Noting the hour and the presence of a quorum, I call the Actton Boxboro Regional School Committee to order. Members of the public who wish to watch the meeting online may use Actant TV's YouTube channel found at the top of the agenda. This meeting is being recorded and will be posted on Actant TV's website at actantv.org.
So, welcome everybody. I have great news. In case you missed it, we have an approved budget. You can clap for that one. So, that uh budget passed at Boxboro's town meeting and I will say um both town
meetings are probably the most boring town meetings I've been to ever because there was so much agreement going on. Um so, kudos to everybody for all the hard work making that happen. Um we also have, you may have seen in your emails,
we've got some um campaigns going on at the state level. uh budget advocacy season once again. Um so working on convincing the Senate right now to continue the momentum and then uh we'll see how things reconcile out and uh
where the governor settles. So tonight our work is very heavily policy focused and we also have some excellent updates. So let's get down to it. We'll start out with public participation. Per school committee policy BEDH. Members of the public are invited to speak for up to
three minutes. Public participation will only take place at this time during our meeting. Speeders must be recognized by the chair before speaking. The committee does not typically respond to comments during public participation. >> Hello. Yes. So, my name is Amanda Bailey. I'm one of the co-chairs of the Special Education Parent Advisory
Council. I'm speaking in that capacity. We sent you an email earlier today regarding some of the policies and procedures you'll be discussing and voting on this evening with some concerns around language regarding students with disabilities. Um the policy subcommittee did not meet due to various factors. So we weren't able to participate in that discussion. So we
are bringing it to you here during public comment. Um the first one is regarding the draft enrollment of students policy. Um the statement around special circumstances may include but are not limited to the need to access specialized services, programs or instructional settings that are not
available in his own school. In such cases, placement decisions shall be made by the superintendent or their design. Um those placement decisions would be made by the students IEP team and then carried out by the superintendent or their design. Um we understand that of course law would be followed, of course all of the rights would be followed in
this, but that in particular doesn't read that way. Um, shifting to the transportation piece, we wanted to read a few things from just Mass General Law for you. Um, if the team determines that the students disability requires transportation or specialized
transportation to benefit from special ed, that'll be noted on the IEP. In such circumstances, transportation is a related service. The team, the IEP team determines necessary modifications, special equipment, assistance, attendance, any other precautions and
will be documented in the IEP. If specialized arrangements can be provided on regular transportation vehicles, the big yellow bus, the school district shall make such arrangements. Um, the team shall also specify whether the student requires assistance in or out of the home, on or off the vehicle,
and in or out of the school. So if we have a student with an IEP or a 504 with those kinds of considerations, we need to make sure that that is clear in the policy that those 504s and IEP considerations will be factored when providing transportation. That's our only ask. We're not asking for big revisions to these, but just to
acknowledge it, such as in the homework policy where of course we would follow accommodations documented, but it does say IEEPs and 504s will be factored when planning for homework. So we're really just looking to just make sure that that's codified in there. So thank you, and we're happy to take any further
questions later on. Thank you. I I think we just got it turned off. Um there should be a button on top. Slide it up. >> There you go. >> Okay. Good evening, members of the school committee and families. Uh my name is Ellen Orwen and I'm a Bucksboro
resident. Uh, I'm here to ask for an amendment to the draft transportation policy for students with legal dual residents. Under school choice, families could request transportation from an alternate address, which helped maintain
equity between households. Under the new zoning system, families were required to choose one address for school assignment, even when students legally reside at two homes during the school week. According to the proposed transportation policy, only the address
used for school assignment will qualify for transportation. Although it's still mentioned alternate address requests, there is apparently no intention to create cross-zone bus routes, leaving any other residents outside the assigned zone uneligible.
This creates an equal access to school transportation for children in shared custody arrangements going against Massachusetts public policy that supports equity between households. if it's adopted as written tonight. I invite families in the same situation as
mine to file a complaint with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and ask that our school district recognize dual residency and do not discriminate against them based on family structure. This committee has the authority to craft a policy that serves
all students fairly, upholding one of the district's core values, equity. Thank you for consideration. >> Thank you. >> All right, seeing no one else getting up, we will move on to the superintendent's update. Peter.
>> All right, good evening everyone. Um, first I just want to start by congratulating uh one of our students, Nate Kim, uh, who is class of 2027. Uh, he just won the recent congressional art competition. So his painting will be displayed at the United States Capitol
last year. So big congrat last year. I think this year is more appropriate than last year. Um so congratulations to Nate. Um we are nearing the end of the school year and that means we're also coming up near the end of our AB Forward family
webinars that we've been doing. As you know, we do them every two weeks to just provide regular updates, questions, and answers. Um, we're going to have our last one on uh May 26th at 7:00 p.m. We had one scheduled after that, but we've seen attendance decline such that it I
think we it's probably time to wrap this up. It's going to be June and I think people have things that they're doing. Um, but our last one will be Tuesday, May 26, 7 p.m. Um, and that's going to feature our very own Dr. Gabby Abrams, uh, who will be talking about kind of the teaching and learning model for the
new school year. So, um, that is exciting. We're hoping parents come out for that. Um we also have our school previews coming up for each of our elementary schools for students and families. Those are scheduled for June 2nd and June 8th. Um that is an event is not intended for kindergarten students
because we welcome kindergarten students separately, but that is for our current kindergarteners through grade five um to be able to preview new schools. Um and principles have been communicating that information to families directly now. So, um, more on that. Um, I just want to
personally, I know you mentioned it, but I want to thank all of the residents of Actton and Boxboro for, uh, passing the budget. Um, I know that we ask a lot of our residents in terms of supporting the schools for our students. It is one of the most important things that happens in the United States is support for
public education. Um, and we are certainly very, very grateful to all of our residents in the two towns. Um, the high school just recently had a flex block the other day. I want to commend uh Miss Dean and her entire team for planning that flex block. I actually
had an opportunity to go. We had um I got to see a faculty panel where our educators were actually sharing their own personal experiences of what got them into education uh with students that was very well attended. Um I also got to see a jazz combo. I got to see some students who chose to play like a
competitive Dungeons and Dragons game uh tournament style. And then I got to see our dear Asian youth put on kind of a ma jang competition with boba tea. Um so that was pretty cool as well. But really great events. Faculty were deeply engaged. It's just such a positive environment when our students and
faculty get to come together and learn from each other. So congratulations to our high school team. Um very exciting announcement probably more for our I'm not actually sure whether it's more exciting for our students or our educators. The last day of school. Um he well what's not exciting is it's
very late this year. Um it is June 25th which is a Thursday. That's very very late in the school year. Uh so we'll be sending out information for families on what to expect on the last day of school. Um and we are already thinking into next year and we have our fall open
houses posted for all of our schools on our district calendar for next year as well. So we'll send that information out to families. So lots of good stuff. >> Thank you, Peter. And I also understand that the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendent had a couple of
people to recognize this morning, >> Peter for 10 years of service, >> and Gabby for 15. So, congratulations to you both. >> Yes, it's a survivor award. Um, it looks just like the survivor pin um with the number of years.
>> I could take this and run with it, but instead I'm going to stick to what's actually on the agenda. And with that, we would like to uh welcome Joanie Dean to come and talk to us about the first read of the high school uh handbook.
Welcome. >> Hi everyone. Do we know if we have slides for this? Oh, there it is. Great. Okay. Well, I guess just look that way. Yeah. >> Okay. Thanks for thanks for having me.
And um I'm going to just talk through handbook changes that we're proposing for next year. Um the handbook changes this year may be a slightly more mundane than in previous years. We don't have a big cell phone
cubby policy or open grade book to share with you. We're kind of refining some practices and procedures. So, I'll go through it quickly. In these slides, you can link to and you were um shared this in the memo. um our
current handbook, then the draft proposal, and then the memo that outlines the changes. And the changes are in blue and the um subtractions are in red.
Should I continue? Yeah. Okay. Okay. All right. I'm going to turn just this a little bit this way. All right. Um, so I I put the proposed changes in four buckets. The first is um our minimum course load and um some
transcript honors. So the minimum course load is really just codifying uh the minimum course load to be a full-time student. And I think that's going to be helpful in upcoming conversations in future years especially around instructional time on learning. And so
we just put a base in of 30 credit hours 9th grade, 25 in each 10th and 11th, and 20 in the 12th grade year. 20 credits is four full-time classes. So, it's
reasonable. Our our overall credit requirement for high school graduation is 100. So, that totals 100. Then, we're just tightening up what we're putting on transcripts. Um it's been a little bit haphazard um in terms
of office offices that are held by students, community service and other honors and awards. We reached out to local schools and most schools put only the seal of biiteracy national merit semi-finalists and finalists and WGPA and GPA. And so
that's what we're going to do starting with the class of 2030. And then students can report their own offices held and we won't forget any. They can report what offices they're in and community service they've done. Procedural updates are pretty
self-explanatory. We're going to include the criteria for National Honor Society. We've updated the athletic fee per school committee approval. Um we're going to add smartwatches to go in the phone cubbies. And we're going to ask um caregivers to
not write handwritten notes for excusals, but instead share that um via email or by phone call. That those were already options. Um but I think the handwritten notes are too tempting sometimes for students to to go
ahead and and do that as well. And so I think in this day and age, a phone call or um email is fine. All right. This may be the only thing that's a little bit different in terms of practices, entrance and exit procedures for next year. We're going to
introduce um a new app um called My Flex Learning that's going to partner with Powers School. And we're going to actually program in students free time into their schedules. So, we're going to know when they're allowed to go in or out. And students are going to be asked to check in at kiosks at the senior
door, the front door, and even the auditorium door during lunch. So we can know then who is in and out of the building and we actually know if they are free and allowed to go out. Um so it's just tightening that procedure up. We've certainly had um suggestions
constructively that we know who is in the building and who is out and this is going to help us. Oh great, it's up here. And then the last bucket is legal and practice updates. Um, so some FURPA and record requests, updates, afterchool health notification procedures, and then
up just updates in ongoing practices that have already been happening. Anything from test postponement form to which periods would count as three periods to count as a full school day, instead of it having to be from 8 to 11, it can be any three periods, etc.
