This government meeting is brought to you by Eastworks and our local cable subscribers. >> The order. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Call the order. Let's go. >> All right. We will roll call in. Tim >> Tim St. John present guy here.
>> Megan Harvey here. Sam >> Sam Hunter present. Linda Lind here. >> Sand Derby here. >> Laura Scott present. Good evening everyone. Welcome to a regular session meeting of the East Hampton School Committee. We are going to begin with announcements.
Um do we have I believe we have a gift to >> We do have a gift. We have no correspondence to report but we do have a gift um which is the donation of a lever harp from Eban Ray. And do we have any anyone want to say >> what is a lever harp? anything about this.
>> How big is it? >> A full size harp. >> Oh, I want it size being donated. >> That's so cool. >> Presume it may have >> Oh, we have this. >> Oh, it just says, "Please accept this." >> It's a lovely >> It's a lever harp that is about 25 years
old and is in good but not perfect condition. There were attached photos. It does need a few strings replaced and we will gladly accept. Uh, I would entertain a motion to accept the gift of the lever heart. I'd like to make that motion. >> Thank you, Linda. May I have a second? >> Second.
>> Thank you, Sam. All those in favor say I. >> Opposed? Abstensions? Motion carries. Thank you so much to Evan Ray for that generous and somewhat perplexing donation. We appreciate it. >> Uh we are going to move on to the
student representative update. Walter Baker. >> Hello. Um so on October 25th um the student council executive board took a trip to Worcester Technical High School for the annual officer workshop and we
had 11 students attend. On October 31st we had our first um pep rally of the year which went well. We're trying to um to cultivate like a really energetic school spirit this year. So that's what that was one of our goals for the year.
Um, let's see. Um, we had an election day bake sale on election day at the high school. Um, >> to be clear, >> and um, the members of the student council uh, donated items and sold them
at the bake sale and we raised uh, over $750 for the Special Olympics of Massachusetts. >> Nice. um at that and I'd like to give um a shout out to some of the people who stayed um all day it for six whole hours
um 8 to 2. So um thank you to Jess Atkins Barber, Connor Coffee, Hi Frink, and Rosalie Downey. Um then that Thursday on the I think it was the it was the 6th of November, we hosted the Western Massachusetts Association of
Student Council's fall conference and we hosted over 300 students. Um and it was just a day uh dedicated to leadership workshops and growth. And I'd also like to thank uh Laura Scott for giving a lovely um welcome speech at the opening
general session. You can put the addendum that I invited myself to that event. That's fine. It went It was great energy. It was a lot of fun. >> Uh right now we're running uh our service committee is running the feather a teacher food drive. So basically Oh,
that's not good. Um so basically what that is is um people donate non-p perishable uh food items and for every one item they donate they get they earn one feather. And there's pictures of teachers on the wall and they take a
feather and put it on the teacher. And the teacher who has the most feathers at the end of the collection period wears this inflatable turkey costume um for the whole school day uh the day before Thanksgiving break. >> Nice. Fantastic. >> Do we have an insight that's begun?
Who's in the lead? >> Um Mr. Drisowski. Um Miss McDonald. Mr. Julia's. Um, I think it's pretty close, but Oh, yeah. Does Miss Paula still have a ton or no? >> Mystery is up like 15.
>> Would we say they're winning or are they losing? >> Well, Miss Pas was the winner last year if I remember correctly. Yeah, >> depends on how you feel. >> They dress. >> Um, we started doing our monthly visits um with our service committee. I guess
you could say it's the service committee to um the Ley home and we go once a month on a Tuesday and that's supposed to be um that's a service project where we are we bring activities to the residents and we just like cultivate
these um intergenerational um connections with the residents. Um so that's lovely. >> Um we're having our November kids night out this month on Friday. Um this Friday. Um, so definitely don't want to miss out
on that. And we also um heard >> give them a TLDDR for that kids night out. It starts you drop your kids off at >> 6:00. You can start at 5:45, but please don't come until 6:00. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Um and then um >> fair enough.
>> We got um notice from actually I don't know. I think it was Patty Doherty from the Special Olympics. But um the mobile polar plunge will be coming to East Hampton High School on February 12th. >> Nice. >> And so what that is, it's this like big
>> well, whatever you want to call it, it's a trailer and it's like this freezing cold water and you hop in and what we're trying to do is um time it right so that we have um the spread the word to end the word campaign also hopefully lined up so it can be like a month of um inclusion.
And that'll be like the grand finale to that whole thing. >> Walter, I have a question about the polar plunge. Who plunges? >> I was going to say, >> so >> uh everybody in the student council will be plunging. Um >> are city officials plunging? >> Uh well, I'd like to make it like
>> I'd like to make it a whole community thing. >> Did you want the mayor to plunge? Is that Sorry. >> Would you like to ask Mayor Durby to plunge? Sorry. >> Absolutely. Yeah. one day. >> You're the uh athlete on the board.
Yeah. >> I'm cold already. >> I was just trying to be fair. >> Sorry, we interrupted. >> I just said I wanted to work well with a >> lot of fun early February. That sounds great. >> I'll have more on that um next month, but I'd like to make it a whole community event. Um
>> Awesome. And usually what um what we do at least at um in Hyannis uh in March at the spring conference is um the schools like come up with like themes for each delegation comes in like a group costume and you'll just see like a bunch of like
minions or like trolls running into the ocean. So it's supposed to just kind of make it fun. So hopefully we can have something similar uh like that in February. And then we'll also be forming our unified botchi team again this year.
um with the life skills students and one eighth grader from Mountain View hopefully. So, and then to add to kind of build on what we did last year, we're hoping to collaborate with some schools. I know Greenfield um I think maybe Frontier as well, but I know Greenfield definitely
um wanted to collaborate to um have like more practices and some scrimmages before the actual tournament that's run by the state association to make it more like a full um sports season. >> That's awesome. >> And the MASC Unified Botchi tournament
is the one we're planning to attend is on January 23rd. It's a Friday at Oakmont Regional High School. >> Nice. You played botchi outside in January. Is there some sort of indoor court? Interesting. >> So botchi. >> I was going sounded I was just asking. I
don't know until you ask. >> That's all for me this >> Henry. Would you like to report on the happenings at Mount View? Do you have any thoughts to share with us? Um, so, uh, a couple of my friends organized a food drive for, uh, like the middle
school and a lot of people brought in some good stuff. Today, I saw um, one student bring in like like a whole backpack full of stuff. Great. >> And you're keeping an eye to make sure it's high quality stuff people are really going to want. >> Just perish or non
>> non-p perishable foods. Excellent work. >> Yeah. >> And that runs until when? Uh, I don't really know. >> To be determined. >> Yeah, keep going. >> Excellent. >> Okay, >> that it for now. >> Yeah. >> Way to go, Mountain View. Thank you so much, Henry Lugana.
>> All right, that is our student representative update. At this time, we're going to open the floor for public comment. You can join us either remotely by raising your virtual hand or step to the podium and give us your name. Uh, we will give that just a minute. Megan, do
you see any hands? I do not, but I do see that the food drive, the last day for it is November 26th. >> November 26th, if someone else asks. >> All right. Seeing no interest in public speak, we're going to close public comment for the evening and move on to
the superintendent update. Dr. Balch. All right. >> Just all the way down. There you go. >> Awesome. But so excited to have MBS in the house. I'm going to ask uh Principal McCullum to the mic to introduce the
fourth grade team. Um we have Miss Breton's class here and we also have a surprise from Miss Elliot's class. Miss Breton. >> So we have four students from Miss Breton's
class. They are Ala, James Dailyaly, Annalia Belone, and D Boy. Uh, Miss Breton, do you want to say anything about what they've been learning and what they're going to share with us tonight? >> Hi everyone. Um, so our class has been
studying Native American Heritage Month. This month, November is Native American Heritage Month. And um as part of what we're doing during MUS is we have been learning about different cultural regions in the United States um where different tribes are located and about
their culture, the homes they live in or live in and the foods um that they eat or their cultural traditions. We've also been highlighting um influential Native Americans um both past and present. And so the friends that are here with you
tonight are going to give you a little introduction to that and then they're going to highlight two of the um influential Native Americans that they've been studying so far this year. >> Excellent work. >> Thank you. >> I think um Annalia and D. >> Everyone at home can hear you on that
mic. You don't have to talk right to it. That'll pick you up. >> Yeah. Um, hi. I'm V. >> Hi, my name is Anna. >> We are in Miss Breton's fourth grade class. We are here to tell you why it's important to celebrate Native American Heritage Month. We think it is important to celebrate Native American Heritage
Month because Native Americans have been through a lot. Native Americans have been through violence and very hard times. Native Americans have a special culture and the culture should be remembered because Native Americans are such important people. We are going to share some information about the most
important Native Americans. We are going to talk about Shereice Davis. Sherice Davis was born on May 22nd, 1980 in Frankfurt, Germany. Sherice Davis was the first LGBTQ plus Native American in the United States Congress. Shares
Davids was also the first openly lesbian person in the United States Congress. She was elected in 2018. She served under former President Barack Obama as a White House fellow. She's also one of the first Native American woman elected
to the US Congress. Shereice Davis was a lawyer educated at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and Cornell Law School. >> Sherice Davis is a member of the Ho Chunk Tribe of Native Americans. >> In conclusion, Charice Davis is a very important Native American and person.
