Good evening and welcome to this meeting of the Boston School Committee. I'm chairperson Jerry Robinson. We will begin with the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> I want to welcome everyone who is joining us tonight in person, on Boston City TV, and on Zoom. I'm going to ask everyone here in the chamber to please
turn off the volume on your laptops or other devices so it does not interfere with the audio for tonight's meeting. Thank you for your cooperation. Tonight's meeting documents are posted on the committee's web page bostonchools.org/schoolcommittee
under the November 5th meeting link. For those joining us in person, you can access the meeting documents by scanning the QR code that's posted by the doors. The meeting documents have been translated into all of the major BPS languages. Any translations that are not
ready prior to the start of the meeting will be posted as soon as they are finalized. The meeting will be rebroadcast on Boston City TV and posted on the school committee's web page and on YouTube. The committee is pleased to offer live
simultaneous interpretation virtually in Spanish, Haitian Creole, Cabavarian Creole, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and American Sign Language. The Zoom interpretation feature has been activated. Zoom participants should
click the globe icon at the bottom of your screen to select your language preference. I'd like to remind everyone to speak at a slower pace to assist our interpreters. I cannot express enough the importance and value of having students we we serve
represented on the school committee and our student is in traffic coming. So I will introduce her to you at a later point in the meeting. Okay. Okay. So, Superintendent, I'm going to
ask you to please give us a brief update on BPS's response to the snap delay. >> Okay. Are you going to do the minute approval? >> Oh, nope. You're doing that and then Wait a minute. It came next. >> Oh, okay. It doesn't matter. I can I can definitely
um so uh just a brief update on the city's efforts and the district's efforts uh to support our students and families during the federal government shutdown and the delay in SNAP benefits. Um this is certainly a frightening time for our families. Approximately 70% um
is what we estimate of our BPS families who qualify for some kind of state or federal aid which includes SNAP, Medicaid, and others. Um, the loss of the SNAP benefits really means an extreme hardship for recipients, many of
whom are children in our school district. Um, I want everyone in BPS to know that we are here. I stated this last week at a press conference that we did, but you know, we are here for our students and our families. BPS is second home, if not first, for many of our
students. Um, I'm just grateful to the many school communities and BPS staff who've stepped up. The first question is always, what can we do to help? Uh, the government shutdown and the cuts to SNAP will not affect the fact that all BPS students will continue to have access to
free breakfast and lunch in our schools every day. And so, just reminding and asking our parents to remind students, please eat, please make sure you're getting your hot lunch, um, your hot breakfast or cold if that's the preference, along with any fresh fruits
and vegetables that are available. but to please make sure that they're taking advantage of eating during the school day. We're also exploring how we might provide additional food access for our students. Um we have about 64 sites that actually offer an afternoon meal. This
ranges from a small snack to uh an actual shelf stable meal. Um again, we would encourage parents and students to take advantage of that. Our student support team is also providing food to families who participate in our weekend 617 uh Sunday wellness program that
happens at Madison Park. Uh we also have it running this week I believe at Henderson uh and at Brighton and um this past Sunday we saw hundreds of families come in um take advantage of the programming and then they were we had a partnership with Fair Foods and they
were also able to take home um fresh fruits and vegetables. Uh we're holding food drives at many of our schools. There's 11 sites already that have committed to the food drives. We're actually doing a centralized food drive in Bowling that has multiple sites. Um,
and we are partnering with many of the food banks, uh, local as well as the Greater Boston Food Bank to be able to ensure that there's enough supply of food to give to our families. For anyone listening, if your November SNAP payment was delayed due to the federal government shutdown and you need food
assistance, the city of Boston and BPS will be here. Um, please visit boston.gov/nap GV/NAP capitals snap for updates on any local resources you may need for you and your family. Any family in need can also
reach out directly to their family liaison at the local school level. They can help them connect with all of the resources. Families can also contact the BPS helpline um as they do every day for many things. That is 6176358873
and they can also visit our website bostonschools.org org/nap uh all caps. Um we'll just continue to keep the committee a breast of this um as well as the public um and our BPS community. We're doing that in a variety
of ways. Social media, our website, Beyond the Bell family newsletter um really every way that we're able to send messaging out. We also have established a BPS emergency food council. This is really where our departments come together to continue to brainstorm, pull
resources uh and we will continue to do that. So, please stay tuned. Know that for our families listening um and and our students, we're here for you and um throughout this emergency and even beyond the emergency of of a SNAP, we
have food insecurity um among so many of our families. It's not that SNAP benefits make that go away. So, we will continue to do as much as we can to raise awareness, to raise resources, and to support. Thank you, chair. >> Thank you. We'll begin the meeting with
the approval of minutes. I will now entertain a motion to approve the minutes of the October 29th meeting. Is there a motion? >> So, move. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Is there any discussion or objection to the motion? >> Is there any objection to approving the motion by unanimous consent?
>> Chair, I just have to point out I was away, so I was unable to attend the meeting. So, I would abstain from voting on the minutes. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> With the exception of Mr. O'Neal. Um, thank you. The minutes are approved. Thank you. We'll continue with the brief presentation on the membership proposal
from the opportunity and achievement gaps O AG task force. Let's aim to keep the presentation within seven minutes and I'll now turn it over to the superintendent. >> Uh, wonderful chair. So, um, before you hear from our OAG task force co-chair
Kerr and PPS senior adviser for strategy and opportunity gaps, Colin Rose, I just want to say a few words about how the OAG task force guides the district's work. Every day, we aspire to put the OAG policy into action so that all of
our students have the opportunity to reach their full potential. And thanks to the work of the OAG task force members working closely with Colin and my team, we continue to align the goals of the policy and the district. The intent of the policy passed by this
committee 10 years ago, a decade, was to close opportunity achievement gaps and work with BPS to monitor the district's progress, guide its decision-making, and provide support and hold it accountable. I want to thank the present task force
members for your collaboration and partnership and for pushing our thinking forward. We're especially grateful to Illi and to Chair Robinson for nearly a decade of service on the task force. Thank you to the new members for accepting the nomination and stepping up
to share your expertise and experience. I am really excited to get back with this work with new ideas, goals, and strategies. We look forward to continuing the work with the task force to ensure the goals of the OAG policy that they're at the center of everything
that we do, particularly our district's strategic planning process. So, at this point, chair, I would turn it over to Colin and I >> Good evening. Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Superintendent Skipper. It is wonderful to hear um you
speak about the work of the task force and its importance to BPS. Um so I want to just say good evening to the esteemed members of the Boston school committee to chairman Jerry Robinson who's also the co-chair serving with me um with the
opportunity and achievement gaps task force. I'm here on behalf of our task force members and um to share an update and also to present the new slate of task force members. Um and so I'm also here of course with my esteemed
colleague Dr. Colin Rose um who's the senior strategy advisor and um adviser to the opportunity achievement gaps task force. You'll give your correct title momentarily. It doesn't matter.
>> Okay. All right. Um so Dr. Rose will start us off just with helping to ground um the positioning of the policy and the work of the task force. So I go back to the um authoring of the 2016
uh policy and the implementation of that policy um where this was proposed and uh should be held and is held as kind of the northstar of our district. Right? It's a framework for how do we close opportunity achievement gaps. Um it's a
city-wide effort uh from folks outside mostly from folks outside of the district. Uh as you know this is a school committee appointed task force, right? And so I am merely a guest in those spaces. Uh I I do a lot of coordination and and um you know collaboration with the group. Uh but
they are kind of their own entity and and we try to support them by bringing forth um implementation plans, presentations uh to inform them of how we are actually aligning and and trying to bring about the spirit of the of the policy. Um so
obviously I is the chair. Um, Chair Robinson's, uh, the other chair of the of the task force. Um, and we work collaboratively, I think, and and well, uh, together to to try to think and and plan and strategize, uh, how does the district um, live up to the policy.
