M. Sorry, I'll say that again. Meeting is called to order at 7:04 p.m. I'm gonna have Egypt do a roll call. Here. Not here today.
Not here. Angela here. Stephanie here. Fabiola here and here Stephen Windows was about to shut down on us.
Sorry. It was the reboot apparently. Okay. So before we get started I just want to mention we do not have quarum tonight. So any voting will be tabled till next month. Um, but I do just want to go over meeting norms for the council
as well as for anyone uh on virtually. The biggest thing is be present, be engaged, limit distractions while in the meeting. If you are on virtually, stay on mute, but keep your camera on if possible. If you can't because you're driving or something, please be safe.
We're going to be respectful of time. I'm going to kind of speak speak to that in a moment, but we're going to start and end on time as much as possible and we're going to stick to the agenda and keep comments concise. We want to make sure we're staying on topic and speaking with purpose. So, just avoiding those
side conversations, listening actively, respectedly, even if we disagree, ask questions. Don't challenge anyone. We want to focus on outcomes of how we can move forward. Bring suggestions, not just concerns. And what's shared here is public. So this is a safe space though.
If you hear something said, you don't have to repeat that same thing. You could just say that you agree with it. And for public speaking, it will be 2 minutes per public speaker. And Dr. Mike's reports, we've discussed it. We're going to take about 20 minutes for reports. Certain months we might have to extend that a little bit just because of
some data that we have, but we're going to stick to that as well. So I'm going to have actually Dr. Mike get his report uh first and then we'll move on from there. You got it. It's gonna be a hard thing for me to do in 20 minutes. You know, me and my big mouth, you know, I
I'm a talker, but I'll do the best that I can. So, um, hi everyone. I hope all of you guys are enjoying your your summer thus far. Email from um going to talk to you about a couple
things just as we're getting the the school year underway. or preparing to get it underway. That is uh going to go over a few things with you just in terms of of preparation. Going to share a little bit of data that we didn't get to talk about in July, which is kind of our endyear
information. Uh and then I'll explain a couple of things about what's coming up that I'll be hope we'll be able to share with you in September. Uh that's been that is data connected that I am excited about. Um I can't necessarily share just yet. Uh but you know, we I have some uh
some positive news that's connected to uh to our data for the district. Uh but I can't necessarily disclose that um today. So the things that you're going to see present uh today are from the spring I Ready assessments. Sharing it with you because it's a line without
priority. I'll talk to you about that in just a few moments. Uh but a couple of the things um Friday um August 29th uh the council member is council member is uh hosting a back to school block party.
Um I will be there along with uh deputy uh deputy superintendent Sarin. I'll be there giving books away just to be part to participate in uh in the event. Um, so for those of you that are available, certainly welcome as uh as CEC members to, you know, help us hand out some of
those books if you're if you're willing and interested. Uh, but we're looking forward to that. Uh, back to school, first day for uh of school is Friday, September 4th. Uh, we do have uh, Russia Shana and um, where it's closed Tuesday
and Wednesday, so just marking your own calendars for that. And we included the link for the school year calendar there for you as well. Um, so if you um if you're one of those planners and you need to see all of that information, I encourage you to get it out there and get it into your calendar ahead of time.
So um you know there are no kind of questions about what's coming up at least in terms of the school year. Uh enrollments um so family welcome centers um are available across the city um to support year-round enrollment and
admissions. Uh there's a link there for by you know to create an appointment if so necessary. Um any children that are in their zone schools, they have access to go and register in their zone school. They don't have to go to the family welcome center. They're certainly welcome to do so, but the family welcome
center will will likely redirect them just to go right to their school. Uh so they can take care of that with the school and the secretary. Um, but if it happens to be someone who is not necessarily zone, um, or maybe perhaps they don't know what their zone is, they're always welcome at the family
welcome center uh, for assistance with enrolling your child in a public school other than your zone or high school. Uh, transfers and applications for 3K, preK, kindergarten, middle, and high school. That's where we can go. And there is there are locations
that are available to you for that including um here at Lynen Place. Uh so if anyone needs to schedule an appointment, there is the QR code and the link there for anyone that might need it. Um you can always redirect them and this is on the the CC page. So if
there's something that you guys need, all of the information is always accessible to you so that you if you need to bring someone and direct them, you bring them right to the slide deck and and they will have access to it. Um, so my agenda, something called connection before content. I want to talk to you guys about. I'd love for you
to even engage in that work with with me here and maybe even bring it back to your own schools in some way, shape, or form. Um, updates on cell phone policy. This is probably something that some of you have already heard about or participating in as school leadership team members. Um, but it is an important
uh topic, one that no matter which way we turn it is here. It is something that we have to work through. I'll talk a little bit about that. And then the current state of performance here in the district. And when I say current, I'm talking endear, not necessarily uh state assessments. I'm going to share with you what that looks like in alignment with
our goals. It's important for you to hear what that means in alignment with goals because that's exactly what our schools are expected to do as well. We set goals. We have to monitor for them, see whether it is that we met them or not, and then make the appropriate decisions after that. whether it's to
stretch them or make revisions to our processes so that we meet them. Um, so you'll hear a little bit about that in just a moment. But connection before content, this is something that and I I hope you enjoy my little bit emmojis that I throw in here every now and then. Um, it's something that we try to do at
all of our meetings. We encourage our schools to think about this and how we're going to do it with our kids. Uh, oftentimes, and I'm very guilty of this myself, I'm a very taskoriented kind of guy. if I have something to do, I'm going to get my work done on target, yada yada yada. But at some at some
point, um that's only as good as making sure that everyone around you is with you. Um and building relationships is essential to that component. So, um connection before content is intended to make sure that the people that are around you, you create a space where you
just take a moment, learn a little bit of something about someone else. Um who are they, what are they like? uh building some of those relations. Something that we want to make sure that we're encouraging not only our principles to do amongst themselves but also with their leader with their teachers as well as to our kids. Our
kids need to be known well as well. This is not just about us as adults, but when we do it, there's a greater likelihood of us doing that with our kids. So, I'm not going to go crazy with this one. This will just be an intro and not to eat up too much time, but if you were to think of a song that would kind of uh
call to what your summer has been like, what would that song be? If you want to take a moment just to think about if you want to think about that one, if something strikes you, well, you're willing to share. We've done this with our with our folks and they come up with some really clever uh clever songs and some even so bold to sing because they
have much better singing voices than I do. Uh but if you want to just play along just for a second, you can think of a of a song. Yes. And then maybe share it with with a with an elbow partner quick. It's gonna be if you got one. I forgot his name. But it's a it's I
always feel happy. Oh, we're small enough. We could do it out loud with everyone. It's going to be a good life. Um I forgot the group, but um Gosh, but everyone knows it. It's gonna be good. Yeah, I know. It's funny. I feel happy when I hear it, so I
Oh, I love that. Anyone else have one? I have one. Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna say bad day. I got because I had a bad day that one. I've Yeah, I've had a very trying few weeks um between things with floods,
things with my children, things with their this personal things going on. So, I definitely say that. Oh, boy. Anyone else? Second. I I will just say um lately just what's been on the loop because I have a
four-year-old is This Must Be the Place by Talking Heads, which is a really great song, you know, about connecting and finding people who care about you. And we've really been in our four times a day also. That's awesome. That's awesome. Um can y'all hear me?
