##VIDEO ID:x-ix9aIzDrk## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e States and I'm sorry my apologies I thought I hit the microphone and I hadn't welcome everyone again um Veronica can I get a roll call for attendance Please Mr Gomez Pera Miss alaro pres Miss Hernandez pres Mr Oran president miss kovas carav present Miss balderas present Dr Neville present Miss Enriquez and Miss Cabra pres that's seven in the affirmative and two absent thank you move on to the school committee minutes can I get a motion to for approval of the minutes from our last regular meeting on November 13th motion I second the motion thank you um we're moving on to the public comment is there anyone here that would like to speak at this moment please give your name and where you live hi everyone I'm Katherine Anderson I'm Chelsea teachers union president I live at 15 powder house Terrace in Somerville um I've also been a special education Le on at the brown since 2013 um I'm just here tonight to speak in favor of the resolution that councelor Neville's putting forward um the school committee member rather Neville Dr Neville's putting forward um I think it's really important that at this time Chelsea takes some time to really reaffirm our status as a sanctuary city as a sanctuary School District um I know back in 2016 when there were similar election outcomes students directly expressed extreme anxiety to me concerns about themselves or their families having to leave the country forcibly um and I think that making sure that we take a minute to really re reaffirm to our community that we are here that we truly welcome and educate all students is important to do explicitly I also especially appreciate the inclusion of students who are gender nonconforming or gender diverse it's a community that is growing I have many more students who identify that way now than I did when I first started teaching and I'm really glad to see that we're making sure that students feel comfortable expressing their full name strength and story to us within our school district so I just wanted to speak enthusiastically in favor of that resolution thank you hi everyone uh my name is Anna Vanegas I'm a resident of Chelsea for almost 30 years I work in the public schools as a par professional until a year and a half ago and now work with Community landras here in Chelsea also part of the Board of Trustees for the library used for full disclosure and I want to say that being a immigrant from Guatemala I have been going through a lot of things during my whole three years being here um I have seen a lot of things happening fir hand on my family and on friends and neighbors and then I experienced being first grader par professional seeing those little H little faces of kids when they had to move out of Chelsea because of displacement because of different um issues it was heartbroken I cannot imagine the experience that the kids will go through if they have to move out of the cont country so if that is our future and the kids let's make sure that they are safe that they have a safe environment that they do have not other things in their minds that the parents or whatever going to be in the process of deportation or something like that if it is in our hands Let's help and that's all I have to say thank you hi um I'm Andy fiser I work with youth in Chelsea um and I just wanted to also express my support um for Dr Neville's um uh yes resolution thank you um and I just wanted to say um uh we know that um you know the federal overreach in regards to immigration has a deeply felt impact here um and that youth are are impacted by that and I think um it's just important that we do whatever is at our disposal in order to offer protection to the experiences of Youth so that I'll just say that thank you is there anyone else no well thank you everyone do we have any anyone any written we had three late um submissions that I handed off to you guys for correspondence okay thank you okay with seeing no more public comments we'll move on to um presentations and I'll hand this over to Dr AA I guess I should turn this on um so for our first presentation it's our name strength and story award and tonight we have three name strength and story Awards and um I always get a a lot of Joy being able to do this and um this is the first year that we are doing our name strength and story award and the name strength and story award is about people in in Chelsea Public Schools it could be anyone any employee that is building relationships with students getting to know them by name strength and story because that's very important to us and who we are as a district and so tonight we have three people and I will start with an email that I received this um a couple weeks ago and uh this email is from uh a a Community member and she writes um or actually it's from Mr Rossi regarding an email she received so she says Hi I received a really nice call from a resident Michelle chaplain she wanted to share that she believes we should recognize the crossing guard that stands over by Stockton and Spencer by the old French Club she said he is a younger gentleman that looks forward that she looks forward to seeing every day she said he smiles and greets every child and adult that walks with so much enthusiasm and positivity she said is such a tough spot and she sees drivers being aggressive and rude to him all the time but he just smiles she said the kids abs absolutely love him and he connects with the students and she asked if there was a way that we could recognize him and she added that she felt compelled to call because she's sure we don't get enough of these kind of calls and that he makes her want to be a more thoughtful driver so this um name strength and story a goes to Emanuel Garcia [Applause] I have to make a comment I go by there quite frequently and I have noticed you so often and he is always so friendly and so good with the kids and even with the parents like I'm amazed every time I'm sto there I I just stare at you and I'm like he's every time I come by here he's in such a good mood he's so happy I mean it can be freezing out it can be raining it doesn't matter so yes thank you so so much CU it's a tough tough job thank you can we get a photo with you thank you e [Applause] like a little K I cers C okay and our next name strength and Story aard Goes to Denise granis um Denise is an Ela teacher at Chelsea High School and this is actually her first year here in Chelsea so welcome and I uh somebody uh a coach was singing your praises the other day and she's like I have to tell you about this teacher at Chelsea High School and I was like who is she and um I said I don't think I've met her and so she was saying how you plan your lessons so well that you you're you're so detailed about your lessons that the students love coming to your class and that there every time she visits your classroom that the students are really engaged and the high level and quality of instruction that you're delivering to your students is so high and she she just went on and on about how amazing your teaching is and I was like oh I was like tell me her last name um I would like to recognize her so when I hear like people just so excited about the teaching happening in your classroom but that what was critical is she said that the kids are so engaged that they don't want to leave your classroom so I just wanted to um say thank