##VIDEO ID:KLmfRvqCVlg## all set Mr I call the meeting to order please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the repblic stands Nation indivisible liy and justice for all Mrs F we could have roll call please M here m b here Mr here Mrs rero Mar here here this is to notify you that this is a regular meeting of the greater new bford Regional Vocational Technical High School District school committee being held on Wednesday January 8th 2025 at 11:21 Ashley Boulevard New Bedford massach ches it at 6 p.m. in the student Forum do we have any public comment this evening no public comment moving on to the acceptance of the minutes of the December 9th 2024 meeting a motion to accept the minutes motion to approve second we have a motion with a second all in favor anyone oppos so move all reports we have uh approval of the bills including in in your uh backup material in the amount of$ 486,000 4,642 approval we have a motion second second any discussion okay hearing none all those in favor I anyone opposed so moveed uh next we have the cudy hunk Island project presentation by the engineering department good evening thank you for inviting us to present our work my name is Bob suland I am the teacher in the senior engineering and Robotics show tonight you'll hear from some of our engineering students about a collaborative project between greater and vet devx and the cudy hug steam Academy to study offshore wind energy the project was fully funded through a grant from the South Coast Community Foundation the $73,000 grant was co-written by Miss Michelle carvalo of the Cy hunk steam Academy to my right Mrs Beverly rebello Academy D administrator Mr Alan Dart and myself as you'll soon hear from our engineering students the grant funding provided a unique opportunity for them to learn about the science and engineering behind offshore wind energy while expanding the boundaries of their traditional classroom to include the pristine environment of Cy hunk Island before I turn the program over to our students I invite you to watch a three-minute video documenting the project up to this point the video was prepared by our media technology students under the guidance of Mrs Jen Gaspar who accompanied our Engineers throughout their educational joury at gnb VTech and steam wind energy collaborative project a groundbreaking initiative designed to equip High School seniors with the skills needed to thrive in the renewable energy sector this project was launched to create an Innovative offshore Wind Farm curriculum aligned with the Masters Career Technical education Frameworks the goal is clear to prepare students for advanced placement opportunities while deepening their understanding of renewable energy career Pathways in the early stages students focused on the physics of electricity generation learning through Hands-On experiences engineering students constructed electrical generators and integrated them with the kidwind turbines experimenting with key factors that impact Energy Efficiency they explored how small changes in design can dramatically affect power output pushing the boundaries of their learning this collaborative effort extended to other career in technical education areas such as electrical carpentry and Welding students from these Department showing forces to design and build a testing and monitoring station students conducted field studies on cudy hunk Island measuring wind speed and direction in an open unobstructed environment this real world data collection allowed them to identify the optimal locations for wind turbines which ultimately to the installation of a 1600 watt turbine on the island students also explored the environmental impacts of renewable and non-renewable energy sources by understanding the challenges posed by varying weather conditions they gain valuable insights into energy production Dynamics through Outreach efforts the project aims to raise Community awareness about offshore wind energy students will share their progress inspiring others to join the clean energy movement looking ahead they plan to expand this curriculum to include additional trade areas ensuring our students are equipped for diverse careers in the wind energy sector this partnership between g&b vetech and steam represents an unwavering commitment to Innovation and sustainability they are positioning their students at the Forefront of clean energy movement helping to shape the future of renewable energy the wind energy sector offers Limitless possibilities and g&b vetech is ensuring their students are prepared to lead the way [Music] [Applause] this project hello my name is Aiden cardo and I'm a senior in engineering and Robotics this project all began when Miss Michelle carvalo approached the gbbt engineering program the prospect of a project the C scham Academy is a school stationed on the island based on educating young minds about the idea of offshore wind and the wind power it can generate in addition the South Coast Wind Community Foundation had awarded our class with a $73,000 grant in order to fund everything we could need for this project the project itself was the manufacturing of two wind turbine Towers one on the roof of our school and the other on CY hunk Island the purpose being to compare and contrast the two win turbine Towers using a complex electrical system we were able to collect different points of data from both Towers such as wind power the electricity power generated by the turbines and the rotation per minute of the two wind turbine Towers we conducted four visits to Cy hunk in 2024 in March we did a wind study in may we did a field study in October we did all the preparations necessary for the next trip and finally in November we brought all of our materials to the island and built the win turbine none of this would have been possible without the guidance and education that the Cy hung schem Academy had given us it was absolutely necessary for the students working on this project to learn the most they can about electrical energy and wind energy in the conversion between the two to do this we participated in several different lessons in order to grow our understanding the first of which being based on generator Construction in this project four groups created a generator in which they tested how the amount of copper wires coiled around the generator could affect the electrical output generated by the generator one group did 100 coils one group did 150 coils one group did 200 coils and one group did 300 coils and the results of that project showed that the generator with more coils tended to generate more power next project involved all students involved to create wind turbine blades with the shape of their own design to see how the shape of a wind turbine blade can affect the wind power and energy produced by said turbine then we tested these projects using our wind tunnel in which we connected these wind turbine blades to our generators and by affecting the pitch angle we desired to see how all of these factors came together to affect the generators these projects were integral for us students to grasp the ideas and procedures behind the wind energy and electrical energy we would be working with hi my name is Lily sh uh we went to C hunk For the First Time March of 2024 we intent to find a location for our wind turbine we were that we were developing in the shop we broke off into groups and traveled to different locations around the island in these locations we did several tests and collected data we measured the wind speed studied the local floor and fauna and investigated the soil to see if there may be any rocks that may affect our project we study all this at different elevations on the same site to compare the data we also when choosing the our site we made sure that we would be affecting any the E existing ecosystem of cun we ultimately chose the solar farm as a location for the wind turbine the solar farm was the best choice for us because it was unobstructed so that the turbine could get the most wind it wouldn't be affecting any ecological factors it was also far the majority of the houses so it was only visible from one house we also took into account if something happened we made sure that there wouldn't be anything in the way in case it fell over this is especially important because the island heavily relies on the the solar farm for their power we had several opportunities to show the community what we were doing we presented to the Islanders on CY hunk on two separate occasions during both the overnight trips we took both times we presented the same idea but showed the progress we had made we allowed time to address any questions or concerns that they had about the whole project we also laid out our drawings after we presented so they could come take a better look at what we were doing we also set up a display at open house and presented to the locals that came through we had a display of all the electrical components in the actual turbine with all the voice to show and explain we did all the we did all this to help expand Community awareness about the offshore wind industry hi my name is a in the spr of 2024 we got a from and solar it is a 1,6 W generator we decide to BU these one extreme heat andere temperatures the plates are designed for high speed high efficiency affordability and durability perfect for the and Island this wi turbine can produce energy by itself we wanted to get data from it therefore we modify the system and added a data loger called Sero GX using this data loger we can collect voltage and current being generated you can see all of these using an app phones we also added a sh that will be draining the battery therefore we'll be getting constantly new data through the process of modifying the system we had held from Mr gin the senior electrical teacher who help us to make sure all the connection were correct and that we have an efficient system we use multi that is a software in which we can show the schematics of the electrical connections these schematics are important important because other Engineers can use them as a guide to build the same project the tower is from stable match we work along with welding shelf and Mr flowers to modify it and make it appropriate to our needs they cut the mass to 25 ft and will in Mass head of 5 where the wine turine is going to be attached to hi my name is Jessie during the fall of 2024 us engineering students went to C Hong and work together at the work site for the installation of the winter R we had a couple of students from loing make a big for Tre this base anchor was located 3 ft in the ground at the F where the Tre was be placed the mass is mounted onto the base anchor allowing it for to be easily lifted vertically then students from carpentry had an extra kiosk that they let us use to hold the electrical control cabinets during the two night trip in November some