Y Oh, yeah. Hi, Fabola. Hi. I guess for me it would be by Salt and Pepper. shake your thing because I'm just shaking all over the place. All over the place and this summer has been very busy with
my daughter sweet 16 and now I'm at another birthday situation and just working and trying to get school together. So yes, shake your thing is my song. Please give us a minute. We're having a bit technical
difficulties. Yes. Sorry, guys. So, the computer shut down. Um, so can you hear me? Yes. Yes, we can hear you. The mic. Okay, if you can hear me, then I'll I'll continue while uh the computer rebooting. Um, but yeah,
thank you for that, Fabiola. Shauna, did you have one? You're welcome. by France Ferden in holiday. It's always better on holiday. It's always better on holiday. Love it. Go ahead. Um, so listen, this is just a short little activity, something intended just
to kind of keep everyone connected as much as possible. Something that I do want to do with you guys each time, even if it was just for a few seconds, just to connect a little bit. Um, but what we're also asking our schools to do as well, uh, to make sure that we're connecting with one another. That's a fun idea. I like
Yeah. Awesome. Um, cell phone policy. So, going from a little bit of fun into a little bit of not so fun. Um, so cell phone policy update, as you guys know, this is something that's an expectation from New York State and New York State law. Um, and it covers um personal
internet enabled devices such as cell phones, smartwatches, tablets. Um, there is within the law prohibits the use of these devices bell-to-bell meaning from the time a child comes into a school to the time they leave the school. uh there's an expectation that those
devices are off and secured in a location. So uh what that means is and what most of our schools are in the process of doing is creating their policy which will be shared at the school level uh with their SLTs for SLTs to to approve and say you know what we
feel good about this. Um most schools are are purchasing pouches like the yonder pouch. Some of you may have heard about those. Uh they're almost like those magnetic ones that you know like those uh little clips that are on clothing that they have to unlock. Um or there are velcro ones that the Velcro is
so loud when you open it it, you know, it makes a screeching noise. Um just to make sure that our kids are complying and and knowing that in school there's not the place for the device. Um all of our families uh will be given phone numbers to access
the school in the event that they don't have it. So if they feel like there is some kind of a concern or an emergency that they need to get in touch with their children, they will still have the ability to do that. If something happens with their kid and their child wants to be able to reach home, they'll be able to do that. It's just not necessarily in
class, let me do that and dial you up while I'm, you know, in my classroom. Um, so there there will be procedures that are within every school's plan in order to uh to make sure that we are uh aligning ourselves with policy. Um now
this there will be variety of different mindsets about this. I did touch on this last time uh briefly around um use of phones. Sorry, we just switched back over to the to the new uh reloaded and rebooted uh
device. So, um, what I was just saying is that, you know, we're going to have folks on on different sides of this and wanting their children to have access, but I can assure you that the goal is that we keep our kids as connected as they need to be. Um, and most importantly to the instruction that's going on in their classrooms. Um, does
anyone have any comment on on this? Yeah, I just had a question. Um, I know they said there will be exceptions for students who use their phone, say, as a glucose monitor or other health things. Um or things like the under pouches, it can block a signal which would what is the process for getting those accepted?
Yeah. So every every school within their plan includes a section that talks about exception process. Okay. So there'll be a point of contact at the school um for the school to do that for for a parent to do that outreach to the building and then a time frame with which they have
to review the the request and then provide you with either yes we're we're going to provide you with that exception or no it doesn't align with what whatever it is. Um and why I say whether it doesn't align is you know it's one thing to come with the doctor's note it's another one to say that my child
just needs it you know so there are there are those things will be weighed um in terms of um in terms of need uh but that will be within every school's plan uh those are all being reviewed by me um and it is an expectation in within
my review that it will include the space of exception um and those types of things where something that is medical are within the things that will be considered. Yeah, got a quick question too. Um, and I I'm
expect that these details will be up to specific schools, but I'm just wondering in terms of like staff time, somebody have to supervise the kids at the beginning of school day and make sure everybody's putting their phone in a pouch and is there any concern how much staff time that might
Yeah. So, we we are definitely looking to to make sure that that is limited. um there there's not going to be this this long 500 student line to to to organize and make sure that you know one kid at a time is is done in
that fashion. So um you know and there are variety of different approaches whether it's they have you know each one of those those younger pouch stations has its own space where they can unlock and lock uh using the staff members that they have to make sure that the kids are in fact
doing what they're supposed to do. And once those routines are in place, there really shouldn't be very much downtime at all to get them stored and secured and all of that. Uh, do I think that's maybe in the beginning of the year for for schools that haven't really had a policy? Could it be a little bit messy? Maybe. Um, but I do think once the
routine is established, it shouldn't really take too much time from anyone's schedule really. Are we kind of going on the honor system that the children are going to be honest that they have them to put them away? Well, yeah. Listen, there there's not necessarily um I mean, we can't go looking for their stuff, unfortunately, either.
Yeah. So, there's an expectation if you have them and and by the way, if if if kids don't necessarily comply and those phones go off, then it becomes a problem for the student. Um you know, and and when I say a problem, then you have to then go through the the problem of let me do you have your phone? Can we have
the phone? And all of that stuff. It just creates a whole bank of other time consuming things that hopefully we don't have to deal with. But in the beginning, do I suspect that we might have some of our kids that might say that I don't have anything and then they go off?
Yeah, it probably could happen. But I do believe that over time we'll be we'll be just fine. We do have schools that do this already and there has been really no issue once the routines are set. Yeah. um 7 and 9 from what I understood was doing taking the phone thing because my son
was he's leaving now to go to 185 and in his class he said that they would collect phones in the morning and then give them back at the end of the day. Yeah, I was fine with it. I'm fine with what's going to happen in September because we
and not because this is my um thing that everyone should just fall in line or anything like that. But for me, that's how I feel. We just gave our kids phones because they'll be traveling on their own. So for now, I feel like in school, you don't need to be texting me or anyone else. You just need to let me
know you got to school, okay? And when it's time to come home, you're on your way home. So for me, I mean, obviously if there's a medical need, like you said, but they don't take that much time, they'll be less stressed out not being on their phone. Yeah.
I think the use of and, you know, having a a young young man who's now just finished 8th grade and going into high school and having a high schooler, you know, there's way too much reliance on this and, you know, it's it's um it most definitely has its place.
They're beyond useful, right? We we we've grown to now to be at a point where where almost can say that we need to have these around us as adults at times, but um when you're when you're learning, it's not always necessary that you have them. We do have devices for kids to get on in the classroom if they
need them. It doesn't necessarily have to be the um but I do think that uh you know it'll it'll take some time for for some folks to get used to. Um, but we'll make sure that they're good and prepared to know how do you get in touch with the school if they don't know that already.