you on behalf of all of us thank you for what you do every single day um thank you for knowing our students and for um knowing them by name strength and story and I know at the high school you have a lot so thank you and um congrat [Applause] ulations we will for okay and then I'm looking for our next award but I don't see her um but I'll go ahead and sing her Praises our next awarde and this was uh someone that was nominated by one of our principes and the award is for Jackie Boyd and she is our internship coordinator and our Lavita coordinator at the high school um so Miss Jackie goes above and beyond for students and families um when I first got here or when she first got here last year she planned the spaghetti dinner for them and she had a slew of families come for spaghetti and then she also is a pilot herself and as a result of her passion for being a pilot she has shared that passion with her students and now so now at the high school we have several students enrolled in um flying lessons and getting and working towards their pilot licenses and some of our students will actually have a pilot license before they have a driver's license possibly and they have they have gotten scholarship and now because of her passion for flying um we have a partnership with Alaskan Airlines so it is pretty phenomenal so I wanted to shout out Jackie Boyd wherever you are Miss Jackie um we we are so grateful for you thank you for all that you do for our students and keep Flying High and um we just want to thank Miss Miss Boyd so and we actually have one more award and I'm gonna let I'm going to make some comments and then I'll let everybody feel free to chime in um our next award goes to um actually this goes to um Miss lamboy um Miss lamboy we have an award for you and recognition for your outstanding contributions and dedication to students and family Chelsea Public Schools so for those of you who don't know uh Miss lamboy is is leaving us uh at the end of this this month um she first congratulations she's um going to be Deputy city manager in the town of rof so congratulations um and uh Monica has actually been here for seven is it seven years now seven and a half six and a half okay you're just a little bit you were you got here a little bit before me um and so Monica I have to tell a little bit about you okay not to embarrass you but just because just because and um and so I had just gotten here and within a couple months the co um pandemic hit us and I saw Monica go into a whole different mode even though she she's over finances and buildings and operations she went into like we've got to take care of the kids and feed the kids and she's like we've got to set up the schools to feed the schools and right away within a couple days we were ready to start serving families in the schools and we did and um and I also saw Monica during the pandemic work and work and work and work I think that's probably how you just like survived during the pandemic just working but I also saw Monica's Heart during the pandemic I saw Monica go out and like do the room six feet six feet socially distanced and she's like om me this is what we can do Joe and I we figured this out the arrows they're putting arrows on on the on the hallways of which way to walk the masks all of the things that we had to do during Co and I was like wow Monica is more than just a a financial off a business budget money person she has a really big heart and um and people don't often see that as you're working with numbers because you always say no too sometimes especially to me um and I I always say Monica it's not your money it's the district's money but at at the same time I'm I'm s I'm so grateful for a financial officer who tells me no and doesn't tell me what I want to hear but says no we can't do that and I'm like okay and uh I tell other people well she tells me no and she's going to tell you no so don't take it personal but that's what I so appreciate about you because you have been fiscally responsible with our budget every single year you've you've you've manage our finances so well that every year we're we're fiscally responsible and we use our money to the best that we can and you keep me informed and I I'm super grateful I will miss your expertise because you're a jack of all trades you you really do have a different perspective in many different areas and I know that um I will miss you on the cabinet team as well as your our cabinet colleagues so um yeah we we we will miss you so thank you thank you for your um seven and a half years of service six and a half I don't know why I keep saying seven because in in Chelsea years it's seven no it's it's 14 it's 14 we get double for Co well and realistically speaking you guys are probably counting the extended hours that you have to work way past burning the midnight oil through budget season and everything else so that's that's where the you know the time is kicking in so I have to tell you we were um at least I was very nervous when Jerry was leaving um our last um financial officer who had been here forever and I was terrified I said oh boy I don't know what's going to happen um but then Monica came in and she came in and showed us that she could do it and that she did it very well well and gave us such detail and could explain everything that we needed explained and every question we had Monica never knew the answer the answer for us was never I don't know it was she'd have if she didn't have the answer at that moment which she usually does she would find it for us and give it to us um and I think we developed not only a working relationship but also a friendship and I wish her the very best of luck in her new chapter and I know that she will do very well um and you will be very missed so thank you um I just want to say too that I mean um since I meet you and um I become with a lot of questions and you always answer to me and and the way that you explain things I really you know it was it was very CLE clear the message so I really thank you so much for being so open and answer you know when every time I I come to you and ask questions about you know building on the high school so I'm I'm very happy that I mean that you get escalated but at the same time we're going to miss you but we wish you the best thank you I also just want to Echo the sentiments of gratitude um for your efforts um and the work of budget and finance is Equity work and so thank you so much for bringing um Equitable spaces into our district um I can name a few of whether it's our high school cafeteria bringing in furniture that is deserving of our student population and so I just want to thank you for all that you do to make um the work that we do in the classroom possible and so Monica we'll miss you I'll miss um running into you on the bus in the morning or on the way uh catching the 111 and so thank you so much um I'm looking forward to running to running into you on on the tea um and wishing you best of luck in Randolph we will truly miss you uh especially uh somebody that really understands our community and this this house here this city is your home feel come back you are more than welcome and everything that we learned through the process on the budgeting that you was always ready to listen to the community and then put those reports together as you know as somebody that has been here working uh with the this committee for many years I