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 for all.
>> Thank you. Um, this meeting is being live streamed by Chelsea Tele Media and posted CPS website for interested community members to access and watch. In person public participation will be taking place tonight in accordance with the chumps of school committee public participation policy and when speaking tonight during the public input portion of this meeting has notified the
superintendent's office of desire to speak and provide been provided with these guidelines. Upon request written comments received no later than 12 p.m. on the day of the meeting will also be read and made part of the record of this meeting during the second public comment session. So welcome this meeting of the cha school committee. Our first order of
business is to approve the minutes from our meeting on January 6th. I move that we approve the minutes of the regular school committee meeting of January 6, 2026. >> Second. >> And just to clarify because I know some people um might have looked at the minute four, they have been revised from
their initial um just to make sure that they align with what we need for what we need for um MSBA. So our our meeting minutes from last meeting are going to be in part of the packet that goes to MSBA for our feasibility study
or PDPs whatever it is PS whatever it is and so they have to have a certain language. So we just wanted to make sure that language is was correct and so um they did get adjusted. So I hope everybody saw that. Okay. >> All right. So we have a motion. We have a second. Um all those in favor.
>> 5-0. Great. >> All right. Uh, next up, our Chumsford High School representatives. >> Oh, thank you. On Saturday, uh, the Chumpsford boys basketball team had their first annual shootathon fundraiser. Um, this fundraiser had a huge turnout. It was filled with, um,
raffles, concessions, music, and games, and they're very happy for all who came and volunteered. Um and um last Friday, coach Vatitali of the CHS boys swim and dive team secured his hundth career win in his 14th year coaching after their
big win over Central Catholic. And term two closes this Friday. Um with that being said, Thursday and Friday are going to be half days. Testing starts Wednesday and will continue into Thursday and Friday. Um the ac cappella group, the Thursdays
and the crescendos will be performing and competing at the Any Voices competition this weekend. Uh congrats to them. And the class selection process for 2027 has just started. Uh students who want to run are required to collect
100 signatures by January 30th while their speeches are due on February 23rd. And last but not least, big night for the wrestling team tomorrow. senior night against North Andover as well as the Lucas match starting at 6 PM.
>> All right. Uh, anyone have any good news to share? >> Sorry, I'm trying to do with the technology. Um, only good news I have is today is the 90th day of school. We are halfway. >> Wow. >> Who would have thought? >> That is good news. That
>> is excellent news. We made it halfway. >> Keep going. >> Half of us survived. It's not bad. >> Yep. We made it. >> All right. Anybody else have any good news they want to share about anything? >> Okay. All right. Um, we're now at our first public comment session, but I don't think we have anybody registered for the first part.
>> We don't. No, we have no registered speaker for the first part. We have a registered speaker for the second one at the end of the meeting. >> Okay. Great. All right. So, we'll move on to new business. >> Sure. I will um invite up um Kelly Rogers who is our coordinator for um
ELLL and reading and Title One services, probably many more things. Um and Kelly is going to share some updates with regard to the um programming that kind of falls under her domain and she's got a lot of guests with her tonight. So, we're looking forward to hearing a little bit about Kelly.
>> Great. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be sharing uh the news with you this evening because we have some very special guests that are join that are joining us. Um I've just been charge of this. That's exciting. So tonight for the agenda, uh we're going to be talking
tonight about the think SRSD writing framework that we've just adopted K through 8. Um which is super exciting. I'm going to talk about how um it really is accommodates all of our learners here in Chelmsford and just reviewing our
district training plan about you know what are what are the steps we're taking to make ensure that our teachers are trained and we have some ongoing professional development um happening and taking place um in the years to come. And then the most exciting part of the evening is we have two teachers here
with us today from Harrington fourth grade teachers. We have uh Kiki Cotay and we have Katie Ritter that are going to be joining us with five students from Harrington fourth graders who are going to actually um highlight this think SRSD writing framework that we've taken on
here in Chelmsford K through 8. And then uh you'll have an opportunity to ask them any questions that you have or make any comments to them. And then I'm going to um follow up with just a brief ELLL and Title One update. So thank SRSD. I
know that Abby Dick, our K through uh I'm going to say K through 12, that's not correct. Sorry, Abby. 5 through 12 reading um coordinator, uh came and spoke to you a little bit about the program earlier this year. And I'm going to just talk about it from the K through
four perspective, but super exciting that we're adopting this K through8. And like I said, it's a writing framework. And SRSD stands for self-regulated strategy development. And really, basically what that means is we're giving students an opportunity to um
take ownership over their own learning. We're giving them some some structures and some exemplars and eventually kind of releasing that ownership over to them and really focusing on the writing and the thinking and the self-reflection and um self-regulation techniques. And this
framework really is it's build self-confidence in our students and independence which um you'll hear from some of our students a little bit later. So why think SRSD? So why why are we um kind of adopting this framework now?
Well, we know that writing is essential across all of our subject areas and uh this the examples that you're going to see tonight is how the think SRSD program is being utilized in mathematics, in science, in social
studies and our um ELA and our reading programs. So we have found through the data many students are challenged in their writing with number one getting organized or organizing their ideas um staying focused or revising their work.
And I had the opportunity this year to meet with the grade three and four teachers across the the four elementary schools. And we took a look at the MCCAST essays. And I actually had the opportunity uh this year we were able to
copy um all of the student actual student essays and what did they write um and I was able to hand those to their to the teachers. So they got to see exactly what their students wrote last year. And we found that although maybe
some students wrote a lot, they didn't particularly answer the question that was being asked of them. Um so we think we've really need to refine this. we need to really um you know focus on um on the writing and and like I said Abby you know was finding the same data in
her um you know grade levels as well 5 through 12. So that's kind of how we're like let's let's take a look at this K through K through eight. Um and we even have I think Abby probably spoke about that we have some of our high school teachers um who are trained in the think
SRSD. So, for example, the writing uh the reading specialist and um some of the other um teachers who teach some of the other um reading or writing courses at the high school. So, that's kind of why I think SRSD it provides very
explicit instruction for our students that they that they kind of need. Um there's consistent routines embedded in this framework. So, there's a lot of um acronyms, right? But what we found is, and everyone's doing a great job, right, in their own little subset of a
classroom, and one class or grade level or school might have an exemplar or an organizer, but they're all different. And so, we wanted to make sure that we have some consistency, that all of the organizers and all of the language that
we're talking about in the for writing is consistent. So if you walk into a kindergarten classroom or a fourth or an eighth grade classroom and they talk about the gist, what's the gist statement that everybody knows what the gist is and it's going to be so exciting
because I think about foundations years back and when we started and how it builds upon itself, right? So, for example, in kindergarten, these students are exposed to this. But now, these fourth grade teachers in three or four years, these students are going to be coming to them and they're going to know
the acronyms. They're going to know power is one of them. POW. And they're, you know, they're picking apart their essays. They're organizing. They're able to write. They're editing. And they're revising. And they're taking ownership over their own learning. And there really are just clear expectations for
the students within this framework that I'm super excited about. Like I said, it's very explicit instruction. It's very structured and organized for students. Um there's a lot of modeling that goes with the think SRSD program. Uh a lot of think alouds, a lot of
collaborative writ. So students are writing together um as a class. They're looking at exemplars for so for example when I met with the teachers the grade three and four teachers we looked at those essays and are there any exemplars that we can use um that show us what is you know what is a great piece of
writing or what writing might need um some more work on that and so through guided practice again the students are released to their to their own devices and um they have some independence in their writing but there is a lot of modeling there's a lot of explicit
instruction there's kind of a lot of handholding in the beginning to really teach students how to write. Um, and I think that students really appreciate the structure. So, students are learning both what to do and kind of like I said, how to manage their own learning. And that's where that self-regulated um,
strategy development comes in. So, the think SRSD in the K through four classrooms, super exciting. Like I said, it's integrated into all of our subject areas. So, we we don't only use this um within our ELA or our writing block. It can be used for mathematics and science,
which you're going to hear about in just a minute. Uh it's aligned with our grade level standards, and like I said, it's creating a shared language within our classroom. So, we're we have consistent um consistent language across our grades, across our schools, and I'm
super excited about that. Um so, why this works for all of our learners, right? to some of our English language learners, um, students with, you know, disabilities. It's very clear. They have very clear steps. It's very visual. They have built-in scaffolding,
um, language scaffolds for the students and it really promotes independence over time, like I said, students very structured and there's a lot of modeling that takes place that I think um, many of our students really um, crave and do well with. So, what's our plan? Our
professional learning training plan for the year is we have um right now through our elementary uh teachers, we have about half of the staff who has been trained, half of the classroom teachers and some special educators who have been trained. They have participated in a
two-day virtual um training. So, it's um it runs from like 8:30 to 3:30. Um it's been taking place over at the high school with me. Um, and honestly, I just think that it's it's gotten such positive feedback and I'm super excited
about it and the teachers have really appreciated that they have an opportunity to work with their colleagues across the district. Um, so that's been, you know, that's been great. So, the goal is for all of our K through four teachers to be trained by the end of the school year. Um, and we
also have um an e-learning component that was just purchased. And the e-learning component will be used for additional support. So, for example, if a teacher has been engaged in that in that two-day training and just kind of needs a refresh and kind of like what
did that what did that lesson look like or how should I teach it this way? They can go back and they can look online at some training videos. We're also going to be using that e-learning component for our L ELELLL teachers and our reading specialists. So, kind of support staff that need to know about this
framework. So, when the students come to them, they don't generally teach writing explicitly, but again, making sure that everybody um is aware of the language and the expectations of our stu the writing expectations of our students.
So, um we have a K through4 shared Google um drive that we use. is we put all of our curriculum work in there and that's updated each year. And so we I I created um you know folders for each grade level and we have think SRSD
folder that all of the resources that we're obtaining through the trainings are going into the to the drive so everybody we don't have to recreate these templates that they're there for teachers to use. So really make simplifying that somewhat. And honestly,
it's been super exciting because think SRSD resources are available. They have a Facebook page. They have um a a website as well. And I just I just loved one of the the workshops um one of the third grade workshops that I I witnessed
the the teachers together and they were engaged in the virtual training. And what the great part about this is it's not just chums for teachers. These are teachers across the country that are being trained in Think SRSD at the same time as Chelmsford is participating. And one of our third grade teachers during
this training was privately chatting another teacher that found a resource on Facebook and they were downloading their resources and there was just this great collaboration happening. So I love to see that. Um and so that was just kind of something I wanted to share because
it was just really um you know that's what it's about. It's collaboration with other educators around best practice. So, um opportunities for principles to participate in the professional learning. We are just they have a um a leaders network that is available are we
haven't participated yet. We're kind of we're just getting our feet wet, but next year principles will have an opportunity to um collaborate with other leadership across um the country. Anyone who's using Think SRSD, the the leader
Dr. Leslie Lud um facilitates these um leaders networks about once once a month or once every other month. So that will be a training opportunity for our leadership to participate in too. So they know what are the expectations and what does this look like and what are the look fors when they go into the
classrooms. So the most exciting part of the evening right now is the voices from our classroom. So, we're going to the teachers are going to share. Um, like I said, we have Kiki Cotay and we have um Katie Ritter and we have Elizabeth Denelli here who's supporting the group. Uh, Jessica Morrison's also part of the
team. She's not here tonight. Um, but we, you know, I just want to thank this team for just being an integral part of kind of making this all happen. They're really the ones um who came forward with um think SRSD uh about a year and a half ago uh in a meeting that I was having
with them and um you know we were able to do some research around that and um kind of move forward with this um districtwide. So, they're going to talk a little bit about how Think SRSD supports our instruction uh changes they've seen in the student writing. And
you'll see some examples, like I said, AC crosscurricular, which I think is is um key. And then the students, we really want to hear what they have to say about how the think SRSD strategies have helped them and how they feel more confident as writers. So, I'm going to ask that group, the five students and
the teachers to come on up and you can share your story around how this Yeah, you can and I'll you can do your you want to sit here. >> Just make sure you have a microphone in this. Okay. And then you can slide the mic.
