I'd like to call the August 11th meeting of the school committee to order. Danvas Public Schools is a dynamic community of independent learners dedicated to respect, responsibility, creativity, and the pursuit of academic
and personal excellence. This meeting is being broadcast on Davis Community Access Television. And if anyone watching is recording this, would you please let us know? Let's begin with items of interest to the superintendent.
Does anyone have anything to uh to offer or they'd like to speak about? Begin with items of interest. >> Is this um where I would give a CPAC update? >> Um not just yet. >> Julie, I'm going to try to put you in uh
right when Christina finishes her spot. So, I'd like to take note of something that um the superintendent shared with us. I was very pleased to see that we have received or we've been selected to
receive um the early um literacy tutoring, high dosage early literacy uh tutoring through Desi. Uh the focus on really promoting literacy is with priority given to grade
one. I was very happy to see that we got that because that kind of has been uh that kind of goes to what we've been talking about. It's driving the uh literacy of our our young learners. So, thanks for that, Dan. >> Absolutely. Through the chair, if it's
okay. Um >> at the conclusion of uh Kristen Anderson's update or entry, Julie Passnack is on and was going to give a brief update on that uh because that is something Yeah. Anything else?
>> All right, let's move on. Information from the superintendent. >> Thank you, Mr. Shannon. I'll share my screen. We put together some slides. Uh we have a variety of items uh tonight to cover.
Hopefully, this will good. Okay. Just uh just quickly, I'll do an overview of a personnel update with more detail in September once we finalize our hiring. Uh student services will be up tonight. Christina Ryan is here to talk about her extended year program. Uh and
that's where we'll put the CPAC uh update in there as well tonight. Uh and then Kristen Anderson, our assistant superintendent, will provide her entry findings and then Julie will pop in and talk about our early literacy tutoring. and then Pamrum is on to talk about um
the format we'd like to move forward with our budget presentations and then we have the update from the uh school committee retreat. So I'll begin so quickly. It's been a a very busy summer. Um as always, you know, we have retirements, we have those who may move away, leave the district for various
reasons and you know the hiring that we've done to this point includes through the spring. So we've brought a board Kristen and uh Mr. Strauss to instruct the high school. Uh we've brought three team chairs which we'll talk more about in September. We're very happy about that as a piece to move our
student services forward. A service desk analyst. Um we brought aboard two support positions uh through data processing and instructional assistant. They've been great in really helping streamline our data flow. Um we've brought aboard a number of uh unit AS we
call them whether it's teachers some one-year leaves that we're filling um two school psychologists which I'll talk more about in September but an opportunity for us to upgrade and really improve some programming at Thorp and at the middle school and instructional assistance and all told uh we're about
where we were last year uh with the same amount of hires um nothing really looking there u because we've added a few that we really needed for this particular year to support our programming coming. Uh we also have a position change. Mr. Dear will he is now the uh secondary director of curriculum.
And then moving on, you know, in terms of open positions uh where we had a our assistant director of student services at the secondary level has is moving on and we're just about ready to finalize a hire there. That will be announced. Um
we are looking we have an eighth grade special education teacher need. were very close uh ready to offer and the same with the language based teacher as well that might be closed as of today. Um instructional assistance we're we're closing the gap on some of those and the
general cafeteria workers. So you know we're about where we were last year in terms of the hiring in terms of bringing people aboard and you know we have two weeks to go before our staff reports and students are here September 2nd. So we're very confident that we are in a good place and we'll be ready to open
the doors. So, I don't know if any of the committee has any questions. Okay, great. I'll move forward and like I said, I'll present the more detailed and introduce some of the new members, particularly the um at this student service level in September. Um Kristen
Christina Ryan, I'm sorry, if she's here, I'd like her to come on and give an update in terms of our extended school year programming, which we're very proud of. uh another successful summer and it's a great program that we're very proud of. So Christina, I'll turn it over to you.
>> Sure. And with me tonight I have Bethany Stangis who is our ESY coordinator who would like to give an update on our staffing patterns for the summer. >> All right, perfect. Can everyone hear me? All right. So like Christina said, I am Bethany Stangis. I have been the
extended school year coordinator for about the past nine years. Um, each year is a bit different, so I'll give you guys a quick rundown of how this year went. Overall, we had a very successful program. Um, so our program this year ran from July 7th to August 7th. It is a Monday through Thursday program with
nothing happening on Fridays. Um, programming for students in the preschool through grade 5 was held at Smith School while the middle and the high school programs took place at the Danvers High School. All of our related service and academic instruction for our extended school year program were
provided at Smith School. A snapshot of the students who attended our program. Overall, we recommended 270 students to our program for the summer. Of those students, 12% were preschool age, 68% were elementary age, and 20% were
secondary age. In terms of the service breakdown, 47% of our students were recommended for full day programming. So that is something that would be held Monday through Thursday from 9 to 12. 27% of our students were recommended for part-time programming. So something that didn't necessarily occur daily, maybe
one or two days a week, but was for that 3-hour stretch. And then 26% of our students were recommended for drop-in services such as academic support, speech therapy, occupational or physical therapy, what have you. In terms of what we offered for programming, we had a few different
full-time programs. We did have a preschool and elementary, moderate, and severe learning centers. We had our elementary therapeutic learning center, our elementary language-based learning disability center. Our middle school severe learning center and our high school life skills program. And like I said, those were all the programs that
ran Monday through Thursday for multiple hours a day. We had our part-time program and those were social skills and the preschool program which each student attended one to two days a week. And then we had our drop-in service which was a weekly appointment or a bi-weekly appointment and that was things like
academics such as reading, writing or math. Our related services such as speech, OT and PT and then also our middle school social skills was also a drop-in service. In terms of student attendance, approximately 75% of the students recommended for extended school year
services did attend in some capacity this summer. We definitely had much greater attendance in the preschool and um primary areas as opposed to the secondary was definitely where our attendance was lacking a little bit. Um to just give you guys an idea of the
staffing required to run our summer program, we did hire a total of 81 staff members for our extended school year program. That included myself as the coordinator, 15 special educators. We had two social workers, a reading specialist, two BCBAs, seven behavior technicians, five related service
providers, two nurses, an administrative assistant, and without our lovely IAS, we had almost 50 of them. We couldn't have put together. Um, >> so that is just a brief rundown of what our summer entailed. Um, I'm happy to
answer any questions anyone might have. >> Sounds like you were busy. >> Very busy. And I don't know if Christina has anything to add on that. >> I was just going to say thank you Bethany for that update. I would say the one piece that we're really investigating is although 75% of our
students attended, we're really curious about what 25% of our population did not attend and really looking towards are there certain areas that we really need to look at because we staff for the program that we plan to run and so if there are students who year after year do not attend, that's something we need
to look at for future programming. And and I do want to say that we've had great collaboration with our transportation department. The transportation improved. There were a number of adjustments that took place. I had the opportunity to visit the Smith location. Um and just a wonderful
program and and I do see our high school as our office is located in the high school. So all in all, I think it was a very successful summer. Should be very proud of the work. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Julie, you're up now with a CPAC update.
Hi everyone. My name's Julie Defilippo. Um, and I'm from the Dammer CPAC. I hope everyone is having a nice summer. Um, we've been really busy. Uh, mostly our goal for the summer was connecting with families and the community and spreading awareness about you that we are up and
going. Um, so we have had sensory tents at all the Falcon Fest events including last night's um, fireworks. Uh we partnered with um we rock the spectrum foundation and we were able to have you know two large tents um and you know
some families said to us we weren't we probably wouldn't have been able to come or even just like stay and make it if we didn't have this break um it was very quiet in the tent and had all sort of the items that you know uh were really helpful. So it was a great opportunity. We really are grateful to Dammer
Falconfest for inviting us to come. Um otherwise, uh you'll be hearing soon um hopefully in September about the survey that we put out. Um we've analyzed the results and you know we're going through and finalizing some of the findings and
our board met for a strategic planning meeting and we used all that feedback to kind of look in the year ahead and and the things that we want to do and the things that um families asked us to do. We have also been really busy at um our
with the Apple uh award that we've been given uh along with um the Dammers Public Schools to uh from the Federation for Children with Special Needs to um sort of collaborate and and learn around how we can all uh work together to
improve special education. Um we are really grateful to all our members of our team. Um they participated every Tuesday night for I think like six weeks in a virtual training. Um and so Christina Ryan and Angelique Dosta were
part of that. Um two members of the accessibility commission, Amy Valenquez and Mea Kaufman. Um and uh Sean Dherty from the school committee was there and and represented uh you all you folks all really well. So, um, we're wrapping that
up and kind of looking to now that we have that background, what does it look like going forward? I'll say lastly, um, we up some pretty big updates to our website and just wanted to call attention to any families
that are watching. um the resources page has really uh been strengthened um not only sort of in our local community but I think the questions that we get asked more often is how do I find this certain provider so we've given some tips and
guidance around you know search engines and how to navigate that process and hopefully that will be helpful to families um and I think you know generally we we were really grateful to to Bethany and Christina who invited us to the ESY program last week and we were
there in the mornings and greeting families um trying to make those connections and um you know we're just really looking forward to to building um some community going forward. Julie, thank you so much for your efforts and um I know you're very active, your group
was teaming very active over the summer. Um and look forward to I know we shared some open house dates and we'll give some more updates in in September and I'm looking forward to the uh additions to the update for myself, the superintendent's update. My first one will go out on the 22nd of August. Um so
thank you again for all the efforts and um we're just very appreciative of all that you do to bring our families closer together. Thank you. >> Thank you for that, Julie. >> Okay. Thank you, Bethany. Thank you,
Christina. We appreciate the the summer program again. It was awesome. We're going to move on to our next piece. If I can get to my spot. Okay. And we have Kristen Anderson, our assistant superintendent, who took over July 1 and has hit the ground running, and she put
together her entry findings. and then also too, she's going to talk a little bit about the data presentations moving forward to school committee to inform our community about our student achievement. So, Kristen, I'm going to turn this over to you. >> I am so happy to be here. Thank you for hiring me, all of you school committee
members, and uh I have really enjoyed the last six weeks working with all the administrators here and um the parents and getting to know everybody. So, I'm I'm very very excited to be here. Um, so I wanted to make my entry findings kind
of interactive. So if you can just advance the slides actually pretty fast, Dan. I um met with a lot of people coming in. So over 40 um DPS educators. I analyzed
all the student data that I could get my hands on in the um DC portal. Um I reviewed the culture surveys. I um read and watched the local news. I examined reports and audits. And so from all of
that, I pulled it together to um if you're familiar with David Letterman's top 10 lists um that's in the Wayback Machine. Some people don't even know who David Letterman is. I know. Um so we're going to uh countdown to number one.