really appreciate all the time that you put in the paent thank you um well I just want to Echo everybody's sentiment and I'll do my best to keep it short um as Dr ABA mentioned you're you know you are Jack of all trades and when it comes to our district you definitely wore multiple hats not just our financial advisor within your job title you had um you oversaw lots of different departments um obviously we had a very indepth connection with as far as work was concerned because you are my point of contact in many of these side positions so whether it was um helping me navigate the new terminology for Budget from someone that came from a completely different um background from education well and as far as education was concerned to getting me up to speed so that I could um fulfill my duties here to the best of my ability as quickly as possible um or to meeting me down the block so we can take a look at the bus stop that needed to be re-evaluated or the potential you know hazardous um space you were always available um and during budget season you didn't just crunch numbers you also made sure that our student spaces were um as Kathy mentioned Equitable and um are there artwork was showcased and that everything was that was beautiful was highlighted and that the things that needed Improvement was done in a responsible but sustainable manner so you taught me especially a lot as far as patience was concerned because you know as far as goal orientation goes um I want to get there but getting there fast if we're going or trying to get there fast if we're not getting there with a steady plan thanks to you I know we're not going to get anywhere if we're not doing doing it sustainably so I do appreciate everything that you've taught um because even if it didn't look like I was listening I was so thank you and I wish you nothing but the best in your next Endeavors um one of the first things that I got to do after I got sworn in as school committee is I went to the Chelsea High School library opening and it really stuck with me all this time how everyone talked so much about um what amazing attention to detail you have when you're uh working on construction projects and how you're so passionate about making sure every detail and in the designs are like just right which is amazing considering that so much of your job is like something totally different and working with spreadsheets and and these huge budgets but you also have this attention to detail and I can't believe that you know in your time in Chelsea you've not only had to deal with but also the Esser funds and the student Opportunity Act funds and the complexity there is just really Monumental and um I heard that you had you know Ambitions to go into like City management and everything and so I was so excited when I heard that you got this position and it's also inspirational to me I think as a woman to see you know you moving up in this way and I'm just so excited for your career trajectory and I wish you the best one more thing Monica has agreed to help us during the transition as we on board someone so thank you and then the attention to detail is something else that I just have to say a little bit about so oftentimes you'll see pieces of tile in Monica's office or a chair and I'm like what are you doing and she's like oh sit down try it look this is what we're thinking about and I'm just and she's got the colors schemes and I'm like that's really nice and know she's like but let me show you this it's this will highlight the the red you know and I'm just looking at it I'm like yeah that that's wonderful but it's to Monica it's the it's the art right it's the beauty of it and so um I'm I'm convinced that one of these cafeterias needs to be named after you so um but thank you for for being so attentive to detail too but I it's it's it is that's why I say Jack of all traits because it's the it's this it's that that little and now it's like she's like can I stay on and kind of help with the design of County Road and I'm like yeah absolutely you you can be our advisor we we would love to have you help us continue with that so I'm just grateful so without further Ado we do have a little something for you right now just a little for Happ spe see very well and just one more uh two more things um very important though so this is our last official school committee meeting so of the year and I it caught me off guard to be quite honest but we do want to say thank you to our um first our vice chair kti cabal kti thank you for your service um being um the vice chair and chair of school committee is a little bit more responsibility you have to deal with a little bit more so I just wanted to say thank you you're welcome and there's we have some flowers and then for our chair we have an A A A thank you and um Anna thank you for all that you do I I always get to have a special relationship with the chair because there's just so much work and communication that happens between the superintendent and the chair so I've gotten to really know you more this last year and it's been a pleasure working with you in this regard so thank you so much [Applause] and we do have a little plaque that's coming well can I share a little story um so um the uh we were wanting to make sure they were fresh and so our boys actually picked these out for you so Mal and S you guys did an amazing job thank you I said not the daisies so that is all I have oh and now we will move on to success indicators um Dr Blake KY could not be here tonight so um Mr Hossein is going to do our success indicators good evening everyone so we'll start off tonight uh with our attendance uh districtwide daily attendance rate will be 95% for the district uh November's number looked very uh similar to Octobers if not a little bit up uh across the board especially first grade through 12th grade including as well as our kindergarten prek and our year-to date uh as of right now remains equal if not a little bit higher than what we saw in 20 uh 2024 so our um El students and students with disabilities numbers uh remain at 9960 um 556 El students students with disabilities 213 and duly identified students 98 uh we see the number dropouts 99 29 3 and three uh you see the percentages uh down at the bottom again they remain uh lower at this point than uh they do from last year Mobility this this uh November we've seen six students come in at the ELC one student out at the complex 12 in 20 out uh the Middle School we've seen 13 and 10 and at the high school 21 coming in and 29 for a total of 52 students in and 60 60 students leaving uh the schools again that that those numbers remain fairly consistent and then our failure rates uh at the high school for freshman we have a total of 511 students we have 89 students with one failing grade 53 students with two failing grades 40 with uh 40 40 students with three failing grades and 40 with four or more failing grades for a total of 43.4% 10th graders we have 400 students 67 with one failing grade 40 with two uh excuse me 40 with two failing grades 19 with three and 10 students with four or more uh with a percentage of 34% uh which remains lower than what we saw for last year ninth grade retention rate is 21.8% that was last year so we actually don't have any number those numbers for last this year that is all we have for our indicators are there any questions what does the retention rate mean uh the