>> Um, I'll just mention briefly in terms of the the history of the task force. Um, this work began back in 2015. um largely championed by uh BEAM, the Black Educators Alliance of Massachusetts, and the leadership of Chairman O'Neal. So, thank you so much
uh to Chairman O'Neal, uh Michael O'Neal when you were chairman of the school committee for actually being the one to usher in the task force. I think one of the things that the task force does as as um Dr. Rose said is that we are that external body providing oversight,
monitoring, really critical thing, critical friends working with the district, but we also create that continuity between leadership changes. So notably there have been about four different superintendent changes over
the lifespan of the task force and having this external body in place helps to ensure that there's continuity in how the policy is being um overseen, how there's accountability and how we're making sure that the goals of the policy
are not lost based on changes in leadership and staff and so forth. So who is the task force? Again, we are that external body. We represent educators, school leaders, funders, university partners, nonprofits,
community advocates, teachers, school leaders. We truly reflect the stakeholders of the Boston public schools and our role is to help guide and support. So again, we're overseeing that policy, but we're really trying to
work in partnership with various districts to make sure that there's a clear implementation plan with real goals and benchmarks and accountability. We're tracking that progress. We're helping to make recommendations to various departments and ultimately to
the school committee since we serve as a subcommittee of the school committee and partnering with those those departments. Many of the people on our task force are already part of different working groups. They're seen as adviserss. So they're working collaboratively behind
the scenes on many of the same issues that our district leaders are working on. And then ultimately our job is to review and update. So we're constantly revisiting the policy. The policy itself calls for an update every six years. And that has been the work that we've been
very highly focused on over the last year. Um and that new policy for 2026 will be presented in January. So why do we need the task force, right? Aren't the gaps closed? Aren't we done with this work after 10 years? Um this
chart shows clearly no. There's clearly much more work to do and Dr. Rose will sort of walk us through what we're seeing in this chart. I mean these are just two of kind of many or uh data points we could look at uh to see that the the gaps both when you look across
groups are really the focuses uh the gap to proficiency is huge right and although there's been es and flows over the years uh there's still a lot of work to do uh in the district so uh I think I appreciate the fact that there's a
external body that you know creates that pressure for the district to have urgency um for our work to really reflect um kind of the logic model to close some of these gaps. So um you know one the the top uh chart that you're looking at is eighth grade or uh fourth grade ELA
MCCAST, right? Again, we could have picked eighth grade ELA MCCAST uh and a math measure, but just to show you kind of the longitudinal um and historical issues uh that have been in the district district ever since we could measure these things. uh uh starting back at the
first kind of generation MCCAST. So absolutely needed um and and a pressure point uh that we need to continue to focus on. >> Right. And I want to just make the point that, you know, we're not trying to just compare students of color to white
students, Asian students, but really looking at a measure of proficiency and what is the gap to proficiency as well as what is the gap between the various um demographic groups. So, the work of the task force is really focused on students of color, uh, students with
disabilities, multilingual learners, and students from, um, low socioeconomic status, uh, students experiencing poverty. And that ultimately is the majority of the students in the Boston public schools, which is why the work of
the policy really is the north star for this district. So, as I said, a large part of the work of the task force right now is revising the 2016 O A policy. It's supposed to be revised every six years. Um, we were
delayed due to things like COVID and some of the leadership transitions, but that work has been underway over the past year. We've done listening sessions with students at BESAC, with the Department of Academics, with all of the chiefs, with the heads of schools. So,
we've really been doing a lot of listening and gathering, a lot of input into how we're putting the policy together. The draft is now ready. It's um on Superintendent Skipper's desk for review. Uh we're also planning to have a session with parents, with the citywide parent council and other groups to get
additional feedback. And we'll also have an in-depth session um hopefully um as the school committee is also reviewing the the uh the policy. Um the policy will then be presented at a meeting in January is the hope and that's when the
policy will be voted into the new policy for the district. Um we're also very much um aligning the work of the policy with the strategic plan that Dr. Rose is overseeing. So I I'll let you speak to that. >> We have like three seconds. So I'll
more to more to come on that alignment. Um, so I think but I think the main order of business today is to put up kind of what we think is a really strong slate. Um, I's done a lot of work around uh recruiting. I've done a little bit of help, but uh making sure that we have
expertise across the ecosystem of Boston and when you think about a a school district, kind of the important um expertise that you would want as adviserss uh to the different offices and thought partners and also accountability folks that you can't just
bring any old presentation in front of uh because they know their their work and they have different expertise. So, >> the slate that um our current members will continue for a two-year term. The new members, as Dr. Rose said, we're very excited about. They bring expertise in a lot of different areas. They were
nominated by members in the community as well as members within the district um based on people who have done a great deal of work with the various departments and really understand the needs of our BPS students and have worked collaboratively over the years. And so this is the slate u eight members
for your approval. In addition to the names you see, we also have three student reps from BSAC. Um, so we will have uh Amore Reed, who was an 11th grader at Boston Latin, Kevin Lewis, who was 11th grade at O'Brien, and Nyla Hicks, who was a 12th grader at Cash. So
we'll have student voice in addition to the eight members that you see here on the slate. >> Great. >> Great. >> Great work. So we'll take question, >> Dr. Rose. Um, as we said, I currently serve as the co-chair of the task force and will continue to do so until
January. Dr. Alkins, um, if approved tonight, will join the task force and if we point if reappointed to the school committee will take over as co-chair in January. >> I'll now open this up to questions and comments from the committee. just wanted to express gratitude um to
the team reading over the bios and resumes of this slate um is such a plethora of expertise and experience across I think Dr. Rose you said it well an ecosystem um while still really representing multiple constituents plus the student reps and so I think it's
much needed critical friendship and and pushing and accountability um and appreciate the service. >> Thank you. Anyone else? I >> I echo the same comments, particularly reading the bios of the newer members. >> Very impressive group, and I thank them
for their willingness to step up and serve, as well as the returning members, several of whom I see in the audience tonight that are willing to continue. And thank you, Mr. Shak, for your leadership on this issue. >> Thank you. >> I want to say something, too. Thank you
for uh you involved. Thank you for you now co-chair in the group. Uh when you say um represent all the students by multilingual
um the color black and brown students. So thank you for that. Thank you for putting your heart for working for uh we students. >> Definitely. >> Yes. Thank you.
>> Yeah, thank you very much for this hard work. Um, and the new people coming on. It's been very exciting to see who they are, to hear their enthusiasm and know that they're going to breathe with our returning members breathe new life >> into this because as we say, the work is
far from being done, but um, we're going to give it another good try. So, thank you and we look forward to taking action on this and vote later in the meeting. Wonderful. >> Thank you. >> Thank you all very much. Does the student rep have any? >> She's here and we're about to welcome
her. >> Um, good evening everyone. My name is Mahanur. I am a junior at Brian High. So, I'm just going to give you guys a little bit of my background. I was born in Pakistan and then I came to the United States at the age of four. I grew
up around Watertown and then I went back to Pakistan um for my middle school and first year of high school and I came back last August. So I currently live in Brighton with my family and I've been a BAC member for a
year. This is my second year in BSAC. So during the past year in BC like I learned how much the student voice was valued and um how much we could use that to advocate for our rights. So I wanted to be a part of this committee to
represent all the BPS students including myself and I'm just really grateful to have this opportunity to be sitting with you guys and I hope I learn a lot from you guys and thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. You're welcome.
>> Thank you. >> We had a chance to meet earlier this week and I can tell you I'm very excited >> to have you join us and to bring your energy, your thoughts and um welcome. >> Great. >> Okay. >> I'd like to just say welcome. I I know
you know for our students just juggling your academics and your sports and your job and your family commitments and travel. Um, it's a big commitment to be on the body and so we just thank you and anything I can do, staff can do to help make it easier, just let us know.
>> Okay. Right. So, we are not having a superintendent report tonight. So, we're going to move on to general public comment. >> Thank you, chair. The public comment period is an opportunity for individuals to address the school committee on school related
issues. Questions on specific school matters are referred to the superintendent. Questions on policy matters may be discussed by the committee later. The meeting will feature two public comment periods with the first comment period limited to one hour. After one hour, anyone who hasn't
testified will have the opportunity to do so at the end of the meeting. We have 32 speakers this evening. Each person will have two minutes to speak and I will remind you when you have 30 seconds remaining. Please feel free to email your comments for distribution to the committee. Speakers may not reassign
their times to others. The time that an interpreter uses for English interpretation will not be deducted from a speaker's allotted time. Please direct your comments to the chair and refrain from addressing individual school committee members or district staff. Please note that the comments of any
public speaker do not represent the Boston public schools or the Boston school committee. Please state your name, affiliation, and where you live before you begin. If you're on Zoom, please sign in using the name you register with for public comment. And be ready to unmute and turn on your camera
when it's your turn to speak. Please your virtual hand when I call your name. To support interpretation, please speak slowly and clearly. So I will call for the first speakers. Travis Marshall, Rosanne Tang, Christa Magnes, and Dedra
Manning. Travis Marshall. My name is Travis Marshall. I live in Roslandale. I'm the par proud parent of students at the English high school and the Bates Elementary School. Tonight, I'd like to speak about the threequarters of high school students not at exam schools. From age 10,
students and families receive a steady drum beat of emails and texts from BPS promoting only the exam schools. At age 12, students watch as their peers are plucked from around them, recognized as meriting investment and opportunity,
while those remaining must wait another month for their seventh grade assignment, reaffirming a hierarchy of value. The next year, these students may find themselves with shaken confidence and in classrooms with greater concentration of
need. Their schools serve a majority of students with disabilities and multilingual learners because the three most vaunted schools in BPS do not. Students now receive messages that their goal should be a 9th grade exam school
seat that their school is not enough and that they are not enough. As a result, the exam schools sit at the crux of this castbased education system designed to separate the wheat from the chaff. If
the existing policy aired, perhaps it was in allowing families accustomed to being wheat to imagine for a brief moment that their children could be the chaff. We focus on these families and never the families who leave for
Charters or Metco because they know BPS will ration opportunity for their students. >> At an arts academy audition last year, mine was the only BPS student in his group. Families were looking to come to BPS because they recognize investment
and opportunity. So no uh most students are not excited about learning Latin. They are rather seeking deusmakina from scarcity. Until we stop hoarding opportunity in a few schools, we must ensure they are all they are not reserved for the privileged. Thank you.
Thank you, >> Rosan. Hi, I'm Roseanne Tong and I served on the exam school admissions task force. The policy we recommended made exam schools more representative and withtood legal challenges. Still, exam schools
serve almost no multilingual learners who are 35% of the district, nor students with disabilities who are 23% of the district. If you eliminate bonus points and include a 20% set aside, which the task force recommended
against, simulations show up to 45 economically disadvantaged youth, up to 21 black students, up to 35 Latina students, and up to 24 students from BPS sending schools would miss out on an invitation each year. Meanwhile, white
students would gain up to 43 seats and students from outside BPS would gain up to 24 seats. The 20% round sets aside 91 citywide seats for BLS. In that round, more than half would go to tier 4
students, about 52 seats. Only four seats would go to tier 1 students. In other words, over represented groups would gain the very seats lost to under reppresented groups, thus widening the opportunity gap that we just heard about. Our district's secondary schools
are a cast system that concentrates privilege in three schools and mostly in BLS. As a consequence, the structure concentrates students with greater resource needs in open enrollment schools. BPS intentionally divides
students into halves and have nots. You should not reinforce this hierarchy with a yes vote. Isabelle Wilkerson wrote, "The price of privilege is the moral duty to act when one sees another person
treated unfairly. And the least that a person in the cast with power can do is to not make the pain any worse. Please do not amplify the pain. Stop the vote or vote no. Thank you, >> Christa Magnus.
Hello, my name is Christa Magnuson and I live in Jamaica Plane. I'm a BPS parent of two students who attend the O'Brien and I am also an organizer with the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance which is a member organization of the Coalition for Equity and Exam Schools. We are asking the school committee to delay tonight's vote on the
superintendent's proposed changes to the exam school admissions process. The BPS community deserves a full community engagement process for a change as significant as this. and changes with these kinds of potentially harmful effects on equity should be considered more carefully both for longer and with more discussion by the community and the
and the committee itself. When BPS made greater strides toward equity in this admissions process in 2021, it was the result of months of work of engagement by the exam school admissions task force. The task force spent more than five months holding 28 public meetings. Frequently, more than 100 people turned
up to these meetings. When you stack that against two one-sided webinars held on notably inconvenient dates and a Google form, it really highlights the lack of genuine engagement in today's process. The difference is so stark. Why is this time around so notably different? Why does this change not
merit careful reflection? This week, our coalition delivered copies of our petition and signatures to the mayor and to the superintendent. Here is what we ask. Extend the current policy decision timeline by at least 60 days. Publicize the decision timeline on the BPS website, BPS social media, emails to all
BPS families and students, and via parent square. Provide clear, accessible information about the proposed changes, including summaries, visuals, and the comprehensive anticipated impact. Hold meaningful community forums in neighborhoods across the city with real opportunities for feedback so that
community members have the opportunity to ask about concerning trends such as the unexplained 7% decrease in exam school invitations for black students from 202425 to 202526. And finally, ensure all feedback is made public and is taken seriously before any
final decision is made. Our community deserves a fair, transparent, and inclusive process like the one we had in 2021 that reflects our shared values of equity, diversity, and educational opportunity for all. Please delay this vote. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Steve Manning.
