welcome everybody to the regular school committee meeting today is February 10th and we calling this meeting at 6:05 roll call please miss Feliciano mayor Garcia here Dr Rivera
colog here Mr Shen present Miss Le fave um Miss LeBron Martinez here Miss teny Williams present Mr isasa here Mr willan here Mr Kore here Miss Wilson
present we'll have a student lead for our Pledge of Allegiance tonight her name is Maya please come forward all right mic I pledge allegiance to the flag of
the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all EXC thank you so
much on March 29 2023 Governor Hy signed into law an act relative to extending certain state of emergency accommodations which among other things extends the expiration of the provisions pertaining to the open meeting law to March 31st 2025 specifically this
extension allows public bodies to continue holding meetings remotely without a quorum of the public body physically present at a meeting location and to provide adequate alternative access to remote meetings the ACT does not make any new changes to the open meeting law other than extending the
expiration date of the temporary Provisions regarding remote meetings from March 31st 2023 to March 31st 2025 pursu on to Mass General Law chapter 38 section 20 I'm hereby informing all attendees that a video and
audio record reporting is being made of the meeting and that the meeting is being live streamed and run live on the city's Community TV channel welcome everybody we have another awesome treat tonight we would like to welcome medf
Middle School yeah I'm just going to ask uh our principal uh Miss Burke to come up and uh talk a little bit about the the playball foundation this is actually I can talk a little bit about the playball foundation we do have a partnership with
them um their focus is really uh around Middle School sports and we're able to do basketball flag football um and and I believe uh volleyball is another sport uh last year meaf actually won the the
championship um over at the boys club and and we're showcasing the current year team uh today good evening thank you so much for having us as he said my name is Katie Burke I have the honor of being the principal of my C Middle School this year I'd also like to introduce uh the
assistant principal Mrs Mary click um our DMO um Siobhan Brennan is here tonight as well as one of our coaches um Miss oare so and then of course our amazing students who you will hear from in just a moment um we thought we would take this opportunity to showcase some of our students we talk a lot about the
Middle School experience and um how important these after school activities are for Middle School um and this partnership we have with the boys and girls club throughout these Sports has really given these students a sense of belonging um they have created such meaningful relationships with some of
the staff at our school and they are um just engaging in real positive non-academic um experiences and um they are known throughout our school and I you know really just applaud them we're very proud of them and the work that they do and they're going to talk a little bit about there there are some
components of school and grades that are um connected to them playing on this team which you'll hear from them tonight but um they are the most exting part of tonight so without further Ado I'm going to turn it over to our [Applause] team my name is Maya Yates and I'm in
eighth grade my name is Dominique graduas and I'm in seventh grade my name is Damen Padia and I'm in eighth grade my name my name is Adrian AAR I'm in eighth grade my name is Malachi audello and I'm in sixth
grade my name is Nicholas ASO and I'm in seventh grade my name is Cel Rivera and I'm in eighth grade my name is treia Gil and I'm in seventh grade my name is Adrian and I'm in seventh grade my name is Adriel yes and I'm in
seventh grade what basketball means to US basketball isn't just a game it's a bond that runs deep we support each other on and off the court the lessons we learned we learned
go beyond the game respect for teammates coaches opponents and referees learning how to wins and losses our coaches emphasized how important this is preparing for next year when stem and Mech have
combine learning to trust and rely on each other how our bond help us on and off the court I like how my teammates and my coaches help me feel included in their always positive basketball gives us structure
it pushes us to do better in school and in life since to a requirement to be on this team is obviously to have a SE as a minimum to be able to play and this causes the students to give an effort to actually be able to both focus on school
and for the team our our coaches always tell us don't get mad get better [Music] [Applause] basketball contract Behavior grades and showing up for practice and games so
Bas my bad um so basically and that it's um we have to we signed a contract so we could do good in the games and if we do bad or like bad grades that's what I mean um if we do bad for that we'll be pulled out of the um team and we'll have
to and if you want like other people on our team they could show up and support our team and maybe get back on the team um I'm the hype man for this team like losing the chance to play was hard showed up for the games anyways basketball has helped me realize the
importance of school and behaviors I am working hard to bring my grades up and control my behaviors and also I'm just yeah I've been trying hard I'm hoping to play in the playoffs this year trying to make it trying to get make half another
championship [Applause] thank you to the school committee teachers and coaches we are proud to represent our school thank you for the chance to let us represent meaf um and good night to you [Music]
[Applause] guys Miss Wilson so I have some questions I mean how did so anyone could answer these from the group but you need to come to the microphone sorry so um my first question is did you have to try
out for the program and if so what was that like so whoever wants to answer that feel free to go to the microphone um so yes there was try outs and um it was um pretty hard because
like there was a lot of kids that wanted to play basketball and some of them didn't get the chance to do it because of their grades and um their behavior okay thank you say anyone else want to add to that
or is that someone else will Miss tensley Williams thank you guys for coming tonight um one thing that's going to help your team respect love that um that bond that you
have just staying there hanging there with each other I'm very excited about this right now okay I might just jump up and be a well Grandma okay so you guys just you have respect for each other uh you have each other's back that's the