retention rate mean you you actually see that at the end of the year that's actually the students that have um not passed technically by earning earning sufficient enough credits to move on so uh a student who failed five or more classes in n9th grade did not technically become a sophomore because they have not achieved the amount of credits that are required to actually move up to grade 10 so that that rate will come out at the end of the school year so it's like the number of students who have to repeat the grade yeah in the retention yeah and at the high school is different because it's credit based so it's really about how many classes did you pass to move on so it's not really like ninth grade 10th grade it's really about how many credits do you have and you could be a freshman uh and and pass all your classes move on or a junior who's been you know lacking in classes and then do uity courses and add adding credits and then move up so it's really about the credits that are required to re to move on at that level to the next for the next class so it's the percent of students who did not have enough credits to move into the next grade correct okay yeah any other questions excellent nice and easy thank you thank you um good evening Dr ARA Madame chairwoman Eris and school committee members we hope everyone has been doing well um and on the aspect aspect of Athletics um sorry as The Fall season came to a thrilling end we welcome the new winter sports basketball for both girls and boys cheerleading in their track and wrestling um the CHS football team had their Thanksgiving game uh which was also the last game of the season on November 27 it was an exciting game and many people had um many people had fun um moving on to clubs the CHS drama club will host a snow angel play in the Chelsea High School auditorium today um but like it's in session right now so kind of a little bit late for that but you guys can go tomorrow or the day after tomorrow Saturday uh the play starts at 7 and tickets are at the door they eight8 per each and additionally uh CHS will have its uh Winter concert on December 10 at the Chelsea has auditorium at 6 p.m. and this one you don't have to pay to go in so everyone is welcome to go and to support the members now looking forward to um what's coming right uh student emotions for the upcoming break are diverse seniors who apply to colleges colleges and universities through the early decision and early action de deadlines are going to be hearing back from their colleges in the following weeks so they're like kind of anxious about it and seniors who are going to be applying to colleges through the regular decision we'll have the January first deadline uh but there's also like a different deadline January 15 both deadlines they're kind of approaching so uh they're um anxious about that too but on the other hand many students were looking forward to the holidays and spending quality time with their family and friends um the Friday after the last school committee meeting November 15 right I we all back uh Chelsea has school hosted the first College and Career Fair where students were able to explore and get to know colleges and careers as well as internships available to them and yesterday December 4th Chelsea High School hosted a College and Career Fair for parents parents many people went I was there volunteering so I I kind of know and um very excited hello everyone good evening Dr ABA Madame chairwoman um and school committee members so I'm going to be talking a little bit about the fundraisers and um other things that are going on um so we have parent teacher conferences coming up which is next well in two weeks December 19th um allowing parents and students to communicate about their child's well-being as well academic performance during school we also have the winter formal which I'm super excited this is our second one last year was a super success for the class of 2024 but now we're doing class of 2025 um it's going to be la la la la Lam theme if you guys don't know it it's like a famous Ryan goling movie so yeah um as well of upcoming fundraisers um I just wanted to give a shout out to my old um English teacher um Miss ready she's hosting um a toy not a toy drive but sorry a fundraiser for our local crossing guard she's collecting many donations to give holiday gifts and show appreciations for our four crossing guards in front of our school which I really they're like um I don't know what was the name that you stated before um the yeah Manny um these four crossing guards that I have seen them since my freshman year and they're always there like with a smile on their faces and even though it's raining pouring there's hail they'll still be there so I'm very grateful for them um we also had the Turkey Trot um it was a really big success it was to support the runners and um track starts of our school um it's led by one of our CHS coaches coach V and all of the other cross country coaches coaches it is a fundraiser for CHS track fields and cross country athletes to provide warmup scholarships and other things um I'm really excited to talk about this but I'm hosting a toy drive I did this last year um I just wanted to give back to like my community especially the youth I ran this toy drive last year and um when I was able to do it I collected a bunch of toys from different organizations as well as people in our community and to be honest to be able to give back during the holiday seasons to people who don't like have it as much like I knew I grew up in a home where I was fortunate enough to always have a really good holiday and not everyone has that privilege so I remember being able to give away those toys and seeing like the smiles on students faces like other children who were once me is just amazing so I'll be hosting this toy drive all throughout December it ends 18th so um if you guys have any questions or you guys would like to donate um unused toys brand new um just contact me and that's all I have for today thank you um the National Honor Society oh sorry did you want to talk are you sure sure sure well before the meeting's over as far as like the toy drives and all that stuff like I don't know if you guys have a point of contact whether it's at the high school or um your information just so that we can make sure that we get if there are donations um or we can uh obviously also maybe like you know bring them over here and then SHP them over there we could figure that out too but if if there is a point of contact um then just before we finish um the National Honor Society is currently having a candy back sale which will go on through until December 18 so the same deadline um that c candy Bix will be delivered between December 19th and December December 20 um candy bags come with a car with cards where the buyer can buy write a message to the person they are writing or giting the candy pag too of course it's not necessary to write a message or like give the candy P to someone it's just like a nice gesture uh the prices are as follow $3 for one candy pag with a card and $8 for three candy packs the money raised will be used for scholarships that the National Honor Society um gives two senior members two members of NHS who were seniors right and moving on to student achievement Chelsea High School has three Quest Bridge national match Scholars um their names are Alma AA Brandon Osa and me Diana [Applause] Salinas um they were successfully matched with TS University while Ian University and amher college respectively um we have received a full fouryear ride to the match [Applause] universities and that is all can I make sure I heard that correctly you are going to Amherst College congratulations thank you full scholarship you said foure scholarship good for you um and then you said you were at the um career fair at the high school at the um at the college career fair can you explain a little bit of about that just so that we have a little context yeah in in Nut Show yeah sure the college gen career fair is um a fair hosted by CHS Chelsea High School where the counselors um call out to colleges and um jobs like near CHS um where students no where like a representativ comes and like has like their own stand their own table where the students students can go and like talk to them during like P periods right um it's so students have like more um they know like what opportunities are available to them and they get like broader perspective on different things thank you but you said this time that there was a lot of parents there as well that so that's yes that's that's the part that I'm yeah I can help a little bit so normally we have the College and Career we've been doing them for a two year what two years now three two years now and it's been during the day and so the kids will rotate through the through the day in out but then this year um Jackie Boyd and Jackie kabari the the Jackie squared we call them Jackie squared they worked on they they really pushed to have this in the evening because they wanted to reach more families and adults and and parents and so that happened was it this it was this week it was yesterday and I uh both Jackies were saying we're real excited to have this in the evening because it'll give an opportunity for the families to come and the parents to come so we had a huge turnout with families that came and met with col colleges and all and career so that's that was new this year they also help parents to kind of like know what to do and what are available to do their um um programs to pay the college or how to they they can apply and they website so they really help them to kind of like be prepared so when they before they're going to graduate maybe one year or two they know what to do so it's very helpful anything else we're all set thank you thank you actually one more comment I just wanted to I didn't get to um say something for Miss granis but um I just wanted to say like I I appreciate her a lot as a teacher um she first came here and she was super like nervous and she kept saying how like this is her first year so she's not familiar with like the curriculars of Chelsea High School but she came and she's such a strong teacher um she makes the curriculum fun to engage with like I know I have fun like she makes games on like Fridays we have like I'm not a big fan of poem but she got me into like being able to write my own poems she even does her own poetry class after school on Wednesdays and like having a teacher who like cares about our like well-being is like just such a pivotal moment in my life because I feel like not a lot of people get recognition for that so I just wanted to say I appreciate her not only as a teacher but a human being as well so thank you miss granis the highest compliment I believe are from our students yeah yes great well thank thank you you both are doing such a wonderful job okay our next reports are actually uh the Personnel report and our enrollment report and those are in our packets as well so for our Personnel just update on our hiring we've hired um 27% Caucasian 67% Hispanic and 6% black and then moving on to our enrollment report we're very steady at 6 ,1 143 students and I would like to commend these two reports for the record and that completes my report for the night I make a motion to commend them to the record motion thank you Dr AA and thank you very much both of you it's um it's it's very interesting and and those um College fairs are a wonderful opportunity especially for involving parents I actually yesterday had a very important day yesterday was my 56th anniversary of arriving to Chelsea from Cuba so yes as I put my age out there to all of you um and it it's always uh when I went through the whole college experience my par parents had no idea what I was doing or what any of this was and it was very confusing to them and it was complicated for me because I didn't really have anyone to speak to um that could really help me with with what I needed to do so I'm very happy that we have all these opportunities now to get parents involved and be able to give them help because I think it's scary for the parents also um when your kids are trying to sign up for college and and this whole experience is for a lot of parents is very foreign so that's great so now moving on to committee reports I'd like to commend the the committee reports to um our records if I get a motion motion second the motion thank you and and now we will move on to new business and our first item is consideration and action to accept the acceleration AC academics grant for physical year 2024 to 2025 from desie in the amount of $53,000 can I get a roll call Mr Gomez Pera yes Miss alaro yes Miss Hernandez yes Mr orrian yes Miss kovas carab yes Miss Valderas yes Dr Neville yes Miss cabal yes let say in the affirmative and one absent in the affirmative and want absent motion carries consideration and action to accept an award of $50,000 in private Grant funds for the reach program physical year 2024 to 2025 can I get a roll call Mr Gomez Pera yes Miss Al Faro yes m Miss Hernandez yes Mr orrian yes Miss koves carav yes Miss Bas yes Dr Neville yes Miss Cal yes let's see in the affirmative and one absent in the affirmative one absent motion carries um consideration and action to accept an award from the mass cultural Council creative projects for school program in the amount of $5,000 for physical year 20 25 can I get a roll call Mr Gomez Pera yes Miss alaro yes Miss Hernandez yes Mr Oran yes Miss koves carabo yes Miss Bas yes Dr Neville yes Miss cabal yes let's e in the affirmative and one absent in affirmative one absent motion carries next item consideration and action to accept up to $514,500 2024 to 2025 from desie for the English learner education support Grant can I get a roll call please Mr Gomez Pera yes Miss Alfaro yes M Hernandez yes Mr Oran yes Miss kov carav yes Miss Valderas yes Dr Neville yes Miss cabal yes let's see in the affirmative and one absent in the affirmative one absent motion carries sure um prior to our vote on the cell phone policy I just want to thank again central office our Educators that shared testimony about our cell phone policy that will be um implemented on the Middle School level to increase student engagement um and I look forward to seeing the positive impacts um of this policy to ensure that our students are present in their learning and continuing to engage in their rigorous learning so wanted to just name that before we voted on this next policy thank you consideration and action to approve the proposed secondary cell phone policy can I get a roll call Mr Gomez Pera yes Miss Alfaro yes Mr Hernandez yes Mr Regan yes Miss koves Caro yes Miss balderas yes Dr Neville yes Miss cabal yes that's he in the affirmative and one absent in the affirmative one