12:28] a teacher that we had on our
[12:31] books was taking a silver plan.
[12:34] That teacher left us, and a teacher came on and took a gold plan.
[12:38] So that's a
[12:39] gold family plan. So that's a more costly
[12:43] plan for us. So that could be the reason for
[12:47] those changes,
[12:49] frankly.
[12:51] This and that budget is
[12:56] piece. But
[12:58] without going in and looking at breaking that line out, but that could be
[13:02] $15,000 over
[13:07] three, four, or five teachers
[13:09] or employees. I mean, teachers.
[13:12] I think there's the substitute salaries was also over, but that
[13:16] makes sense
[13:17] given what we had this year. And tuition reimbursement.
[13:21] Huh, yeah, I guess we must have had somebody move in.
[13:25] So that one you would think that would be pretty close.
[13:28] I think sometimes we get there, but wasn't there, like, a case of there were
[13:32] some kids we didn't know about?
[13:33] Yeah.
[13:34] So we're going here and then-
[13:35] Yeah
[13:35] ... going to church.
[13:36] It's pretty close. I feel like I could have been better. How do you guys feel?
[13:40] Well, we're going to
[13:42] discuss it in detail in August. We have a little meeting in July, and we'll
[13:46] have final numbers then.
[13:47] Yeah.
[13:48] So-
[13:48] But it's just pretty good-
[13:49] We're doing that
[13:50] ... right now. That feels great.
[13:52] So no action, just discussion. And thank you for that.
[13:56] The next report is from the principal.
[13:59] I don't know if everybody had a chance to read that.
[14:01] No.
[14:01] She's still out at family night. She'll join us as soon as she
[14:05] can. But, I have no questions. Things
[14:09] were looking good.
[14:13] All right.
[14:14] If I can just point out one of the things, just because we've been noticing this as
[14:17] we're looking at data across the SU.
[14:21] Mm-hmm.
[14:21] One of the things we are noticing is,
[14:25] our spring, our math data,
[14:28] especially in mathematics, we're noticing,
[14:33] it's not, I'm not going to say any enormous jump,
[14:37] but we're starting to see a trend in the upward
[14:41] trajectory.
[14:43] And we're hypothesizing
[14:46] that
[14:48] has a lot to do with
[14:51] the math coaching that's going on, where we're able to
[14:55] have an in-house math coach that's being able to spend a lot of
[14:58] time
[15:00] with our teachers,
[15:02] working on instructional practices,
[15:05] along with the Illustrative Math program that
[15:09] was really... And we're
[15:12] seeing the same numbers across the SU.
[15:16] So it's just something-
[15:18] Improvements across the SU
[15:19] ... yeah. So the same kind of trend line.
[15:22] And so,
[15:25] it's just something that
[15:26] we've been trying to
[15:30] just note just because we are seeing it, so.
[15:32] It is, like, the only school I've seen where the math
[15:36] scores are higher than the literacy scores. That almost never happens.
[15:40] Right.
[15:40] It's kind of why we're calling it out to you.
[15:41] Yeah
[15:42] Because we were kind of-
[15:43] Yeah
[15:43] ... a little shocked ourselves.
[15:45] Yeah.
[15:45] And so that's, we're trying to say, like, why?
[15:49] Lily is pretty great.
[15:51] Do you have math instruction at all the schools or just-
[15:54] So, we have a district
[15:57] level math coach.
[15:59] And this is her first year.
[16:00] And this is her first year.
[16:02] We did contract with a company, and
[16:06] that person did work for the company.
[16:08] Mm-hmm.
[16:09] And we utilized her, and then we
[16:14] retained her services in-house.
[16:16] Okay.
[16:17] And,
[16:18] so we have her all the time, and we're
[16:22] again seeing this jump. And so
[16:26] we're, again, theorizing that that impact
[16:30] was had just having that person full time
[16:34] is having a...
[16:36] Because we're not just seeing, like I said, at one school, we are seeing it
[16:42] and we're seeing it at the middle school-
[16:44] Yeah
[16:44] ... and we're seeing it-
[16:44] Huh
[16:45] ... yeah. So we're seeing it in all of our buildings.
[16:48] So, and that's in all the building section four.
[16:51] So,
[16:55] yeah.