And so that's it for my slightly mundane presentation. Um, and I I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Andrew, >> thanks. I appreciate it. Um, I've got two questions really about the last slide that you had up. Oh, sure. >> One regarding smartwatches, the other
regarding the my flex learning kiosks. Yeah. >> Um, I know over the course of this last year, we've used phone cubbies in the school for phones, which is, you know, a phone flat, easy to top in. >> Um, a smartwatch is a little more
flexible. a little more fragile. >> Yeah. >> And taking them off, putting them in, pulling them out creates the opportunity for I won't say mischief, but we'll say loose lips or loose hands. Um, is there a policy involved in this as well that
if we are forcing the students to take their watches off that in the case of some type of damage due to the transfer um it's say helped by the schools or what happens in the case of
>> damage based on complying with the new rules? >> Yes. So, I'm going to just answer this in two parts. We haven't had any issues with that this year throughout all of the classes and all the phone cubbies. And I and I understand what you're saying in terms of the size and how that
would work. So, we're going to make sure that that does work. Um, in terms of that smartphones would fit into those cubbies or if we would have to provide a separate area. I wouldn't say that we're going to be standing at the door and saying every single student like we do with cell phones. You have to now we're going to check your watch and you have
to put it in there. What has happened though is sometimes, especially during testing situations, we want to be really careful of smartwatches. So, this allows us to actually be able to say if we're seeing a smartwatch and it's during an
assessment, it's okay for us to put it somewhere else. And it's just it's just more of a get it in the handbook because sometimes we ask it. It's not like we're going to be standing at the door saying, "Do you have a smartwatch? Do you have a smartwatch?" Now, let's put them in the cubby. Does that make sense?
>> Pirate rules. Yeah, I got you. Um, regarding the my flex learning and door access, I've worked in organizations where you have to tap a key card to get a door to open. Um, but that only is for the person who's opening the door. How are you looking to operationalize
this so that as you say, you know where everyone is all the time? >> Yeah, I'm not sure I completely understand your question. The mylex learning app doesn't open the door. It just um is a kiosk at the check-in or checkout booth so that the person there
looks and sees if it's like a green or a red based on what the student is. They get a one-time code based on their schedule if they can exit or not because the system knows their schedule and then the person just says, "Yeah, you can go
in or or not." It's not an opening the door. >> It the way it was described, I thought there was a kiosk they had to like tap. Yeah, the kiosk is like the the iPad at the station with the person. Lisa,
>> I also just wanted to ask if there was some way for um language that might be in a 504 IB IEP to be integrated into that kiosk system to make sure if there's a student that um you know it's been agreed by the team would not um it
would not be best serving them to be leaving the building that it would uh prevent them from being able to do so as well. >> Sure. Um, I think that that would all be part of a team decision and within the documents for the student and we would incorporate that. Um, students have to
have kind of off-campus privileges for it even to be allowed for a student to go out. So, so we could include that in the system. Right now, we know who those individuals are. Um, it rarely happens what you're talking about, but but yes,
we would of course individualize that as needed. >> Yeah. I just assume because there's so many kids in the building and you know that might Yeah. Okay. Thank you. >> Vicram. >> Hi. How are you? >> Good. Thanks. >> Um excuse my voice. Um I I'm just
curious if uh I'm sorry if I missed this, but if you could um kind of explain what led to the to the to needing this in the first place. I mean, what precipitated this? >> The check-in checkout. >> Yes. Um >> I mean why you know why aren't kids just
free to come and go as they please? I mean you know obviously within reason but I mean to have this this level of stringency what what precipitated this? >> Well I think there's many factors. I I would say um our crediting body and act and police and just general practices
and policies of schools now are such that the guidance for safety is knowing who is in your building and who isn't. Um, we do have very kind of liberal policies for students in terms of allowing them to be off-campus or not.
Many schools don't. Um, but it's really an issue of safety in terms of us knowing who's in the building or not. >> But has has safety an issue to date or why why is it suddenly an issue now? Or has there have there been a number of incidents that have now caused this to
become a safety issue? >> I think everyone's just concerned in general about safety. I mean the I think just everyone thinking about the number of doors we have in the building which is 26 to the exterior just thinking through what could
possibly happen is is something that we want to do everything we can to make sure everything is as safe as possible. I think you could lump in into safety, which may not be what we first think of about as safety, is just structure and making sure our students are making good
educational decisions and just being able to to know where they are and that they're leaving when they're supposed to leave. Um, we don't police it in a really hardline way, but 9th and 10th graders, we've told their parents, aren't leaving campus, and so it's up to
us to try to make sure that that's happening. and and we have those kind of freedoms gradually increasing as students get older and as they earn them. >> Thank you Ashmi.
>> What do students think of this? I mean my concern is we can frame it any way we want. Safety structure I mean that's all coming from adults. What what do kids think of it? I mean is there a resentment that starts to build
by doing all this kind of stuff? I mean where do we let them kind of take charge feel like they they own few things? I know we can we can message it in a way that helps some it won't help and they
they will not be helped either way. Right. So I'm wondering if you're hardening others who are not thinking that way, who are not um I mean it's always the adults imposing all these rules and you can you you can say safety
I mean safety has been there for as long as the school system has been there right so why suddenly now uh I'm just concerned I think uh students are just being told the xyz
comes down every so and so for those reasons and you have to accept it. >> So this isn't really changing any policy. We allow our students to leave when they have free periods. >> Um so we our students actually have many more freedoms or equal amount of
freedoms as as area schools. Um we have an off-campus privilege system and and they're allowed to go out. Right now, they check in by signing their name and check out with an individual. We're just automating it quickly and and checking
their schedule to to make sure they actually do have a free period, that they're just following the rules. And then, you know, it is important that we know who is in the building and who isn't. Not to check up or police on it, but if there were ever an emergency, we've been given that advice many, many
times. Um, and I've been in other schools and that's always been the advice. You should know who's in your building and who isn't. So, we're not really changing any rules. In fact, I talked to school council um, which is a group of students and faculty and community members at our last meeting
uh, this Tuesday night. And and the students understand it. They're actually kind of happy that it's going to be a little faster than what it is right now with having to like kind of wait in line and sign your name and your your um, grade and and things like that. So, like I said, um none of the changes are
really substantial in terms of policy or practice that I'm suggesting for our handbook changes this year. This is just really a different way to do it. >> Would it be a violation if student decides they don't want to uh >> Sorry, can you just say that one more time?
>> Would it be a violation on students part if they choose not to scan their whatever that system into that system? Yeah, they need to check in or check out. >> Yeah. >> If if they choose that not to like scan in or scan out, then then we'll go
through the process of checking their schedule, looking it up, signing them out, it'll just be the same as as what we're doing now. >> If I can just clarify quickly. So, I think one of the challenges and and maybe we weren't clear in terms of like what our current practice is versus what
the change is, but we have a legal obligation to account for every student at all times. And so, for example, during a fire drill, it's very common practice for a fire department to pull the fire alarm and then they will find one random student in the building to take a side. And you, the school needs
to be able to identify that they're unaccounted for. Um, and so if we don't have a good log of who's coming and going from the school, that is a considered a significant safety concern. So, the current practice that Joanie put into place a few years ago to to make sure we were compliant with that was
that students actually have to go to a door, wait in line, and sign in and out with a staff member. I think this process is actually designed to expedite that and make it a little bit faster and easier by automating the process rather than having them stand in line. But, but the regardless of which process, whether
it's manual or technology- based, we still have to account for all of the kids. Glenn, >> thanks. Um, with the kiosks, sometimes internet goes out. Uh, >> yeah, just if that happens, can they use
paper or >> Okay, I'm all set. >> Absolutely. So, I'm just laughing because sometimes that does happen, right? We had MCCast earlier this week and it's it, you know, just sometimes there's a lot of people on the internet at once and you just have to either wait a while or do things
by hand. That didn't happen during MCCast. It was just my internet was sometimes could just be a little bit slower during that time. So yeah, absolutely. >> I'm going to take us away from doors for a little bit. Um so actually I'm curious. It's it's not a a change here,
but um I noticed as I was reading through the both the athletic fees and the and the activity fees are in there. Yeah, >> one of the questions that had come up to us in an earlier meeting was the question of, you know, as we have um instituted activity fees across the board when it's a volunteer
organization, why are we doing that? >> Um and we we didn't choose to, you know, try to try to work a policy in public because there's some considerations there. But I'm wondering if maybe you could talk to us a little bit about what the background um of how you're thinking about the activity fees for the various
student groups that are uh that are affected by that. Do you do you want to talk? Yeah. Okay. >> Yeah. I I can jump in because quite honestly, I think Joany's preference was we would have no fees for anything and kids could go to school and do everything that they wanted to. Um but from a finance standpoint, we needed to
institute fees because we didn't have the revenue to to pay for everything we wanted for kids. Um Joanie and I talked about this. I think one of the challenges that we've thought about there's there's two considerations I think school committee would want to take into account in thinking about activity fees. One is a philosophical
reason like if if you have a student organization that does, you know, fundraising for charitable causes, things like that, um or serves the school or community back, do you want to charge a user fee for that? And that's a philosophical decision um that the school committee can certainly make. The
second side is funding and revenue. Um and if we wave fees, what is the offset and do we move that into the general budget? I think the philosophical piece is probably more important than the revenue because we're talking probably tens of thousands of dollars in stipens,
not hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars. So, I think just to to frame that, one of the things that Joanie and I did talk about though was probably most of our high school clubs have some type of community service element to them. And so I think what I've personally found, and so I've had to do
this myself and in other communities and think about it here, was what is that fine line where you would choose not to have a fee or to have a fee and is there a level of community service you want or is it any community service? So I just think it warrants a longer and broader
discussion to determine what would qualify for a fee waiver or not. But there are certainly ways that the committee can determine some clubs may or may not have them. In other words, that sounds like a policy sub conversation. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, put that in the back of your
mind for next year if that's something that you're interested in. Okay. Any other questions about um the handbook and any of the updates? Okay. If you think of anything between now and the next meeting when we're looking to vote this, I think um please
send that along to me and Peter and we'll get it to you. Thank you, Joanie. All right. So that brings us then to our update on the generative generative AI working group. Um so it looks like Gabby and Amy are here. Excellent.
Hi everyone. Good evening. Thanks for having us. Amy and I are really pleased to be here to share an update with you on this year's work. Um we call this our phase one work around um artificial intelligence specifically
related to generative AI and the work that this uh team of educators and students and community members engaged in this year. As we always do, we anchor ourselves in our mission and our vision and our core values and our vision of a
graduate. We're really excited on June 11th to replace all of this text with our graphic design that was inspired by a sophomore at Actton Boxboro Regional High School. So maybe this will be the last time you'll see so much text on the page.
And as well, as you're aware, um, as part of our strategic planning process for 2026 to 2031, we identified four strategic priorities that we really, um, consider all of our work through um, as our northstar and to anchor us in all
the work that we do regardless of the content area. So tonight we're going to talk with you about the focus areas that our phase one working group engaged in this year. Um we had a few core missions and I want to
I want to highlight what this work was and what this work was not because um we intentionally called it phase one work because we understand that this technology is very quickly evolving and we need to remain nimble and humble.