My name is Dear Manning. I'm a Dorchester resident and parent of two public school children. I want to backtrack a bit to say that the makeup of the task force did not represent all the stakeholders in the city. Families impacted by the policy were home with
young kids in my case six and eight unaware of the robust stakeholder process. Metco parochial charter school students even private school students are part of our community. This process resulted in close to a 180 degree change
which did make gains in terms of representation but unfortunately put a target on the back of kids who didn't go to title one schools and lived in three and four tiers. I can distill all the test distill all the testimony for you. People who want it the way that it was
are benefiting it. People who want it the way that it is now are benefiting. It is your job to find the middle ground. I think that the um city should be leading this process, not BPS. In my opinion, a middle ground is every applicant should have the same chance of
admission no matter what tier he or she lives in. The current policy does favor tier one and two applicants and the changes that have been recommended still suppress tiers three and four. I think the allocation of seats per tier should be dynamic. If there are different numbers in any given year, then that
policy can reflect it. Seats at exam schools are publicly funded educational opportunities and they should not be unfairly limited to students who live in tier three. Good public policy does not favor one group of students over the other.
>> Um I think you should put an end to the educational 100 games. Put vote today to allocate seats by percent of tier and give a modest number of points to those who are least resourced and received means tested public benefits. This would be a meeting in the middle and would
make sure that every child has an equal chance of admission. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speakers are Anna Bayas, Sharon Hinton, Julie Santos, and Peggy Weisenberg. Anna Bias will need Spanish support, so if our Spanish
interpreter can come forward. Thank you. Good night. My name is Anna and I'm a juvenile leader at a program called uh juvenile uh organization of community Latin society that it's an organization
dedicated to the development of uh young people outside the normal school um time that works with uh middle school uh youth in Roxbury. Today I'm testifying on behalf of the
request that emerged from the work of uh sociad Latinas teens and tech campaign in response to Boston's public school new guidelines on artificial intelligence. We want to promote the responsible and effective integration of AI in education.
Last year, the youth of Soiad Latina testified about cell phone use policy and also called for the development of an artificial intelligence policy that promotes more education on this topic for students and teachers. Current guidelines are a good start, but we're disappointed to be left out of the
conversation and we and after we've spoken to you about this at the school committee for a year. So, here are our thoughts on what needs to happen. for Trump. even with guid with the guidelines, it's difficult to know when and where it's
okay to use AI. You're asking our teachers to guide us, but many times they don't know what is or isn't accept acceptable themselves or even how to use it. We know that AI can be useful, but it can also be become a trap if it replaces learning. Many
students already rely on AI without understanding its limitations, which is why we're calling for more education for teachers, too, and a certification program to ensure responsible use in schools. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you.
Our next speaker is Sharon Hinton. Good evening, school committee members. I'm Sharon Hinton, mother of a BPS grad, former BPS student, Hyde Park homeowner, former candidate for district 5 city council, longtime educator, founder, and executive director of Black Teachers
Matter. First, congratulations to Mayor Woo and the atlarge and the district city council members who ran and won in Boston yesterday. And thank you, Michael O'Neal, for your long service in the Boston school committee. Which brings me to the fact that the non-binding
referendum voted on by 120,000 registered voters who supported an elected school committee in the last mayoral election should be recognized and acknowledged as well. That being said, I came here to encourage all members of the school committee to reflect on the outcomes of the last
several years of tweaking the exam the exam school admissions policy formula which has resulted in lower admission numbers of black and brown students and an increase of white and Asian students to the same exam schools. Let's just
admit democracy is messy and a relatively new experiment of government considering the arc of world history. In addition to observing the history of the Boston school committee, even with the independent voices on the committee, I witnessed the go along and get along mentality and actions of those
independents when not enough voices dissented. I'm imploring the current school committee members to not vote today on adopting this proposed admissions policy change and instead hold additional meetings >> 30 seconds >> that are more inclusive of parents, students and community input held in the
community at different times, not during school vacations. Not when parents are working or just getting off work. Not when students are in school or doing homework and in multiple languages, different venues and utilizing various method methodologies and platforms with adequate promotion and publicity to
encourage and make available increased participation and feedback. Let's come together holistically in the spirit of innovation, renovation, and restorative justice for those people who have been historically denied access to a quality education through centuries of racism. Thank you. Our next speaker is Chile
Santos. Good evening. I'm Jill Santos again testifying on behalf of CFJJ and as a part of the Coalition for Equity and Exam Schools in opposition to the superintendent's recommendations. I'm so glad that we got to hear from the opportunity and achievement gap task
force tonight because the decision you make tonight will make opportunity gaps worse if you vote these recommendations through. We all know that the current policy has been effective in increasing the racial, economic, and geographic diversity in the exam schools. We know that the recommendations you are voting
on tonight are projected to decrease invitations to low-income students, black and Hispanic students, and multilingual learners, while invitations to white, highincome, and private school students are expected to increase. We know that the district's feedback form, the results of which have never been
shared publicly, only got 326 responses, which is less than 1% of BPS families. Our coalition collected about the same amount of signatures on our letter to the mayor, superintendent, or rather our petition to the mayor, superintendent, and members of the school committee
asking you to delay this vote until you engage the community meaningfully. So, if you vote these recommendations through tonight, it will send a message to the BPS community that this committee doesn't care about opportunity gaps or
equitable access, doesn't care about making evidence-based decisions, and certainly doesn't care about the opinions of the hundreds of people who signed our petition asking you to slow down and include the community in your decision-making. I urge you to pause
voting on these recommendations, keep the current policy, continue to collect data, develop recommendations that center equity, and have meaningful discussions with the BPS community that center the voices of those who hold identities that are underrepresented in the exam schools. Don't vote these
recommendations through tonight. Thank you. >> Thank you, Peggy Weenburn. Good evening. I reside in Jamaica plane. I'm affiliated, but speaking by myself, I'm affiliated with Quest and Citizens
for Public Schools. My three children attended BPS from K to 12. All attended BLS. Uh my middle daughter was in the last BLS class invited based on rank order
test scores and the district's racial fairness guidelines under Judge Gared's 1974 desegregation court order. She had a diverse group of friends from every neighborhood in Boston,
including uh kids with disabilities. I am here to urge you not to take action tonight on the superintendent's proposal, but instead to reconvene the exam school task force to consider the superintendent's proposals
um to alter the policy. Yesterday, I participated with mass vote at an election protection worker at the Boston Housing Authority apartment building in Grove Hall. Black male students from John D. O'Brien High School were there
and helped translate for voters who spoke Haitian Creole and Spanish and needed help to be able to vote. I was impressed by these civic-minded students and I'm concerned this proposal to change the exam school policy will make
the exam schools less diverse. We are living under a authoritarian federal regime. President Trump aims to abolish the Department of Education and its Office of Civil Rights. I feel fortunate to live in Massachusetts and I'm glad
our attorney general, whose 10th grade BLS facing history trip I chaperon to DC. See, I'm glad she is challenging the executive order in court. But given the work of the Federalist Society and
Project 2025, I fear the federal court's rulings on civil rights are will be appealed to the US Supreme Court and the court will not buck the executive. >> Thank you. Your time is up. Thank you. >> Our next speakers are Looney Nen, Vivian
Dao, Alex Nwen, David Tran, and N and Chunhi Chan. Loniwen. Good evening. My name is Lonning. I'm a third grade and third and fourth grade Vietnamese bilingual teacher teaching in
the Vietnamese dual language program at the Math School. The next few public comments are all about equitable access to the program like mine. Right now, most new bilingual program are zone for homebased
assignments. We are asking for a citywide assignment allowing more students to learn in both their home language and in English. I want to be really clear about what this mean and why it matters. Right now only
Vietnamese speaking family living in Dorchester get access to this program but Vietnamese speaking families living in East Boston Mapan or Brighton do not simply because of their address. We are telling multilingual families
your home language is an asset but only if you live in the right zip code. That is an equity problem. Our Vietnamese dual language program is not just a nice to have program. It affirm Vietnamese
language and culture for Vietnamese speaking students and support English-sp speakaking student to become bilingual and have crosscultural understanding. This program is working. I see it every day in my classroom. I
see Vietnamese student who used to feel ashamed to speak Vietnamese, now sharing their brilliant ideas in Vietnamese and supporting their friends learning Vietnamese. That is healing. That is what cultural sustaining education looks like. I'm asking you tonight to approve
citywide enrollment for the Vietnamese dual language program so that any Boston family who wants this education for their child can apply. Our kids are ready. Our families are ready. We need the system to be ready too. Thank you
very much for your time and commitment to educational equity equity in Boston public schools. Thank you. Our next speaker is Vivian Dao. Good evening. My name is Vivian Dao. I go to the Mather Elementary School. I am
in fifth grade and I belong to the first group of students learning in the Vietnamese dual language program. The Vietnamese program helped me learn about my culture and taught me how to read, write, and talk in Vietnamese. Vietnamese is important to me because
it's the only language that some of my family members speaks like my mom. I also got to learn about Vietnamese history like the Jung sister, the Vietnam War. I also learned about food and places and that helped me connect to
my culture. Today I am here to request the school committee to expand the program to include more students living in Boston. I think it's important because some Vietnamese students, their members only speak and know Vietnamese.
It can be hard for them to communicate. If the Vietnamese students learn Vietnamese, it will be easier for them to communicate with their families. And for those who are not Vietnamese, they can learn a second or a third language. So, I think it's important for more
students to have access to the Vietnamese dual language program because who knows it can be handy one day. >> Thank you. Next speaker is Alex Nwen. My name >> Yes.
>> My name Good evening everyone. My name is Alexander Wang. I am 10 years old and I am a Vietnamese American. I am in fifth grade student from Vietnamese dual language program. I have been in this program for 3 years.
This is the greatest program I ever been to. I love this program because I get to learn about my culture and think via my language. I am here with my friends to represent the students in this program. I think I am very lucky because I get to
study in the Vietnamese dual language program. Not everyone in living in Boston can. This program means a lot to me because in the future I can speak Vietnamese fluently and I can fully understand my family and my community.