Um, and you know what to do in the event there is some kind of a reason that you need to get in touch with your child. Yeah. Anything else? All right. Yeah. want to follow on this, but I do think that it'll it'll our building leaders are really great about connecting with their with their parents
and um and community members to make sure that there there is that space of connection and I think we'll be I think we'll be just fine um as we move through. Okay, DC progress monitoring. So um at the start of last year, this is from
last year's goals. So, we set an expectation that uh we wanted to grow in kindergarten through 2 grade uh by 5% for all students and 10% for our targeted subgroups. Um so, those of you who who don't know a lot about uh about
me, you'll you'll learn that um I'm going to be transparent with information. You're going to see what it is that how we're performing. You're going to hear what it is that we're doing. Um and most importantly, you're going to see what the result is, right? So, um, for our children in K through 2,
we set a goal that we would be, um, at 64% by the end of the year. Uh, we wound up growing to 61% overall as a as a district for our children in K through2. Uh, we targeted our Hispanic learners, our black learners, um, our MLS as a
multilingual learners, and our students with IEPs. uh each of those subgroups we set a target of growing by at least 10% for for each of those groups. Um these are goals that we did not meet. The groups that wound up getting uh to a
point of upwards of 5% were our students with IEPs and our multilingual learners. Uh we did grow by a couple of percent for our Hispanic learners. Our black learners remained relatively consistent with where we were the previous year. Uh, and this will lead into where I'm
going to talk to you about our future goals in just a just a minute. Um, our I Ready uh reading assessment data. Um, this really targeted our children in grades three through eight. This is the assessment we use for children in grades
3 through 8. Um, again, year-over-year, the goal was that we would be at 57% by the end of the year. We grew by about 2% for our students uh all student population. um little over five minutes it's about 5 and a half% for our Hispanic learners, 4% for our black
learners, 2% for our L's, and 3% for our students with IEPs. Uh yearover-year comparison for our subgroups. For mathematics, um we w up growing a little under um a little under 3%
overall. Uh we saw just under 5% change for our Hispanic learners, uh just under 8% for our black learners, 5% for our uh MLS, and we actually regressed a little bit for our students with IEPs. Uh when
it comes to mathematics, and this one is a really really important one as well, and you'll hear me talk about this a lot throughout the year. Uh and this is chronic absenteeism. So, we have our peaks and valleys with this as we go through the year. Uh, we get to November, late
November, and we look really, really good, and then December hits, January hits, and we go from good to not so good. Um, get into February, start improving towards the latter part of February into March, April, and so on, and we start improving a little bit.
Uh, so we had some es and flows where at some points of the year, you heard me say, you know what, we're on target. we're meeting expectations for chronic absenteeism and then it comes to the end of the year and we didn't meet those expectations. Um, this is a constant
area of focus for me and our schools. If our kids aren't in our classrooms, we know that it's going to be a hard time for them to pick up the material and learn. The area that is most prevalent for us to have chronic absenteeism are in kindergarten and first grade. And the
reason why that's so significant is those are the building block years. If our kids start falling behind in kindergarten and first grade, we wind up seeing the the the effects of that over the course of time because they're not necessarily as prepared with the content as they need to be because they've been
out for a significant number of days. So chronic absenteeism, in the event that you don't know what that means, that means children that have been out 10% or more of the school year, which is equivalent to 18 school days. A child that has been out 18 school days, if that
is about two days a month. If that persists through a child's academic career from kindergarten through 8th grade, that means they would have missed what's equivalent to an entire year's worth of school. So, it's important that we talk about this and there are lots of reasons why
whether it's a child that's sick um you know for a long-term absence those are going to happen right the kids are going to get the flu unfortunately our little ones tend to put those hands in those mouths more often than we would like uh without doing the handashing you know so it is about us engaging in those
conversations with our early childhood families making sure that our kids are good and healthy um and ready to go uh ready to go to school on on a regular basis. So, we have we have a lot more work and outreach to do. I've asked all of our schools um especially our
elementary schools to do that outreach to what will now be our first grade families now our second grade families that were having difficulty with attendance last year so that we get ahead of some of that um and really start connecting to see what those needs are because it's not about telling anyone how dare your child be absent.
It's about are there things that we can do to support to make sure that our kids are in school every single day. There is a direct relationship to children that are chronically absent and their performance. It's a 20% difference in in u meeting standards for those that are
in school versus those that are not. Um so we have we have lots of things here that we do have to do. Um and where that brings me is into our goal setting for for next year. So, and what I will tell you is there the data that you see there is not reflective necessarily of what
you will see next month. Um, and you know, I I let off by saying that I do have some positive um some more positive spaces of of data than the end year, which I unfortunately can't share with you just yet, but I am um
I'm excited about to be able to present to you next month. Uh, but where did this bring us? So based on our analysis of what was going on inside of our classrooms, we know that explicit instruction is really really important. Uh it was part of our goal setting last year. We do want to continue to build
through that. And basically what explicit instruction is is that we're we're providing children with a very clear model of what it is that they're learning, provided with some guided practice and then some independent practice inside whatever skill it is that they're learning. This year we're
going to be really really intentional around how are we using those the curricular resources that we have which are abundant to make sure we're doing a really really good job of aligning those resources with student needs. Um so it's
not about tomorrow's lesson three, it's about tomorrow's lesson three and Mike needs in order to access lesson three. So, we're going to be very intentional with our professional learning to support that uh going into next year with the goal of right now and this may change based on my analysis of of our
state assessment data um improvements in uh in our subgroups the way that we have until we wind up getting to a place where those gaps are no longer as visible uh as they are as we do have gaps across our subgroups which we're trying to close. Good question. Yes. When do you know when we should be
seeing the state results? Um when they the public release um I should be within the next couple of weeks. Okay. Um so it you know it it should be relatively soon. Um and once we have a public release then we can certainly
talk more about it in a um in the in the district space. Um, and the other part that is really important for everyone to know is in district 25, we have 6,700 English language learners. It is a huge
um part of our district population. And what makes us an amazingly uh diverse and beautiful group is um that we have children that are coming from all over the place into district 25, but also have language needs. Um, and what we do
know is that when we remove and disagregate our information and say, you know what, we're going to just put our L's in a in a bucket here and then all of our other students, we have 80 plus% of our children reading on grade level in grade two.
When we include our L's, that number comes down significantly, which says we have a really, really significant need in making sure that our newest learners, our newest English learners are getting uh the resources necessary for them to be successful. So, one of the places that we're really going to be digging
into quite a bit, all of our L's, particularly our entering and emerging English language learners, uh, are required to receive eight periods of of, um, services from a provider. Within those pro within those periods, four of
them are dedicated to what we call standalone instruction where it's really intended to build language. So our folks are really really digging into making sure that that standalone four periods is targeted around building language for our kids uh with the goal of improving
by at least 10% the number of kids uh in terms of their proficiency levels. Els are within five different levels of proficiency entering emerging transitioning expanding and commanding. Those five levels we want our kids in that commanding space uh by
the end of the year. Um, and for me, if we're going to continue to elevate as a district, we need to do um more strategic work for this particular group. They make up 28% of our districts. Um, which is significant, you know. So, if we have a have a group of
learners that is struggling with the with the language, then um, you know, increasing that that performance rate is going to struggle. We're going to have a hard time doing that. So, this is why we have targeted that particular group of students this year. Does anyone have any questions before I move on about that?