absent motion carries next item first read of resolution affirming Chelsea Public Schools status as sanctuary District that welcomes and educate students of all immigration statuses and gender ident identities Expressions would you like me to read this yes okay I so the resolution reads as follows whereas the 2024 presidential contests led to the election of the candidate whose campaign promised to deport millions of immigrants currently living in the United States undermine the rights of LGBT lgbtq plus students and dismantle the US Department of Education and whereas Chelsea Public Schools is a Gateway School System that welcomes and educates all students and whereas the city of Chelsea resolved on June 4th 2007 to go on record as a sanctuary City to not initiate or welcome raids that are not related to Public Safety and other heinous crimes and reject the use of the word word illegal and alien to describe any human being and whereas students have the inali right to be given equal access to Quality education and have their identities respected and affirmed regardless of their national origin immigration status family members immigration status sexual orientation or genitor Identity or expression now therefore be it resolved that Chelsea Public Schools goes on record as a sanctuary District supports and reaffirms the City of Chelsea's status as a sanctuary City and reiterates his commitment to safeguarding the rights and well-being of all of our immigrant families and be it further resolved that as a sanctuary District Chelsea Public Schools and its Personnel will not voluntarily cooperate in any immigration enforcement action including sharing information about students and families IM immigration status with any immigration agent or agency providing assistance to the uh to ice in the enforcement of federal civil immigration law or permitting ice access to CPS facilities or Personnel except in the rare instances in which CPS is provided with a Criminal warrant and be it further resolved that Chelsea Public Schools declares its commitment to welcome airm support and educate students with diverse gender identities expressions and sexual orientations including transgender and non-binary students and be it further resolved that Chelsea Public Schools calls upon the Commonwealth of Massachusetts the city of Chelsea and all Allied organizations and funders to assist in providing financial support to The District in the event that the US federal government fails to provide Chelsea with the funds necessary to educate all students in line with these commitments does anyone have any comments or would you like to hear about why I propose this okay I'll start um so uh chairwoman Anna thank you so much for putting this on the agenda tonight um as we all know you know uh the presidential election this year is difficult for um Chelsea because of the the the president who was elected um promised to deport as many um undocumented immigrants as he could and that is going to have a big um impact on Chelsea if he manages to do that so I thought that it was important to um publicly State and reaffirm our commitment to our families because we all know that um making um undocumented families feel safe and welcome is really important to the health and well-being of our city as a whole because when people um feel unsafe then they will hide they will hide from the services and supports that are meant to help them they won't ask for help if they're being um mistreated by landlords they won't enroll their children in schools they won't Access Health Care Etc so um that's why I think it's really important to put this out publicly and also because of the heightened rhetoric even more heightened than in 2016 around um transgender students I thought it was also to tell our trans students that you know we commit to welcoming and affirming their identities um and most importantly we know that there's a chance that the incoming president is going to try and dismantle the Department of Education and we get 15% of our budget from the Federal Department of Education we also know that there's a chance that he's going to try and attach strings to these grants saying things like you don't get this money unless you cooperate with ice you don't get this money unless you discriminate against your trans students um and what are we going to do in that situation um as a school committee you know we just went through all these grants and we did a roll call to accept these like dozen grants the reason that it's the school committee's um responsibility to vote with a roll call in every single Grant is because a grant and any type of funding influences what we do as a district so it's actually our responsibility to make sure that our funding and how the funding that we receive aligns with our values and doesn't push us to do things in a way that doesn't align with our values if we received a donation that said um you have we're we're donating um 10,000 t-shirts on here that say um we we hate grilled cheeses but we really like grilled cheeses then we would vote that down right so that's why that's why we do that um and so I think that it's because this is such a real possibility we need to State this publicly because I don't think that the state of Massachusetts is prepared for that situation I don't think that um we have I think that we need to start this conversation we need to call upon the state to set because in the past couple years the state has been saying we don't have enough Revenue they've been cutting taxes on on certain streams of Revenue on the estate tax on you know taxes for large corporations and such and they've been cutting services as a result and I don't and I think that because they've been cutting taxes and the revenue at the state has been going down they're not prepared for what's going to happen if the federal government you know puts these sorts of problems in our in our hands so we need to start telling the state now you have to be thinking about how you're going to support districts like Chelsea if this happens and not just reactively but proactively thinking about it thinking about it in the laws and policies that you're passing this year thinking about it um in this year's budget which they're going to start discussing in January and so that's why um I wanted to to uh bring this resolution up and I'd love for other people to share their thoughts does anyone else yeah I happy to jump in really quick um Sarah thank you so much for um putting this together and sharing your thoughts with us wholeheartedly agree um with your analysis and we need to be proactive um what I would encourage I mean folks that are in the room uh not only just holding institutions accountable right like not just like us as school committee members but also City counselors um if they're also not in line with something let's say your values whether they're reflected in this resolution that we are discussing right right now or something else apply that pressure because that's literally how change happens I will also say that we should not be waiting for any sort of politician to come and save us because that will just never be the case um so I encourage people to organize create Community within your own Community um create Mutual Aid networks right so like there's still time this man has not been sworn in uh you have the opportunity to make sure that there are a there's