Third school committee meeting is now called to order. I'd like to start with um pledge of allegiance >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The Davis uh public schools mission statement is creating a supportive environment where all learners thrive. This meeting is being broadcast on Damas Community Access Television. Is there
anybody else recording this meeting? >> Great. items of interest from the committee or the superintendent. >> Um I just want to uh throw out there congratulations to I'm sure I'm stepping on toes by mentioning this, but to our
fall sports teams for um the girls are up five to nothing right now at halftime. I just heard uh the boys are playing Chelsea. Football's playing Ashland in the playoffs and we're hosting unified basketball um jamboree next week and field hockey missed by one
spot and volleyball. Had a pretty good year. Um but I'd also like to thank Highland School for allowing me to DJ the Monster Mash for the fourth year. It was a lot of fun uh being there with the kids and seeing all their costumes and having a good time. >> Nice.
>> Anything else from the committee? Sure. Just a couple plugs. And also the cross country team had an outstanding boys and girls. Uh outstanding. Um two things. The uh Danvers High marching band yesterday um placed I think the highest
score in school history yesterday in the performance up at Lawrence. I'm not sure how many teams, but it seemed like at least 50 teams there throughout the day, maybe more than that representing the state, but also some teams from out of state. But kudos to the marching band for an outstanding year. I believe all
of your competitions this year finished in first place. And this one was a huge one and right on the cusp with the highest score in school history. So that's outstanding. And I do hear that there might have been a police escort bringing you back in to Danvers, which is welld deserved. So congratulations.
>> Thanks. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. And secondly, I would like to just um give a big thanks to the Riverside community. Last week, as you may or may not know, there was no water to Riverside and it came about quickly, so
we had to shut the school down. Um it was a maintenance issue that was addressed by the DPW, but not in a timely fashion where we can continue school. But I just want to give kudos to the parents because for them to drop everything and pick up their children that quickly, outstanding, very calm,
and very smooth. but also the Riverside staff and Principal Fitzgerald for her um just being calm and cool under pressure and we were able to get the students to their parents and reunified and it was all um just wonderful teamwork and collaboration and great job by our students. They were very mature
in the whole process. They got the afternoon off which was fun um but it was a great effort by Riverside and that just speaks loudly to the leadership and the school culture there. >> Any items of interest from the community? Julie, I'm going to ask just because do
I do I have to set the three? Are you going to within three minutes or do I have to set it? You will. Awesome. Thank you. >> Yep. >> Is this on now? Okay. >> Yep. >> Um, good evening. My name is Julie Bulock Philippo and I'm here on behalf of the Dare CPAC. I want to thank the
superintendent and the school committee for your thoughtful work updating the district's bullying policy and plan. The proposed revisions represent important progress strengthening reporting procedures, improving accountability, and recognizing vulnerable student populations whose experiences are too
often gone on go unseen. The letter and materials we submitted to the >> Excuse me. Through the chair, Julie, if you could back up a little bit because it's so loud it's we're losing. >> Is this better? >> Much better. Okay. Thank you. The letter and materials we submitted to the committee and district earlier today
support these updates and also offer a few recommendations that we believe could even make um intervening with bullying stronger. Some of these suggestions include a neutral secondary review process for all bullying investigations,
standardized investigation checklist, clear timelines for communication with families, and regular public summaries of bullying data, including metrics for students with IEPs and 504s. We also encourage training led by individuals with lived experience and ongoing
attention to how disability and identity intersect with safety and belonging. This remains one of the issues that we hear about most from CPAC families. And so we're making concerted effort this year to hold trainings that educate
families on the the law and their rights um of their children with IEPs and 504s. Um and also to try to gain their feedback to to bring to the community of their their lived experiences um of the implementation of policy. So thank you
so much. Bye. Thank you, Julie. Anyone else from the community? >> Hi guys. Good evening, Guy. Uh Guy Norio, parent of two boys here in Dmers. Um I'm going to talk about today about
the the reconsideration committee and the uh the meeting that we had this week. Um it was great meeting. talked about a lot of things but however we did make a big mistake and I wanted to bring it to your attention because I want to do things the right way. So in this
reconsideration committee, we have a chairperson, a building level administrator, a teaching representative, a certified librarian, a community representative, a student representative, and then a parent. Um, we didn't follow this there. There was
two teachers in the room and there was two students. So I think we should follow school policy. I think we should follow the state policy and reconvene at a different time table this recommendation for tonight so we can do
it the right way based again on your policies and the state policy. Um and uh yeah, that's all I have to say. I want to do things the right way because I I believe that this is important to do it the right way.
Thank you. Anyone else? Public comment is closed. Uh information from the superintendent if we go there. Absolutely. So, we'll start off with the representatives report. The recognition
will be postponed till December because our recipient is in the girls soccer game which we're up five nothing at the half which is great. Uh student services we have a quick update curriculum and assessment update. And then I also wanted to put a plug out for the DHS open house uh which is coming in two
weeks. So let's take it away student representatives. >> Thank you. Hello everyone. Um so just a couple um things to talk about today. A lot of them were already talked about by the sports um but we'll say them once again. So, um, one thing was the theater program. Um, they're getting ready to
have their performance of Hades Town, which is the teen edition. Um, and that is in two weeks. Um, it's a great show. We hope everyone can come and see. Um, again, the girls and boys are playing tonight. The girls are at home, the boys are at Chelsea, and like you said, the girls are up, which is great. Um, on
Halloween, football had a game. They won 21 to7, and they made the playoffs, and they're playing this Friday in Ashland, which is a little over an hour away. And then again, cross country, they had their sectionals on Saturday, which also went well. Um, cheerleading has their NEC's on Saturday, which is in
Gloucester. Um, and there's going to be a fan bus, so anybody who wants to come, any students like to come. >> Uh, we the marching band, we took third overall in our, um, NESBO finals with a score of 92.09.
The marching band will also be performing uh in Boston this Saturday uh during the Veterans Day parade. And then so on November 19th, the um
Denver High School is having their open house like Mr. um said. And so my community leader class will be kind of running it um with the parents and giving tours and just talking to parents with any questions that they have about like experiences here at DHS. And then
um our principal, Mr. Strauss, came into my leadership class today. We had a really good discussion about what it means to be a leader. Um which was just something different from what we typically do every day. Wasn't really like a planning day. It was more of just like a discussion day, which I really enjoyed. The next thing is that seniors are
finishing their college essays. I think almost everyone should be done with their college essay now. Um, and they're on to their applications. We already have some seniors who are being accepted. Um, and on the website there's going to be a scrolling banner with all the students acceptances um, and where
they're going. The be kind legacy project has come to a close uh has come close to its goal of 30k and we um to have the mur mural professionally painted. We are so thankful for everyone who donated.
>> And then um last Wednesday we had a schoolwide assembly um a mental health specialist Katie Greer came into the high school. Um it was a really well-received um assembly. I thought it was different than like what we've typically heard about cyber bullying and
just knowledge that was new for a lot of people. I feel like >> yeah, there was a lot of things that um she talks about that I actually didn't really know. Like I like for example that she talks about how easy it was for
just some somebody to like for example like look up uh Danver High School and find like anything related to Dan like anything related to Danver High School even if it's like mentioned in like a video's like title or something. It
doesn't need to be or even if it's said in a video. >> Yeah. I thought it was just a lot of new information that a lot of people didn't know. Like me and my friends were walking out of the assembly and we were like, "Wow, that was like we just hadn't known that knowledge from before, which it felt like we should have, but it was
like just really good to have someone that was specialized in that come into the school and talk to everyone about that, not just seniors, just the whole school." So, yeah, that's all we have for you guys today. Thank you. >> Thank you. And I just want to add with Katie Greer, we're looking to plan a communitywide
event which uh we're trying to find a date was we know we're pretty packed till the you know December holidays but uh she also spoke and worked with the middle school last year and we'll have one more session with the middle school >> and um I think that she does a nice job about social media. It's not necessarily
about don't do social media but you know how it can be used as a positive and then how it can actually as you said impact you not even realizing how that can happen. So, uh, thank you for that the feedback. That's great. We appreciate that. Another great report, by the way.