>> Yeah, that'll work. Yep. >> If I move these out right here. Yeah. Sam, you want to come sit over here? actually competition. >> If you need someone >> ready too far, >> you just move it.
>> They they they move. >> There's another mic right next to Diana. >> Yeah, I can try to stretch this one over too. >> Thank you for having us. I'm Katie Ritter. I teach fourth grade at Harrington. and I'm Kiki Cotay. And we'd like the kids to introduce themselves.
>> Want to start over here? >> I'm Mohamad Navidivid. Um I'm in Miss Kote's class. >> Uh I'm Musi. Uh I'm in Miss class. >> I'm K and I'm in Miss Cote's class. >> I'm Lexi Plater and I'm Miss in Miss
Ritter's class. >> I'm Sam Bishop and I'm in Miss Ritter's class. >> Thank you. Um, so as Kelly mentioned, we're here to share our classroom experiences with Think SRSD. Um, this is a framework that supports our writing
instruction and has already created really visible changes in what our kids have been able to do. Um, and we're excited to have our students here to share how these strategies help them plan and feel more confident as writers in our classrooms.
So, every strong piece of writing has to start with strong comprehension. So the way that we launched our year was focusing on a strategy from SRSC called getting the gist. So we've used this with all of our FNP interactive readalouds. Um summarizing is one of the
most effective ways for us to improve our student learning. Um it forces the brain to synthesize information. Right? So, when we're using getting the gist, we're asking students to think broadly about who did what, when, and where, and
then why or what happened in a story. Um, and by doing this, it helps them to sort of filter out all of the minor details and focus on the big messages in the text that we are reading. Finding the gist makes me a better reader.
Before I start writing, I look for the main idea. For example, after reading Crow Call by Lois Lowry, we used these steps to create a to write a clear summary sentence. As Liz and her dad
hunted crows in the hills, they bonded. Finding the gist of just one part of a text helps me because I don't feel overwhelmed by the whole book. I have one sentence map for my brain to follow before I even pick up my pencil to write
my own ideas. >> We always start by using >> We're going to do this one. Um the other thing about the gist is it helps us really focus on strong sentence writing. Um because we can take a sentence and we're adding different phrases to it as
well. Um this is the power process and so we call it self power. Um again it's a lot of acronyms but the kids take to it very easily. Um this cycle starts with positive self-t talk. Three Ps
pre-ereading the article or the book for the gist pulling apart the prompt or the question that we're going to be asked and then picking our ideas for the prompt. And then finally, we organize, write, edit, and revise. And we do have a little song. And when we get to the
right part, do you guys remember how a song goes? >> Right. >> Um, this cycle is so effective because it addresses both the cognitive and the emotional parts of the writing. Um, and research on SRSD.
CL, you're going to talk when I'm done. Okay. Research on SRSD shows us that kids who use these pneumonics can recall information more easily and effectively than without it kind of than without. It re demystifies writing by breaking it into these manageable steps.
>> We always start by using positive positive self-t talk. Before we start, I say I have a plan and I can do this. If I get frustrated, I take a breath and look at my power chart. It helps me stay in control of my work.
>> When we pull apart the prompt, we ask ourselves a question. The question asks me to do what? Then we know exactly what the teacher is asking for. It stopped me from getting stuck at the beginning, which can be one of the hardest parts of writing. Another aspect of um think SRSD is
backward mapping. And this is where we take um an exemplar and we show them a finished piece of writing and think about how that person who wrote it organized themselves to start with. So we think about the thinking behind the
writing and this is a way of not just telling what to do but also showing what to do. So in this example, we've given the students the tide organizer on the left with the topic um the important evidence and the detailed examination.
And we try to teach them to have three pieces of evidence um and three pieces of examination and then a conclusion. And we look at how you can see there's two examplers on this. The one on the right is a student who is already an expert in using Think SRSD and how they
have organized their essay about how a father and son's relationship was strong in the book Dad, Jackie, and Me, which is another one of our interactive readalouds. So, by looking at that exemplar, students can see the components of how writing an essay fit together to build this vision of
possibility for their own writing. And by seeing a finished product, they know what a well-written essay looks like. And we can reverse engineer it to look at components like the transition words, uh what language the student, the author has taken from the actual book, um and
the detailed examination. And this tide exam, this tide organizer can then be a reference when students write their own. So they can use that again when they write. We've also show them a lower level exemplar where a student hadn't
used the think SRSD strategy yet. And this helped students to realize that they actually already know how to include more ideas than this student did. Um, and notice that there might have even been ideas that don't quite make sense. And it's helpful to see that and, you
know, make that connection inside yourself. We even use our writing tools in math. When when we have to explain how we solve a problem, we use Tide. We also include language boxes that reminds us
to use important math vocabulary in our writing to show our understanding. When we learned multi-digit multiplication, we solved problems like 96 * 27.
I didn't just show the answer. I wrote a topic sentence that shared my answer, provided important evidence of my strategy, an area model usually, and give a detailed explanation of how I
decompose into numbers. My ending helps me make sure my answer makes sense. Writing about my strategy makes my math thinking much clearer. So, as you've already seen from Sam and Lexi, because Think Srd provides a
universal language, students can use this framework across content areas. So, it reduces that cognitive load, meaning they don't have to relearn how to write in science and in social studies and in math. They're using the same tools that they're already comfortable and familiar
with. They just have to apply them to the new content. So, they can really focus on the new material that they're learning rather than learning a new structure for it. As well, in science, we use Tide to write scientific explanations.
For example, we studied soil and became experts of what soil is m was made of. Using important evidence and details, we were able to clearly explain the four parts of soil. Organism, air, water, and
nutrients. >> In social studies, we use power cycle to research the native tribes. We organized our research into categories like land, food, and homes. For example, we learned
that we learned the commency lived in teepee because they were easy to move and take down when they followed the bison. Because we used the tide structure for our notes, it was easy to turn our writing into a multimedia presentation
to share with the class. we knew exactly what to say for every slide. >> So, as you can see, whether it's collaborative whiteboarding like you see here in science or it's a multimedia presentation where they're putting each of their pieces of important evidence
and details on individual slides, the structure is staying the same and they're using they're learning how to use that flexibly for whatever the needs might be for that project. Katie, can you go to the slide that has some highlighting because I don't think we talked about that. Another thing
that's really really exciting to me is that each section in a piece of writing has a different color. So the topic is green for go and then we have an a yellow for important um evidence. That's going to be something that is not your
idea. It's going to be from the text itself. Uh the orange is our detailed examination and that's our own thinking and it's red but we don't really have red highlighters so we use pink uh for the conclusion and you can see that we put that on the organizer and then
students can actually go look at their own work and highlight it and see oh did I include that? Oh wait a minute you know what there's no pink on this essay I forgot my ending. Um so it's a really a way of self-evaluating as well. Uh so
think SRSD has given us our students a universal way to organize their thoughts across every subject we teach and it's helped us shift them from completing assignments to actually developing strategic writing skills. We're really excited that Jumpsford has adopted
adopted this framework and is training all of us in it. >> Thank you. Anybody have any questions from the committee or >> comments? Quick question. This is the question part. >> Okay. >> Can they say thank you?
>> Of course. >> Ready? 1 2 3. >> Thank you for your time. >> Do you have any questions for us? >> Well, now I have >> Now I have a question. You had a question. So my
>> my first question is to clarify is this is the first school year you were using this. >> Yes ma'am. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Our team was exploring this last year. It was something that we were we had found out about did a little bit of
research. I had asked uh Rob Alen for um funds to do the e-learning course to learn about it ourselves and we like sort of pieced together some parts of it to try it out. And we saw such a change even in our students at the end of last
year in the spring that we were really excited about it and talked to Kelly to see if it was something that we might be able to explore further. So formally this is the first year. >> So I really thank the administrators for taking your ideas to heart and coming up
with something. We had a presentation last year when this was not being used also fourth grade writing. I am astounded at the improvement. It's very noticeable to me and I'm a an educator as you know
so I recognize good kids writing. I'm astounded at the improvement. So this is a great tool that you've discovered. So nice work all of you. >> Thank you. >> Did you have a question or something you wanted to add? >> I want to take it.
>> Okay. I've also never wrote in better cuz I never knew where to put anything. >> Yeah, those organizers. >> I just knew there was an ending, words, and then an end. >> I There was a start, words, and an ending. That's all I knew.
>> I'm very empathetic of that. I get that. >> I have a question. >> Did you want to say something to say? >> Uh yeah. Okay. >> Uh, how come for how come for two slides uh uh both of those were like mine like what my writing and and one of them?
Yeah, that one and and one and one of the Yeah. >> No, the drawing one. >> The just one. >> Oh, the gist one. >> Yeah. About the >> about list. Yeah, that one. >> You did a good job. >> Yeah, >> you did a great job. >> Mhm.
>> You're an exemplar. >> Yeah. That's why you're here, right? Lexi, did you want to add something? >> Um, like in kindergarten, first grade, like in like a younger grades, like we
only learned how to do like the burger. like the top bun which is like the topic and then like the middle is like the like we didn't know that it was the I and D only like um it was like the
middle to explain what what we wanted to write about and then the bottom button was the ending >> it a little clearer for you like what that middle part is supposed to look like. Uh, I did have a quick question
for the teachers. Um, although I'm very impressed with all the students. Um, I'm curious. Um, it sounds like this was something that, um, was kind of educator initiated, like we're looking for something, we have an idea. Um, but I'm
curious, was it, um, something that you all discovered because we had there was a gap that there were not sufficient strategies? Was there a an insufficient prior curriculum that you all have been using or framework and
this was like it felt like a new and improved thing? Um, is it a new I don't I'm not super familiar with think SRSD. So, is this something that's brand new that just came out and is really kind of having an immediate impact? I'm just curious where the idea kind of
originated and and if it originated from something you knew was a missing piece or just something that seemed right away like it would be an improvement. >> I think SRSD has been around for at least 20 years. Okay.
>> Um the researchers have been working to develop and improve it. um think SRSD is a more I'm gonna say public access way of getting into it. There's another program that's just SRSD. >> Yeah, I'm more familiar with that which I think of as a special education
program. So this is this is universal. This is for all students. >> I think this is a framework, right? This is a curriculum. >> Okay. So I think we have uh fountains and panel resources for reading and writing that have like rich
and wide varied lessons that come with them. I think we were looking for something that was going to unify all of those pieces. Something that had the kid-friendly language that they could really latch on to and make their own.
And I think this is sort of that. So >> So it's not replacing something. It's more a supplementary. more like an approach. >> Okay. A strategy. >> And I think what's important to think about with it is just like the kids said, they've had organizers. We've talked about we've have organizers that
are really, really similar to this through all of it. >> But somehow this just gives that explicit instruction, has taught us to model it, has showed us this backward mapping strategy, the highlighting. It just brings everything together and it
brings the reading and the writing together where we think about this gist and now we're going to actually turn that gist into like the topic sentence in our paragraph as time goes on so that we're really giving them those tools when they turn to MCCAST or any other
writing that they do in our class. They know what to do. they've got that um they've got this whole self-power in their head and we're teaching them over time we're giving them some framework now this since this is the first year but as it builds and as we get kids who
have already done it we'll start having them like this slide shows writing their own organizer writing their own disc organizer so they can do that on any piece of paper at any time >> um I think it just has so many components that match up with what we
want to do and that so we can use it with the reading with the math and it's I think the crosscurricular is what's really been an aha for us >> I think I just went to the training and the next day we did that soil it just like it just fit
>> so perfectly with everything we were doing and I know you were like hey the math I think this could work exactly to explain our thinking for math which is an area we're trying to get the kids to do more of is writing about their thinking for math, but they don't really know how to get started. And when we
show them it's the same, makes it much easier for them. >> It was actually a student in my class realized that they could use Tide to explain math. And I was like, that's a great idea. Let's formalize that. >> So, okay.