a procedure to follow in case we do get to that point where we start seeing massive deportation whether that's at bus stops hospitals schools churches or of those other things so hold your politicians accountable you can do that through voting and encouraging you know the people their constituents um talking to other constituents to mobilize in that way and also organize within your own communities um and build coalitions that's what I would say thank you so much Sarah um I just wanted to like say too that I mean if um what um Johnny says is very important we have to get together and uh we also have to bring it to the state level um because um like you say Sarah they're going to start doing in January and um they would like to hear our voices if we don't go and talk and you know make sure they can hear our voices there uh and we don't get together you know the more people get together the better they're going to hear us um we're not going to do nothing so it's not not only in the city but also statewise so we have to really go there and fight for our rights and you know I I know this is something that is not going to be like easy but I mean at least we fight for it and we work together we're going to make a difference um so thank you for bringing this up um in this manner I also want to point out that since the um election took place um the school department has issued out a statement reinforcing our position and our commitment to our families to you know ensure that they are safe within um our buildings the police department has also done the same as well as our city manager I would be interested rather you know before we go ahead and take this any further to um both seek legal counsel to make sure that everything that we're doing because if we I mean Monica's still here and it doesn't pertain specifically just to this but if we went ahead and had a conversation about everything that's on the chopping board potentially come January if we're going to have something like this come up and we're going to be mobilizing I want to make sure that we're covering everything on the board because it's not these groups are Beyond important obviously but we're looking at Title One grants we're looking at um idea we're looking at our absolute most vulnerable populations so I think it's important right now to reinforce the fact that the uncertainty that everyone is feeling it is absolutely um it's absolutely you know everybody's going to feel it in different you know at different LEL right there's going to be food insecurity there's going to be home insecurity housing insecurities um you know our freedom of expression to a certain degree um and also the amount of information that we're going to be receiving how we're receiving it we have to be very responsible with all of that so um yes we have to hold everybody very accountable within their positions so everybody has to be doing their due diligence but again my first concern is everyone that's at our tables how are we what what role are we playing when we're coming up to bat and we're sitting at these tables what resources are already available to our members in our community and how are we letting them know that they are supported when our children when our faculty and our educators are in those buildings they are safe this is how you're safe this is what resources you have towards you and these are the um the policies and this is is what we're doing to ensure that that is you know going to give you that blanket of of of protection and if it's not there then I would like to come back and have a subcommittee and go ahead and make sure that we're writing those in or looking into seeing how we can go ahead and and do that but because of the nature and the magnitude that we're looking at I would like to um I don't know how we would if if this would be a Cheryl or Rebecca or our legal counsel um or how soon we could do that I know that this is just the first reading but um I would be interested in in maybe also having a full possible meeting before um our next reading with everyone that would be um involved I believe it would probably be Cheryl would be the legal aspect of it right it would be Cheryl um Rebecca I don't think has the expertise that we need for for this but we can also discuss discuss this in a in a in a subcommittee or in a committee we can discuss who what I I had discussed with Sarah that maybe um a committee or we could evaluate all this and get some advice whether it be political as well as legal um to get both sides of the coin per se on this resolution um and then and then move on from there but does that sound like a sorry um but before we um move on if we could just also because she has raised the concern and it is a valid um just to to you know raise the awareness if there's any way I mean I know that that I think um I got the text with the original um with the original um memor U memo and a letter of communication if we could also just you know reassure um our families via you know what our what our current um protocols in place are as we are working through this just to um kind of provide that extra layer of um yeah reassurance just like we your the concerns are valid also like so that the staff could also know you know when you're dealing with these circumstances just also this is the add a layer of support this is how we're trying to support you and if there's anything else these are the outside Community um resources that are also here for everyone and this is how we're working as a community because this is not just the Chelsea Public Schools um you know issue we are a sanctuary City so this is going to be you know it's literally going to take a village I'm sorry Johnny I'm sorry um but justena yeah thank you so just a little background when you read the 2008 January I was one of those organizers that was organizing to pass that resolution in the city of Chelsea that resolution came about the huge rid on the Viano Factory in 2008 that deported a lot of families from Guatemala El Salvador a lot of K families that were breastfeeding they were separated from their parents so we saw the Chelsey uh was really vulnerable so we talk at that time with Roy vea we bonani and all of the people that was at the council but I don't going to go through the whole timeline but then 2016 you might recall that wave of Central America children came uh and a lot of the parents like when you mention a lot of the parents were afraid to even bring the kids to school a lot of the teenagers at the high school were targeted as game members um I would say that this is just very symbolic and um it really means a lot having this as a school committee if we were to pass it because these students is just going to guarantee that we are protecting them that we are for them to REM to remember that we represent them and I will say that in terms of resources I can say because I was also one of the creators when I was working at La collaborativ uh with Gladis bega on the humanitarian crisis plan there is a human itarian crisis plan that involve everybody that involve city government that involve legal experts that involve people to volunteer and house students and uh the police department uh I know that the police department when it comes to Legal there will be some restriction because if they have to do look for a student or there is legality to it that I remember that this was also tried