So number 10 is that students are on solid ground academically. Um what you see on the graphs on the bottom is the MCCAST scores. Um and you can see that um on all of these measures uh listed there. Uh the state average for academic
achievement in uh advanced and meets expectation categories is about 41%. Uh and Danvers is at about uh 43% in 2024. So we don't have the totals for 2025 just yet, but we'll have them about
in a month. But we're at about average right now. Next slide. So uh similarly, not just looking at academic achievement, but looking at growth, um we're at about average as well. So by definition the state of
Massachusetts is at a 50% growth. Um and and you can see those different measures were about 47 48 41 depending on what the measure is. These are not just academic. This is also attendance and graduation rates and so forth. So next
slide please. So a lot of this is of a lot of the success is due to the excellent work that's been done on curriculum and making sure that it's aligned to the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks. Um so examples of this are fish tank
reading was really uh recently adopted at the elementary level open sed uh at middle school science and so forth. Um this work will continue and in the past it's um really been supported by lots of
great grants um from the 18 foundation um that sponsored project lead the way and so forth from DESIE. So we're excited to apply for a lot more grants to support that work. So next slide
please. So um within the strategic plan, subgroups of students are a priority. So there are gaps between the general population and then some um subgroups of population like students who qualify as
lowincome or special needs or students of color. So we um are going to work on those um as we have done in the past. Um, and the system we use to work on that is the next slide. And I'm happy to say that there are lots of good pieces
of a multi-tiered system of support in place. This is the system where you identify learning gaps for each individual student who's below benchmark and then you give them small groupoup instruction with certified staff to get
them back up to um the general population and even beyond. So along with that, next slide is our positive behavior supports. Lots of good work has been done in this room. So that's to get uh students behavior and their social
emotional um learning really up to par. And so lot of great work already happening um in the schools in that area. Number four, next slide, is that in the in the past couple of years, the student services department has really
been strengthened with heart and with strategy. So, we look forward to a great partnership there. The next slide is about communication. So, there's already a lot of good communication, but that is a pillar, the third pillar of the strategic plan as
you'll see. And um that will continue growth in uh strong communication particularly with families. Coming to Danvers after being in in some high achieving districts, I was very happy to see that the professional
development system that is offered for educators is literally second to none. It is the best system I've ever seen. Um and we will continue all the pillars of that system. And then lastly, top 10. Uh
number one is that the community is really committed to a sense of belonging and well-being among our students, among our staff, among the families, and you just see that a million ways. There's a new uh um wayfinder curriculum that's
been established uh the Danvers Cares, the Hawk Talks. So, we're really really excited about that. So, as you can see, next slide, please. there's a lot of positive to build on. Um and so our goal in the um five years of the strategic
plan is pretty auspicious. It's to make 10% growth in every area. So 10% growth um in uh academics, in social emotional, in attendance and behavior. So, and I
can talk a little bit about how that's measured on the next slide. So, um about three times a year, the assistant superintendent usually comes to the school committee and gives an update. And I just wanted to tell you a little bit, uh about what that's going
to look like, um from me as I am a trained statistician, so that's my background. Um, we will give you updates across all measures, MCCAST, the AP test, the Dibbles reading scores, Il math scores, students grades. Um, and
we're going to look at them. Um, both student achievement, so just raw achievement, where are they? Um, and then also how much growth have individual students made? And I want to see 10% improvement on both of those
over the next five years. Um, and so we're going to uh compare our current students against state averages and national averages. State averages are generally higher than the national averages. Um, and then
something that I like to do is take a basket of 20 districts that I compare us with who are the same as us socioeconomically. So, uh, that you'll see that as well. will examine uh student score presently
about against where they were in the past. So you can see the value added of a Danver's education. And then lastly, all of this data that I'm talking about is going to be um housed in a new data warehouse called
Panorama. And over in the side, you'll see a image of there's going to be four thermometers that you can just click on and see how we're doing academically, how we're doing in attendance, how we're doing in student behavior, and how we're doing in life skills, which is their
social emotional skills. Um, and that is the end of that. Uh, next slide, please. So, this is just a fun picture from our summer retreat with all the administrators. Um we had the great fortune to be over at St. John's and um
they treated us brilliantly. Lots of great ideas were had in that group. So you can see we're very happy. So with that, any questions about anything I just said very quickly. >> I have one Kristen. Um, a a question was raised in one of the superintendent
advisory committee meetings by a parent in regards to pan panorama, the data warehouse that you're going to use. Um, we've already discussed them, but I think for the public, could you just briefly talk about how you vetted them
and that it's, you know, the issue of privacy and student protection has been taken into consideration. >> Oh, yeah. Thank you for raising that because I I really want everyone to know that um Panorama has passed the Student Data Privacy Act. So, it's all set in
that it's furpa safe, HIPPA safe. So, um we really looked into that before we put um any student data in in there. So, thank you for asking that question. >> Appreciate it. >> Josh, did you have a question?
>> Yeah, Mr. Shannon, if it's okay. Uh I have a question. >> Absolutely. >> So, the uh the panorama, will the school committee and parents have access to this? >> Nope, not yet. Um, right now we're just building it out. Uh, it's really at this point going to be for the administrators
um to guide where instruction is going in their individual schools. Um, and then teachers will have access just to their classes. >> Got it. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. No, I mean, this sounds this sounds great. I I appreciate the deep dive into this. >> Thanks.
>> I have a question if I could. Mr. Chair, >> go ahead. >> Kristen, thanks for this information. Um, can you talk a little more about how you'll measure the social emotional learning piece? >> Yeah. So, yeah, social emotional is measured in two ways really. Uh, part of
it is uh self-reporting. So we ask students um how they're doing on the what are called the castle five competencies. So um you know the first is how are students able to name their own emotions. Second is how are they
able to manage their emotions? The third is how are they able to name and recognize other people's emotions? And then how are they able to reach out and interact with other people? Meaning are they able to make friends? are they able to resolve conflicts? And then the last
castle area is uh students ability to uh solve problems. So you can really see that in like our health education and so forth. So in all of that we measure in two ways. One is we have the students selfassess through surveys and you'll
see that in our new wayfinder curriculum. Um and then we also have students uh assessed by their teachers. Um, so you'll see that on the uh progress reports, the report cards. Did that answer your question, Eric? >> It does. Thank you.
>> Great. >> Thank you, Kristen. >> Sure. And I think we have the next slide. Is Julie telling us a little bit more about that early literacy grant? >> And I'm not sure that the slide made it in the deck, uh, Kristen.
>> Okay. But >> is Julie Julie's aboard so she can start. Um >> Sure. I don't Kristen if you refresh it might be there. I don't know. >> Okay. I think this is Dan's version. Yeah. >> Gotcha. Okay. Um well, as u Mr. Shannon
referenced earlier last week, um we were excited to find out that we were awarded um a literacy tutoring grant through Desi. Um, and we applied last spring for this grant. Um, and as Mr. Shannon
referenced this, the goal of this grant, so DESIE is partnering with um, Amplify, which is a company that we actually utilize for our literacy data. Um, we also utilize them for our science curriculum, but they offer one-on-one
tutoring services that are virtual and one-on-one um, with students. This will be done during the school day. Um, we were excited to be awarded 41 seats for first graders. Um, and as I know you've heard me talk about before, the
importance of really having our K&1 students leaving on track with their reading and their early literacy skills. And so the focus of this grant is purely on our first grade students. We were awarded 41 students. Um so after we do our fall screening data um which we do
every fall, we will identify any first grade students who were below or well below benchmark um and we will reach out to those families and those students will qualify for um this uh additional tutoring support that we receive through
the grant. Um we have 41 seats that is based on our number of we had to submit our kindergarten our end of kindergarten um data for these rising first grade students. Our end of kindergarten data had 83% of our kindergarten students
leaving kindergarten at or above benchmark. Um and so that leaves approximately 37 students in our rising first grade class who did not meet benchmark across the five schools. Um, so we will screen students again in the fall, but again, I was happy with that
41 seat number because knowing that we have 37 kids leaving kindergarten. Um, we have a little bit of extra u room to play with with the 41 seats. Um, so we will be identifying the students who are eligible at the beginning of first grade. We'll be reaching out to families
um so that they can agree um to opt their child into this additional tutoring. This what I want to be clear about is this will not replace our literacy instruction or our literacy um intervention and prevention programming that we have worked so hard to build. This would be in addition to that. Um
and the reason I'm excited about that is that if we can really double triple dip these first graders and leave that whole first grade cohort ready to roll into second grade, that will be a great trajectory to set forward um into upper elementary. Um, and I had another person
ask me today, how much is this grant worth? Um, and so it doesn't have a numerical number associated with it. Um, however, I was able to figure out from the Amplify website if we were paying for this tutoring service. Um, what that
would cost and then times the 41 seats that we have across a school year is just shy of $200,000. It was $199,000 something something. Um, so the grant um, you know, we'll have some logistics to work out with, um, providing students
with this, connecting with families, making sure all the logistics work out. But I think we're really excited about that extra extra dose in first grade and really strengthening that first grade cohort. They came out of kindergarten pretty strong with 83% of them at or above benchmark. If we can leave first
grade 95% or higher, we are golden headed into second grade and above. So, we're excited to get the grant. Um, and we will continue to update you as usual on our reading data as it progresses through the year.