Those are my two terms of the last month. I've decided I'm going to make a bumper sticker out of it. Nimble and humble. Um the first uh piece of information that we gathered as part of our working group was really what do what does our community value and what
do they um what do they worry about? What are their concerns and their hopes? We did that as you recall through a thought exchange with our students and with our families and with our greater community. Then we as a working group engaged in shared learning about evolving technologies um by doing um
doing a deep study of lots of other district work and also um that was framed by the department of elementary and secondary education. There was a working doc for guiding um thinking that really helped to anchor our first meeting together. Um we then developed a
little bit of individual expertise in smaller working groups. So we broke our working team into smaller groups and then um looked at how we could develop our own guiding principles which is very different than policy. So I just want to make sure that I'm clear that school
committee policy is something that you all oversee. Our work was really to identify some guiding principles. I will not say that we will not never have policy because um I think that that is something that we need to continue to um iterate and we need to adapt our
existing policies certainly to reflect the change in this technology. Um but the MASC is right now um in a space of not advising standalone AI policies and so our work right now or our work in
this working group was to develop guiding principles. So some foundational anchors to help us with the work that's to come and then um to make sure that we also established a timeline for further
development and learning for us. And we developed three phases of that work that Amy's going to talk about in just a little bit. I want to just give a shout out to our team of um advisors and partners and um participants in our working group. We have three members,
uh, four members of our team here. Um, principal Dean and assistant principal Vaness and our rockstar sophomore Will Mailer. It's right behind me. Will was, uh, my phone a friend around a lot of AI issues. And also, um, thank you to
Andrew Schwarz for being one of our community adviserss. I had when we sent out the thought exchange in the fall, I had three community members reach out and say, "How can we help?" And so, um, throughout the whole process, um, I was able to reach out to all three, Andrew
and Amy and Brandon, um, just to say, "Here's what we're thinking about right now. Can you check for blind spots for us?" And they were really great. They looked at a lot of documents, edited a lot, and, uh, realized that we like the messy work with, um, all of them involved. Super grateful.
The department of education is very clear about the fact that um the reality is that AI is not just a future concept. It's already embedded into our educational tools and systems that are used in the schools. As you can see, um,
this this, um, iceberg image is something that we see a lot of, and we've been talking a lot about the generative AI, all of the top of the iceberg kind of stuff that we can see, but in reality, we have to look at the whole iceberg, which is there's a lot going on below the surface already. That
predictive AI and operational AI already exists in so many of our systems. Um, so just being making sure that we have that awareness. Um, our work really did focus on this tip of the iceberg for our guiding principles. Sorry about that. And this was our um
working group's development process. Again, our ultimate task was to define guiding principles that were going to anchor us for the rest of the work that's to come. So, we reviewed national and state guidelines, most notably, as I mentioned, desis. We had collaborative
processes and partnerships with lots of other districts. Um Amy and a small team and myself attended a three-day um symposium around developing guidelines and guardrails. And this was with a national organization. It was a room
full of folks like us who were looking to ensure that their guidelines and guardrails really mirrored the values of their unique communities. And um we had collaborative work with our um regional high school with our working group that was taking place at the high school because they were doing some parallel
conversations there. This point I'm going to turn it over to Amy for the for the really important conversation which is the five guidelines and guard rails that we defined as a working group. Go. >> Thank you. Um so here are the five
principles the task force identified. We have humans first, adaptive literacy, responsible stewardship, rigorous governance, and institutional use. At its core, humans first centers the
belief that what we do here at AB must remain deeply human. Students need adults who know them, challenge them, encourage them, notice when they're struggling, inspire curiosity, and create belonging. AI cannot replace any
of these. We know that. We know that. With this principle, we focused on protecting and prioritizing the learning process itself. Recognizing that some of the deepest learning happens through productive struggle. We need to ensure
AI supports learning without replacing the critical thinking, the problem solving and cognitive growth that comes from students engaging directly with the work. The importance of human agency in this work is central. AI may help
scaffold learning, but the ownership of the thinking, the understanding, and the final product must remain authentically human. Think of it this way. If AI can instantly generate an average essay, then celebrating originality becomes one
of the most important things we can teach our kids. If AI can summarize information in seconds, then critical thinking becomes the skill that helps us determine what is trustworthy, what is missing, and how the information should be applied. That's why it's incredibly
important that AI should never be the sole basis for decisions around student support, disciplinary actions, or academic outcomes. Those decisions require human understanding, professional expertise, context, and care. Again, things that simply cannot
be outsourced to a machine. Now that we've covered the importance of protecting human thinking, the next principle is really about teaching both students and staff how to navigate AI thoughtfully and with the ability to
critically navigate the tools, the information, the systems that are constantly changing. This slide highlights uh some of the ways we believe this work should come to life in practice. First, developmental readiness for our students. That is key.
AI literacy skills will be introduced progressively as students continue to build foundational reading, writing, and critical thinking skills throughout their school experience. By high school, students can be can begin using AI more intentionally and responsibly while recognizing that
appropriate use may look very different across the disciplines. A history classroom, science, math, world language, they may each establish different expectations for AI AI use because authentic learning and the role AI can play within that looks different
in each subject area. At the same time, this work is not only about how students learn to use AI, but also about how educators learn to thoughtfully integrate it into instruction. The task force identified key areas where AI can help teachers,
such as scaffolding support for their students and revising lessons to be more aligned with UDL principles. All of which requires meaningful professional learning so that teachers have time to think deeply on where AI can can provide the most impact for
their kids and especially when designing ways to help mitigate over reliance on AI by our kids. Ultimately, this principle is really about preparing all of us not just to use AI tools but to think critically about them, question them, and use them intentionally in a
rapidly changing world. As we think about integrating AI into teaching and learning, we also have to talk about responsible stewardship. And that begins with a clear recognition of the hidden costs of these technologies, including their environmental impact and
the role of intellectual property in human generated content that underpin these systems. In practice, this means helping students understand these impacts, teaching respect for creators and their and their intellectual property and establishing clear
expectations for how AI use should be cited. Simply put, we need to be transparent about how and why AI tools are being used so that they are approached with clarity, consistency, and awareness of its broader impact, not just its
instructional potential. If stewardship defines how we think about AI, governance defines how we operationalize it safely and consistently. This means proactively securing our systems and carefully vetting all AI tools to ensure they meet the highest
standards of for privacy, data security, and responsible data practices. First and foremost, any district approved AI tool must not be used to train commercially available large language models. They must also comply with all
state and federal privacy regulations. Any potential AI tool will be vetted to review the vendor's practices related to the data sourc sourcing and its usage. Access to AI tools will be intentionally controlled through district managed
accounts and role-based permissions to ensure age appropriate use. And finally, we must be prepared for emerging risks related to the deep deep fakes, misinformation, or unauthorized data exposure by updating our our incident
response plan. Together, these safeguards ensure that innovation is supported by structure and that trust, safety, and accountability remain at the center of AI use in AB. One of the most important things to
understand about AI is that its outputs are shaped by the patterns, perspectives, and gaps in the information it is trained on from across the internet. As a result, these tools can reinforce bias, producing stereotypes, missing perspectives, and
confidently stating inaccuracies. This makes human review and critical evaluation essential when working with AI generated content along with explicitly teaching students how to recognize how to question and address and address the bias that they may
encounter. At the same time, these systems also create an opportunity to expand access to learning when they are intentionally and used responsibly. This makes equitable access to AI tools essential, especially since not all
students have access to personal devices outside of our schoolisssued Chromebooks, and we don't want to widen the digital divide. All in all, these five principles provide the foundation for how we will move forward shaping a three-year plan
for thoughtful and responsible imple implementation. As you just heard, uh we have been this year has been we have been listening, planning, building infrastructure, engaging with constituents, and we have also been looking at uh
where the digital literacy is currently being taught across all of our grade levels. Ultimately, the presentation tonight in the guidelines and guard rails ends our phase one and moves us into next year phase two.
We're really looking forward to um our day of AI which will be in August. This will be a day dedicated to learning more about AI where teachers will have the ability to spend time with these tools and guided support from experts in the field. We also look to identify when and
how AI literacy will be taught across the grade levels. And finally, we will be focusing and supporting our high school students with their use of Gemini. Moving into phase three, our focus will be on teaching AI literacy across all of
the grade levels, continuing support for our teachers. As AI is always evolving, we know it will require continuous reflection, feedback, and adjustment as both the technology and education educational best practices continue to change. Our
overall goal is to approach this carefully, responsibly, and always through the lens of what is best for students and learning. Thanks, Carrie. As we do with all of our work, since the adoption of our vision of a graduate, we
did a crosswalk with these guiding principles and our vision of a graduate so that we could make sure that our language and our essence of intention are um aligned. And so, you'll see here we um overlaid each of the guiding principles with our vision of a graduate. you'll see some connection to
the competencies that are developed um through that process. Something that um a lot of districts have adopted as as we mentioned early we are not talking about policy or procedure but we're talking about principles right now but the principles
really do need to inform the practice eventually. So, as we move down the path of further implementation and provide educators with um their own professional decision- making around how they're going to allow or when and if they're
going to allow student access to AI tools in the upper grades because we will not enter into that space for our lower grades at all at the beginning. Um, we want to be very clear about a few things. Unless explicitly permitted by a teacher, students should assume AI is not allowed for assignments. And um
we're looking to use a um very familiar symbol of this traffic light, red light, yellow light, green light. Specific examples of what constitutes these um yellow, red, and green um symbols will vary across classrooms and educators and will be communicated by specific
individuals. So our role right now is to really make sure that we're supporting the educators, the adults to understand the impacts of AI and really understand what um AI can be um used for their professional practice to ensure that
they um can create some efficiencies and supports for access for students um and also um give them the ability because they're all learning on their own. This is a swirling time of incredible growth in this topic. Um, educators really do
need to have the ability to make their own professional discretionary decisions about this work um with how student use is going to unfold. Regarding the student learning experience, as as Amy mentioned, we've been doing a lot of work in partnership. Amy's been an
incredible partner with um our digital learning team. So, we um as as you as you all know, a few years ago, one of the impacts of our budget reductions was um we reduced all of our digital literacy coaches. Um and we've really
tried to reimagine if not there in that space than where. And so, we've been working very closely with our elementary K to6 um library media specialists to create more of a library media digital literacy experience for students. and
this conversation of embedding digital literacy through an AI lens is um very much growing through that capacity um K to8 um so it's been really exciting to to partner with that team on that work and then we also want to acknowledge
that AI is part of a broader conversation as we integrate AI into learning we stay grounded in technologies role in our students lives very much more broadly we want to ensure that technology for any purpose is
intentional. We want to ensure that technology use is centered on student well-being and human connection. And we want to ensure that screens are one tool, not the default. We've been having lots of conversations. I was saying to um our educators on the 19th and we will
talk about it with our families on the 26th as well that you can't stand in a grocery line or listen to a podcast or read a a headline about um concerns about student and screen time use and the impact especially on our youngest
learners. So, we're going to be anchoring ourselves in this broader question of does this technology, whatever this is, help our AB students think, interact, and create more effectively than a non-digital po non-digital approach would in this
context. I learned recently at a conference that June 19th is a very big day. If you have not heard, Toy Story 5 comes out on June 19th. And if you have not yet seen the trailer and if families have not yet talked about their concerns
about technology use after June 19th they will. It is a story about the toys against the machine. And so um there's a lot of raising concerns and as we know um media and um Hollywood sometimes put the puts those platforms out in an
entertaining way and it's really it's really um heightening awareness um around this broader concern and question about technology and screen time and we want you to know it's on our brains as well. Also want to note that this is our
promise to you that this will be a living document for an evolving world. We'll continuously adapt to new technologies while holding fast to our core values, wellness, equity, and engagement even in the age of AI.