main thing and you can do it always remember that no matter what is going on around you you're in charge of you okay so come again all right we love you do Bigga God bless [Applause]
you miss LeBron Martinez hi I just want to ask have you for some of the youth who said that you said that came for the trial and didn't get picked because of their grades have you reached out to them and say how you doing have you made an improvement um how can you know so that
the next round that they can feel that they can take a chance at it again has anybody anyone has reached out to one of them that you seen there and if you haven't I encourage you to do so I think peer-to-peer is the best way that you
can encourage people to stay on track um actually they have talked to me about stuff they gave me another chance to get back on the team if I've been fixing my grades I've been trying hard in school you know to get back on the team and yeah
good thank you appreciate it that's called peer to peer when you help your peers thank you Mr hang out a little bit to that because I I am proud of the team and um Adrien because we talk a lot about in school with our academics about persistance and grit right and you have
to show up and you can't give up and Adrian is showing that persistence in grit with his grades he's also showing up to practice he shows up to every game to cheer his team on and he is working really hard to earn back the opportunity to play and so he is really embodying those qualities and we're really
important of them and I'm also proud of his teammates for consistently being like a positive um also cheering him on and not giving up on him and his coaches too so what's his name again his name is Adrian Adrian if it'll help you I will pray for you
okay welcome Mr calore boys and girls and teachers thank you thank you very much for for this wonderful presentation I just wanted to let you know
that history of sports started here in O Massachusetts with the Volleyball Hall of Fame then came along with basketball which is right off of the
Interstate 90 and you go a little bit farther into New York and you have the Boxing Hall of Fame and then you go a little bit farther and you have skating and Hockey
Hall of Fame that's in New York oh I'm sorry that's in Canada that that goes over right into Canada Toronto and uh it's a wonderful wonderful experience to just travel our
Highway M Turnpike all to these wonderful sporting places throughout the world so keep in mind that right here in hoo Massachusetts on the Mass Turnpike this
is where it all began on your way to sports so keep up the good work Mr SoDo yeah I just wanted to say thank you uh for bravely coming up and talking and representing your school and I I got to say my favorite part of the
presentation was uh that you learn lessons on the court and off the court as you know when I was a kid I wanted to play in the NBA um I wasn't good enough but I learned so much as a kid through my coaches through my experiences
missing that last shot or having a teammate miss that last shot and those experiences allowed me to learn and then apply what I learned in real life uh till this day I work in a team
environment these are my teammates here and we tackle issues together and we make mistakes and we pick each other up and we move forward and um I just want to encourage you to to Really apply that like these lessons that you're learning
right now are lessons that you'll carry throughout your life you know um whatever you're learning in the game of basketball that's keeping you engaged in basketball you can apply to your learning in school and you'll be able to apply even when you get older and you
join either college or the workforce or whatever it is you choose to do um these little things that you're learning are so important so keep at it keep moving mayor Garcia thank you and to add to all of this too and just so that the
school committee uh knows and everyone at home the playball foundation and this partnership they have with the hoyo boys and girls club and the hoyo public schools they've been doing this for a couple years now and and my son uh who ghost to Sullivan has been participating
as well this is a amazing partnership that we have going on within our school district the middle schools we don't really have for a while actually that kind of inter mural Sports between our middle schools and it's not just we have
other middle schools too that come over and participate and play with our with our kids our local um uh Catholic uh schools I believe Charter even participated in the inter murals and we you know that just to have that space to
allow our our our our children in the school in in our municipality to be able to uh crossplay with other schools what a fantastic um uh platform that this partnership has been able to give and I
hope that we can continue to uh strengthen that partnership and support it um the Boys and Girls Club although Great Space has been extremely limited if we can Elevate and maybe even move this into our high school gym so that parents can actually stay and watch
these games parents or the new pc because parents aren't allow because the space is so limited they they make parents watch streaming at home which is fine um but still we want to be there and cheer on our kids um but uh I do appreciate this partnership so shout out
to the playball foundation hoyo Boys and Girls Club um for you know being a supporter of our middle school kids and I am just so thrilled to see that how excited these kids get when there is an opportunity to play in these Sports I see I I I know because I see it through
my son at home um and and hearing it from each of you um makes me feel and know that this it's working um so need to keep kind of supporting that um and I wish each and one of you the best of luck as you continue to to to to
navigate this this uh um Middle School experience and into your high school and in this world we call life so congratulations thank you Miss Wilson so two things struck me um when you started talking about Mr soda
started talking about teamwork I remember um after I graduated from college I I told my teachers and my coaches half of what I've learned that I'm going to take the rest of my life is what I learned in sports learning how to pick yourself up
after devastating losses how to encourage each other and what I've noticed that you've done is you've all clapped for each other yeah and for us and that is a true true sense of building that team and so I coach um you
know uh two programs here in Holo for Youth Sports and I admire the teamwork that you're showing and the fact that you are supporting one another and I wanted to recognize that because that is truly one of the essential functions of a team is that you support one another