Make sense? Okay. Um, Mind Up is our SEAL program in the event that you don't know. Um, our goal here is to really utilize the program for what uh it has in it. It has things called mind-up moments. It has conversation starters.
Um, we do include things like brain breaks on a regular basis. And one one of the things that we do know in in our survey data is that studentto student relationships is even though it improved this year uh from our student statements
uh we still have a lot more to do in this area uh you know for our kids. So, we want to make sure that we're including as often as we possibly can those times and spaces just like we just did today with that connection before content. We're able to talk to someone
maybe perhaps that you don't always talk to. Um to make sure that our kids start learning about each other because when we do that, and you guys know this as adults, you find that, oh my god, I didn't know that you love that. How cool is that? I love that, too. And before you know it, we start creating friendships and relationships that
wouldn't have existed before. Uh so we're going to be spending a lot of time uh really pushing out the work of mindup uh in our schools particularly those two elements the mind-up moments and the conversation starters so that they are done with uh in a more routine way to
build those relationships with our kids. Mathematics um is our third goal. um what we are going to be digging into we do uh pretty well you know in terms of city performance in mathematics uh and
that has been consistent for many years um and that still remains consistent our children do perform well in mathematics um we will be shifting curriculum in our middle schools uh middle schools we are moving to amplify math this is something
that uh we had members of the CEC participate on our district math team uh to help us make some decisions around what what curriculum we would choose. Um and this is the one that we wound up landing on. It helps our kids uh promote that space of sensemaking. Uh where yes,
there is opportunity for that explicit instruction, but not necessarily at the beginning of telling you telling students this is how you're going to solve more creating opportunities for kids to be able to explore and make sense out of the map. Um, so this is happening across all of our middle
schools and our middle school K to8 schools. Uh, so every child in sixth through eight will be using the amplified math program. There's actually um I was talking to one of the pe the teachers from 193 the other day and I guess she's been doing this stuff to train for it and she
happened to give amazing feedback. She's like, I really like this program. I feel like it's going to give much more to us. Um, and so she had some great feedback already for what she's been learning about it. That That's awesome. That's awesome. I'm I'm glad to hear that. And I think um like most things, it's going
to take a little bit of of uh of time for kids to get used to a new routine in in mathematics as well as as our staff. But we've been working on training. Our folks are getting trained. Um we have a number of folks that actually here the past few days just working on planning
and preparing for the start of the school year. Uh which is really really exciting. We had a room full of teachers uh for our middle schools that were here already. Uh we also are doing this in our um departmentalized elementary programs. So schools that have a departmentalized fifth grade, meaning
they have one teacher that teaches math to a couple of classes or they have one teacher that teaches ELA. For schools where they have departmentalized, they do have the option to also engage in this work with Amplify just to get the ball rolling in their classrooms so that we're not doing two things at once. It's
not something I want. I think we're now in year three of implementation of HMH. Um I did not want to add another layer until I felt good about where we were with with implementation of the current curriculum we have for reading. Um so those teachers that are departmental will not have to do both. They're going
to be doing their math and it won't impact their ability to engage in training and and concentrate in a given area. But next year, we're focused on sensemaking. Uh providing kids opportunities through routines on a daily basis to learn what's going on in
the classroom. And with these goals that you see here, you're going to hear your principles talk about the same thing. Might not be exactly the same as what I'm saying, but they're going to align their work very much to what it is that we do here at the district. um so that they won't share with you something
that's completely outlandish or something that is completely outside of what we're looking to get accomplished as a district community. This will always be brought back to SLT for you guys to discuss, but this is something that you guys should be aware of that we are working on as a district community.
These last two I'm uh I'm really excited about. So, for those of you who have been part of or maybe watched the CC meetings in the past, um I'm really really big on civics for all. Um I think it's important that our kids have a voice um
and use that voice in productive ways. So, across our schools, we engage in something that's called project soapbox. It allows our kids uh to identify an area that they're really passionate about, research it, write a speech, present their speech to their class, and
then those speeches wind up getting selected uh to move on to eventually uh participate in what they call the mid uh m I'm going to mispronounce it. Melinda, I need you. Uh the the Soapbox challenge, which is called Melinda?
So, the organization that runs Soapbox is Mickva Challenge. No way. Can't get that out. Rick challenge. And what our kids get to do for those that get selected, they participate in what they call main stage and they compete against kids across New York City uh where they present their
speech and then have an opportunity to have their voices heard. What's so beautiful about that is kids that have engaged in those speeches have have seen their voices make a change. Whether that's a traffic light outside of their building uh because a child got hit by a car
or because they have uh there's not a stop sign at the corner and we have kids tallying how how many cars just drive through without looking and then they present to the DOT, they present to the state uh to our senators, to assembly members and so on. And that's the type
of thing that we're really trying to push across the district. And what's so great about this is that through these take action projects and project soapbox, our goal is to get our kids in district 25 to earn one point to the seal for civic readiness,
which pre allows them to earn the seal for for their diploma when they get out of high school, provided that they're going to a high school that off also offers the same. It's a really really great thing for our kids to have access to, and we're looking to continue to grow this across our schools going into
next year. The other thing that we're really excited about uh and really want to push more and this is certain this one is is a certainly up to our parents but we want to continue to push it. So all of our parents in grades K through three have an opportunity to activate a
an account which is called through the Safe for College program. It's kind of like a 529 type of plan, but upon activation, they they they provide $100 for all of our kids that activate. Nothing that that anyone really needs to
do for it. You activate your account and they they add $100 to a child's account. That will continue to acrue over time. Um, as a district, we we have less than 40% of our district community that participates. Um, and I get it. It is
certainly a parent choice whether they want to or not. But sometimes I think that we don't participate because there's a lack of awareness. So we want to increase that awareness so that for families that might want to do it that don't know about it can take advantage of it. So uh this is something that
we're going to continue to push as a district and as you discuss later in your business meeting if if you would like them to come I know they would be happy to come and share a little bit about that work with you as well. Um, we were discussing this earlier today. Over a million dollars has already been
supported through district 25, which is an incredible amount of money that has been shared just with our kids alone um here in district. So, uh, we'd love to see that keep going. You know, let let more and more folks take advantage of those dollars that are available. But this is something you will also see uh
in some of our schools um really look to to push inside of their buildings uh to get to get more more families involved. I have a question. Yeah. Now, what you're sharing with us now, is this something that I could put on my
Instagram or have my friends do that as well? Can I put that information out there around Safer College? I I mean it's it's really I mean as long as they're um you know a family in the in New York City schools. I mean that's something that
each each elementary school parent coordinator can help with at their school if they need help with activating an account. Um you know we can certainly provide you with with access to to that information. For sure. It's it's a nice opportunity but
remember this is for children in in the uh K through three. um any children that are outside of that age group uh would not necessarily have access to it. They're building it up from kindergarten on out. So, it's I think this is yearly
four of the of the program. Yeah. Mental math struggled there just now. Uh uh so they'll continue to build it up over over the course of time so that um you know as many kids have access to it as possible, but we can certainly get you the information. I'll have make sure that Jenny shares it with you guys.