>> Can I see somebody? >> Um, I'm going to go in agreement with you what you said, Susan. this here. This the writing is just so it's great. This is great. It's brought it up to a
such a level that's terrific. I don't know this young man's name, but >> Hey, Sam. >> Sam, you made a comment that I thought was really, really important, which is that this writing methodology has made you a better reader. Yeah.
>> And to me that is worth so much because what you're doing when you're reading I think is you're trying to figure out how that person thinks and right and then when you're writing you're trying to figure out who's going to listen to me
and how are those people are going to think about my writing and this is absolutely amazing that you can do all that writing in paper and it's all of you but when you made that comment, I thought, "Wow, this not only empowers
what you're doing in your writing, it also empowers your reading and it's going to help you all throughout your life. There's no question." What I've always thought is some students can get this naturally. It takes some time and a couple of years, but this is a
methodology that you just teach everybody so everybody gets it from ground level. This is absolutely wonderful. It's great to see. I'm just sorry we didn't do it earlier to be quite honest and um thank you to the
teachers for being here bringing your students showing us making us feel great about what's going on and in addition for um really empowering them which is what this is all about. So thank you.
>> John anything? >> Yeah. So, when you guys came in, I made a joke and I was like, "Did you guys all do your homework?" And then a bunch of you said yes, but you actually all did your homework. And thank you for that. >> Second of all, it's super brave to come up. You did. I know. I saw I love it. I'm super happy, too. And I'm super glad
that you're all up here. It's really hard to speak in front of a lot of adults in a microphone and all that stuff. It's super brave and I really appreciate it. You have a question. I can see it over there. Young, but um listen, you guys all really came out here. You did a great job. you're doing great work with your teachers and we appreciate you coming here and talking to us like adults. Adults need to hear
from kids sometimes. >> And just to piggyback on that, you know what's great is you all seem very excited about it, you know, and that's that's half the battle. You know, reading, writing, you know, sometimes kids see as a chore, but you all seem very excited about it. You seem, you know, really understand what you're supposed to be doing, which is that's
great. So, >> I just want to if I could just say thank you to the parents and caregivers because you took the time to bring them um and you're also supporting them in what they're doing and um that is really
every time we had a presentation for these grade levels. You've got to come along. So truly truly we appreciate that. >> All right. Anything else? Right. Well, can I can I do this? Can I get I was going to say, can I get one picture of
you guys and then I'll send nice smiles and I'll send this to your teachers. >> Oh, >> three, two, one. Excellent. Perfect. >> They look great. >> Can you have a teenager check that and make sure the photo came? >> I got a good photo.
>> Patrick, did you check his phone? >> He said I was all right. >> Thank you guys. Good. Everybody good? All right. Well, thank you all very much. Great job tonight. >> Thank you so much. >> When the kids come in. >> Oh, it is.
>> Thank you guys. Thank you, Mr. >> So, I have one question for Kelly if I could. >> Yeah, we got more stuff. >> Yeah, we got Kelly still here. Sorry. >> He's still here. I'm not the most exciting part now, right? This that was just awesome >> examples. >> Have a great night.
>> Thank you all improvement. I've heard really positive things from Theo about this curriculum or not curriculum methodology. >> We'll just give them a second to >> I got to get donuts. They have to get the donuts. One of the parents brought donuts. >> My favorite meetings of the year.
>> They own a donut shop. >> Wait for the leftovers. >> That's so sweet. They're going to ask to speak. >> I didn't see any donuts here. Oh, you're going to get so many. They're coming your way. >> Kids that age totally am. >> No, that's great. >> I know we're not live, but I do love
>> I know. I'm like, you're getting donuts. >> I love donuts. For all the viewers at home, if anybody >> Exactly. I'm like, you're getting donuts. >> All right, Kelly, we're back to you. >> All right. Okay. Awesome. >> So, that was just a feel good, right?
This thing's happening. I'm I'm just It's awesome. So if you have any questions for me afterwards, I'm happy to answer them as well about the program. >> One thing on the the development, >> but I wanted to touch base a little bit about >> I'm sorry. >> Go away for
>> Okay. It's all right. I'll wait. >> Should we shut the door? >> Oh, they eat the donuts. >> Yeah, I think so. >> Hanging out. >> Yeah. You want to just shut Yeah, >> I'll take care of it. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. You wanted something about the prior presentation? >> It's about this.
>> Okay. Go ahead. um on the training and you know for for for the teachers >> are you including the special ed teachers what's happening with them? >> Yeah so um we have had a few special educators participate in them it it really depends on how that particular
special educator services support students. Okay. >> So, if they're pushing into the like there are some models where special educators push into the classrooms. Um it depends on the grids, right? So, those special educators are um have been participating in the program. Yes. >> Okay. Cuz
>> um and then principles have asked me like, "Oh, I you know, can so and so come? I want them to be part of the next training." So, we've we've had actually two waves of training so far. We're about to um embark on our third wave. And so we just keep adding more staff
members to that. >> But yeah, it's it's it's a great program. Like I said, everybody will be knowledgeable and trained in some way in the program. >> Great. >> Okay. Anybody else? Switch over. Yeah. >> Yeah. On this topic, um I'm curious. Um
and this is sort of related to a later item on our agenda about curriculum adoption and things like that. This isn't curriculum. This is a strategy or an approach. Um but it is something that we're talking about being kind of part of the universal language of and
strategies being used K to8. Is there a um an established process by which our district chooses to adopt things like this that mirrors the way that we adopt say purchased curriculum or with things
like this? Is it more um at the behest of educators who pilot it report back? I mean because this isn't a this is not a a p this isn't a this is a framework. These are just strategies that you can use. It's kind of like it's not we're not purchasing a program. There is no
program to purchase. So um these are like the educators said the teachers that it's just strategies that are being used. So it doesn't go through a formal curriculum adoption. Um it's just that we found and you asked like why it's just that we needed some common language
um that everyone was teaching writing but we were kind of teaching it in different ways right so let's let's um collaborate and have some consistency like we do with our curriculum which is a great thing and transferred so >> the aim was um among other things to get
the common language which I'm hearing I mean I have a sixth grader >> 100% >> is using the same language I was hearing these kids use today which is always rightist. >> It's It's crazy. In kindergarten, they're talking about the gist and then by the time they get to fourth grade, they're going to be able to be like write that gist statement in a minute
and know to find that and how to do it. Um, so all all positive things for sure. >> Um, so I I heard you talking about, you know, some special educators train potentially being trained. Did you say some ELLL educators are also being trained on this?
>> Yes. So that was the e-learning component I spoke about that we purchased. So they will have an opportunity to engage in that professional development that um it's not so the teachers are doing live virtual training. This is just it's recorded. So yes, absolutely. Um and we
just purchased that just paid for this week as a matter of fact. And those highlighters Joanna was really excited about >> boxes and boxes of highlighters. >> All right. Anything else on this? Okay. >> All right. Awesome. So, I'm going to just shift the focus to the English
language learner program that I also support. Um, not much has changed since the last time I came, um, which was back in the spring. We have 241 active L's. Um, formal formal English learners, which sometimes we call fells. It's a
formal formal English learner. There are 276 uh, students that are considered fells in our district. And I just wanted to make note of that number because that's those are the students who have exited out of our program. And once you exit
out of our L program, you're monitored for four years. So we're we by the state are um obligated to monitor the students for four years after they exit um the the program. And if in fact they aren't
making adequate progress, then we have opportunities to put them back into the program if that's what the support team like the SST teams warrant they think is necessary. Um opt out. So the the parents always have an option of opting
their students out of the ELLL program. And we have 30 of those students um who have opted out of the program. if they opt out of the program, they're still obligated, the students are still obligated to take the um yearly access test. That's via a state mandate. And we
have four slice students, that's um students with limited interrupted formal education. Um so we have four students right now in the district who have been coded as Sly students. So just a breakdown of L's by level. And you'll notice, and I always talk about this,
the elementary level has we have 165 L students. um at the elementary level and you can see as the students get older and our higher grades our numbers decrease and the reason for that is because the trajectory for students to exit out of an L program once they begin
or once they start is five to six years. So if they enter our program in kindergarten or first grade by the time they're getting to fifth and sixth grade they're exiting that's the trajectory that they're exiting out of our program. And of course we've we have students that move in and transition all of the time but generally that is why our
numbers are definitely lower in the um the middle and the upper grades at the high school. So we have 7 currently 77 languages spoken in the district. English, Spanish, Portuguese, Gujarati and Camir are the top uh five languages.
The RELL students are currently engaged in our access testing which began January 5th and they have it actually runs through February 27th. That's it's seems like a very long time but each student has to take four subtests um in
for the access test. So reading, speaking, listening and writing um in order to complete that. And then the results are shared with the educators uh and the parents usually the end of May, the beginning of June. And that's how we kind of can determine what our numbers
are going to look like for the next year based on how many students exit out. So community events this year for ELLL night, what we did is we uh we actually met at the Chumsville Public Library and so parents had an opportunity to tour
the library, tour the space. Um, the night that we had the ELLL night was fun because it was PJ night in the in the children's room. So, some of the kids were able to come in their PJs and listen to a story that just happened to coincide with the night that was chosen.
So, that that actually worked out nice. And then we always have a spring gathering. We haven't decided what we're doing yet this year. We always like to come I always like to come up with something new and different. Um, so we'll see. Maybe Friendship Park or um, who knows? I'm We're meeting with the team. I meet with the team um I think in
two weeks. So we'll probably have some preliminary plans then. So that's kind of just a recap of what's happening with our L program. Uh title one program overview um you know how are we providing the intervention and the family engagement for our students and
um the community our our parents. So title one schools this year the title eligible title one schools are Bayam Harrington and McCarthy but we support our students um through interventionists providing that targeted academic support. Um it looks a little different
in every school um but we have intervention math and reading intervention um in all of the buildings um at the elementary level. And then this year we did something a little bit different. McCarthy qualified for title one and we took a um you know
mathematics is a targeted um goal in the school improvement plan at the upper grades at in in math at McCarthy. So we took a look at that and we put in some afterchool tutoring for some of the students that qualified and title one is
very specific about how you qualify and what data points you need to look at. So, um, you know, we have, um, awaited criteria. We have certain data points that we look at, um, to determine who would benefit from the programming. And so, we have actually two teachers that
are, um, teaching the are facilitating the afterchool um, tutoring program and it see it's really going well to be honest with you. I'm pleased with it this year. Um, it seems to this model just seems to fit this developmentally. It's appropriate for that level in my
opinion. Um, so I'm happy about that. Uh, family engagement night, title one night la in the fall. We I took that to the library too. I'm just kind of looking for different things. Shake it up a little bit. But really getting families part of the community, um, I think is important. And then we always have something in the spring and again
haven't decided yet, but I'll get the the wheels turning and and collaborate with um with others to to make that determination. So again, those are just some brief overviews around uh what's happening within the L department and title one, but I'm happy to answer any
questions about anything. Um >> I have a very actually this is a very technical question. Um, do you happen to know how McCarthy qualifies for title one but say Parker does not which serves
>> Yeah, it's a formula honestly that um there's a lot that goes into it. Um there's a formula that they have that this is based it's a federally funded grant and the state determines each summer >> you get a spreadsheet basically um and
it has all these fancy numbers and you download certain things and it's based on a percentage of lowinccome. >> Yeah. >> And so as a district I should know this number but I'm going to make it up but it's I can verify it's around like 18%.