Um, actually, and as I mentioned, um, Claudia is playing in the soccer game right now, but we'll bring her up with Principal Strauss in December for the recognition for the National Merit Scholarship Commenation. Great stuff. So, we'll do that in December. Um, and I'd like to now bring up uh, Miss Ryan
and Miss Posac. They're going to give a student services update. Good evening everyone. My name is Christina Ryan. I'm the director of student services and joined tonight by my colleague Julie Prosnack, our elementary curriculum director. We are really here to talk about some of the changes we've made to our reading
intervention program. So last year we had a special education audit completed. Next slide, please. You can do one more time. Thank you. So, one of the pieces that was mentioned in this audit was really
to make sure that we are continuing continuously analyzing ongoing literacy gaps from the pandemic, making sure we are addressing those by short-term interventions as well as continuously monitoring our tier one classroom instruction. In order to do so, our department's really collaborated to make sure that we provide a professional
development plan tailored to those needs. Um, so we're excited to share that we've been working diligently um with grades six and seven to expand our reading screening process and moving forward the Dibble screening assessments into grades six and seven. Um, and this allows us
both from the regular education side but also from the um special education side that we're able to have consistent data going K7. Um, we're able to look at models. were able to follow student data across all those levels. And we've been working um hard this fall collaborating
at the middle school. Um really working on we brought all the elementary reading teachers up to help screen all the sixth and seventh graders um at the middle school in a day. We've been working closely with Dr. Melissa Orans who's a literacy dyslexia expert. Um, and we
were able to have consultation time with her because this was a learning area for myself, feeling comfortable with K5, but what does this look like in six7? Um, and so she was able to really guide us in a process for looking at the data, analyzing that data, which I was able to bring down to fifth grade as well. Um,
so we had our first set of data meetings a couple weeks ago um with sixth and seventh grade teams to review those plans and plan our intervention. Um and then so intervention has been up and running in sixth and seventh grade and we'll be progress monitoring all of our students who did not um meet benchmark
that week of Thanksgiving. Okay. And so part of this plan was really three phases. So the first phase was applying for an IEP grant and bringing Dr. Melissa Orin to Danvers to really provide a training called dyslexia instruction that's targeted. So we were fortunate to have 57 staff
attend that training during our optional PD days in June and August. We have also been able to utilize that grant to continue to have that training throughout the school year. So we have 22 of those staff members continuing that PD pathway this year. Following that, we then move towards having her
staff come and conduct a RABO training in September. So RABO is a researchbased fluency program for struggling readers in grades two to four. We had 40 staff members attend that training as well on um and the third portion of this which I'm very excited about is um we're
having training in morphology anthology. um which you if you'll indulge me just for a second is very exciting because our data is showing that we have cohorts of students in fifth and sixth grade who can decode words so they can read the words accurately but what's holding them up is their words correct per minute is
too low. So there's a certain point at which I can decode and I'm reading fluently enough. My words correct per minute that I'm hitting means that reading the act of reading for me is sort of floated to the back of my brain. I'm able to read with the correct words
correct per minute and accuracy which frees up my brain to actually focus on what's happening in the text. Um and so what morphology and we have a cohort of kids in fifth and sixth grade. It was a need that we saw through the data that we need to be able to intervene and really provide instruction around
increasing their words correct per minute. And so morphology anthology is that um and it's really structured for those upper grades. So instead of I can decode my words, but now my instruction is going to focus on morphology or the parts of words that have specific meaning. So focusing on studying
prefixes, suffixes, roots, because the more that I know and can study those parts of words, the faster I'm going to be able to read those words, they're going to come faster, which is going to increase my words correct per minute, which is going to allow me to have the accuracy and the fluency I need to have
my reading comprehension. Um, and we're really excited about this work because it's actually bridging great it's bridging elementary and middle school. So, it's bridging two levels. Um, but it's also bridging special education teachers and regular ed regular education teachers. Um, and I'm just
really excited that we'll be able to provide teachers with the exact resource they need to teach to what the data is showing us kids need. Um, and so that is beginning at December early release and we're really excited to be doing that. and Dan Fliperoo. All right. And so just
next steps, um, like I shared, we'll be progress monitoring all of our sixth and seventh graders, our K to five students as well. Again, we'll be benchmarking all students K to 7 again in January and continuing to really make sure that we're strengthening our tier one instruction and using that data to plan
for our intervention and acceleration in K all the way through seven. And what we have here are these are four of the essential components of reading instruction. in what all of our work has shown is as we are assessing students, we are now able to match the type of instruction they need at the right time.
And so what we need to do is make sure that we have staff trained in these interventions in each building so that students are able to receive that service in their home school. Last year we really focused on the phonics component. This year we address fluency. So next steps would really be phmic awareness and comprehension. So those are the pieces that we will be working
on moving forward. Any questions? >> In regards to the pro progress monitoring, does that vary by level or is that just a standard schedule for all all students? >> Um, so K through five has a calendar
that we follow. Um, we had to make a I think one of the things I'm learning through all this is we had to leverage the elementary staff to help screening at the middle school. Um and so going forward, we're actually going to screen sixth and seventh graders first and then go back and do K5. Um in the fall we
screen K through five first. Um which delayed our screening of six and seven when really we should let the younger kids have a little bit we should be do six7 first. So we had to make a separate middle school calendar. But the goal would be um that we have a consistent calendar going forward K to 7 of when
screening happens, when uh progress monitoring happens, and when we rescreen, rebenchmark kids. So you benchmark kids three times a year. Um and then we want to make sure we don't want to wait till January to see if what we're doing is helping. So at the middle school the week of Thanksgiving, that
Monday, Tuesday, we are going to be rescreening kids who did not benchmark in the fall to make sure that what we are doing is they're on the trajectory. So the program that we have shows us a little graph of where the kid needs to be in order to make sure they're at the
middle of the year benchmark. So we can see in the progress monitoring whether they're above that graph, above above that line, so they're on track to meet the middle of the year, whether they're on the line, so they're on track, or they're below that line. So we know they're not on a trajectory to meet middle of the year and then the question
is what adjustments do we need to make so that we can get that kit on track to meet the middle of the year benchmark. >> Thank you. >> I have a question. Um I love the front and back end assessments and the middle assessment
just to see how progress is going. um how is what we're doing and how does this fit in with the compliance with the new um regulations from the state in terms of what kind of reading programs we have to provide over the next few years. >> Yep. So that really so that legislation
has really started that's why we've had um that legislation was focused around early literacy the K to3 which is why we moved a couple years ago to implementing MClass screening all kids three times a year which we were already doing sending home the family letters building that MTSS structure um so we have all those
pieces in place and it's really about continuing to strengthen that and bringing that model to sixth and seventh grade as well. >> Good thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> And one one point for the committee just
to recognize the collaboration which has increased. You know, having Julie who's the elementary curriculum director working with the middle school and and the receptiveness and the hard work and student services coming together. So I think that's exactly where we need to be. >> Thank you.
>> Curriculum and assistant update. You're up. All right. Are you doing the slides? Yeah. >> Uh, so this is just a little more information from what I gave you in October. Um, some gaps filled in.
Next slide. So you heard um Julie and Christina just mention uh tier one instruction, tier two and tier three. So these are that was an example of the Dibble. MClass is basically the um
computer program that runs Dibble. So it's the same thing. So, um, what we're figuring out in giving that is, uh, beyond our tier one instruction that everybody gets, which students need a little bit more, um, that would be tier two, that's usually delivered in small
group instruction, or tier three, which is considered intensive, which is usually one-on-one or every day, something like that, but much more um, going on there. So we have that in reading in elementary school and we also are starting to build a system to do it
in social emotional as well. So what are students skills in um self-awareness your self-regulation social awareness uh social connection and then decision- making. So uh again we have a tier one
um program that's called wayfinder that's K12 for all five set sets of skills and then we figure out um who needs what work and then we have counselors and so forth work with them on that. So at the middle school we also
do it in math um and at the high school we do it again in ELA math and um we're starting in social emotional. So that's why we do all these um Eric you mentioned the beginning of the year, middle of the year, end of the year assessments is who needs extra teaching.