Okay. Thank you. Sure. Um, this is another one. Uh, our parent engagement goal is something that we're going to continue to grow through. Um, what I've asked our schools to really do and this has worked out quite well in
our buildings. Um, whether it's through monthly or quarterly family types of engagement events, uh, with what I call relational. Um, it's one thing to ask someone to come in for a workshop. It's another to say come in and do this with your kids. uh and learn a little bit
about what we're what we're doing here as a school. So many schools have adopted things like first Fridays or welcoming Wednesdays or together Tuesdays and they invite families in to be able to one hear a little bit so that are there some workshop things that are
present. Sure. But they also get to see what's happening inside of the school. Uh and it creates a really really nice environment uh for our family. So, it is something that I do want to continue um and want to continue to push uh across our building so that we continue to grow
as a as a community. So, um you know, certainly more to follow on this, but our schools have have been really doing a nice job of it and I want to continue it. That's why there is a goal that remains here so that we don't lose sight of the connections that we've been able to make with families um especially this
school year and that includes us. We do uh what you'll learn from from here as CC members, we do a lot of events as a district, let alone as schools. Um whether it's connecting with our local elected officials or we're running our own at the Bound Park or Casino Park,
we're always doing something to connect with families. And the reason we do that is um is the the more even though we're big, when we get together, it doesn't even seem that way. uh we have a book giveaway. We have a thousand people there, you know. So, it's it's something that is really really uh important to me
that we continue to foster. Uh so, I mean, more to follow on that, but just so you guys know. And the last the last goal is around chronic absenteeism. We do need to do a better job of of supporting our families and it's not for a lack of effort. It's because our
schools, every school has what they call a case team. Uh the case teams are responsible for reviewing attendance data, supporting culture, supporting social emotional learning. But as part of their meetings, what's embedded is a look at all children that are having
difficulty with attendance. Um what supports can we provide? Are we offering some kind of of you know incentive through certificates and you know 100% awards and and and those types of things? It's it's all embedded in what they do. Um, but at times we do struggle
with getting some of our families and some of our children in. Uh, whether it's because there there is routine illness or uh or something along those lines. Um, you know, we're still going to try to support and sometimes there are some misnomers. You know, one some of them like, you know, my my child is
as asthmatic and there's concern, well, can I bring my child to school if they're asthmatic? And you know the the reality to that is we can develop plans with the school nurse and the school to make sure that a child that may be suffering from asthma has the ability to know what that plan is in you know to
make sure that both parent and student feel comfortable. Um so there are lots of different reasons and that's the the difficulty with chronic absenteeism. There's no one reason uh that you can say we're going to do this because it might not work for everyone. But needless to say, this is a big area for
us moving into this school year. Um, and will continue to be until we can see those numbers come back to where we would like them to be. And that's as few kids as possible that are missing school. But that concludes um my report. I'd be happy to answer any questions. I know I
went over 20 minutes, right? Oh, yeah. Oh, man. How bad did I do? I didn't count it. 25 30 30. Okay. Do you have any questions? Anybody have questions? Only one question I have is um with the cell phone um
the no use of cell phone during or not saying it right, but with children students not being able to have their phones during school hours. Um is that for every New York New York City public school?
New York State. Yeah, this is a New York state law. 26 as well. New York state law everyone. Yes. So, this is a New York state law. My my kids out on Long Island also have to comply with same said
again. I'm okay with it. Yeah. Yeah. No, this is a this is not a citydriven. It's within our policy now, but because it's through state law. Yeah. Any other questions?
Awesome. Thank you, Dr. Mike. Yeah, you're welcome. Thank you. Okay, I'm going to move into the president's report. I know that Dr. Mike did mention the event at uh Sandra's office. There is also right now a school drive donation drop off going on at
Vicky Paladino's office. I don't know if people have seen the emails or stuff, but she is accepting any type of school supplies there, and then they will be putting together an event to give out school supplies as well. Um that was the first thing. Second thing is that we do
have some speakers lined up for next month. Uh one who's on today that I don't know if she's planning to speak at all today, but we'll get to that um in a moment. Um but we have some really good information that Dr. Mike listened to presentation on Egypt and I sat in on and we're looking to really be look
forward to sharing that with everyone. Um the only other thing is from me is just reminder to email Egypt and myself based on our bylaws 48 hours in advance if you know you cannot come unless an emergency comes up at the last minute and then just make sure to send an email
so that we do have documentation. The one last thing is that there are vacancies on the council at this point. We have our G75 seat that has to be appointed hopefully. We do have two student members we can get. we are entitled to another burough president
appointee like we have Steven and we have one member who did not sign his oath and most likely that seat will be opening. So if you know anyone who is interested to apply let them know they can go in do the application send it in um that we'll get vetted and then we'll do an interview process to fill the
seat. Um, but just wanted to get that out there that we do want to fill that seat and the same school rule that went on during elections does not apply actually during this process. So if somebody from your school happens to want to apply, they are eligible to apply now. So that's just the other
thing I wanted to share these no for the regular vacancy and anyone can put in for borrow president they're interested. Um, next on our agenda was just discussion of wellness. Do we have any updates on wellness that you wanted to share?
Uh no, honestly, it was really more just gathering some feedback from you guys around what we want that uh that notion of wellness, kindness, and community to uh look like, sound like, and feel like. Uh it's kind of where we left off. Um would love to hear any feedback that you guys have uh in terms of promoting that
space of um you know, adding to our district motto of you know, strong roots, strong schools. this idea of wellness, this idea of kindness and this idea of community. What should that be in you know in our own from our own perspectives? Uh so that you know those
words come along with a set of expectations um that it's not just you know three words but here are the things we believe when we say that um and not necessarily through my own lens. It's through the lens of of uh you know of each of us that we believe that you know when we
say that here this is what we really mean. Um is when we can identify what we mean by it then we can ask schools to really think about how have they aligned themselves to said vision for for this model in district 25. We're doing a very
similar thing with uh with our principles asking them the same question. We're going to do the same thing with our kids. we can ask our kids the same question. Um because it's it is important. I you know when we when we're thinking about it in a in a common way, we can really push ourselves to try to
align our behaviors to that. And um this all came from just this space of relationships that I felt that our kids, especially in our middle schools, were struggling with a little bit. um and listening to some of our kids, you know, as part of my my conversations when I go
into into buildings and some almost resign to that's just like the way that we act as middle schoolers. Um you know, and that shouldn't be it shouldn't be just the way that we think we can maybe try to be funny but not kind at the same time. That's just us being middle
schoolers. It shouldn't be that way. um you know so you know that kind of spurred the whole space of this wellness kindness type of theme and I think we're going to start putting some time on the calendar again this year um to kind of give ourselves like
15 20 minutes prior to our meeting time to start talking through that further so I'm going to add that going forward for us uh with Dr. Mike we'll kind of plan it we'll send it that you could be on virtually for because it's not a regular meeting it's a meeting with Dr. Um but we will definitely get that on. So even if you're on your way here and
you jump on so that you're here for seven, you can still be participating in that meeting. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. But that if anyone has any feedback or anything that you that you've thought about over the the past month that you can contribute to that space uh and if
not now, you can always email me and say, "Mike, this is what I've been thinking about uh within the context of those three words uh and what it can mean for the district." I would like to share. So it's strong roots. Can you repeat the phrase again? Strong roots, strong schools.