[16:55] The other thing that looks really good on here too around that, like the
[16:58] engagement, I know the engagement is really one of the things that we are focusing
[17:02] on. So, like, sense of belonging and engagement because they really have,
[17:06] like, a huge
[17:07] gain. It's like,
[17:11] yeah, student engagement went from, like,
[17:15] maybe 30% to over 75.
[17:18] 70 something.
[17:19] Yeah.
[17:20] Yeah.
[17:20] And that's sixth graders.
[17:21] Yeah.
[17:22] That's pretty crazy, so.
[17:25] Right. Exactly, yeah.
[17:27] And they're third graders.
[17:28] Yeah. That's really good. Oh, I wish Alyssa was here to talk
[17:32] about this.
[17:32] Mm-hmm.
[17:33] It was a little bit different. Yeah.
[17:35] She'd focus in a little bit here, because I think that, right.
[17:38] But one of the things that also shows up here is the decline from
[17:42] spring testing-
[17:43] Yes
[17:44] ... fall testing, which is the typical summer losing a
[17:47] little vantage.
[17:49] We've planned for another coach in the summer,
[17:53] that special program that was put together to assist some
[17:57] of the students with the assignments so that
[18:00] may help too.
[18:01] Yeah, it does look like there is a little bit of a drop after the...
[18:06] Right?
[18:07] Not now, I'm not seeing it. Never mind.
[18:10] Maybe I need
[18:11] better...Oh,
[18:16] I guess I was just noticing a little bit of a drop-off after Hoquiam.
[18:20] The Latino.
[18:21] What is that? How do you think about that?
[18:24] 765 versus 680.
[18:25] It's not really-
[18:26] Yeah
[18:26] ... same statistically.
[18:28] No.
[18:28] It's a small sample.
[18:29] Yeah, I see.
[18:30] Yeah.
[18:30] Yeah.
[18:31] Thank you.
[18:33] All right. And we can ask her questions if she does get in, otherwise we'll pick
[18:37] it up.
[18:39] Any business for discussion
[18:43] and action. At a prior meeting, we
[18:46] regretfully accepted the resignation of
[18:50] Paula Borchoff.
[18:52] But we just want to say this for the record, let me just read it in
[18:56] for the record, that we've written a letter to
[19:00] Ms. Borchoff, and we're saying, "On behalf of generations of the town
[19:04] of Westminster's Elementary School students and their families," we're
[19:08] saying to Paula, "Please accept our gratitude for your many years of dedicated
[19:12] service. We know that you have said that your choice to retire is
[19:16] bittersweet. Please know that we share your feelings of both sadness
[19:19] and gratitude. Throughout your 25 years as a teacher
[19:23] at the Westminster Center School, you've been an inspiring, grounded,
[19:27] professional, and highly competent teacher for the children in your care.
[19:31] You've touched and changed the lives of students in positive ways
[19:35] throughout your career. You've also been a true mentor and
[19:38] inspiration to the other teachers, paraprofessionals, principals, and
[19:42] staff in the Westminster school community.
[19:45] While we're sad to see you leave your teaching role, we're immensely grateful for
[19:49] the gifts you leave behind. We wish you much joy and good
[19:53] health in this next phase as you enjoy family and friends, travel, and
[19:57] time outdoors. We look forward to any time you come back
[20:01] to visit the Westminster Center School.
[20:04] You'll always be a cherished member of this community.
[20:06] Best wishes." More best wishes, "From the Westminster Town School
[20:10] Board." So just putting that into the record, and we'll share that letter
[20:15] with Paula.
[20:17] We'll move into old and unfinished business, and the first
[20:21] item there is the Town School Community Alliance
[20:25] update, and I think everyone has seen that
[20:29] both the House and the Senate
[20:32] really almost unanimously passed
[20:35] H955. In the end, there's no forced
[20:39] mergers. A vote of the people if and
[20:43] when schools are to merge.
[20:46] We have a lot of concerns. The West School Community Alliance issued a
[20:50] press release. While we're very supportive, we praise the
[20:53] bipartisan
[20:57] support that led to the approval. The concerns have to do
[21:00] with what's now being called a merger committee-
[21:04] Yeah
[21:04] ... that we're all required to be a part of, that starts
[21:08] simultaneously with the Cooperative Educational Service
[21:12] Areas in the state. We in New England Northeast are
[21:16] particularly anxious because we're already in what is the
[21:19] oldest CESA in the state. So we don't have
[21:23] as many of the challenges as other districts will, too.