We're very happy to take any questions that you might have. >> And I don't think I've seen so many hands go up so fast. So I'm going to start over here and we'll work our way around. U Vicram, go ahead. Hi. Um, I actually I have two areas of concern. I should preface this by saying
actually my wife uh is also trains teachers and she's actually in the process of implementing exactly this at at her high school uh where she oversees this. Um two areas of concern. one just quickly um regarding about you know uh
sort of um access to digital records and so on and so forth and keeping that from LLMs right you know supposing it slips into Google's hands right or you know and Google says okay well what are you going to do about it right is I was thinking perhaps there's a way that we
could sort of group as a commonwealth across all the schools to sort of have a larger voice uh just but the the other thing is Um, let's see. There's sort of two parts to this. One is how how do you it's such it's such a slippery slope, the fine
line between allowing kids to use AI and preventing them from using AI. And how can you actually be certain whether or not they're actually using AI when they shouldn't be using it. And it really takes a very uh watchful eye on the teachers part to do that. And and one of the things my wife is actually doing is
restructuring classes in such a way that the work is done in the classroom. There there are various ways about this. So I'm just wondering a if that my question was a second but I lost my thread. Um sorry um it'll come back to me. Let's go. >> You want me to take that one forum?
Would that be okay? That second one. Okay. And it I bet it's going to come back to you. It happens to me all the time. So in terms of changing pedigogies and educators they are thinking about this all the time. So there there are um a lot of educators who are moving to um
a lot more written assignments and in-class assignments and that is an adaptation that I think early in this phase of understanding AI is a very natural space to be. I you know I have a freshman in high school at home right now and I have and I have a a sophomore
in college and I I'm seeing a lot of a lot more writing and a lot more brain hand um connection in his work right now than I remember seeing when my son was in high school. So that's one adaptation. You know teachers are have their pulse on this work very very
closely. Um that is one way to you know adapt. Another way that educators are talking about this, we um we we do have Chromebooks and a lot of we use the the um Google platform and so we use Google Docs. Another way that we can to look to ensure is you can see editing history on
our kiddos's work. When you look at editing history, you can make sure that students are iterating their work corrections, right? Tracking changes versus, you know, potentially taking something that might have been generated in an outside source. I will say that
the AI detection systems are are shoddy and they've not been proven to be very effective or trustworthy that we've seen. That may change as so much has changed. But I do think that educators are thinking very very deeply about this
with these pure hearts of ensuring that their students can think, ensuring that they can generate original thought, ensuring that they can be creative, ensuring that they have these foundational competencies before they can get into a space of only use
this AI tool for this particular purpose in this particular assignment. Peter, did you want to add anything to to that as well? I can put on your microphone. Oh, no. Okay. >> I knew you would. >> And and and the the second part is uh there's a big conference in downtown
Boston, I think a couple of Fridays ago, I believe, uh and the provos from MIT was speaking and and she was saying that uh to be competitive in the in the market going forward, it's not no longer being able to do technical stuff, but it's sort of the human connection, so on and so forth. But one of the things that's happening is the use of AI is
sort of eroding core competencies. Um, and and I'm just wondering how how are you thinking of addressing that? I mean, obviously you are. I Right. I imagine you got you're so thorough, Gabby. I have to say, uh, I it's really I gotta say it's my last day here. It's been such a pleasure work with you. I just I
have just I just think you're great. >> Thanks, Vicram. I mean, I think the time Thank you. I think the timing of this working group with the adoption of the vision of a graduate was not a coincidence. Um I think the fact that
this district endeavored to identify these competencies and that are the beating heart of the work right so all the things in math science social studies English the content like all that's really important but the fact that we really really put our hat on
adaptability and create and communication and creative like that next to AI I feel like we're going to be okay because we really did anchor ourselves elves in that work of the vision of a graduate and I think if we just the just like these guiding
principles which you you know I we've been looking at these strategic planning priorities a lot since we did the work with DMG and it's been really refreshing to say let's go back and check our thinking against these things I think
the guiding principles which the first one is about humans first and human connection I think as long as we keep reminding each other let's go back to what the why is. Let's go back to the root of our intention. I think we're going to be okay. It is a very rapidly
moving time. And so nimble and humble. Um we're just going to keep doing those things. But I I really do think it's not a coincidence that we have those two things at the same time. >> And last thing quickly, just the one thing you said up there actually my wife and been discussing that that it did donate it makes so much sense that you
actually tell the children how AI can be detrimental to them learning these core things. So that I think is a really great approach. Thanks again >> Glenn. >> So thank you for this and I just kudos to the team. There is more technical and
educational expertise in like one little grid than I've seen in lots of little spreadsheets. So this is an excellent uh team to tackle this. I I have a few thoughts about how I feel this technology should be addressed and then some uh recommendations for myself and
just questions. So it's just and I think another these guiding principles are excellent. Human first love that at the top um because learning how to think is so much exponentially more important than just being able to click a button
and then have an essay that generates an A. like the the part of learning that is boring and tedious and like it just having to deal with like oh god where does this comma go? Like that very
mechanical clunking thing. Um English used to be one of my worst classes and then I in community college I won the English department's writing award because I just got very good at just dealing with the mud of it. So, it's just helping kids make sure that like it
is okay to be struggle and be bored with learning. That's kind of the point. Um, so I I I'm glad that we're focusing on that. And I think that we live in a society where short-term productivity and output is often prioritized at the
cost of long-term competence and skill development. Um, and these I feel predatory tech companies have billions and billions of dollars of incentives to be like, "No, it's okay. Just let us do all your think all the thinking for you." >> Right.
>> Yeah. And then even in Chrome, Google I feel is disgusting. They literally have like in the Chrome's UI, they'll be like, "Looks like you're working on a math problem. Would you like to click a button and get some help with it?" It's like, "Maybe talk to a human first."
Like that's one thing. Um, so there's just a lot of things I feel that it's good to limit the exposure to a more developmentally appropriate age. Um, there's reporting from the Wall Street Journal that I find particularly disturbing a lot about AI psychosis,
>> AI chat bots that are sickopantic and emotionally manipulative. And these companies will be like, well, we have out of the billions of queries we service a day, only a small handful deal with anything like that. It's like,
yeah, even if it's 0.001%, that's still thousands of people. So, I think limiting this exposure and being very intentional with where it int is introduced is particularly important, particularly for developing brains, because it's like, all right, class,
we're going to focus on some on using AI tools. open up your laptops and then a 14-year-old boy is like, "What if we use it for something else?" Like, that's going to happen. So, I think just making sure that we continue to be intentional about that. Um,
one qu a few concrete things. One thing I'm wondering is if there are in Google Workspace, if we're going to use Gemini, I Gemini and Anthropic Claude are far safer than chat and chatgbt and grock. Um, so if we're going to use, let's say
you have Google Workspace, you administer a bunch of Chromebooks. I'm wondering if you can have systemwide configuration settings so you can output, you can tell Gemini, hey, don't be inflammatory with your rhetoric. Don't be overtly emotionally engaging.
I've done that with my own Gemini configuration settings. You can say be briefer and less stick in your responses. That's one thing. So, I'm wondering if that can be explored just to make the output just more fact. You can literally just tell it. Just don't be so sick of fantic. Please just be
blunt, direct, to the point, technical, and site your sources. And even then, it's not perfect, but it's better. Um, two more things. I'm wondering if um a deeper reliance on blue books and just handwriting tests is preferable to just
saying like, "All right, well, here's a computer. Go do the homework." Or just if you like, that's too tempting. It's too tempting to just be able to for any teen to just be able to tap a button and then you just get an essay that can pass the class. That's not really sufficient. So, I'm wondering if blue books and
handwriting for test administration. Um, and the last thing in these guidelines are some of the best I've seen in any organization that deals with trying to think about how AI can get implemented going forward. Um, I would like to see more specific examples of
potential risks and harms like sophantic chat bots that are used for over like I can easily imagine some kids that are just like I don't want to talk to my peers in the cafeteria. That's too noisy. I would rather just talk to this chatbot. It tells me nice things about me. Like if you're 12 years old, of
course that's a risk. So, I'd like to see a bit more specific cases about like how those harms and risks are being are out there right now and if we can limit their exposure and continue to
implement these this technology in a thoughtful deliberate way and use it so that it's encouraging thinking instead of being used to supplement to just completely replace it. That's a lot I had to say. I have a computer science degree and I was in special ed myself. So of course I have a lot of thoughts on
this but like so those are my thoughts. >> Thank you. >> If you have any thoughts sh or we can just move on. >> First of all thank you for uh the presentation. My question or comments are going to be quite brief but to the point. Uh could you go into more detail
about the rigorous governance that you're talking about? Specifically, can you speak about the protections that are needed to ensure that student data and records are kept safe? Have you thought about which AI tools will be introduced into district workflows? And what is the
AI working group going to do specifically to ensure compliance and privacy requirements to prevent unauthorized or inappropriate use of student information? I'm concerned about this because working where I work, there
are all sorts of red flags up about AI. Use of AI to record meetings, use of AI to pull in information, use of AI for anything. And the fact that once it goes out of our walled or our guard, walled garden, I think is the correct terminology.
>> Once it's out there in in the ether, there is no getting it back. And that is a a significant concern I have for our students, our faculty, and our administrators here that the information's out there and then you
can't pull it back. >> Great question. Um, and to be honest, we're we're just going really slow and we're um really not doing too much with in general. We're we're sticking with Gemini. So Google has um
put the Gemini module within the core service of data privacy. So it's just as private as our email or our Google Docs. And so that's the only tool that we are saying that the district can use both staff and next year for the students at
the high school only only that the there is one other tool that we are going to um move forward with with teachers and that's um a a like a chat GPT um chatbot. It's uh called Lenny Learning
and it's new. Um we when I was talking about vetting um vendors, you know, the curriculum team and I really put these we we we were looking at school AI, magic bus or magic school and um this
Lenny learning. And so with each of these vendors, we really uh asked a lot of probing questions exactly where their uh large language model is getting their information. Um and Lenny Learning is all backed by research and evidence. Um
and uh the other two big names could not answer those questions in the way that we felt comfortable. >> So I don't mean to interject, but >> I'm sure I didn't tackle everything that you had asked. >> So getting back to the Google Gemini uh
application, you're currently utilizing that right now. >> The only the staff the staff half hour. >> Is that within a gardened environment within the school? So, it does not go outside of the school into the Google servers. >> Absolutely. It is guarded. It is walled walled garden. Yep.