And then James and Addison are going to share about another influential Native American. >> Hi, I am Addison Alisa and I am James Dailyaly. We are in Miss Britain's fourth grade class. >> We have been studying influential Native
Americans. We are going to tell you about one of those people now. Ben Knighor Campbell was an Air Force veteran. Ben is from the Northern Cheyenne tribe. Ben Nightor Campbell was born April 13th, 1933 in Auburn,
California. Ben is important because he served three terms as a United States representative. He also co-sponsored legislation establishing the Museum of the American
Indian, Washington, DC. Ben is important because he joined the Air Force in 1951 and served in the Korean War. He also competed in judo in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. He was the first Native American to be on an
Olympic judo team. In addition, he worked as deputy sheriff in Sacramento County, California, coached the US national judo team, operated his own dojo in Sacramento, and taught high school classes in physical education and
art. Ben is one of many influential Native Americans in the United States. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you for all the serious. >> Yes. Thank you.
>> So, I'm hoping to uh play a video of Miss Elliot's class. They are a group of singers. They sing all the time in class. So, they wanted to perform a song. Um, if I just start
>> I think if you can plug in over there. >> So, do you think you're my tech person? You keep >> I don't know why you keep calling me the tech person. I don't know. >> I have to have time. >> I don't think so. >> Sometimes there's like
>> the other thing you can do is join the meeting and play it on the screen here. Unfortunately, that's the >> See, you're the tech person, Sam. >> Oh, yeah. >> Don't Don't encourage them. >> It looked like you could. >> And is that is that last join call,
Michelle? I think it's probably >> the meeting second screen only too. I try that one every >> I appreciate everybody's patience. I swear it's going to be worth it. >> This I swear that this tech is different every time we try to use it. So
>> yeah, I don't know why we Yeah. have to do things differently every single time. >> But usually we have two sperience. Why don't we >> It's all good. It's all good. >> I'll show your screen. >> Oh, that looks promising.
>> Or I can just play it. You can hear it. >> Sure. M and I'll just play it into the mic there. Yeah. >> Well, we could ask. >> Is it an emailable file? Video files are going to be too big.
your tech genius. If anyone in the audience feels like they have any idea >> shy sing young people are essential young people
say that first >> don't fail us on In the meantime, can I just say how great those two presentations were? Thank you so much students who are willing to come up and share. I will be curious how did you pick those two
particular individuals to >> share with us? I think it really quick offline. >> Yeah, agreed. >> I agree based on your description. >> Anyone else want to share? >> Yeah. And how did you guys pick? Yeah.
Um, I picked this because I thought it was really cool that um, Ben Night Campbell was like the first Native American to be um, an Olympic judo team and to run his own like do
>> and like um, study um, teach high school and physical education, art and Sheriff I thought that like I would kind of deal that many jobs
>> you could be the next >> I'm thinking you already have two jobs student three dots >> presenter >> I can keep going >> time filler helping us so many so many ways >> that's touchreen
Yep. >> Well, we'll just see if it'll play audio and then you can hear the beautiful voices. >> They're angel voices. >> Oh, I already cried during this. >> It just feel good. >> Precious will be precious.
You got a thingama bopper that came up on your screen. >> Yeah, there's a something that came up. >> Yeah, >> the official term is thing. >> I want it that way. My Miss Elliot's fourth grade class featuring Miss Elliot
on guitar. Jesire voice. >> Yes. >> I can hear it. When you say that I want it that way, tell me why ain't nothing
but a heartache. Tell me why ain't nothing but a mistake. Tell me. >> We can see it. >> We can see it. We can't see it now. >> He stands immediately. >> It's small. It's a screen. It's
everything that I want to hear that way. Now I can see that we fall in aart way that it used to be. No matter the distance, I want you to
know that deep down inside of me are my desire. You are You are You are You are
You are ain't nothing but a heartache. Ain't nothing but a way. TELL ME WHY AIN'T NOTHING BUT A HEART. Tell me why I ain't nothing but a
mistake. Tell me WHY I NEVER WANT TO HEAR you say I want it that way. TELL ME WHY AIN'T nothing but ain't nothing but
you say that I want it that way. worth Andrea. >> I have to make my comments. Does everybody know that Mr. Gaya does this in his classics? >> Yeah, this is I'm just happy to see that the '9s tunes are resonating. >> Yes. Yes. >> Keep it going. Keep going.
>> I was going to say and that was fourth grade. >> They refer to it as vintage. I I bought that cassette tape. >> I I saw you. >> I can't help it. So yeah, I love to see classes doing that stuff. >> I want to say too, they appear to have done it better. No shade to
>> No, I I like the acoustic take on it. Like >> the harmonies were tiring, >> folky. I like it. >> Well done, Mountain View. >> Please put out the album. Please tell and her students for sharing that with us. >> And a deep abiding request
live. Oh yeah, we'd love to have her >> 100%. In this go join in on would love to join in. >> That was a delight. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you all so much. >> Thanks for our students. >> Great job. >> We're going to go straight from that
into the MCAST update. >> All right. >> Yeah. We're going to give the audience a second to be able to put on their coats and run before we start talking about data. >> Thank you everyone. Thank you everyone.
>> I do really like love having kids come in in the beginning. It's so nice. >> I think we might have hired the right person. >> More than halfbody. >> Yeah, usually that's what happens at this angle. >> We see you. Julian, did you hear that song?
>> Oh, nice. That was worth every moment that >> I was in grade four so much. >> Did How did they just do camera? >> That's so cool.
>> All right. How do you think we should have? Should I have Julian? >> I can do. >> Oh, that's cool. >> That's awesome. >> But that's okay, too. >> We got the most important part of the song. Um,
>> we need to schedule a day training for three of us to be here with tech. >> It doesn't matter. >> Run some mock meetings and sharing it. >> I know. We got to do it again. >> Okay, that was a pause. That was not an official recess, but more of a practical recess. We are setting up now. The next
item on our agenda is going to be the um MCCAST update. Part of this is going to be presented by our curriculum and grants director, Julian Leven. And oh, and we have our screen share up. So awesome. >> I will leave it to Dr. Boston and Julianne. >> All right. Thank you so much. Um
Julianne and I have a quick presentation um this evening to talk a little bit about um our accountability data to take a look at where we were over the past few years um and sort of what this means for us as a district.
So what is MCCAST and why does it matter? It is truly one of the only measures that we have that compares sort of us against the state and it gives us a real sense of our overall student performance on some academic standards.
Um it allows us to compare results across the schools across grades and statewide. And it also helps us like figure out where our instructional gaps are and where some of our strengths are. And it also helps us sort of create a
strategic plan and a vision for where we're going and the work that we need to focus on as a district. And it truly does drive performance. We by no means are teaching to a test or believe that MCCAST is the end all
beall, but it is a very important measure for us as a district. Um, like I said, it talks it really helps us identify where we are, where we need to improve. It helps us take a look at our curriculum, right? Is what we're teaching aligned to the standards that
the kids are expected to master at the end of grade level. And that is what um, MCCAST helps tell the story of. It helps us strengthen our tier 1 instruction. That's what all kids get every day. It helps us take a look at trends over
time. It helps us design our PD and our coaching that happens at the school. And again, it helps us really to strengthen what we really need against, you know, our strategic priorities. Do they line up? Do they match? It also tells a story
about um inequities that might be appearing. So, it it's really important for us to take a look at subgroups and how we're monitoring instruction for all students. It helps us, you know, MCCAST looks at our um MLL student performance,
our students with disabilities, our lowincome students, and our high need students. And when we see a gap in our data, it tells us that there is an inequity that is existing. So, how do we take a look at those gaps, use the data,
and you know, the data is a little stale, right? We're looking at last year's performance typically, but again, it helps tell the story and paint the picture. And during our last meeting, we talked about sort of like satellite data. You know, we're talking about the different levels of data. And again,
this is one important sort of satellite data, a holistic overview of where we are. There's been a lot of conversations across the district about, you know, accountability in MCCAST. And this was the first year we every this the results
are sort of tell the story of you know that not having it be a a competency determination for graduation requirements. So you know our our data is you know a a very valid measure and the sort of the dynamics have changed
but again it's still really important that we have MCCAST and that we're using MCCAST as a data point for us. And I I think we really want to highlight that MCCAST is important and it does matter for us to be able to help inform what
we're doing and how we're doing as a district. And you know, accountability is a very public um it's very public and our accountability is on our district website. It is posted by Desi and you know, if you're looking to move into the community, one of the things that you
typically do is take a look at accountability data. How are the how are our students in this district performing and MCCAST is a part of that picture? So, you know, as much as we we won't rely on it as being the single measure of student performance, but again, it is
how we are compared to like schools and like districts and how we are performing overall as a state. You know, we we look at the state and the trends that are happening across the state and we're very much in line with the trends that are happening, but we don't want to be
on trend. We want to be above trend and we want our MCCAST data to reflect the great work that's happening in our classrooms and the great work that we're hoping to continue to do in this district. And we're going to dive into the Julian is going to dive into the
data and we're going to talk about you know MVS specific data um the high school specific data what we've been doing over time and you know what it really means for us as a district. Um, MCCAST again like I mentioned are really
just to talk about accountability and student performance. But when we say accountability, it also includes things like um subgroups performance like our students with disabilities, how are they performing? That's all sort of embedded
into accountability. Accountability is sort of MCCAST plus. So the plus column is things like chronic absenteeism, graduation, and dropout. Those are all parts of our accountability measures. Um looking at advanced coursework
completion. Are students do students have access to advanced coursework? How are they performing in those classes? And then again that last final measure is MCCAST. So it's not just about the MCCAST when we're talking about accountability. It does include things
like dropout and graduation and attendance. So we are looking at all of those things as a district and it tells sort of the story of how we've been performing. So um Julian is going to jump right in and take a look at sort of highlevel data pieces from our
accountability and review sort of where we were where we are and where we're headed with this. >> Julian before you start we have a lot of MCCAST skeptic folks in district. So, I want to I want to put a pin out there for those who are going to watch this tonight or listen in the future that at
a minimum you can look at the value of MCCAST is how this if you ignore all of the state data and all the neighboring districts data, you can at the ve at the bare minimum watch how East Hampton public students are performing yeartoear. You can look at third grade this year versus third grade the next
year. You can also follow one cohort and see other so so there's value in this. Even if you approach this with a high level of skepticism, there is value to take from it, even at the barest measure. Of course, >> I just before you continue, I'd like to add too that it's it seems like the MCCAST have been kind of defanged a
little bit in a sense that they're no longer >> like the idea of teaching to the test where the idea of teaching to the test before was because a student needed this to >> graduate and now that they don't need that MCCAST as a tool, it presents as a
wonderful thing to >> if we can assume if we can get family buy in that kids will a take the test and b invest some significant amount of effort into doing that, right? Rather than just saying it's meaningless to me because I don't need this as a graduation requirement. So that that
messaging is on us to be able to explain to the public why there's value, >> right? All I think all of education in that context is kind of on the the teacher on the leaders of of it. But I think the MCCAST is is in this capacity is a great tool. >> Sure. >> Yeah. It doesn't work for all students,
right? The MCAT it it is a single measure. It is a snapshot of learning at in in a particular time but it's designed so say the 10th grade um MCCAST it's designed to assess whether the kids have mastered you know the skills and
knowledge and competencies for 10th grade. So I mean there there is some value and you can also see student growth over time which is also really important. How is your student progressing um as they move throughout the grade? So it's nice to see, you
know, sort of you can take a look at your kids's third grade performance. How are they now performing in fifth grade, eighth grade? It's it's really good, I think, as a parent to see, you know, how your kid is growing in >> like a growth chart in a pediatrician's office.