[21:26] So I have a feeling it's set up the service agency and
[21:31] set up their study committee. Just trying to stick with this mask.
[21:35] Sorry.
[21:36] Good to see you, and congratulations on-
[21:39] You too
[21:39] ... your family. Nice. Yeah. Thanks.
[21:42] Oh, yeah.
[21:42] We'll-
[21:42] Is that all good? Yeah. Sorry I was late.
[21:45] I got wrapped up with a former student for a moment.
[21:48] We also said that you were out there telling stories and-
[21:51] Oh, yeah. It's all good.
[21:52] Yeah. Absolutely.
[21:53] Thanks.
[21:53] That's great. But so anyway, with the update, we're going to need
[21:57] to appoint a member of our board to
[22:01] the merger committee.
[22:04] We'll need to do that by file. The final, final bill hasn't come
[22:07] out so that we can read it word for word, but we know the
[22:12] big picture of it.
[22:16] So I'll keep everybody posted on that.
[22:20] So at the study committee that we have been assigned to
[22:24] start, Andy, I have that list that I looked at earlier, but
[22:28] didn't bring it with me. But surprisingly,
[22:32] it includes a number of non-operating
[22:35] districts. I mean, Windham is in there, Marlboro is in there with us,
[22:40] then it's-
[22:40] Yeah, she switched all of a sudden
[22:42] ... it got switched around,
[22:44] and Gilbert-
[22:46] Yeah
[22:46] ... and Warfsboro, and Newfane, and...
[22:50] So it's a group, and you know the law wants us to look
[22:54] about creating unified union school districts of
[22:58] 2,000. Well, that study committee doesn't come up
[23:02] total 2,000. Not that we were going to do that anyway, but
[23:06] the measures, the criteria that include whether it's
[23:09] practical.
[23:10] Huh.
[23:10] What I will say is that we-- And the law says,
[23:14] honestly, it says that we-- It doesn't just say operate in good faith.
[23:18] It says you may not operate in bad faith.
[23:21] How's that for-
[23:22] Oh, good.
[23:24] And so we'll do it. We'll participate in that, and we'll do everything that
[23:28] we need to, but it's just an odd grouping that we were ultimately-
[23:32] Have you seen the maps where you can click on the buttons to change the
[23:35] things?
[23:36] Yeah, but we have to go through the facilitator to do that in the laws.
[23:40] Right. No, but I was going to have them to
[23:44] send out with my SU so everyone will have access.
[23:47] Oh, that will be-
[23:48] Oh, good
[23:48] ... great. It's more fun to do.
[23:49] Yeah.
[23:50] Click on the map and you can see.
[23:52] But I got-
[23:52] But so Springfield was somebody else that-
[23:55] Yeah, I just got those today. I was a little shocked because originally we were
[23:58] with Springfield and Two Rivers-
[24:00] Yeah
[24:00] ... and then Windham was thrown in as like a-
[24:02] Right
[24:03] ... "Here's some extras."
[24:04] That's right.
[24:05] And then all of a sudden those-- And we were told
[24:09] that it might change, and wow, it changed.
[24:13] And all of a sudden, yeah, we're with
[24:16] basically Windham Central.
[24:17] That's correct.
[24:19] Which was an early, early map.
[24:20] That's correct.
[24:21] Yeah.
[24:21] So we'll see. We can request to explore with others.
[24:25] I'm pretty sure that Laurelville will be asking to go with Lend Up Southeast.
[24:29] Yeah.
[24:29] They've already begun discussions there.
[24:32] Okay.
[24:33] So we'll see. But anyway, all of that is to say that
[24:37] it's wonderful that the
[24:41] senators and the representatives and the governor listen to the
[24:45] people and did decide that bridges would not be
[24:48] forced.
[24:49] Right.
[24:50] And,
[24:51] the people get to vote, so.
[24:54] And there's time.
[24:55] Yes.
[24:57] On the solar rebate, I just wanted to let you know we are still waiting
[25:01] for the 137,000 from the federal government to come in.
[25:05] Ah.
[25:05] And what I did recently was reach out to
[25:09] Senator Sanders. I asked the senator's office
[25:13] to check into that for us and filled out some paperwork so that they
[25:17] could do that. And so that's just one more avenue to try.
[25:21] I copied Andy and copied Ed and Pat Stump on that, but
[25:25] I just want to make sure that the district gets that
[25:28] money.