And so any school that's under that 18% does not qualify. Anyone who's it's about 18%. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I'm right. >> Yeah, I think it's but it's right around >> like 18.9 maybe. >> So um and it changes every every year,
right? So if the school is above that num at that number or above that number, they qualify. If they're not, they do not qualify. So, it's basically it's a formula and it's in a spreadsheet and it lets us know every summer who qualifies and who doesn't and some years it
varies. >> So, it literally could come down to like where some families move through the district and what schools they're concentrated in. >> Yeah, we I mean that we don't determine that at all. >> Yeah. No, I understand that, but I'm just >> But that's how it's determined. It's based on the that low-inccome number
which has a certain formula. Um, and if it's at or above that number, then the school qualifies, and if it's below that number, then they do not qualify for that year. >> Thanks. So, mine's kind of piggybacking. It's also a kind of technical question along those lines. All right. >> So, I saw that there were three schools
that actually qualify for the Title One grant money, but we have the interventionists at all the elementary schools. Is this really just for how you fund it, or are or do they get different? Are there more interventionists at BayM and Harrington compared to center in South Row or is
this just how it gets paid for? >> Well, that's how it gets paid for. Correct. That is how the So there are different lines. So those the interventionists at Baym and Harrington get paid out of a different line than the interventionist. >> But it doesn't mean we don't have the intervention. We have the same services
at the other schools. >> Yes. >> Okay. That's what I just wanted to clarify. But title one is a little I just have to clarify like title one is very specific about what you can and can't do, right? Because it's a federal grant. And so for example, South Row has an interventionist, but they could
utilize that interventionist in a different way if they wanted to. So they have a little bit more leeway. Title one is we have a lot of documentation that needs to take place. There's a lot of not family notifications that need to happen, right? because I we have to be in compliance in order to receive that
federal funding. >> Okay, that answers my question well enough or Maria >> in terms of comparing the qualifying schools to the prior years. >> Do we usually have three schools? Is that
>> the number usually >> about it >> in the district >> about? Yeah, >> three or four. Yes, correct. >> Wonderful. And a question for you on the eels. Mhm. It's interesting about this life, right? So, we've got four
uh under that category and do we track that at all going? >> Yeah. So, it has to be tracked by the state. >> Okay. >> Um and there's a certain qualification that if you are a slice student, you have to be of a certain age and missed a
certain amount of schooling. And so if we have evidence that that is the case when the student transfers into the district, then they would be coded. I don't mean to be so like technical like they're coded as, but it's really
honestly it's through it's how we account for >> the the categories. >> And in our case, is it mostly um students in middle school and high school or would you say >> Yes, because the Yes, correct. >> Okay. Because you have to be a certain age to be considered slif above a
certain age. Ask me what it is. >> That's certainly more challenging. >> Certainly more challenging to uh acquire the language. >> Oh, absolutely. >> And then somebody tell me what life is now. >> Yeah. So students with limited interrupted formal education. >> Oh, so maybe they came here from a place
where they didn't have education. >> Correct. So like we sometimes we'll have a student who will come to the high school but they haven't been in school for 5 years. >> Yeah, that makes sense. Surprised it's only four. they would be considered slife. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> I'm glad that they that you have I'm glad that you track that because I work with refugee families and people that
are away from school for a long time. It's good to see that. >> Exactly. So then that tell that's a great information for us to have as to what kind of supports do we need to put in place for these students. >> I asked cuz I was going to make a I'm just living this life joke and I was like I should not make a joke about it but I'm just living this life.
>> Yeah. So the interruption can be war as well. >> Yeah. Unfortunately >> can be a lot of things, right? >> So many things. >> Okay. So uh the opt outs are when we do the tracking because we now have quite a bit more data points in our system that
we can do right um when we track these students do we find that you know once they're out of the eel >> and how do they do >> they rarely go back rarely it it is it's
>> I can count maybe two that I know of >> return I think if people opt out. They may feel comfortable. >> Well, I thought you were talking about the I thought you were talking about this is the former years. >> Yeah. Got it. Got it. Yeah. >> Right. Exactly. >> That's fantastic. >> It is. It's great. >> Yeah. >> Now, with the numbers in general, are
are numbers holding steady? Are they going up? They going down. >> They're not going up. >> Right. >> Okay. I do have one comment. Real com. >> Well, they can't be. >> Yeah. >> Can I make my real comment? I just want to thank you for coming as always. Uh great work. Um, I really appreciate what
we do for the district and uh, no questions. >> Oh, thanks so much. I appreciate >> I am living this life though. >> Any other questions or comments? >> I've ever made. >> All right. Well, thank you very much, Kelly. Thank you very much. Go home and tell you that joke cuz your dad was good to see the kids, too. They did a good job. >> Thank you.
>> I'm just going to life. >> Patrick's dad's at home laughing at that, too. >> Yeah, he is. >> Yeah, he does. My kids have figured out dad jokes and I have figured them out and I am >> kindergarten registration next. >> Yes. I'm sorry. Um so yeah, we had this
on the agenda at the last meeting. Uh but Joanna, would you just walk us through the kindergarten again? >> Sure. Um this is just a reminder that on January 27th and January 28th, that's next week, um we are going to have kindergarten registration for families.
they'll come here, they make an appointment um for about 15 minutes and they bring in their documentation. So, if your um student is going to be in kindergarten next September, um you can come for these kind of big uh
registration sections and meet your school clerk and meet other people registering at the same time and get started um for next year. >> And these are the first registration periods, right? We haven't had any yet, >> right? This is the first one. >> Okay. So, we won't know any numbers for a while.
>> No, but I can tell you that we have at least 190 appointments. >> Oh, okay. Well, >> that be really good. >> Yeah, there you go. Right. >> That's very That's very good. >> Yeah. All right. Any questions on kindergarten registration? >> Go kindergarten. >> Yeah. All right. We're to the Parker
Middle School building project. >> Yeah. Just a quick update for you. Um, at last school committee meeting back on January 6th, we had left field and AI3 architects here and brought the committee up to speed with the different uh, scenarios we were looking at. And then we had anticipated, I know we had a
discussion about kind of the preferred model being the four to six. And we had um, anticipated going to the school building committee that Thursday, two nights later, talking about the different options and potentially having to come back here tonight because remember we talked about potentially taking like the 5 to8 off the table. Um
at the school building committee meeting uh the conversation kind of went in a different direction and ultimately the school building committee um decided to leave for the the January submission all three grade level options still on the
table the 56 the 456 the 5 to8 but restricted to the Parker site so basically took the Graniteville and the McCarthy uh sites kind of off the table. >> Yeah. But we're still going to vet the three different grade level configurations for the application that's going to go in at the end of
January. So technically there's nothing really for the school committee to have to come back and weigh in on tonight because the school committee weighs in on the grade configurations, not necessarily the site where the the building would be constructed. So um that's that's uh fine and Dennis can elaborate more if he if he'd like to.
What we're going to end up doing is putting in that um um proposal to the uh state actually on the 22nd. So, it's going to go in on Thursday and then again that's going to kind of kick off a period where they review it for a few weeks, give us some questions and comments. We have a couple
of weeks to give it back to them and the work will then progress between now and May. And between now and May is when we'll actually um kind of refine which of the three different grade level options we ultimately want to move forward to what they call schematic design. So then in May we'll do another
submission with just the grade level option at Parker that we're looking for. And then between May and October is when we'll actually go through the full schematic design and cost estimating and things along those lines. So what I did uh do for you is behind the one-page memo because there really is no action
for the board tonight. I just put a copy of the whole presentation that the uh school building committee went through that Thursday night just so you would have it as part of this packet or if someone was watching at home, they would have it as part of the packet as well so that they wouldn't have to go through digging through the website to uh to find it. But um it's very informative.
It covers the three different options. It covers the different locations. It has the cost estimates for the various projects in there and um I just provided that for you just as additional kind of backup following that meeting. So that's my little kind of summary >> just
a question. Go ahead. >> Well, I just have a quick question. I understand everything that's in that one page and it I I get it, but at some point does the um building um committee consider the fact that the grade 58 because it is significantly more
expensive that we may have a great difficulty getting the town to approve the amount of money that would cost and the debt exclusion and all of that. Does that factor into the >> decision? There lies a problem. So we were what we were trying to do is try to whittle things down and and one strategy
would be to eliminate one of the grade options and you know one of the proposals was to get rid of five to eight because of what you said but then the other end of it that leaves you 56. 56 doesn't really help us on the other end either. So no it was really no good one to get rid of because we don't really want to keep either one of them.
Um, so the the compromise was sort of if we stay at Parker, we keep all three because you know MSBA wants to see all the different options um, including the code, including the Renault, including multiple grade levels. So we can't we can't just say this is what we want. So
we have to slowly whittle it down. And so this ended up being a good >> way of doing that is if we kind of concentrate on the Parker site, then the design team can kind of concentrate on okay, these are what our possibilities are there. We also keep all the options that MSBA wants and you know then from
that seven we can hopefully whittle down to one by May or whatever it is. >> Yeah, we have to get down to one by May. Yeah. And u again I thought the dialogue was very good among the building committee. It it kind of came down to I think the building committee also likes the four to six option. It's kind of the
sweet spot. It's right in the middle of um providing a new uh school for not only two grade levels but really three grade levels of kids and it helps with the elementary enrollment. I think the concern was if we did take the five to eight off the table as unlikely as it is to go forward or even to you know
potentially get funding. Um the 56 doesn't do anything for us with regard to the elementary enrollment. So to take the other off the table when the other isn't helping with the enrollment at all um isn't going to fully kind of project for the community that we've looked potentially at those three options and
giving it a little bit more time and doing it confined to the one site seem to make the most. >> Yeah, I agree with all that. This is more an observation than a question. I thought it was really interesting to see when um this is my first exposure to seeing some of the
cost predictions or estimates um that were in the form and to see that some of the renovations would be significantly more expensive than new construction, which um I think is is a really important factor for for lay people like me who
know nothing about B buildings. um and architecture to to learn um because I think when we see the cost of the project um eventually going in front of the town, I think it'll be very quick to be like, well, why couldn't we just renovate and fix what's already there,
but that can come with its own extremely expensive um costs. >> Yeah. Both renovation costs at Parker would be more than the new building cost of Parker if you look at the numbers. >> Exactly. And that I mean I think that's something that is not commonly understood to be true. I I was certainly
surprised by it >> and doesn't solve our problem unless you increase the size from the >> Yeah. But even if you do Yeah. So if you did a 4658, you know, >> addition, it's still going to cost more than if you just built a new building. >> Absolutely. >> Part of the field. >> And it and it was interesting to see
that um although the state indicates they've lo we've lost what 15,000 students overall in Massachusetts and all of this. Is it 15,000 12 to 15,000? >> I don't remember. >> Uh lower enrollment throughout the state of Massachusetts. Not true for our
district, >> right? >> We have increased in student numbers. So that's really important for us to keep in mind going forward. >> Uh that, you know, we still have to explore these options even if that number of students has decreased overall
throughout Massachusetts. Not here. >> Yeah. No, not here. and even like our 10-year enrollment projection still has us increasing over 500 students. So, um it's important that this project not only provide a new facility for the Parker staff and students, but really try to help us with the enrollment
issues that we're going to have at the elementary level. We have one shot to kind of do this, >> right? And just a heads up that you know once this goes to MSBA and they give their thumbs up or say, "Okay, we're going to fix this." We are going to need to do some more public forums.
>> Oh, the follow. Yeah, the public forums are going to begin again in the springtime. >> In the spring. So March, April. >> I'd say right after February vacation. So probably sometime again. Yes. March, April. >> Yeah. So >> because we do have to get geared up for that May submission. >> Yeah, I think that's great. And >> one other thing just I believe this we made a correction or we made a change.