>> Just one more perspective on that is that that this now serves more as a u a test for everyone involved as opposed to just the student. Now it's >> was always meant to be that. Now we can really >> educator as well needs is is being
reflected and all the educators are being reflected in our system is being reflected and and UCAS is just another tool. Yeah, >> it absolutely but accountability also has a purpose too because you know when schools and districts aren't performing
if they fall below you know say the 10th percentile for accountability that requires state oversight and when that happens you know things get a a lot more challenging for districts and there's a lot more work that has to happen to sort
of like to validate the work that's happening. So you know it's also like you know while it is a measure accountability is still very real >> right >> that's the modus operenda by which all of us will be replaced with people from the state so we'll see uh Julianne I'm
sorry no don't apologize I'm I'm thrilled to have um this conversation in this setting um I really hope that my internet connection is consistent if not Michelle is prepared to um take over the
presentation. Um, but thank you so much. I'm at the uh New England Association of Schools and Colleges conference right now and um have been having a really inspiring day thinking about school change and um it's been really wonderful. So
>> maybe in December, can you give us like a little maybe you could come back in December and just boil that down for I would love to I'm right for inspiration. So maybe you can share with us more about that conference in December. That that is a great idea. I would love to do that. Thank you. Um so yeah, I'm I
I put um this slide together just to show you a little bit about how we um this is actually a slide I've used with you all for the last 5 years. Um and I just keep adding a bullet point to explain where we are now and then where we are now. Um so I wanted to just say
like we are in our first year um as Michelle said of MCCAST without the competency determination. Um, I think it was Tim who was talking. It's a little hard to tell, but um, yeah. So, this puts our our 10th grade teachers in the same place with MCCAST as our grade 3 to
8 teachers have always been, which is that it's not a competency determination. It's not a high stakes um test, but it does give us this really rich body of information um with which to you know hopefully change things for
students um and change things you know programmatically. Um, so it's I I I agree with Michelle that this is like such rich data. Um, and so now that that yeah, the teeth have been taken out of it, like maybe we can we
can really come to this is a really important tool to use to see where we are as a district. Um, all right. So, jumping right in, uh, this is our, um, Mountain View accountability information. So, we're
starting with our preK to 8 school. Um our school percentile is the norm referenced uh data and that means so the 33% there um that you can see under 2025
school percentile that means that we are performing um better than 33% of the schools who are like us in the state. So, I know a couple years ago we had a we had a big conversation on school committee about what it meant to move
from our elementary and our middle school being compared against those schools. Um, as now we are as a prek to 8 compared against prek to 8 schools. So, it's a different set of schools that we are using in that norm referencing.
Um, but we are in the 35th percentile at at Matthew. >> And Julian, do you want to just refresh? Like I'm really sorry. I think this is important and I reiterate, I hammer this every year. When we moved cohorts, when we moved to a pre-K through 8, what that did is it put us in league with
generally speaking districts that are a lot wealthier >> than the district of East Hampton, >> right? I mean, I think that we Yeah, I mean, we we we can look at the the exact list. we we know which schools we're being um compared to um so we can look
at them. But yeah, there are definitely prek to 8 schools are um not as common as elementary and middle school separate models and so it really it does change the cohort that we are compared to. Absolutely.
>> Okay. Yeah. Um and then our criterion referenced uh target of course is against ourselves. So that's um really looking at how many students have been placed in the proficient um or exceeding uh achievement levels on MCCAST. So when
we're compared against ourselves, that's our criterion reference. And we're when we're compared against other schools, that's our norm reference data. So compared against other schools, we're at the 33rd percentile. And for our criterion reference target, um we're at 38. Mhm.
>> So those are our official Mountain View targets. Um we know that we have a lot of work to do at Mountain View >> in terms of curriculum and instruction. We are implementing a new literacy program this year. So that's taking a
lot of bandwidth. So looking at this data, we already know that we needed some support. Um, and through that data analysis, that was really what turned us to um, moving to a new literacy curriculum
and we we implemented a new math program, but we now put a lot more into our math intervention. So, we know that there's work to do here. Um that said, as Michelle was talking about, like what happens when you dip below a certain
percentile and then this our bandwidth is taken even more by the state coming in with oversight. So we are not in that place at Mountain View. We are not requiring assistance or intervention, which means we can still work internally to improve these data sets um without
having to give all of our bandwidth to the state. Excuse me. Uh, I'm going to move on to the high school, but does anyone have any questions about this slide first? >> Oh, never mind. >> Um, can I just ask Julie when you're all done, could you just email us this slide
presentation anytime this week? >> Absolutely. Yeah, it'll get we'll we'll get added to the notes and everything. >> I'm I'm >> All right, Sam. Sorry. >> Oh, Sam had a question. Go ahead, Sam. I just have a I was just wondering um and
this might be a question for later. Could we just like kind of have like a one one sentence or brief description just what the new literacy program entails? >> Oh, I think um Michelle has a plan for
our literacy council to come and present to you. >> Excellent. >> Yeah, >> I'm looking forward to it. >> I think it's in January. >> Okay, cool. >> I think I was gonna say I think it's January. >> Yep. So yes, very exciting. >> We piloted it last year, so it was like
identified by the educators as like the curriculum and um we that's the prism grant. So that's part of this CKLA >> curriculum. Yep. >> But we'll definitely get you a presentation. >> Awesome. >> Yeah.
>> Um so this is the EHS data. Um so we again like knowing that this was the first year that we didn't have the competency determination attached to this particular assessment um I think shows a little bit. So we are
um at the 21st percentile in terms of our norms data. So that's comparing us to uh other high schools in the state. And then we're 23% for our um criterion reference data which is measuring us against ourselves in terms of our
progress. So, we know that the high school is the place where we really need to um focus in on. I mean, I think I think there's a mix of there's some curriculum instruction that is important to to think about and um to
maybe introduce um some of the work that they've done there is introducing complex tasks and asking students to really think more deeply about the work that they're doing. And so, I think as that work continues, we'll see this data improve. I do want to address just quickly that
it does say requiring assistance or intervention um for our designation, but that's specific to a participation rate of our special education students in 10th grade. Um Michelle, did you want to talk more
about that or do you want me to? >> Yeah, so the state sets a target for the number of students um with disabilities that should be participating. the percentage is 95%. >> And um we were at 94%. >> Okay.
>> Um and when we dug into the data, it was there I think for the CLA the this class the grade 10 I think it was 78 students that were identified as students with disabilities that were supposed to take it. We tested 73 of
those. So it was a matter of one or two students taking the test or not taking and you know working with the principles and sort of unpacking the why there were students that opted out of taking it um because it wasn't a graduation
requirement um that they didn't want to put their students through the stress of that exam. So we were talking about one or two students for that and we were the target is 95 we were at 94 like we just missed it. Um so we did get that
designation of requiring assistance. Um so we'll have to do a couple different things. We'll have to put together a plan to submit to the state as how we're going to you know make sure that we don't encounter low participation again next year. Um Principal Evans is very
well aware of it. Um it it is on watch. I mean there some some things might be out of our control right for if there are opt outs like there's not much we can do. However, it is very much something that is on our radar. We are
closely monitoring it and if you don't opt out we will do everything to make sure that you feel like you're ready to take the test on test day. >> Thank you. um the CEK kids because I know this is just these are the kids who are administered MCCAST at our school
buildings, right? This isn't going to include at a district or choice out kids. >> CEK kids, that's S2, correct? They take the MCCAST with us. >> Smith Vogue would be the one exception, right? Smith V would take it at Smith. Okay. All right. >> Yep.