to be passed in the in here in the school committee in the past you've been the oldest and I here and uh our co- fellow that is not in today Anna I mean um Lucia but I will say that the kids in the city of Chelsea if you are watching parents there has nothing to be fear we are here at one Community everybody's going to be protected no fears should be in in your hearts you can go do your shopping you can go and and bring your kids to school there is a in the city of Chelsea everybody here I'm pretty sure we all going to stand up for our brothers and sisters from The Immigrant community and now that there are also a lot of hatreds towards the new immigrant wave that is the people from Haiti we also have to see them as our brothers and sister who are also suffering so I do applaud you for putting this together and I will be I would love to be part of that committee is that committee were to be built in um I just wanted to reemphasize to the parents and students there is nothing to be fear of we are bigger and if we have faith in God we know that all of these are just tactics in the political aspect but don't be fearful everything is going to be fine I just don't want any parent to stop sending the kids to school because it's nothing is uh happening we you kids are in good hands like the hands of this wonderful t-shirt that was saying and all of you here but um yeah that was all that I wanted to to put out there thank you and and I think that um this resolution is a wonderful um wonderful symbolic um resolution and by all means what I think what we're trying to what we're trying to do is make it as strong as we possibly can and educate all of us as a committee so they we're all on the same page um and it would be the committee would I I would like to see all of us forming this committee um so that we can all hear the same things process the same things and make this resolution as perfected as we can is my is my target I think our goal as a committee so thank you for all your hard work on this I'm Sarah and we will work on and work on getting this perfected and get it out there and make sure that all of our kids know M and families that we are we're definitely not leaving you standing alone um Chelsea is small but very powerful more about power yes if I can add one thing to an our mission statement and to I know cath uh our CTU president mentioned it tonight and it mentioned in the resolution and there was a reason for it it says we welcome and we educate all and we mean that and we are sticking true to that that is a people and other communities know our mission statement and so we also protect the privacy of our students and that isn't going to change and so I just want to reassure our families that our families are welcome we Embrace with open arms and we love and we will continue to do that so I just want to make sure everybody knows that as well thank you everyone so much for sharing um your thoughts on this um I I want to be transparent and say that when I originally proposed this I was hoping that we would be able to vote on it tonight but I understand that um there are some anxiety around maybe not just the legal implications of this but the political implications of drawing attention to Chelsea as a as a sanctuary uh City in this time and I believe I'm hearing that that's um maybe some of the reason that we want to send this to a second reading um so although I'm a little bit disappointed that we're not going to be able to vote on it tonight and I did try and Design This resolution in a way that didn't actually change anything that we do in our policies it's where all these things were um language that I took from other cities resolutions um and I I already knew that you know we already have policies of not sharing our information with other um with other agencies but um in talking to to the chair about next steps um you know I think that it will be a good thing to have um a special Committee of the whole to talk about maybe just uh have some some deeper education on what are um Chelsea Public Schools policies if a for example if a child's um parents were deported while they were at school or what if um you know somebody if ice approached a school or actually what if ice holds a raid across from the ELC during the school day which is something that happened this past year um so instead of um so I think that you know we I I'm really happy to take this as an opportunity for us to dig deeper into this conversation and hopefully um the result of it will be that uh we're able to vote uh in support of the resolution at the next meeting thank you so much thank you Sarah um with this um we um if there's no more Communications or announcements that there anybody would like to make at this moment anything you want to announce talk about do we have to V to send this to a second meeting or something motion yes so can we make a motion to send this to a subcommittee of the whole and then Anna you would then uh schedule that subcommittee can we have it um do we want to have it in Chambers is that a possibility yes we could have it in Chambers yes yeah we can have it in person in oh definitely in person okay oh definitely would be in person it wouldn't be I don't know if maybe it would be better in a conference room versus here I think person or do we want to move it to the next regular school committee meeting like how is that I we're gonna have a sub sorry to interrupt if we're going to have a subcommittee I would like to have the legal advice um we're not going to have a subcommittee we're going to have a committee of the whole um it would be in person and then at that point we would have legal advice and also um that's that's the norm right well I'm sorry what did you say just that one we have a situation like this we have legal council in the room with us she would be she would be in the room with us correct and the room 207 no I don't know yet I don't know what room will be in yet but it would be the the Leo console would be in person um could we invite other people to share um other perspectives besides just the legal risks and also like the like we talked about the political implications a political a person with political um information that could tell us what implications that the political side would have um that that would be the time to have it would be in a committee of the whole and we would do that before we'd have the the second reading of it and hopefully the vote which hopefully will be in January so we're going to try to get that um scheduled now with the holidays let's see what we can do but we'll get it scheduled as quickly as we can because I don't think it's a a tremendous amount of work that has to be done to it I think it's more informational and just perfecting it a little bit more but I second that motion the motion to send it to a subcommittee of the whole yeah I'm sorry Johnny that was essential like logistic Logistics so yes um just wanted to say congratulations again on matching through questbridge um to you and all of the other questbridge uh students and all the other students that may have received acceptances already I know that um applying to college isn't easy um and yeah put put in that work for the rest of the school year and it'll be a great four years best of luck thank you okay anyone else well with seeing nothing else I would like to make a motion to adjourn motion second meeting has ended