Next slide please. So just to give you a sense um the dibbles uh reading levels for kindergarten if we start at the beginning of the year uh townwide number of students um uh 215
overall this is kindergarten um and who was at or above that was 113 um below was 32 and well below was 70. So you can see the percentages down below. So that was what if you can see
this graph right here. You just make a line from yeah from the uh beginning of the year to the middle of the year and you would say are they sort of above that line the trajectory. Okay, they're doing great. um or are they below that line, their trajectory? And that's when
we really don't want the creek that is like the little schism at the bottom to become a big raging river of they're really really falling behind. So, we really want to catch them early. That's why we do it even starting in kindergarten.
Next slide, please. So this is a great example of um where we are from last year um the beginning of the year to the end of the year in the third and fourth columns. So you can see uh that data I was just talking about from last year
kindergarten. Uh 43% of the students were at or above benchmark in September but by the end of the year 83%. Um the kids I really focus on a lot are the kids who were the most impacted by uh being at home during COVID. And so
that was are if you look at our fourth graders, fifth graders, and not on the screen would be sixth graders. So you can see they're definitely still lagging behind. And that's true in all across the the nation. But that's when we talk about seeing the
impact of CO that's the impact. Next slide, please. So, we're really, really excited to um have a new data warehouse tracking system for all four of those measures that you see there, academics, attendance, behavior, and social
emotional skills that I mentioned before. So this takes all of that for academic all those beginning of the year assessments and tells us what percentage of our population is above or at average uh who's below and who's significantly
below. Um that helps us make decisions on how to allot staff to give that extra intervention for example. And none of this has to be calculated. It's fed directly from the students taking the assessment right in here. it actually can generate a plan for us. So, uh it's
really really helpful. In the past, we would have spent two three weeks to figure out all the data, crunch the numbers. Somebody like me would come in and say, "Okay, there's big gap here, little gap there." But this is literally all done. So, not only that, um you can
see it's measured in four areas. Academics, attendance, behavior, and social emotional. So, the attendance, for example, is great because if you have um students who are going to miss 10% or more of your school year, um it
will flag them. They're on the wrong trajectory, so no one has to figure that out. But then it gives a menu of ways that you could address that, the school could address it. Those are called intervention plans. So a student who is struggling in any of these areas, their
team at the school can meet about them, come up with an intervention plan, put it right into the program, and then they progress monitor as Julie said about 12 weeks later. So it's we're really excited about that. Uh next slide, please.
So, this is just an example of these are uh don't look at the numbers too much because that's just me sort of figuring out how much of the data is already in there at the time. But eventually, it will be colorcoded. So, you can literally just glance at a school and say, "Oh, I'm really worried about that school. Let's go figure out what's going
on there." Um, if you're at my level, a principal could look by class or by grade level um or or see an individual student. So, it's really helpful to pull up all the um information on a student, for example, if they're having an IEP
meeting or if there's some kind of um behavioral issue going on. So, we can see because all of those four areas are generally related. If you see someone uh who's having hard time attending school, they may also be uh having a hard time
in academics. Does that make sense? Yeah. So those are all the reports we can run. Um and I can do it, you know, in five minutes and it usually would take me like two weeks to to um look at chronic absenteeism,
what kind of interventions work and don't work and so forth. So we're very excited about that. So, as I showed you um in October, here are um we're going to dig a little bit deeper into the MCCAST results, and I'll
point out some areas that we're really worried about and some areas that are strong for Danvers. As you probably heard, overall, uh in the state, the scores are down. Um, and there's a lot of reasons for that, but a main one was,
um, if you remember, the population voted on question number two, that MCCAST doesn't no longer counts for, uh, school graduation. So, um, the thought was that a lot of 10th graders in particular didn't take it seriously,
but the other thought is that no one took it seriously. So, we didn't really see that. um you know the teachers aren't reporting that to us but it is sort of generally talked about. So um we're going to go into each subject
area. As you know we take it in grades English language arts. Next slide please. We take in grades three, four, five, six and seven and then also in grade 10. You can go past this one. Yeah. So here it is. So grades
three through eight and then grade 10. And as I said, they have always been separated in the state reports because the 10th grade one was the one that counted for graduation. That's no longer true. So down at the bottom of the slide, you can see what I um noticed uh
when I mentioned last time we met, but what you want is that the blue, which is Danvers, the percentage, is the students who are exceeding or meeting expectations. We want that number to be higher than the state average which is
in black next to it. So, you know, we're close um but we hope to get a whole lot closer. And then you can see the 10th grade on the right. So, that's English language arts. We hope a lot of the work that we're doing in early literacy is
going to pay off in the next few years, but of course, students don't start taking MCCAST until grade three. Next slide, please. So math um similar very similar story um
uh 38% for Danvers exceeding or meeting expectations 41 for the state that's very close um grade 10 this is maybe where we saw um that effect I was talking about but we're not sure 32%
meeting or exceeding at um 10th grade and 45% at the state and and science is a real bright spot for Danvers. We're really excited about it. Um you can see we are at or above around the state average uh in both
grades five through eight and grade 10. This is really really unusual to be lower than the average um in English and math and then at or higher in science. So it's something great is happening
here in science. So, I'm really happy about that. So, um, as I mentioned, we have these six, uh, priorities. We're going to use data to inform educators so that teachers are going to know it's not not a feeling. It's going to be brought all together.
We're just, uh, in the first year of our strategic plan and getting all this data into their hands is going to happen within the next couple months. We're going to do the comprehensive elementary reading program. You heard about that. Um what I'm really excited about is
number three and four. So um we are in the process of having a new math curriculum K to five. Teachers are piloting two uh different curricula right now. They'll make a choice between those two and we'll implement that fully for next school year. Really exciting.
The middle school and the ninth grade teachers have also decided they want to do a fullon curriculum adoption. And uh most of the teachers adopted our current program which is called Carnegie Math which is very heavily reliant on a
computer program called Mathia. And they adopted it like 2020 to 2022. So there wasn't a lot of time with the COVID and everything to really do a lot of professional development, do a lot of coaching of teachers. They just didn't feel like it's meeting their needs and
frankly the teachers really want to get the kids off the computers for math. So, um, we're going to do a full-blown process this year. We're going to pilot some, uh, curricula in the spring and then have a brand new big program for
roll out in the fall. So, we're really, really excited. My experience with that is now having led uh, math curriculum adoptions in in a number of districts is that you get a huge bump the first year uh, in student achievement. It's really
really exciting. So, and I should mention that as part of that team um in this uh goal of marrying general education and special education on that curriculum adoption team, we have special educators, we have English language learner teachers so that all of
our students will have access to the new curriculum, whatever it is. Um and then I've mentioned uh Wayfinder, our social emotional curriculum. Uh, and then lastly, just that we're bringing together all our special populations and the general education process. Next
slide, please. So, I just will remind you our goals and I think I'm going to put a little target right above my door of my office that says this, but we I am serious about this. The district will see an increase of 10% in MCCAST scores that are below
the state average and 5% in MCCAST scores that at above the state average. So, we're hoping for that in one year. We will guarantee that in five years. Uh, at the elementary level, we want 85% of our students to read at grade level.
You saw some of the earlier scores. Uh, there they that's a that's an achievable goal. Um, it is a push because those kids who are really affected by COVID. Um, and at the middle school, again, we also want to see those big student
achievement jumps. And, um, at the high school, we want to see them, and we're also adding in the AP scores. So, we want more students taking AP classes, but we also want to, uh, do even better in having students pass them. Uh, I think that's the last one. Oh, yeah. And
so, we're planning on giving a student engagement um survey in March every year. And um we hope to see student engagement increase in that. Good. Yeah, I think that's it.
Questions about any of that? >> I have two. >> Yeah. >> Um in regards to the data warehouse, when do you feel like that'll be fully populated so that it'll be giving information that can be acted upon? >> It's fully populated right now. Um, and
we're just trying to figure out how to best use it in our context here. So, uh, I just this weekend gave all the principles access to all their data for their schools. So, but we've been looking at it for at the central office probably for about a month.