>> That was excellent news, Julie. I was really happy to see that because we all we all know that um you know being able to read for understanding is just going to help per performance in the classroom or any or any of the the metrics that we we use to or Kristen's actually uh
committed to using to show growth. Um how do you how are you identifying the students for this? >> Yep. So as part of the grant so desi my meeting today was with Desi and Amplify. Um, so we have to use our Dibbles data in the fall to identify any students who
are well below. We'll start with students who are well below in first grade. Um, and hopefully that's not more than 41 of them. Um, offer it to families. Um, and we want to try to fill those 41 seats. So if we fill all of them with students who are identified as
well below, that's great. If we have some more seats, we'll go into students who are below. Um, so we'll start with the neediest students. Um and then again at our regular benchmark periods so in the middle of the year. So 12 weeks in um we reassess students as you know in
the middle of the year and then those seat those 41 seats may go to different students in the second in the second trimester. So each cycle will be 12 weeks. Um so students will be identified from you know September to December. Um and then we reevaluate at the beginning
of January. We will identify which 41 students um will qualify um based on the dibbles data which could be some of the same students or some students may not receive it anymore and some new students may hop on. Um but again it will be databased um decision- making um with
the support and communication with families. >> Will we pull in students from say grade two if we don't have enough in grade one to fill those seats? >> That's a great question. So um if if I've identified and all the first graders are covered then I am allowed to
use those other seats for any students K to three. >> Great. Thank you. >> Awesome. Thank you Julie. And thank you very much Kristen. um look forward to you know in our discussions we met with with uh the chairman and Kristen just about her Kristen's style of presenting
the data and um we look forward to being able to present some very clear data throughout the year of student achievement. Um next I would like to bring Pamrum into the the room. Um, we had some discussions and actually I have to give Pam Crumb a lot of credit for
many things, but recently um discussing how can we present budget information to the school committee in a manner that uh is beyond just reading off the report that we've provided every month. And Pam has has some great ideas. Again, we met
with with the chair and Pam and Kristen, we sat down um and it's it's quite simple. she wants to put this together where it's it's timely, but really being able to do some deep dives into areas. Um, and I'm going to turn this over to her because I think I'm talking way too
much as usual. So, Pam, if you can join us here. >> Sure. Sure. Um, so the the recommendations that I would propose uh came out of uh the annual institute that I attended in May for the Massachusetts School Business Officials. They had a
session specifically about um budget reports to school committees and this is a the presentation was led in part one of the two presenters was Tracy Novik who um works with the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. So
this is the a large in large part based on their recommendations. Um I don't want to lean too heavily into the frequency part because it makes it seem like I don't want to come to the every every monthly meeting. Um but really
having a a monthly report um there generally there aren't a lot of changes from one month to the next. Um and it it is more beneficial to give uh a more substantive um in context report um every couple of months, every two or
three months quarterly is what the recommendation was. Um the goal would certainly be to make the report as useful as possible to the committee for you to be able to make um appropriate decisions and recommendations for the way to address any challenges that we
might be facing. Um and I I also think it would be probably helpful to vary the way that the data is being presented. um rather than an export from our accounting system that is a very dense
uh table of numbers uh covering every single account in our operating budget. Um I could instead focus more in buckets and f like talk about what's going on in the salary bucket and what's going on in the contracted services bucket and how
about all the curricular and other materials that we've purchased so far. Um, and then have a things that I'm watching section, which is kind of the way I've led the uh narration of the budget reports already, but um, what are the what are the areas that we're
watching that might be of concern or just are of note and try to put that information in context relative to what was going on last year or three years ago or five years ago. um so that it it can
give a little bit of a a forecast and maybe a a path to how we think the rest of the year is going to go or could go or should go. Um, a lot of probably the topics that would come up would be the ones that we would focus on already. Um,
tuition and transportation and legal services and substitute costs and some of the things that can be um, drivers in and how we have to figure out how to prioritize things. Um I mean I think the other thing that might be useful is rather than focus entirely on the
operating budget which is kind of what I've done to date in my budget reports is there are other fiscal items that uh the business office and the school committee's purview uh also touches. So it would be um to talk a little bit
about the grants that we have and uh kind of how those are what they've achieved and and what we what we are gaining for our students and our staff um through the use of the grants. Um student activities is very busy. That is how our mostly secondary, middle, and
high school students um engage in a lot of their extracurricular stuff. If there's a financial piece of what they're doing, um it flows through these student activities accounts. Um and then the capital investments that we are able to make through the town warrant articles both in vehicles and in um
technology. And so uh including items of interest I guess that fall under those uh accounts that are not in the operating budget I think could also prove to be uh enlightening and and
useful uh information to have. Thank you, Pam. >> You're welcome. Are there Are there any questions or even suggestions? Um I don't have like a a template at the ready yet for what this report is going to look like, but
um I got some good ideas at the Masbo Annual Institute and um I I'll work on developing something and welcome feedback along the way as well. Hoping to engage you in this
Yeah, Mr. Chair, uh just a quick comment. I I think uh Pam, I think this is great and I think uh the charts and tables, I think me as a visual person, I'd imagine the rest of the members probably appreciate it rather than going through, you know, a ledger line by line. I think it this makes a lot more
sense. So, uh looking forward to these. Thank you. >> Mr. Chairman, if I could >> go ahead. I um I think that the timing is fine and it sounds like the reports will be pretty in-depth. Um and I uh I
know I can trust that if something happens in the interim, the superintendent and and you as well, Pam, are going to keep us a breast of things that we need to know. So if something unusual happens between reports,
I trust we can expect to get an update at a different time if we need it. Yes, absolutely. >> Absolutely. And if I if I could add uh chair, um you know, as we have our planning meetings, if there's something that does come up of interest from the
committee that involves the business office, certainly, you know, we can make those adjustments as well. >> No, this sounds great. Anything to uh become more efficient, more informed, um I'm all for. Thank you. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Pam. Appreciate it. All right, moving on to our next piece. Uh, we had our school committee retreat last Thursday. I, you know, I I thought it was a great opportunity for us as a committee and, uh, Kristen Anderson attended with myself and Alicia Min from
the Massachusetts Associates School Committees facilitated the retreat. Um, and I think it was great. So, just some quick bullet points and I honestly I'd like to turn this over uh to the chair uh just for some of his feedback and we just hit some basic items, but um I I
think it was time well spent. >> Oh, is that turning it over to me? Is that what that constitutes? >> Yes, sir. Mr. Shannon, >> um I I thought it was a great use of the time. Um number one, everyone was there
and ready to go. Um, number two, I I really got the impression that it was taken seriously. People uh really looked hard inward. The the the committee is not I think uh
satisfied with your status quo. You know, that was clear through the conversations we were having that what are things that we can improve upon? What are things that we can continue to do better? And uh you know when I I I came away with that and I
felt very good about the work we did uh in that space. Um one of the things that became apparent was some of our policies have some
redundancy to it. Um, we also might want to uh rethink our commitment or our statement regarding public comment. Um, so I'd like to see I'd like to charge our policy subcommittee with with
reviewing I know they've done some really good work on our um on our protocol operating protocols, but I'd like to take a look at Oh, what's that document? I got it right here. uh norms and beliefs. They haven't been
they haven't been edited since 2015. So there's some again there's some repetition between the documents. I'd like them to take a look at that and see how they can be incorporated into into maybe one working document. Thoughts on that?
I I think that makes sense. Like >> any other takeaways from from the workshop? I thought it was a really good use of time. >> No, I I mean I I'll I'll go first. I think the uh since I was already talking, I I think uh it's just it was a
great use of the time. I think we're all prepared and I think we we are one of the comments that came up is we are a very well functioning board. you know, people respect each other and respect each other's ideas and and thoughts and um and and to your point, Mike, not not
not just kind of resting on the status quo. So, how can we continue even though we are doing great, how can we even be better? So, um some of the the topics that we touched upon are right here, but efficiencies and and just, you know, um just to be better overall. So, I I I
thought uh it was it was definitely a solid meeting. Yeah, I agree. I think we uh we work appropriately together. We communicate well together. Again, appropriately and uh you know, I think that we are
supportive of the work that the superintendent and his team does. But at the same time, I don't think any of us are afraid to uh ask questions and get the answers that we need. And I think one time or another, we've all um we've
all said, "Hey, we need to know a little more about this. We need to understand this more." And to their credit, Dan and his team are always willing to be transparent with us. And uh so I think we've got a good working system going on. Doesn't mean it can't be improved,
but uh we've got a good foundation to build from. >> Agree. >> Yeah. and and uh to touch on both of the points of the efficiency of the documents as well as the uh efficiency of us as a a board um you know we we
want the kids to be as efficient as possible but we have a couple of documents that you know there is a lot of overlap and condensing them into that one definitely makes sense it'll make it flow it'll make it rather than jumping back and forth everything is going to be on the same page uh even though it says
a lot of the same stuff um and I think that us as a board like it's been mentioned you know, we respect each other's backgrounds. Uh we respect each other's professional backgrounds. I mean, you look at a school board that has the the couple educators, a lawyer,
you know, guys who understand finance, things like that. We have all the pieces that we ask each other questions and we respectfully communicate. You know, some of some of us don't have the same lingo that Mike and myself might have, like hearing all of the acronyms of things that go on in school, but we're more
than willing to share things like that. and we might not get some of the things on the outside. So I think that the the collective that we have the the respectability I think is is well except my dog is dis disagreeing right now but >> anything else
>> uh on our end um with the with the committee you know the feedback is well taken certainly we want to be efficient and certainly you know value the communication with the community being able to show you know growth both and show areas that we need to address um and be very clear about that stemming
from public comment all through presentations just to ensure that we're using the time as efficiently as possible. Um so we're we're uh we're up for the task and looking forward to that. >> Do um do we need a motion to have the
policy subcommittee um review those documents and edit? Oh no, I could just Okay, great. >> Well, I don't believe you you've given us the charge and I think we just go with >> our first the policy uh chair is in
September. So, in meeting in advance, we'll make sure that's right there and I will look to have a draft >> prepared for that subcommittee meeting so we can vet through it then bring it to school committee in uh October. >> Thank you. And Dan, did you have something else that you wanted to add
here? >> Yes, sir, I do. Um just a a a point of order. I know that we have unfinished business next and then our new business and a big piece of our new business are the handbooks and approval. Although most of the work uh for approvals will
be at the high school. There have been some substantive changes there on some areas. Um just for the fact of respect, we have a few uh speakers, some students and a teacher that would like to give some input in terms of senior privilege and I'd like to do that now if it's okay. uh so they can leave the meeting
and then uh Alan Strauss, our principal, will be here to help facilitate that if that's okay at this time. >> That's fine. If there's no objection, >> thank you very much. If uh Principal Strauss, if you're available, um I'd like to turn this over to you to talk about senior privilege for next year
with the high school. >> Absolutely. Janet, do you see um the students in the attendees? I don't see them. They were >> here. Julie O'Neal and let's see Dalen and and uh >> Diana, are you here?
>> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yeah, they were >> wonderful. Wonderful. So, um thank you for taking us out of order um so that students in Mrs. O'Neal, happy anniversary, Mrs. O'Neal. >> Thanks.
uh get to uh speak to you a little bit and then let them go. They came and met with Mr. Demorro and I in June. Um and I continue to be incredibly impressed
with the poise and and ability of our students. I mean, I I don't know many of them, but the ones that I've seen in terms of coming in and and speaking exactly what's on their minds and doing it in a way that is powerful,
um, reasonable, and collaborative. So, they came to me and wanted to know if we could talk at all about senior privileges. Coming from multiple schools, senior privileges look very different. I was very surprised
um to see that the number of senior privileges that we have here in Danvers was pretty limited uh really to parking more than anything else. So the more they spoke, the more it made some sense, but I think it's really important that
you hear from them. Uh let them talk and Miss O'Neal, I'll give it to you as class advisor. Um and the floor is yours. Thank you, Mr. Strauss. So, I'm Julie O'Neal. I am the senior class adviser for the class of 26. And with me today,
we have our class president, uh, Dalen Martinez, and our class secretary, Danna Fagero. Uh, I trust them implicitly. So, why don't the two of you take the floor and just kind of go over the points, if you don't mind, of what we discussed with Mr. Strauss about the proposed
senior privileges. Hi, my name is Diana Figuro. I'm the secretary for the class of 2026 and I'm going to be talking about the parking and also our free tickets. So, for the first time ever, the DHS administration is giving seniors the opportunity to decorate parking spots in the student
lot. This fundraiser was highly requested by the class of 2026. We just closed submissions for our design/parking spots on August 1st and sold over 75 spots in total. The painting for those who purchase the spot is on August 21st, 9:00 a.m. to 2 p.m.