>> Just to add a couple quick things. Um, one, we belong to the Massachusetts Data Privacy Alliance, uh, which is a statewide contract that actually helps us vet data privacy agreements with all of the vendors. Google is one of the vetted vendors on that. Um so and yes we do actually we definitely have the
walled garden environment um with Gemini and then we also even just at the beginning of this year even before this work started issued guidance to our staff saying that anything related to student work had to be within the Gemini ecosphere um and they were not to use any language models outside of that um
for student level data. That said, there certainly are things outside of student data that you could use other language models, but anything relating to students needs to be kept within that environment. >> Great. Thank you. >> And
>> unlike my colleague, I'm going to be long-winded and divergent in my conversation and just kind of be floating all over the place. Um actually um so Google this last week launched a bunch of new tools and it expanded everything in tools that they plan to integrate into every aspect of their products and it brings to to brings out
this tension that we have between maintaining AI literacy and maintaining the boundaries of AI use as we've defined as a district. The stuff you're talking about here like spellch checkck and grammar check that's native to everything except my text messages. Um AI tools and services are going to
follow that same route. it's going to become integrated and folded in. What's the plan for controlling how future TR tools integrate into our academic setting? That's one question. The other question is that AI isn't free. You know, we can think for free, but the
computers don't and they use tokens and they use credits. And a part of that is that depending upon the use of the AI, it consumes a number of tokens and credits. And I know um we want to be able to to enable thousands of users
inside our district with this. Is there a potential budgetary impact that will come from enabling Gemini across everything? Are there limits that will be reached and how do we manage to be able to work within whatever limit Google provides to us? So two questions.
Um, so as of right now, like the Gemini is a part of our add-on um with our Google products that gives um specific like teaching tools um and access to the core service of of Gemini. So, the
walled garden version of the Gemini, we haven't explored tokens or credits. And from what I gather, like right now, for the most part, those come with those generative um like media and video and um some of those uh applications that
are just, you know, doing a whole lot more than what we are look aiming to do right now. So the financial costs, I'm not sure what that could look like in the future, but right now it's not really adding anything to our budget.
And then can you repeat the first question? >> Well, to to that reach out to whoever our Google representative is because you know the first one being free means the second one's going to be expensive and you're hooked for life. >> Um so be careful and check that out. I think it's important before we dive too
deeply. Even textbased conversations in Gemini use tokens. That's how they they do their stuff and it's important for us to be able to know that we're opening up the door for future expenses. We're not doing it. The other question had to be or had to do with um as AI tools become
more sophisticated and that sophisticated integrates into the other tools we're using, how are we maintaining our operations around ensuring that the boundary we define as a district is kept up. Yeah, it's hard.
It's really really hard because um first of all, it's it's about whether or not we actually have control to make any of these types of configurations and changes. Um so that's one thing. And then if we do have control, we make those changes. Uh we set those boundaries. Um kids are curious. They
find ways around those boundaries. We try to, you know, work through those only to it it's sort of an interesting uh chain of events. So, if anything, I think we really need need to start thinking about how we can like talk with our kids um about just
if there was a way for them to just stick with, you know, just to being appropriate and not going outside of um you know, what the teachers are expecting and the reasons why and why the learning is important. Um yeah, go ahead. >> I would just add Thank you. You did
great on that one. I mean, I think it's it just it goes back to those competencies and it's not an if, it's a when. It's not an if a student is confronted with a a challenging um value judgment that they're going to make, but when they are and how do we help them
navigate that. Um it's raising good humans. It's talking about the fact that there are going to be circumstances and let's work through this in a safe space. Um because I do think even every time we've tried to put certain limitations
or boundaries on even if students students can wiggle around those but then there's just another layer that's added that's all of a sudden and it's staying on top of it. So it's it's really it's the part of the work, right? It's the part of the work of of of helping kiddos navigate not the if this
happens but when this happens and how how we need to guide guide them through those decisions. >> Thank you. And I would just suggest that you keep a working group of some kind who can keep a breast of the things that are happening and maybe stay in contact
on a regular basis with your Google rep to be able to then figure out what pieces because I know that I know of kids who've used Grammarly and gotten caught not because they were doing anything wrong, but Grammarly is on their machine. Grammarly says try writing it like this and it comes out looking like, you know, something a
fourth grader wouldn't write or whatever it is. Thank you. And >> you'll stay a community adviser, I hope, as well. Thanks, Lisa. >> So, first I wanted to thank you and for all of the people that um contributed and all of the hard work um that went
into this. I could tell there was a lot of thought that went into this and this was such a multifaceted approach and there were just it looks like you were really thinking about everything when you were looking at this. Um, some of the things I appreciated in just referring to what Ben had mentioned with
um, there being an incident response plan to address deep fakes, image manipulation, and unauthorized data exposure. I think that's really important. I think there's been a lot of um, stories in the news recently about that. So, I'm really glad that as one of the many safeguards that seem to be mentioned and put into place. I do
appreciate that one. Um, one of the other things I appreciated as I was reading through all the information was uh, making sure that students will be talked to about the environmental impact um, especially thinking about the carbon footprint um, of all those AI servers. So, I think that's really important. Um,
and then one some of the things that I was kind of thinking through I was as I was thinking about this because I think this is such a nuanced issue. there's, you know, there's so much in between and, you know, there's pros, there's cons, there's really a lot to consider and I could tell that, you know, there
was a lot of thinking about all of that as you were doing this. Um, we know AI is such a big part of the workplace. Now, as mentioned, you know, read all the time, a lot of companies are pushing employees to be able to do it. People are worried about losing their jobs to
AI. Um, however true that may or may not be, but um, I definitely think as part of digital literacy, yes, students will definitely need to be able to h know how to use AI and be able to recognize AI, especially as they're trying to discern
fact from fiction. Um, I think that'll be really important um, as there's a lot of misinformation and disinformation out there. Um, but one of the primary things I was thinking about or wondering about when you were talking about um this being aimed more towards 7th through
12th grade, but possibly looking at all of um the grades and kind of thinking about maybe down the road the younger grades. Um, one of the things I was just thinking about is concerns for declining literacy and thinking about that prefrontal cortex development and so much executive functioning um that
students are learning and some students may have struggles with and you know the different challenges around that because when you're writing something as you know of course there's a lot of planning and thought that goes into it and there's um the process is really
important and so one of the concerns I have is the frequency of use and how it would be integrated into the lower grades, especially as they're getting a lot of those um foundational elements that are really critical for their
literacy and being able to think critically in the future and being able to analyze data and um come up with their own summary and synthesize that information. >> Yeah, thank you for that. Our um student use is is not in our brains about K to8
at all um right now. I don't know that it will be um but we can't say that it is. I think what we want to make sure students have an opportunity to do is engage in d as part of a digital literacy learning experience but not using the actual technologies um at the
younger grades. So I think it's really important for us to name that and also um keep a pulse. I think in the longer document that we shared with you all um we talked about the fact that student use with AI would need to be
very very carefully chosen based on the development of um literacy competencies already right so we're rereading writing effectively so primarily I think most of the use that we're going to see over the
next few years is really educator use to support their instructional practice so that they can provide deeper access um to learning deep learning. There are students for whom artificial educators using a tool um to help a student access
information and um learning differently is a gamecher for for some kiddos. Um but that's not speaking to students using AI, it's speaking to that teacher use. So I appreciate you you naming that. Yeah, thank you so much for explaining and also wanting to
acknowledge that I know there are a lot of techsavvy students out there already who may know how to use this. So, this does kind of put a lot of students on equal playing field with um you know, giving everyone access to that. So, just recognizing that opportunity as well, >> Dennis.
>> Great. Um I want to echo my committee members thanks here for putting this together. >> Sorry, is that better? Thank you. I'm still new here. Um, I want to thank you guys for putting this together and putting such a thoughtful thought and add a couple of thoughts here. Um, I'm
glad to see this is looking at part of the digital landscape. I think anybody here that's a parent knows the struggle with screens and the the good and evil that come with them and this isn't going to help anything from that point of view. It is another tool in the toolbox. I mean, which is one of the things I
worry about, right? This is another thing we have to have our teachers worried about, right? Where there's already a lot on their plates. Um, one concern I have is that you laid out a nice timeline there. The speed of this is happening very, very quickly, quicker than almost anything I've seen in the
technology space in my 25 years in technology. Um, and I'm even astounded sometimes that, you know, we could come back by the end of the summer and all the game has changed in terms of what these two tools can and can't do. So, I I want to make sure we're looking at this continually. Maybe that's what you
meant by humble and nimble because it is moving fast and our kids probably know more about it than what we are doing. Um I I think um you mentioned the education and development. I want to ask if there's opportunity if you guys are sending your faculty and staff that if
members of the school committee can be part of that at least some of that because I'd like to see what they're learning because I think it's going to be important for what they're going on. I don't want to volunteer anyone extra time. I know we're all busy. Um but I think I'll I I'll end with you know this is actually also offering many opportunities like this is a technology
here that is changing in a lot of areas and how do we make sure that we're not just looking at this with fear but also with what opportunities can it lead to to help enable our vision of the graduate and help enable students especially ones that may be you know not
in the mainstream or in the norm that there's a lot of things that it can do. So we we keep our eyes open for those opportunities. >> Yeah, for sure. >> August 27th from 8 to 2:45, we're hosting a day of AI for our grades
7 through 12. Um it's the second professional learning day of the three professional learning days, right? August 27th. So that will be um a great opportunity for all of us to engage in deeper learning and conversation about this topic.