students worked in the one room Schoolhouse to do some calculations with the guidelines for the guidelines that will support the win turb for stability we worked with the electrical teacher Mr gin engineering teachers Dr Southern and Mr kha the media teacher Miss gasar the solar F manager way and the cutting hun steam Academy director Michelle to help with the wind turbine installation Wayne helped with the lifting of the turbine and construction of the work site he also helped dig holes and put concrete in for the Bas anger Mr Goin helped with the electrical work for the control cabinets engineering teachers Dr suin and Mr kanasha assisted with the with the process of assembling the T Miss Gaspar and media students tagged along with a shur experiences and Michelle helped educate us throughout this experience about hi my name is Evan I'm a senior in engineering the most important part of this project above all else is what we learned and that includes more than just the data that we plan to collect we learned that projects often require Engineers to combine a number of different skills we applied the skills of CAD drafting electrical circuits mechanical design and Mathematics to comp to complete a complex project with many even Parts our trigonometry skills came especially important when determining the length of the guide wires that held the win turbine up we also learned the importance of a detailed and organized engineering notebook and how important it was to record everything no matter how minute it may seem there are many times we had to go back and review things and including drawings and notes from the early days of the project to help us accomplish a task that occurred later in the project there were also redesigns that occurred that wouldn't have possible without previously recorded measurements and data one of the most important lessons we learned is that Engineers always work with other trades in areas of expertise whether that was the electrical shop when wiring the control box welding for the Mast carpentry for the wooden board or even the visual shops when documenting the project and creating the video you saw so many disciplines working together to accomplish one goal is what happens every day in the real world good evening my name is is Mason Chen and I am a junior in the engineering and Robotics program in the 2025 school year we we proposed to design and install a second wind turbine that would be constructed on gnbvt grounds for data collection to compare with the unobstructed region where our first turbine lies it is hypothesized that electrical energy produced by an unobstructed wind turbine would be substantially greater than that of than that of one out Suburban environment which many collisions preventing when from interacting with the turbine our next year of seniors would Branch further by setting up a starling terminal on cun Island to relay electrical power and wind wind speed sta statistics for data comparisons three collaborators within the study ASD Destiny and Aiden will be presenting gnbvt um findings as skills USA Statewide competition in May later this year if they succeed then they will represent Massachusetts in the national competition in which our advancements will be part of will be put on full display to the country last year in January we earned the fourth highest Grant from the south coast wind Foundation out of 12 nonprofits in Rhode Island and Massachusetts we aim to once again obtain this award with the intent of funding the continuation of this project for our next class of Juniors and seniors who will learn from our discoveries and advancing wind energy research does anyone have any questions well just a few few comments first and then I have a question for you well first of all I feel like I'm sitting into a college presentation that's impressive very impressive I'm sitting here going and I have two grandchildren are seniors in high school so they're looking I've been to many excellent excellent presentation the best I have seen in many years two was that the video was outstanding so we pass that on to Media people because I awesome um I feel the question I have here from Michelle is that why did we get selected for this awesome experience and this wonderful opportunity there's so many schools here I I I I know we're the best but I just want to know well as a combination of things I think for us we were collaborative and that was one of the things that the grant uh Foundation wanted to engage in collaboratives between two different organizations so that was definitely a plus for us the other thing just like many grants is if you know what's happening you know and is it on your radar so I was fortunate enough to actually see the grant and I had um been involved with Dr suin before in previous uh work and so I reached out to him and then here we are today an excellent job thank you guys you were fantastic I'll leave it with my com there just blew me away uh Mr kitchen did you I was just wondering how long the uh windmill will be on the island so the wi turbine will be on C hung for one year that was the agreement um with the with the people on island and so we maintained a reserve financial reserve to go back and get it at the end of one year we'll be collecting data for one year that's how long you collect it yeah the one that we put up on the school will be there forever no dud long as you're here right Miss Pento is there a probability that the one on CY hunk will get an extension there's always that possibility just have to ask great job excellent Dr mil was it difficult to get the permitting to put the turbine on the roof since it's so close to the airport uh so we've been working with um Mr Ruda in in facilities and he indicated that there isn't a need for that um it's not going to be the tallest structure on our roof by a long um he's he's quite all right it yeah good good ask Mr R after you put it up yeah that's what it you have any anything else from the committee nice job nice [Applause] job that was impressive very nice very impressive right next we'll move on to the classy Park project by the after do program and this will be for Karen Walsh and Frank G we're going to pull that off the agenda until next month due to a scheduling conflict for those folks ah okay to we continued to be continued uh next we have update on the district goals okay I'll adjust the microphone for good evening members of the committee uh so tonight I want to present kind of a midye update on the district strategic plan uh and the smarty goals that you folks approved on behalf of the district's Administration uh and school in August and so this is our midyear adjustment we're going to begin with the Strategic plan and I won't read you every word you have it in your packet I also uh had Mrs fet hand a copy of the PowerPoint to you uh this evening but I want to draw your attention really to the color coding at the bottom so you understand where each initiative and objective lie so you won't see any green tonight because none of the uh objectives Andor initiatives that are currently underway are completed uh the good news is you also won't see any red uh they have all begun uh so all of the initiatives that you'll see tonight will be highlighted in yellow which means that they are in progress and currently on track for completion by June of 2025 uh which was our original goal our you will see some items in blue which indicates they are in progress and on track for completion but that we envision we will need some of the early days of the professional development for staff in August to complete them and you will notice an item in Orange which has begun uh there has been some early progress uh but we are still in the development phase due to some ongoing uh issues and concerns we need to work through so I just want to draw your attention of that as we uh begin to look through this so objective one uh just remind was to provide high quality engaging and relevant learning experiences in a dynamic environment that promotes student growth builds a culture of innovation and prepares all students to be productive Global Citizens go ahead there are two initiatives on this page that I want to draw your attention to that are underway the first is to revamp our exploratory model uh in ordered to provide greater student opportunity and access to programs um that is the item that is currently uh is made progress but there is no timetable for completion uh the model has been discussed under the direction of our CT director Academy administrators and scheduling Specialists uh but there have been some scheduling Logistics identified early on uh that we are working through I am expecting to be updated uh by Mr rebello and the team at our January 22nd district meeting but at this point I just wanted to let you know that there I can't commit to that being completed uh on schedule in in June so I want kind update you and I will continue to keep you updated during the second half of the year the second initiative under objective one was focused on redesigning curriculum and accommodation for Student Success uh and in this particular initiative focused on accommodation matrices that have now been introduced to all departments and classroom teachers in order to support student needs this professional development was launched on November 5th with additional sessions that have been already planned to ensure full imple implementation by June of 2025 I marked this as blue envisioning that we may not quite get to every single teacher by June given the limited professional development sessions that are that are left it is possible that will be marked in yellow uh but on the off chance that we need the first couple of days um to deal with any new teachers Andor teachers that weren't able to uh go through this program I want to make sure uh that they're able to do that in August and so Kudos on this to Mr Williams uh you know Kathy reell Carmen Amal with Leed PD with our department ch is I think this is a really important step in making sure that all educators are put uh have an understanding of what kind of accommodations different students may need uh in their academic and CTE classes and so this is a one-hour Workshop that began on November 5th but uh the goal is to make sure that every Educators sees this before the next school year and the final initiative under objective one is to develop Educators uh by integrating them into the teacher learning walk process um this initiative is in development is emphas izing interal interde departmental collaboration and effective teaching strategies and pedagogy there has been preliminary feedback from our department chairs and Academy administrators that we shared at our December 13th meeting there's a framework that is in the process of being developed and there will be a follow-up scheduled on our district meeting on