This program has taught me a lot. It has made me proud of myself and now I am truly bilingual. I can speak both Vietnamese and English. So I think this program should be expanded so more students like me can join. Thank you. So
thank you so much for listening. >> Thank you >> David Fran. Hello, my name is David Tran. I'm a fifth grader at Mada Elementary School and I live in Dorchester. My first language is Vietnamese. I speak English
at school and Vietnamese at home. I am in a Vietnamese dual language program. I'm here today because I want you to know that I advocate for all bilingual programs to be accessible
to all students living in Boston. I believe that being bilingual is better for me and my family. And I'm currently in a bilingual program and I love learning both languages. This is important to me because I want to be
able to talk to my f family and friends. I wish the program allows all kids that live in Boston to attend this great dual language program. I just want to say I want a bilingual program because it's
better for me and my community. So, so please make more bilingual language programs. Thank you very much for listening. >> Thank you. >> No. >> Hi everyone. My name is Ningo and I'm in
fifth grade. I recently joined the bilingual program last year. Being in this program has helped me become better at Vietnamese and has helped me learn new stuff such as learning new words and getting better at speaking Vietnamese
too. Today I am here to advocate for the fact that this program should be open for every student in the BPS system because it is fun and you get to learn how to write and speak two languages, maybe even three. People from other
countries move to America and most of the times they don't understand English. So this program can help them feel connected to their culture and country. Even if they're not in their country, this program welcomes all students. Even if you don't understand or speak
Vietnamese and you want to learn Vietnamese, the teachers and students will welcome you and help help you. I hope the bilingual program can be open to all BPS students so they can connect to their culture. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you Chunhi Chan. Chunhi Chan. My name is Chenhi Chan. I teach fourth grade at the Desai Quinsey Elementary School. I'm a proud alumnist, a lifelong English language learner, and a member of the Chinatown community. I'm here to
speak on the moral obligation of this committee to expand access to bilingual education at the Quinsey School. The question that shall be answered by this committee's actions is whether Boston will continue the long legacy of using institutional power to marginalize the Chinese immigrant community or take
proper steps to break that cycle. Throughout the history of Chinatown, its families have fought to maintain their community and defend their children's right to fair and equitable education. Policy decisions have led to Chinatown being cut apart by I93 and I90, divided
and seized, its land divided and seized by Tus Medical, and its residents priced out by gentrification. In the face of all this, the Chinatown community has persevered as work to build new schools, support our students, and preserve our language and culture. Restricting access to bilingual education continues a
pattern where the needs of immigrant families are ignored and its community marginalized. Access by to bilingual education is not a privilege. It's a civil right. Members of this committee have made statements about its commitment to, and I quote, advancing equity for immigrant communities,
language access for families, dismantling of systemic inequities. These words alone are not enough. You hold the power to make them a reality. expand the catchment area, protect bilingual education, stand with immigrant communities so that our children can learn in their own
language, embrace their culture, and can be contributing global citizens. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> We will now transition to Zoom um test um testimonies.
Um our first group of speakers is Vikilo Kimchi Nuen Charlene Situ Schwai Wang and Shia Zen. Vikilo is our first speaker.
You can start. >> Good evening, Sue community members. I'm Vicki, a mandering teacher at Josai Quincy Elementary with a master degree in world language education from Boston University. I stand before you tonight
to advocate for the immediate citywide expansion of successful bilingual program. This is just not an administrative shift. It is a foundational investment in improving every student's academic success. In my
general ed classroom, I use a student's home language to bridge language learning. For example, my Spanish-speaking students are happy and excited to hear me say I like to explain how I say I like
in Chinese. Um, using the home language in this way is an immediate act of care for a student's social emotional learning telling them clearly your language and identity of value. Here in my bilingual
classrooms, I see my K1 uh Chinese students engaging in complex conversations far beyond the simple home phrases I used after just three months of learning with me. I had one K1 student who repeated our listen to her
younger sister at home. Her grandmother was amazed that a school program could make her grandchildren's Chinese proficiency competitive with that of students who live in China. Students in high quality bilingual >> 30 seconds,
>> gain significant academic success. I urge you tonight to change the current enrollment policy and expand our bilingual program citywide. Let's ensure the academic success and the opportunity currently available at
Josiah Quincy Elementary School can benefit families and neighborhoods across our entire city. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Our next speaker, Kim Shinwen, will be will need support
in Vietnamese. Kim Chinwen and we will need support for Vietnamese. Is our Vietnamese interpreter? Is our Vietnamese interpreter there? Just a second. Our Vietnamese interpreter Hello. I'm right here. I'm Vietnamese
and top is right here. >> Thank you. >> Kim Chin, you can start. >> Yes. Hi. Uh, hi everyone. Um, I will speak in Vietnamese. Generation for children with special
needs. Can you please >> My name is Can you please >> My name is Yeah. My name is Kim Ching Wing. I'm a family engagement specialist at Federation for Children with special need. I have many years of experience supporting Vietnamese family who have a
children in need of special education. Through my work, I have a conversation with many family. I have learned that a number of them have wished to enroll their children in the biolingo program since it was first attemptless in 2021
at mother school. moate disability. At that time the program was not yet an inclusions program and was not ready to support with moderate disability student. However, since most of students
speak Vietnamese at home, it is extremely important for them to learn in bilingual environment and receive support from teacher who speak Vietnamese. Many family have wanted to enroll their children in the bilingual program but
was unable to do so because they live in various area of Boston that are not within enrollment journal disability. Uh since 2024 we learned that more school in Boston public school have
begun implementing inclusive education model and the blo bilingual program at modern now have fully trained teacher and par prof professional who can support student with moderate disability learning specialist bilingual uh speech
pathology Uh and we understand that program have a special educators and speak therapists who who are bilingual and for Vietnamese family having their children learned in bilingual program is essential for uh preserving cultures identity and
maintaining family connection. Your time is up. >> Yeah. For family with children who need spatial education, the bilingual program provide the most inclusive environment to ensure their role and development. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Our next speaker is
Charlene Situ. Charlene Su, please accept the prompt. Hi Hi, you can start. >> Okay. Yep. I'm with number 10 as well. Uh, Shy Wong. Okay. Um, hi everyone. My name is Charlene C2. I'm a parents of
Clayton Glenn of Josiah Kuni Elementary School and also Charlotte Glenn at BCNC BPK. I live in Charles Town and my children's is Chinese Cantonese. We speak both Cantonese and English at home. After I
enrolled my son into JQEs U Jose Quincy School in 2022, the school enrollment has changed the next year that Charles Town has been excluded from the um school zone. I was concerned that my
younger child cannot access to the same school as her older brother. And after 3 years of escalation, the school is finally open up for our uh the residential area in Charles Town.
However, I think Josiah Kuni has should have opened for citywide so many other students and family in the same situation like us have access to bilingual education. Access to bilingual education is a question of value um
valuing equity and inclusion. It is important to me and other because I want my childrens to be able to communicate to their grandparents and relative who speak Chinese only and also as an immigrants I want my childrens to be proud of the language
and culture. >> 30 seconds. I'm here to ask I'm here to ask the assignment policy to change to citywise for bilingual program like Josiah Quincy Elementary School which the only school in the district offer instruction in Chinese. This change is
important so family like mine and our kid can send our kids to the school in Josiah. Changing the policy for student will outcome to better for students and also for BPS. Please change the policy for Josia Quincy Elementary School to
Citywise. >> Thank you. Time is up. Our next speaker, Shai Wang, needs support in um Mandarin so our Mandarin interpreter can come out
of the channel. >> I think she said that she was the same. I think she said that that was her the parents said she was >> I heard her say she was number 10.
>> Yeah, she she referenced the name coming up. So, I don't know if she's saying that she sent it twice or >> maybe. >> Yeah. >> Wang. Is the same parents? >> Yes. Thank you. >> Hello.
Just a second. Our Mandarin interpreter. >> Yes, I'm here. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> Wait. I think >> Charlene, I I think you we lost you. We're moving you back. Okay. Okay.
My name is I'm the uh >> My son's name is second uh second grade of uh Jes and my children live in South Boston. Um, we speak Mandarin mainly because our
home language is Mandaring. I'm here because the bilingual program is very important to me. Because I noticed even though I try to speak Chinese only at home, but the children are more inclined to speak in
English only. Sometimes we have to end the conversation abruptly because we could not talk more deep. because uh some the some of the deep and valuable topic we could not uh
communicate without any barrier anymore. In other words, I do not want my children to lose the communication skill with the family with the same culture. Unfortunately, JQE is the only bilingual
program available to the uh the whole BP the whole BPS school system. Uh I just hate to see the uh family uh is confined to certain zip code but the problem they might not be able to afford the house
value in that particular zip code. They therefore they cannot have access to GQES bilingual program. 30 seconds. >> That's why I'm here to advocate to uh expand the enrollment for the bilingual
program like JQEs to city divide. So all the students in BPS system could enjoy the diverse and uh the uh bilingual program like you uh you have said you committed to. >> Thank you for listening.
Thank you. Our next speaker, Shia Zen, will need support in Cantonese. Shame Zen is our Cantonese interpreter.
Hello. Hi. Just a second. Is Is Anna our Cantonese interpreter there? Hello. Dug a hole. >> Anna, we can't hear you. >> Dug a hole. >> Just a second.
>> I'm still Hi. Can you hear me? >> No. Can you please speak louder? >> Me? >> Yes. Hannah, we can't hear you very well. >> Okay. Wait. Can you wait? Hold on. >> Can you hear me? Well, >> not that great, but I think we have to.
>> That's me. Zen, you can start. >> Can you hear me? Okay. Hello. Can you hear me? Okay. Hi everyone, my name is Shia Jang. I'm a parent of a K2 student at Bowwin.
My my child's first language is to at home we speak both to and Cantonese. We currently live in Boston >> because my child wasn't able to enroll the only public school that offers bilingual program.
I believe JQ JQEs should be approved for citywide assignment zone. >> So that way other childrens like mine could also have access to bilingual education. access
I'm sorry accessing bilingual program is very important to us well I want my child to be able to communicate fluently with confidence without family right now communication has became has become one of the biggest
challenges in our home. Since JQES bilingual program is the only available options for Chinese speakers, restricting it by neighborhood enrollment is extremely unfair to families who cannot afford housing
within that zone. I urge the district to make GQES bilingual program open to students citywide. >> Finally, I sincerely hope my child will have the opportunity to attend GQGS bilingual program.
if children like mine continue to lose the chance because where we live, it's true. It would truly be unfair and a great loss for Chinese speaking families. Thank you everyone. >> Thank you. Our next five speakers will
need support in Mandarin. Yong Yu, Man Lee, Yunh, Hao Wang, Hin Yu, and Shing Tong Yu. And I believe that they're all in the same zoom.
So you is our Mandarin interpreters out. Thank Tina. Are you out of your channel? >> Oh yes, I'm ready. >> Perfect. Thank you. Sure. Our first speaker is Yu. >> I am and I'm a fourth grader at JQEs.
Just came to the US and live in Boston. My home language is Chinese. My family speaks Mandaring and Shanghai. >> I am in the Chinese ESL class. Now, I am here today because I believe being bilingual can help me learn English
better. I like learning in two languages because it helped me understand the lessons. I think being bilingual will be helpful for my future. I hope student like me can all have
access to join bilingual programs. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. Fore! Foreign! Foreign! My name is Ban Lee. I'm a fifth grader at JQ live Boston.
>> My home language is Chinese. My family speaks Mandaring. I am in the Chinese ESL class. >> I'm here today because I believe being bilingual can help me do better in school. >> The first school I attended in Boston
was Quinsey Elementary. and I found that I could understand the lessons which made me feel more confident. I also hope I can help my family translate in the US and I can communicate easily where I
visit China. I hope Chinese student like me can all have access to join bilingual programs >> so they can both learn Chinese and English. Being bilingual is really important to me and our community.
That's why I hope more student can attend bilingual schools and become bilingual speakers. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Our next speaker is Yunha Wang. Chinatown.