As always, everything that comes from your work is wonderful and I learned a lot today. So, here is I'm I'm I'll make it short. Um, example, elementary school kids teachers teacher
is evaluating students and she told everybody else to be quiet because she's sitting at a desk and evaluating some students. and she put some toys to kind of play or watch and told somebody you can't touch if you touch you're in
trouble. You move it move to yellow. If you violated the rule then the kid violates the rule and the next one he violates to red. So this is a teacher who is not able to cope right with the
amount of the kind of uh work that he or she has been given right. So now you have a red, yellow, green system and I think the elephant in the room is how are educators going to cope with it, right? They they are going through
massive re-education of how to teach kids where their teaching models are no longer kind of their work for years that they have set up are no longer working. Um, I know it's not an elementary
school, but it everything looks really polished and very refined and very correct here, but how does it translate to a classroom where it's a students and the teacher and the teacher has been doing this for years a certain way and
now suddenly a teacher is given a red, yellow and a green system. >> How does that work? I mean, is it realistic to expect it would be smooth? >> I think this, thank you for your
question. Um, nimble and humble. That's the profession actually. That's why it came out of my mouth on Tuesday. Um, educators are incredibly adaptive and responsive to
students who show up to their classrooms and it's really hard work. Um the red, yellow, and green system is really just intended to be and we haven't rolled this out but this is you know kind of coming attractions right the the intention is that a familiar symbol is
that a that an educator should say could say we know what the red means this assignment is a red assignment this is like 100% unique individual thought um or if they make a different decision based on you know this piece of this assignment um and we still need to work
all that out with our team of educators because this is a work in progress. But I would say that um this is this is a complex area because as Dennis said it is very fastm moving um and educators have dealt with um
different learning styles and different kiddos who show up every day, every week, every month, every year. Um and they show up for what kids need. And I think that's what makes this profession
so uniquely poised. Um, it's not easy, but they are incredibly talented because of their ability to I think there was some research that said the number of decisions that you make in a day like I think doctors were the first and the
educators were the second, you know, making the most decisions in in one professional day. I'm sorry if I'm misquing research, but it's it's very high up there the number of decisions that educators make in a day. And I think that it is moment to moment and they are incredibly impressive at that. So I have I have high hopes for our
educators. I think it's it's just the pace of this change and the need to to change that's that's where we all worry and why we want to go slow to go fast. >> So I think my question is more in the you said it's a value judgment right? So
when you given this three and take punitive action against a student as if it's a value failure because it's so tempting. Everybody uses these tools. >> So I mean who who's there to say this is
okay, this is not okay. It takes years for us to say yeah that was okay that's not okay. Right? It's not like kid went and called somebody names or hit somebody. This is different, >> right? Um, so where do you draw that line on value judgment?
>> Yeah, I think it's just it'll be part of our learning as as we navigate this space. It is such a new space. So, we'll just keep navigating it. I mean I think open the high schools had probably the most conversations about this and I really appreciate the direction that the
administrative team has given the educators there which is don't assume have a conversation pause be curious lean in understand um because I think kids are curious and they are exploring and that is natural it's part of the
natural world it's part of their developmental system but I think that I think the high school's really taken a very nice approach of not jumping to punitive, not jumping to accusational, but jumping in with curiosity and and learning. So, we've been around once. We need to
stay on. Yep. I'm going to I'm going to cut us off here. But I do want to say I really appreciate um the last thing that you just said there, Gabby, because I have seen I've seen the human impact when an institution starts accusing instead of with curiosity. And you know, we just
started out with saying this needs to be focused on the people and these are going to be hard conversations to have when you know people are looking at work and questioning is it original? Because to be on the other end of that conversation and if it is indeed original work and to be told that no,
there's no way you could possibly have known this. This isn't your own. Imagine what that has just done to the relationship between an educator and their student. So that's I I really respect the way we're going about this. Could you go back real quick to the
phases slide please? Um I just want to keep us grounded here. Um I really appreciate the focus that you're taking. It is absolutely student centered. We've almost all mentioned vision of a graduate going around. That's so critical. And the next piece
is focusing on our educators and focusing on how do we introduce this to our students. And so, you know, this very thoughtful, methodical approach is really important. And I think we as as we all have some really big thoughts on this, we need to remember where we are
and keep going with this conversation, but recognizing we're still figuring this out. Um, I particularly appreciate the student voice in this. Is it is it Will? Yes. Good job. Thank you for being part of this. That's critical. and we're so glad you're here tonight, too,
because um I know that school committee meetings are are where every student wants to be on a Thursday night, but you're here with us. So, thank you for that. All right, so if you have further thoughts, again, please send them to Peter CC me, and we will get them to Gabby and Amy. Thank you so much for your work on this and and all the team
that was involved in this. Really well done. >> Thanks so much, everyone. All right, so the fun stuff is over and now we're down to policy, folks. Which means Andrew, you must be up. Okay, we do have a series of policies uh
and a number of uh some are AB4 trans related and others are not. Uh the first one for your review and consideration is a followup to the AB4 transition plan that you had initially uh approved on April 9th. If you recall, and this is
outlined in the memo that is in your packet, um we anticipated on early projections that with the geographic zoning and the placement of students based on that, we anticipated at the very least a likelihood that in Blanchard a few grades would have um
class sizes that were well beyond I think anybody's comfort. I think we're talking like 27 students in fourth grade. So with that in mind, you all um approved as part of the transition plan uh granting the districts some flexibility, limited flexibility to
implement a plan where we could invite families who were in those grades of Blanchard who fit certain criteria, the ability to indicate a willingness and an interest to move to a different school that would have some capacity. Um, now that we've actually gone through the process of placement, uh, we reviewed
all of the schools and what we found is yes, the the Blanchard grades that we anticipated did in fact, uh, come out that way. And in addition to that, there are a few spaces, um, at Boardwalk and at Parker Damon, uh, that could benefit from some movement as well. And so from
our p perspective as we're starting off sort of in year one um taking advantage of the of an opportunity to try and start kind of as as equally as possible in terms of class sizes across all schools. So, in very simple terms, the ask is to grant us the flexibility that
you provided for the Blanchard um anticipated increases and extend that to all of the schools where we anticipate or we're noticing um some above average class sizes that we think we can address through this process. So, the motion ahead of in front of you is just to
simply um extend that initial plan that was limited to Blanchard to all of the schools. So, happy to answer any questions. So Andrew, just to clarify, this is about getting our initial set right because we aren't
>> it it will be different for our incoming kindergarters. We can exercise our flex zones. >> We can exercise flex zones for um anybody who's a resident in a flex zone. Uh but for now, so this is a one-time implementation uh for the spring of 2026. This is not a a plan that would
happen on a reoccurring basis. >> Okay. Questions? Lisa? Madame Chair, may I please make the motion? >> If you're going to move, just move, Lisa. Go for it. >> I move that the school committee reaffirm and expand the transitional implementation authority previously
approved on April 9th, 2026 in connection with the AV forward elementary geographic assignment transition process. Specifically, the committee authorizes the superintendent or their designate to utilize the previously approved voluntary voluntary balancing process at any elementary
school and grade level where projected class size variance between comparable grade levels across schools exceeds two students or wherein in the judgment of the superintendent or designate, operational adjustments are necessary to support equitable class sizes during the FY27 transition year.
>> Second. >> All right. So, that was moved by Lisa and seconded by Ben. I'm going to pause here and see if there's any further discussion before we get to a vote. Anybody have questions or anything else they wanted to ask about? >> All right. All in favor?
>> I. >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? >> Okay. So, Vicram's abstaining. Okay. So, that motion passes. >> Great. The next one has nothing to do with AB Ford. If you recall way back in
the fall, I don't know if you can think back that far at this point, um we brought forth a policy based on uh new desi guidance around uh support and continued uh emphasis and and um awareness around alternate educational
pathways including but not limited to vocational programs. And so with that in mind, Desi has required all school districts to implement policy related to how we were going to support education to um particularly middle school students about different pathways including uh vocational programs. And so
we had to create what's called the CTE, the um I forget what CTE stands for right now. Um but uh the policy that would sort of codify how we partner with vocational programs in our case certainly for acting residents with the
minute man um the minute man district we've gotten that was approved the feedback that we got from both des and from minute man is that there were some um minor changes though important ones from their perspective that we make in particular two things one is that we
explicitly name Minute Man as the vocational program what we had done because Boxboro is not a member of Minute Man is that we simply said that any um vocational district of which we are a member um but what we're doing now is naming Minute Man and naming the
programs that are included in Minute Man, but then also acknowledging that for Boxboro they have options including Minute Man for uh seats that are available for non-member students as well as other vocational schools to which they may be admitted. There's a clause in there as well. So that's
included. And then in addition to that, um just specifying some of the dates and protocols around sharing information about student contact information with vocational programs. So I don't view it as uh as substantively uh different or or anything that uh I see as concern or
warranting huge discussion, but certainly uh enough to warrant bringing it to your attention for a formal vote. Happy to answer any questions. And then just a point of clarification, if Boxboro eventually enters an agreement with with a a district whether
minute man or otherwise, that would also be spelled out exclusively. >> Correct. >> Okay. >> I move to approve revisions to policy I H AI-CT as presented. >> Second. >> All right. That was moved by Lisa,
seconded by Liz. All in favor? >> I. Any abstensions? Anybody against? Okay, great. That passes as well. >> Okay. Uh, now we're on to the second read of the attendance policy. Just as a friendly reminder, um, was it the last
school committee or two school committees ago, um, Jen Faber and Heather Stout provided you an update about the uh, chronic absentism task force and the resulting work from that is the revised attendance policy that you all discussed and read. Um, and I
think there was good conversation. We didn't get any feedback around any questions or concerns or language suggestions. So, I think this is presented for your consideration for um any additional discussion and then potentially a vote. >> I move to approve the proposed changes
to policy JC-enrollment of students as presented. >> Second. All right. So, that was moved by Lisa, seconded by Ben. All in favor? >> Any opposed? Any >> ofism, not enrollment
>> or attendance? It's the attendance policy. >> All right, Lisa, would you like uh to accept the uh friendly nudge from our audience? >> Yes, I would like to accept the friendly nudge. I read the wrong thing. >> So, attendance policy policy JH
attendance policy. >> Yes. JH attendance policy. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? Vicram, are you were you going to abstain? Oh, you're good. Okay. All right. So, that is unanimous. Okay.