January 22nd uh but at this point this initiative is on track for completion and our goal is to be able to launch this in some capacity next year it won't be all teachers visiting all class classroom but we envision a team of teachers that will be part of this teacher learning walk initiative in order to get feedback on pedagogy and classroom instruction across the building objective two is to cultivate a robust professional development environment that emphasizes inclusive and effective instructional strategies that meet the diverse needs of all students we've been talking now for some months about the diverse population of students that are enrolled here at Great a new bed for V Tech and their individualized learning styles so we thank think as we talked about in August that this is an important part of our strategic plan over the next four years the first initiative talks about those inclusive and effective instructional strategies and similar to the accommodation matrices that I spoke about just a few minutes ago on November 5th this professional development actually simulated marginalized student experiences of students with disabilities and that was launched on our November 5th professional development day as well plans are underway for this initiative to be given to all Educators those that did not receive it on the November 5th PD similar to the accommodation agencies I just spoke about and plans are underway to make sure this is completed by June of 2025 and it is marked blue in the off chance that new teachers to the district Andor those who are unable to complete it this year would have access to that program in August of 2025 for completion the second item under initiative 2.2 is inclusive and Equitable instructional practices program these professional development sessions are designed to integrate an expertise and student experience expences in special education multilingual education and Dei focused on datadriven instruction and strategies we are working in collaboration with smck in order to support supported by the Equitable access Grant in order to provide these opportunities to our Educators uh for professional development we believe that those sessions will be uh executed before June of 2025 objective three is to provide education that is rigorous relevant and meaningful to every student in a safe and supportive environment the initiative that's on the next page is student Support Services progress and we are in the preliminary stages of developing a bear block or Wind Block the name is still to be determined uh as we revamp the student schedule at greater new votte in order to allocate specific times in the school day for tiered student support including intensive interventions targeted assistments the preliminary schedule was shared with administrators on November 4th 2024 uh we have had continued conversations around that we intend to bring in union leaders and other administrators in the coming months a gradual roll out is also being considered as you know currently from 2:30 to 3:00 each day there is after school support for students uh we have identified a platform uh that Mr Williams and Mr Pas are working on in order to bring the district there is hope that that platform could be launched at some point next year as a trial uh we do not intend to revamp the students schedule for next school year uh you won't remember this but the goal next year would be to finalize this initiative uh for implementation in the 26 27 school year so we would want to model and pilot that process after school uh if possible in order to make sure students and staff will familiarized with the the technology prior to a full implementation model we believe this is on track for June of 2025 uh but I will provide uh update to that effect when we get to the end of the year and objective four the last objective is to nurture positive Partnerships with our families our caregivers and the community Through effective transparent communication uh this has been a goal of the district for the last several years to strengthen our Partnerships and communication Communications and there are two initiatives uh listed on this objective for this year that I want to highlight on the next slide first is the creation of a parent advisory committee uh the implementation planning is underway we have begun to have discussions on structure and objectives that could be accomplished uh there is a draft that is circulating amongst the district administrators uh about what this introduction vision and goals would be we discussed it that on December 13th District admin meeting uh the team formation in order to define the composition and oppositional framework is in progress and I am expecting to be updated by Miss Dennis and members of the team at our January 22nd District Administrative meeting the goal is to enhance communication and family engagement by meeting three times per year with families in order to gather their feedback on school operations secondly you know that last year I launched the student advisory Council to the superintendent that is now in its second year there are 11 members of that committee currently meeting with me every six weeks uh we are looking to enhance student involvement we met October 30th for the first time the second meeting was held December 10th uh efforts are underway to encourage greater freshman participation the goal here is to ensure that student voices are heard directly with senior leadership in the school district under initiative 4.2 strengthening Community connections progress planning has begun to to meet this goal which is to host at least two meet and greet events at the start of the school year to build stronger connections between staff families caregivers and the community discussions include options for engaging parents such as hosting events like an incoming freshman parent night in September or exploring additional opportunities for parent teacher interaction potential strategies including halfday professional development sessions or virtual conference conferences are being considered by district and school leaders in order to enhance accessibility and collaboration between parents and teachers further planning and conversations will continue this month of January uh but we believe that we will have some recommendation pathway for this by June also want to take a few minutes just to highlight our student learning professional practice and District goals uh which were also approved in August by this committee these efforts ensure both the academic and Technical skill development is measured and shared fostering transparency and accountability in our school Community next slide please in the student learning goal I would draw your attention that these are the goals that we approved uh is to analyze common formative Assessments in all academic areas utilize the skills plus software in order to monitor monitor student progress at each of the chapter 74 uh CTE programs I can tell you that uh during November I met with all academic Department heads and Academy administrators with the school and District leadership teams um and had them present to us their progress on common formative assessments as well as skills plus we have made substantial progress since last year uh we did discuss uh things we're looking to see at our next session I'll be meeting with those folks again uh at the end of the second trimester in March uh but progress has been made uh on both of those fronts industry recognize credentials has been a goal in our CTE programs as well by June of 2025 we wanted to increase student mastery on industry recognized credentials specifically from strand two by 10% which demonstrates relevant skills for future employment in those areas from the prior school year uh we did not receive updates on that in the first trimester as that the goal formation had just begun in September and October but that is a key point for our Academy administrators at the March sessions is to provide us an update of which programs are actually on track to meet that standard uh for this school year we've implemented an advanced data anal iCal system in order to have timely interventions and reduce uh chronic absenteeism in the district last year you may be aware that 8.1% of students were deemed chronically absent at the time that I put this presentation together is something we're monitoring pretty much daily but certainly on a weekly basis we were at 7.7% our goal is a 5% reduction on Quantic gaps and ISM 7.7 is just a little higher than we want want to see it at 7.6% but we are we are definitely closing gaps uh and students are in school more this year than they were last year uh we've had a continued focus on mental health programs as you know we've partnered with cartwheel those funds were used through the sf3 grant we currently have nearly a dozen students that are participating in Mental Health Services with private uh practitioners virtually um we will make a decision decision later in the school year whether we want to individually contract with cartwheel Beyond this year as the grant has uh expired uh but just so you know that that process is underway it was part of our sf3 planning and we will we will monitor the effectiveness of that program and update you again in the spring and then finally what I'm most proud of and you'll hear a little bit more is the implementation of at least two culturally responsive and inclusive lessons uh in all classrooms um this was also highlighted at on November 14th and November 15th triester meetings by academic department head Academy administrators um and I I I think I might have mentioned to you folks already one of the proudest moments I had with the superintendant council was this was the first topic raised by students not by teachers not by administrators at the October 30th session I always ask students what what are what are good things that are happening at the school and what are things that we need to focus on and the first comment at that meeting uh and the student actually challenged her peers to go around the table to share a culturally inclusive lesson that they've experienced the last year at this school and to a person 12 people were in the room students were all able to do that which is probably the best evidence that I could ask for I'm not hearing it from administrators or teachers but I'm hearing it from kids so to be able to have 12 kids be able to articulate specific lessons that they learned in their academic and CT classes is a Real Testament to the work our instructional staff is doing every day on behalf of kids in this area and then finally the professional development Focus um you know it's clear that our goal is to expand professional development uh for students uh for teachers on datadriven differentiated and culturally responsive teaching practices in order to close achievement gaps and