>> Maybe if we can hear um from the people using it about some impact that it's having right out of the gate, that might >> I think I would like to hear that. I'm >> I'm hoping everybody would. And the other thing is when you talk about passing the AP exam, are we talking
about scores of three or higher? >> Three or higher. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Just a quick couple. Um really data warehouse looks great and the um love the commitment for the goal.
Really committed to that. Um my question is on the MCAST score and not so much the scores but if we accept that the scores were impacted statewide this year by the fact that MCAST for the
first time really since it not since it came into existence. There were a few years up front where it sort of worked its way in. Um but now it doesn't count toward graduation. And um how do you crack that nut? How do
we um get students to take it seriously so that you get those results you're hoping for? >> Yeah, I think it's around the talk that we do that we're measuring our curriculum that teachers are, you know, using it to measure their efficacy. So
how we take it just like anything, how the tone that the adults set is the tone that the kids will take to it. Yeah. >> Okay. I mean that makes sense. I don't I'm thinking about it too and it's a it's a tough one but yeah I think setting the example and the expectations
is good a place to start it. So >> thank you. >> All right. Thank you >> Mr. Chair. Thanks Kristen. And uh Dan's been talking about how you looked at data all the time and how you kind of you know so I think it's impressive to kind of see what you pulled in here. Um,
one comment and then a question. And the the first one is the uh the the COVID kids, so to speak, the the fourth graders. I mean, that was pretty eye opening to see that that it's like a cliff that that those kids fell off. 57% I think was was the number compared to people in the 80s. So, in the other grades, so
>> um definitely definitely eye opening. It's good that that's on our radar on that. >> Um the more on the data warehouse question is is how are those sort of measured? I was jutting notes down maybe I missed it but how are the academics calculated and then is it just on you
know year- end grades quarter grades um benchmarking and also you know how are the other ones measured like social emotional ordering and things like that >> yeah yeah happy to answer and you are a data geek too I can see a little bit >> yeah yeah so um the academics we measure differently at the elementary level we
do it all based on their their pre and post test those beginning of the year middle of the year end of the year so the dibbles is really important. How they score on the math is really important because that's all informing teachers instruction and who's getting like the special uh little lift from
interventionists as well. So that's just that's all there's no report cards into there. Secondary, it's the opposite. So grades 6 through 12, it's feeding right out of P school. So it's all on their grades. So, by that point, if you need
to see students assessments, that's under a different tab. So, some like if I pulled up Josh's um I could see your grades in the uh academic part, but if I wanted to know how you did on the MCCAST, I would just go under
assessments. So, they're basically flipped. >> Got it. >> Yeah. >> Okay. And how about like behavioral and social? >> Oh, yeah. So, how is it measured? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Okay. So, um they're each measured. Attendance is easy. So, you know, we take attendance every day. But I think an important part is also that
we take attendance in classes, not just over the course of the day. >> Uh just, you know, every day. So, attendance that's really important. You know, the studies are super clear about you got to be in school to learn. There's just no, you know. Um then in
terms of behavior, we have two different tools that we're using to monitor students behavior. Um, at the elementary level, it's a tool called Swiss. So, they make a a distinction between minor offenses, and they've sort of written out a behavior chart uh and major
offenses. So, those are all in there. They don't go into power school, so they're not like for the state, but they're they're for us to track behavior. Um, so they have a behavior rubric. Is this answering what you wanted to know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
And then the last um continuum that we're looking at is the social emotional skills. So um we have the Wayfinder curriculum. They have an assessment called way points. Um and for students in grades 3 through 12, they do a survey
themselves. I can approach a new person and uh strike up a conversation. I feel confident to um intervene when there's a conflict. I can name my own emotions and calm myself down if I feel angry. Those
kinds of questions. Um, for grades K to two, we haven't really rolled it out yet. Um, obviously they're too young to do a survey like that. So, it would be a teacher survey. Um, but we haven't rolled that out yet. So, the teachers would be monitoring their kids behavior.
and these when they go below some sort some sort of a benchmark that these will flag >> teachers principles will will >> okay and then an action plan will come into place. >> Yeah. And kids who for example are having trouble with self-regulation
that's pretty obvious >> but kids who are having trouble naming their own emotions not so obvious. So that's where you want a tool like what I'm talking about. Yeah. >> That's great. Thank you. Sure. Uh having done um a lot of these
programs and stand testing, my question is more of just a curiosity. Which two? It says the two pro you said two programs in elementary school that they're trying to decide between two. >> Oh, two math programs. >> Yeah. Which which two are fish tank,
which would be a parallel to our um English language arts program. And then the other one is called Eureka. And they're they're different. Um they're very different from each other. And right now it looks like Eureka is more popular with the um elementary teachers
who are field testing. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> New business. >> Oh, hold on. >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> I would be remiss if I didn't put a plug in for the open house that will taking
place November 19th at the high school. Uh, Principal Strauss and his team, they put together a great evening last year in the spring. It was more of um, uh, it was done in the spring. The realization is that open houses, they take place, you know, at this time of year where eighth grade families are making
decisions about where their child will go to school next year. We want the ambers to be in the conversation. We want to, you know, we want to highlight the great things that we have, but we're also opening this up to fifth grade families and elementary families because we know that many make decisions before they even get to the middle school. Um,
Principal Strauss has uh changed uh the approach. So, he's sent out surveys to what people want to see. Uh, and he's organized it in a nice tight manner. Um, and that will take place uh November 19th at 6 o'clock. I brought your lawn signs uh for those in the audience. I
have lawn signs for you as well that um free of charge of course and put that in your uh yard please to promote. And we have a banner so hopefully we can maybe get one above. We might be too late on that, but we'll put a banner in front of
the middle school as well. Um, and you know, I'm not going to read the whole thing and I'll pass around the flyer so you get an early copy. I'll send this out to the community tomorrow. But I think, you know, one of the things that really um they're going to discuss a lot and really show opportunities for
families to interact with not just the staff, but the students that are going through it. So, advanced learning opportunities, right? One of the things that we're looking to do is create uh an advanced placement degree designation which would set us apart from many
schools. Also look at dual enrollment options where students can take uh college courses and college credit, you know, while they're a high school student, but also really look for ways we can accelerate that. And we feel that that that's something we're really going to dive into. Um certainly look at the
the classes that really you know challenge and inspire and really look at the extracurriculars that we offer. We offer tons of clubs, tons of um athletics, performing visual arts outstanding at our school and um you know and we know that we've talked a lot
about like how maybe many in the community don't know all the great things that are happening. Um and certainly we'll talk about you know what does it mean for your eighth grader? What's a trajectory if they're interested in studying engineering because you can do that. want to come out in the medical field, where would you be with that? And I think the last
piece too is just really um just being able to see the hands-on opportunity, but have an opportunity so families can speak. We have a number of students that will be available. Um and again, this is open for the whole community. So, we'd like you to come and again, we have lawn signs, free lawn signs for you and the
audience. Um but more importantly, it's just a great opportunity to highlight our school and our community. So, we're very excited about this. Um, and we're planning on bringing the eighth graders up the next day so they can come in, you know, for those that maybe couldn't make
it, um, or come back again and just kind of go through a more detail for them. So, um, again, we're looking for more opportunities to integrate the fifth grade, not just this evening, but other opportunities uh, and the middle school as well. So, I just had to make the shameless plug for for this.