>> My name's Yun. I'm a fifth grade student at GQ and live in Chinatown. My home language is Chinese and my family speaks Mandarin. >> I'm in the Chinese ESL class. I'm here today because being bilingual
is good for both me and my family. It helps me communicate better with my friends and my family and it allows me to do more for my community. I want to keep both my Chinese and English.
I hope student like me, no matter where they live, can join bilingual programs >> to learn both their home language and English. >> Being bilingual is important for everyone. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you very much. Our next speaker is how you >> My name is Hing. I'm a fifth grade student at JQE and live in Chinatown. My home language is Chinese and my family speaks Mandarin and Cantonese.
I am in the Chinese ESL class. I'm here today because I believe being bilingual can help me learn better in school and find a better job in the future. Bilingualism is important for me and my community.
I want to keep using Chinese to enrich my life. I also hope more students from China China can take bilingual classes and learn both Chinese and English. Please make sure that most student no matter where they live have this
opportunity. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Our last student is Uh, my name is eighth grader. My name's seventh grader.
Chinatown. >> We used to be student at JQ. Yes. We came to the US in fourth grade and live in Chinatown. >> Our home language is Chinese. >> At home we speak Mandaring and Cantonese. We used to take Chinese EL ESL class at
JQEs. I'm here today because I believe being bilingual is very helpful for me and my family. and they also help me learn English better. ESL.
>> We are very grateful to our elementary school ES ESL teacher, Miss E. >> Even though I was in her class for only two years, but with her help, I have been improving every single day.
Now we no longer need ES ESL classes. Sometimes when other student needs help, I can even translate for them which makes me feel very proud. We hope more student can have access to Jong bilingual classes.
>> So they can learn both Chinese and English with the support of teacher who speak their own home language. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Our next group of speakers, our next
speakers are Bernier Wilkinson, Mike Hushman, Cheryl Buckman, Emayash, Dora Sandoval, and Karolina Sto. Bernie Wilkinson. Wilkinson, please accept the prompt. You can start.
>> Hello. Good evening. Renee Wilkinson with Schoolax Boston. Once a year, the city and BPS rolls out a promise to be later broken, a deadline to be missed or a plan that was not
vetted by folks that it will impact most directly. In 2022, it was the Green New Deal for BPS. In 2023, it was the O'Brien potential move to West Roberry. In 2024, it was White Stadium. Now in
2025, there are potential exam school admissions policy changes. Once a year over the past four years is far too many. These are moments that have long-term impact on ch on the children of Boston and potentially for
generations to come. This is not an acceptable norm. Today, city of Boston and BPS district leaders need stand as dismissive, not responsive, and not in collaboration with the community.
Wake up to this call for equity. Delay the vote for exam school policy. Do not vote for the proposed policy. Do not vote in favor of the proposed policy. and build out a community engagement process that is built off of
school-based equity roundtables and inclusive of the racial equity planning tool. >> Going in going into the second term, the city of Boston needs Mayor Woo to move forward as an education mayor. If
Boston schools end up being the best in the nation, fine, so be it. But Bostononians need Boston schools to be the best for all Boston students. National stats are irre irrelevant if that means some get the best while
others go on waiting for on time buses HVAC. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Your time is up. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Mike Hishman. Mike Hishman Dchester. Tonight is the third consecutive meeting where I have
spoken against the proposal to change the emission policy in ways that would benefit white nation children and harm our black and brown children. The third rail for the superintendency has been thou shalt not change the emission
policy in ways that would harm privileged white families. Superintendent Chang years ago attempted to diversify the elite schools. Fired by Mayor Walsh. Superintendent Casilius supported by the school committee
courageously decided to make the exam schools more diverse. Fired by Mayor Woo. The Coalition for Equity and Exam School research shows that the proposed changes would make the system less equitable. Why don't you use your racial
equity tool? Any decisions to change the exam school admission process, which would be at the expense of our black and brown children, would be racist. Superintendent Skipper would never have made this proposal without the consents of Mayor Wool. A few years ago, I was
talking with former school committee member Regina Robinson. She had told me that she had been disappointed surprised that the mayor had not re reappointed her. I was not surprised Miss Robinson had descended too much.
I'm sure that every school committee member considers themselves. >> I believe that the BPS is a racist institution and that we need an elected school committee. School committee members is your highest allegiance to
the mayor. Be courageous. Vote no against this racist woo skipper proposal. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Cheryl Beckman. My name is Cheryl Bachmann. I'm a parent of a seventh grader at the Ruth Batson
Academy and a lead and parent lead at the Denver. I'm also a longtime resident of South Boston. I'm here tonight because I care deeply about the future of our students and the integrity of the exam school admissions pro process.
I'm asking the committee to delay the implication of the proposed admissions policy changes. While I fully support the goals of equity and fairness, this process is moving forward without enough outreach,
communication, or collaboration with the families in the communities most affected. Right now, many parents still don't understand how these changes will work or what they mean for their children. The roll out has has felt rushed and
unclear, leaving families and educators with more questions than answers. A change this important deserves real community engagement. That means listen to all voices, especially those from historically under reppresented
neighborhoods, immigrant families, and workingclass communities. We need transparency, time, and trust to make sure this policy truly supports every student rather than one widening the divides.
If we move forward too quickly, we risk fitting a gap >> that could leave students feeling displaced and families feeling unheard. Once that trust is lost, it's hard to rebuild. So tonight, I'm asking you to pause, not stop this process. Take time
to meet families where they are, hold listening sessions, translate material, and make sure everyone has the chance to understand and be a part of that change. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Next speaker is Emma Ashar.
Please turn on your camera. >> Trying. There we go. >> Thank you. >> Hi. Um, my name is Emma Yasher. I'm a parent of two kids in BPS and I'm speaking in support of the proposed revisions to the
exam school admission policy. When the new admissions policy was first announced, my kids were really young and junior high or high school seemed like a long way off. But now here we are almost 5 years later. My oldest is in fourth
grade and I have no idea what the options will look like for her in a few years. Families like mine need clarity and predictability, and I think what's being proposed will do just that. Nothing is going to make everyone happy,
but this is a good compromise and will make the policy simpler, easier to understand, and more predictable for families. I think it's important to acknowledge what's working and also be willing to
fix what's not. The models shared by BPS in June showed that the revisions wouldn't substantially change the demographics of the students receiving an invitation. So, it's not going to move us back to 20 to pre2020. At the same time, the citywide round would
ensure that higher achieving students are not shut out of exam schools from the outset just because of where they live. It's a balanced approach. Lastly, um like other speakers, I would love to see more and better junior high and high
school options for kids across the city so families like mine don't feel like an exam school is the only option. 30 seconds. >> That's why I'm urging you to move these revisions forward so we can achieve closure on this issue and so BPS and the city can focus their energy and
resources on all of the other schools in the district. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Our next two speakers, Dora Sandoval and Sto will need support in Spanish. Perfect. Dora sandoval.
Dor sandal. Let me close. Sorry. is >> my name is Rosandoval. I'm a mother of three kids. One just graduated from college. The other one goes to the secondary school and the other one goes to Hurley school.
I am very pleased to see that my actually my youngest kid goes to the bilingual school. I'm very happy and pleased about this. I'm very pleased to see all the changes that had been implemented with this type of education in their development, the
positive impact that it had in the in my own family and the education itself. I'm very pleased with this positive changes. >> That is precisely reason why I'm here to advocate to have more bilingual schools in the city of Boston.
Our kids deserve the opportunity to be able to learn two languages. They will feel more proud about them and they will be able to be better prepared for their future as professionals. I'm here as well to ask to please do not
change the uh exam school's admission policies so they would not impact the more vulnerable populations that we have in our schools. >> We're talking about two important populations here. the English language learners, ELELLL, and the kids with high
needs or special needs. >> Much gracias. >> Thank you very much for listening to me tonight. Carolina Sto. isol. >> Good afternoon everyone. My name is Karolina. I am a mother of a child that goes to
the Boston public school, specifically to the Troder School. for the exam schools and to have more bilingual schools. >> So last week I had a conversation with my child and uh told me that he wanted
to be part of an exam school. I have my son that he is very dedicated, he's hardworking and he has many dreams. So as a mom my major concern or I would say satisfaction is that my kid is able to go to the school of that he prefers
of his preference. It is very important to me as a mom that he's able to achieve his dreams to go to an exam school and to be able to continue developing his professional skills. That is something that is very important to me as a mother.
I have to say that many bilingual students are confronted with multiple barriers that could limit in itself their opportunities of success. That is precisely why I am here today in front of you raising my voice asking for
more bilingual education and to better education for my kids as well. I'm asking so to please keep the open the doors open for to all the students regardless of their origin the national origin regarding the language that they
speak. So, we're looking for a more inclusive type of uh policy where every child has fair opportunities and they have the ability to demonstrate their full potential and their what they can achieve. So those policies, the current policies
that are in place are actually a minimizing or reducing the equity that could exist and the opportunities for different families. So a petition uh today in front of you to keep strengthening those possibilities and the opportunities and
minimize those gaps that exist so every kid and my own kids can achieve their own future goals. Thank you very much for listening to me to continue contributing to uh develop the well-being of every kid and to continue promoting the development of
every kid here in BPS in Boston. >> Thank you. >> One, could you please stay on? We're going to continue with our two last inter speakers who also need support in Spanish. Siml Rodriguez and Marena Pereira
Rodriguez. Good evening everyone. Rodriguez Rodriguez Lamar is my name and I'm speaking from my heart as a mother. So I have to say that even though my child has an individualized education
plan known as an IEP, she was born here. However, she is considered an English language learner despite the fact that she was born here. I am here because I'm very concerned of the trajectory that the exempt schools and its own policies are taking and
where they're going to. I am here considering despite the challenges that my uh daughter confronts, she should be able to select the school of her choice for her own future. It is important. It is my desire that English language learners do not see
limited their opportunities because of the fact that they do not have the language and other capable kids and intelligent kids should be able to have those opportunities and not be limited just by language skills. So it is important not to keep opening
any more gaps between race and culture and language. We should not be opening more gaps. So we have to stay united as a community that we are promoting and moving forward towards the excellent of the community
without leaving any child behind. Rodriguez, my name is Cruz Rodriguez. Marina Marena, Marena Perea. comments.