>> Okay. Now, we are entering I think a a second read of four policies and procedures that I my my guess is that there will probably warrant a little bit of follow-up discussion, especially since some of the feedback you you heard earlier this evening. Uh just as a reminder, there are um two policies and
two procedures. Uh a policy draft for enrollment to reflect the revisions that uh are part and parcel of the AB4 transition. And then an enrollment procedures uh and then a transportation policy that again uh reflects the changes made with the geographic zoning
and then the transportation procedures. Uh before this, well, let me just back up. In that first read, we did get some feedback. I think particularly what was helpful uh Andrew Schwarz gave some um feedback around the enrollment uh
procedures offering some areas where would benefit from some clarification from additional language just to make things a little bit um uh clear for any families or anyone else reading uh the procedures and so those are reflected in the draft that you see uh before you. Uh other than that, there
weren't any substantive recommendations either at that meeting or um since until this meeting. And then as you've heard, there was some feedback from Amanda. Appreciate uh that feedback. So uh I think I would just um validate and confirm Amanda's assumptions that uh the
intent of the language is different than um than any of the concerns that were presented. So I think to the degree that uh we need we should go back and offer a little bit of clarifying language I think that's perfectly appropriate and and happy to do so. I will admit I was
not able to think of specific language that would offer in the moment. So it probably would go back and and make some tweaks uh to reflect some of those highlights that Amanda pointed out. Um but I don't see any concerns around those because I think the the the intent and the purpose that Amanda talked about
was certainly we are in agreement with. Um I will point out that the the concern that the um the public comment made around uh transportation policy and dual homes. We did address that in the last meeting. I sort of shared that. I certainly want to acknowledge that that
the U presenter offers a different perspective and a different take on on how uh the school should manage that. That's probably a decision that your um body needs to make. I can certainly offer guidance and perspective, but um I
think what I originally shared in the last meeting kind of still still remains true. >> Lisa, I did have a quick question. I think Amanda mentioned this, but I'm not completely sure at this point in the meeting. Um, one of the things that was in that policy was it talked about the
district will not create new routes, stops or deviations from established rooting structures to accommodate individual requests. Uh, continuing on talking about the centralized rooting uh, model being essential for maintaining consistency across schools. Um, obviously the caveat to that being
if a student needs it closer because there is a legal document dictating, right? And so just because language matters and words matters and I just wanted to make sure that that would obviously be something that would be considered um should that
>> Yeah. I think I think what I took away from Amanda's point is that that um that it's important to sort of codify it in language even though there's sort of uh faith that we're going to obviously offer that just to provide anyone who's reading it that that's on the front of our minds and it's important enough to
actually put it in in the actual formal language I think is is certainly a reasonable request that we would we would want to incorporate. >> All right. Thank you. take one. >> Um I have a question regarding um supposing um I'm sure this has been
answered somewhere just to for my own thing. >> Sure. >> Um supposing a child who uh is split between two households within the district. So one week here and one week there >> uh will there be bus routes for that child coming from both both places in this document? This allows for that.
>> Right. So the so what I u had shared the last time is right now what the current policy is is what the current policy will be but of course um given the way that the placements are made will probably have a very different impact and what I mean by that is right now and
what will continue is that families are asked to identify one single legal residence um to for purposes of enrollment uh and so then the transportation is provided for to and from that one single residence. What
happens now is that for students who have two different homes, one at one home one week and one home the other, um you can request a bus pass to say, "Hey, on these off weeks or on these alternate weeks, I'm at this address. If there's a
bus route available that goes by that and there's space, could I request that I be able to attend that bus?" And that that would be granted if space is available and there's a route that goes there. What happens because of open enrollment right now is that while it's not the intent, the outcome is that we
basically have a mass transit system all through Actton and Boxboro because kids are going all over the place. And so for the most part, the transportation office has been able to to grant that simply because it exists, but not because it's a policy, but simply because it it um it actually is just available. So we would
extend that and keep that as the case where you still have one legal residence that you're guaranteed transportation to and from. And then if you'd like to request a bus pass for routes that are available, um that would certainly be available. But acknowledging given that we now have these geographic zones, the
the probability and the percentage of times where you might have a um a bus route that is in a different part of town that goes to a geographically zoned school will probably um be fewer be fewer in in incidents. And so the degree to which we can probably guarantee that
that would be the case might actually realistically be lower. is this current practice. >> But you say so you're saying there will be instances where that might occur and how would that be addressed? >> I I think the >> the onus would be on the parents. >> I think the onus would have to be on the
family because right now what the policy is is that we that the legal residence that they list for school registration is the is the address to which guaranteed transportation would occur to and from the school. >> But the idea is that these will be far and few between and and the probability that this will happen will be very low.
And the school district will work with these families to as much as possible I would imagine. >> Which when what when you're saying the incidents will be low? What do you mean in terms of having a route? >> Well, where where a child would actually have to be in this situation, right, going between two households and also
the bus route would not be in a close enough proximity to where their second house may or may not. >> So truthfully, that's the that's the challenges that we can't predict it. I if I if you were to ask me my opinion, my opinion is that there will probably be more cases where there may not be routes available for a secondary home in
>> there was previously >> than there was previously because in our open enrollment system, >> you know, just anecdotally, right, you've got buses going left, right, up and down. Now, I think the whole idea of geographic zoning is that while we do have some variability because we have out of we have students who are in um
specialized programs, so it's not in their geographic zone. we have some grandfathering right now for the next few years. So, I think that's still the case. But over time, when it's more geographically based, I do think that um there will be more incidences where you have a family that has a second home
that's not in the zone um where a route may not be sort of immediately and naturally available. >> And so, there's no legal requirement for the school district to supply it. >> No, the policy is that it's it's one family uh one home that's your legal residence. >> Okay. Thanks for clarifying.
So, Andrew, I I I I heard you acknowledge what Amanda provided us in feedback. Do do you want to make some tweaks to this or we >> I think my my my sense is it probably would be good for us to make tweaks and then bring it back to your next meeting because it's not just one word here. It's probably a phrase uh and some
clarification. And so I think I would suggest um bringing back language for those changes. >> All right. So in that case, if you think of anything else, email Peter, CC me. We'll get it to Andrew. Awesome. What's next on our list?
>> Personel report. >> The personnel report. >> Not a lot of big stuff. I will say just as a side note, we continue to engage in the the hiring process. Uh we've made some exciting hires so far in terms of the positions that we anticipate being open next year. We do still have a number of positions, some special
education positions at the elementary level, uh math and science at the junior high level. Uh so if you know anyone who uh you think would be a great addition in those areas, we certainly encourage them uh to apply. >> Glenn, >> on the personnel report, is something
like um a section on diversity progress something that could be added? >> Okay, >> I think that'd be reasonable. I would say Glenn that that probably is more useful sort of on an annual basis. Personnel report is a monthly like have
we is there fluctuation in terms of resignations and and uh support staff changes here and there. I think the the um progress we've made in sort of diversity of our staff um is probably good for our annual report on um on staffing
which usually typically happens late October. All right, >> that it. >> Thank you, Andrew. >> All right, so that brings us down to subcommittee and member reports. Um, Liz, do you have anything you want to
share about negotiations? >> Um, I don't know why I didn't even think to uh come up with something, but so um we have our next meeting. So, because there's uh we typically meet on Wednesdays because there is a uh holiday or um a no school day on Wednesday. We're going to meet on Tuesday this
week. Uh we did settle one of the big things that we were kind of far away on. So, we actually ended the negotiation uh last time with a big cheer which was good. Um so, I think that we're, you know, getting closer and hopefully uh getting around to an agreement.
>> Awesome. Common thread. You two want to rock paper scissors? >> Jose, if you've got >> Thank you very much. Um, the organization of the task force continues. We're building a public facing website to serve as the core of the initiative and we're happy to bring anybody in who wants to help beta test
it. It's built entirely on the AB Google suite. So, upon completion of this, we can launch it within abschools.org with no transition and it's still owned by um at least intellectually or rather techn technologically owned by the the uh the district. Um we're finishing
building out this website and it's a way for us to be able to um collect all of the information that's coming through the way it's a way of being able to do this. We'll put the word out to everyone once it's built. We'll put it on social media. We'll put it in school newsletters. Wherever we can do PTO channels so that the community knows
that we're open for business. will host at that point an open meeting to bring our interested people together into one room and then organize at that point who else wants to be part of this. At that meeting, we'll vote in the folks who want to review submissions and welcome
everyone who wants to be involved. That'll allow us to be able to set up listening sessions and Liz has been putting together the schedule for listening sessions over the course of the summer. So we'll have a couple of opportunities for people to come together and bring their favorite school memories, their favorite traditions, their things for engagement and
enrichment together and submit them directly into the site. As the ideas come in, they'll be reviewed by team members, people who are part of this whole task force and with direct experience within that area. So people who've done fundraising can look at fundraising ideas and say, "Oh, there's
some pieces missing. Let's add them here." The people who actually run the event will help define it. And ideas are approved when they're complete and well documented. They're not based on anyone's particular ideas as to whether we like them or not. They're based on preferences. And they'll be published
onto an online open catalog where anyone will be able to see it. Over time, we'll end up building a kind of living repository of AB traditions with each of them available as a PDF for being able to promote rather to provide multiple PDFs of these ideas for sharing. they
can be printed, passed along to whoever wants to bring them to life. Regarding membership, um we've got a growing list of people who are engaged, who've requested inclusion, who've emailed us, who've offered to help that include representatives from our current and future PTO's CPAC. Thank you, ladies.
Amanda, okay, Amanda doesn't want to be a part of it. uh the administration and principles as well as teachers, community members who've reached out and a gaggle of interested students who want to make sure that they're in um gaggle is a way of talking about all the students. If you have a collection of
kindergarteners, it's a chaos, just so you know. Our first meeting that we will vote in are operational team members and uh anybody who wants to go to take a look at the prototype of this, you reach out to me. I'll be happy to hand out the um information. The community has been overwhelmingly supportive in this
concept and we're looking forward to the first meeting to bring everyone together and to moving forward with this initiative. Liz, >> well said. >> Okay, so what we're still looking for from you guys, please um the committee
asked for the core membership to show somebody from each of the current existing school commi uh school communities and for that to be voted at the school committee level. So we are still looking for that. please. Um I I hear that you're you're wanting to vote things in and and that's great.
The piece that constitutes the group that is advising the school committee that is bringing forth recommendations to the school committee is something that we still need to vote in here. Um, so looking for that to happen hopefully to get this on a June meeting
before we all we all disappear for the summer because we're this is this is tricky. We're running out of time here. So in terms of that advisor, you know, would it need to be the like a representative from each of the schools or because I had initially been under the impression that, you know, sort of
the main pieces for school committee um level was going to be Andrew, myself, and Jen, >> right? And what we were asking for with that expanded me membership. So you guys were the core to get it started was then to come back with from the community who are the people you've brought from each
of the existing elementary schools. And that may not at this point now that we've gotten to where we we've gotten because we started having this discussion back in February. It may not make sense to do that now because everybody knows where they're going. And if that's the sense you're getting from the people who raising their hands, maybe that's what you're
bringing back. But we are looking to make sure that we at the school committee level are doing that process of making sure everybody is is involved. all of our communities have somebody who's in there and that we as a group have blasted off
on that and then that group has a reporting role back to us because that's what subcommittees and task forces do. Um still still questions go. So it can be like you know from the list uh that we have here um that well you don't have it
right now but like so the list of the people who have reached out who want we just need to make sure that we have proper representation from each of the um school bodies so to say and then that's what constitutes your quorum which is leading your bigger broader
body and that is the group that is responsible for doing the minutes and all of the things we do because we fall under open meeting law. Um, >> okay. Is it possible to have that vote added? We'll push that for the June 4.