And then we're also very excited to announce that this school year seniors now have the opportunity to attend DHS sporting events free of charge. This includes all non MIAA championship games and competitions. We hope that this effort will increase the attendance and
support for our student athletes. Hi, my name is Dale Martinez and I'm the class president of the class of 26. Um, we're also discussing about um the opportunity to leave early during study hall or leave um later. Um, seniors who
have the study block um in their schedule would be able to leave school or arrive late to school without penalty. Uh we believe eligible individuals would need to be passing all their classes and would also have would
need per um parent permission. >> Thank you both. I'll just interject real quick. The final thing that uh Doom was just talking about. We haven't finalized any of those details. It's a conversation we've had with Mr. Strauss and I believe he has had with Mr. Bower and we really want to solidify something
like that. And if you're not familiar with our schedule in the high school, it is a waterfall schedule. And so if for some reason a senior would have a study that sits first block or last block in the day, they would, as long as they're in good academic standing with parents permission, have uh the ability to come
in late or leave early. We are working on logistics of uh if they come in when they're not meant to be there, where would they go? How do they sign in and out? and we're really hopeful that that is something that um can be approved and that is we will continuously check the
academic standing of these students who have permission so it's not just a one-off there you go for the year. Um but those are the three major things that we've been working on to really you know show the seniors that we are um helping encourage them making smart decisions becoming adults as they'll be
leaving the school this year um and you know making a good way in the world. So there we are. >> I'll start. >> Anyone have any questions about that? >> I'll start. I I have three children that went to DHS. The oldest benefited
from things that very similar to what you're talking about um without the parking or anything like that, but um I get the academic piece. What if what if the violation is on the behavioral
side? >> I'll be the one who will throw that out there. >> I I can respond to that. >> Citizen, what what are we going to do then? >> So, sure. >> One of the things that we're going to be looking at is um obviously academics are are key. We're going to continue to
check it not only through a marking period, but if a student loses the ability to have um early release or late arrival for uh term one, they can't earn that back term two academically. So, I
think that's important. I don't I don't believe um in the position that we're in that we should be saying all or nothing to kids. I think I I don't like that message necessarily. Um I think >> everybody can earn things back.
Behaviorally it's it's exactly the same thing. So if there are issues behaviorally um of which we are going to begin to uh call that out over the next two weeks the same kinds of things including what we're going to be talking about in a little little while with cell
phone violations. So, in order to come in late, in order to leave early, you must be in good academic behavioral standing um and not be abusing this privilege. If you're abusing the cell
phone privilege and and you're you're um constantly tardy to class during the day, you're going to lose that extra privilege. Um I don't see it being a problem. I I tend to see our seniors generally just from my experience to
deeply appreciate this opportunity. You know, again, we're not talking about middle of the day. We're talking about first period and last period. um if a student continues who has this continues to come in beyond
um after first period and and they have late arrival and they're coming in in the middle of second period, they're going to lose their ability to come in late. So, I I think this is a win-win for our students. I I think that it's certainly something our seniors deserve.
Um and it is only going to be for seniors. I I know our juniors will be calling us soon saying when can we have it, but um it will stick with seniors. >> No, thank you for that. And I I don't want to uh you know give the wrong impression. I I actually love the idea
and and I and I give thanks uh to the students for bringing this to our attention. Anything that drives positivity um I'm all for it. It's just as we know and and I'm a high school teacher, there's always going to be some outlier that's going to have to be dealt with
and to hear what you said just said. I really appreciate that. So, thank you all. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Well, Mr. Chair, if I may, I just have one one question as well. >> Yep. >> Um as a um as a coach, um I my question
will be um on the afterchool activity part of it. if these students choose to um and it goes through I I would have no problem with the ends of the day, but if they're late for their activities um you know that that's a that's tough for their teammates and their coaches. It
would that also play into um their privileges of getting to leave early if they can't make it back for a 2:30 practice or a 2:45 practice, whatever time that um their teams go. >> Uh that's a great question. I I I think
that um >> I've been through it before. That's why I'm asking. >> Sure. And and I've coached for years and and so I've seen the same thing. I I think that um I'm I'm actually meeting with all the coaches and Drew Betts um
>> and and part of what we're going to talk about is not only this but smart pass cell phones um the expectations and and knowing students as I do once we set the the rule and we stick by it they will
then do what they're supposed to do which means we have to have coaches doing the same thing. Coaches cannot be allowing. The advantage we have is that practices really don't start until 2:50 um almost 3:00 for most of our teams because teachers aren't getting out until 2:45,
>> right? >> Kids are staying for after school. So, I would be very worried about this and and one of the things that I first said when I heard it was I worry about um early dismissal because you're going to have kids trying to fly in for 215 practice
um with buses and and everybody leaving, but that's not an issue in Danver. So, I think we should be fine. Um but if it begins to impact programs, then yes, absolutely there is a responsibility.
>> Okay. appreciate you. Thank you. >> Y >> So, if there are no other questions from the committee, um Oh, Mr. Hamilton has his hand raised. One of our assistant principles. >> Thank you, Mr. Bower. And, uh, Mr. >> That's that's through the chair right now.
>> Oh, okay. Uh, Mr. Shannon, I just wanted to add uh a great presentation from Mrs. O'Neal and the students. Uh, uh, they mentioned good academic standing. They mentioned, you know, making sure they're meeting all the behavioral expectations.
Uh, but there's one other component that it's it's in it'll be in the handbook changes, too. But it's worth noting right now is that uh there also has to be adherence to the attendance policy. So, that's kind of the third barometer
in uh teasing out, you know, students eligibility for uh the senior privileges. So, the academics, the behavior, and then the attendance. So, I just want to add that piece before uh uh we lost the conversation about uh senior privileges. So, thank you.
>> Thanks for that, Mr. Hamilton. >> And as we wrap this up, I know we're going to go into the um when we get to the new business with the handbooks, I just want to say as a former principal and working with Mr. Strauss and he brought me into the loop of this and I I like the fact that we raise expectations. students will rise to
level expectations, but we as the adults have to be consistent with maintaining those expectations. And I'm glad you asked about the social piece because that is a big part. Um, and we were able to use and meet with senior class officers throughout the year and my previous experience that can tie into
this. Um, and I think it's important that uh, Miss O'Neal's here. Happy anniversary to you. Uh, as well as students time because it means a lot coming from the students. So, I applaud Mr. Strauss and the team bringing this together. And I know we wanted to come now before we get to the rest of the
meeting, but I just want to say thank you. Um, and that's all I have. >> Great job. >> Well done. >> Yep. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. I think Diana, Dalon, and I will sign off then if that's good. >> Perfect.
>> Go enjoy your anniversary. >> I know we have some Vietnamese food waiting. I can't wait. Thanks so much, everyone. >> Byebye. Okay, >> I think we're now >> we're heading into unfinished business.
>> Uh Mr. Bow, anything on the meeting the meeting dates for uh the 25 26 school year? >> Uh no sir. Uh at this point uh the meeting dates are as advertised. Um I can certainly bring this up on the screen if you want me to, but we've
shared that document. No, there are no changes, but we've listed the school committee meetings. The adjustments due to holidays uh Monday at 6:30. This is the only virtual meeting for school committee. Our subcommittee meetings um they rotate monthly and they are virtual. So they're all listed. Um and
the committee has the document. There's nothing we need to vote on this, but just to make sure that we're we're good to go to solidify for this year. >> Gentlemen, any concerns before we move on? Mr. Chair, I did have one question. The um I I I noticed there was asterisks on
that. Is that to denote if it is uh virtual after there was about five meetings that had asterisks? >> If if I may chair, those are um when those are on the alternate dates. So instead of the second Monday, that might be the first Monday. For example, in
October, we have uh Columbus people's day, which I think is the 13th. So we're going to go on the 6th. >> Got it. Okay. Thank you. No concerns for me otherwise. >> Right, we'll move on then. Thank you. On recommendation to approve strategic
plan, Mr. Bower. I am muted. Thank you. So, um, >> we are glitching. >> Yeah. And I don't know if that's on my That might be on mine. So, I have a backup plan in case mine goes off. My Kristen will take over and she she's done a lot of work here. Second part.
So, I'd like to share my screen if I can. Um, just there really are no changes. I just want to bring this back to Hold on one second. Apologize. All right. I think we're all okay here. Um
so in our timeline, you know, we went uh we've brought everything in terms of tons of feedback in terms of to build our vision and our mission statements. Uh drafts have been circulated through our administrative team. um the advisory council which was outstanding, the administrative council uh for school
committee feedback. The final draft um the draft we shared in June, but we wanted to do some more work. So, we're here tonight uh to really bring this to fruition to vote on this. This is our five-year strategic plan. Um and we kept the mission very simple, which I think
is very important and our vision. Uh we did a lot of word smithing on this and a lot of great feedback from all of our stakeholders and then theory of action that really drives um our mission and our vision and really diving into the port of the graduate which I think um
this is our next step to really bring our district forward even further. We talked about this and we're going to tie everything we do into our portrait of the graduate. But more importantly, the um the actual strategic priorities fall into the four pillars. Um and the
teaching and learning, schoolwide systems and structures, family and partner, community partnerships, district procedures and policies. These will remain consistent throughout the five-year life. The the thing that I think is important, all right, those are the sub goals under that. So everything
we do, we're going to tie back to our strategic plan and we'll tie this into our agendas moving forward once approved. um as we build our district improvement plans, our school improvement plans and then report out throughout the year and as well at the end of the year updates in terms of our
progress to achieve the goals. Um so I just wanted to give you an example, right? I I'm not going to go through the whole plan right now. We've seen this but breaking down the subgoal, but then the actions, how can we actually support the subgoal of curriculum alignment review? there are the the the major steps and then the potential performance
indicators and this will be revised each year as we move through this um and as we we move down the road um and how this is going to tie into our strategic plan in terms of our district improvement plan. You can see just this is just a brief example. We present this. So we
linking our um one one which is our student achievement and teaching and learning piece the time frame who is doing it the resources available then the status and then if you look at the next one that we're working for district improvement plan which will present in in September but the portrait of the
learner and the competencies this is going to be a larger piece of work for us to really dive in a two-year piece under the subheading. Um and this will break down. So what I think is important about the whole strategic plan is that
it's live, right? It can be adjusted as we move forward because we want flexibility. You know, god forbid we have a major thing like in 2020, which I don't even want to mention. Um but we need to move forward, but we also need progress monitoring as we go to show what have we done and then make
alignments. If we haven't achieved, what do we need to do to bring this goal further? Uh and once we achieve, be able to move on. Um, and and I think it's it's very well done and just would like to present this for approval by the school committee tonight. I think I've frozen up or I don't know
if Mike's frozen up. Uh, >> oh, might have frozen up. >> I think Mike has. >> Yeah, Mike, you want you might want to kill your video. >> Can you hear us, Mike? How about now? Can you hear me now? >> A little sketchy.
>> Well, yeah. You might want to kill your video, mic. >> Can you hear me now? >> I can hear you. What we're seeing, Mike, is you appear to be frozen. All right. How about that? >> You hear me now?
>> Gotcha. >> I I can hear you, >> man. We can hear you. >> All right. So, I'll I'll entertain a motion
if anyone so is so inclined. a move to approve the five-year strategic plan as presented. >> I'll second that. >> Any discussion? >> If I could, Mr. Chair. Um, this is
obviously the uh the product of an incredible amount of work and contribution from uh so many different people. I think it captures what we would like to be as a district in five years and where we would like to
go and u I think uh this will form a good road map. I think Danvers is one of the first districts years ago to go through the strategic planning process. I think this is actually our third strategic plan and um it's something to
be proud of and I think this is a welllaidout plan with some real um goals, measurements um and things that we know we want to look at. So I think uh I can get behind this.