to improve overall student health uh student growth so I just want to ask Mr I to click on that I want to show you the sample of our November 5th in day service this was put together again by the school leaders that I mentioned earlier in conjunction with their PD teams if you could scroll down to the second page for us please this is what teachers had the option to choose from over three specific sessions and so you're you know it's a little difficult see I don't know can we make that a little bit bigger it's a little bit difficult for me but you'll see about the use of AI and technology in those first sessions that might be a little bit too big I want to see all three of those go across the top perfect so those that first one's all about AI so Educators have a chance to pick between pick to attend that at 8:00 a.m. or 9:30 or 11:45 this was literally uh driven by our teachers creating high quality lesson plans was offered through AI prompting that's the second one down there were sessions offered on ESL teaching strategies to be specific around working with language Learners uh simplifying your teaching with technology was offered uh embracing Magic School artificial intelligence we've had a substantial increase since November 5th of Educators using that technology culturally responsive teaching practices was offered and then the power of accommodating uh was offered by two of our special Educators um all of those hit the district strategic goals they were all put on by our own staff uh which is is fantastic because I think teachers learned best from teachers um and this was a terrific way for us to be able to Showcase some of the great work that we're doing next quickly the professional practice goals for the district next slide please um you know our goals this year to professionally at this District leadership team are to advance District operational efficiencies and educational practices through these steps um you know that District leaders have attended conferences seminars and training sessions each month uh when a district leadership team member attends a conference I have them submit a write up of how any of the workshops and platforms that they've attended directly tie to District goals and I have been including those in your package each month um you have two of them in your packets this evening representing the uh trip to the ACT conference that Mrs rebell LED with two Academy administrators as well as the work that um Yolanda Pam and eron attended um in Boston early this month both of those summaries are included in this month's packet for you and District gos secondly I mentioned earlier about the chronic apps and te ISM system but I also want to talk briefly about this project management software that has been launched with school and District leaders uh that software called Trello uh we are now using it modeling it only with senior and School District leaders this year to kind of help track progress towards specific goals and things that we need to talk about each of our members has access to the Trello board um and what it does is provides a platform for us to be able to update folks I know in in today's day and age emails are probably an effective communication tool but it's difficult when you get hundreds of emails each day to make sure that you're reading and remembering who sent you the email and how that email was updated so what the Trel board does is is be able to identify specific issues that the district is working on and as members have updates they update that directly into the card so if I if I wish to go back tonight uh to review uh you know culturally incl inclusive lesson plans during our trimester one uh November 14th 15 presentations I can go directly to that card and if there have been additional updates by Mr Williams or Mrs rebella M Amaral it's right in the system I don't have to go through an email search try to remember who sent me that email so uh we're learning there are still gaps in that process I'm trying to challenge the team to focus on the Strategic goals in that it's it's you know obviously easy at times to just you know our our our days are busy issues come up all the time we want to throw cards up there and I don't want us to get bogged down uh on the day-to-day operational pieces there uh but we are we are making progress the team is making progress and I think they're getting more and more comfortable with the software each day same thing I would mentioned I've already talked about magic school so I won't repeat that um and then the teacher learning walks also listed under professional practice goals two quick notes under the district smarty goals as well next slide please um under District smarty goal one is again 100% focused on Student Success and engagement during this school year we've talked already about deploying the accommodation matrices and the fourth one which is to conduct trimester reviews those have already been done for trimester one two that I haven't mentioned yet tonight is the development of mtss principles uh we have developed a team of Educators 12 of them have been formed they're partnering with our Consultants led by Mr Williams and Mrs tazinski um and they are developing the mtss principles for the district the plan is to roll out um our our version of this to a full staff meeting in April or May so this is marked as blue but I anticipate that this could be done in June uh but I want to give the team some leeway in the event that the work gets delayed somewhat and they need some additional time over the summer to finish it up ahead of time I am very grateful to our staff uh we had more than 12 people sign up to participate in this work which made the job for Mr Williams and Mr zinski a little bit more difficult because we actually had to tell some people thank you but no thank you uh but that's that's a better problem to have than not having enough people demonstrate interest uh so some really good work is underway there I'm looking forward to seeing that report um in a few months and we'll keep the committee apprised and then the last goal here under District smarty goal one is the expansion of CTE Partnerships um it's it's clear that I've we've celebrated the number of students that are out on Cooperative education placements which I've noted here in the underline version we have a 7% increase in Cooperative education placements this year and I'll remind the committee that last year we had over 330 students in Cooperative education places which is by far in a way the highest number that this district has had in as far back as I can remember um to be able to tell you tonight that we're still running 7% higher than the already highest number is a testament to our teachers and leadership in the CTE side um and Henry deg side a c coordinator being able to get out there but I also want to focus that this year when we set to school um I asked Henry to not only think about in increasing student populations but also increasing the partners that we have and to try to grow our base we've grown it vertically with students let's goow it horizontally with a number of employers and partners that are working folks that could eventually become part of our advisory committees and continue to fuel consistent progress to our programs um I can tell you that since 2022 we've added 60 new employers uh to our partner base uh it's about 20 or so this year um still growing but there's been substantial growth over the last three years in our partners um as well so some really good work that's underway there and then finally District smarty go 2 is to focus on the communication aspects of what we've been discussing now for a couple of years um and as you know we launched thought exchange platform for the first time this year we've run three different thought exchanges in order to gather feedback and to Foster engagement our goal is to conduct at least four thought exchanging engagements during the course of this year one at the start mid year and end of year and at least one focused on the specific topic to measure participation rates and gather qualitative feedback uh we are well on our way to doing that we've launched three we will probably launch three more um at some point um this will help us to be able to get feedback from all stakeholders now it's important that when we survey folks um and I will push the district team to do this we're not just going to survey students we're not just going to survey teachers teers we're not just going to survey families because we need to get a cross-section of the opinion right uh what's important with stakeholders that all voices are heard in that process we may not do exactly what any specific voice wants us to do but it's important that we give everyone the opportunity because it is very likely that what I see may be different from what teachers see may be different what families see and may be different from what students see and everyone's voice has to be respected in that process and so um that is the midyear update on the district strategic plan and smarty goals and I'm happy to answer any questions uh that the committee members may have do we have any questions from the committee question kchen the uh Community engagement and collaboration isn't that part of the for the pack isn't that part of the S funds requirement though yeah so uh we did do some of that when we had the S funds obviously those have not AA one title I thought you refer got to go with Title One yes it is just to fund it too so we could use there there's funding mechanisms we could use there as well yeah right because the parent you know the pack is being formed yeah the their input is required as part of the title one I guess strategies we do have we do have a Pac it's the pac's at the high school haven't been particularly effective I know that eron can speak a little about this with special ed to um it's a challenge for us same with Title One um and and I don't know that this will ultimately survive this is an initiative we're trying to just see if we can launch to get feedback and more have had success um you know William afternoon group on the school um Council um that that group has had more participation even from teachers as well which is good so we're looking to try to just find different ways to engage folks virtual portions of it now to and then you touched on it just a little like just kind of briefly about the schedule yeah in regards to the uh you know being supportive to our I guess special needs and ESL groups and some of the other groups we're doing it after school but sometimes it's a little difficult to you know we there's plenty of pluses running after school I know that but you know sometimes kids can't stay exactly they have Athletics or they have clubs so with the mcast requirement not being a requirement anymore has there been any discussion regarding removing the strategies