in the good and the bad so great job [Applause] everyone Miss Wilson I mean M Williams sorry when I was in the Air Force I traveled um and number
one was on my uniform I was in a volleyball and I wrote a poem for you guys I'm G to make it real quick it's called coloring books have you ever wondered why coloring books are so much fun it could be when you color the Crayons do not run
coloring books have so many pictures and lots of things to do the crayon colors that you use they are so pretty too coloring books come in all sizes some are large and some are small when you finish coloring the pictures you may frame them for your wall when coloring
time is over and you put the books away put them where you can find them to color another day and you can frame them after you col them good them on you w hello and I'll be going into the schools
when the cold gets over and I'll be helping the kids and I'll be showing you how to do it okay God bless you guys we love you so much I want to cry Mr cmer yes just one thing I didn't
mention uh here in hok basketball was one of the top games in the world at the time this was 1958 and the Boston Celtics came came
here and played at the city hall in hoo a basketball game against o high school and uh Westfield State and they just picked up a team and played the Boston
Celtics in 1958 and that started me in my career in refereeing and I started refereeing the Celtics game there at the city hall and I went into the service and I
refereed over in Germany and France and Italy then I came back here and I started did more refering colleges and high school throughout the world I travel just
officiating Sports and that's part of growing up and learning what you want to do in life and you're going to go a long way so continue your sports and continue your Endeavor wherever you want to
go thank you so much for being here thank you for being brave and speaking to all of us even though you don't necessarily know us I will say that we are here for you so if you ever need anything in the future that's the same door that you
come through and then you come and speak and sign up for public comment and you let us know what you need don't forget about us because we're here and we work for you so please don't don't forget Mr Kennedy oh oh I was also just going to
say that when you get to high school you have amazing opportunities to speak in front of the school committee and make your opinions very heard thank you [Music] [Applause] excellent thank you so very
much thank you app good luck Miss Feliciano do we have any public comment no moving on to Communications and reports student
reports for Dean campus Mr Kennedy um so the north campus isn't here but I would like to give a huge shout out to their theater program I saw a couple they just finished up their second show I believe the Lord of the Flies um and I've seen a couple of their shows and I don't know
what I was expecting when I was going into it but it was definitely not that they are amazing and I just think that they should get a huge huge shout out they are just amazing um but yes sh okay uh Dean updates wrestling W
against putham for senior night so a huge congratulations to the wrestling team for yet another Victory uh next Dean Campus student council joined forces with Holio High School theater program with a bake sale to raise money for Dean as well as the theater
Department uh yet again this year vacation Academy is on track with full Staffing and students ready to participate this program is being coordinated by Miss Myra Rodriguez and our teaching team this year is Mr Cade sand merki who will be providing Ela instruction and Miss Christine Laro who
will be instructing cosmetology during the week I brought this up last year I think it was April uh of last year where students have the opportunity to buy back attendance if they're chronically absent and what we are trying to do is provide you know you a chance for them
to learn academically but also since we're a vocational program we throw a shop in there so that they can also have a little bit of of you know enjoyable skills to learn uh last year we did math with Miss Bardwell and cosmetology with Miss luru this year it'll be English and
cosmetology uh I was one of the employees of that program last year and it was a pretty good time I'd say and finally the St Patrick's Day Colleen float is in the building and our carpentry students have been joining the workers to join to share their skills
and that is all thank you so much we don't have a representative from Poli School North online either right just want to make sure okay well moving on to superintendent
report Mr Soto yeah I have a a few items in your packet um one of them being the proposed competency determination policy that I'm hoping full uh eventually it could be taken up um at one of your
subcommittees um and our team our academics team um and Dr Mahoney and some counselors we we solicited some feedback from different uh stakeholder groups we got uh some input from um our
teacher Advisory Group we got some input from the counselors at each of the high schools and for this year you know the the highlights of the what we're proposing is that now that mcast is no
longer um uh competent used for competency determination um at at the state level what they are requiring is for local communities to come up with their own competency determination there is at least one
District that I know of um that is using mcass as like we're going to continue to use mcass as that competency determination uh what we had decided to propose um is that uh students that
receive a passing grade in both uh grade nine and grade 10 English courses or the course equivalent um determined by the school principal and approved by the superintendent um that that in combination with a passing grade in
Algebra 1 and geometry geometry courses um um and then also receiving a passing grade in biology uh that that those combinations would then be used to determine competency determination so I think that you know um one of the things
that i' I'd like to do is is hopefully uh go into deeper discussion at a subcommittee meeting um where we can you know we can dive deeper into any questions that the school committee would have but ultimately we are looking for this year
year for the school committee to adopt um a competency determination policy Miss Denley Williams Mr Soo um when the kids get a certificate instead of a diploma um when they graduate how hard is it for them to get a
job uh it all depends on where they're trying to work um that that it's it's hard to answer that question because some job want a diploma yeah kind of tough but they keep the grades up they'll get