Anyone else? I really I really like the visual that uh who put the visual together of the that was fantastic. A lot a lot of that was done uh as Mary was uh winding down and working with
some of the stakeholders on that piece and Kristen is now taking the baton on that. Um and the visuals are important. We're really looking to and we'll talk more about our branding uh in our next meeting. Uh but more importantly, just keeping it very simple. That was the message. Uh less wordy uh just get right
down to it because when we dive down to a pre-K to 12, what's happening in our classrooms that connect to all these important pieces of the portrait of the graduate uh portrait of the learner as it may be called. So, um I'm excited about this and we're really looking to refine this even further so we can stamp
this on everything that we do. Yeah, I agree. Simple is better. And to Eric's point, I was in I was in a lot of those spaces when you called in the different stakeholders to to offer their thoughts. And he's right. There's a there was a a an unbelievable amount of
information gathered to really inform uh this process. So, kudos to everybody that had a role with it. And um I I I agree with Eric. I can get behind this very easily. I had one question as I thought of it.
It's really just semantic. Um, do we want to refer to this as the portrait of a learner or portrait of a graduate? As we have we've used both and some might say, well, it makes no difference. But from the sense of how we
want to view this and how how we want to present it to the public, which which should we which do you prefer again? Which are we looking at here? Well, the the the piece as you say that's used I've heard different communities they use it the same way. Um it's a it's a
pre-K12 vision, right? And yes, at the graduate that this what our students, you know, when they cross the graduation line, this is what they will be able to do to be successful. But I really like the portrait of the learner because it really dives down deep, you know, because I wanted to connect with preK,
grade 1, kindergarten all the way through. Okay, >> makes sense. Anyone else? Hearing nothing else, take a vote. >> Mike Shannon, >> yes. >> Eric Crane, >> yes. >> Shawn Darity,
>> yes. >> Josh Kepniss, >> yes. >> Gabe Loes, >> yes. Very nice. Moving on. We got the next item. >> I'm sorry. >> Yes sir. Uh the next item is the uh
second reading of policy ILD which is the student survey policy and um with the advice of the committee and and the direction guidance looking for some further refinement because the actual the important thing about this policy is
that you know it just sets the parameters for opt out and also like you know what what are our protocols as we dive down deep and and we develop and and implement uh the procedures which we already have. Um I I I think this policy
is well needed because we use surveys uh for many different things and Kristen pointed out you know when we talk about social emotional we create a lot of our own surveys and the point that I want to bring to the committee um I met with Roseanne Dietra our council for the school committee and she really dug into
and and actually the version that you see of policy ID is cleaned up a little bit the wording it's still the same format that's advised through the school committee association and she advised stay to that because those are important premises but
she wanted to point out and and I do have an opportunity if I can just share um I just did a little bit of tweaking in a few of the slides today I don't know if you can see okay and I just kept this very brief um
so the prior consent piece which dives into the US department of education so anything through the department of education right and protected information that requires prior consent. So, this policy written really lays out what this is. So, anything that we would
do that would be directly related to the Department of Education um through a survey, you know, that is the that is the piece where prior consent essentially the opt-in has to occur. So, what we talked a lot about in our last meeting is just it was not clear. This
document makes it very clear because all of the surveys that we use are not this. They're the version that is for the the opt out right which because they're not affiliated and directly created or funded by the US government ours are
internal through our own um creation. So the opt out and the notice that we have to provide is that we need to notify parents and guardians at least annually at the beginning of the year which we will uh specific or approximate dates when we have noted specific surveys that
will be coming down the road and then offer parents and guardians opportunity to opt the student out of participation which is important. But the piece that's really important though is number one the procedures for this to make sure that parents or guardians have reasonable access to the instructional
materials connected to any of the surveys within a reasonable time after the request is received. So knowing if we have a survey going out in 3 weeks, we need to notify parents with plenty of time and then how will that look? Um but just please note the instructional material does not encounter or
assessments. Very clear in that. And also important for the committee to note is the protection of student privacy that was highlighted more uh through uh Roseanne's work, our council, and I I really like how she refined and made this very specific for uh what we need
to be successful with our opt- out procedures and protocols, but more importantly to provide the overall umbrella of the policy to move forward. So that's it. I just kept that very simple uh just that update. So the version that you see that I put in the folder has made it very clear about uh
those that are connected with the US government under the parental rights act um versus our surveys which are internal uh that we create which is the opt out. So I hope that answers the question. >> Thank you for that. >> Spent a lot of time with Roseanne on
that one. >> Do I hear a motion? I move to approve the policy as presented. >> Second. >> Hearing the mo hearing a motion made and seconded. Do we have some discussion?
>> Again, I'll start. I agree, Dan. It's been cleaned up very nicely and made much clearer than the the prior iteration. So, I appreciate that. Thank you. Hearing no more discussion. We're ready for the vote.
>> Gabe Lopes. >> Approve. >> Josh Kepnness. >> Yes. >> Sean Dary, >> yes. >> Eric Crane, >> yes. >> Mike Shannon, >> yes. >> Thank you very much. And I want to say
thank you to the school committee. uh you gave me a great charge and I think this clarification will go a long way. So, thank you for that. >> New business, the superintendent recommends to approve
the HRMS student handbook. >> Yes, chair, if I may. Um we have three handbooks tonight we'd like for approval. Uh and please note that the most of the handbooks uh we have our
annual cleaning up as they may say where there may be changes with some contact information uh language tightening up but uh anything of substantive nature for the elementary and for the middle school. There aren't any this year. It's it's basically just been cleaned up and
some reformatting as we go along. Um we need those approved. But the high school does have a few pieces of substantive changes. I did put together a quick slide if if I may. I can share this with you and then um in order as you wish to go through the approval. I do have our
principles here tonight and I appreciate them taking time out of their schedule to answer any questions and I know Mr. Strauss will talk a lot about the changes at the high school were proposing. And also I have Mr. Sullivan here because there was one thing that we needed to add to all the handbooks uh in
terms of uh Google uh because we are Google school district. So I will bring this up if I can. Um give me one second please. Thank you for your patience with me. Hopefully I can get this going. >> All right. Are you able to see uh the
screen >> you okay with that? >> All right. Great. >> All right. So, as I as I mentioned overall, mostly edits and revisions at all levels. It's a yearly exercise that we go through. There are three things that we did add to all the handbooks. Um number one, and I'll ask uh Mr. Sullivan
in a moment if he can explain this, but the educational technology tools, Google Workspace for Education. This really goes into protecting uh student privacy. Um secondly, the inclusive curriculum statement is just basically says that our curricular materials are consistent
with Massachusetts regulations. And lastly, the parental guardian guide that um we worked on last year and the school committee asked and we present it. Uh we put that in all the handbooks too because we're always looking for ways to prove improve communication. So if it's okay, chair, I'd like to ask Mr.
Sullivan to come in just to talk briefly about the educational technology tools. >> Of course. >> Uh good evening. Thank you, Dr. Bower, Mr. Chair. Jim Sullivan, director of technology. Uh good evening. Um just we
have a quick um section, a small section we're looking to add to our student handbooks. Uh which really is is nothing new. It's not anything new or different that we're doing, but it's just adding some information about um some of the edtech or the technology tools and
applications that we use in our classrooms and you know with our students on a daily you know daily basis. Um Google recommends um that we you know we put a um you know disclosure or you permission of sorts just to you
know let families know you know what we're doing you know that we're using Google Workspace accounts with our students then they have access to the Google tools um and you know really just adding some um you know uh transparency or just letting people know that um you know if anybody has any questions about
what we're using in the classroom or wants to see um you know any of the private privacy policies or the data privacy agreements, those things are available for review and happy to to share that information. Um, I do, you know, always encourage families to reach out if they have any questions or concerns, whether it's to me or their
principal. Uh, and we can certainly uh answer any of those questions that come up. But that's what we're looking to add uh to all three handbooks since we use, you know, Google at all levels um and other edtech tools as well. >> Thank you, Mr. Sullivan. Thank you.
>> And as we do um you know at each level when our principles send their emails out opening up, they'll make points to anything that's new to um the handbooks and I'll make note of these three areas in my own communication as well. Um, and if okay through the chair, I know we
have the three handbooks to approve and I know the agenda is in um, you know, it lays it out where we have the middle, I believe, in elementary. Um, but the the high school handbook is uh, has the most changes and the next slide actually brings into play those four areas. So,
if it's okay with you, I'd like to bring Mr. Strauss out just to talk through and see if the committee has any questions on these four major areas. >> Thank you, Superintendent Ber. Um, I know Patrick Hamilton is on as well. I want to thank um Mrs. Leblanc, our other
assistant principal. She is on a well-deserved vacation and will be coming back, but she um has been heavily involved in this as has Peter tomorrow um in his one of many roles that he takes on in Danverse. Um, I I want to
start by saying that when I came and and was first hired and the conversation started with cell phones, it typically is a year-long process. Um, and I want to give uh Mr. Demorro, Mr. Hamilton,
uh, Miss Leblanc and the teachers some, um, kudos for keeping the focus in on how do we make this work and speeding the process up. Um, I I think that they did a really
good job. I also want to, you know, remind all of you that uh, for every decision that we make in this, there are going to be 50 people who are going to say, "Nope, that's not the right way to do it." I I've seen that having gone through three cell phone policies in in other buildings that I've been in. Um I
think the policy that we have come up with regardless of what the state is talking about for next year is the one that makes the most sense for a number of reasons. So just to remind just to reiterate every uh to everybody what Mr.
Demorro had presented so um eloquently in in the spring. We are not going to a bell-to-bell model. We are going to a um classroom no use model. So students will be coming
into the building, they will be going to their first period class, they will lock up their cell phones in a case um and they will get it back at the end of the period. They are able to use it in transition to their next period class. they are able to use it during cafeteria
uh during lunchtime. There has to be consistency um in this through teachers and and we've talked with our teachers a lot about that. But this is the model that seems to make the most sense
even though there are people who are saying we should go right to bellto bell which is the minute you walk in you give it up and and you don't get it back until the end of the day. Um I want to refer back to uh principal colon is on
here. I know that they did a great deal of work last year with the anxious generation the book the anxious generation. Um I if you take excerpts from that or or really any kind of research that has been done on the
impact of social media, cell phones on on teenagers, the one consistent is that whether we want to say our students or some students are addicted to it or not, they have addictive like behaviors. And to simply all of a sudden on the first
day of school say, "Give it to me, it's gone." We wouldn't do that to anybody who's going through an addiction. We we need to ensure that we can help our students create habits of mind to see that they do not need to use this during
a classroom period. A and to simply take it away, I think would cause a a tremendous amount of angst at the beginning of the year that we don't necessarily we're not necessarily prepared for. um and I don't think is going to do what we
want in the end of the at the end of the year anyway. They leave high school, they're going to be able to use their cell phone. In my opinion, it would be wonderful by the end of the senior year this year if our seniors can say, "I don't need it in class anymore." That
would be a wonderful a a a wonderful litmus test. Um but with that, we do have to make sure that there's accountability for our students. So, um, Mr. Hamilton, if you want to start to go through some of,
um, not all, but but some of, um, the consequences for cell phone violations. Uh, sure. So, um, just to add to what you're what, uh, Mr. Strauss is uh talking about uh and when you see the
changes that are in the uh the proposed changes for the handbook uh you know we're really trying to frame this as uh everybody um we we we are we're all stakeholders here and we all want to try to work to the same you know to the same end. And
in order to do that um you know you'll notice that there are student responsibilities there are caregiver responsibilities there are teacher responsibilities and then there are administration responsibilities and uh you know the the way it's supposed to work is that if
we're all taking care of our responsibilities as the specific stakeholders then uh we should be able to uh you know bear some really good results with helping students not feel as though they need to be engaged and
connected all the time uh particularly during class time. But uh when those types of responsibilities are not always being adhered to or followed then we get into some of the you know discussion
around what are some logical and natural consequences that may need to be addressed with students who are uh maybe not able to meet the responsibilities part in the student section uh as outlined in the proposed changes of the
handbook. So um just to kind of go through it, we kind of have a you know um three you know three opportunities for students to um you know write the ship if uh they are not in compliance
with our cell phone policy. So uh basically um if a student is in violation of the policy on their first uh offense then they would uh come down you they would be sent to the office. they would have to meet with um an administrator either myself uh Mrs.