[25:29] Yeah. And so, the
[25:31] lawyer that we hired up sent everything in, it was just waiting game.
[25:35] That's correct, yeah. Mm-hmm.
[25:37] That he was asleep to them.
[25:38] Correct. Mm-hmm.
[25:40] And then I just thought we could briefly...
[25:44] Well, we could take no action at our May 14th board review
[25:48] and planning session, but I was just thinking about a new follow-up of that.
[25:53] I
[25:55] think one of those, Andy, is the SU is working on a master
[25:59] calendar that will tie into a plan.
[26:02] And I think we want to see what the SU does at its next meeting.
[26:06] We have them-
[26:06] Tami Jerusa
[26:08] ... and, yeah. Right. You and Jerusa are working on that.
[26:10] But I think we want to see a comprehensive calendar that
[26:14] includes everything, and then we want to add our own Westminster
[26:17] specific things to it. I think that was really the most
[26:21] tangible thing. And then
[26:23] maybe at the meeting in August, our next normal regular meeting, so not meeting
[26:27] in July,
[26:29] we can look at our goal, vision, mission and all that stuff again
[26:33] and take a vote to reaffirm it or make any changes.
[26:36] Okay.
[26:38] So
[26:39] any other comments about the
[26:43] planning session?
[26:46] No?
[26:47] That's fine. Okay. I think for the public, I would just say
[26:51] that we
[26:52] all have this shared commitment to the students succeeding
[26:56] and the faculty succeeding, and this being a healthy climate, and so
[27:00] we talked about that. At least we can continue to reinforce that and make
[27:04] sure that all kids are served, that they're being served.
[27:08] Andy joined us, so that was great. Liz
[27:12] will go back to the principal's report.
[27:15] Uh-huh.
[27:15] Just a few... We talked about it when you looked at the S scores.
[27:19] Mm-hmm.
[27:19] And we made some comments about that.
[27:21] I just wondered if you wanted to make any-
[27:23] Yeah
[27:24] ... highlight comments.
[27:25] Great. They're impressed by the
[27:28] improvements in Panorama scores.
[27:31] Yeah. Well-
[27:31] I agree
[27:32] ... we also explained a little bit more.
[27:35] The way Panorama works, there's a...
[27:37] It's the good when we explain-
[27:38] Yeah
[27:39] ... how to answer it. There is an in
[27:42] question, or there's a way to answer that says somewhat well, and that
[27:46] is actually, per Panorama, is not a
[27:50] favorable thought.
[27:51] Mm-hmm.
[27:52] And so that, kids were answering that because they're like, "Somewhat?" You know,
[27:55] like, "How clean is your school?" "Somewhat clean." But it actually
[27:59] means mostly not, but-
[28:01] Right
[28:02] ... so we explained that, and we were like, "If that's what you mean, then that's
[28:05] what you would answer."
[28:06] Oh.
[28:06] If you want it to be like, "Oh, it's somewhat, but not really." But if you
[28:10] wanted it to be kind of, the kids were calling it the medium, the,
[28:16] I'm kind of in between, but I don't want to...
[28:18] It's not a negative comment, just a general positive
[28:21] medium comment. Like, not super. We showed them that, like the need want, like this
[28:25] one. So we kind of out-detailed that, which was interesting, because then the
[28:29] scores really increased because it's like, "Oh,
[28:33] yeah." And that's when we were able to see what kids were really
[28:37] meaning by their answers.
[28:38] Right. Because there's one too that's like, "Kids in my school are nice, or mostly
[28:42] nice to each other." And they're like, "Yeah, sometimes."
[28:45] Yeah.
[28:45] Because kids aren't nice all the time, and you're like, that's actually a very
[28:48] unfavorable response.
[28:50] Yes.
[28:50] Which is hard for them to understand.
[28:51] Yeah.
[28:52] Yeah.
[28:53] Yeah.
[28:55] Right. So we were excited especially, I think we've been doing this for
[28:59] so long, and sixth grade has always been lower.
[29:03] Right.
[29:03] And we were kind of laughing and then asking a
[29:07] sixth grade to rate their engagement.
[29:08] They're kind of like age appropriately, like, "I don't engage." But
[29:12] they were, and it was really exciting to see when kids were really
[29:16] thinking about how they were responding.
[29:18] And when I explained, I said, "I read all these comments.
[29:22] I don't know who is answering these, but I do read them.