the diploma thank you Mr Sheen so how many students would be impacted by this new competency determination for this Academic Year which would impact the class of
25 I think um part of part of why we are putting this in of you is because we want students to know what the competency determination is going to be for this year some of the students that had already you know passed actually wouldn't know if they
received the passing well students that received the passing grade like they wouldn't have to worry about about this new competency determination policy but specifically for our seniors I don't know that we have have numbers Dr
Mahoney do do we have numbers on like you don't have a I don't have a firm number okay we have numbers I mean you have to have the number of how many students haven't pass the mcast that are seniors yes I'm saying I don't have them here okay tonight okay can we bring that
stuff in the future when we're discussing these types like it seems like there's a lot of stuff we have to bring back like that seems like it would be a question that would be asked how many people this would impact so if we can bring that data or have someone here who can pull that data um that would be helpful just to know I mean this could
be something has to be determined in two weeks or does it be determined in two months and that changes that yeah I expected to have that in in subcommittee but like full TR I will definitely make sure that we come with even though we anticipate more
discussion in subcommittee I'll I'll be I have so I'll try to anticipate the questions and I mean it would just help because Miss Wilson's committee maybe couldn't take it up until June but there's other committees that could take it up like we have to know some of this information to send it to the right subcommittee y
Mr wellan thank you um I I'd just like to make the motion to refer this topic to the leadership and accountability accountability sub committee motion made by Mr ran seconded
by Miss tensley Williams discussion Miss Wilson so first I have to say it's not a policy because only the school committee can re create policies um so I I just that's all we
want right so I'm just create a policy yeah so um and so this is just for this year is the what you're recommending is it just for this group of seniors I think the most urgent thing we need to
decide is what are we doing for this year and I anticipate that the state is working on F guidance that will either support whatever local decisions are made or provide
more guidance on what's expected in in competency determinations I am a part of the Connecticut Valley Round Table of superintendents and the urban superintendent Network and this is a discussion that comes up there's definitely a lot of superintendant that
are pushing the state to come up with guidance because we can come up with this guidance and then you see that another district is using mcast you see that another District could be using a like right just so many different things superintendents across the state are
looking for the state to provide some further guidance so that we have more more consistency across the state about what it means to get a diploma that's it thank you see no further
discussion all those in favor I any opposed no oh no I don't know why I said that I'm in favor so moved motion passes unanimously all right thank you
um now this is one that I'm hoping to for also for the school committee to weigh in on for future years um and I say this because um as it stands right now uh the
holy o Public Schools is spending over a half a million dollars on chapter 74 application on uh tuition essentially and um what I have noticed is that different
communities are are applying what Desi's guidance and regulations are very differently right and I'll give you an example chape they have a stance that if you're
in ninth grade we won't approve Ro any chapter 74 applications unless it's in agriculture or animal science if it's in those two shops then they approve it um
but if it's not in those two shops regardless of whether or not you have the shop that the student is in the the trade that the student is interested in their take is and the desie guidance is that like we are denying your
application because we have an exploratory program and we know that when you go to ninth grade in Westfield when you go in Smith voke there's an exploratory program there and the law is pretty clear that if there's an
exploratory program in your in your community that you have the right to deny the application and they they it has to come to the district of residents which I know it's also inconsistently applied in the school district that we're sending a
lot of kids to because on one hand they they in their own policy they say that you know if you live outside of our re you know of our community then you have to take um the exploratory program in
the district that you reside yet they are taking in ninth graders and putting them through the exploratory program um because we don't have like a a a true like stance on this I am hoping that the
school committee looks at this issue and applies uh you know this is how we're going to do it here in holy o we do have some students that say they want to go into Agriculture and then they end up in cabinet making so like part of the
discussion that I'd love to Foster amongst this body is how do you handle that situation are we then saying because it's not agriculture you have to come back um we're not approving paying the tuition for that for for for that shop because you
applied for agriculture you ended up in in another shop the trick here and I I'll I'll be honest is like the law is very specific and it talks about agriculture and animal Sciences um that
like that like kind of like you have to approve those applications and it doesn't say anything about other shops right um and how we have been applying it in practice over the last few years is even if you like if you uh I want to
use graphic Communications as an example because if we have a student that says they want agriculture but they end up in graphic Communications I have not been saying oh well it's it's it's not agriculture so you got to come back to jolio Public Schools I have been
approving it under the basis that we don't have graphic communication here in hoolio but you know the law doesn't really say exactly how to handle that situation one upon uh an application being denied
um the family has the right to appeal that to the state and my experience with that is if you don't have graphic arts they're going to overrule whatever decision that that we make so um all that to say that you know it's a significant uh budget item in uh right