Don't forget your lawn signs in the back after and I'll have it delivered. I'll deliver it to the audience. How How could we after you mentioned it so many times? >> I did. Okay. Thank you very much. That sounds exciting. I'm looking forward to that actually. We move on to new
business now. >> All right. Reconsideration of instructional resources. >> Great. >> So, as you know, in 8th grade, we currently have the book All American Boys taught as the first unit of the
school year. This is a long theme over the course of the eighth grade year on power and what happens when power is abused. Um so all of the books in the year uh look at it. For example, Night by Ellie Weisel looking at the Holocaust
for example, Animal Animal Farm, a lot of classics that you would have heard. Um All-American Boys is a relatively newer book. Um although it has been read in our eighth grade curriculum for five years. Um but this year was a a different experience um because we had
uh over 15 parents meet with the principal or Dan and I and um raise objections. So all of those folks were given the um opportunity to file a formal um uh request to reconsider the
use of the book in the eighth grade curriculum. So out of all of those people, we got one. Um so we did meet as a reconsideration committee and so we had um two students, two teachers, two parents,
uh school administrator for the middle school, a librarian uh and myself. I did not partake. I was just there to facilitate um because I thought it was going to be a pretty um uh we we were going to have to agree to
disagree. Um, and so it worked out really nicely. It took about an hour and a half. Um, I was incredibly impressed by the students. Um, I also felt like they had the opportunity to see real civic engagement because we it was a
real conversation um about a topic that people disagreed on. So, it was I think a good experience for all of us. Um, as you know from the policy which is on the back of your handout, um, we that committee just makes a recommendation to you and then tonight you're to vote on
whether the book will be removed from the curriculum, retained in the curriculum or retained um, with some restrictions. So, I'll just talk a little bit about that. As you can see on the handwritten notes from uh that the
notetaker took so they haven't been altered in any way. Um and the committee all agreed to this. We had five members who voted that we should retain the book in the curriculum. One member uh said that the book should
be removed from the curriculum and then two members of the committee said that it should be retained with restriction. One person said that the supplemental material that was brought up here when we talked about it in um October, which
was a handout entitled white privilege, should that should be taken out. Um and also that the um way that profanity is dealt with in the book um so should be reconsidered. Kids
shouldn't say it out loud. they did not, but they, you know, it should be very clearly spelled out about how the profanity in the book um is dealt with. And then um that person also wanted us to take it out of the curriculum but keep it in the library for kids who are
interested. So that's uh the majority opinion was to please uh retain the book in the um curriculum and the minority opinion was to review the supplemental materials and review how the profanity
is addressed as I mentioned. So I'm just trying to keep the committee anonymous especially the students. Um but really want to thank them all for their service because as I said everyone was nervous coming into this room. um and to have
this conversation. So, it was very um uh controlled with time limits on everything and roles and so forth. I had everyone speaking directly to me to say their opinions, not to each other um because they were going to disagree. And
I'm really proud of the work we did. So your job tonight is to to vote um and uh once you've decided we can't reconsider this book for another three years. So this is sort of it for the next for uh
three years beyond this year. Yeah. >> Do I have a motion? U motion to vote on the reconsideration of the book >> All American Boys. >> All American Boys. >> While we're doing that, I mean, do you
recommendation as to whether or not we retain? >> I thought I was just doing a motion. I don't know if we're open to discussion yet. >> If I can. The motion would have to be to >> move it, retain it, or retain it. >> Um, yeah. motion to retain the
curriculum as is um for all American boys. Um I can I ask for a clarification on the curriculum because I know there was discussion and some controversy around uh white privilege >> and >> I know that was controversy. Has that
been re-evaluated that particular language in the curriculum or are we keeping it as it as it? I think I think if we have the motion then we can discuss. >> Okay. Okay. Yep. All right. So the motion to retain it and then we'll have discussion.
>> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Okay. I'll go right into the question. >> Yeah. >> Um for me as a parent, >> like I said, I read the book. Sometimes I appreciate when these controversies come up because the first thing I want to do is see the book. Um,
even before I read the book, once I saw the curriculum, I immediately had a problem to it, a problem with it, because I addressed it in the last school committee meeting. I mentioned I think the term white privilege is a conversation stopper and as opposed to a starter. And I wouldn't be surprised if many parents immediately made a decision
once they saw the curriculum. So, I'm just looking for some clarification on what the curriculum going forward will be with that book and if it's been, you know, considered to uh have something a little bit more inclusive. >> Any other thoughts or questions?
>> I I just have a quick question. Mr. Chair, the um we we had a comment from the community that said that we did not do the procedure the correct way and I just wanted to see if this was done correctly or if this needs to be revisited. >> It was done correctly. Okay.
>> Thank you. I I want to follow up on that because that was pretty specific. I do see initials here, but >> I mean, can we address the specific question about the makeup of the committee because it was very specific that they were not um
representatives from building level administrator, a teacher representative, certified librarian, community representative, student representative, and it looks like there were no other representative. Each of these initials represent the people that were in that
room. And were they all there at the same time? >> They were all there at the same time. And the the the policy may want to be revisited because it doesn't outline how many of anything. So, um, for example, the other
representative, I reached out to the human rights council, but they can't send anyone without having an official vote themselves to have an opinion. So, um, you could say the parents counted as that. I I don't know. But anyway, the
the policy is not very specific. You could almost read the policy to say no parents would be involved. So, you know, um I think we might want to get clarification on the on the policy, but
it was actually followed. My question is uh on the recommendation involving the supplemental materials was was that to be excluded or for those to be additive to be more
as Gabe alluded to, you know, more um inclusive of all the different power structures instead of just focusing on maybe one. Are you asking what should we do about that handout or what are we doing about that handout?
>> I don't know what what's meant with the restriction of supplemental materials. >> So you could vote tonight that that handout could not be used. >> Um that was that the recommendation or was it to be it wasn't >> the recommendation is that it just be
retained as is and the question about the use of that handout be laid in the hands of the educators. Okay, thank you. >> I have a couple. Um, all right. So, as I read this,
there is a difference between retaining the book as some part of the precisely how it would be thought or what could be done. So, I don't
I think Gab's issue could be addressed even if we vote to retain both. We don't have the same assignment as we did this year. >> Yeah. >> Because I tend to agree with Gab's comments last time, but >> it was pro I don't incendiary is too
strong a word, but it maybe not. Okay. Um it it created almost the the possibility or probability of real issues. So to the extent that we vote to retain it, I hope that um from a
curriculum standpoint, there will be a consideration made to consider how it's presented, how we teach with the to the students. Um but basically, we're voting on retaining the book as part of the curriculum, retaining it, but not making
it part of the curriculum. Maybe that's the reason or not retaining it at all. Um, so having said that, um, I had a chance to read most of the book. I'm actually kind of in the middle, pretty
engaged. It's very interesting, but, um, you know, it really is, um, it's gritty and the language is gritty. Um, unfortunately, that's kind of the way things have become nowadays. And
as a piece of art, which it is, I think, um, It only works as art and as literature if it strikes the readers as real. And in this case, I think it's aimed at middle school, high school,
an audience that would probably find a lot of realism in the book and perhaps pick up on its themes and and uh I guess understand it more, appreciate it more and believe it more. But I think it can be taught and be
thought very carefully and um you know I think I've heard people say well it it's anti- police well no it describes a particular event with a particular person witnessed by other particular
people we don't have to I I think look at that as an allegory for all police all people all races it's a story of individual experiences that may to some greater truths and I think you can be
taught that way. So my own I I guess I sort of had the same questions others have asked about the makeup of the committee. There's nothing from the state that says if you have a reconsideration committee it has to have
a particular makeup. No. Okay. So from what you said I'm satisfied with that. Um, I guess that's it. Sometimes, you know, learning can be difficult and a challenge and the only way we grow is by challenging our own conceptions of
things and sometimes addressing um addressing things that are uncomfortable. And if our students can learn to do that and have adults who they can ask questions to and I use their parents, I think that's
anyway. Thank you. >> Anything else? >> Yeah, I um great comments, Eric. I think I I agree with a lot of what Eric said. I um I also read the book, really enjoyed it. Uh I I think when we have difficult subjects, we should lean into those. I think somebody mentioned that
at one of those meet one of the last meetings too, but um we should lean into it and the language was the only thing that kind of raised an eyebrow for me and and um honestly for an eighth grader to hear the words that they were talking about. It's no
worse than anything that they that they're currently watching on Netflix or streaming or anything like that. So, I don't have a problem with the language. I actually like the, like you said, like the realistic part of it because I remember reading books in middle school and high school and kind of rolling an eye and saying like I this is not it's
not real deal. But I I do think it was it was realistic. I I thought they tackled the subject. They they offered balanced opinions on it because it wasn't all like this guy did everything wrong. Like there was not to give the book away the but you know one of the uh
victims um father was a cop, right? and he talked about how difficult it is to be a cop and and how he made a mistake too. So I, you know, I thought there was balance with it, I would um I would recommend keeping as well. >> Um having gone through the dammer
schools many years ago, um some of the books I remember reading for 8th grade particularly um book called the chocolate war and that had far more progressive swear words, language discussions And that was in
1989. Um, The Catcher and the Ride, um, Puck Bin, Tom Sawyer. Those are all books that people forget we read that spoke of the time that the books were written. But these kids, like uh, Josh just
mentioned, they're watching TV shows, they're watching movies that have the same language. When you want these kids to read and kids say they hate reading, it's to speak their language and what they're seeing and hearing every day. If that's going to engage them in the book,
in the discussion, that's almost I mean, it's we're not doing anything wrong because it's stuff that they hear the adults in their life say, the adults out in the streets on their televisions, you know, but it's engaging them to read. So, I I feel that there are books, like
I said, that I read in these schools when I was there that had way, you know, way extensive. And if you've never read The Chocolate War, I I would like for people to do that so they can see what I'm talking about. But, um, I thought the book was written well, the twists
throughout the book to make sure that, uh, for those people who focused on that one title of the paper. Yeah. like Dave said, it's disengaging when you mention white privilege. It's disengaging because people don't want to hear it.