Okay. >> Good evening everyone. My name is Maria Elena Pereira and I'm proud to represent my community of Dorchester. My daughter, she goes to a charter school. >> I am here to proudly advocate for our
families and for our children. So I'm very concerned about the different policies that are to be implemented that have to deal with the exempt school admission policy are impacting uh many of the students ignoring our own voices. >> Our children deserve the same
opportunity as every other kid. regardless of their uh origin, regardless of their color, or regardless of where they live, their zip code. At the same time, I would like to say that we do need more bilingual schools. That is actually a strength that will be
opening many doors and opportunities for their own future. That is my petition. We have to consider that we speak multiple languages here in this city. It is my petition that can reconsider the uh exam school admission policy and to continue promoting
bilingual programs in the city of Boston. And thank you very much for listening to me. >> Muchas gracias. Thank you. Thank you to the interpreters who supported us today. And that concludes public testimony. >> Right. >> Thank you, Miss Parvik. And thank you to those of you who spoke this evening and
shared your perspectives. Your testimony is very important to us. Our first action item this evening is the grants for approval totaling $257,810.76. Now, I'd like to turn it over to the superintendent for any final comments. >> Um, wonderful. Thank you, chair. Uh
there are three grants tonight for the committee's consideration totaling nearly $258,000. The largest is the innovation career pathways implementation and support grant totaling more than 182,000 that will support 400 students at the
Dearborn STEM Academy, Holland High School of Technology, Brighton High, and Excel High School. The remaining two grants total approximately $75,600. One is a supporting students seal
behavioral and mental health and wellness continuation grant for nearly $70,000. This will support students districtwide. This state funded competitive grant program will help adapt, expand, and strengthen multi-tered systems of
support to respond to the socio socio social emotional behavioral and mental health needs of students, families, and educators. There's also a school-based bridge program grant totaling approximately $5,700. This will support students at Boston
Latin School and provide intensive clinical and academic support for students returning to school after an extended medical related absence, most of whom are returning after a mental health related hospitalization. We would ask for the committee's vote favorably
on this. Uh David Bloom is here were there to be any questions. >> Thank you. We will now open it up to questions and comments from the committee. Any questions? Okay. Thank you. If there's no further discussion, I'll now entertain a motion to approve the grants as presented. Is
there a motion? >> So moved. >> Thank you. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you. Is there any discussion or objection to the motion? Is there any objection to approving the grants by unanimous consent? Hearing none, the grants are approved. Our second action item tonight is the exam school
admission policy recommendation. The updated policy recommendation was first presented at the September 25th meeting, followed by an update in discussion at the October 8th meeting. We have also received both written and oral public comments. We want to thank
everyone who took the time to share their feedback. Now, I'd like to turn it over to the superintendent for any final comments. >> Thank you, chair. Um, so we're now asking for the committee's vote on the district's recommendations for revisions to the exam school's admissions policy.
As I've said throughout the process, our district's goal regarding exam school admissions has not changed. We are committed to creating an equitable and transparent policy that ensures that all students have an opportunity for a seat at one of the three exam schools, Boston Latin Academy, Boston Latin School, and
the O'Brien School of Mathematics and Science. Our recommendation is meant to keep what's working about the current policy and fix what's not working well. We think these changes will lead to a clear, understandable policy that creates fair and equitable access to the
exam schools. Under the current policy, there are some students that have very high composite scores, but because of what elementary school they attend or what neighborhood they live in, it can be difficult and sometimes mathematically impossible for them to receive an invitation.
The larger number of students receiving points during each admission cycle increases the competition between BPS schools and is seen as punitive by students and families, which results in our needing to adjust the number of points students receive each year.
Our recommendation is meant to address that issue by ensuring that there is a pathway for the highest scoring students citywide while preserving the basic structure of distributing invitations equally across each socioeconomic tier.
The socioeconomic tiers are a part of the policy that has worked well over the last several years. As we've explained to the committee and the community, this reconsideration of the policy is a provision in the policy itself that calls for a thorough review at or after
the 5-year mark. And we're now at that 5-year mark. If approved, we are also asking that the policy remain in effect for at least three admission cycles so that we can monitor the data over an extended period of time. It is certainly
understandable that this committee has asked us each year to look at concerns raised and make recommendations and minor changes to the policy to address those concerns. But I really want to emphasize that moving forward, we will be asking this and any future committee
members to hold to the three admission cycles before making a similar request so that we can have more consistent trend data. We presented our recommendations at the school committee meeting on September 25th and provided additional data at the
October 8th meeting. I'd like to take a moment to just review the changes that we're recommending. First, the removal of school-based points because they are hard to explain and difficult to justify. They also change the competition for seats within
each tier, not across all tiers. The percentage of students receiving additional points has increased since the policy was first created from 63% of applicants to 73% of applicants, making them less impactful.
Second, reduce the housing points from 15 to 10. When chosen, the selection of 15 points was chosen to be higher than the number of school-based points, which was 10 at the time. Our analysis of the
2526 admission cycle shows the actual difference in composite scores for students who qualify for housing based points and students who do not qualify is 10 points. Third, we are recommending the addition of a citywide round, meaning that the
first 20% of seats at each school will go to the highest composite scores. This round will not include additional points and is based solely on a student's GPA and test composite score. The 20% was part of the initial
recommendation from the 2021 exam school admissions task force. After the citywide round, the remaining 80% of seats will be distributed equally across socioeconomic tiers. After the citywide round, the remaining
Oh, sorry. Finally, we are recommending that BPS maintain the current four socioeconomic tier structure where the tiers are sized by population as opposed to number of applicants. As a reminder, after the citywide round, students are
assigned to one of four tiers based on their home address and will only compete for exam school admissions with other students in their tier. We are not recommending changes to the criteria students must meet to be eligible for consideration for an exam
school seat. Consistent with the current policy students will need a grade point average or GPA of B or higher, rank at least one exam school on their school choice list, and have a valid score on the MAP growth assessment test. A
student's composite score is based on 30% of their MAP growth score and 70% of their GPA consistent with the current policy. We did not consider a change to the 3070 ratio. At the September 25th presentation of
our recommended changes, we were asked to run simulations based on 50% MAP growth score and 50% GPA scenario. At the October 8th meeting, we provided those simulations that showed there was no significant change to invitation
status by changing the ratio of the test scores to GPA. As part of the recommendations, students will receive an additional 10 points on their composite score for invitations distributed in the 80% round by tier if
they are experiencing homelessness, live in housing owned by the Boston Housing Authority, or in the care of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. If approved, the new policy will go into effect immediately and will apply to the
2627 admission cycle. is important that the vote happen tonight to ensure families have all of the information about the process before this year's residency verification deadline for nonBPS families happens on November 21st. We've heard consistently that this
timeline is important for families. There is no perfect policy, but we think these changes will lead to a system that is overall clearer and more stable. Our goal remains the same. To create an equitable, predictable, and stable policy that students and families can
easily navigate and understand. We need to shift the district's focus to improving our entire secondary school ecosystem and to building a portfolio of highquality high school options so that the so that students are confident and
excited about all of their high school choices. So, Madam Chair, I'll turn it back to you. Thank you. I'll now open it up to questions and comments from the committee. >> Since uh since no none of my me uh co- members
are taking the lead on on making uh the uh open statement. I'll venture myself to make that that statement. We've heard, well, at least for me,
we've heard the pros and the cons uh the opposition and the support for the revised uh um school policy, school admission
policy. I heard you all. I've heard researches. I've heard evidence data presented by
the pros uh the the proponent and the the opponents of of the the changes. But one thing I'm very um I'm I'm do appreciate is the fact that despite all the differences,
the main thing that we are all focusing on is the equity. I understand that each of us may have different limit on the equity. I do have um you know certain limits on equity
when it comes to the classification of students the but being a civil rights lawyer for over 30 years I think I have enough sense to
understand what equity is. There is no the the the policy we all agree that there it needs to be tweaked and we are trying to tweak it.
We are trying to tweak it in the name of equity. We may not agree on the limitations of equity, but we are all agree that it is time to apply
diversity, inclusion, and equity into the process regardless of what the the federal government is is advocating out there.
So in that in that vein, I appreciate all your concerns. I appreciate all your uh research, your your evidence uh in supporting your your positions.
But I do know that deep in my heart, this is at least an improvement. this new policy is at least an improvement in moving forward with equity.
So I will vote yes. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I can make um thank you. >> Okay. um for that. Um I think in what I've heard um the
superintendent where I I certainly we share the same sentiment um is that um despite as we've heard around the particular community engagement around this I do agree that this body needs to
take action um on it um and any inaction or delayed action has that domino effect for the application cycle. Um, and so families definitely need clarity now regardless of the outcome. Um, I also
recognize that the district has certainly exhausted numerous person hours devoted to gathering and analyzing data around this issue, which I think actually feeds the the deeper narrative around the focus on these three
particular schools and takes it away from the focus which should be the remaining schools in our district and making sure that every student has access to a high quality educ. education, no matter what school in BPS they attend. I firmly believe that that
that work is being led by you and everyone in this room um and everyone in um our schools. Um and so regardless of whatever the outcome um I think everyone wakes up every day with the intention of
making educational options and experiences better for everyone. I think the also the other thing as we talk about this is to remember what's gotten sort of lost in this conversation for me has also been a bit around the merit of
these schools and questioning sort of the the merit of students who have been attending these schools and I certainly assure that every student that is eligible is eligible for these schools.
Um, no one is a DEI hireer. Everyone here is eligible and our students are eligible. Um, and so I think that needs just needs to be said flat out. Um, so for those people who are thinking that this policy is lean leans towards that
way, nah. Um, for me though, what I will say is that this conversation has always been around how we view schools as resources and then the surrounding narrative of what these resources do for our students. They are
not just as perceived by our families, they are not just educational options. These are gateways to better outcomes, better lives after they attend these schools. And I will say that these are also gateways that
have for a long period of time been shut out by many of our most marginalized populations who now represent the majority of our district. And so while I believe that the majority like we are moving in a positive direction
and it's under stable leadership um we are growing the quality of our seats um families are still left with this. So I yes the citywide assignment um option you know makes the policy
easier to understand. Two it would guarantee that a portion of our students with those perfect scores and grades regardless of their background would be able to claim admission to their top choice school. But equity begs me to see a little bit more of the
nuance and the simulations that have been presented compromise the admissions to our most representative populations within the district and that goes against the original ethos of the policy for me. Um,
and also as I think back to the racial equity planning tool, I remember clearly on I think it's like page four or page five of it, we note targeted universalism as one of our approaches, which begs us to focus opportunities and
resources to our most marginalized. Um, and so, you know, with that, I respect the votes of everyone like up here. Um, but for me it's a it's a no on changing it because I really believe
that keeping it as is allows us to continue to monitor where it needs to be monitored to make that change three years down the road. >> I believe it can take the conversation still off the table for the next three years in the same way. Um,
and I think it it it it allows for us to preserve still like the the the strides that have been made since 2021. So, >> um, thank you Paul for opening it. >> Thank you.
I want to say thank you uh for every family contact to me, community and students about the propose for uh changes the exam school policy.