Our next school building committee meeting is going to be the 19th rather than the 26th. That correct? >> Yeah. Originally we had moved the meeting outside of the February vacation week, but then the members of the committee um don't have any conflicts with February vacation week, so we just decided to keep it. So, we're going to meet Thursday the 19th. Is it >> 19th? Yes.
>> Yeah. Thursday the 19th. The Thursday of school vacation week. >> So, if anybody's looking at the slides for this packet, it just it has a 26th date still, but that there's going to be the 19th. >> Okay. >> I'll make sure the website's updated. >> Okay. >> All right. Any other questions on the building project?
>> Thank you. >> No. Yeah, >> we'll keep updating you. >> All right. Uh, next up tonight is um Linda is just going to share a um I know we've been talking about this for uh for a bit, but an update with um one of our curriculum adoption timelines.
>> So yes, it was um literally a little over a year ago. We just talked about the whole uh curriculum adoption process and that was on November 19th and we did talk about four different things. the different stages of adoption, instructional materials, the timelines, what the science of reading was because
that's one of the biggest hot topics that are out there, and then just our most recent adoptions with ELA, and then math specifically. So, you can I gave you the hyperlink if you'd like to go back and go through that uh presentation. If you have any questions, you're welcome to always contact me. So,
um moving forward though, so in October on October 29th, right? So, this bill has come forward. This was a bill that we came forward beforehand. and it was actually brought down and now it's come back again. It's H4672. It's an act relative to teacher preparation and student literacy. It actually has three
components to it, but the component that I'm going to focus on tonight is the early literacy piece. It also has a piece on there about u financial literacy as well as um syllabi literacy. That board literacy just kind of went all the way through it, but for tonight's purpose, I'd just like to
focus in on the um piece on early literacy. So, English language arts scores just across the Commonwealth in general have been lagging behind prepandemic levels, right? And so, almost 60% of all students in grades three through eight, and again, this is
the state of Massachusetts, are not meeting or exceeding expectations in ELA and 50% in grades 10 were not meeting that as well. So, additionally, the department of of elementary and secondary education, we're seeing more of an achievement gap too between racial
and ethnic student groups. So, with that came the focus on what is happening with ELA specifically. Um, so this bill came to came to fruition. So, really it's focusing on K through three only for
this bill. So it's about the foundational readings and that was that science of reading that I t talked about back in November and it defines what evidence-based early literacy is like what is the scientific research around that you always hear science-based or researchbased curriculum that is what
this bill is focusing on and what they want to do with this bill is make sure that DESIE has a list of highquality K through3 literacy curriculara so what has happened is this has passed the house it hasn't passed the Senate yet so that is going to the Senate next. But
with that, we are trying to gear up. These are the conversations that Dr. Lang and I have been having since, you know, obviously last year, but more recently when this bill came through and passed the House, it kind of like, to be honest with you, it snuck up on me. It came in like one of our briefs. I was like, "Oh, I didn't even realize this
went back out." Um, so we've been having these discussions of like, how does this affect our curriculum adoption timeline? And I'm going to go through that with you because it's important to try to be ahead of the curve when you can rather than waiting for something to then be mandated. So what this really means is
we have to look at just the ELA adoption timeline that's been happening in the district in general. So in your packet I pulled the slide from the presentation back in November. This just gives you an idea of like what programs we have used in ELA since the big adoption that
happened in 2011. And that's when the standards changed in Massachusetts. So that was the big push from a lot of districts to put in ELA and math curriculum that met the new standards. And prior to that, we used to have um for our K through five with Scholastic and um we had a a Pearson product for
grade six and I actually taught seventh grade in the district at the time and we had one of the HMH programs which is um Hotton Mifflin Heart Court. So it was just a literature program. So there's been some you know big adoptions that have happening and then as we went through that cycle that's when we moved
to the most recent adoption that we have K through six which is the font and panel and we also have um brought in foundations and Hagerty is for our phenemic awareness. So at the K through four level you see almost three products that make up the whole adoption and then
as you get into the upper grades you just have the Fontis and Panel classroom and then our grades seven and eight have H Hotton Mifflin again. So this just gives you an idea of what's been happening in the district since 2011. So back to our um curriculum adoption timeline. So currently we are really not
scheduled for a pilot of any new ELA curriculum until the 2728 school year. So that's about a year and a half away, but we're trying to be very mindful about the adoption cycle in general. So this is why we have this whole timeline because especially at our elementary level because they teach all four
subjects and they are constantly in an adoption process, right? So when they get a new ELA program, we moved over, they have a new math program, they will have new science. Social studies is doing investigation investigating history. So that's technically kind of going concurrently with what's going on,
but we have to be very mindful because those teachers have a lot of PD that go along with this. You've heard about some of even the add-on PDS with pedagogy. So this is why we have an adoption timeline. So this is what we currently have in place. What we're proposing
based on this bill that's, you know, most likely moving forward um is to push our timeline ahead to again be ahead of that curve. And this would give us a pilot year that would start next school year um 2026 27 with the actual
materials in classrooms. And I highlighted FPC in red since the pilot will primarily focus on like one larger reading program. So that list from DESIE is larger reading programs that basically encompass all components of
reading in one program um and that meet like phmic awareness and phonics as well as comprehension. But at the same time, we still have foundations in Hegerty in the district. So, we're not looking at like a new piece of foundations because we already have that or heard. We're
going to be looking at these reading programs with the phonics components that they have built into that. So, that is going to be kind of our little, you know, how are we going to work this through and also make sure that we're hitting those foundational skills for students through those programs. So, that will be one of the big things that
we'll be doing. So um these programs are that we'll be looking at would be from that desi curate site that they've made. So there's ed reports but curate is the desi one. So that is the list that we would like to actually look at. Um and they have these different programs and we'll invite in those those vendors. So
although the bill only really relates to K through three, it's just in our discussions um Dr. Lang and I and even like the department coordinators, teachers in general, um for consistency in our programming, we're going to be looking at this K through six uh rather than breaking it up at K through three
and then looking at four, five, and six. And we just it's important to just look holistically at your current makeup of your schools. So even if we were just going to look at K through three, we really have to consider grade four because currently our elementary schools are K through four. So you can't just leave one grade level, you know, hanging
out there. But also being mindful of we do have building projects that are going to be coming up. These products will probably still be in place or you know towards the end of their um time if we if we were to keep them past um you know up to the six year 8year mark. So we really would like to incorporate K
through six because we might see all of these children moved in their configuration. It would then be odd to just have one grade level again doing something completely different. Um, so that is kind of where where we're at as a district to say, "All right, if we move this timeline up," which we're
planning on doing, we will take K through six and put everybody on the same timeline, and it will just make it a little bit more um consistent and convenient for everybody as we go through that process. So really what this means is we would actually start the process this spring. So what happens
is the first thing you have to do is you have to invite in the vendors. So, we would go through that list and have the vendors bring their products and we would put together a um adoption committee and we would have them look at these products to then decide which products are we going to actually
implement for next year as a pilot. And you would at least want three of them um to be looking at to see what they have for um programming. And we'll start to identify who those teachers are, who will be the pilot teachers. And um then you would then move forward to getting
the products into the building. So that takes the whole summer and at the same time you'd also be providing professional development to those pilot teachers as well as getting the products in the building which is you know a big heavy lift because they come in big pallets got to get you know some strong people in there to help move it around
and then continually we'd start in the fall and we would actually start with integrating like what are these programs actually teaching them having um site visits to other school districts that are using them. when we took the bus the last time and drove around to the school districts that had them, talking to
other teachers, what works, what doesn't work. Um, comparing the products in all of our throughout the committee, right? So, we try to put the teachers together as grade level teachers. We put them together as schools and they meet regularly to have conversations. At the
same time, they're filling out like surveys of what meets the criteria, right? We have those surveys because each component has to have that. That's how we kind of put together our FPC as well as foundations when we ended up adopting the last um program that we
had. And then in the spring we would in well more importantly in the winter we would have an idea of which product we would like to actually move forward to the committee for securing some you know financial u pieces for it in order to actually
purchase it. But then all throughout the spring and then into that summer, we would be working on removing the current program that's in there most likely in the spring and then continuing with professional development, working on pacing guides. We have to put together
um so typically we use the pilot teachers as almost like a teacher model. However, some teachers brand new to the district um move grade levels. So we end up putting together like um quick reports like quick ways to actually how do you how do you open up what do you do on day one when you have
these materials because teachers really clamor for this stuff because they want to plan. So that would take a lot of that work in the spring and the summer and then that fall of 2027 everybody would have that pro new product that they you know whichever program would go with and they would end up teaching it
and we would continue with the professional development. We usually tend to do a two to three year professional development on any new curriculum that we have for the district and then talking through those committee members, team leads, everything to get how is it working and as we do our
walkthroughs, we just continue refining as we go. >> Questions? >> I don't have questions, but I do have a lot to say. But if anyone has questions first, ask them first before I >> I Okay, you
>> So in this whole process and as part of the legislation, do you see Desessie coming out with a list of what's acceptable and what isn't? You >> already do. They have >> they already have. >> So and is that going to be the final list or is there going to be anything? >> Un I I know that there's a few other
people because you have the the vendors have to actually give the product and give permission to Jesse to review it. So I don't know how many more in the works but some of the you know bigger players are in there like Hotton Mifflin is in there. They're like a big player in curriculum. There's some big companies out there that you know you
have McGraill all of you know used to be um >> like Addison Welsley I remember them. I'm like I think somebody somebody assumed them somewhere down the road. But there's a bigger players I know. No kidding. The bigger players are out already in there and Desi has that list. So we're going to
work with what they currently have. If somebody's in the works, we may or may not have them on the list when we bring them in this spring. >> Okay. >> That was going to be kind of lead my question. Are there a lot of vendors that are out there or are we talking like hundreds? Are we talking dozens?
>> Um I can't I didn't count how many are on the list, but there's at least I think at least 10 on that list. >> Okay. >> I have to go back and count it. I haven't I haven't looked at it. >> Okay. >> My >> And then you bring it down to three. It is like under a dozen. It's not a ton because >> Okay. Yeah. That was a question.
Everybody used to use Ed Reports. So, Ed Reports has way more programs on there, but Curate the Massachusetts teachers that are looking at those programs. >> Okay. Yeah. I just didn't know what a selection was going to be like. >> So, I um I have a couple quick questions. First of all, so I I know
that with um curate they say there's two ways to meet the requirement for the HQIM. I assume that might might still hold with the changing legislation. We'll see. But as of right now, what Desi is is recommending is either a
holistic curriculum like what you had been describing as encompassing um the the comprehension, the writing and the foundational skills or one that's focused on the that is HQIM for the um
comprehension and writing supplemented by one that's HQIM for the basic skills. They mentioned apple seas which I know is a desi developed curriculum. Um I'm curious if we are for sure going to be
getting a single comprehensive package that is encompassing all of the pieces or if we are going to consider some of the mixand match options that maybe would keep something like foundations in
the mix since that has been adopted. I don't know if foundations I actually don't see it on the curate list. I was looking for that right now, but I don't know if we're exploring both of those options or limiting it only to the comprehensive packages that include all the >> parts. That that's a good question because that actually we've had these
conversations because I I do get a little like foundations is working very well. The teachers like it. Um we've actually just got the decodables to go with it. So um we are going to look at both. Um what we have to grapple with is so if you do have a holistic one right
let's let's pretend one of those is in play >> which how do you evaluate the phonics program but then if it's not working we may have missed giving kids foundations right so like we we're having these conversations right now I think we just have to be able to look at these
programs first to be able to then answer that so but to answer your first question >> you're open to the options >> and then decide which of the three now three of them come in they're all holy istic programs, so be it. If one's not, and one is, then we'll have that answer,
too. But until they actually come in and people can get their hands on it and hear what they have to offer, um, we're not going to know. >> Yeah. And I imagine that whatever list is on there now is not going to be static. I know that they are currently um working with a new crop of curate
educators who might well I I notice a few things on here are up for review, but I imagine there'll be some new curricula potentially added as well. Um but um just I I I have probably a relatively brief comment compared to to uh some of
my colleagues. So I will just say quickly that I appreciate that this is being moved up the timeline. It's something that I know I've been a bit of a squeaky wheel about um with with early literacy and the science of reading. And
I think it's not only to me because of the pressure kind of implied by the legislative moves, but I also think um moving up the review timeline is responsive to a lot of um a lot of the
the research and the and the feedback coming out. So, I just I I'd like to applaud that we are kind of being proactive and looking kind of at at trying to um do our own um really intentional process that I know exists
at a timeline that's just a little sooner than the initial plan so that we can get ahead of the eight-ball. So, or at least be less behind the eight-ball or whatever way we want to look at it. So, thank you >> Susan. So I mean as an early childhood teacher who's taught many many children
to read I've really kind of wondered what is the big deal with all of this I used all these programs Journeys the Hotton Mifflin the um early days of Foundus in Panel I was trained to teach by a lot of people listen to that sold the story podcast you'll hear everyone
talking about that they talk about um the early days with Mari Clay and reading recovery which is where all these curriculums were based That's how I learned to teach. And I thought I was really successful and I was.