[29:25] So if there is something you want to write in there." There's a lot of short
[29:28] answers this year, which was different than years past, when kids were writing in
[29:31] stuff. So it's always, always good to hear
[29:35] feedback on what they're thinking and their experience at
[29:39] Westminster. Yeah. The math growth wasn't
[29:43] ton
[29:44] this spring, which was interesting.
[29:46] We saw movement within the
[29:50] above, like meeting the benchmark and well above.
[29:53] We saw some movement in there, which was good, but it's not reflected on this
[29:56] graph. And we saw some movement between the well below and
[30:01] below benchmark, like the well below being less.
[30:04] So kids are moving, but they're not quite meeting the benchmark.
[30:08] Yeah. They're the hardest way to move.
[30:10] Yes.
[30:11] One thing.
[30:11] Yeah. So that was encouraging, but again, it doesn't boost our
[30:15] proficiency scores-
[30:17] Mm-hmm
[30:17] ... or math. But, the DIBELS scores, the trends are really,
[30:22] to me, that was encouraging. We started the year around
[30:25] 39% proficient, and we ended the year at 57%
[30:29] proficient for DIBELS, and that is an assessment that's done
[30:32] one-on-one
[30:35] And it's more detailed. We know exactly what questions they're
[30:40] getting hung up on. Where the MAP, we don't really know what questions
[30:44] they didn't get right.
[30:45] Mm-hmm.
[30:46] But the DIBELS we do. What types of questions?
[30:48] Is it nonsense word reading or fluency or accuracy?
[30:51] We can target those skills more. When we have our MTSS meetings, we
[30:55] talk about intervention. That is a
[30:59] data point that we really look into. So helpful.
[31:03] That's really going to hurt.
[31:06] Yeah. And if you just look at the three years, right?
[31:09] It's going up and up.
[31:10] Yeah, we're starting higher-
[31:12] Yeah
[31:12] ... than we have before.
[31:13] Yeah. For sure.
[31:14] And our summer program will be run through the Boys & Girls Club, but we're also
[31:18] offering the tutoring again this year.
[31:20] Mm-hmm.
[31:21] So I met with Kelly and Stacy just this week
[31:25] for the DIBEL and looked at which students we were going to invite to that
[31:29] based off of their scores. And so,
[31:31] Stacy and Kelly will be reaching out to
[31:35] families.
[31:36] Beautiful. Is that good?
[31:36] I know. They're a duo, for sure.
[31:39] Yeah. That's awesome. A question about the summer program-
[31:42] Mm-hmm
[31:42] ... the kind of camp.
[31:44] Yeah.
[31:45] And Kim is listed as the coordinator. Can you explain?
[31:48] And then she made a comment that it's opened up to beyond
[31:51] Westminster, so help us understand what's new.
[31:53] Yeah. So it's run through the Boys & Girls Club of Bradenton.
[31:56] And so she's hired by the Boys & Girls Club of Bradenton to be the coordinator
[32:00] of this site.
[32:01] Right.
[32:01] And so we have maybe 50 slots, I believe, 50
[32:05] or 60 slots, that we can take up to that many.
[32:08] We didn't have that many, we didn't have 50 or 60 kids from
[32:11] Westminster sign up, so then we were able to open it up to the
[32:15] SU of anybody around. It's tricky because
[32:20] they accept subsidy. Most families,
[32:24] well, about 99.9% of families are going to qualify for that.
[32:27] So it's a little bit of... I think it shocks people because the
[32:31] amount is high, but
[32:34] most families are going to receive a subsidy.
[32:37] Mm-hmm.
[32:37] So they're going to be paying-
[32:40] A fraction
[32:41] ... yes, a very small fraction. I think she, the coordinator of Boys
[32:45] & Girls Club, gave the analogy of if your
[32:48] family was making $240,000 a
[32:52] year, you would pay a fraction of the cost.
[32:56] Wow.
[32:57] So just to put that in perspective.
[33:00] So Kim was here tonight to answer questions because it is new with COVID.
[33:04] Pre-COVID, families did pay for summer programming and after school
[33:08] programming.
[33:09] Correct.
[33:09] And then with COVID, they didn't. So now we're leaning back into that.
[33:12] So that takes just some educating of families of how it
[33:16] operates and what that would look like.
[33:20] I had a question that's not on the agenda, but it has to do with we
[33:23] used to pay for stuff, then we didn't, now.