now over a half a million dollars and uh I I feel like I want to take the ambiguity out of it and the grayness out of this and I hope that the school committee would you know take this up like re you know I happy to provide the
you know all the the legal uh guidance that we got from the state I I did include that in your packet and then you know apply it so that you know right now we got some ninth graders that are going out but chicke doesn't have any ninth graders right now they they say yeah
we'll approve this but for 10th grade right Miss Wilson um so I'm going to have to remove myself from these conversations because I TR I believe it's a conflict of interest for me since I am employed um probably by that
District um where uh since I work um at an agricultural and Vocational School um the one thing I will add is that um as in many shops shops fill up so the opportunity for students to then
transfer in uh sophomore year is much reduced almost impossible um based upon numbers and weight lists um that are currently in place so I'm just sharing that if it does get put to the policy
and governance subcommittee someone else would have to uh lead that conversation thank you Miss Le Martinez so I do have a question I know that that the the reason that people um or students or families decide to take out the kids and bring
them to um take advantage of these courses back in the days we had agriculture we have gra we had graphic carts we had other um type of programs what so what's the possibility for us to have some these again versus you know
that would also attract other districts to come back in here um and I was part of some of the advisory boards back in the days that Dean had for example um the machine shop for example
that was removed and um it's still there's a need out there for for CNC uh labor workers and seeing what the workforce is needing that I think think we should start considering some of that so is it what do you see what do you
think yeah I mean that we have nine shops right now when I was actually attending Dean we had more I was actually a gra graphic art student right had um what I I it was called building and grounds so that was you know they would they would do a lot of the
mulching and Mowing and learn how to run your own landscaping business um we did have machine shop and Metal Fab and now we have uh PR Precision technology so it's it's kind of morphed into but the reason all that happened is because
enrollment went down like back when I was in school had you know 800 kids or so and now we have just uh uh just under 400 so as we you know as we get this new middle school and we move stem out of the new Middle School we can start to
begin having conversations about how do we want to grow but I I just caution and we had this discussion in public before that growing Dean has a a a a pretty significant impact on the offerings that
are available at the north campus right now they have three acmy there's uh dual enrollment there's a work-based learning program there's the hoolio theater company there's like all these different things but that's because Holio Kai has
a thousand students if we if we say okay we're going to take 400 students out of holokai and Dean's going to have 800 students like the ability to to offer all of those programs is going to be very very like resource stricken so the
the plan moving forward is how do we grow Dean and expand um I know that one shop in particular that we're we're very much interested in beginning to have conversations in is Early Childhood Like An Early Childhood Center
um uh so we're we're starting to have conversations with with uh des's chapter 74 office on like what are the steps we need to take if we wanted to open a new shop but we just we really have to be thoughtful about how much we grow and
how much more we want to offer I know that um you know the the I've been working uh Sean's been working with the metf Advisory Group um and there's been conversations about possibly moving know some some central office spaces over the
dean so like all those space things are like no decisions have been made the a group of them met and said here are some things that we're recommending to the superintendent um which uh we're going to be talking about at a uh an upcoming joint committee meeting can I just say something I I
recall that on one of those uh at the time we even did a visit to Wier um vocational school that they had their early childhood they had the Veterinary Group they had even the banking industry showing the the students about that and
I thought that was you know I had hopes for that because I think we don't necessarily can don't have to open it to a big number but let's say you get 20 in the bank in the industry that is interested and you have to kind of apply and get on the waiting list another one
you know for the early childhood and all of that so that you don't you know so that those have that at the high school don't want to jump on to this one but at least a chance to see the and I think it opens doors for others districts who want to come to us you know thank you
mayor Garcia on that note about other districts wanting to come to us I think as when when we do get to a point where we start thinking about how to how to uh evolve Dean and do more I think the key
thing is to think outside the box and see how we can compete regionally so that kids out of District would want to because I could tell you Westfield voke and uh uh what's the other one uh I think it's Northampton Smith folk they
have kids from everywhere that out of districts into their vocational programs and you know i' I'd be curious to see that analysis what is it that they do that we don't do what can we be doing um uh differently perhaps at they're not
doing that might allow us to compete um but yeah I wouldn't you know there's that thought right like yeah we don't want to you know we have some concern about North Campus we don't want to take away from what North Campus have to offer but you know how do we
kind of think outside the box and say well wait a minute how do we make Dean the Regional School where kids from everywhere would want to come to and take a how that looks like I don't know obviously we got to look into it explore it some of those communities don't have competing chapter 744 program a lot of
the kids that are going into those programs they don't have a chapter 74 option in their home Community like we have chape we have Westfield we have uh Springfield has putam like all of like we're not pulling kids from there
because they have their own programs and I also want to name like we have like before we start thinking about like other communities and getting kids to come we have about you know and uh are going 50 of our own students