I just want people to understand this because I know I've had many, many phone calls from parents and I think a lot of them are listening tonight about this. That's those strategies for teaching kids to read under this leveled reading system. Use a queuing system where you
first think about the meaning, then the syntax or the sentence structure, and then you might look at the pictures and the words. A lot of people say it's just guessing. Kind of. It's not just guessing. I think meaning is super important, but it doesn't place an emphasis on phonics at all. It places an
emphasis on patterned predictable text with a lot of picture emphasis. So, as a first grade teacher, as a kindergarten teacher, I was really successful in teaching kids to read that because there was so much support in the sentence structure and the pictures. What I've
seen, and I know COVID played into it, but if we look at our I Ready scores after kids are finished third grade, those scores drop. And I've I've one, two, three, four, five, six. I've actually tracked out six grade levels of
current um Chelford students. And yeah, there's a significant drop after third grade in how they do in reading on I Ready. And what I've learned because I've spent the last year really trying to figure out what does the science reading say about this
is because the early grades rely on that predictive text and pictures and then suddenly after third and fourth grade you're looking at texts that >> involve text. The kids who don't have a strong phonics foundation can't read. And I I came up
with um an example. If you're reading in a book that it said his handwriting was indecipherable. If you've learned to read by going by meaning and sentence structure, the student might read his handwriting was indescribable. And that makes sense in a
sentence and it could make sense for meaning, but that's not what it says. And if kids don't have a lot of phonics instruction to go along with their reading, once they hit those more difficult texts, they're not able to read those anymore. So I think that's why I happen to know I had a good
conversation with Simon Catalo. He listened to sold the story. He has heard all of this and that went into a lot of his and a lot of our other um house representatives reasons why they voted for this because they they went by the
new cognitive science that said that kids need to have explicit instruction on reading words. Something that we just heard was that this think SRSD provides explicit
instruction for all learners. So I think our reading instruction needs to provide explicit instruction for all your learners in using phonics. And that's why I think it's really important. I'm glad we're moving this timeline forward
because choosing fountains and panel at the time made sense. That's what we believed for years and years and years was the way to teach. But now science is teaching us that we need to look at different curriculum. So I think it's really important that we're responding to this and moving this forward. But
it's that's the reason why we need to look. So now I'm going to go into just talking about we have foundations and we have heard which teach the kids the phonics. But then when you go into the teachers using using the leveled texts, there
isn't really a way that Fantis and Panel helps the teachers to integrate what they've taught the kids in foundations with the way you approach those level texts. So what what kind of sticks with me is I know our teachers have been told to use
fountainis and pan panel with fidelity and I get that because we want instruction to be uniform across grades across schools. But I really think we have to start thinking about how in in the meantime we have kids who are learning to use through this queuing
system who are missing out on some of the really strong phonics instruction. What can we do to support teachers to learn how to use what they're teaching the kids through foundations
with the Fountain and Panel texts that we happen to have right now. I just like to see kind of a look at what we're doing for kids in the meantime because we we're talking a couple years before this really starts to hit our younger kids, but we have kids who haven't had enough of that true science of reading
basis. So in addition to adopting whatever new curriculum we get, I think we also have to look at how we can help support teachers in using what we've got with what we've got to give that explicit phonics instruction at the same
time. So that might involve different professional development and just a different look at what we mean by using the program with fidelity. We do need to have uniformity. I I understand that. But we also need to have teachers be able to make professional judgment about
what the kids in front of them need and maybe trying a strategy here that wasn't in the you know manual for found panel but they know the strategies work. So I think I just like people to understand the whole big picture of that and why it is important and why we're hearing from
so many people including Desi and our state legislature that we have to look at this in a new way. >> Got it. >> Anybody else? Any other questions, comments? >> I got a >> I'm >> I have the two smart like the three smartest ELA and curriculum people
around me. I just soak it up. >> That's why I said this is my babys. >> I'm not as well verssed in. >> Y >> what she said she said. >> No, this is No, it's really good work. I know we have to do it the law. I do pay attention to the stuff. >> They just know more about it. >> I trust what Susan McKinnon just said
because she taught my girls how to read and write. So, I really I know that what you did worked and um and I also know that each one was very different and what she needed. Um so I am very glad to
see the timeline moved. I think that that's wonderful. Um because kids only get one chance at one grade level usually. I'm also seeing on a national level that some states have been really successful
in bringing up their reading scores. >> Mississippi I think is used as one of the big examples. They have really moved up on the scores in the nationally because they're using these phonicbased type of scientifically studied programs
um and they're working. So they seem to work. The other thing is I am going to keep all fingers crossed that when we implement this we don't have a pandemic >> because that was truly not helpful in
any way. And um and I think too as we go along we learn but shame on us if we don't learn from our mistakes and we don't implement something. So what you were saying to do
meanwhile to look at the possibility of how do we give some leeway so that that classroom teacher who has been taught on methodology on how to teach and knows how to teach and is in front of those students can figure out which
students need what and maybe be able to fine-tune what they're doing or change what they're doing in order to meet all the needs. that would be important. So I would I would stand behind what Susan said, >> right? >> I'm going to ask a question. I probably know the answer of it. So if the state
legis if the Senate passes this bill and says, "Okay, all schools have to adopt these new curriculum, is the state going to provide any sort of support financially to help schools afford new curriculum?" >> That would be nice. I I probably already know the answer, but >> so there's been a couple of um grants
out there that but unfortunately regardless of what curriculum we had whether we do we don't qualify for it. There was for schools that were under a thousand poverty levels at you know a certain amount. So Chford typically does not even qualify for the the state
grants but right now there's supposed to be some monies that are earmarked for it whether we receive them >> you would assume. >> So there's a couple things going on at that level. So I I certainly don't think it hurts us to be um able to take advantage of um an opportunity if it comes along funding wise between you
know uh this spring and summer and even the fall when we're kind of making our decision like the cost of the pilots and things like that will not be significant like that won't you know impact us at all but when we do go to make a purchase you know and select a product next winter for implementation for the
following year fully it's it's going to be a significant cost I mean it's going to be in the million to a million and a half dollar range um funding wise. So it is it is a good amount of money. There has been um a consistent ask of I know the Mass Association of School Committees, Mass Association of School Superintendent to
really not have this be another unfunded mandate for districts and the fact that if the state's going to require districts to do whatever um that money should come along as assistance and this is kind of a great opportunity for we do like one-time spending every springtime,
but this is kind of an initial one-time kind of big purchase that we would hope the state would help us with. Um at the same level there's also discussion again statewide superintendent group school committee group around say the new graduation requirements and what's going to come of that and there's a lot of
cost associated with it. There are a lot of districts that aren't as fortunate quite honestly as us to even have the curriculums that we have uh never mind to have the level of courses and the type of course offerings that they have for their students. They don't have enough staff to actually in some of the rural and suburban uh areas of the state
even offer the level of programming that we do. So there's going to be significant costs with that. Um there's a a big push also for some type of end of course assessment or um standardsbased assessment. Um almost a little eerie like a return to to MCCAST as much as MCCAST is just
leaving us. Um but there's a there's a cost associated with that. So people have been urging that you know great to look at new things and I think everyone's always open uh but at the same time there is a um a level of funding commitment that really should come at the state level but I think this will give us enough time also to be
prepared if there is funding if not you know I I can pre-shadow for you my recommendation a year from now would be to dedicate a lot of our one-time spending in fiscal 27 to really uh make this purchase. You know this isn't something that we would budget for. you know, we wouldn't have a budget line
item for a million dollars for literacy adoption because you wouldn't have that the following year for anything else. So, we would fund this if we had to use our own funding through one-time spending. Um, you know, and that would be the big big push for us a year from now if it has to happen. You know, will we have the money internally to do it?
Yes. You know, so money is not going to be an obstacle for us doing it, but I'd much rather see if we could leverage state resources to provide some of that funding so that we don't have to necessarily spend our own money. But it's it's a hot topic and everyone is is is on it. And I think if it gets to that point too, we actually see something
happening with the legislation. Um you know, school committees could weigh in. You know, we could we could send a letter of of kind of urgency requesting that something happen. >> Okay, great. >> But we'll keep our our open. Just one thing that doesn't even involve money though that that we could consider
starting to do that would show that we're in good faith following the science of reading model. Instead of relying solely on Founders and Panel benchmark leveled reading assessments, maybe we can look toward um we could pair that with reading assessments based
on the decodable readers and how are kids making progress doing something like that. That's using resources we already have, but maybe looking at how we can tie assessments and instruction with that a little more directly than we have been. And that wouldn't cost any more money than what we already have.
So, it's just a thought of broadening how we assess the kids reading. >> All right. Any other final comments on this? >> Just one other note. We just um I I'm waiting for funding would be great from the state. The other thing we don't want
to get caught in is if this goes through and every district's scrambling, you're not going to get these products. >> Yeah. >> Right. So, it's like, great, we got this product. Sorry, we couldn't we only got K12. Sorry for the rest of you because like you've already got your other product out. So, you just don't like
>> to that point. I I think us accelerating and actually starting this really just in a couple of months and doing the pilot next year puts us a year ahead of the other districts because uh even if the legislation comes through realistically you're probably talking um
you know closer to the summer. I I don't think this is like a quick one that's going to come out next week. So you're talking the end of the school year. It's certainly not going to have a implementation for the following year. Usually these have a couple year kind of leadup but we would have been you know well underway um with our pilot. So, I do think we'll be a year ahead of other
districts. I would be concerned if every single district in the state was trying to buy a handful of uh products. Just availability of uh products could be challenging. So, we'll get ahead of that. >> Yeah. >> Um just a kind of a quick comment related to that, which is somebody noted
as we were looking at the uh the examples of writing that kind of wish this had been a few years ago. Um, and I was just thinking, yes, there's a lot of practical reasons why, um, it makes sense to get ahead of the eight-ball or
whatever. Um, but I would also add that I think it means we're one step closer to more kids sooner, being educated on something that hopefully will be the the way that they will be able to
learn effectively. and we'll start seeing that pay off one year sooner as we look at students in third, fourth, fifth grade in another 5 years. Um, and I think it gets us, you know, one more year of beginning to build a common
language around some of these things. That's one of my main concerns with the the way that the district uses Fontis and Panel right now. I understand we're not assuming that's teaching them the foundational skills. We've got other curricula for that, but it doesn't help establish that common language in the
way that I saw was so brilliantly demonstrated as effective around the way that we're teaching writing. Um, and so I'm really excited and eager to see us get started on that with a whether it is comprehensive or two very complimentary
programs that we wind up going with. I I'm excited to see that get started so that there's a really consistent um way in which students are talking about learning to read in every respect. So, >> all right. Well, thank you. >> To end my talk on a positive note,
>> I've had a lot of parents say to me, why in the world are we using Fountain and Panel? Because they've heard it's terrible. I want to make sure people know that Chsford didn't do something wrong by picking this curriculum that was so awful. This The strategies that found us in panel
and these other curriculums use have been esta well established as the way to teach reading for a long time and teacher training programs have taught teachers to do it. So chumsford didn't make a mistake by choosing this curriculum and I want people to
understand that because I've had parents literally say to me why did why does chumsford use this? It was well established as an a reasonable program to use and we thought those were best practices. Science is now teaching us something else. So I want to move forward. But I do want to make sure
people know children didn't do something wrong >> using this curriculum. >> Yeah. I think some of the top districts in the Commonwealth have chosen it. >> Absolutely. >> Mhm. >> And still use it. >> Still use it. >> Right. Absolutely.