[33:26] Is next year the year that we go back to not having
[33:30] universal meals anymore? I don't know. No. We still have them next year?
[33:34] Yeah.
[33:34] Yeah, for what?
[33:35] This has been a while. Yeah.
[33:36] Since when?
[33:36] It's been a while.
[33:38] Federally, it's been.
[33:40] No, but I think that was one of the things staff voted on or
[33:44] wanted. That was just-
[33:45] If you want it
[33:45] ... the original package.
[33:46] If you want it, you can get it.
[33:49] That's right.
[33:49] Universal meals is-
[33:51] Yeah.
[33:51] As far as I know, continuing.
[33:54] Yeah.
[33:54] Michelle's on that.
[33:56] Because that was on the chopping block for a little while.
[33:59] They wrestled.
[34:00] Right.
[34:00] Yeah.
[34:01] If you ask- ... and there were-
[34:03] Yeah
[34:03] ... songs in Florida that want legislation.
[34:06] And Republicans, too.
[34:07] Yeah.
[34:07] It was interesting because that sparked them to break ranks with the governor.
[34:10] Mm-hmm.
[34:10] The people on the food committee had really
[34:14] compelling stories, and all the Republicans even talked about supporting them,
[34:18] but-
[34:18] Yeah. It's the only
[34:21] intervention that's proven to raise
[34:24] proficiency involved in that department of every
[34:28] subgroup.
[34:30] Every group there is, from low income to high income, to it
[34:34] doesn't matter who they are.
[34:35] The amount of dollars-
[34:36] Yeah
[34:36] ... involved, the
[34:38] whole amount of the ed fund, it's a very small percentage-
[34:42] Yeah
[34:42] ... of the ed fund.
[34:43] Yes.
[34:43] And has some of the biggest
[34:47] results-
[34:48] Yeah
[34:48] ... that it's done. Or is having.
[34:52] So we've actually covered the agenda that we want.
[34:55] And to your point earlier, yes. And so let's have
[34:58] director's comments, and we will soon adjourn
[35:02] until our next meeting, which will be in August, unless there's some reason
[35:06] for a special meeting in the summer.
[35:09] But we don't anticipate that right now.
[35:11] If I can just...
[35:13] Hires? Are we-
[35:15] No, I don't have any hires at this point.
[35:17] So
[35:19] the percent that the board approved to cover the librarian position
[35:23] has backed out of that position and never signed a contract.
[35:26] And she withdrew.
[35:27] For the librarian position. So one way we
[35:30] were going to make the position a little bit more enticing is to
[35:33] combine the .4 librarian, because
[35:38] with the budget, we have the .8 position that was
[35:41] art. So I was hoping to combine that as an academic
[35:45] interventionist to offer enrichment opportunities, because that is a role that
[35:49] Mandy did offer our students,
[35:53] is to use a .6 of that .8 and then a .4
[35:56] librarian to offer a full-time position.
[36:00] So that'll be
[36:02] posted on SchoolSpring today, and we're hoping that-
[36:06] To fill that
[36:07] So that might be an ask for a special meeting.
[36:10] Hopefully there'll be an ask for a special meeting.
[36:11] Right.
[36:12] Yeah.
[36:12] No, that's why I was asking.
[36:13] Yeah. Thank you.
[36:14] So I didn't know. My ask was, "Are you fully hired?" And-
[36:18] No, I was
[36:19] ... yeah, no. We were a month ago.
[36:21] Okay. Yeah. Okay.
[36:23] All the way for CT or great e-coms or something like that.
[36:27] Yeah.
[36:27] Yeah.
[36:28] And it just shows the national hiring.
[36:30] Yeah.
[36:30] Yes. All right. Who wants to start with director's comment?
[36:34] We'll go around the table
[36:36] Yeah, sorry, I missed the beginning.
[36:38] I'm
[36:39] really happy with what we're doing.
[36:41] I do want to bat around that five-minute video clip that you sent out about
[36:45] the phone number. That's super intriguing, and I should just share that.
[36:49] I shared that with the principal at my school
[36:52] with a little bit of... Are you familiar with the thing that Cheryl had sent?
[36:55] No.
[36:55] It's a five-minute, it's a testimony on Capitol Hill-
[36:58] Oh
[36:58] ... regarding the overuse of screens and-
[37:01] Oh
[37:01] ... how damaging that is.
[37:03] Mm-hmm.