classes yeah so there's a lot yes good question and that that has come up a little bit with teachers as well um so let me start with the first part of your question the the first part is exactly to your point right um while the 230 to3 was a great idea in order to have teachers in the building and have after care after school help available that doesn't work for all kids right uh some kids have sports some kids have clubs some kids have to get home at 2:30 on the bus because they're the one that's responsible for uh a minor child a younger child that's coming off of a school bus and so the the Catalyst for this was really to drive that 30 minutes of the school day into the school day itself that's the Bear Block the Wind Block the whatever period you want to call it so I don't know if it's going to be from 9:30 to 10 or 9:45 to 10:15 uh kids would be able to sign up individually for which teacher they want to be able to go after school for it' be monitored it' be done at the beginning of every academic cycle but it would provide that 30 minute period during the school day if you needed to be with your counselor if you needed to be with your math teacher if you needed to be with whoever uh that's a big piece the second piece of your question is you know the mcast right the mcast requirements been lifted by the department um at the moment strategies classes were put in place in order to be able to do that um it's early in this conversation Statewide I mean there has been a lot of work in other States who have also lifted this high stakes um I don't know if you're familiar with n as quit of a graduate work that has been discussed um as you know for the admissions issue I am in every every month uh so once I'm there I'm staying for the entire Board of Education meeting and if you I'm not encouraging you to go home and watch them but four or five hours long but I on on my desk this is a topic that comes up with very uh very regularity is you know what are the next steps we were actually on a call today on an integrated monitoring review with Yolanda uh marel eron um and others Jen was on the call giv a review that we have and one of the questions that was coming up there the the Department's person indicated you we're waiting for more guidance in terms of what that looks like so that is on the table I think it's all on the table you know I certainly don't want to revamp the school schedule and keep classes going to 3:00 I'm happy to say that uh publicly so when we revamp the schedule in the coming years it's going to evolve some kind of a shift in what the school day actually looks like U but we're being very careful and very methodical about that so that's why the goal really this year is just to develop the plan around this Bear Block next year there's another 12 months for us to work on it uh because we don't Envision implementing this at the earliest till 20 September of 2026 but the goal is very clearly to get this in during this fouryear period of the Strategic plan hopefully that answers both parts of the question Miss Bor yeah my question was about CPAC and if that was going to combine with this new pack mentality that that doesn't sound right but um I know we all struggle in this area to get seats you know people in the seats for seat back meeting so so that that has come up a numerous times with the committee and and and how do we maybe the combination of things is is going to work whether that even justifies or meets all the state expectations at this point I'm not sure of we have to take a look at that but um the point is is for us to you know when we're having this conversation every month every six weeks we're trying to think about ways to re-engage uh Dr mil um so I think it looks great um I was especially um impressed with the professional development the fact that the teachers are teaching other teachers and um it kind of pequ my interest the development of a lesson plan like the worst scenario right but something we all got to do and if there's other teachers that are showing how to master that it's certainly well worth it in a vocational setting where it's probably the most difficult to do yeah no question I mean especially on the CTE side a lot of our Educators have come directly from the trades right they don't have a background in pedagogical experience um and so you know our folks have done an amazing job sharing with their colleagues uh things that have worked in the classroom what we're trying to do and you know this from the conferences that I've attended with you uh and without you is that I'm I'm hyperfocused on finding ways to embed the technology that's available out there to this process because it will make lesson planning easier the best way to get real change across the teachers is to tell them that this tool is going to help you to plan more effective differentiated lessons and it's actually going to save you time uh if you want to get people to change those are those are the those are the carrots that have to be put out there and so uh we are spending a lot of time uh we were with you folks down in ayanis uh for the M Mas masc conference we've attended several uh conferences and that is a primary goal is are there tools out there that we don't know that might be able to help provide uh added benefits to teachers to be able to return time to them you know I don't want this to be a 60 or 70 hour week job for our teachers that's what's contributing to teacher burnout um this is not just at new bord btech it's everywhere but folks often also have to be encouraged like we need to break from what we've done because when you add lots of new things and you keep all of the old things that you've done that's how the day goes from 40 to 50 to 60 hours so we've got to show them ways uh through one another through their colleagues that listen you don't have to do it this way anymore because this tool is going to really help you to be able to do that uh it's on our job to our job is to support them in N work to be able to go out and find those tools for them bring them into a district support them across the board uh and then let them let them run with it that's why I wanted to highlight the November 5th because several of the presentations that happened um our folks are running with some of these new technologies and trying to share that and over time that will pay big dividends for us at our team definitely thank you anything further from the committee great thank thank you uh next we'll have a Dei update in compliance uh Yolanda Dennis and Maria de good evening everyone again I am Yanda Dennis I am the executive director of equity diversity inclusion and compliance and with me I have Maria Dell she is the new diversity AC Community specialist so our presentation today is titled celebrating diversity celebrating un but I also want to add that we are on the Move they're doing so much in this work so that's going to be our we are on the mov so I want to start off with our Dei advisory Council talk about the council but this past year uh we developed a declaration of service so I'm going to read that to you at gbbt the Dei advisory council is committed to a school community that promotes power voice and agency through listening and learning to Foster and support a safe inclusive and welcoming environment through rigorous meaningful and relevant education gmbb will continue to move from a place of tolerance to one that Embraces the diversity of all individuals in our community by eliminating bares and Building Bridges between identities the next portion of this presentation I'll talk about compliance with federal state district guidelines and policies what I've been doing as you know my new role adding the compliance piece uh is reviewing various policies and procedures such as this student hle B the admissions policy the employee handbook collaboration with HR also the co-op education handbook we actually with um Henry dece added a sexual harassment letter and sign off so now moving forward all companies when we have that agreement that they know about Title 9 then they have to sign off on the sexual harassment um policy also as you know the religious combination policy the employee sign out form um we looked at that um and uh reamp that and updated it also the title line compliant grievance procedure and training and I just want to show to you on the left is the poster that was designed by a student now this poster is 11 by 17 and um it's laminated and it's posted in every bathroom um here within the school so students know about Title 9 how to report it what it is um Etc and also there's a QR code at the bottom that QR code goes right to the Dei Title 9 web page this is important to me Title 9 because you know as you know when it comes down to sexual harassment sexual assault across schools it's very important for us to know that when our students go to college that they know what Title 9 is and how to protect themselves so I'm always talking about Title 9 what is such a little last such all even da and violence I talk a lot about that and bringing in speakers to talk about that also what we did this past year one of the PD days Regard in attorney muren to talk about civil rights turtle9 f for and boundaries that was a great PD training again that's with uh for compliance what's important about these compliance pieces that if we ever have uh to say an incident uh that o uh you know happens to be involved their first question is how are you educating your campus what are you doing and how you protecting your students so we have our the Dei Title 9 web page is less than one click that OCA sometimes they'll go around and check different websites so we have to make sure that the information is readily available and that everyone can find it whether it's parents students Etc the student uh the title discrimination harassment with student staff parents and guidance like I said education is the key we just made sure that our instant reports are in uh different languages um again it's just educating students on WE to report which is great also continue to keep our Dei and title n web page that I just um just mentioned Dei collaboration efforts and initiatives like still working very closely with HR in regards to search committees and also participating in faculty and staff and that's investigations still with discrimination title 9 informal and formal complaints just to talk a little about about that I find that um since I've been here three years yes do we have um High let's say allegations of sexual harassment um yes but I feel as though it's because students know we to report they didn't know where to report people and I have to say uh knock on wood that uh I have not had any sexual assaults in the past years um if anything it's oneof uh let's say statements um or jokes and I always educate students in the beginning of the year when I'm in front of