Um, and the the the space within the within the motto is going to be uh this wellness, kindness, community. And so it's strong roots, strong schools, but it it's from many roots growing as one community is the way it's currently written. Um, so it's going to say
something like from many roots growing in wellness, kindness, and community. Queens is like very diverse and there's so many cultures and I think we should celebrate that diversity, but you know, make that the connection between all of
us and you know, we're so diverse and we're such a everybody in the population is so different. We all come together, you know, I think that's I always say New York is a mag. It is especially Queens and you know all this. We're so lucky to share space with so many other
cultures in our own community and I used to love when um 79 do it where they have a c some kind of cultural day. Um I don't remember if they did that this year but I I like when they do it because then you get well they did actually in the classroom now. I think
it was more open before pandemic, but in the classroom, I do remember because my kids, I usually get them a t-shirt with my husband's British. I'm Jamaican by birth. So, we get they have the t-shirt that says like what the blacks are.
So, yeah, they did do it. So, yeah. Love it. But I I like your ideas. Yeah. So, just so you also know, I've asked every school leadership team to add this as an agenda item within their SLT wellness, kindness, community. What are we doing as schools to promote this?
Uh but I think in order for that to really take root, you know, not to, you know, play on both words with our with our vision of strong root, strong schools is just to to to make sure that we we're all within the same mindset so that someone doesn't, you know, lead
into a place that we're really not trying to build as a as a district community. Um but I love the idea of making sure that we're making connections to the diversity of our district because it is a what makes us unique um as a as a district. I just want to kind of add to what
you're saying. I also think um it's really important for us to acknowledge um diversity of types of families, be it queer parents, be it single parents, be it, you know, families of any nontraditional things. So I think both cultural and just, you know, making it known that the students in our district
come from a lot of different forms of family and just making that also just kind of part of that norm. Yeah. The acceptance of all the different Yeah. family dynamic. Yeah, listen, diversity means lots of things, right? And it's it's making sure
that we are inclusive of all of that. Love it. Any other any other initial thoughts? I mean I don't have to come out right the second but you know if there are other things but I really do encourage you and you know sometimes when you know when um
there are requests for feedback like this um you know we hesitate as we like oh I don't know if that's really really going to make sense or if that really is something that's a value ad. you won't know unless you throw it in the into the into the ring, right? And sometimes those things that we hold back and don't
say could have been a really great opportunity for our schools to learn from um and do. So, um if you could going into September, think about that. You know, what would you want that that whole mindset to be about? We do have another tree. We everything's around the
tree and that's kind of the language of the tree. I just haven't unveiled it yet um for you guys to look at. there'll be kind of a space for you guys to say whether or not you like it or not, but um that's kind of how it goes. It's it's district 25 um strong roots, strong
schools from many roots growing together in wellness, kindness, and community is kind of the way that it's now rephrased. Um and it Lewis has did a great job of making it look really really nice. So, uh we'll share that with you the next time, but we'd be great if you are able to contribute some thoughts around what
we would want to do with that. minimal schedule. I I just also want to add that having that kind of conversation piece with our children as well since this is their second home that they have to be at for
8 hours. So if they can add to how they want their environment to be as well, I think it would be much a much stronger um a much stronger I guess common ground
for all of us with involving the kids and those three initiatives that you were stating. Yeah, I love that Fabola. Thanks Fabiola. You're welcome. Right. Anybody else have anything before we move on to public speaking?
All right, we're going to move into public speaking. Anyone who is looking to do public speaking will give be given two minutes. I will keep time. Hannah, did you want to briefly just introduce yourself? Absolutely. Thank you so much. Good
afternoon, Dr. Mike and everybody. Um, do you want me to get going with my two minutes or you just wanted me to say hi now? You could go for two minutes. You're good. Give a Okay. Thank you so much. Thank Okay. Wonderful. Thank you, Eden. Thank you for the opportunity. Uh my name is Hannah Lob from Fun and Function. Um and
just in a nutshell um we are a New York City and New York State MWB vendor um that really works hand inhand together with New York City DOE schools um to create and promote sensory and social emotional um resources. So that
encompasses sensory tools, building up sensory environments and really looking at the big picture, thinking about professional development, data tracking tools um to really create that very robust program. Um first of all to support our students but also very importantly to educate and really hold
um you know the hands of educators in order to really give them that strong footing in terms of how to um build up that type of environment. Um and we've worked very closely um with various different schools and districts and we're looking forward to build up this relationship um and sort of see how we
can um you know create something that's meaningful that's impactful um and that's something that's very sustainable in order to support um the students um and the schools that we reach. So thank you so much for this opportunity and looking forward to see what comes next. Thank you Hannah. So, just so everyone
knows, Hannah is going to be one of our presenters next month, which I was going to discuss a little bit later. Um, but we're also going to try to coincide her presentation where she's going to show more about what they do with our special education representative from district and I'm also going to be reaching out to
the Horizon Nest program leads to see if one of them could come speak about those autism programs that are out there for children as well. So that is just a little piece of what's to come in September. Um so Hannah, thank you. Is there anybody else that wanted to
speak? Okay. So we can do a motion to adjourn the calendar meeting if somebody wants to make the motion. I move to adjourn. Who wants to second it? Okay. So Shauna and then Stephen. Okay. Take two minutes, grab some pizza, drink, and fill out your reimbursement
forms if you need me to sign them. And then we will begin the business meeting. I won't be needing the reimbursement form today. No worries. Shirley, how you feeling, Shirley? I'm good, thank you.
Oh my goodness. Shirley, go and rest. Go to sleep. Don't worry about it. I know. I know. Absolutely love it. Okay, some of the stuff is gonna kind of get skipped over on
this until I'm gonna go run in the restaurant cuz I don't want my family think I ghost him. But I'll be right back out. No worries. Look, my son right here is telling me don't even bother coming.
She's in here. She can stay with y'all. She like it here more. We good. They're crazy. Yeah. If you want if you don't folks can come session so you know
yeah I have to say I forgot to follow them but I actually kind of coincide all three of the things together like little pieces of the puzzle um the civics uh civics if you want them
to come they'll come New York City New York City rides they'll come if you want them to be part of it which I think is Honestly, the more that the voice gets out there, the the better. Parents chooses that they don't want to do it. They don't want to do it, but make more, you know, get as many people aware of it
as possible. I mean, thousands of kids that haven't taken advantage of it. We're going to get started in one more minute. I'm gonna keep us moving. Oh yeah. No, that that's that's completely done. We we use it all the time.