>> Sorry to interrupt, Julian. Go ahead. >> No, thank you. Um so this is our overall um data for the district. Um and there there is some interesting stuff here um that we've been looking at. Um
specifically looking at in our um at the high school where we were like we we've been concerned about some of the data. Um what we did notice is in our um student growth percentile. So if you can if you look on the right side of the
page, the third data set down says MCCAST average student growth percentile. And what we do see is our numbers getting closer to 50, which is what we want where we want to see or we want 50 or above. 50 is um equivalent to
a year's worth of growth. So, we want to get to a full year's worth of growth and we'd like to go beyond that as well. But getting closer to 50 for those student growth percentiles in both ELA and math at the high school does feel like a really nice spot to celebrate. >> Yeah.
>> So, I wanted to point that out for us >> and I think what we're seeing and this by no means is you know um is that we are trending very similar to across the state. I think you know we the post-pandemic recovery is going much
slower than we all had anticipated. Um but I think we are very much in line with what is happening kind of across the state. Um and another area of highlight is our access data. Julian,
you want to this is exciting. >> Yes, I'd love to talk about the access data. >> The access data makes me so happy. Yeah. >> Um we yeah, we've really put a lot of effort into our English learners program in the last couple years. And if you look at those 2025 numbers, um so at the
very bottom of the screen under access results, you'll see the 2025 um non- high school and then all grades numbers. And we really just we we dug in last year and we saw that there were students who have been in our EL program for more
than the six years that the program is intended for. And we really put a lot of effort into making sure that those students met their goals on access and are able to exit our program. Um so they they will still have support because we still monitor eels for four years after
the program. Um, but to see, you know, in the previous years, we just hadn't been getting kids to their full fluency. And now to know that like we can do it. Um, we really have to dig in and be intentional about the language objectives for those students, but when
we do, they make incredible progress. >> So, yes, that is a really nice bright spot for us as well. >> Yeah, >> that's really >> 30 points. Like, >> that is really exciting. >> That's unbelievable. >> Very exciting. Yeah. Yeah. No. And it's I mean I know in the next budget cycle
we're going to be talking about the EL program and so I just want you to remember how good it is when we get on those students >> correlation between money and the >> out. And one other note that occur like we for I look at this data and I have to
remind myself every year every class is give or take 15 kids about 100 kids. Yeah. So the data can skew so much from a handful of kids, you know what I mean? It's just like I take this stuff really seriously and sometimes I have to remind myself that,
>> you know. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Look at our We're at 87% like or 87 kids taking it. You're like, "Oh, okay." Right. >> Yeah. Exactly. >> Okay. Sorry, Julian. >> No, no, our numbers are small. That it's a really good point. Statistical
significance is important when you're looking at data. So, I I appreciate that. No, >> I actually have a question in that regard. Um, does does the state consider that when doing the percentile rankings? >> No. >> Cuz that does change.
>> Yeah. >> If you have a if you have a subgroup of um 10 or fewer students, they do not report. >> But that's that's it. >> Yeah. >> Mhm. Interesting. So you'll see like on the percent of students making progress when you look at just our high school
under the access results it's a zero >> right >> that's not because the students aren't making progress it's because we have fewer than 10 students >> and so they can't report on the data >> right >> okay >> um one more >> important slide so things that we are
learning from that data and are putting in place in order to respond to the data Um, so we just talked about in January you're going to hear all about CKLA, which we're really excited about. Um, we've also been really excited about leveraging our wind blocks. WIN stands
for what I need. Um, and those are times to to really think about what students um, need outside of their classroom settings. um so that we're providing interventions or we're providing um extensions to learning whatever it takes
um to to get kids to move past their own um challenge level. Um in mathematics um we are looking at our middle school math program specifically to think about some advanced level um acceleration in the
curriculum um that would allow students to then take more advanced level math in high school. simil similar conversation in science. Um really thinking about what's the sequence of the science curriculum so that we are opening up more advanced options in high school. Um
>> can we can we be more specific on that Julian? Yeah, talk a little more in specifics or Michelle about the math and science piece because I think that's an important thing for the public to really digest this. I understand what you mean, but we're talking the language of like a specific industry. And I think that there's a point here that the public
could would appreciate if we >> No, that's really I I appreciate um that note because I I never know when I'm talking to teachers. It's okay. So, yes, thank you, Laura. Um what we're talking about in math is trying to open up
algebra 1 in 8th grade for as many students as possible. Um, anyone who wants to take algebra 1 and eighth grade should have the option to do so. So that takes some acceleration in grades sixth and seven to get students prepared for that eighth grade algebra 1. And then if
you take algebra 1 in 8th grade, that means that you can take geometry as a nth grader and algebra 2 as a sophomore. And then you're really you have wonderful electives AP math to choose from in your 11th and 12th grade years. Whereas on a traditional cycle, you
would take algebra 1 in nth grade, geometry 10th grade, algebra 2 in 11th grade, and then you would only have one year for those advanced course selection uh electives. >> And then on the science piece, the science piece is similar, right? Like we've kind of >> Exactly. >> some of our like typical freshman level
offerings are in many other districts taught at the eighth grade level. So, we're trying to drag some of that curriculum back down. Right. >> Exactly. Yep. That's right. So that um in ninth grade students could take biology and then in 10th grade um you know they might take I mean by by 10th
grade they can really start to choose whatever they want to take which is exactly where we'd want them. Like you choose your physics, environmental science like there are so many pathways in both math and science. >> Um and we just don't want to restrict students by having the curriculum
requirements slow them down. >> That's right. And Walter had a question before you go on. Go ahead Walter. So, excuse me. If you have a student taking um the biology or the physics course, you know, like the traditional 10th grade level >> science courses, um in 9th grade, would
they all would they still wait until 10th grade to take the that science MCCAST? >> Yes. >> No, you can take the science and take it earlier. Okay. >> Yeah. >> But it means we'll drag that earth science piece. We're trying to drag that back down to the middle school level.
Exactly. >> Anybody else? All right. >> Go ahead, Julian. >> Okay. Yeah. Last last piece of social studies. Um thank goodness for um the having uh Kelly Brown and all of her wisdom and um connections into our uh
district because she is working with our eighth grade team right now to implement the we the people curriculum in eighth grade civics, which is >> I think this is breaking news. I don't think the people knew about this, Julia. People don't know. >> Pretty exciting. >> No, it's great. Go ahead.
>> It's good news. It's good news. >> Yeah. So, we're we we uh Kelly is working with the eighth grade team to revamp that eighth grade civics um program so that it's really aligned to the we the people um curriculum so that that will feed hopefully right into the
programming at the high school. >> Awesome. >> She was there this past week. They did their first week of hearings, practice hearings, like >> we're gonna get a national title, y'all. >> It's coming. Yeah. Yeah. It's exactly the right kind
of programming to bring down into the middle school. Like, but we we want to start getting them primed in middle school. >> That's right. >> Um music. >> And then Kelly uh with her partner at um Westfield State, Lorie Bristler, um are also leading this KT to five powerful pairings professional learning
community. um that's with our elementary educators um which is also beautiful. It pairs primary sources with um engaging readaloud material for students in K to 5. So they can be looking at real
historical documents um but in a a child um appropriate an age appropriate um instructional method >> like American Girl, right? Think of it like that type of thing. It's like the American Girl series that type of thing like age that's wonderful. Yeah.
Um, it's a little more inclusive than the mentioned adult. >> Yeah, fair point. Fair point. >> And then finally, our genocide education partnership with Springfield Public Schools. our our high school teachers um will be meeting with um a genocide
education expert um to think about what and add to the curriculum in the high school around genocide so that we have as a community um an understanding of of what human nature and genocide um mean um in this day and age.
>> So we've got so much exciting stuff happening. >> Obviously I say this every year. I'm so proud to be a part of this district and to be doing this work um with these teachers and um and and congratulations to all of you school committee members
who um are coming back for another term and um for those of you who are not congratulations to you as well but I'm so excited real congratulations I'm really excited to be on this journey with you all so thank you so much for
>> for being here with me >> thank Thank you, Julian. Anyone else have questions for Julian? >> No, but I intend to meet with her. >> I'm so pumped. Me, too. >> Henry's got a question. >> I take the algebra one math and I love
it cuz it's a lot like uh harder than like other math. And uh it's I'm like actually challenged, but it's like fun cuz I I like learn so much new things every day. And it's really fun. I like solving like the equations. And I'm glad
that you're opening it up to like everyone like that like wants it to >> Well said, Henry. I'll give you that $10 after the meeting. Well done. Well done. >> Mic drop. >> Thank you. >> Great. >> Algebra for everybody. Uh, anyone else there? >> No, that was just a
>> Thank you, Julianne. I'm going to um >> Thank you so much. >> Yeah, I want to look at that slideshow again. >> Yeah. Yeah, me too. >> Great. >> Wow. Okay. Oh, feeling a lot of feelings tonight. Okay, business update.