them jokes hurt um whether it's race against race ethnicity disability Etc so really when students when I do receive incident reports it's more of a teachable moment and I have that conversation with them um All About restorative practices why did you say that did you know that causes harm and I have to say many students that come to my office and we have that conversation I don't see them again I tell them come back and see me to say hello when you're saying something let's say inappropriate so again I think it's just education they just don't know um what I started to do in the beginning of the year when I do address students about this I'll give out examples what is sexual harassment um which has been very good because it's Interactive and sometimes they say oh no that's not you know sexual yes it is um so that's been really really good too um I'll talk about the DI advisory Council it's been a year we're going into our second year we have nine members of uh faculty and staff um what we did this past year not only do the Declaration but also I found what we need to do is is come up with definitions of diversity equity and inclusion at a District level when we talk about what is diversity equity and inclusion we can have different um definitions to that but I felt the need to have let's have our own what it means about diversity Equity inclusion and for those definitions feel free to to see the website um we do have a website that's list um of um different diversity terms also multure day 2025 that is underway we are partnering with student council with that uh last last year um we did have Multicultural day in April it was it was great it was beautiful um I brought in African drummers we had Mayan dancers we had um a painter from the gual community come in um it was during all three lunch shifts I'm happy I I still have a job thank you principal Williams I think he's still repairing some relationships with me with teachers it was very loud that day um but it was beautiful just to see the students just come down even teachers brought them down it was just it was just a great day of of African drumming and again the dancers we even had the little ones from the daycare come over and they even um was drumming so um what we're going to do this year probably just pick maybe a couple days um in April instead of having it in one day again I don't want any more teachers mad at me um but yes I'm looking forward to uh Multicultural de and that's with the diversity um advisory Council and also again with collaboration with student council I still do a lot of districtwide announcements I did an announcement as far as community and respect of post elction I usually do that during um at the end of the day I'm seeking commission from Principal William Williams again because I have to ask the teachers if they to stop the class coming before school ends to give out those uh different messages about again respect in coming together also season greetings values of inclusion I post all this also in the Dei Google Classroom when it comes down to see the holidays again be mindful we we celebrate Christmas not everybody does but we also do K Quanza we do um Hanukkah um Etc so as you can see before we had the tree out there we had the Quanza display we had the Hanukkah display and you know again just to talk to teachers about if we're going to have Christmas in the classrooms also include Hanukkah and also um Quanza lgbtqia plus advisory and resources again as you know what what's going on nationally um I could talk a little bit about that as far as you know the hate that's that's increasing um we have to protect all of our students in regard to raise ethnicity LGBT sental advisory and resources for students and teachers same thing with the undocumented the students and families advisory again just letting our teachers know as far as any students that need assistance that we have Partnerships in the community with different agencies where they they can go and also they can always come see our office and Miss will talk more about that um also I just today um talked about did a morning announcement regarding combating bullying based on hate and bias um that's a directive from the governor um office as far as k through2 um that we have to look at bullying that's attached to harassment and discrimination so again today a morning announcement about inclusion and respect um also a message will be going out to families in pints um also we have stop bullying on the Ashley Boulevard sign so again a lot of messaging around that and again to talk about culture responsive teaching the PD presentation actually the two teachers that presented on culture responsive teach uh members of our Dei Council so I was really happy about that um it was a full house in all I believe it was three sessions um was pack um that's that's been great and I just want to you know of course thank um you know all of our teachers because you know this is a big change and it com down change in the curriculum and the lesson plans um but they everybody's comeing together to to make this happen and I truly been very humbled and excited because I know that teachers call me come down like to cop and Tre you and see what they're doing you know so it's really good um to hear that again we so pass us over to good evening everyone it's so hard to contain myself when she's talking about these awesome activities because at the Multicultural night but I'm like we're being recorded like who's that new girl woohoo and all time I'll leave that for another time but as M um Dennis shared my name is m Dello I'm so excited to be in this role because it affords me the opportunity to do non-traditional things like organized resource fairs and the pictures in our slide two of them actually all three of them are from our resource fair that we had in October we had seven different partners um join us they hosted a table and this too happened during lunchtime because when our students want to walk they get to walk and they get to get some good merchandise and good information so we had Mass hire we had Beyond house we had uh the United Way Family Resource and Development Center we had Upward Bound we had New Bedford art which doesn't always necessarily collaborate with us we had New Bedford Parx in Rex we had a lot of different vend uh providers or Partners come in and literally they came in with information and merch for the students and the students were very receptive like they ask questions that are related to being in a vocational school like do you offer community service so I thought that was kind of different because we're just trying to get them to know what's in the community for students in grades 9 through 12 but they came and asked questions that were very relevant to themselves and we even developed as you talked about Partnerships we have um her name's ter summerson from the Bedford art contacting us regularly because some of our students have already volunteered for them so there's that like connection that pipeline that's being made through Dei and really inviting our community into the school to partner with our students so far I have assisted 20 families with different resources like connecting them to the new bord Family Resource and Development Center we're fortunate that in our build we have like a clothing closet it's more than clothing CU we have other resources so we've had students that have needed school supplies uh personal hygiene products or even like shop rated uniforms that for whatever reason they can't get on their own so we're able to support them with donations um I've also provided assistance to 21 families being the pass-up survey I review the surveys obviously I'm not the only one that reviews them but I will be the one who kind of connects families to a specific resources resource rather I've had a lot of families in the beginning of the year ask for what they go my student goes for tutoring or for academic support so I would give them the name of the provider you know uh connect them to our we have a wonderful brochure about academic support but I wouldn't say that sometimes computers are easy for everybody to navigate so it's good for me to just send them an email respond rather than attachment or respond with a phone call and because I speak both English and Spanish I've been able to connect to our Spanish speaking Community as well um I love this part of my job when I get to get out of the building besides doing the fun stuff with the students but I get to get out of the building and I partnered with the admissions team we did a couple of school fairs and it was nice to partner with new beer Public Schools so um my background is from the community so to come in and to see V and new beer come together and to do it with the student in mind that was like such a delight because at the end of the day that's what we're doing we're serving students and building up leaders so it was nice to do school fairs where the door was open for us in non-traditional schools like an Nativity prep in a charter school but also in a Traditional School institution like a New Bedford High School and so forth so it's nice to get out there and spread the word and let the student and the student's family make the decision as to what's the right fit for them and voke usually is it just and then finally one thing I get to do as well another thing I get to do is co-chair the Dei advisory Council so we actually have our meeting coming up next week uh I want to say I don't know if I'm remembering your name Caroline made sure that she got two students from the student uh Council to join us then they're going to help us create and coordinate our upcoming Multicultural the activi so a lot going on and more to come thank you so [Music] again I didn't mention two things I get so you know excited about about the job and the work that I'm doing here I just wanted to also highlight that um I actually conducted a d session for new teachers on responsive teaching and I have to say the next thing um which is a highlight of my career was being the um Pino speaker for the do Martin Luther King event at BCC last year um so that was that was very um exciting for me prep for many months uh thank you superintendent Watson because he Cal me down a few times and prepped me for that but through it was truly a highlight of my care to be a speaker get to what's next in know I'm not there there we go so what we're doing next is we're creating a faculty and staff guide um entitled courageous conversations engaging in difficult dialogue to challenge and confront everyday bigotry stereotypes and Prejudice and this just came out of uh my research and what's going on um as her and also talking to teachers um about conversations that come in the bom and again it's about conversations um so definitely I want toip teachers to have the tools if there any type of conversations