[37:03] And I'm selling the fire on that. So I gave it to my
[37:06] principal, whom I adore, and I'm like, "We're going to the parents," so she's not
[37:10] going to fire me over this.
[37:11] What she sent me back
[37:14] was the picture of the... She's got a PhD in pseudo,
[37:18] and the title of her dissertation was "The Problems with Overuse of
[37:22] Screen and Pushing Literacy Skills Down Too Far Too
[37:26] Fast."
[37:26] Mm-hmm.
[37:27] And so I said, "Send me the link so I can read it." So.
[37:30] Yeah. If you could share that with us, that would be great.
[37:32] Yeah. I will. I'll get that. I haven't read it yet, but
[37:36] I would love to
[37:39] see us engage where we can with that.
[37:42] Because she said she shared it with her superintendent and
[37:46] it directly
[37:47] Mm-hmm
[37:47] ... pretty well.
[37:47] Mm-hmm.
[37:48] So, yeah.
[37:49] Okay. Team? I just know this is a
[37:53] very hectic and busy time of year, so I'm thankful for the teachers who are working
[37:56] hard. They've got a week left.
[37:58] Yeah.
[37:58] We can do it. It's going to be great.
[38:00] So yeah, I appreciate all the energy and enthusiasm, and I know it's a push,
[38:04] so thank you.
[38:05] Yeah. June last day is next week, right?
[38:08] Thursday, last-
[38:08] Yeah
[38:08] ... student day. Yeah.
[38:10] So we don't follow any.
[38:14] It's been a really wonderful year.
[38:15] Yeah.
[38:16] All the work.
[38:17] It does.
[38:18] It really has been very good.
[38:20] Yeah.
[38:20] Appreciate you.
[38:22] Thank you.
[38:23] Well, I'll add to that. First of all, this family night is
[38:27] wonderful.
[38:28] Yeah.
[38:28] And so was the one in winter. So I like this.
[38:32] I like this a lot. And so it's a yes, and.
[38:35] If we get back to concerts or things like that, that's great too, but I think
[38:38] these informal, diverse activities and a little
[38:42] food. Again, thanks to Troy Wunderlee for coming
[38:47] tonight.
[38:47] Yeah.
[38:47] That the weather cooperated.
[38:49] Yeah.
[38:49] Yeah.
[38:50] All that.
[38:50] All of that. But I started to say that there were just several people that came up
[38:54] to me and just said, "My child," or, "My
[38:58] grandchild is doing so well here. They've had
[39:02] such a good year."
[39:04] And that's wonderful. And you don't look exhausted, you look radiant.
[39:08] No, exactly. Great. It's a great night.
[39:10] And, yeah, I feel that with you. It's just
[39:14] really heartwarming because our families just want to be together.
[39:17] Yeah.
[39:17] That's all they want is opportunities to be together and, I stress
[39:21] over nights like this really heavily.
[39:24] Like, "Where are we going to put the grill?
[39:26] What if somebody wants..." We're running through every scenario and
[39:29] it's always fine. And the skate night was so
[39:33] great.
[39:34] That was cool.
[39:34] And in the family survey, that was
[39:37] brought up a lot in the panorama family version, like more skate
[39:40] nights or- ... you know. And, yeah, so moving into next
[39:44] year, just thinking about these informal...
[39:47] Yeah.
[39:47] They're fun and really easy lifts, obviously.
[39:50] Yeah.
[39:51] Yeah.
[39:51] Yeah, a very happy grandparent out here.
[39:53] He's a neighbor down the road, and he said some wonderful things about-
[39:56] Great
[39:57] ... his grandkids were in concert.
[39:59] Oh,
[40:00] okay.
[40:02] Yeah.
[40:02] Great.
[40:02] He's very happy.
[40:03] Well, everyone have a wonderful summer, extend our gratitude to
[40:07] everyone in the building and all the staff.
[40:10] Yeah.
[40:12] And when we make it, thank them for a great year, and we'll
[40:15] see everybody in late summer. So we'll adjourn at
[40:19] 7:15 on the 17th.
[40:23] So this is the first Thursday in August also?
[40:25] Mm-hmm.
[40:26] Another day.
[40:27] Thank you for watching this FACT TV presentation.
[40:30] If you would like a digital or DVD copy of the meeting, please
[40:34] contact us by phone or email. Our phone number is
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[40:41] email us at fact810@gmail.com. Falls Area
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