Leblanc, Mr. Strauss and um from time to time Mr. tomorrow when we need him to to support us with this. uh and the cell phone will be turned over uh to the office for the remainder of the day and then parents and guardians uh will be notified. And um again with the the
their responsibility is to support us with this and and back us up on this. And um our goal would be to reach out to parents and guardians to ask them to have a follow-up conversation with their student so that uh you know everybody is
clear about um what the expectations are. Uh second offense uh students would be sent to the office uh similar to the first. Uh however uh phone is turned over and it remains uh in the in the
office for the remainder of the day but then students would need to uh each morning uh for the next three consecutive days they would need to come and check in their phone uh to the office uh and they would not have access
to their phones um in between classes and during lunchtime as the other students would um due to their not being able to adhere to the policy for um for a second time. Um if a student gets to the third offense, uh same idea. They
would need to come down and meet with the administrator. Uh the phone stays with us for the remainder of the day. Um more conversations and more engagement with parents and guardians uh to try to get back, you know, everyone on the same page. Uh and then at this point the the
student would need to check the phone in the office uh for uh seven school days. Uh and then uh hopefully uh you know students have been able to make adjustments appropriately at that point
and hopefully before that. But uh if uh that is still not the case, then uh we do have a situation if uh after the third offense, a student could lose uh the cell phone. Uh they would have to meet with the administrator. Uh we would
again meet with parents and guardians. Uh and uh the phone would be uh they would lose access to the phone for 40 school days. Um again uh the goal here is to be progressive with the way we are
implementing um logical and natural consequences here. Uh so uh our hope is that students um figure it out after the first try first offense. um if they want to continue to have that, you know, the
ability to um carry their phone between classes and check them in and then have them at lunchtime, uh then they would need to um adhere to the policy as it's outlined in the proposed handbook changes. >> So, to add a couple things to that,
thank you, Mr. Hamilton. Um it's for up to 40 school days. doesn't necessarily have to be 40 school days. But I think what's important is um this is not a policy in which a student would get um three offenses
per per class. So period one they get three offenses, period two they get three offenses. It's three offenses across the board. Um and and so data is going to be real important. Consistency is going to be real important. Students are not going to be able to take their
phones um to the bathrooms with them. Um they're not going to be texting their friends to say come meet in the bathroom. And and I I will say 95% of our students will be fine with this. First week will be difficult. First two
weeks might be a little difficult. I it's going to be the four or five percent that we really need to look at. that I know some of the questions that um assistant superintendent Anderson was talking about in terms of um social emotional, we're going to have to make sure that we have supports in place for
our students who are really struggling. Obviously, our students who are on IEPs or 504s or medical and need a use of their phone will be able to um with documented um verification. That that
certainly is not a problem. They will not be able to leave their phone out in the middle of their desk, but they will be able to use it just as they would whether especially for a medical situation. Um, I I think it's important to understand
that when we talk here about loss of privileges beyond obviously senior privileges we just talked about, but I see that um I'm going to use him as an example and I hope he doesn't mind. Alex Grover is on right now. Hi, Alex. Um,
so one of the things that I'm going to be talking to the coaches about is if we are struggling with a student athlete not doing what they're supposed to do with their phones, we are going to start talking about practices. We are going to start talking about how does that impact
other things. That also has to to be fair to athletes. That has to happen across the board. whether it is theater, whether it's band camp, whe our our band, whether it's uh choir and Alex uh DECA, you know, it can't be certain kids
are held to a higher standard with this. It has to be across the board. Um and and we're going to work really hard on that. Again, I don't expect this to be um a problem for 95% of our students. Some will be um frustrated with it at at
times, but I think if we said to most adults in the workplace, you can no longer use your phone from the moment you walked in to the moment you left, they would be frustrated as well. Um parents certainly can call offices. Um, we are going to work, Drew Betts is
working really hard to make sure that coaches are not contacting um, coaches are not contacting student athletes during a day via Remind, Remind apps or anything else that they will be
sending emails because again students do have the ability to look at email um, through their Chromebooks. Um, so I think that's the general gist in regard to um, cell phones and I think we
should take this one at a time to see if you have any questions. >> I'll go. Um, I understand and I agree with you that for a policy like this to work, it has to be implemented with fidelity in the classrooms. However, is there flexibility
with certain classrooms that may require the use of say a scientific calculator on their phone or is there an is there some other accommodation uh for that? >> So, Peter, are you on Peter tomorrow? >> I think he is.
>> Yes, I'm here. >> Do you want to respond to that as curriculum? >> Yeah. So part part of our process and working with all the stakeholder groups was asking that specific question. We met with teacher groups and student groups, part of the feedback form was what do you currently use it for in
class? Um so we've been over the course of the spring um exploring alternatives um to a lot of the um tools and resources that they say that phones have been traditionally used for in class and looking to see if there is an alternative that can be used um on their
Chromebook or otherwise. Thank you, >> Mr. Chairman. If I could uh >> Yep. >> I think this this makes sense in the in the in the sense that um
in a perfect world, you wouldn't have cell phones in the classroom at all. Um because there's there's they they don't help the educational process in a general sense. they're really just a distraction. So, in a perfect world,
it'd be great if students didn't have or need access to them at all. Um, but not only the students and the parent, the parents too, I think we are beyond that point. I think with each successive generation of parents and students, um,
parents are more concerned about their students uh, safety and what they're doing and and how things are going when they're out of the parents sight. And that's, I think, simply a truth. My generation of parents, I had my kids in
the 90s, we were more nervous and more helicopter-like than the generation before us. And I think with each generation succeedingly, I think that um we're running into this. So I think that a
total ban would be impractical from the standpoint of both students and the parents expectations and uh and needs. At the same time, I think what you've come up with here um should you know provide for the efficacy of the learning
in the classroom without interference from the cell phone. So I think it's a uh it's a good solution for us as a starting >> Mr. Chair if I could. >> Yes. >> The uh so I I agree with what Eric said. I it sounds like a nice compromise to
versus a bell to bell for you know and Mr. Strauss brought up a good point about if people are addicted it's hard to kind of just stop cold turkey so to speak right. Uh so I think this is kind of a nice a nice compromise. Um now for my questions actually the the
question that I have is the my understanding is they all students would sign off on their handbook at the beginning of the year right all the policies and things. What I would suggest is even an additional sign off on this which actually calls out the actual cell
phone policy. I don't I I think I did bring this up at the last when we brought it up in uh in the spring when it was up for discussion, but I would suggest that we actually have an additional sign off on this which actually shows what the what the potential repercussions could be. Um so
there's a little bit more skin in the game for for the kids. This is going to be a learning period for for both the students and the teachers and the administration, right? and and I I understand that there'll be um you know kind of growing pains on this, but I I
do think if we if we make it crystal clear at the beginning of the year, I think that would be a uh that would be my suggestion. >> Absolutely. We can we can absolutely do that. That makes sense. >> I just had one more thought. I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Chair. Um Go ahead. How long How long do students have to
pass between classes >> at the high school? There's a four-minute passing time. >> Are we concerned at all that um retrieving the cell phones and getting out of the classroom is going to slow
some students in terms of getting to the next class or do we figure they can still do that within the time? >> So, the retrieval of of cell phones um is a pretty quick process with that teachers will do. They're not going to
do 10 minutes early. they're going to do in the last minute of class. >> Um, we are looking at how are we going to manage this when there are substitutes. That's a whole another um concern. >> Uh, but no, we do not see that as a
problem. And I I think that, you know, we are going to have lots of conversation with teachers and if they're seeing that that's a problem, um, then we are going to have to uh navigate that a little bit. Um, >> thank you.
Oh, Mr. Chair, if I may ask a question. >> Go ahead. >> I had a a barking dog, so I think I caught pieces of something, but uh when it came to coaches not using apps, was that did I get that right? Not using Remind, but instead sending an email. >> Correct.
>> Okay. As a coach, um I know for myself, emailing, I work in special education. Um, I drive to Boston to coach in the spring and I coach in Georgetown in the fall. It's a lot e I'm just throwing this to you. It's a lot easier to have
people join in your class and send a message to the class than it is to try to build a varsity only um little thing. So, I'm just throwing that out there if that's I don't know if other coaches and other people feel that same way. Uh, I know for me to try to if I have to talk
to the the whole group, whether it's parents and kids, I can just send one message. I don't have to dig through my contact list if that makes sense. >> Right. So, what what we're talking about with Drew and again I coach so so I feel your pain. >> Um, is we are going to be creating
Google classrooms um for and you could do a JV, you could do a varsity, you could do a freshman, you could do all um >> Sure. And and but we really have to be careful about
allowing if we allow one group to start sending texts, then we've got to worry about every group sending texts. That becomes the problem with this, >> right? Well, I'm I'm going to play a little The reason that Remind, as you probably know, and other people who
aren't familiar with uh programs such as Remind, is it's not really a text. It's just a I mean it acts as a text text but it's through that app and they can't see my phone numbers and nothing gets deleted. So it's I'm covered, they're
covered in case somebody accuses of somebody. Um so there's the the the trail is there. As a coach I think it's probably the greatest communication piece that's ever been made um in terms of um you know the the ease of again
what I do for a living. I can't compose an email. I can send a a 60 character thing saying practice is going to be at 8 because it's raining. That type of thing. So, I'm just I'm just putting that out there. I mean it the if if all
the coaches have the ability to have a Google classroom on their phone, you know, like I think it it go I'm just throwing it out there that it goes outside of the scope of if the coaches are teachers in the building, sure they have a computer, but if they don't have a phone that has the capability to hook up to Google Classroom. I'm just
throwing that curveball at you because I know for me it's a real pain to communicate through email. Email is I have nine email addresses and the only one that I pay attention to is my school committee one. I have to hear about it in per somebody who sends me an email has to say, "Hey, I sent you an email. Look at your email." That's how bad it
is. But, uh, I'm just throwing it out to you that I know that yes, we're talking about our students, but there's also the um access for the people who are going to be communicating with them on time-sensitive materials. I'm just playing devil's advocate a little bit. >> Can I can I interject a little bit here, chair, if you don't mind?