Um, it's a stubborn, but it's something that throughout the book, you see that there's more to it than just that aspect. There's different points of view. So, I felt the book was fantastically written by a student who went to St. John's Prep and
uh, you know, they've been using in their curriculum a lot longer than we have. So I really I I feel that it encouraged the kids to engage in the the text as well as into discussions that are outside of their norm. So I appreciated it personally.
>> Can I one more? >> Certainly. >> Um I'm not unmindful and I doubt that my colleagues that um parenting is tough and I can totally understand that their parents are concerned about what is my
child going to read? What is my child going to make of this? Um, is he ready for this? I get all of that. But I also think that, um, if you're a parent who is engaged enough with your child's education, that you're willing to come down and and talk about what you think
and be part of the process, then I have great confidence that as a parent, you'll be able to help your child understand that book and work with it through the book. So, the fact that come forward and who are engaged enough to speak up and talk about I
think you're in a good position to help you on students. >> That's it. >> Welcome. Yep. >> Um I have a question for Dr. Bower and
for Kristen. Um stopping short of you know preventing a teacher of exercising their you know expertise or you know in recommendation of curriculum or any
other you know academic activity going forward. How can we prevent, you know, something like this um happening again? Um, you know, short of having to screen every lesson plan and things like
that. But for me, this some this seems like something that if someone else got their eyes on it, maybe wouldn't have gone out and there would have been another consideration around what the curriculum would have been. Um, you know, are we capable of doing that? Is
it reasonable so we can avoid you know I'm not saying you know teachers have uh I mean what they do I I admire what they do every single day but sometimes as you've seen from events that have happened in the news emotions or you
know feeling a compulsion to do a lesson or make some comments. How can we kind of try to avoid that? Or is there anything that you're putting in place to prevent this from happening? >> I mean, the short answer is, you know, they worked together. They worked and
they put information together. You know, this curriculum came out early, right? It was adopted last year. We had a change um with curriculum director. We had a change with assistant superintendent. We usually work together with the team. Um and I know the team works really hard as well. So there is a
collaborative piece in terms of all the curriculum that we have, right? So it's not the case of somebody going outside of the norm. It's just working together to to review and to look at things. Um and I think getting another set of eyes and another time reviewing through this, you know, they're going to look at this
and and make a good decision. I know Kristen's been working with the group, too. >> Yeah. Yeah. I'm happy. I said I think uh to make sure this doesn't happen again. Um we do three things. The first we're currently doing, which is to review
every single handout, every single film clip, every single uh obviously text, although many of them are known to us. Um and so we have our whole curriculum team doing that. Uh they're right now since this is new curriculum, they're about one unit ahead of where the class
is. Um and they're revising things as they go. So I feel pretty sure it's not going to happen again this year. Um, but in general in my role, what I do is make sure that the teachers have the professional development to read through
something with that critical eye. Um, and say, okay, I wouldn't phrase this in this community. I wouldn't phrase this in exactly that way and make some changes. Um, they do have that academic freedom. Um, and then beyond that, uh,
Eric, I think you said it so well to to make sure that they have the training to hold the whole class in their hands and have help them deal with uncomfortable situations. You know, if you can mention it, you can manage it. So, let's bring
these hard questions up in a safe environment where students can really think about them. Uh and the last is just um it really is the parents right to know that these are in the curriculum. These books might bring um
it up. So to have our curriculum clearly posted, this is what we're reading. Um to have it talked about at back to school night and so their parents aren't surprised. Um and that's you know part of the work that we're doing as well. And if I can add too, you know, I did
have the opportunity to go into classrooms and see some of the lessons and I think our teachers are very skilled in terms of working through difficult conversations. They've spent a lot of time because this book has been taught over the last five years, right? Um so outside of the assignment and
such, you know, I've seen them skillfully be able to bring students along. Um and I saw a number of students who, you know, I don't know all the students intimately and that well, but I certainly saw some discussion and dialogue. um that was rich and I saw how the teacher moved through there and and
they take a lot of pride in that piece too. You know, they work together u because you know some of these subjects aren't easy and I know they're doing that at the elementary level working together and I think the professional development time working together. So,
>> thank you for bringing up your point. You know, h how do we how do we stop this from happening again? And I hope no one takes this the wrong way, but I'm not sure that we should make sure that it doesn't happen again.
We have things in place to to review and to to allow teachers to have that freedom, but also to have um you know, feel free to edit appropriately. Um and I empathize with the parents that were upset by this. Um but it brought them
into the school to have this conversation. Um, people were uncomfortable. I I am, you know, I'm an educator. I'm a firm believer we do grow from being uncomfortable. Um, and I hope this doesn't happen often, but from what I understand, there was some good dialogue
between the parents and the school. Um, was brought to our attention and and changes that were made. So, all in all, that that's a very positive thing. Um yeah, I I I I really do appreciate the fact that parents advocate for their
children and that's the way it should happen. Um not everybody gets what they want and quite honestly and I'll say this, I I have more communication and support of the book than against the book, but um I really do appreciate you and the others bringing that bringing
that up. Uh with that said, I have a Oh, yep. >> One more thing. Do I have to change my motion to address the curriculum part? >> No, you don't. >> No. Okay. >> What What do you mean?
>> Well, Kristen mentioned that we can vote today to vote for the book, but ensure that the curriculum doesn't come up again. >> Right. If the book is retained, you could It sounded like you all were unanimously saying the book should be in the curriculum.