>> All right. Good. Okay. >> We good everybody? We're good. Okay. >> Sean's ready. >> You good? >> Yeah. We're just all bouncing off each other. Let's keep Let's Can we move to the next thing? Thanks. >> All right. So, everybody good on that? All right. So, next up, we have our budget report.
>> So, we have our fiscal 26 uh second quarter financials. Um Joanne is just going to walk them uh through us. >> Through them for us. >> Thank you. So, in your packet, you have um my memo just highlighting some of the
um highlights of the operating budget. You have the year-to- date budget report of our local operating budget. You have the grant and revolving fund summary, and then you have the student activity account balances by club or team for the
high school and both middle schools. some of the stuff you're going to um that you've read you've read about in our first quarter report there. Um the trends that popped in the end of September um are continuing. So this is
um our fiscal 26 local operating budget is $75 million 650,000. We are favorable in many of the categories that we were favorable in at the end of September. Um such as
classroom teachers were favorable by $369,15. I'm going to kind of group these together since you've kind of heard the narrative before. We're also um favorable in library media center. We're
favorable in psychological services. um in those categories it's because um we've hired teachers um at less than what was budgeted because we had the vacancy and then they just came in at a lower step um or u
lane based on their education. We're a little unfavorable in the specialist teacher category by 30,000 and that's um because we budgeted an offset to our chips revolving fund for those teachers. So once we take that
offset in the fourth quarter if needed that category will be favorable. The category that is unfavorable this time is transportation and the main reason for that is our special education transportation costs. um mainly the out
of district is uh in the past these routes were shared with uh more students not only from our district but from other districts and there are several routes that are no longer shared so
we're paying the full cost of the route for less students so Amy Ree um has kind of led the effort to meet and you know we're supporting her with the transportation providers to see where we
can have more efficient routes. Um actually the transportation company was here today and we had a very productive meeting. We've also had um several conference calls with them and we've also reached out to other vendors where our existing transportation
provider could not provide a combined route. even things like Amy calling the school to see are there other districts coming from the Marramac Valley so that we could reach out to um that sending district to see if we could share the
route. So we've made uh great progress um on that for the last uh several months of the year and our variance will come down. I'll have a better estimate of that once we see the January bill.
It's it's a little tough to estimate, but um I'll have a more definitive number and then um if we can't solve it within the transportation category, um I'll bring forward a uh budget transfer
request from one of the other favorable categories uh to this category to bring us in line. Um and then this is also um we're very mindful of what this is going to do in the fiscal 2027 budget as well.
We've also so the main reason for the variance was the out of district transportation. Um but we also looked at our in district transportation and special ed to see could we even combine some of the routes in district and we
could for the midday runs. Um, so we'll have some um more cost-effective routes for uh January forward. >> And just to I I had this conversation with superintendent. A lot of this change is not because of what happened
in our district but other districts have changed their vendors which and then created a problem where we were sharing vendors with them and is that the case? >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Yes. So if uh >> if we were sharing a route with say LOL
and LOL changed their vendor. So now >> right >> we weren't sharing with the same um that we had been for years. Um now we need uh you know we need to change and we need to find a more efficient route and we
can um we'll be looking at this. Um Amy's going to meet with her counterparts um probably every eight weeks or so and then we can get a jump on this over the summer and try to start out the gate
even with summer school because a lot of these out of district placements uh do go during the summer and we can uh try to find the most efficient route right out the gate rather than um waiting for those first few bills.
>> Okay. Transportation. >> It's an >> You could start a little side business, Maria. >> Yes. >> It's incredible. >> Yeah. But then you get gobbled up by uh >> It'll only last a few minutes. It won't take you.
>> Okay. Um the other um update I'd like to talk about is um the out of district tuitions. So, I'm going to jump um kind of to the chart this the second to last chart on
page three. So, as a reminder, we budget, you know, 7.3 million in out of district tuitions. That's cash out the door to all the um schools. And then we budget an offset to
our circuit breaker fund. We also have a credit from Valley Collaborative and that's how we get the net amount in our local operating budget. Since we prepaid tuitions
last June, we've known that we um have, you know, 1.88 88 million that we prepaid, but that was still kind of part of the uh 7.3 million that we're still paying that much for these. At the end
of the day, um we're going to have a little more than um 7.3 million and out of district tuitions based on the student makeup. >> Say billion with a B. >> Million. >> Million. Million. >> Yeah. Million.
>> Y. but our circuit breaker number is a little higher and then um our valley collaborative credit is a little lower. So we're probably my forecast right now
is we're going to be favorable in this category again primarily because we prepaid tuitions last year by 1.975 million. So then this committee um will bring forward a recommendation um
you know to likely prepay uh fiscal 27 tuitions in fiscal 26 to help us there. And then there's also an opportunity um you know to use the favorable variance for other things um
in the district. And then the last page is just our um school choice fund. Just as a reminder, this is funding our one to one commuter initiative. Um we have three leases out there now and then um that we are
estimating the balance at year end to be about 3 million after we've paid for all the >> leases. >> Any questions on the local operating budget? >> Same comment is always good work. Thank you for sharing. just this just jumped
out to me. Uh under the um like the heating cost, all that all the schools seem to be in line except for South Row. >> All the schools seem to be >> seem to be in line on their budget except South Row's heating costs are are it's p I think it's page 18 maybe. I don't know what
pages >> are over >> are over. Uh >> yeah, I can take a look at that and um >> they're at 121% compared to everybody else is around 70. Yep. I didn't know why they were. >> Um, we'll I can take a look at that. We
keep a little chart of the invoices by school by month. Okay. It could be that when I allocated the overall budget for utilities into the different schools, um either I may have not put enough in
South Row or we might have had some credit in South Row historically and then that credit went away and then need to adjust it for this. >> I didn't know if it was a leaky building or you know like their their heating was up and their their electricity was a little up too, but I don't know. I can say uh just in general, you know,
because the um modulars have air conditioning, we have seen um those electric cost, >> the overall dollar amount isn't isn't high. It's just like looking comparative to the other schools where the other schools are at and all of a sudden you see throwaways.
>> Yeah. And we can I can take a look at that. >> I think I'm just curious. Do you think it could be the um solar credit being applied? >> It could be. We can take a look at that. Like maybe it was applied historically but not um to that school anymore. We
>> take a look at I just again the dollar amount isn't big. I just wonder where where we're coming from. Okay. >> Y take a look at that. >> Uh the next report is the grant and revolving fund. So the top part is the
entitlement grants. >> Yeah. And then the middle part is um more of the private grants and the um circuit breaker fund. And then the last page is all the revolving funds like school nutrition, athletics, transportation.
Um no fund is in deficit. That's always our goal. >> Yeah. I was just going to ask about the mass capital skills one. >> Oh, that's Yep. That's the new one. >> Yeah. How does that the math work on that one? Because it kind of shows it. >> Yep. So it was just awarded uh close
$149,544. >> So that is just the award. Okay. >> So um >> at as of the end of December we were awarded it >> and now actually they just started um doing their purchase orders for it >> in January.
>> And then um I'll request funds um it's on a reimbursement basis. So once we pay for the goods we've received, then I can request funds. >> Okay. >> Um >> Okay. >> To make us whole. >> Great. >> Thank you. >> Yep.
>> Any other questions on the grants revolving? >> And then the next report is the student activity balances for the high school and McCarthy and the Parker. So the high school is at about 210,000 with all the
clubs and sports. The McCarthy is at about 31,000 for their clubs and Parker is at 72,000 for their clubs. >> Any questions on the activity cones?
Right. Well, as always, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Yeah, good to get the update. >> You always make it easier easy to understand. So, I appreciate it. >> That's the goal. >> Great. Thank you, Joan. >> Uh, number six tonight, just the personnel report for the month of
December. Uh, we welcomed a few uh new paras to the districts and a library aid. I'm not a library aid, a um lunch and recess aid. And then we had a few paras and a lunch and recess aids resigned. So, um not too many transactions, but a few for the month of
December just to share with you. Any question on the personnel report? >> All right, last thing. >> Lastly, uh for me at least, this is the uh quarterly report from Valley Collaborative. And I know Susan mentioned before the meeting, we got a lot of Valley information lately, but uh
every quarter um as a member district, we received their quarterly report and we have to share it with the school committee. And then I think it was at the last meeting of the meeting before we also got their annual financial report and management letter. So that was there. A lot of the information is duplicative. um you see like the newsletter and things like that as well,
but um we're required to share it with the committee and um included in the packet. So that's your valley quarter second quarter uh report >> question. Okay, >> you have a question? >> I don't have a question. >> Any questions on this? >> I it is a lot of it we've seen before.
One thing I I don't think I've ever seen this before is um they had one page is like 223 where they compared what we pay for Valley compared to a lot of these other districts. It's a considerable savings over some of these other
>> collaborative other these private schools what valley is charging you know on a pretty basis I was I had never seen that before so it was valu part of the regulations uh the statewide regulations valley needs to benchmark itself against all the other collaborives in the state
in valley um for tuition Ian services um actually come in very low so even for uh for member districts and against other collaboratives their tuition structure is low. Um beyond that, uh typically they've been running a surplus at the end of the year, so we actually get money back as a member district.