The illustrious Julia. Sorry, Franks. >> Do I Do I see that we've hired a lunch supervisor? >> No. >> We're going to get there. >> We're going to get there. I'm very excited. >> I a 2 years. >> Wait a minute. >> Good evening. Good evening.
>> We all were our colors today. >> THAT'S WHAT I WAS JUST going to say. Everybody color us. I didn't I had the gold. Where was the memo? >> Anyway, >> I have this gold. >> Anyway, back to you, Julie. I apologize.
>> Right. Um, so, uh, item number one, the end of your financial report for FY25 has not been filed yet. Um, I will keep you posted. Um, Desi is aware. I received, um, communication with them today. Um, the folks downstairs are working diligently to get documentation
ready so that we can submit that. Um when it is submitted I will report to the committee. Um item number two current uh budget the FY26 budget at this time uh 25.7% of the appropriation has been spent or encumbered um based on
reports in KBS as of October 31st. Um that does not include all of October payroll expenses. So there's sometimes a a delay in getting things posted into KBS from Harpers which is our payroll processing. Um, but I don't have any concerns about it at the moment. Um,
item number three, um, there are some inactive student activity accounts that have been on the books for several years. So, school administration from EHS has identified student activity accounts, um, that have been inactive for three or more years. Um, Principal Evans is requesting that these accounts
be closed for school committee policy and the remaining be transferred. Um there is an attached memo and you will see later on in the agenda in the new business section there is a place for you to take a vote on that. Right? So per school committee policy if there are student activity accounts that do not
have activity for three or more years the committee can vote to declare those accounts closed and then can vote to reallocate those funds. So um the memo outlines the accounts um that will be closed. These are clubs that no longer are active. There aren't advisers.
students haven't been um participating in those activities. So, it's a total of just over $1,000 um that Bill would like to reallocate to the buildingwide fund so that then they can be used to support um other activities going on at East Hampton High School. Um item number
four, grant updates. Um the as part of closing out the FY25 budget at the state level, um an opportunity to request eararks was sent out to our state legislators. So, state legislators reached out on behalf of East Hampton and requested $130,000
as part of that fair share supplemental budget. East Hampton was awarded an appropriation for the purchase of vans to support transportation needs for the district. Um, >> so I am requesting that the school committee u make a motion to approve that. Um, the state is treating it as a grant as their tracking mechanism for
it. Um, and so there is suggested motion language for you to vote to accept that grant monies. Um, and the last item for from the business report is the personnel report for October. Uh, if you look on the personnel report, we did have several new hires, including some
substitute teachers in the district. Um, we have had some separations. Um, I can report that three out of those four positions, we are have we currently have a body in place to fill those positions during the month of November.
>> Great. Okay. Um, any questions? Do you want that motion now or do you want during new business? >> I mean, we have we have already on the schedule to close the inactive student activities account, but I don't
I'm worried that I'm missing the share budget. >> Do we I'll just tack that on. No, I'll tack it on. Yeah. >> Sorry. Okay. >> So, you'll add that in at new business. >> Fair share your mark. Yeah. >> All right.
That is it for me. We'll do that first. Okay. Set that aside or I can read it. >> I have a question about >> Great. >> Yes. >> Oh, >> sorry. >> I just have a question about the vans. >> Sure. >> Very exciting uh intersection of both
transportation and education, which was the intention of the um fair share act. And so I'm just wondering what sorts of things the vans are going to be used for. Uh, I mean, it's really going to be up to us to decide what we can use them for. So, I've received quotes on two vehicles. The idea is to purchase a 15
passenger van that has no storage and a 12 passenger van that does have storage. So, basically without the last row of seats, which would allow it for sports that need to bring equipment, for music, say, whatever. Um, so we could really use them for anything that is not
scheduled home to school transportation. Okay? >> So, we could use them for field trips, for sporting events, for clubs and activities. We could use them for job placements. We could use them for the life skills program when they're doing community events, right? We could really we can use them for anything. >> Cool. >> And and who drives them? Just the the
faculty. >> So any staff member, anybody who is on our staff who is using it for business where we have requested them to as long as they have a valid driver's license, right, can use it and they would be covered by the town's blanket liability policy. Okay? Right? So they don't need
to carry their own insurance. They don't need to have a special license. >> Cool. >> Um I might just not have been paying attention when you went over this, but the vacancies that we have currently, are any of those of a higher level of emergency? Are we interviewing already? Where are we at? Three out of the four.
>> Uh Kota, we've replaced the Kota started last week. Administrative assistant, that position has been offered to somebody in the process of onboarding. Same thing with the special education position. And uh I believe Bill is interviewing for the parah position >> and we Okay. And for the PAR and the
substitute custodial, we just increased that. So that hopefully will >> Yeah. I actually had somebody ask me about that job and said that they had >> which one? The substitute. >> Substitute custodial. >> And so they said that they had sent an email to Jill. That wouldn't be who they
should send it to, right? >> No, it would be to Larry Kins, the director of facilities. >> Okay. So, I'm going to get back to that person because they were very interested. So, >> okay, great. Yeah, let Larry know. He'll be pumped. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Anyone else? Going once, going twice.
>> Okay, Julia. >> Run, Julia. Run. Yep. Okay. Moving on. Where are we? I think we're at school committee discussion, which is going to put us >> policy. >> The policy. Sure. >> Yes. Do we want to start with policy? >> Do we want um
>> Yeah. Yeah. Let's We might as well do that for sure. >> All righty. >> Um Sam, can I ask you a question before you get going? >> So, I have in this packet all the stuff on the AI policy. We're not doing anything. >> No, the AI policy is that's for the minutes.
>> Um the and then the facilities use. I remember there was one thing that um Julia just needed to run by um bill. Great. >> So, we're not quite ready on those ones yet. Um carry on. >> But um we do. So, >> oh, sorry. Um, so yeah, we can start
with the graduation policy and competency determination if I can get to the right page in my example. So, um, as you all know and as we've talked about tonight, uh, last year the, uh, or yeah, last year the the voters of
our state, um, passed a ballot initiative which waved the M or not waved the MCCAS, it got it stopped the MCCAST from being a graduation requirement in our state. Um, and that means that we needed to pass a competency determination to basically uh
basically say this is what you need. There's our graduation requirements, which is what you need to graduate. And then our competency determination is basically um it as far as like the public is concerned, it's basically saying like you're on track to graduate um once you hit these um requirements.
So MASC or not MASC the who is it? Is it Desessie? Desi told us we needed to pass a new competency determination and have that um ready to go by the end of December. So we have um overachieved and gotten it done ahead of time >> and we've done a few right to get them
because we've had this middling population of kids in living in the hinterland. >> We had to we had to pass kind of a temporary competency determination. Um, so what we, so we uh worked on this competence and then we were also asked to review our graduation requirements to make sure that they were up to date and
uh we found that they weren't up to date. So we fixed them. >> We did some beefing which I'm I'm very excited about. >> Yes, we beefed them up. Um made them no major changes. We actually >> studies >> we made them more reflective of what's actually happening already which is um that's exciting in a for policy when you
see oh we've actually doing it better. we need to change our policy to reflect the fact that we've already been doing it better. Um so if we want to look at the competency determination which is the second uh policy that's attached IKF um here um do we do we need to we don't
need to read the whole thing because it was in the packet right >> uh no you have to read >> how do you read >> is this your first reading for each of these correct so it has to be read >> it has to be read okay so I'm going to just ask everybody to bear with me because it doesn't have >> you please you don't need to read the
table >> I won't read the table >> okay Okay. Um, so one of the requirements, this is how it starts. One of the requirements for graduation in Massachusetts is a determination of competency in subjects previously covered by the MCCAST. In addition to other requirements for graduation, students must have been determined by
the district to have achieved mastery of the common core of skills, competency, and knowledge in said areas and satisfactorily completed coursework that has been certified by the students district as showing mastery of the skills, competencies, and knowledge contained in the state academic standards and curriculum frameworks.
Um competency determination requirements. A determination of competency shall include demonstrating a mastery of skills in English language arts, mathematics, and science and the satisfactory completion of the relevant coursework aligned to the standards measured by the high school English
language arts, mathematics, and science MCCAST assessments administered in 2023. Additionally, there is a requirement for mastery in US history. To show mastery, a student must successfully complete in accordance with the district's grading policy and any other appropriate methodology as may be determined by the
school committee the final assessment for a course or a capstone or portfolio project or an equivalent measure identified in the district CD policy. Um, a student enrolled in the East Hampton Public Schools will be determined to have satisfactorily completed coursework and earned full credit in accordance with the district's
grading policy and the requirements outlined below. And that's the table. Basically, it's saying um for the competency determination, you need to complete um the equivalent of 2 years of high school English um by uh taking English language arts in grades 9
through 12. Um you need to have one year each of algebra 1 and geometry. Um and we specified that if a student transfers from a district that doesn't offer um algebra 1 and geometry, those districts often offer integrated math instead where they're kind of done together. So
you either have to have algebra 1 and geometry or two years of integrated math or some combination of those two. Um and then for science just the equivalent of one year of uh any of our um high school science um courses. >> Not anymore.