>> Just put Go ahead. my coach hat on too and principal hat knowing that I think the big piece is creating consistency of communication with our coaches in terms of time frames. um that will help us a great deal because some of our coaches are not in you know not in our buildings
teaching um and I think that's really the crux of this so that you know um streamlining the windows of communication for when they communicate I think that will take pressure off of our student athletes because they're going to want to know if something's happening if and correct me if I'm wrong
Mr. Dear Mr. Strauss, I think that's really the intent of that is to create some standardization of the times of communication with our coaches and adviserss, right? >> Yeah. No, no question. And and certainly, coach, we we um
we sat and Drew and I had the conversation, do we trust the students to only look at their phones during transition time? um and say, "Okay, you have transition time. If coach will send
you something, you can look at it." Then >> what we're trying to do is to prevent as much as possible from vibrating in their pockets because that's going to be what's happening. And then once it vibrates in their pocket, then we know where their brain goes, >> right?
>> So, we've got to kind of figure that out. And some of this, you know, one of the reasons why I'm really happy with the steps that we're taking is we can tweak this along the way. >> Um, you know, the state is saying this all or nothing. You have no place to go
with all or nothing. And there are a lot of pieces in there that I tend to believe the state hasn't looked into yet. Um, and is kind of dumping it on on every school. So, I think we're ahead of the game. Um, and we're able, um, I
think Peter and and Patrick and Carrie did a phenomenal job kind of roping this in and, um, we're going to have lots of conversation, but it's going to be consistent across the board, which was really what my point was. >> Whether it's coaches, whether it's, you know, band, whether it's DECA, we have
to make sure that >> all groups of kids are being treated the same, >> right? >> Otherwise, it's not fair. No, abs abs. I I I completely agree with the standards being held across. I just know on the other side of that coin, again, I'm just
putting it out there as a a conversation point that um where I work with special ed students um and I can't always be >> sitting down and composing because I'm I'm constantly moving. Uh if it's a rainy day and I have to put practice
indoors at three instead of at at 2:30 outside, practice going to be in the gym. I can just send that real quick open remind app go announcement boom done takes about two seconds. So that's that's the only thing I'm throwing you. I know sometimes on the other side of the coin yes we're we're thinking about
our students but it's also their activities and if they don't know where they have to be right at the end of the school day that could pay play, you know, the the gossip chain could be bouncing around school. Oh well so and so told me there was no practice at all. You know that type of thing. So I'm just throwing it out there. the things that I've coaching in the different
communities I coach and I've seen all kinds of you know the gossip train. So I'm just throwing it out there um as a a conversation point and a piece that you know on the coach's side of it that can be difficult sometimes depending on what they use. That's all. >> And at our next meeting um I'm sure
we're going to give some kind of report or I'll give it to to Superintendent Bower just to kind of give you all information as to where we settled with this. Um because we're not going to really know until we start it. There are going to be a lot of tweaks in this. No question.
>> Absolutely. I apprec I appreciate you letting me throw my piece out there. >> Sure. >> So that's the >> that's it. Oh, go ahead. >> No, I was just going to say that. Any other questions on cell phones before we go to smart pass?
>> I don't think so. >> Okay. Um, as you know, and I'm going to turn it over to um, Mr. Hamilton, but as you know, uh, we implemented Smart Pass last year. Um, I I think it is a terrific tool. Just to remind everybody and and
anybody in the audience, Smart Pass is a uh computer program in which we have the ability to monitor where students are are how much time they are utilizing um outside of the class. Um they have to
get permission to be able to get out of a class. We have the ability to if for example um Dan Bower and Alan Strauss should never be uh in the hallways together, we have the ability to keep them apart um
by not allowing them to cross paths. Um Dan wants to go to somewhere and suddenly he's not going to be able to text Allen and say, "Hey, let's meet let's meet, you know, down by
the gym." Um, so, so that's going to be taken care of. But the idea of Smart Pass last year was we allowed students five, five pass opportunities during the school day. We are moving that down to three. Um, and I think that's going to
make a big difference. The other thing that we're going to do is we're going to begin begin to truly track the data and share it with families, share it with teachers as to Allan Strauss has been um out on three passes a day for an average
of 41 minutes in those three passes. Over five days, that's 150 minutes of or whatever it is, 200 minutes out of class. Um it is much easier to have conversations with direct data than it
is to simply say you know Allan you are out of class you need to get back. Um so so the more we can utilize this technology um the more impactful it will be. We can also from a social emotional standpoint
you know I I firmly believe that students who aren't going to class there's a reason we all know that um and is not just engagement that there are other things going on and it's will provide us opportunities to start digging into some of that uh work with social workers with counselors is to get
to the heart of really what's going on um and how can we support our students differently. It's also good data for coaches. Uh Mr. Hamilton, floor is yours.
>> Thank you, Mr. Shout. So, uh you know, again, similar to the way, uh the information is presented in the handbook, the the proposed changes to the handbook for cell phone, you know, uh we think this is a worthwhile, um
intervention. So we wanted to make sure that we partner with all the stakeholders and we wanted to make sure that the you know the responsibilities of students, caregivers, teachers and administrators are clearly defined. So, you know, when you see that part of the
handbook, uh it's laid out nicely in a matrix form so that uh you know, each each stakeholder can see, you know, what it is that um if they're doing their part, then all of these pieces will work together. And uh it should provide, you
know, ample opportunities for communication for when things aren't necessarily going right. and it allows us to, you know, engage in fruitful conversations so that we can uh make adjustments and uh get
students back on track. So, um I I I won't go through all of what those are, but they're there for you to see. Um and uh you can see what each uh each, you know, each uh stakeholder has responsibilities. Um but when a an you
know if a student is struggling with meeting those responsibilities um then you know there are some action steps that we want to help uh in the you know general uh logical consequence realm that might help us to uh get
students back on track and you know in a better space because the ultimate goal here and the ultimate prize is that we want students in class and we want them there more often. uh and uh there's no substitute for that. So um if a student
is you know uh struggling with uh meeting uh their responsibilities and their roles uh related to smart pass uh a first offense uh requires teachers and students to have a conversation uh starts right there in the classroom. If
this is an issue that you know a student is out of class uh for longer than the attend the intended time or they're not using the smart pass process uh properly then um it starts with a conversation and hopefully it it it ends there and
students are are clear about what the expectation is. Um but that also uh requires the teacher to uh notify caregivers so that there can be some follow-up conversation. So again, the the the the communication uh that would
that can happen from this will keep everybody a breast of what's going on uh specific to you know the amount of time students are in class and then uh conversely the amount of time they're out of class. Uh a second offense students report the student in smart
pass the violation and the teacher would uh assign a teacher detention. And then a third offense teacher reports the student violation in smart pass administrator meets with students uh and
um an office detention and then uh either myself or Carrie Leblanc or Mr. Strauss would also have a uh have a conversation with caregivers so that we can you know try to you know make sure that the you know the expectations are
clear and the reasons why we want you know we want students to adhere to this to the procedures here so that it translates into them spending the you know appropriate amount of time in class. Um and then you know some additional offenses uh you know and
again uh based on last year's experience um you know Mr. Strauss already mentioned going from five passes down to three uh is definitely an appropriate adjustment. Um we engaged with some students uh who were doing a project and
uh that was clearly one of their recommendations as well uh based on the data that they collected uh in surveying uh other classmates. Um, it also allows for an opportunity for students to develop, you know, some increased time
management skills uh with having the three passes in a day versus the five. But if a student uh is beyond that third offense level, um teachers are reporting that uh to us. They're reporting it to in Smart Pass so that we can track the
data. we're having a meeting with um with caregivers, but uh at that point it can also translate into uh loss of student privileges uh and it may impact extracurricular activities such as um the things that Mr. Stout mentioned uh
sports um theater groups, band, things like that. But our goal is to try to have the straightup conversation about the importance of being in class. uh and hopefully, you know, after the a first or second offense, a student is able to
write the ship and and and and adhere to what their roles and responsibilities are. And then the last thing I would say about this is the um the opportunities to try, you know, to, you know, collect the data and have open conversations
that are not about, you know, judging a student in any way. It's really just about, you know, if a student uh has been out of class, um, you know, a cumulative amount, you know, 35, 40, 50 minutes in a week, uh, then it's clearly going to show up in the data and we can
address that and have, you know, really great conversations, uh, hope, you know, with caregivers about why we feel it's important to, you know, make the appropriate adjustments so students can, uh, spend more class and time where all
the good stuff is happening. Yeah, I think >> thank you for that. Any questions? >> None. >> I think we're pretty familiar with smart pass through the >> I'd like I'd like to take these
individually. So, do I have a motion on the HRMS student handbook? >> Okay. We've talked about the high school handbook. Is that where you want the first motion, Mr. Chairman? >> Well, I think we've talked about them all if I'm cor if I'm correct. Am I Am I wrong in that?
>> There are no substantive changes in the other two, right, Mr. >> Correct. That that is correct. >> All right. Therefore, I propose a motion to approve the handbooks as shown.
>> Can we can we take them collectively? >> Sure. >> Okay. >> Do I have to restate the motion? >> No, you were clear. Thank you for that. >> That motion. >> Any further discussion?
Hearing none, like to take a vote. >> Eric Crane, >> yes. >> Sean Dary, >> yes. >> Mike Shannon, >> yes. >> Gabe Loes, >> yes. >> Josh Kepn, >> yes.
>> Thank you to everyone for all the work they did on on those handbooks. We really appreciate it. Um, let's move on to secondary performing arts student partition participation fee. >> Mr. B is muted.
>> Yep. Sorry about that. Um, I'd like to bring Alex Grover in um to talk about this. And um basically what has happened um is that we have done a lot of work on our stipens this year with our we had a joint uh labor management committee um
and we tried ways that just to streamline all the different stipens that we have in my discussions with uh Mr. Grover. Um, you know, there are a number of stipens that were not even listed in our um in the unit contract.