Uh for me is make a decision hard because um in one hand I see a students I talk to the family
with a student is high qualification when uh not receive um invitation for exam school. the family working very hard with a
students. He um putting uh tutoring class and then because the population the family have uh resources for that in the second hand I have the students
very um uh intelligent too. Um but the family is low income don't have money for prepare for support you
students because um his family pay high rent have two two and three job. He doesn't speak English. So
it's like I understand family when you a student is high qualification. I understand your frustration when you not you not receive a school invitation because some students long income
receive point and you are you think is disadvantage for that but resumeuming complimentarios. So I have to say in summary that this
policy aims to balance merit and equity but its real impact will depend on the implementation of complimentary supports. reproduces muchos. in the enrichment programs and data
monitoring are properly if they are properly applied it could expand opportunities for historically marginalized populations and students. However, without equitable investments in K through8 schools, existing academic
gaps will continue to reproduce themselves, limiting real access for many young people for from vulnerable communities and populations. Linguistic linguisting. In addition, English language learner
students face a dual challenge. They must demonstrate academic proficiency while still developing language competence. This policy could benefit them if the district fulfills it com it its commitment to expand access awareness
and targeted supports. For example, by ensuring linguistically and culturally appropriate testing materials, bilingual tutors and enrichment programs that integrate language learning with academic content.
On the other hand, if these supports are not implemented consistently, ELLL students risk being left out of the exam schools, not because of the lack of ability, but due to language barriers
and limited guidance. Therefore, the effective inclusion will be a key test of the true equity policy that this seeks to achieve. It is a very important decision. We have to consider that families have to be
involved in this very important decision making. So it brings a lot of priorities not to focus essentially on only on exam schools. We have to bring the attention to the high schools. There are many different needs that are essential as
well that have to be implemented at high schools for example. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Um, good evening. I'm grateful for the students, parents, educators, and community members who've delivered passionate and compelling testimony on
this issue, not just over the past few months, but over the course of the 2021 working group and in the years thereafter. That 2021 policy was a response to the very disparities that the opportunity gaps task force spoke to today. And that policy did result in
progress toward our city's exam schools being more reflective of the city itself, though still far from proportionally aligned to Boston's composition, particularly by socioeconomic status, race, IEP status, and language level. I also respect the
position though I don't share the same opinion held by some who have expressed that exam schools or selective admissions schools overall should not be our model in Boston. Though there is not a major city nationally without some form of selective admissions high school
or as some cities call it talented and gifted programming. The existence of exam schools in Boston does, as we heard testimony today, have tremendous ripple effects on the enrollment and performance at all of the secondary schools in the district, particularly
because the three schools serve a whopping 25% of high school age students. But this is the system we have. All three schools have tremendous outcomes and they represent what many all over the city in every neighborhood
feel is a viable pathway to choose BPS for their young people. That said, these are not just schools with high demand and high interest. They are schools with a specific curricular design intended to provide an accelerated course of study
beyond what is considered typical grade level work. Students have up to two to four hours of homework nightly, take up to six sub subjects daily, sometimes seven, etc. All three schools have a specific college preparatory mission and
a specific program of study to arrive at that outcome. They are not comprehensive schools with a full range of academic programs and they are not staffed for anything other than college preparatory mission. While this course of study is not going to be the preference of every
student in Boston, nor does it need to be, it is essential that we prepare all students in every school to have the ability to succeed in the program of study that they want. And that means ensuring a rigorous grade level experience at every level from preK
forward. Desi reports BPS as having 2,882 sixth graders enrolled last year. Of these total students, 864 met or exceeded standards in ELA, 721
met or exceeded standards in math. There are approximately 1,000 available 7th grade seats at exam schools annually. What does this mean? It means we do not have the number of students in the entirety of Boston public schools performing at grade level in ELA and
math to fill the total available seventh grade seats across the three exam schools. This is what needs our attention and urgently. The proposed policy on the table for exam school admissions preserves the most impactful component of the current policy which is the maintenance of the tier structure.
We have been familiar with the flawed nature of the school-based points for years and have tweaked the policy many times to chip away at the overallocation of how many students receive these points which was not run through proper simulations at the time of the working
group. I do agree that the community engagement on exam schools over the past few months has not been as robust as it should have been. I also think there is factual information that we already know such as if we continue with the current
structure as it exists today, there are likely scenarios where access is impossible or nearly impossible for some Boston students before they even submit a report card or sit for the MAP assessment. If the policy is kept the same, there will continue to be affluent
students who receive bonus points because of the school that they attend, weakening the impact of points for students experiencing homelessness or living in BHA housing. There will continue to be students who could not have achieved a higher composite score
than the one they earned and still face being shut out of a seat at any of the three schools. The students and families for whom this situation has applied do not share a monolithic identity and they attend all types of schools, some of
which are our own BPS schools. A citywide allocation running alongside geographical student assignment is not new to us. The current exam schools class of 2027, our first COVID class, was admitted with a citywide allocation.
It's a diverse class that is thriving at the exam schools. It should not be the case that we associate city-wide seats with one specific type of student. If we can't as a system prepare all of our students so that citywide seats aren't assumed to be predestined for a specific
set of families, then we need to reassess what we are providing for our young people. The students we serve in BPS who are predominantly black, Latino, and or lowincome deserve the opportunity to compete within their tier and citywide regardless of their school and
circumstance. And that comes not by spending multiple school committee meetings on the topic of exam schools year after year, but by determining the policies, resources, programming, and learning experiences that raise student achievement throughout the district. If we sustain the low expectations that
readiness and preparation is not a responsibility of BPS, we will continue to educate with an ethic of mediocrity. We need a multi-year policy that gives all students the chance to apply and be considered for a seat regardless of address or sending school while we
maintain the element of the plan that is most critical to diversity um to the diversity that is to bene the benefit of every learner in the exam schools. And that lever is the tier system that is based not on the n number of applicants in the tier but by how many school age
children in the city that the tier represents. >> Thank you. Um, first of all, thank you to people that have testified to us over the past several months since the superintendent first started talking about this a year
ago, December, and then in June and then the initial proposal in September. Thank you also to my fellow members this evening for your very thoughtful comments. Um, you each bring out excellent points. I am going to be very brief in my comments
because much has been said already. Um I do view this proposal by the superintendent as a compromise. As the superintendent said, we have heard from uh people who have a variety of viewpoints on this. I do believe that
the plan that we have in place did achieve the goal of opening up uh the opportunity for our students citywide by implementing the tier structure. Um I also am very sensitive and I don't want to speak for the chair but we've had
many conversations about this. the chair has raised it herself publicly quite a bit over the concerns about um highest achieving students as the superintendent said being blocked out mathematically before the process even starts. So I do believe this is a compromise
um that allows us to keep um the goals that we had in place which was to have greater socioeconomic diversity and and greater representation from all the neighborhoods in our city while also um solving for the the problem that I just
mentioned and importantly providing transparency and clarity and simplification of the project uh uh process trying to explain the points over the years has been um a challenge into itself for parents and students
have a hard time understanding what the policy is particularly as we continue to tweak it. So I applaud superintendent what you said of you recommending this policy and then you would like it to stay for three years you will analyze it but we need to be focusing our effort on
the rest of our schools. I also applaud the inclusion in this in this policy and it was not talked about much though Miss Pelanka Garcia I think it's what you were getting at was about also um exploring ways to expand the exam school initiative to include students in the
grade four and also design and implement additional enrichment programs in g grade grade four to six to increase rigorant academic resident uh readiness for all of our students. So I appreciate that other work that is included in it as well. I think it is thoughtful and I look forward to supporting it.
>> Thank you. >> Okay. I want to thank all of my fellow members and all of the public for all of the um conversations that we've had. Um this is a very difficult decision. It's been a very difficult one from the very
beginning because no matter what decision is made, there will be people that will be happy and there will people that will not be happy. um there is no perfect um solution. I appreciate um with member Scarat's um remarks with the
with helping us to really think about who our students are. My issues all along have been it's not so much for me about enrollment and admission but preparation. And if we've got a number of students as
we see from our MCCAST scores etc that we have fewer students at proficiency than the number of seats that we have. That's critical. We've got over a thousand seats and we've only got 800 kids who
by virtue of their preparation are ready for this work. So what are we doing to our students? We have 32 high schools. Every school, every student is not going to be the right student for th those programs. If we have that many
options, we should be working very hard to make sure our students are ready to be successful in a program that makes sense for them. People love the exam schools because they bring prestige and they have
resources, but they're not right for every student. We know that. And oftentimes students are there because their parents want them there more than they do. And our goal needs to be to make sure that students are prepared but
also have the right kinds of choices. Um for that reason even though I may not like all of the options that we have to move forward we have to move forward. Um stopping this process now only frustrates the the
actual families for whom this will be a next step for them. Thank you to all of the advocates, but many of the advocates are not going to be the people who are going to be facing this personal decision um as we move forward in this
next year. So with that um I'm recommending that we move forward and if there are no further questions, I'll entertain a motion to approve the exam school admission policy recommendation as presented. Is there a motion? >> So moved. >> Thank you. Is there a second?
>> Second. Is there any discussion or objection to the motion? >> Miss Pavix, will you please call the role? >> Thank you, chair. Dr. Alkins, >> no. >> Mr. Kennet Hernandez, Miss Panco Garcia, >> no. >> Miss Rachel Scarret,
>> yes. >> Mr. Tran, >> yes. >> Mr. O'Neal, >> yes. >> Miss Robinson, >> yes. The motion is approved with four yays, two and two nos.
>> Thank you, Miss Parvix. All right. Our third action item tonight is the approval of the OAG task force membership proposal that was presented earlier this evening. If there's no further discussion, I will now entertain a motion to approve the membership as
presented. Is there a motion? >> So move. So move. >> Thank you. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you. Is there any discussion or objection to the motion? Is there any objection to approving the membership by unanimous consent? >> Point of order. >> Excuse me. >> Am I allowed to vote on it?
>> He's a member. >> Oh, you're a member. You have to You have to recuse yourself. >> Well, I'm I'm a nominated member. >> You're a nominated member. I will recuse yourself. Recuse you. Thank you. >> I think you don't. >> Thank you. Sorry about that.
>> Um >> All right. Is there any objection to approving the man the membership >> roll call? >> Okay, let's why don't we do this by roll call. Thank you. >> Dr. Alkins, >> abstain. >> Abain. >> Yes, she abain. Yes.