>> Um so not only are their tuitions low to begin with, but then we're getting a kind of a credit at the end of the year. So that's been great for us. Um they are required to do that for um for their state reporting, but u they run great programs at a very good uh very good cost. So I know us we're one of the
biggest um users of their services, but our students and families really enjoy it out there. >> Well, executive always hear good things. Yeah, it's very well run. >> Our executive board is well run. I heard it. >> It's an incredible executive board. Yeah, the chair is >> The chair is incredible. >> Very good guy. He's a very good guy. >> All right. For
>> and and very very techsavvy. >> Uh okay. So >> nice. the quarter. Uh I make a motion that we accept the presentation of the quarterly reports on um collaborative business from FY26 second quarter for
Valley Collaborative Board of Directors issued it. >> Second. All right. Any questions? All those in favor? >> I Great. All right. Uh any lays on reports? >> Sure. We'll start over there. Diana,
>> go ahead. Okay. um a few um so on the 8th I attended the Parker and McCarthy joint PTO meetings um or meeting um at Parker
um lots of wonderful things happening as always. Um they spoke about um the same morning intervention programming that was presented at the last school committee meeting. Um
coming up there is a committee of parents that is running a science fair for Parker on March 26th. Um and um so it's great to see that becoming a new tradition. That was sort of a a new move
um and is only kind of a a year or so in uh existence. So, I'm glad to see that's not um that's not just going to be a onetime thing that they're going to be continuing that. Um their be the change student driven giving service learning initiative that again we've learned a
little bit about was very successful and they are currently amidst their uh student social season. Um finally, they're looking for someone um to take over the Parker Pride run in May. So that is uh a big uh piece of the the
calendar uh for the PTO and they're hoping to find someone to take that piece on. At McCarthy um they were excited by high participation in spirit week. Um there was a conversation there had been some concerns from some parents
around certain educators requesting that students use cell phones in the class for academic purposes. Although that contradicted the school's handbook which did not allow cell phone use for any
purpose. Um that is now brought up to being consistent. No cell phones are to be used in any classrooms for any purpose including an art classroom any longer. They found um ways to use the Chromebooks to th those purposes. Um,
project 300 is um is I think I cannot remember what year, but a 51 I think year tradition um and is I think just wrapping up um and um
they're excited for an upcoming rock and roll bingo fundraiser. Um for both schools worth naming, submissions are currently open for scholarships. And I think that is potentially true for a lot of schools districtwide. Um, but I I I happen to
know that to be true for Parker and McCarthy that are currently looking um to recruit uh students to uh apply for those scholarships, students and alums to apply for those scholarships. The other liaison thing I wanted to mention, I'm not officially a liaison to this,
but any school committees uh or members of school committees can be part of division 10, which is um so we are part of division one regionally. Um but division 10 is a is a sort of a body of
school committees statewide that are interested in DEI specifically. And you don't have to choose that instead of division 1. It's just um you can be part of division 10 activities. And I have chosen to attend a few division one I'm sorry, division 10
meetings um both at the mass mask conference and I attended uh the online meeting a couple weeks ago um on the 12th about division 10. And I wanted to share that there there are some seminars scheduled that I think are really
useful. I'm personally planning on attending the next one which is on the 23rd at noon. They are going to have a lunchtime session talking about using data for equitydriven purpose in school
committee meetings um led by um Disa Monte Jackson um who brings a lot of experience using data for equity ends. So, I am excited to attend that and just wanted to share that with my colleagues in case
um anybody else is interested in joining me at that or the follow-up meeting which I believe is going to be happening in March. >> Thank you, Susan. >> Okay. I attended um the Harrington School PTO meeting. They have a couple
of events coming up uh February 1st. They are having a skate morning at uh Skate 3 because they found that when they do it in the evening, it's not doesn't always work for their younger students. So on February 1st, it's actually going to be a 10:00 a.m. to 12
noon skate session. And the Scholastic Bookf Fair, which the PTO runs alongside the school library teacher, is going to be the week of February 9th to 13th during the kids library times. but they are having an
evening on February 11th um from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. for families to go in and shop. So, families should be getting notice about that. Their next meeting is February 4th. They are quite actively seeking um people to be on their board
for next school year already because many of the people on the board, their kids are exiting the school. they'll be exiting their roles and if people kind of get on board now, they can learn the role for the rest of the school year and be ready to take it on when the next school year starts. So, they are
actively seeking board members. I also went to the CHIPS PTO meeting. I think I mentioned last time that um they had had um the middle school sixth graders came and did a the chorus came and did
>> a show for the Chips Kids and they really really loved it. So they've expressed an interest in maybe having a different kind of music group, maybe one of the smaller ensemble groups come later in the spring. So, I am trying to help connect them with the right
contacts for who to ask about making that happen because they really really enjoyed having that work out. Um, in addition to all the wonderful fundraising they do, they had an anonymous donor give them $800 which is
going to help them bring Ivy, the very determined dog, in for an enrichment for the kids. I guess that's quite costly and the anonymous donor is going to make that um even easier for them to bring Ivy into the school. They're also getting ready to do their Square One
fundraiser. For anyone wondering, the artwork for that Square One fundraiser gets done in class and that will be happening before the end of February and parents will get lots of information on how to buy various products with their kids artwork on it.
And the CHIPS PTO also expressed gratitude to the superintendent for giving the money toward their teacher events. They really appreciate the help in doing that. >> Great. >> Okay. >> Thank you, John. Nothing.
I did attend the CHS PTO and um they're continuing to do um enrichment for staff and they have uh ongoing activities now for the coming prom, the after prom. Um
and they're kind of excited because uh they what they're getting together is now they can get their budget. They've got it under control. um they know what they're doing in terms of the decorations and everything for the place
and uh they're very happy with where they are right now which is the elks and they're using that again uh this year. So that's going really well for them. Um Ste the principal Steve Murray always presents um and he did present at this
meeting. Uh he said things were going quite well and the parents get to ask questions. They have a board and transition. So, in other words, they've got folks transitioned already for the coming year. So, that's really been good
at the high school. Uh, but they're always looking for volunteers and they have quite a few people who now really enjoy doing the after prom, which is was really great to see. Um, CHS is tomorrow, tomorrow night. So, I
didn't go to that one. And also wellness committee comes up this week. So, I'll report next time. >> Great. I I had building committee. We already spoke about that. So, got >> and that was extensive work. >> Yeah. All right. Um any new items?
I just So, we're on schedule for what is it? Budget presentation next meeting and public open forum the 20 whatever. Right. >> So, we do the the recommended budget that next Tuesday, not next Tuesday, the first Tuesday in February. Then we go
off and we come back the Tuesday after February break. So that's when we'll have the public budget hearing and I'll send the notice out to all the building meet u the town meeting reps and the newspapers and things like that. >> Okay. So the budget should be out after our next meeting and then people have a chance to look at it and correct they
have any questions, comments, we'll be able to do that at the public meeting at the end of February. >> Correct. >> All right. We are now up to our second public comment session. I believe we have a speaker. So, I would just ask when you come up to use the mic, give your name and address. Our recording tech isn't here, so you just clearly
state your name and address. Um, if you could limit your promise to 3 to 5 minutes, that'd be great. And, uh, welcome. >> Thank you. Uh, Peter Malloy, three village view. Um, I just want to say I've um been
lucky enough to watch Patrick and Chiron Russell. Um, they're having great seasons. It's It's been a lot of fun. You got two good ones there. >> Great kids. >> Yeah. Um, and I do think much of what I have to say tonight um I've heard a ton of. Even though the topic that I'm going
to talk about isn't hasn't been approached, um a lot of the underlying themes of the topic have been approached tonight um in various different um capacities. All right. So, I'll just kind of get into it. U oh, I just do want to say too that um I plan on emailing this to you
ahead of time and I you know how it goes. I didn't I didn't get that. So, I I'll send that off to you as well. I do have some um uh MLA formatted citations um for my uh ELA colleagues. Um all right, good evening. My name is Peter
Mallaloy. I've been an educator for 24 years, 22 of which have been spent at Tuk Memorial High School as a history teacher and psychology teacher. Tonight I'm speaking as a teacher, a parent, a resident. My perspective comes from years of working with instructional technology professionally and from
watching how those same tools affect my own children and students. I want to be clear from the start that this is not an argument against technology and it is not about cell phones. I was an early adopter of Google Classroom going all
the way back to 2016 and Chromebooks and I still use both although now very sparingly and very intentionally. The use is uh the issue is not whether technology can be useful but whether Chromebooks should remain a rather
default tool for daily instruction in reading, writing and math. Since the pandemic, my thinking has dramatically changed around technological instruction. Research has become increasingly consistent that routine SC
screenbased learning in core academic areas is associated with declines in attention, declines in comprehension, declines in retention, and declines in overall achievement. We have seen declines preandemic
because Chromebooks started flooding schools around 2012. And that's where the research and the trends begin to decline. The pandemic only enhanced it. This aligns with what many educators are seeing in practice, myself included.
Internet enabled devices introduce constant distraction. Large-scale classroom studies have shown that non-academic multitasking is common and directly linked to lower academic performance. Regardless of a student's motivation or ability, motivation and
ability have been accounted for in many studies. Even when laptops are used for academic purposes, research finds little to no benefit from their presence in classrooms. A few years ago, I reduced my screen use in my own classrooms and
return to paper-based reading, writing, and problem solving. The impact was immediate. stronger focus, deeper engagement, clearer uh participation, more efficient thinking, and more collaboration between class members who just weren't talking to each other. That
experience mirrors decades of research showing that students comprehended text more effectively when reading on paper. It should come as no surprise that the gap between paper and screen comprehension has grown over time, right? Worse comprehension. So the gap
gets bigger because screens are an everpresent con uh everpresent in our classrooms. The same pattern appears with writing. Neuroscience and education research consistently show that handwriting activates more brain regions related to memory and understanding than typing does. A recent meta analysis
found that students who take handwritten notes outperform those who type, not just on recall, but on conceptual understanding and overall achievement as well. What's important here is this concern is no longer limited to educators and parents at a local level.
Last Thursday, the US Senate Subcommittee for Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which there's a link in my uh in my document here, held hearings on the impact of technology on America's youth and in the classroom. Expert testimony warned that constant exposure to internet connected devices harms
attention, learning, cognitive development. Senators from both parties in a rare agreement uh raised concerns about fragmented focus, deep thinking, and unintended consequences for giving children constant access to screens during class. Rethinking how screens are
used in schools is also an international concern. Finland and Sweden have just shifted toward paper-based learning after going allin on screenbased learning prior to the pandemic and reduce digital devices in the earliest grades. Finland. I pretty sure it's
Finland that has completely banned screens in grades like K to six. These moves are beginning a global trend recognizing that everpresent screen use can undermine focus, deep thinking, foundational skills, the same issues we're seeing here in our classrooms. In
other words, the very question I'm asking here is also being asked nationally and internationally. Are these electronic devices actually improving learning or are they quietly undermining it? I often hear the argument that ubiquit
ubiquitous Chromebook use is necessary to prepare students for a technologydriven future. How will they be ready? As an educator, I agree that preparation matters, but children's brains are still developing and earlier or increased exposure does not
automatically lead to better technology use. Research clearly shows this. Just to kind of give an analogy, we wouldn't tell a 2-year-old to skip naps because they won't be able to nap in first grade. developmentally that's not appropriate for them. And we wouldn't tell a fourth grader that they can't
have recess because they won't get it in high school. The tools and the strategies that we give children have to be appropriate to their development. And in this case, screens are rarely appropriate for brain development, which is why I think rightfully we have cell
phone policies in place in terms of where they should be in the classroom. But it also extends to edtech. I'm just about finished. Technology works best when it supports instruction, not when it is the foundational academic practice to learning or the primary way to show that you've learned. Chromebooks can be
useful for organization. Certain assessments like the synthesis of learned material, you know, for example, the writing program that was highlighted here earlier, which was fantastic. I can understand how a Chromebook would be a good use to pull all of what was done on
paper and hand and in person with other people and collaboratively together. That makes sense to me. But as the foundational basis, which it doesn't seem like it was, it doesn't seem to fit. The research shows that. But daily reading, writing, daily homework, which
is what I see for my children, and skill practice should not be screenbased, especially when the evidence shows that academic growth is stymied by the use of screens. So my request here is simple and evidence-based. I think there's one of two choices for the board. Either the
committee moves forward with some kind of motion in the near future removing Chromebooks from routine classroom instruction and reestablishes paperbased learning as the default for reading, writing, and math while reserving technology for limited, intentional, and
clearly justified uses. or the committee creates a dedicated subcommittee charged with reviewing the research and reporting back to this committee with clear evidence-based recommendations for regulating screen use across Chelsea public schools. I would gladly sign up for that. Listening to me speak and not
taking action again not here but just kind of generally in the future I think is a is dangerous for our students. We need to align district policy with practice and research and now international concern so that our instructional decisions truly serve
students learning and academic growth. Um before I just kind of say my thank yous, I think um Marie Santos said it best when she said like you know we do the best what we could with regards to Fontus and Penel. do the best we can in the moment and then when we know better
we need to do better which is you know is a hallmark of um of uh oh who's the poet laurette I can't think of her name my students will be so mad at me um so anyways um thank you for your time and I and I hope this conversation continues
at this board and and across the town >> great thank you very much seeing you >> all right anybody else have anything else before we wrap it If not, I'll take a motion to adjurnn. >> I move that we adjurnn. >> Second.
>> All those in favor? I. >> All right. Thank you.