You are I know we had talked about that at one point. Yeah. No, it's the tool is fantastic. That's all of our schools have have access to it. I just, you know, it's not a I know I can't share it widely because it's it's got student information. So, it's, you know,
it's it's great for internalized. That was one of the first things we were talking about. Oh, yeah. No, it's fantastic. The the tool is amazing. There's not many that can do what um what was created. It's just
like I'm comfortable. Like if you ever need that, don't tell me. Yeah. No, it's if I if I need to, then I I would tell you, but I don't I don't mind sharing. In fact, if I if I had him do it, I would wind up probably interrupting him every other minute.
So, Steve like my husband just got home like come down like Is everybody ready to start? Okay. Like we're gonna we're going to get through this quicker than expected anyway. So
I'm going to call the business meeting to order. It is 8:06 and I'm going to have Egypt do another roll call for us. I didn't touch the other one. I'm just rolling.
Yes. Yes. I'm in hybrid but yesine here halfway. Now, so we can't with minutes. We don't have to really vote on the minutes. So, we can look at the meeting minutes from June and July. I know we were checking
on something with that. We should be if somebody wants to take a look if anyone sees any things, we can adopt the minutes in. Once everyone takes a look at it, we can move on from there. Everyone wants to take a quick peek. If you see anything, let me know. If not,
we'll adopt it as is. 806 There's the back side on the on the July one, guys. be good to adopt the minutes. I might need more time for June or July. Anything? Yeah, we're doing both at the same time
just so we can adopt them in. Did anybody see anything? Okay. so we can adopt June and July minutes into our records. Um, next was supposed to be treasure report
budget discussion and vote. Um, being that we do not have quum in person, we cannot vote on the budget. But what we can do is go over our allocations for now and then wait until the next meeting to actually take a vote. When we looked at the numbers last
month, some wrong numbers were actually in there initially. So, we have looked at last year's budget and we looked at at the numbers and we kind of created an idea of what we think is best.
So, we're looking at putting a certain amount in reimbursements, meeting expenses. The PE card is automatic supply and a repair line. Um, and we will vote on that next month. And once we do vote on that, Shauna will give updates each month on our budget
allocations and where we're at, if we've used anything. So, I just wanted to touch on that. There really is nothing to report right now. Um, the next thing is planning the monthly presentation. So, September, as I mentioned, is probably going to be a little heavy considering some of today's
stuff has to be tabled. Um, so we're going to have to deal with the budget stuff, but we do have the presentation um, from Hannah, who you heard from briefly tonight. Um, as well as Nathan. And I'm going to see if I can get this representative from the autism program here as well because I think it's something a lot of people don't know
about is out there. Um, and I know my son is benefiting from it now that I've learned about it. In addition to that, there was one other individual that is looking to present. What's he from again? He's a former CC member from another
council and wanted to speak to the council about something and I'm not totally sure. She's going to look that up, but um we told him it would have to be a very brief presentation. Um other than that, we're going to have
to do budget next month and absences we can't vote on tonight and we're going to have to finalize school assignments. So, those three things will get added on for next month since we can't do them today. The school assignments, you do have a list in there. Feel free to look and
kind of make notes of certain schools that you'd be interested in being this representative from the CC for that school. Just make sure you're not picking your own school. That's the only thing. Um, basically, we end up usually having around six to eight schools per member.
So, just kind of flag some for yourselves. Um, I know one school I've been kind of with since I started happens to be 242 across the street. Um, because my son initially went there and then ended up out of the school. So, I have built up a rapport there with them. I go to visit. Um, but just take a look
and see what is interested to you, what stands out. If you have questions about certain schools, if they have certain programs, things like that, let us know. I have a more detailed list and I can share that with everyone. vice president
and he wanted to discuss the utilization of the util the underutilization of title one funds and how parents still implement activities during um directly impacting a yeah so when Egypt got the message I did
kind of push him to September um but we did tell him it's going to have to be a limited time because I mean we can't be here all night to put it simple. You had a question Stephanie. It looked like about the schools.
It was regarding this. I just wanted to ask I know it can't be your children at school, but it can be within your zone. Yeah, that's it could be any of the schools whatsoever as long as it's not your own school. You can kind of just make notes and flag what you're interested in and then we'll
come together. We'll go through the list and we'll just kind of vote on it. So that's really for September. And then October, we could talk about at September's meeting, what we want to have for October. Um, next on the agenda was discussion on advertisement of
meetings. Um, I know the one thing I did have Egypt do for this past month was when she sent it out to the schools and out to everyone that she sent out our meeting information, I did ask her to specifically tell parent coordinators to push it out via gamma or their messaging
plat platforms. summer months we tend to not have anybody really showing up anyway. So I think we'll have to see next month whether that really is affecting anything but if anyone has any other ideas for advertising whether we decide hey like we want to have some of
the meetings in different schools feedback is welcomed. So if anyone has any thoughts there please. Um, so I had printed out some things to show people and then accidentally grabbed the wrong folder. So I'll just describe try and describe
hopefully my observation. So when I get the email from the parent coordinator who seems to just be passing along the the information that she got, all it says is like here's the calendar hybrid meeting of the CC date and time Zoom
link and it doesn't really tell me anything about what is this meeting like why as a parent would I want to um attend or tune in via Zoom. Um, and even if I go to the website of the council, it just has those basic facts
and then it says flick through for meeting flyers, which takes you to this like Google Docs, like a bunch of folders that you might be able to hunt around in those folders and try and find out more more information about the meeting. Um, so I just think, you know,
like from the p perspective of before I joined the council myself, I was kind of like, well, why what actually goes on? And even when I looked at the agenda, to be honest, it doesn't really provide a lot of information. So, I think it would be really helpful if our basic communications that we're asking people
to share had, you know, something about what is a CEC? It's, you know, it's for you, the parents, to be able to give feedback. you can listen to um updates about what's going on in the school district. Um and then maybe just a
little bit more, you know, in addition to I know it's kind of public information the agenda, we need to put that out there, but maybe highlight a few specific things that are going on. For example, if we had information we ahead of time on what the superintendent's report is going to be on for that meeting or other specific
agenda items that people might be interested in kind of tuning in for or commenting on. um highlight those. Um and I just also think that the layout of those flyers could be more appealing as
well. Um and the last thing I would note is that the emails that go out don't have the um the passcode that people need to get in via Zoom. So we have that on the website. Go right in. happy.
Yeah, it shouldn't be asking for it. Okay, I think we need to maybe look at the settings because I tried to tune in I want to say in May and I couldn't because I didn't have the passcode. Um and then yeah, just experimenting like clicking on it when there's not actually
a meeting. It does ask for pass. So, um I think we I think I think the best practice would be to remove the Zoom link from the flyer um completely and just direct direct everyone to the website which has all the information.