>> Mr. Hernandez. Miss Palano Garcia. >> Yes. >> M Miss Rachel Scarret. >> Yes. >> Mr. Tran. >> Yes. >> Mr. O'Neal. >> With appreciation for those willing to serve. Yes. >> Miss Robinson. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. The OG fourth membership
proposal is approved. Thank you. Our next three action items include three policies that impact our secondary schools. You may recall that assistant superintendent, college, career, and life readiness Brett Dickinson and interim chief of
teaching and learning Dr. Angela Hedley Mitchell presented these policies at the October 8th meeting. I will now turn it over to the superintendent for any final comments. >> Uh, great chair. Thank you. Um, so tonight we're asking the committee to take three votes, all related to
secondary schools. At the October 8th school committee meeting, we presented two DESIE policies related to chapter 74 career and technical education or what we call CT programs. As the team explained, the first policy is an admissions policy for entrance into
chapter 74 CT programs at five of our high schools. Madison Park Vocational Tech High School, English High School, Boston Arts Academy, Boston Green Academy, and the Edward M. Kennedy
uh Academy for Health Careers, your EMK. The second policy is the middle school career exploration policy regarding the ways in which the district supports career exploration and awareness about chapter 74 CTE programs at the middle
school level. We also shared a revised competency determination or CD policy uh with you tonight. You'll see it in the packet. Um BPS competency determination was approved by the school committee in June of 2025. Over the summer, Desi
released updated CD requirements. Our policy has been updated to meet those requirements and so we're therefore asking for an affirmative vote. We have Brett Dickens here who's the secondary superintendent for college, career, and life readiness. Dr. Angela Hadley Hedley Mitchell who's our interim chief of
teaching and learning is also here to just answer any clarifying questions. We did hear the committee loud and clear and we are in full agreement in terms of the competency determination. Rigor is at the heart of it. We eagerly await to hear any further guidance that DESIE
will be giving relative to the graduation requirements. For the purposes of this year, we need to have these three policies passed. >> Thank you, Superintendent. I'll now open it up to committee for any final questions or comments. um a couple of things that kind of
stretch across policies. Um maybe starting with the um CTE programs and the middle school pathway education around school options. Um I was very struck by the public testimony around the differentiation of timing and
communication around options. Um, and I agree, um, it would be ideal for students to get all of their choices, um, in a comprehensive set, um, to show that there are multiple viable pathways and that one doesn't come out separate
from another. It's also very confusing for families. And so just expressing a hope that as we think about making high school opportunities known at the eighth grade or other grade levels that we think about it as a portfolio of our
schools um so students really understand the range of options that they have uh for high school. >> Yeah, I think this is a really important point um members car it's also the sixth grade um because of now the tipping point of seventh grade start. I know
that um uh Brett and the team are doing just incredible work to lift this uh relative to awareness and access. Brett, I don't know if you want to share just a few things. >> Yeah, thank you for that comment. Um I share that concern. Um we have done a lot of work um to line up a website to
explain um this portfolio of school options um to families and to link it to all of the schools. As you well know, two of them are Horus man charters and we have worked to make sure that all of the policies and all of the deadlines are as line as al aligned as possible.
Um, and lastly, we met with the Office of Family and Community Advancement, and we will be doing a webinar in the next few weeks, which we're really excited about, in advance of the showcase, um, the same structure that we do for the exam schools, so that we can inform
families in the community about these five schools and the opportunities. So, I think each year we will get closer and closer to that full alignment. Um, but because we only have one school that's wall-to-all CTE and the others have programs and different entry points, I think we've done a really good job of
bringing all five schools to a pretty common timeline. And maybe just talk about the work within the uh sixth and seventh grade uh to be able to get to them like as they're working with guidance uh counselors, social workers,
whoever their frontfacing team is. um that students are able to begin that career exploration uh exploration at a younger grade. >> Yeah, I think the most important part of especially the middle school policy is um integrating this into the MYAP framework and and we're trying to go
fourth grade on um with those career connected and career exploration activities at all of our schools. Um so as that becomes more integral to the curriculum from fourth to eighth grade um at whatever point students are making that decision grade six or grade 8 they will be making a more informed decision.
So we've got teams on the ground at many of our K through8 um schools um integrating that MYAP framework and better educating students about career options. Um, as you think about that landing,
that web page landing for that set of schools, um, and I'm sorry I don't know the answer to this, like something to maybe look toward is, is there a place that just has a description of all of the secondary schools in one place if a parent were just wanting to see them as
a whole versus a type? >> Yes. Yeah. We've been update Oh, sorry. >> No, go ahead. and we've been updating all of our slides to present the the different types of schools and then to present um the individual school profiles in one presentation. It's a lot of information and that's why we want to
do the webinar so that families would understand um what those different options are and certainly the showcase in December will help um clarify that but everything is in one presentation um and there's a handbook that accompanies that that families can download as a PDF.
>> Great. and more and more schools are and will be supporting this but really incorporating um in their sixth, seventh, and eighth grades just having conversations with the kids. Um I was in an eighth grade class uh probably about a month ago and just started talking with them about
what they were thinking about school choice, why they were thinking, what they were thinking and it became like very clear to me that uh one kid said X school and then the other's like yeah that's the one I want to go to. uh and so that peer kind of influence was you know very strong that's important but we
want the influence to really be information and so I think it's the combination of engaging families and having teachers guidance uh vis visitors come in and actually talk to the kids about what is available at the schools because sometimes the kids uh when they
they talk they have they know what their interests are but they don't know where to find those interest areas when it comes to the secondary world. So um and that that choice is happening earlier now than ever, right? So um this is a point that we'll follow up and then definitely come spring we'll give um
report back as to how the choice season went. >> And I know those school profiles can be very long and involved. So I was more thinking just like a paragraph on each school that could just >> you got one one website page just scroll down with the more detailed
>> things behind it. in all of our languages. We'll send the website to you. We'd love to have that feedback. That'd be great. >> Yeah. >> Is there a sense that um I guess sort of like on the ground how you all might be mobilizing BSAC to also speak to directly to students? >> Not specifically on this, but I think
it's like it's definitely like a good idea to talk with. I know student support is definitely in the mix as one of the support mechanisms for this and BSAC is an extension of that. So, I think that's definitely worth, you know, talking with BackC about. Yeah, I think that's a great idea. The students do go
to all of the secondary schools with the admissions coordinators and the instructors because that's who the the kids want to talk to. So, we have set that up at all of our secondary schools where the admissions coordinator will go in, but students from each of those five schools will accompany them.
>> Sure. >> I had a competency determination question, but I wanted to defer to my colleagues if there was a question on the other items. Um, I just wanted to maybe repeat my understanding of the competency determination, um, just for
clarity in terms of, um, what we're approving for the classes of 2026 and 2027 and what the competency determination is versus the graduation requirements. So my understanding is that the
competency determination is the temporary substitute for our oldest students, juniors and seniors, um in light of the MCCAST removal as a graduation requirement, which is typically a sophomore year assessment. >> Yes.
>> Um and that competency determination does not equal a high school diploma. It is required to be eligible for a high school diploma. Yes. >> So, these temporary, honestly, low standards of a barely passing grade in
two freshman and sophomore year courses are just one element of what would be required of our students to earn a BPS diploma. And that what's required to earn a BPS diploma is the completion of
Mass Core, four years of study, things we've already discussed. >> Yes, correct. We did um and I can't remember if we did it before you came onto the committee or not um me >> um but we we did um provide waiver language for uh for instance our
multilingual learners levels one two and three special education students in particular situations where it's uh schedule-wise not possible to complete but uh other than that that's correct your understanding is correct >> but no one is no one is earning a diploma for two courses in ELA and two
in math with a D minus I do think there is some public confusion around that and so I I just wanted to make sure that the understanding was there. >> Yeah, we can we can even uh look at what we've put out. I mean we're about to we're going to be sending messaging out and we can emphasize uh that messaging
that that is that is correct. Uh the alternative education schools, excuse me, alternative education schools function on 18 credit uh not the 22 of masscore, but other than that it's the mass core >> and we're eagerly awaiting like we want
to hear what the graduation committee or working group um puts forward um because there may be other things that they suggest that we may also want to incorporate. So we will revisit this for classes beyond the class of 27 or more rigorous requirements.
>> Correct. >> Anything else? Anybody have? >> Okay. So we'll start. Um so we're going to be taking three different votes. So the first one is I'll now entertain a motion to approve the competency determination
policy class of 2026 and 2027 is presented. Is there a motion? >> So is there a second? >> Second. >> Is there any discussion or objection to the motion? >> Miss Pavves, will you please call the >> Thank you, Chair. Dr. Alkins, >> yes.
>> Mr. G Hernandez, Miss Panco Garcia, >> yes. >> Miss Rachel Scarret, >> yes. >> Mr. Fran. >> Yes. >> Mr. O'Neal. >> Yes. >> Miss Robinson. >> Yes. >> The the motion is approved. >> Thank you, Miss Parvex. I'll now entertain a motion to approve the career
and technical education recruitment admission and retention policy as presented. Is there a motion? >> So move. >> Thank you. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Is there any discussion or objection to the motion? >> Miss Pravic, will you please call the role? >> Thank you, Chair. Dr. Alkins. >> Yes.
>> Met Hernandez. Miss Panco Garcia. >> Yes. Miss Rachel Scarret. >> Yes. >> Mr. Tran, >> yes. >> Mr. O'Neal, >> yes. >> Miss Robinson, >> yes. >> The motion is approved. >> Right. Thank you. I will now entertain a motion to approve our final action item, the middle school pathway exploration
policy as presented. Is there a motion? >> So move. >> Thank you. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Is there any discussion or objection to the motion? >> Miss Pavix, will you please call the role? >> Dr. Alkins. >> Yes. >> Miss Ken Hernandez. Miss Panco Garcia. >> Yes. Miss Rachel Scar.
>> Yes. >> Mr. Tran, >> yes. >> Mr. O'Neal, >> yes. >> Miss Robinson, >> yes. >> The motion is approved. >> All right. Thank you all. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> We'll now move on to public comment on reports. Miss Par. >> No, we don't have any. >> All righty. Great. Any new business.
That concludes our business for this evening. >> Before we I'm very sorry. I I I should have spoken up before you called for the uh recess. We've heard continuously last time and this and this time as well
about the catchment uh issues regarding bilingual and I do know I do understand that we we understand the the the current bilingual programs that are existing in different schools are full. I understand that. But
I do believe that there are other ways, other means and other processes to uh you pretty much to uh respond to the need of of these students as we all
agree that bilingual bilingualism is very important. I I wasn't a product of bilingual program. I hope I I I was but I was not. So I do look forward to some discussion regarding that and maybe if
it is a policy issue please put it on on the table so we can discuss it and we can dissect it. Thank you. What I what I what I would say is that also to some degree that's sort of some of the things we've talked about in the opportunity and achievement gaps uh conversations
and that is been a huge part um already of the conversations that we've had and making sure that um bilingualism um is a north star for the district like so like yes I can assure you that is a priority.
Uh so the team is actually preparing it's gathering the information it's preparing a memo so that it can be a springboard to a conversation for school committee. Uh I would anticipate that you will have that before the next school committee. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Okay. >> Okay.
>> All right. That concludes our business for this evening. The next school committee meeting will take place in person on Wednesday, November 19th, 2025 at 6 pm. If there's if there's nothing further, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting. Is there a motion?
>> So moved. Thank you. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second. >> Is there any discussion or objection to the motion? Is there any objection to approving the motion by unanimous consent? Hearing none, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you all and have a good night. >> Thank you. >> Thank you.