that may come up whether it's political race related Etc I mean we need to have these conversations and not everybody is comfortable to have these conversations so we are again working on creating a guide um once that is finished I will definitely um share that with you we might be changing the title but right now um we we're loving this title and I think it's really needed um also next Progressive steps in ensuring D's guidance preventing and addressing bu harassment I already talk about that 12 schools actually the next step in that um I'll be sending out a district email tomorrow with the same message um as far as what to do as far as buling um and harassment based on race um ethnicity Etc so again uh just covering all that um and uh just making sure that we are covering what the guidance is from the governor um and what she standing up K from 12 also we plan to develop immigrant student and family support guidelines and resources that's really mostly in your wheelhouse at this time um again we just it's all about providing resources and how we could better support all of our students next I I uh very excited about this that Swansea Public Schools the diversity Council reached out uh to me and I'll be meeting with them on January 13th they're asking for some guidance um which is great they want to know and get my opinion as far as where they are now and um what they've done in the past and how they can move forward as a committee so looking forward to that and I have to ask them you know I don't know how they found me maybe Google becoming famous at this um so really looking forward to that and I hope that other you know Public Schools will reach out in districts um for any guidance and lastly I'm part of the Amel which is the association of massachusett school Equity leaders Amel um it's a group of uh diversity directors throughout the state um we meet once a month and it's really um it's been very helpful to me um what we talk about again you know ideas best practices we share tools we share I U ideas and it's just all about how we can create inclusive and Equitable spaces of belong teaching and learning um this group has really been um again valuable to me because sometimes in this space it's difficult especially now Nationwide uh to be among other folks in this work um we have a lot to discuss moving forward um and we just provide support to each other and actually would recognized at the State House the lieutenant governor was there governor and the Secretary of Ed um so that's our group glad you can't really see me my eyes are closed in that picture you didn't need to share that no one would have been able to pick that up I um but uh it's been a great group and actually will be hosting I'll be hosting them on April 11th so hopefully a big group like that will be at our school I plan to give them a tour they're looking forward um uh to visiting our school it will be the first Vocational School um because normally we're at different other uh districts throughout the state so really looking forward to that um so this is the end of the presentation I want to thank you for your support um in this work again like I said it's difficult and um if it wasn't for you all the school Community super W principal Williams and my fellow colleagues we can't get this done um I'm all about having the torch and lighting the torch but we're under some difficult times and when I talk to other colleagues in the state they're having some challenges um and so again I always tell that you know school committee ask you know my school committee that be supportive um and I'm even finding when I go to different conferences that we're way ahead of the curve you know I sit there and I CL with my hand and talk about the ideas so uh superintendent Watson and I was saying that it's time to stop presenting um our school at these conferences because again a lot of schools are just scratching the surface and when're we're no longer scratching the surface I think we're above it at this time so uh thank you and if you have any questions for us I wanted just to take a minute too if when yeah no any questions from the committee first of all you're having way too much fun I was going to end that we are on the Move U recognize m rero i it's not it's just a comment because you know where I'm coming from but I just want to say there is you can see it you can feel it it's throughout the whole building in the school and I just think it's just incredible work and I thank you and happy to have you here as well because it gives us another tool and let's this one spread our wings a little bit more there's a lot to cover here but and there going to be a lot of challenges because right now um trying to get away get away from Dei so there's a lot of stuff out there happening so you got to stay stay uh on the move right anything else from the committee I just want to kind of close and to that point Mr rero I think this important it's an important time so there's been a lot of really impressive work that's happened but I want to bring the committee back those of you that were here right it's a very difficult time uh four years ago right when we were talking about adding positions like the Director of Human Resources um as I was moving into the superintendency and this role I brought to you in the summer my first year in July of August 2021 right at a time when there were enormous pressures from staff and other members and so I I just want to double down on the thank you to members of the committee right it was a difficult vote it was a difficult time uh and I just want to remind everybody that sometimes those challenges they they take years for fruition to come but this is the result of that work um and so I I just I know as members I I've been an elected member those are tough spots to be in when people are constantly at you uh this committee has never wavered in their support of the work that we've done uh and the way that this build I remember having the role that Mr Williams has right and I was involved in investigations and I was involved in the HR functions and I that's the setup of the school in the late 201 that is not the setup of the school today remind many of my Mr Williams is often on the floor not stuck behind the desk right and that's where we want Mr Williams on the floor with kids with teachers in the always um and that required us to rethink the way that the building runs adding in human resource functions adding in equity and diversity work compliance work Bob's position of operations and compliance uh that now marel and Yolanda share and that wasn't an easy move either and people questioned some of those steps but those are essential functions in schools in 2025 to move forward so that our folks have the tools that they need uh and I want you to see that but more importantly I want you to be proud of the fact that in very difficult circumstances we pushed forward in 2021 and now we're four years later um seeing the fruits of this work um you know Yolanda is very involved in the compliance aspects I was on the call with Ain and you know I was very clear with the Department today I I I voiced my frustration with some timelines that they put forth uh they were there but they're the ones that are going to do the work and so the superintendent is able to push that work to the executive directing the staff and and sometimes people don't know what's happening behind the scenes because it's not out in the cafeteria or right out in public but schools are difficult buildings and operations to run today and you need to have good solid District level support staff to be able to execute and this is some of that work and adding Maria uh as the community specialist took us a couple go rounds with family engagement we've now settled in a place where as Maria mentioned briefly she's the contact for the possip surveys that we'll talk about in just a few minutes those calls come to her she Farms them out and every month mon that goes by and she gets more acclimated in terms of the operation of the school she's getting more comfortable and be able to handle those those those those calls and I think a year two three years down the road more food operations more transparent in our Communications more follow through with families those are going to continue to pay uh dividends for the district and so I just want to take a minute to kind of talk about that uh and highlight that today to thank you again for your uh your commitment to that work four years ago that I think is paying off for the district today thank you both for your thank you continuing on with the superintendent shout out so this month actually because uh they're still here Maria Dello is the shout out uh this month uh for the superintendent um I'm very proud of Maria's work um last month we went to her at the midyear District check uh because you know those comments what what's going on in in family and Community engagement what's happening in compliance and so I I went and saw yander and I said listen I think this month when I'm up there I'll take 15 minutes and I'll pass 15 minutes off um to Maria I want Maria to get up in front of the staff six months uh into her job here and explain what it is that that she does day in and day out on behalf of kids and families she knocked it out of the park uh there's been a number of great comments that have come from staff members around that work you see the energy that she brings tonight to the staff and uh you know I've just talked about the work being Advanced but this month I want to recognize Maria uh we're excited to have is part of the team and and the great work that she's doing on behalf of kids at gr new bford VTech uh is very commendable and very much [Applause] appreciated thank you you're welcome next the parent Communications student I'm sorry I checked you off he is waiting patiently uh student representative Caroline pra sorry about that thank you so much so starting off with student council yesterday um we voted and elected for two Juniors to who are also members of student council to attend our student student government day in April um to represent voke and we also started not much but we started to plan our and bring ideas together for our spring uh our Spring Fling dance some spirit weeks in a pep rally and then as they mentioned uh we got two two other student council members to contribute with the Dei advisory to start with Multicultural week that is going to prede in April and then next currently we have our Mr and Miss vog Tech signups and then we will host a informational meeting and next week on the 13th and then I forgot to mention this last month but our skills USA and BPA both had their fall leadership conference which was very successful and now both are moving on to February for their districts and then later on to States so that has been moving good and then lastly just