>> Yeah, you you just tell me when you want it. We will put it on there 100%. >> Yep. >> Okay. Awesome. Thank you, >> Lisa. I have an uh liazison update for our finance committee. Um, so they met last
week on Tuesday and they have finalized their point of view, which is very exciting. Um the main components and uh points of the point of view were um thinking about fi financial uh sustainability and um just projecting
that um that there need to be some aggressive cost controls otherwise um there's a possibility um of a tax override in the next two to three years cost constraints. The committee recommends a strict stance on staffing um and looking at cost sharing. I think
they had some other ideas and then uh they were thinking about affordability with um you know residents concerned about tax burden and hoping to increase economic development and um obviously thinking about the MCI conquered what they um deemed as a threat because they
were worried about it um being a major competition drawing business away. So those were the main takeaways from that point of view. >> Cool. Anybody else have liazison reports that they'd like to share? Yeah, >> the HIT Health Insurance Trust had its
anti-penultimate meeting uh this morning as we moved from self-insured to MIA. The trust entered into a runout period, Harvard Pilgrims runout period ended last year on June 30th. The Blue Cross Blue Shield runout period will end this year on June 30th. Meaning that our
responsibility to any services provided through uh June 30th, 2024 ends on June 30th, 2026. If they haven't built us yet, they're not going to get paid. And that's why uh this is the anti-penultimate meeting. We learned
today that activity within the trust for the past month has received a credit of $36 and that we will hold our penultimate meeting or honor about June 18th to review our final set of potential charges and release any held funds back to the town and schools. Uh
we'll hold our final ultimate meeting sometime in July to finalize the demise of the actin health insurance trust. >> Awesome. Good work. All right. Any other leazison on reports? Well, in that case, I think um we need
to acknowledge that a couple of us think they don't have to come sit through school committee meetings, at least not behind microphones. Lakshmi and Vicram, it has been quite a ride. When we were all first elected, none of
us had any idea what was coming. not only how it would feel to sit here and make hard decisions under public scrutiny, but just how fast things would begin to spin. And we didn't even the three of us didn't even know each other at that point in time. >> Well, not until we were voted in, right? >> Well, no, we met on the bridge that day.
Remember you and I? >> You're right. We did. Okay. Better memory than I have. Um because at least I I already knew Leela and Yenshin because, you know, we'd all been meeting up together. But yeah, we landed in this and got thrown straight into the fire. Um overrides box assessment increase. you all had to go explain that um and
everything up through AB forward. It's been it's been something. Lakshmi, you have been one of our stalwarts on policy sub serving all three years and bringing your nononsense practical approach to drafting and refining policy. You know, we often hear that
people say it seems like everything's already been worked out before our main meetings. Maybe not tonight, but people say that about us often. And what I don't think they actually realize, it's because our subcommittees have already asked the hard questions and done the hard work before bringing the recommendations forward. And you have
been a critical part of that process. You have an ability to see the big picture and ask the question that suddenly seems obvious to the rest of us only after you've asked it. I think we had a demonstration of that tonight. And that perspective strengthened not only policy sub, but our full committee's
ability to navigate increasingly complex issues. And especially this year, you also served on capital sub and in liaison roles to the select board in the JPTSO. And you also were a part of the school resource officer um program and contract review.
You know, the two of us have had really different assignments over the year. and I have really appreciated the time you've taken to explain not just final recommendations that were coming before the full committee, but the story of how the work and the thinking behind it got it evolved into that place to begin
with. Um, that's that's something that I have really valued and I've learned a great deal from you because while I think we're both big picture thinkers, we take in information and evaluate it really differently. And so sometimes we disagree and that is something that I
have very much respected. But when we land in the same place and I realize we have come at it from two totally different directions, that feels really validating because it feels like we've looked at it from all the possible angles. And so I have really appreciated that.
Vicram, you were a regular on capital sub and a leazison to CPAC and Danny's place. We worked together most closely during the elementary budget task force and that's where I really truly came to appreciate your strengths in divergent thinking.
You know, people often talk about having a teammate who thinks out of the box and I'm not sure you ever even acknowledged there was a box to begin with. You have brought creativity, a willingness to challenge assumptions in ways that have consistently pushed our
thinking. Whether we were planning meetings, sorting through difficult problems, or somehow trying to reconstruct the meetings after the elementary budget task force moments, I always knew you would bring a perspective in that no one else had considered. And I really appreciated that. You have brought that same spirit
to our broader committee work. Sometimes it came with an unexpected twist, but always from a place of caring deeply about the outcome and wanting us to pay closer attention to what you believed mattered the most. We've connected this year over the experience of AB Forward. And I know how heavily our decisions
have weighed upon you. Probably more than most. I also understand how hard it was for you to decide not to seek re-election. And I respect both your decision and the integrity with which you arrived at it. With the departure of Vikram and Lakshmi
and Leela and Yenshin who have already gleefully escaped and celebrated their freedom, we also have to acknowledge that we are losing four of the members who most visibly reflect the experiences of some of the members of our community.
And that matters not just not not because any one of us speaks for an entire community, but because our lived experiences shape the questions that we ask, the perspectives that we bring, and the trust that we build. And at the same time, what brings all of us together
around this table is our shared commitment to ensuring every kid in this community can thrive. So, it's on all of us and a couple of folks who are sitting in the audience hoping to join us to reach out intentionally to those who may not see
themselves reflected in next year's committee and to make sure they know that their voices belong in these conversations too. Vicram and Lakshmi, it has been an honor to serve alongside you. Thank you for the thoughtfulness, the conviction and the care that you brought to this work
during some extraordinarily different year difficult years. You have challenged us. You have strengthened us and you have helped us shape this district in lasting ways and we are deeply grateful for your service. >> And I'll pause here in case anyone else wants to jump in. Yeah. Let's Would you like We have flowers for you.
>> You get flowers. We also have some cards for you as well. So, we'll we'll give those to you after the meeting. And if either one of you want to share some thoughts, you're also welcome to do that. >> Thanks. >> Oh, Lisa's got her hand up. Go. I said
something privately to Lakshmi but Vicram I just wanted to thank you for always offering to share your snacks. >> Anytime we s >> I think I would like to say thank you for the opportunity and I enjoyed it at
the end of it. I look back and it's like it was good. Um, this won't be long, I promise. But, um, so I have to say actually the reason that actually I I got on this first place actually really has to do with Luxie. Um, my wife used to walk our son
around a three-mile loop and then became friends with Luxi because she'd be doing yard work and she'd stop and talk with Shiva and all this stuff. Um, then positions were open. She said, "You got to run. You have to run." And so, you know, here I am three out three years later. Uh, it has been a tumultuous
journey. Uh people know I'm not exactly enthralled with the way AB4 turned out. You know, uh it is what it is. Um but I do know that this is an absolutely exceptional school district. Um I know this committee works very hard. Tori, I knew you work exceptionally hard and
Peter, I'm I'm still aruck by you. Uh in knowing all the stuff that you do, I just uh I I don't I mean it's just sort of like uh the the reverence I I hold you in. I don't agree with everything of course, but I'm I'm just I'm aruck by you and I wish you all the best and and things going forward. Um and all of you
here, it's been a pleasure working with all of you. Um you know, I learned a lot about what it means to be on the school committee. I wasn't quite sure what this was to begin with, frankly. Uh it took me a little while to cut my teeth. Um but this is really a valuable thing being on this board and and the things that you newbies are going to be doing
here. Um it's just you know hold these children dear because that that really is our job is to look after them and we have amazing teachers and we do have an amazing administration and they really do care about the children and you know that really I do feel that things ultimately
will turn out for the best. I don't I don't you know I I have my own grumblings but we'll put putting all that aside and Tori it's really been a pleasure and see you all in the future. >> Awesome.
All right, round of applause. And with that, let's go into the consent agenda. Items on the consent agenda do not usually require discussion and are approved with one vote, unless any member would like to hold an item for discussion in a separate vote. I will read each item. And if a member would like it held, please say hold. Members do not have to have attended a meeting
to vote on the minutes. Item A, approval of ABRSC meeting minutes from May 7th, 2026. Item B, recommendation to approve budget transfers per policy DB DBJ. And item C, approval of warrants as presented in the packet on May 21st,
2026. All right. Given that no items were held, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? >> So moved. >> That's moved by Vic and seconded by Liz. >> All in favor? >> I.
>> Any opposed? Any abstensions? All right, that motion passes. Thank you. So, um, as a reminder, superintendent evaluations are due tomorrow and yes, Vicram and Lakshmi, we would
like your input, too. Please. So, they're on your email May 8th from Julie. Um, please, please, please, please write those, send them in. Um, all of our voices matter in that. And I'm flipping pages because I think
there's anything you want to mention in the F FYI, Peter. >> Yeah, first um I just want to express my sincere thanks to both Vickerman and Laxmi for all that you've done to support the school district um over the last three years. There there really isn't a harder job in
public service than volunteering to be on a school committee. Um it's why there's also an or inordinate number of state representatives who got you know cut their teeth as school committee members originally um and you know I I I happened to be close with one who's in
house leadership in Massachusetts now and you know he said the hardest job he ever had was as a school committee member um it is remarkably challenging time consuming I very much appreciate all that you've given and the advice you've given over the years and everything else so congratulations you
get your evenings back, you get days back, you get, you know, humanity back, all of that. Um, and thank you. I also, you know, want to recognize again, we said this last time when we talked about the, uh, wellness update that was in the FYI section of the packet there, simply
with the work that we had this year, there was not enough time to do as many presentations as we would have liked to school committee. So, we had the wellness update in the packet at the last meeting. This time, we actually have an update from our anti-semitism task force. Um that is an incredibly important piece of work that Jen Faber
has led. Um you know, you all know Jen, she's an incredibly important resource to our school district and a person and a human in our community that just keeps giving. Uh but she led an anti-semitism task force for us this year um of community members and we included the update from that in your packet so that
you had it and it was on the record. This was certainly important enough that we would have typically scheduled it um for a presentation, but just given everything going on. We also know that we can't do fourhour meetings every every single week and we've had enough of those so far this year. Um but uh
please take a look at that. If you have questions, send them along to me. I'm happy to connect you with Jen and answer any questions that you have. That will be ongoing work for the school district. Um and in parallel with the continuation of our work around anti-semitism, the high school is also um doing its own
version of that original leadership coalition that you may know about from a couple of years ago that we did at the district level. So um lots of work going on around just focus on hate bias incidents. How do we make sure that we're really proactively educating our students around that and thinking about
ways to protect students from harm, not just respond to harm. Thank you, Peter. Um, Vicram and Laxshmi, I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> I entertain a motion to adjurnn.
>> Second. >> So, it sounded like Vicram just moved to ajourn and Lakshmi seconded. All in favor? >> Any abstensions? Any opposed? Let's go home. Good job, everybody. Thank you. Bye.