that live in Holy Oak that didn't that are on a wait list waiting to get into Dean so like I think that this I don't want to speak for you but I would imagine that all of you would want those 150 kids to get a seat before we start
saying hey chicke come on Westfield come on I don't want to speak for you but like know I think that should be our priority priority is like how do we like shrink that weight list for all these kids that are living in Holy Oak and they want to come to Dean but there's not enough
space Mr Kennedy uh I just like to kind of respond to um one of the committee members um we we do a big priority that we need to focus on is growing Dean um current we cannot do that until we get
our new middle school because stem takes up our entire top floor with the exception of three classrooms which is pretty huge our library um one of our shop one one of our shop spaces we have one
two three vacancy vacant shop spaces and I believe one of those is even a house to some of our district administrators uh growing Dean needs to get done but it can't get done until after we find a solution to all of those other situations um receiver sto talked about
like we don't want to take away from north campus and that's that's fair but also North Campus has a lot more opportunities than students here at Dean do academically I can tell you that I'm in the difficult situation of applying to colleges right now and I'm applying to one of the most difficult bachelor's
degrees you can possibly get and I am far behind a lot of the people who are applying because I don't have all of those extra classes that North Campus provides yes I you know I have all of the amazing things that come from our vocational program but a lot of the class that North Campus has I don't have
the access to right and I didn't know that until I started applying everywhere um so we we definitely need to grow Dean both academically and vocationally but we can't do that until we find a solution to um you well we have a solution to put the students in the new
middle school and you know get our administrators offices thank you so much can you give us a an example of what the classes would be that you wish you could have uh well currently our only three
science classes right now are um excuse me uh biolog sorry yes biology chemistry and environmental science uh those are the only three classes and they're basic the most basic classes you can get um for science anyway and I'd really like
to see that expanded because you know I'm I'm going into the medical field and a lot of people who applied before me have all these like AP this AP that what I don't even know the names of the classes um but my unit but like we don't have access to those we just have like
the very basic classes and that's fine for you know just a vocational school but we are also aiming towards academic success rather than just the trade and I can go in more in depth with it through like an email or something when I you know
thank you so much Mr Kennedy Mr Shen yeah I'm just going to respond to Mr Kennedy that it's it's not fine and um I don't mean to push that back on you but it's not fine I mean we it's been the long debate that there needs to be
Equity um in the buildings and just because it all is technically one school we kind of meet that but the students here on this campus need to be having the same access to the same types of courses because if we we can build our vocational areas up as much as
we can and have people going out with career recognized standards but if those same students can't get into competitive colleges then that's a problem too um so I think that we need to really refocus on that which is I kind of think the point that Mr stto was making that like
before we think about all these different things for Dean we need to focus on Dean and what's going on at Dean at this point and like it would be great to have programs like Westfield as Aviation and I mean we're we're never going to get a farm science program at Dean I don't
think but it would be great to have some an Innovative program that draws from other communities because that's what you need I mean Early Childhood isn't going to draw kids from other communities because other communities are opening that up but we we need to focus on what we we have here first um
we're not there yet it's not it's not just if we opened up a new program would kids want to come from another District because if we're still not providing the other things then it it's just not it's not going to work so I think that's more of the challenge and I will say just to
because I think we could go on a lot about what needs to change with some of that but I think that first and foremost is the superintendent needs some guidance and a policy about um students exiting chapter 74 programs into other
districts and I think that's the point here um I I don't know I I mean it needs to be a direct policy but I also understand there's a direct conflict on the on the committee that we would send it to so I will make a motion to send it to a committee I guess I just need some
guidance are we okay with that and just having Miss Wilson step aside for the other two members is that I mean I seek legal opinion I mean because I I can keep it separate I you know and and
but I think I would just have to go to legal council to to find out if because I believe there is a true conflict of interest I'll make the motion in a second and I would just say not even legal counil just call State ethics they'll tell you and they'll tell you what to form to fill out so I'll make a
a motion to send the chapter 74 chapter 74 program uh presentation um procedures to the policy and governance subcommittee second made by Mr shien seconded by Mr isasa any
discussion all those in favor I I any oppos motion passes unanimously great uh the next item in in the superintendent report uh came from uh our initial uh Central off our
initial Panorama results presentation um and uh you know what we had done with our own Panorama data is we as a Cabinet we reviewed it and reflected and that that's just that's
has been common practice over the last you know since Panorama has come out all principles do that with their own data and central office does that with their own data I I included in your packet an email that went out to staff today um
that you know we we did have a central office you know kind of equity session and uh kind of feedback session where we shared some Panorama data with them and tried to solicit some group discussions around how could we make some of these
things better um people had a lot to say about and and you saw that in the results they had a lot to say about the evaluation process and they had a lot to say about coaching and feed back and they had a lot to say about technology