The website's much easier to type in a browser versus a whole Zoom link and then with passcodes and meeting IDs. So, that's that's where I think we should move. That's the direction we should move. Thank you, Louis. Yep. I think um and I guess yeah just on the
subject on the of the website I think um it could just be made more prominent right on the homepage that you don't have to click down on a down arrow or anything but just you know something that it's a little bit u more visually appealing and gives you all that information right up front. So, I know Stephen wanted to say
something. Um, but before you jump in, if anyone has any ideas to improve the website, this is something that Eden and I did it by ourselves. Please feel free to step up and let us know and we will gladly let somebody help out with that. If you happen to have some expertise,
this was just us creating a version um and getting the information from the old site to the new site because we had to have our own site. But if anyone has any thoughts or wants to jump in and look at it, feel free to let us know and you can gladly help out with that. So that would
just based on your feedback there. I just wanted to put that out there. I just volunteered myself. If you want, you're welcome to. Uh Stephen, you did have something you wanted to bring up. Yeah, two points on on the link front. I I totally agree that sometimes like that can happen where it's either the the link that has the password embedded or
the ones that are not. It might be worth considering something like a bit.ly link or a custom link that is a shortened one that like would take you to like on a flyer something like bit.ly/cec September which has the embedded password link potentially. So we could
put something a little shorter on a flyer that somebody could type into their browser. It's just something to think about because I that can go Oh yeah and I ag I agree with that and that's why we should just direct everyone to the CC web page which is d25.nyc/ NYC CEC can't get much shorter
than that. And that way we don't have to worry about the bit.ly change the Zoom link if we can change a Zoom link the day of and just update the website and everyone's going to the website. Does that make sense? I I like the short that's the whole the idea of it being it
being short and easy to type in is the best part because most families get these flyers electronically, not on paper. So, they're not really scanning QR codes or stuff like that. So, yeah, I agree with the it being short. I know the one thing is that like even with us telling them to push it out over
Dojo or Parent Square or any of those things, I happen to not get anything notifying me at the meeting other than our emails. Um, so I don't know if every school is really taking advantage of explaining it and pushing it out the
right way either. So, I think that's a big piece of the puzzle because I know my school did not send anything out to us. Well, school did send it out. That's how I knew about it. I went on too and luckily for me, I didn't need a code. I went right in. But I didn't know like you, I didn't
know what it was about. I just kn I only went on because I was and I was like, I should be going to these meetings then. So, I went on. But before that, I did not know about them. Um I I I went on the one with the soap box with the kids and I was so impressed with the kids and
I went on another one. I just can't remember but two I was able to go on. I tried to go on the night of the voting and the awards. I could not I tried like I am not a text person but I tried like I went on the website. I went back to the thing and I couldn't get that was a different length than our
regular zoom if I remember correctly had problems but but I see what um Shauna and and Steve is saying where if you need a code it's not going to help you if you don't Yeah. The June awards ceremony was on
YouTube and it was at the very top of all the pages. It was in the Zoom link. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Um, the other part I wanted to say is, uh, this is something I thought of even before I I joined the council, which was I know we each kind of do our
own thing for a district, but I wondered if some sort of contact to a local media like the Queens Eagle or Hellgate or one of the other small the city, one of the smaller New York things, trying to get them like one because they're kind of shockingly easy to get um to be like,
"Hey, here's what a CC is. look into your district. And I wonder if that sort of like outreach through um not relying on the schools necessarily, but a secondary channel might be worth considering being like write up what it is and like here are the districts that
have stuff. It was just the thought I had in order to get maybe more engagement and we're not necessarily relying on each school to do it for us or even just the district mailing list. we can maybe get some sort of local media that people read to I think that goes along with like all
the elected officials maybe sharing it out more that like when we're sending it to them getting them to share it out like because I know like for instance Vicky Bell you know she makes a video like on a daily basis about what's going on in the community and like what she's doing especially like last week with the rain and then the stuff with the road
she was looking at and then the school drive thing that like I found out about because she's posting it all over. like if we have them actually pushing this stuff out from their offices also to families and people in the district. I think that'll also get some more word
out there. Yeah, I didn't get anything. I'll send everybody a copy of that. No, I'll definitely send that to everybody because that's something I got online from her. Okay. So, one another idea. I mean, since I'm on the council now, I'm
getting a few emails that seem to go to a district 25 list. Um, I wonder if people were interested, and I don't expect it would be a huge volume, but if people were interested enough to actually go to the CAC2 website, if there was like sign up for that email list, they could make sure
that they get those notifications for future meetings. Definitely something we could look into, I think. So, we can definitely connect on that. Um, we'll connect though to see if you have
any ideas regarding the website and then do you mind reaching out to Stephen to see if you can get any information about like if we wanted to push out stuff through any of those platforms. Awesome. Okay. So, I guess we'll work off those two ideas for now and also the
elected official thing. I'll I'll work on that part to see that. Um, next would have been school assignments. We already touched on that. We can't really do anything about it today. We also will need to vote on some absences next month regarding today's meeting.
Um, just so everyone is aware of what they are. I'm going to put that out there. Shirley was not feeling well. I got a message this morning sent to me in Egypt. She's homesick, but she is on Zoom. Um, Amy, uh, Maro was actually able to get in touch with her this afternoon because we
had not heard. Uh she is still finishing up school, but this was her last class that shouldn't be interfering in the future. So just so you guys are aware, I'll repeat this next month. Uh Fabiola didn't realize coincided with something going on family related. And then Christine's daughter came down with
being sick. Uh so she was unable to leave the house unfortunately. So those are the four absences we will be discussing next month and voting on whether to have them excused or unexcused. um being that they were under that 48 hour window. Uh next thing is the discussion of
vacancies. We apologize for the typo that none of us realized. Um as I said to during the public meeting like we do have vacancies. If you know anyone tell them to go in and apply that get sent over they all go through their thing and if they approve them to be interviewed
then we'll get an interview on the calendar. It could be during a calendar meeting, if we have to schedule a separate meeting and we'll go through and we'll come up with questions that we want to ask. Um, but if we have more than one candidate, we want to make sure we are asking the same questions to each candidate so we are fair across the board. So, just wanted to get that out
there. Other than that, we can't do any of our voting. So, if somebody would like to make a motion, we would be able to go home. I motion. Who's gonna second that? Okay. So, we are done at 8:24.
I thank you guys all for being here. Those of you that were online, thank you. I appreciate you guys jumping on and I will see everyone September 10th uh for 7 p.m. meeting if we decide we're going to do a wellness meeting in advance. Dr. Mike and I will send out an email and you guys could jump on Zoom if
you're on the way here. So, that email would come from me as it would technically be my meeting and not the CC. Otherwise, you have to do a whole thing for you guys to run that kind of If anyone's interested in taking any pizza home with them, please take because we anticipated everyone being
here and then if they weren't, so we have some extra pizza. So, please feel free to take some. All right, guys. This was fun. school year starts.