Um, and as we followed up more closely, we wanted to to bring some changes here that basically shift uh the fees that are affiliated with the ban for these stipens that were, believe it or not, not even in the contract. So,
we we cleaned this up quite a bit and through the recommendation of uh Mr. Grover, we moved those stipens into um under the schools where we actually went through a whole process where people would have to apply um and then we went through the whole hiring process which
is how it should be because it is a school-based activity. So, we cleaned up a lot and moved them into um to to actually go through the process through human resources. The second part of it is and Mr. going to talk about this is that um a number of these stipens
are are ones that are built on participation. Meaning that if participation is not there, we're not able to fund it. And they were actually the funding would go through um the band uh performing arts um parent group and they were funding
the uh stipens and that's really not how it should work. So, we're looking for a way to streamline the process, bring it back into the school and also and and again um just make that shift so it's under school um control. So, that should take pressure off our performing arts
boosters and and just keep the process very clean. Uh we work with PamR, our business manager on this as well. So, I'll bring uh aboard Mr. Grover and he can talk about this and I have a slide that accompanies our request because one of the requests is we need to finalize and get school committee approval for
the actual fees for um for to support the stipen positions and the school committee sets the fees. So we're not making new uh stipen fees. We're just shifting the existing ones that have been under the performing arts um boosters. We're just shifting it now to
the school side. So Mr. Rover, would you mind popping in, please? >> Yes. Thank you so much, Superintendent Bower. Uh, before I get started, I just wanted to highlight a couple of moments
uh that I that I've seen and heard in this meeting already already, which gives some broader context for um my very brief presentation. Uh, Mr. Shannon, I I really appreciated what you said in talking about the school
committee retreat and uh members of the committee not necessarily being satisfied with the status quo. And that's sort of a mantra that we're taking in our performing arts department with our team as we want to um move forward enhancing all aspects that we
can. Um, and that goes into another uh element of this meeting tonight, which is the pillars of our strategic plan for the district. One of them being schoolwide systems and structures. Um, and what I'm about to talk about is, you
know, just a small piece of what we're doing in the performing arts, but it falls under that bucket of systems and structures, um, so that we can enhance student learning and student experiences. So, as Dr. Bower mentioned, the bottom
line with this is that um there are 14 alternate funded stipens um that currently exist um that need to be funded by participation fees because they're not included in the school budget. Um so then I'll jump back up to
the top and the reason we want to implement these fees are three-fold and that's one equity make collecting the fees consistent across uh extracurricular performing arts programming. The best way for me to illustrate this is, you know, our
athletic program has pretty uh concrete fees associated with each, you know, sports team, right? And as it exists right now in the performing arts, it would be like if in athletics, you know, students were required to pay for winter
track, but they weren't required to pay for basketball. you know, as it exists right now in performing arts, the only thing listed on e funds for performing arts is theater beater, and they're not even specified to the different elements of theater because there's different productions for each season depending on
the school. And then the second thing is infrastructure. And this goes along with a lot of other things that we're doing in the performing arts. But as it relates to these this particular topic with uh performing arts participation fees, you know, we want our
infrastructure to mirror that of athletics where you know, students register um through a platform and I've already talked to Drew Bats about using the Arbiter registration which I'm sure some of you are familiar with um for students um and parents to sign up
through so that they're familiar with it because a lot of uh our students and families cross over from sports. Um, we're going to have a very similar landing page on the Dammers Public Schools website for the performing arts. Uh, so that all this is set in stone and
it's not reliant on um, you know, the people that are in the positions in the performing arts or the administrators at the schools. It's it's reliant on the system that's in place. The reason why we're needing to do this cleanup right now is because through all the
transition um with administration and different directors in the performing arts, whether it's, you know, in theater or band or chorus or it's at the high school or at the middle school or there's transition in the district office. This is like why we're in this
place right now because, you know, our performing arts participation fees aren't treated the same way that they are in athletics where there's this great infrastructure. So, that's the second piece. And then lastly is um
something Dan already touched on, which is the human resources um and finance office piece. So, these new fees will directly subsidize 14 alternate funded stipens through the Dambridge public schools that were previously paid out by boosters. Whether that was through a
participation fee with the boosters or it was that the boosters wrote a check to the Dammers public schools to cover a certain stipend. Um, and so this is going to take all that ambiguity and all
um, and and put it into this, you know, new structure of participation fees going through the school office and then going directly to those different stipended positions.
>> I think that's it. >> Thank you, Mr. Grover, for that. And uh again, these are existing fees that um have been paid, but through the boosters, we're moving it now to school. Um and this cleanup is is necessary and I appreciate the efforts of Mr. Grover
and working with the performing arts uh boosters as well. >> So that's kind of where we're at. So I don't know if there are any questions because I would like to make the recommendation that we approve um the fees for uh 2526 for performing arts.
One quick question, one quick point. Um, are these positions filled by uh, unit A people >> and I can answer that. Some might be, some might not be, just depending on uh, the similar as our coaches. It's the same thing. We have some coaches that
are teachers in unit A and some that are are instructional assistants. Um, same thing with this. Uh, they they might work for us as employees or they may be from the outside as well. My point being that if that's the case, well, even if it's not the case, um they
should be memorialized in the CBA. Um I would ask if you would have a conversation with Miss Murphy, um to, you know, see which see see which way we can make that happen, whether it be, you know, a memorandum of agreement now or,
you know, waiting till the contract gets opened up next time. But they should be memorialized. Even though they're um you know not not a large amount, they should should still get the benefit of those going towards their their retirement
benefit. >> If I if I can add to that, chair, um through our work, uh we were able to uh actually post these positions uh in fully, you know, anticipating that this next step would be necessary. Um, and we've added these stipens to your point
as well, uh, to the overall stipen list, and they're listed as alternate funded. So, yes, uh, that was the big problem is they weren't memorialized and we've made that step. So, that's a huge point and I appreciate that. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Chairman. >> Yes.
>> Through you to the superintendent, um, you you use the phrase, these are existing fees that were previously paid by the boosters. Do you mean these are are you talking about existing stipens that are paid by the boosters as opposed
to fees? Is are you referring to the fact that the boosters basically pay for the person I don't know guiding the flag squad that kind of thing? >> Yes. And I'm going to turn this over to Alex to be more specific, but yes, the m the money now will be moving will be
coming into the schools to distribute for those stipen payments. But Alex, if you could add to that, please. Uh Mr. Crane, the actually actually the answer is both. Um so um the boosters
were paying um certain stipens out and in order to help fund that, you know, for a while it was just marching band fees be paying to the boosters. But then again in the spirit of equity, we tried to, you know, improve the infrastructure within the boosters organization. So it
wasn't just marching band that was paying a fee. And then, you know, I've been, you know, kind of waiting for this moment where there was the opportunity to do this to make everything a lot more streamlined and above board. Um, because it shouldn't be
working like that when, you know, other aspects of the school are, you know, everything gets paid through the district. Um, and so it it's it's both. There were there were fees being paid to the boosters so that those um positions could be funded. And then there were
also, you know, the the boosters were asked because a stipen was listed as alternate funded and it wasn't in the budget, they were also asked to provide a um an amount to the school in order to balance the books. >> Okay. So, the students right now are
paying fees. They're just paying them to the boosters versus to the school. >> Correct. I think >> but excuse me, but there's also fees listed in the the the school handbooks or on the school's e fund that say high
school theater for example. Um and again to my first piece, it's not cons it's not consistent. And so what we're looking to do is streamline everything here uh so that you know there's more uh consistency and structure so that you
know we're not in this position again. I think this makes perfect sense. This this is the way we should be going. Um the other questions I have are is there much like with athletics, is it going to be a family match? >> Yes, there will be.
>> I've been working closely with Drew to have everything, you know, be exactly the same um with Drew Betts. So um and same thing with um financial aid that needs to go through the building principle, etc., etc. >> There's my next question. And so you've answered my questions. Thank you, Alex.
Thank you, Dan. >> I'll entertain a motion. >> Chair, I'd uh like to make a motion uh to approve the participation fees for the performing arts. >> I'll second that. >> Any further discussion?
>> Hearing none, we'll take a vote. >> Sean Dy. >> Yes. K Lopes, >> yes. >> Josh Keptniss, >> yes. >> Eric Crane, >> yes. >> Mike Shannon, >> yes.
>> The superintendent recommends the approval of the 2526 list of accounts and maximum balances. >> So moved. >> Second. Do I have any discussion? >> Any changes from last year, Dan? >> Um, very minimal. And I know Pam is on.
I think Pam is still on the call. Um, >> I am. >> I think she is. Um, the additions to the list would be the rising freshman class, ninth grade class, >> and also the Flying Onion journalism
group at the high school um, which has been an existing group with an adviser for a period of time, but they haven't really had um, a financial activity that has required them to be a recognized student activity for the
purpose of call it fundraising or getting donations, selling ads, that kind of thing, and then expending anything. So, um, those are the two new ones on the list. Um, I think that there
should there is a a an inactive account at the middle school associated with the school store. Um, that was never a very super active um account with a lot of transactions and money moving in and out. Um there is a small balance
associated with it. It has been inactive for a period of years. The policy is if it's been inactive for three or more years that um with the consultation and approval of the the principal of the building that we would um make that take
that off of the list of student activity accounts and the principal has requested Adam Colin Tony has requested that that um balance be transferred into the general sub fund. I do not have that number in front of me. It's on the order
of $250 or something like that. But um I apologize. I we can do that part at the next meeting if I can't put that number in front of me. >> That's okay. >> A quick enough way. But >> anything else?
Take a vote. A Lopes, >> yes. >> Shawn Dary, >> yes. >> Eric Crane, >> yes. >> Mike Shannon, >> yes. >> Josh Keptnes, >> yes.
>> Salt Bus contract recommendation. >> Yes, sir. Um, our recommendation is in the contract with Salter, we have a window that if we need to make any changes in terms of routes and the amount of buses we have up until April,
excuse me, August 15th. So, I'm just asking for school committee approval to reduce the number of buses we lease from Salter from 10 to 9ine. Uh, the reason for that is that we have obtained every year we've been able to add to our fleet. So, we have an extra bus through
um through the town warrant. We were able to hire a bus driver for this. Um so, we anticipate $53,000 uh savings if this is approved. So, um all we need is a simple approval from the school committee to do this and then
we'll notify Salter and we'll reduce the uh leasing of buses from 10 to 9. And thank you to Pamrum and David Pulsa for further work on this. Do >> I have a motion? Motion to approve uh going from 10 buses to nine.
>> Second. >> Any discussion? Any further discussion? >> Quick question. We can we have the ability if mid year we decide we need to go back to 10, we can uh we can do that, Dan, or is this call is this limit us
for the year? Well, if if we would run into that problem, per se. I mean, there have been times when if one of our active buses is out of order, we've had we've had to order a bus to fill that need. So, we have that capability of doing that.
>> Okay. >> Nothing else. Let's have the vote. >> Mike Shannon, >> yes. >> Eric Crane, >> yes. >> Sean Dy, >> yes. Josh Kepnness. >> Yes. >> Gabe Lopes. >> Yes.
>> Consent agenda. Motion to approve the out ofstate field trips fundraising donation to Riverside and homeschool applications. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion?
Hearing none, we take the vote. >> Eric Crane. >> Yes. Mike Shannon, >> yes. >> Sean Dardy, >> yes. >> Josh Kepniss, >> yes. >> Gabe Lopes, >> yes. >> Any communications?
Probably not many right now. None. Anything from legislation? They don't they don't work during the summer, do they? Well, uh, on the federal level, on July 25th, the, uh, federal government released 1 billion or unfroze, I guess,
is a way to put it. 1 billion dollars in education funding. What that will mean for Massachusetts or for us is unclear at the moment, but that's good news. >> And are there any subcommittee updates? Not much going on in the subcommittees
right now, right? We have our first one coming up in September and that's the policy. All right. Well, I thank you all for being here. I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> I'd like to make a motion to adjurnn.
>> I will second that a motion. >> Take the vote. >> Mike Shannon, >> yes. >> Eric Crane, >> yes. >> Sean Dy, >> sir. >> Josh Kepnness, >> yes. >> Gabe Wops, >> yes.
Thank you all for being here and good night dams.