and the facilities like uh so we focused on those three things in the discussion and got a lot of feedback from our staff and and what what we're hearing is that staff want to feel more appreciated and that they feel like a lot of connectedness within their own
department but um you know the special ed department and the academic department they don't necessarily feel connected um in a way and that they they appreciate opportunities like the one you know thank you to the mayor for allowing us to use that space um last
week we were able to bring everybody from central office and Central Supply together and uh Le uh doc uh Mr Mogel LED an equity session we had breakout groups people were able to interact with people from other departments and they really appreciated that and we've been
doing that they're just asking for us to do more of that um over the years like I think a lot of conversation has come up about central office like folks just feel like you know it's not our it's it's not our building and it's just not a you know
state-of-the-art facility and and like there's more we can do so we have done you know we've scheduled some deep cleans we've worked with the landlord to make sure that you know they're addressing some of our concerns that come up we have over the last 5 years
you know when when a lot of our equip a lot of our furniture is like you know 30 40 years old we've we've been little by little trying to chip away so that you know the the staff see all the furniture that we're purchasing at schools and things that we're doing at schools um
they're like hey how about us like this desk my knees are like touching so like we've we've done a lot of of that we've done some painting I've worked with Appleton back in the day during the pandemic where we were able to work together and the windows didn't open at
the time we were able to like get some windows that actually open and during Co that was a a huge uh thing we you know if you go to central office now you'll see pictures of students like there's little things that we're trying to do to make that space work for our staff um
and there's also some things that we've done and you can see in the letter around around benefits and compensation based on results that we got from Panorama staff you know we we really did a deep dive
into all of the open-ended comments we did a deep dive into all the questions and based on that we've been chipping away and and being responsive but uh the things that continue to persist are you know staff just wanting to you know hear
a thank you every now and then and Fe and have their work recognized um some of the things that I I know that I need to do better I've been going out to schools and recognizing teachers and recognizing students for great work through an a award program that we have
I I need to also apply that to our central office staff when they're going above and beyond and doing the things I need to acknowledge them and I'm asking all of my leaders to do the same it doesn't have to be you know anony is going to show up and and give you an award like what are you doing with your
staff to show them um when they're doing really good work to recognize their work and and like you know say uh praising them for it and then um around the cross departmental connection we're going to continue to try to create those opportunities for staff and around the
evaluation we're we're looking to increase the amount of feedback that staff are getting like you know I can tell you from experience that when I was in in in my previous role you know we did an evaluation at the end of the year
and at that evaluation we set goals for the upcoming year but there wasn't you know the the the real time feedback was really in the moment it wasn't necessarily a structured process and I'm hoping to create a more structured process so that staff you know we have a
midyear checkin at a minimum like here's where you're trending here are some strengths here are some things that I want you to work on so it's not like wait till the evaluation comes up and boom here's how you did for the whole year um and I'm hoping that that has an
impact on on future results that we uh that we uh get or future surveys that that staff take um and then the last piece is the capital plan and I I just want to thank
uh sha Mangano and Shan shidi for all the work that went into this really proud of this draft that we now have in front of us um it has kind of a profile of where we're at with all of our buildings like how old the building is
how old the boilers are how old the windows are and you can kind of see a heat map of where we were you know uh s years ago and where we are now and we we used to be like really red in every single one of our buildings and you see
you're starting to see a lot of green because we're working on making sure that you know taking the uh taking the opportunities that we have through the msba program taking the opportunities that we had with Esser funding and making sure that like using the that
onetime funding to to make sure that we're investing in our spaces and not just like deferring all this maintenance that has been happening for many many many years in our buildings um there's pictures in there of some of the work that we've already done you know
replacing playgrounds replacing Courtyards replacing Windows replacing heater uh uh boiler rooms um but uh this is a draft right now this the one that we had I I admittedly wasn't as good good as this one it's still a living
document like as as new things come up new priorities come up we want to make sure that we regularly update this plan um but this also is something that as part of the local uh the local control kind of uh plan
that we have one of the action steps was that we were going to work together to create this uh Capital plan so I've shared a copy with all of you in your packet and um I'm sure that uh you know this probably will get referred to the
finance and operations subcommittee but Mr willan thank you Mr SLE um yeah I know we talked about the heat map before um I know um that was discussed at length at
um one of the finance um meetings um same topic is going to be on the agenda for the next um joint meeting for the schools and the um city council so
that's on Wednesday night um I know because um we have to keep the city council as a partner our in our school building because um some of the funding has to go through them so thank you
again yes excellent Mr she was there a motion needed I'll make a motion to send the plan to finance an operation second motion B Mr Shen seconded by Miss Wilson any
discussion all those in favor I I any opposed so moved thank you so much moving on to Vice chair report there we have the letter from the commissioner from