to mention our after prom committee has a raffle calendar fundraiser to gather uh money and support for our after for the seniors after prom but so far in January that's all I have thank you so much lot that's good we have any questions from the committee of questions or comments for Caroline where can we get those calendars of it online on the website yes on the vog website they do have it online where you can purchase one there's a link under the home and it's also on the PS as well thank you Welk you anything else thank you for your report right next we have the parent Communications yeah so included in your uh packets again are the posip uh survey responses uh from families as you'll know uh the numbers Contin to sort of dwindle around 100 families or so that are responding um so it's not a great response mechanism we continue to look at ways to be able to do that the frequency of the possip surveys obviously is one I mean as a parent of two kids I you know I get all those things too and if it wasn't for my wife I probably wouldn't be filling all those things out every single day either so uh we are continuing to look at it again the thought exchange represents kind of a platform we're looking at kind of sporadically through the year to kind of get feedback we intend to stay with posip because I think some families are contributing giving this feedback and we are following up at better and more effective rates than we have in the past um but uh reports are good if you look class by class I think the only one where the the numbers are below the 90th percentile are the Juniors uh and there were only eight families that responded so um you obviously the statistics are skewed when you're dealing with with smaller numbers but those freshman sophomore and Senior classes where we had upwards of 20 and 35 families responding the numbers are holding pretty strong at 90% or better if there's nothing we'll uh wrap up with the superintendent's weekly update in your uh packets are the weekly newsletters from December 9th December 16th and January 6th and again these are just update the committee update the faculty on on the going on each week um from the district perspective okay next we'll move on to Old business and um a will be the second reading and Adoption of the religious accommodation policy we'll be looking for motion to adopt and then we can uh have any discussion if motion to move forward with adopt it we have a motion with a second is there any discussion um we brought this after it going to the policy uh committee we're bringing it back for its uh second reading so is there any discussion or is there anything Dr M that want to share on that I think it's uh headed in the right direction and uh Mr Watson's always proactive and in his his planning so I think it's I I appreciate that but I also want to commend Miss Dennis who and Miss Mary who helped write this policy on behalf of the district um I agree I think this is something that's important as the staff diversifies different religious requests are coming we're front of this uh so that we can make sure the uh procedures in place for accommodations consistency matters uh and so this this plan gives us a pathway for folks who need accommodation for us to be able to address that in a systematic way that ensures Equity across the entire staff yeah and I'm confident that if anything comes up that we're not aware of that we will be able to work it out so I'm satisfied with Dennison anything you'd like to add no I I believe that it would be helpful instead of again being you have to be consistent um because you know having the religious accommodation you know is prot under law so um I believe having that in place um you always follow policy never go wrong when you don't have a policy is when you don't have that's when you get in trouble um so it's best to have a policy just like ad8 disability we have that um I just noticed that we didn't have a religious accommod accommodation it was just uh you know if somebody asked for it it was kind of like okay we'll just you know we'll Grant it or not Grant it but let's say if we didn't and then we get challenged where's your policy you don't have one so again it's it's just moving forward being proactive than reactive it it feeds the compliance piece that I just spoke about before uh we're not establishing precedents without a policy to support them right uh in today's day and age when when you do for one you're almost committing yourself to another one so we want to really think through each request based upon a policy guidelines that are approved by the district school committee and that's that's what this is further so we have a motion with a second uh nothing further we'll call for the vote all those in favor anyone opposed so voted uh next we under new business um we want to take up the appointment of the assistant Treasurer uh currently the position is vacant um that was um unfortunately through the uh passing of Mr Fred Tumi who was our assistant Treasurer um I'd like to just put this out here for discussion tonight um what the requirements are if maybe um Stewart can fill us in on maybe the duties the requirements the uh who was available for those to fill those positions and um any I can I can jump into that's I was going to say there really isn't very um many activities that would take place on a yearly basis um it would just be if the treasurer was unable to sign for any type of bonding um or anything for the bank if we were to have a report that needed to be signed for you know a um account change or something like that and the treasurer wasn't available that's where the assistant would step in and and provide a signature but there is no physical activities duties that are done throughout the year by the assistant audits or anything like that and it's just a simple it's just the sign if necessary because the treasur is unavailable to sign and I did run through uh requirements through legal councel uh as I mentioned here uh the assistant Treasurer position has been filled by a school committee member for some time um prior to Mr Tumi it was filled by a Committee Member as well and I did have some initial concerns about that because obviously a member of the administration cannot be part of the assistant treasurers because we're executing policy every day executing the disbursement of funds we can't be a signatory that's connect to that and so I did have questions about whether that extended as well to members of the policy setting board but legal councils assured me that the assistant treasurer's capacity that that is okay um so I just that that box is confirmed on on this end I wanted to make sure that before we moveed forward in anyway uh on this that I had done some due diligence in terms of validating who could be uh in that position in the event that there was uh a need for the assistant Treasurer to step up even if it's in an interim basis so we have lots of flexib ility with it uh it's really the pleasure of the committee on how they want to handle it question I like to nominate someone not me nominate anyone else but I mean I also want to know if anybody on the committee that would like to do it yeah because I don't want to put someone in a tough spot because like I said my wife gives me $20 a week and that's all I spent so we're all we're all thinking the same thing I think say anything just question I mean would you I can do it I'm close by anyway okay I nominate Mr kitchen second well and that's where I was going to see where the committee wanted to go with this tonight if you're ready to appoint somebody um the kitchen being uh willing to take the position we could uh yeah go forward with the nominations would be annual we had there was a discussion about opening to see if anybody else that's what I was just asking we have that's at the will of the committee you know wherever you'd like to see this go um if you want to keep it within the committee if you want to put it out to anyone M rero as long as I've been here it's always been somebody on the committee so I don't know why we're going to change it now that doesn't mean but no I have no problem call a motion motion we have a nomination on the floor for Paul kitchen to serve as assistant with the second uh do we have any other nominations okay seeing or hearing none we'll close nominations we have uh one name on the floor Mr Paul kitchen to serve as assistant assistant Treasurer uh all those in favor I I anyone opposed so move you got a new job tonight congratulations I ask you beforehand but I don't want to appreciate it thank you that disposes of that topic then smile I'm always smiling all right next will be the uh VI vote to approve the 2024 annual report any backup material okay motion with a second to approve the annual report um any discussion none all those in favor I anyone opposed and next um next we have the vote to approve the 2425 employee handb make the motion okay we have a motion second a second discussion on the employee cell all those in favor I oppose uh next just under early notifications of retirement we have Colleen syvia effective December 31st 2025 and also Heather pental effective January 31st 2026 motion to receive and place on motion to receive and place on file second second all those in favor anyone oppos so and under Communications we have the ACT conference report we have a 20124 mass conference for women report and also a notation that the winter General advisory committee meeting will be held on Thursday January 23rd 2025 at 6m at the school and Maria will reach out on that for committee members um just a reminder General advisory is the chairperson's of all of the CTE advisory programs we hold a meeting in here after a brief brief dinner it's a little less than the advisory dinner typically is uh but it is really for chairs to be able to communicate with senior District leaders and school committee members during the budgetary process so we're hopeful at least some members of the committee will be able to attend we don't need a FR and I attended last year and it was really really good to hear like kind of what the concerns are what goes on in the different shop meetings it it was really enlightening for me I can't make it this year but it was really good yeah Emily did reach out to all right and do we have uh any other committee discussion all right any hearing none we will move on to uh executive session the committee will be adjourning to Executive session under Chapter 30 section 21 to meet for the purpose of discussing strategy with respect to collective bargaining negotiations with the gmbe euu where discussion is open in the open session would have a detrimental effect to the bargaining position of the school committee members of the school committee will not be returning to open session and we have a roll call vote to through executive Mr sh yes Marin yes yes yes