>> Yeah. >> And I I don't think it'll I mean it's >> I take it as this was a teachable moment for staff leadership, parents, you know, us. So I I think uh
without placing undue restrictions on staff I think I think going forward to >> and I I do think the policy committee should look back at that school committee policy. There's some things
that are unclear in it. One is that it talks about library materials in the policy but it really is meant to be an umbrella overall curriculum. Yeah, for example. And then the other one that we mentioned about how many of each sort um
are there parents there or not? They're not parents there. That's also unclear. >> The motion is before us to retain the book in the curriculum. It's been seconded. It's time for a vote. All those in favor I
>> Thank you. Moving on. Portrait of a bridge. >> Great. So, um this is just a quick introduction for you about um the work that's been done um by many many groups
uh to create what we're calling portrait of a graduate. We'd like students to um graduate with sets of skills in these five areas. We'd like them to be compassionate citizens, resilient problem solvers, effective communicators, skillful collaborators,
and transformative thinkers. So, as you know, you were here last year. I wasn't, but there was a huge committee that worked on this um and many different groups created it. So, what I'm telling you about now is what are what are we doing with this moving forward? So, if
you turn to the back of the handout, and if anybody wants a handout in the room, Janet has some extra handouts. Um, so what you can see is five columns of work that we're doing right now. We're in the midst of right now. Um, the, uh,
teachers have worked on this, teacher leaders have worked on this, uh, the superintendent's advisory council has worked on this, administrators have worked on this. Um, so we have a lot of engagement and we're going to have even more. So the competencies that first
column has been defined. The second column is what are the exact skills that we want students to have and then we rewrite those as I can statements. So um, for example, I can take an active not passive role in my community. Um so
there's five I can statements written for each of the competencies. Very soon the administrative team um tomorrow we'll take a look at this and um firm up those first three columns. So then
moving forward we're working with the full faculty to do the last two columns the um experiences. This will be by grade level span K to two, three to five, six through eight, 9 through 12 to make sure that there are lots of chances
for students to be introduced to the skills, to practice the skills, and then to be assessed on the skills. Um, and you can see it's sort of a different cut at our same curriculum. Um, and then we're going to enhance certain experiences to be what we're calling
touchstone experiences. those last um column there on the sheet. Um and so for example, we're looking at redesigning a ninth grade English unit um to be around effective communicators because all students take nth grade English. That's
one of the classes. So it's completely equitable and there staff is uh in the midst of redesigning uh their Touchstone experience, sometimes called a capstone. I changed it to Touchstone because they could happen anywhere over the course of
the school year. Capstone is usually at the end of the year. Um, so nth grade English, for example, students may do something like uh research and write a persuasive essay um on a passion topic
and then actually give it as a speech. So that would be all forms of communication. Does that make sense? Is that Yeah. So that's kind of where we are. >> Yes. I think one of the important things is that um being able to as we we'll
talk about the competency determination, you know, the sign for graduation. Um this will be really the direction we want to be moving in and I know you know many schools have already moved in this direction but this cuts across you know all students. Um, and we call these
durable skills, but being able to tie this in at all levels, like you know, how can we actually see this not only the curriculum and how can we prove that students are successful in these areas and what does this mean? I think this touchstone experience piece, the capstone really will weigh into this
heavily. And at some point, I'm sure we get into the evaluation and I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but being able to draw into so as a parent knowing like how does my child perform in these particular areas, that'll be very clear. So anyway, I think the work
has been great and we have a lot of work to do on this, but um it's really gonna I think speak volumes to what our students can do and really make sure they're marketable to move forward. They're already marketable, by the way. They do wonderful things, but I like how it's
going to cut across everybody. >> Any questions on the update? Um, as I read through these, it strikes me as though these are iron
both the competencies and the skills are what I would say are soft skills. >> Yeah. >> Incompetency. Um, as opposed to, you know, graduates going to come out knowing how to do X, Y, and Z. Is it
simply assumed that that's part of the curriculum process or because the you know someone could look at this and say well the forit of the graduate leaves out the technical things we want students to to be confident of
that. So I guess my question is philosophically how did how did we go in this direction? >> Um actually this is we're we're kind of behind to be honest with you. This is a national movement in terms of looking at you know when graduates you know cross
that stage they have these are all tools in their toolkit to be able to apply for various areas. So you know when you look at for example the resilient problem solvers you know you can take tech you could plug in any facet of our curriculum right >> that's the intent or any facet of a pathway into any of these competencies
to see how that works and how that really you know mastering these we really should call them durable skills the soft skills um but the mastery of those will allow them to be able to you know let's face it we need to work for
IIA how does the AI how does that work and how can we incorporate that into a learning module and have students actually break that down, >> right? A science project, >> sure, >> STEM, anything of that nature. They need all of these things, quite frankly. >> So, that that that piece is it's it's
basically like that first level when you work in the pyramid, >> the finished product at the top is is the touchstone experience. So taking these all and applying it the foundational items and and the curricular pieces that are introduced by the teacher >> as well as the skills they develop be
able to come out and say this is what I can demonstrate and this is how it works and this is using these particular competences. I don't know if that makes sense, but >> it does. And and frankly, if you were out in the real world, in the business world, these are the competencies,
correct, you'd be looking for in general. You know, you can be hiring someone, you can get 15 people with bachelor degrees, something all who come across a really smart, >> right? >> But the one you hire, you hope has all these.
>> Exactly. So, the grading scale, that's not going to change. Yeah. >> Right. That that that isn't going to change. But being able to pull out like how do we know that our students you know have they mastered these competencies that can be certainly weighed into and they should be weighed into because that's part of assessing
>> to get to the final product. >> Right. >> Okay. >> Because I think it is more than you know opening the door as you said when you have to think on your feet you know is really something we're hoping that all the graduates they can do but reinforce it with this. >> Yeah they absolutely need to have all
these never. >> That's right. So I don't want to I don't want this to feel like it's a replacement for the technical information or the hard you know the mathematics and things that they really need to dig in deep. So they have those tools but it's a matter of like how do
they pull us together to solve a problem. I get it. Like I look at effective communicators. My immediate thought is they'll be able to know how to write. Great if they also know how to speak. That's all part of communication,
>> right? But I guess all of that rounds into expressing their ideas clearly. I mean, >> I get it, >> right? And I think it's important for us to be able to show like it's great to say these things, but how can a student
actually demonstrate, >> right? >> And how can our great educators be able to bring this into the classroom and also how can we align with the elementary, middle, high school? >> Yeah, that's I get it. Thank you. >> Moving on. Evaluation.
>> Sorry. So, I just put this together just to be very clear. Um, as we've adopted the strategic plan, you know, most of my goals are built around the strategic plan. So, I just want to keep this very simple. So, in February, we'll have a strategic plan update and that aligns
with our district and my superintendent goals. Um, and then in May, we'll we'll I will submit the the progress report to school committee. Then you'll have all the evidence to uh make your decision and create a draft of a summitative of my final evaluation. and then in June uh
present um the findings and then share the summitive and vote what your feelings are in terms of uh the four standards along with the superintendent goals. So secondly um you know a lot of the work does take place in May but I do want to give an update in February just
to show where the progress is kind of informative so then that way you have the information you need in May to make u an informed decision in June. So, it's not really much different than it's been, but I want to clarify it really connected the strategic plan because I think you brought that up last time
maybe uh Eric and talking about all the different goals, but they all align strategic plan. >> Any questions for the superendent? >> We have four policy recommendations by the superintendent. We should probably vote on them individually, but let's
just go through the president. >> Excellent. Um, so I just want to thank Julie and the feedback from CPAC in terms of um the bullying harassment policies, the um quite frankly the amended policies that we've already had. Our attorney uh has studied them and
through our audit, you know, found that we need to make changes to our actual policies. We've been working internally in terms of our practices and procedures. So these are all amended policies. So I can go um through each of them. Um I'll just give you the highlights in terms of what was
recommended through our attorney. Um so the first one is the non-discrimination and harassment policy AC. Uh so the edits really quite frankly uh align back to 2020 title 9 regulations. Um that that is a big piece. Also the USDA
guidance on meal modifications and disability discrimination. uh those edits comply with this as well as the definition of race under Mass General Law. So um the amended um policy AC as I shared in the folder is just that. So
I'm asking for a first reading for policy AC. Do I hear a motion? >> Uh I move that we uh set up a first reading for the uh policy AC. Second. Any discussion?
Hearing none, take a vote. All those in favor? >> I >> I. >> Next is the appendicy to civil rights policy ACE. And this um the revisions have to comply with the new civil rights grievance procedures, the bias title
nine grievance procedures and then our updated bullying in prevention intervention plan. So just to ensure that this alignment meets our district policies and regulatory requirements. So my recommendation is that we adopt policy AC for first reading.
>> Do I hear a motion motion to adopt policy AC for revision? >> Really it's AC, isn't it? >> ACE >> for revision. Second. Sorry, I noticed that ACCE also has
language regarding discrimination. And is it meant to be any different than the discrimination policy that just fored it? Is it, you know, was the one the one before that we just voted on is a discrimination policy. And now when
you go into ACE, it talks about discrimination. Is that intentional? Is that just the way they >> Yes, if I may, chair. Uh, yes. Because the the civil rights grievance procedures are this is an update with that which connects with discrimination. >> Okay. Yes.