last meeting that I read to you so you have an actual copy on the record of the letter that was move to receive move to receive by Mr seconded by Miss Lon Martinez all those in favor I any
opposed so moved next up we have the letter from the commissioner about negotiations received in January 29th move to receive second move to receive by Mr shean seconded by Miss Wilson all those in
favor I any opposed so moved so next up we have a communication from the commissioner that the commissioner that we don't have in the packet but we have in front of us that's the copy that
you have in front of you and this is the communication for collect collective bargaining negotiations with the Holio Teachers Association and this is uh to for the
school committee to vote in a in a limited way move to receive move to receive by Mr Shen who second it Mr colore any discussion all those in
favor any opposed so moved now we are doing our discussion for the next steps in the hiring process of the intering super super intendent and at this point I would like to
appoint Mr Shen to bring a draft back for interim superintendent negotiations for the fool school committee to review at our next executive committee session so move and so I'm just clarifying you said
at the next executive session yes thank you discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion passes unanimously on to new business we have
approval of oh I should ask Mr Sheen did you accept the appointment thank you moving on to new business approval of meeting minutes we have our first one is motion to take as a
package checking to take us a package by Miss Wilson seconded by Mr colore all those in favor I I any opposed discussion I should have said
first but so moved right so taken as a package the approval of meeting minutes all those in favor I I see discussion on
that Mr willan um think I was reading the minutes for our last meeting for full the full committee and I think they mentioned that there was
no um student report for Dean or through umai and there was I don't know if we can I'm going to amend my motion to take all except for the 11325 school committee I have a second second Mr
colmer seconds on the amendment all those in favor I any opposed so moved as amended vote to approve
I that we okay vote to approve the group yes as amended all those in favor I I any opposed so
moved move to table the January 13th second by Mr Shen seconded by Miss Wilson all those in favor any oppos so moved thank you everybody moving on to
updates on committees policy and governance subcommittee thank you um so unfortunately um we're having to cancel uh our meeting scheduled for tomorrow because the facilitator um um from masc
um is ill um so we will be rescheduling that as soon as possible um and so uh just so we're aware um if we had had the meeting tomorrow we're at about 150 policies um as a subcommittee that have
been reviewed um just so everyone's aware we've been making significant progress um and um the next meeting after this one um I have asked uh Mr stto to provide um someone or
individuals to the meeting because we're going to be going over the two largest sections of policies um which is instruction in students um I is first so we'll be going through as much of that as possible um and that is scheduled to take place in March um but just so every
one just to keep a breast of that um so thank you this um this upcoming meeting is not we're doing G and ABCDE E F G H yeah I still say the alphabet sorry um GH um this up at the next meeting that
needs to be rescheduled and the meeting after that we're going to be hitting the as we would say the meat and potatoes when it comes to instruction in students thank you're welcome next up we have finance and operation subcommittee and thank you for um the
summary Mr willan oh my homework no problem I got on it I got on it quick I noticed that I got my name Quick the Wrath the Wrath of the chair okay um
thank you um we have our I'm trying to schedule a meeting for our next um finance and operations to for February um 27th at 5:30 at
um um 57 suffk Street that's it thank you Mr willim next up join city council School committee Excuse me yes I have the
minutes of that meeting and uh if yeah did everyone get a copy of this report no the minutes um those will be reviewed and approved by the joint
um committee um which is meeting on February 12th at uh 6:30 okay okay thank you right thank you local control subcommittee chair of that hook
committee is not here but is is any of the members have any updates all I know is that the next meeting is February 19th at 5:00 and that is only going to be um remote okay thank you so much and
that was scheduled I know it's school vacation week but that the only date that could work with the commissioner's schedule so again leadership accountability and measurement so we do have a meeting scheduled for February 25th at 4 o' at the hoyo high school conference room and
it was to discuss the um credit policy at hooai but I think we can probably add in the newest item that just came to us regarding um uh graduation require competency requirements just to deal with though probably be best to do that
at that point as well if Mr SoDo and that exent so at this point announcements have been posted on the agenda for multiple events please be on the lookout
for that and we have made it to the end of our agenda may I have a motion to adjourn go ahead Mr she um I'll make a motion to enter executive disc session strategies with respect to collective bargaining because an open meeting may have a detrimental effect to the
bargaining position of the public party for the purposes of the ho Teachers Association and not to return to open session second all those in favor oh roll call Vote Yes Miss Feliciano roll
callor that was a long one um mayor Garcia yes Dr rone yes uh Mr Sheen yes Miss lefave Miss LeBron Martinez yes Miss
tensy Williams C Mr Orlando is Mr um Mr wellan yes Mr Kore yes and Miss Wilson yes Mr Kennedy no after after this is confirmed okay motion
carries oh sorry i' just like to bring everyone's attention to the announcements really quick as you can all see the community advisory team is meeting on the 24th of February I highly advise the committee members to watch that meeting um because you will all be
taking control of the district in the near future and I think it's important that you all see the um the opinions of the people in the meeting because yes you do have people here who will you know bring you what we said in the meeting but there's a lot of very good
discussion that can go on when we exit receivership that I think that all of you could you know benefit from watching so if you have a couple minutes please watch in on that meeting thank you m