>> Biology, physics, chemistry, and technology. >> Robotics doesn't count. >> Not the electives. Yeah. I guess I could have been more. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Um, and then also the equivalent of a one-year United States history course, which you'll remember from our well, some some will remember from our temporary competency determination. We
added that for our district. That was not actually a requirement of Desi for the temporary one for last year, but it was actually a requirement for this one this year. So, we were ahead of the curve as usual. >> People would have had to been hitting it anyway. It was a graduation requirement. We have now extended it and added a little bookmark as the the state has
followed us and that is now in the that is one of the requirements. Yeah. So >> um for so the next section um for students with disabilities um we added this just to make sure that this was clear for everybody in the community uh the Eastampton public schools must provide a free and appropriate public
education to students with disabilities and must also determine that a student has met the competency determination and local graduation requirements prior to graduating that student. Students with disabilities who have been placed in out of district placements must meet the requirements of the competency determination policy of the placing
school district. Uh discussion of the competency determination must be a part of the IEP team's transition planning. Um expected graduation dates are a decision of the IEP team and should be discussed at each annual IEP meeting beginning at age 14. And um please see the transition services policy for more
information, which my only kind of editorial on this is that if you have a student with a disability, we do start transition planning at age 14 through the IEP process. And so um that's if if you just happen to have a kid who's 14 or older and you're wondering about that, ask your uh your uh education team
lead uh whoever convenes your IEP meetings and they'll walk you through the process. Um, for English language learners, the East Hampton Public Schools shall on a case-byase basis determine the appropriate courses necessary for English language learners to both achieve language proficiency and meet the competency determination
requirements. Basically saying that they need to meet the competency determination requirements here as well as um be receiving the English language instruction that they're entitled to as an English language learner. Um, for late enrolling students, so those are students who enroll at East Hampton High School after their ninth grade year,
they may be granted a determination of competency by the East Hampton Public Schools in one or more of the following ways. Um, a transcript review by district administrators, additional course requirements as determined by district administrators. I'm sorry, they're supposed to be that was supposed
to say um superintendent. >> So, I will change that and make sure that that gets >> for the second read. >> Yes. >> Yep. So that's supposed to say superintendent. Yep. >> I apologize. Um >> um I think it's fine because a superintendent is also the administrator.
>> It just doesn't look as nice. Um this is the problem with like reading your own writing. Y >> um a qualifying MCCAST score of at least uh meeting or exceeding expectations achievement levels on the relevant high school MCCAST assessment or by meeting the standard for a substituted
equivalent that the district certifies satisfies the same academic standards. This is not saying that we require the MCCAST for transfer. >> No, it's saying that's something you canider. >> If a kid comes from another Massachusetts school, that's something you can look at. >> And you never, you know, we've got, we have kids who come in from other states.
We've got kids who come in from other countries. So, um, we kind of want to make sure that we're looking at the whole um the whole the whole profile. And then there's an appeals process. Current students or and or parents or guardians may appeal the determination of competency on a case-by case basis
with the superintendent. Um, and then also those enrolled in the East Hampton Public Schools in the classes of 2003 through 2024 that did not earn a diploma may also appeal that decision on a case-by case basis with the superintendent. >> I have a question about that. Why is 2003 the code?
>> I don't know. >> Okay, >> that's a good question. Um, and actually, as I was just reading it, I was like, Laura's going to ask why 2003? I don't know. I think it has something to do with when the MCCAST became the competency >> became a competency uh determinant. >> All right. So because that sounds about
right to me in the timeline of when those things were legal. >> This is how rumors get started Sam. >> Okay. Sorry I didn't say it. >> Don't listen to me. >> Yeah, that sounds about Yeah. No, it really is. >> Yeah, there's a teacher who >> issue settled then. We don't need to actually look for the fact. >> So no, I am going to look that up. Now I'm curious.
>> So this is but this is actually important. So, if you if anybody I don't know if anybody watching this >> was in that class or you know 2003 or you know someone maybe you've got a um you know a sibling or a cousin or a nephew or a niece or somebody who graduated or didn't graduate during
those times because they didn't pass the MCCAST uh in 10th grade uh please have them reach out to the district because we will uh be we'll work with them to see if we can get them a diploma which can u make a really big difference um in people's lives and ability to get jobs and um everything.
>> Yeah. So, um, >> so that's I'm going to call that the first reading. I'm going to pause you because we don't have a motion yet on the table. So, I would entertain a motion to accept the first reading of the competency determination. As a reminder to everybody, this will come up
in another meeting probably next month for a second reading before it would be adopted as a policy. So, I would entertain that motion and then we can also have questions and discussion after motion's on the table. >> So moved. Thank you so much, Megan. Can I get a second? >> Second.
>> Thank you, Eric. So, the motion's on the table to accept this as the first reading of the competency determination. Does anyone have questions or concerns? >> Excellent. So, we are going to take a vote on this. Uh, we're going to start with you, Tim.
>> Uh, Tim St. John, I >> Megan. >> Megan Harvey, yes. >> Sam, >> yes. >> Linda, >> yes. >> Laura Scott, I So, that passes. >> Great. Um, Sim, I'm going to pause you. So, we're going to do graduation requirements next. I do not have anything in the packet for facilities use. Are we doing
>> facilities use? We're putting it off because we I just went through my email and I >> I'm just mindful that I think we have someone here who would like to talk to us about your resolution and a call to action. So, I just want >> Oh, okay. >> Yeah. I just don't want to keep with it. So, um, do we want to do that first and
then we'll we'll flip back to graduation requirements because you have to read that into the record, too. Um, this person has been very patiently waiting on this call. >> Okay, great. >> I I realized that I told her 6:30 and yeah, >> it is 7:16. >> I was super optimistic.
>> Okay, so we are going to skip ahead a little bit. Under policy subcommittee update, we are talking about number four, the resolution and call to action in support of the MTA's fiscal crisis campaign. Sam, you want to take a lead on this discussion? >> Yeah, so the MTA um the Mass Teachers
Association uh reached out to all of us. They sent us an email um a few weeks ago about their fiscal crisis campaign, which was basically asking each um school committee member or each member of any elected um board kind of across the state to sign a petition um
supporting these seven um bills that are before those >> to sign as individuals, right? >> Yes. To sign as individuals. Um and we again being the overachievers that we are, uh we kind of had a brief discussion at one of our meetings. It was not. >> It felt it was longer than it should
have been maybe, but where we we we kind of I I kind of got the s the feeling that we would kind of like to sign something a little bit more um kind of official as a group that we could then kind of pass on to others. That's right. So, what I did was um I took the the MTA's um the website that they put
together with the info sheet and I mostly copy and pasted the information about the bills themselves, but I wrote a little preamble um and um and then also kind of asked that in after we passed this that we then send this to our neighbors. Um, and I specifically named our representatives, uh, the the
other districts in those, the other school districts within those districts, and then also any district that borders our district, any district that we send students to through school choice or who send students to us through school of choice. And the and then any any um any if those are regional districts, all the
districts that make up that region >> and the districts that share our state reps >> and the districts that share our state reps. So, it ended up being a huge list of districts. And uh that's great because we want we want more people to sign on to this. And so I also we also invited Sarah Shapiro from the MTA to
come and speak a little bit about um this campaign. >> So whenever you're ready, Sarah, >> we made a mountain out of your molehill. Sarah, do you want to >> share your thoughts with us? >> There you go. >> Yes. Hi, thank you for having me and thank you, Sam. Um so my name is Sarah
Woodard and sorry it says Shapiro on the >> I apologize. >> I am a reading specialist at Hampshire Regional. I am an East Hampton resident. I am a proud auntie of two Mountain View students who have had amazing education and amazing teachers. But tonight I'm
here as a MTA. I'm a Senate district coordinator for Senator Villis's district and that includes East Hampton. Um so I wanted to talk a little bit about this. Um good evening everyone. I want to take a moment tonight to talk about what our schools and our students
truly need to thrive. Because when we invest in our schools, we invest in the heart of our communities and the future of every child sitting in these classrooms. Municipal leaders, superintendent, school committee members, educators, and community partners have signed onto a letter
calling action to address the deepening fiscal crisis facing public schools across the Commonwealth. We currently have more than 1,075 leaders from across the state who have signed on. First, we must strengthen the special education circuit breaker program. Every student
deserves a support and the services that help them reach their full potential. We can't let rising costs stand in the way of opportunity. Second, we need to fix the chapter 70 inflation cap. The cost of running our schools keeps climbing from energy to
transportation to staffing. Yet funding hasn't kept up. Our students deserve a formula that really reflects this. Third, we must reimburse districts for student transportation costs. For so many families, particularly those in
rural areas, uh the school bus is the bridge to education. No student should be left behind because of where they live. Fourth, we have to increase rural school aid. Small communities face big challenges and every child, no matter
what their zip code, deserves access to quality education and opportunity. Fifth, we must ease the financial burden that charter schools place on traditional public schools. Innovation is important, but so is stability. Our local schools must have the resources to
continue serving all of our students. And finally, we must invest in students mental health, particularly since co. Our kids are facing more pressure and stresses than ever before. They need caring adults, strong programs to help them feel safe, supported, and ready to
learn. Each of these priorities just isn't about numbers. It's about people. It's about students who dream big, teachers who give their all, and communities that believe in the power of education. So, let's stand together. Let's raise our voices for fairness, for
funding, and for the future that our children deserve. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you so much there. So Sam, does everybody kind of understand what I was talking about? So the MTA kind of started this. They're saying we need to start to address this problem. Now we have seven specific bills in front of
the legislature. So what we're saying is Sam has created this letter, highlighted these seven bills, targeted all of these representatives and local communities. So, what we're considering tonight is adopting this and then sharing it with all of these partners
>> and and importantly like directing our representatives to vote in favor of these bills >> and then sending that message to all these neighboring districts and hopefully spreading it out further for them. >> I think it might be helpful for you to read those. >> Oh, I will. >> Yeah, it's got to be it's got to be read.