>> Any other questions? Seeing none, take a vote. All those in favor? I >> I >> the next recommendation is to update our bullying prevention policy JICFB and the policy our current policy um as
through our attorney reveals that there's some compliance issues that we need to correct. So the wording is around that uh authorize required stakeholders to develop which we have uh and assign the principal the authority to implement see the plan because ultimately we have the policies but at
the building level and district level we work hand in hand. So the recommendation is to accept the building policy Jifcb for first reading. >> So move second. >> Any discussion questions?
Seeing none take a vote. All those in favor >> I >> and the last one is the bullying prevention intervention plan which is JICFB-R. Um so this really is just updating and and putting a more comprehensive
detailed framework um fully align with the statutory and regulatory requirements and really outlines our district responsibilities and really uh as mentioned earlier increases the accountability which is which is important. um and and really just clear roles, compliance structure, improved
accountability, which we all want. Um so the recommendation is to accept the bullying prevention and intervention plan JIC FB-R for first reading. >> So move >> second. Any discussion or questions?
Seeing none, have a vote. All those in favor? I >> thank you. Moving on, unfinished business, the superintendent recommends two policies for secretary.
>> Thank you. Um and also thank you for the um acceptance of the work for the bullying harassment big for us and the work is really important. The compsy determination as we noted in the first reading really just aligns with our
updating to expectations of the state which just basically is uh a base level for showing mastery and also satisfactory completing coursework and the courses outlined uh essentially are the same courses as the previous company's determination
essentially grade 10 courses. Please keep in mind that our graduation requirements are are higher, but this is a baseline piece that we have to put in place and and adopt um a compy determination policy by December 31st. Um so this was vetted through by our
curriculum team um our high school as well as Miss Anderson on this. So I have a motion. So move second. Any discussion? And just to be clear, this is basically
in l of the fact that MCAS is no longer correct. >> Correct. >> Yes. >> Anything else? >> Seeing none, we'll take the vote. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. I. >> Okay. And then for the next one, I would like to make a recommendation. Um we did
have some review with the entrance age that was accepted for first reading. You mind? >> Sure. >> So in consultation with our um our principles at the elementary level as well as the DTA um the provision and the
change in this particular policy revolves around creating some flexibility for grade one as an entrance age. Right? Kindergarten is unchanged. that date is must be five years or old or on or before September 1st. We wanted
some flexibility with grade one. Um because there's been situations where a child may be very close in grade one with the readiness, but based on the policy was so rigid that they would not be able to enter grade one and therefore
either go to private and then repeating kindergarten just doesn't make sense if they already have the skills. So, I'm really proud of the the recommendation of our elementary principles as well as the DTA because honestly, we want a child to be successful. Um, so the wording, as you note, the crossout was
the previous. So, I'm asking for a second reading of this policy to be accepted with provisions that will allow the collaboration between the principal and teachers um that demonstrate um the readiness uh with district procedures
which I think is important because we want to have consistency. So essentially you pass the policy right with the adjustments um and then our team will go to work and develop the readiness piece across the district utilizing our teachers and their expertise as well as our principles and we I think this will
be a very successful policy. That's my recommendation please. >> So move second. >> Any discussion or questions? The only thing I'll say is that we talked about this at policy subcommittee when we had the meeting
flexibility. Thank you for that. Sure. Anything else? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. >> Opposed. Order of business. >> Order of business. >> Minutes. >> The secretary moves to approve and
release the minutes from the October 6, 2025 regular meeting. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Consent agenda. Agenda. >> I move the approval of the consent
agenda. Second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I >> communications, anything. >> I do have legislation.
>> Um received information from uh Representative Karns. Um quick summary of the education related legislation we passed last week. Um a literacy bill to improve reading outcomes among elementary school students. We talked about that a little bit. Um she goes on
to say that uh there's been a significant amount of research done to find out how best to teach children to read. Phonics works. and she was um pleased to say that she feels that dams is already it's not an issue in Damas because we've already started to address
that in the curriculum. Um then uh she was uh very much responsible for a financial literacy bill that is I believe going to kick in in 2026 and basically is going to require school districts to provide instruction to
middle and high school students on personal financial literacy consistent with standards set by Desi. It'll cover everything from opening a bank account to borrowing, simple compound interest, and more. this will begin 2026 and we've
had a few um residents talk about this as a need for students. So Sally's very proud of that and she was one of the co-sponsors. And then um lastly, she said this would be of interest to our language teachers. They've updated the state bylaw on what
she calls a seal of biiteracy. Um, it's somewhat technical and you all probably know more about it than I do, but my assumption is that teachers can actually receive this sort of a certification that they are bilingual. Um, I don't
know if it's for students, but it looks like it's I'm guessing Oh, student students. I'm sorry. So, a student can actually get a seal that like a seal >> an an official recognition that they are bilingual
additional language. So, um, >> oh, that's cool. An actual seal. Um, so the bill updates the criteria by changing the MCAST requirement to allow another assessment or equivalent. So, you can get this without uh without the
MCCAST piece. So, um, the financial lit list of uh topics is exhausted. Again, she's very proud of that. So, um, good stuff happening on the wall. If I could just add one more and >> please.
>> Yep. Um and we had the seal of bi literacy at the high school and we do have kids participate in that in the language typically would be like an AP level. >> Oh wow. >> Um for that but um there I did attend a a public hearing on chapter 70 funding.
Um Desi is going across the state just getting feedback on the chapter 70 funding formula and we know that quite frankly it needs some serious updating. um as it was presented over 25 years ago, it doesn't truly reflect the change in needs in terms of uh services,
transportation, increased costs with auto replacements and special education. Also rep not necessarily representative, but Tom may show wealth on residential piece, but not at the actual uh free cash and other associated monies to help fund education. So um I many of the
speakers came up and expressed they felt a lot of inequities with the formula particularly those that may be in the more residential with less uh industry in their particular neighborhood. Um and certainly one person came up and I was very glad to hear them say this isn't pitting one interest against the other.
This should just be increased funding that's equitable for all which makes a lot of sense. So they're gathering that information and hopefully there will be enough energy to look at the formula and make the proper revisions. um because a lot of districts really are struggling in making some tough options and
decisions um because the funding is just really going to be challenging for all of us and it will continue um and there's some really compelling stories. So um I just wanted to inform the committee that I attended that but not necessarily that but that has been a discussion.
Um, I'll jump in just very quickly with some Davis Cares update. The change in my schedule sadd because I can no longer attend Davis Cares when it's scheduled, but I was very happy to see that there were 20 people in attendance. So, it just tells me it's still going very
strong. And then some of the things I want to highlight, I was very impressed with that there's a youth mental health first aid um, but it ends up going on with in conjunction at Damas police uh, department with two women. I don't know Laura Mayor and Meg uh Wyvenson.
Um you know, basically the focus is on teens that are in, you know, having a mental health crisis and how to how to how to render first aid to that. Um we heard about Katie Greer giving her presentation to high school and she's going to give another one at the middle school. That that's great work. Um JD MZ
who's the chair of the Danvas Accessibility Commission chair is um working on doing a film festival fight for 504 with students from Davis High School. Uh and then there's a woman Amanda Lane from Hawk who um she had a
youth and family uh programming initiative in regards to prevalence of teen dating abuse and she has some other um uh trainings in in her repertoire. sound really interesting for our students. So I'm really happy to hear that you know there's just all these
resources coming in through Dam's cares impressive. >> May I have one more thing chair? Sure. So Dammer's Cares is involved with as you know we sent out information this week regarding community resources uh particularly those families that may be
struggling with SNAP resources not being available but more importantly just challenges anyway. So, it was nice to see that galvanized, but Damber's Cares is looking to put together a district-wide food drive after Thanksgiving. A number of our schools have food drives scheduled, you know,
for the month of Thanksgiving, November, but um it'll be organized by the students where they'll have drop offs at each school and we set up a give Butter account. So, if people do not wish to donate food, they can do cash if they wish through our online system. So more
information but Damber's care students um will will organize this through dams care. So I think it's a wonderful thing and a lot of people in the community are asking about that. So >> very nice. >> Any anything else from any other subcommittees? >> No. Uh our next meeting is December 8th
and without any objection this meeting is adjourned. >> Motion to motion to have a second. Seconded. >> All those in favor? >> I. Good night, Dis.