>> Okay. Um, I think the I think one one more thing that I just wanted to emphasize as well is like two of these bills are um are specific to rural and regional school districts. And as you all know, we are not a rural or regional school district, but I feel like this is
something that we can have some solidarity around. And it's kind of one of those things. We're like a rising tide lifts all boats. And we're very >> we Yeah. We want our neighbors in Hampshire Regional and Gateway Regional and all the other regional districts that we >> very close. >> Exactly. So, we want to make sure that
we're being um a good neighbor and a good partner and good allies to those folks as well. >> Um do you want me to read this one in Sam? Are you good to go another four >> I mean if you I'm I'm happy to I'm always happy about I have to we always have to pitch it. >> So, we did have probably a more extended
discussion about this last meeting, two meetings ago, whatever it was. Um but this is exactly what I had in mind. Thank you so much for drafting this and for adding this language with action steps at the end and recruiting others to join us. This is exactly why I bothered to argue about it for a good
>> argument. No, I think >> it was vague before. Yeah, the idea was we needed more money and that was something we were all not unaware of, but now this is like real actionable. So, if anybody anybody watching this wants to pitch in, uh, feel free to call your reps and um, >> you can
>> we could maybe um, highlight this in parent square. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Are we allowed to know? >> Why not? >> We'll talk about it. >> We'll talk about it. >> Um, okay. And thank you, Sarah, for bringing this to our app. >> All right. You're going to want to get
started on reading this. Okay. >> So, this is um a a resolution and call to action in support of the MTA's fiscal crisis campaign. I get a little lofty in the beginning. I'm sorry. All right. 380 years ago, the first publicly funded school in Massachusetts was founded in Denim. Since then, Massachusetts has
been a leader in public education, both nationally and globally. A strong Commonwealth is one that prioritizes the growth, care, and learning of its youngest citizens so that Massachusetts will persist for another 380 years. True investments made in public education now will reverberate for generations. In
these challenging times, we must unite with other school districts, municipal partners, organized labor, families, and students by directly by directing our representatives to vote for these seven bills. These bills have the collective effort of equalizing the way education is funded in our state by lessening the
fiscal burden on local municipalities. We, the school committee of the East Hampton Public Schools, endorse each of these seven bills before the legislature. Um, the first one is H678 S uh 388 and you >> Yes. When you read those, it's House Bill House. Yeah. Yeah. Just so the
public knows. Go ahead. >> House Bill. >> Trying to make it shorter. House Bill 678, um, Senate Bill 388, and act to fix the chapter 70 inflation adjustment. The Chapter 7 formula currently caps inflation adjustments in state aid at 4.5% regardless of how high inflation
actually is in a given year. This cap means that in periods of high inflation, public school districts do not receive the state aid that they need to keep pace with increased costs at the local level. It also means that if this is not corrected, districts will never receive the real dollar aid that they were promised under the student opportunity
act. This legislation will address this flaw in the chapter 70 law by maintaining the 4.5% cap, but making a technical fix so that the state funding to public school districts keep p keeps pace with inflation over time. It will do so by allowing for funding to be made up in years when inflation is below the
4.5% cap, thereby ensuring that districts will over time receive the funding that they need and that the Commonwealth meets the real dollar targets in the Student Opportunity Act. >> Pause. This is not going in the policy handbook, is it? >> No, it doesn't. >> So, I can stop you there. Here's what you can do for the rest of this. Just
reference, just read the bolds. >> Okay. >> List those because this is not going into the policy system. We read every word. >> Okay. >> So, what we're voting on is whether or not we endorse this. It's not going to sound. >> Yeah. >> So, if you just want to hit those highlights. >> Excellent. >> Great. >> So, the um the next one is uh House 517
Senate 314. Enact to provide a sustainable future for rural schools. >> Um so, this just refers to the fact that rural schools often have costs that are not reflected in the foundation budget uh budget for school funding. Um and that has to do with the economies of scale. If anybody's interested, there
was a uh really great um virtual uh feedback session. Sorry, I'm not going to make this any shorter. Anyway, there was a cool thing that I got to participate in earlier today about this. Um, >> so this would uh basically directly support rural school districts through the rural school aids fund. >> Yeah.
>> Um, House 697 and Senate 328 and act relative to the full funding of regional school district transportation. Again, we're challenged by transportation. Our um our neighbors are also challenged uh in rural districts and this just addresses that. Um, House 597, Senate
348, an act ensuring full reimbursement for indist school transportation costs and an act providing in district transportation funding >> for special education funding in district. >> Uh, for yes, for special education funding in district. So, um, basically this is one of our biggest challenges in
East Hampton. This would, um, actually really affect our district in a very positive way if this were to pass. um House 691, Senate 430. Um an act relative to the long-term fiscal health and sustainability of special education
in the Commonwealth. Um this basically currently our special education circuit breaker program reimbures school districts at 75% for certain instructional and transportation costs. Um but um the way that it's set up now is the the circuit breaker actually ends
up returning more funds to wealthy districts than to um poorer districts. Um, and uh, this is so this would this is been a long time in the works. I'm sorry. It's impossible for me to summarize. >> It's not impossible. It's a choice you could make in your but it's okay. Keep going. >> Um,
>> House 577 and Senate 389, an act honoring the Commonwealth's commitment to public school districts. Um, so this is basically just equalizing the charter school funding so that we don't we don't end up >> hemorrhaging so much becoming bankrupt because of charter school tuition. And also, by the way, would allow families
to still make the decision to to go to charter school. That's right. >> Um it would not affect your access to charter school. >> Um and then House 544, Senate 369, an act to establish the whole child grant program. This is a program that would enhance um mental health supports in public schools.
>> Um which we definitely need. So, we're inviting our neighbors and colleagues to join us in strongly endorsing each of these seven bills. To that end, we are addressing the resolution to our representatives in the state house. Senator >> John, we're not going to read all those names. You don't want me to read all the districts? I think you should. Okay, let's read all Representative Omar
Gomez. >> Uh we're also sending this to our municipal partner, the East Hampton City Council to adopt. Um to our colleagues at the Collaborative for Educational Services and the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative. Uh to our partners in organized labor, the East Hampton Education Association, and then
to our neighbor school districts and their city councils or select boards, and that includes Hampshire Regional. I won't read all the member districts. Bless your heart. Okay. Hampshire Regional School District, Gateway Regional School District, Frontier Regional School District, Ammeris Regional School District, um uh Holio
Public Schools, Hadley Public Schools, Hatfield Public Schools, Northampton Public Schools, Chapi Public Schools, West Springfield Public Schools, I'll read it slower if you >> Westfield >> Westfield Awam Greenfield, Lello, Springfield, Graanby, and South Hadley,
and any other school committee elected official or community group feeling moved to join us in supporting these seven bills. I'm still really excited about this. >> I'm I'm excited too. And I also like I that's like a a it's you know this is like a job that feels sort of isolating
at times like being on a school committee even especially in a small district where you feel like you kind of only have the resources that are around you. And even just like sitting down and making this list and really looking up kind of who are we connected to and being like you know we have this big coalition potentially >> um and we can really um make better use
of it I think. So I'm excited for that. I like I just like to take this opportunity to recognize the hard work that Sam does to put this together. >> Absolutely. >> Are we sure? I think I think you're right. I think Sam does a lot of work. >> Yeah. I mean, and I'm not sure everybody
recognizes >> that this was something that came out of a discussion that two meetings ago, I believe it was two meetings ago that I think we all had a lot of feelings about. We had a lot of discussion about. I think we felt that what at that point it wasn't quite adequate enough for us
more, right? Yeah. Yeah. We needed more and we just had the ability and the talents on this school committee to have somebody like Sam and I I think that needs to be recognized. I'm going to recognize it. >> Oh, I appreciate that. >> Okay. Because this was so thorough, so
put together and really action, a call to action, and that's what we need in these times. Thank you, Sam. >> Well, thank you, Linda. The giggles that we got had nothing to do with that. You're right. Thank you for saying that. This was a lot of good work. >> I've had too much, Gabby. Um I would
entertain a motion to um approve this resolution as signitories. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Tim. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Eric. Um any other further questions or discussion? Anyone? >> Okay, we're going to vote. Tim
>> Tim St. John I. >> Eric Gay, yes. >> Megan Harvey, yes. Sam >> I >> Linda >> I >> Laura Scott >> I uh passes. So we are going to >> we'll send out a bunch of emails. >> Yeah, it's great. >> Okay, I've got all the email addresses.
>> I can't do ink. We're going to Okay, that's fine. We'll talk about >> we can we can fine. >> We can print it out if you want. >> Okay, perfect. Um >> I just got new toner. >> We'll just we'll generate a signature page while everyone's here tonight. >> Oh, we don't have the mayor, so never. We'll do it in December cuz I want to
make sure Tim can sign. >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay, great. >> Okay, great. Um, so that is that we're going to Thank you, Sarah, if you're still Sarah for hanging in. >> Bless you. That was long. And, um, we will be sure to email you the final doc, too, if there's anyone else you want to share it to. Thank you so much for
bringing it to our attention to begin with. Um, we're going to swing back to the graduation requirements under the policy subcommittee agenda. >> I I don't usually have this much of a speaking role in these meetings. >> It's a lot. I mean, it's just a lot of talking, period. It's not your fault.
>> This is my night. All right. >> And I even talked about the conference. Okay. Um so, okay. So, graduation requirements. This was um these were pretty minor fixes. So, MASC just recommended that since we were looking at the um competency determination that we also just make
sure our graduation requirements were up to date. They were not. We have fixed that. Um so, in order to graduate from East Hampton High School Oh. Do you want me to read it? >> Yep. We're going to have to read it into the record. Um, in order to graduate from East Hampton High School, a student must have earned at least 96 credits.
Uh, 12 of which come from electives. Um, there's 128 credits available to earn over four years at 32 credits a year. Um, and, uh, they and complied with all state accountability requirements and the district's competency determination. The course requirements are the following. Um, so 16 credits each in
English, mathematics, and social studies. Um, 12 credits in science. uh eight credits in world language in a single language, 10 physical education credits, six health credits um and then four each of fine four four credits for fine or performing arts, four credits
for technology and then an additional four credits for fine or performing arts or technology uh based on which electives they want to take. >> Uh other requirements may be established by the school administration in relation to the particular program. Otherwise, the additional credits needed for
graduation may be selected from among elective courses. For the total number of credits, uh please see the high school program of studies or the student handbook. Um credit for foreign study. Students who are away for a term or a year to participate in a student exchange program or otherwise study abroad may receive credits towards high
school graduation when study plans are approved by school administration in advance. And the institutions where the study occurred submits a record of the student's work. In these instances, the principal and students guidance counselor will evaluate the work and assign credit for it according to the standards prevailing in East Hampton High School.
>> Perfect. >> This was last updated in 2020. >> Okay. Can we get a motion? I would entertain a motion um to approve the first reading of the graduation requirements policy. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Eric. Can I get a second? >> Second.
>> Thank you, Tim. Um Tim, we vote unless we have any other questions. I'm so sorry. Do we have any other questions? No, I didn't think so. Okay, Tim. >> Tim St. John. I >> Megan Hurry. Yes. >> Sam. >> Yes. >> Linda. >> Yeah. >> Laura Scott. I >> Great. So, we'll see this one back
>> for second meeting. >> All of them will come back >> next month. >> Next month. >> They'll be wrapped up this year >> and then hopefully we'll have the building use one. >> Listen, policy is grunt. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of words. It's a lot of words, y'all. Thank you very much. Lot of words to see.
>> It's good. A lot of words. There's a lot of cash. >> Definitely not. >> Wow, that's a lot. Okay, so we are now going to move down to um we're going to go down to the finance subcommittee update. We're going to circle back about the conference Sam once we get through. >> Yeah, I just wanted to say that I went
to it. That's really annoying. >> Okay, that's great. If we could leave it there, I'm fine with that. >> Love that for us. >> I think we're all bunching. We got to pull this train. >> Oh my gosh. Okay, so the finance committee met on uh November 10th.
minutes are in the packet. Um, and at these meetings, we are just reviewing um, last year's fiscal year budget, this current fiscal year, and then preparation for next f fiscal year. Um, and we also have meetings scheduled for
early next year. And I just pulled those so I'd be able to read them. Okay. So, we have another meeting um, Monday, December 8th at 3:30, and that is in person in the room behind us. And then our budget specific meetings for the next fiscal year. >> This is where good people will want to
tune in and we will make sure these are hybrid. >> These are hybrid. Um Monday, February 9th at 3:30 p.m. in the room behind me, but also hybrid. Tuesday, February 17th at 400 p.m. hybrid. Monday, March 2nd,
uh at 3:30 p.m. hybrid. And then we have a hold on Monday, March 9th if necessary at 3:30 p.m. hybrid. And we will publish that. And that culminates in what, Megan? >> That culminates in a budget. >> The So the public budget hearing, >> thank you. >> Could be um is scheduled right now for
March 24th. >> How do you know that off the top of your head? March 24th. It is indeed scheduled for public hearing on March 24th. >> It's the biggest day of the year. >> Yeah. >> For us finance kids. True. >> Uh so that those meetings that Megan just listed and that meeting on the 24th, if you're really trying to do that
deep dive into what we're doing, what it looks that's that's the stuff to pay attention to. Let's take 10 seconds to say that our two co-chairs do an enormous amount of work. And this is stuff that nobody pays attention to because they think we're supposed to be doing stuff we're not. We're supposed to be focused on policy and finance and
they just do really incredible work. Thanks, guys. >> Go on. >> Um CES update. Have you met? >> No, we have all the interpreters. And then I think we'll have one more CES update this year and then starting in January, there will be a reorganization
meeting in the first week of January. will likely have a new CES member, so we probably won't know much more until then. Um, the NDS playground. Do we have anything? >> I don't have one. >> Okay, great. >> That's entirely on me. >> That's right, Jackie. >> That's quite all right. I had Okay. When we move to action items, which we're
going to do, can we just do that fair share earmark first? >> 130. >> Yep. And And you have that. And then there's the additional sheet. I just want to make sure you're already answered. So there's the earark that >> and then there's this list for that one.
>> So we need to do those two first. So F. >> Oh, you want me to say the list? Okay, >> great. >> So just do F first and then the fair share and then we'll go through the other motions. Do F first then fair share. Got it. >> You see what I mean? And then the rest of it's just plug and play. Okay, guys. We are moving on to action items. So I'm
really all set with conference stuff. >> Um I Yeah, I mean I went to the MASC conference. Do you guys want me to like at the next meeting? >> That sounds great. >> That's a great idea. Let's do that. Great. Because I didn't have time to put anything together because it just happened. So, >> okay. >> To put something together. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, >> I look forward to it.
>> Yeah. Okay. I'm going to start with a motion to approve the request of closure of inactive student activity fund accounts per attached list. And that list is applied economics. Um, would you like the balance each of those accounts? >> Uh, get can we just >> Yeah, let's read let's read each. You
have it too, Sue, right? You have the net. Okay. >> Okay. So, those specific accounts are Applied Economics with $120.15, the Golden Eagle Cafe with $8.52, Key Club with $19.91,
Outdoor Club with $397.20. Um, presumably Students Against Drunk Driving, it's just listed as SAD. Uh, 367 um 24. students for a free Tibet $105 and the track and field club $9258.
That's a total of $1,11060. And these are again to be clear uh student activity funds uh sorry student activity accounts that have ceased to be active for a period of three or more years and the principal has requested principal Evans that the school committee close those accounts.
>> So like some older clubs, defunct clubs, one of those clubs became an actual team. Y >> it's all good things. Don't anybody be sad. >> And it will all go to uh buildingwide student activity account for EHS. So it's not absorbed into anything else. >> So we're just going to make sure that that money that's just been sitting in
accounts that aren't gaining interest, they're actually now used for actual active student groups. >> Yes. >> Okay. Uh so that's the motion. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Sam. Uh all those in favor say I. >> Opposed? Abstensions? Motion carries.
>> All right. I have a motion um to approve, this is the fair share, to approve the acceptance of the fair share supplemental budget earmark funds in the amount of $130,000 to be used for the purchase of vans to support transportation. >> Can I get a second? Thank you, Sam. All
those in favor? >> Opposed? Extensions. Motion carries. I have a motion to approve the school payroll dated 10:30 2025 in the amount of $654,595.91. >> Second. >> Thank you, Sam. All those in favor? >> I.
>> Opposed? Abstensions? >> Abstain. >> Thank you, Eric. >> Motion carries. >> Motion to approve the accounts payable authorization for payment dated 10:30 2025 in the amount of $379,929.72. >> Second. >> Thank you, Sam. All those in favor? I
>> opposed extensions. >> Thank you, Eric. Motion carries. >> Motion to approve the school payroll dated 1113 2025 in the amount of 648,662.52. >> Second. >> Thank you, Sam. Uh those in favor? >> I oppose.
>> Okay, let's try that again. All those in favor? I >> opposed. Abstensions. >> Thank you. Motion carries. Uh motion to approve the accounts payable authorization for payment dated 1113 2025 in the amount of $500,346.37.
>> Second. >> Thank you, Sam. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Absent? >> Thank you, Eric. Motion carries. >> Motion to approve the school payroll dated 1113 2025 in the amount of $567.69. >> I second.
>> Thank you, Sam. Uh all those in favor? I >> opposed abstensions. >> Thank you, Eric. Motion carries. >> And lastly, a motion to approve the minutes of the 10:21 2025 regular meeting. >> Second. >> Thank you, Sam. All those in favor?
>> Opposed? Extensions. Motion carries. Okay, our next meeting dates. So, the final meeting of this exact committee will be December 9th at 6:00 p.m. here. There will be a reorganization meeting for the new committee. they will be
sworn in and then go directly to a regal organization meeting on January 5th. I don't have a time for that yet, but you all will be emailed. And then the first regular session of the new school committee will be meeting January 13th. We're not going to read all the future because we'll get into that next month
>> in the future. >> One more meeting for these folks, y'all. One more meeting. And look what happens when the pressure of winning an election is off. Might lose our minds. All right. Um, I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> I would like to make that motion.
>> Thank you. So moved, Linda. Thank you. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Tim. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Extensions. Good evening, East. >> Yes. Um, can everybody get