Sensei Williams. Okay. Mr. Isaza here. Mr. Willahan here. Uh Mr. Colmore. Miss Wilson present. Mr. Sheen. Like to make a motion to go out of order
and do our student reports and then back to the regular agenda. Second that. Seconded by Miss Densy Williams. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? So move. Welcome
Mr. Morales. Hello. My name is Edua Morales. I'm the committee rep for um Holioai. Uh I'm in 10th grade. U my day is going great. Thank you for asking. And I have uh I have a few bullet points to go over. Um you're going to see a common theme that
goes on. It's uh the overarching theme about the school year. It's community. Community is something that is very important to us this school year and we want to represent it well. That starts off with reach. Does anyone know what reach block is? Are you familiar with it? So the whole point of reach box is
we meet every Wednesday for about 30 to 40 minutes and the whole theme is re uh whole theme is community and that's what we go over. So our first our first kind of like almost like project that we did was tugof-war. Each class would be in
groups of 10. So you would have teams and you have to work together. Tug-of-war is a very work together like kind of game. So it was a ninth graders with nth graders, 10th graders with 10th graders. So on the 12th graders end up winning overall with the grades. And then we had a teachers versus students
tug-of-war match where the teachers end up winning. We had another the following week we had a you had to get like tinfoil. Every class had tin foil and you had to make the best night and also had to write down
the best values and what you think a holioai night is. It was really fun. We had many winners and everyone put in a bunch of effort. Even teams that didn't win, you could tell they tried their hardest during the event. The next thing that we did is the
student ambassador program. It is a group that meets every reach block and they discuss things in the school. They came up with the fun Friday idea and it's like an idea where they just like they do something every Friday for the students and it just makes
everyone feel better. All right, my next bullet point is the grade level assem uh assemblies. We talked about building school community this year and obviously that's all you're going to hear it a bunch during this speech. Just community. That's our
whole our whole plan. We want to make sure everyone feels welcome in our school and everyone feels great. The assembly program during the uh sorry uh we talked about the expectations for the school year and how we want everyone to be. We started using the smart passes
and they're working really well. Now teachers don't have to really do it themselves. There's a computer in the front of the room where people are able to um come in and and just put in their name so they're able to use the bathroom without disrupting the class. and the class just flows perfectly and well.
So, all right. The hallways have been clearing up and it looks amazing. So, there's not like normally last year you would see four or five students in the halls. Now, you just see one student walking to the bathroom walking back. You would see one person walking the bathroom walking back and the halls look clear. Everyone's
passes are are getting done on time. You're not really seeing a bunch of red passes anymore. And everyone's just being in the right place. everyone's staying in class more. Everyone's staying more proactive and and staying in their room trying to get their work done. And everyone's been super well this year. Another thing is the CT River
um conservation where we're sending students over and we're cleaning the Connecticut River about it's like a few miles I think uh 410 mile Connecticut River water across the United States to make the river safer to drink and safer
to use. Now, we did kick off the fall sports with 170 athletes spanning around a few sports. Many of our teams already winning their games and working together to do their best. And
I think that should be everything. But really, what you should take from this is that everything we're doing is we're doing it as a team and as a community. And that's what we want to focus on this school year and what we're going to continue to focus on for the time being. Thank you.
Thank you so much. And great job on your first one. I know, Miss Wilson. So, I have a question about this tugofwar. I'm trying to picture it. Is is it were there certain representatives
um for each class or how did that work? So during our lunch period, we had a sign up where anybody could sign up and it was 10 from each grade and anyone could join. And so it it just like it was always like random people. So you
don't really know anyone. That's why it was a really good exercise to help build community and try and like tug war is a very team game. You if one person's not working, the team is going to fall apart. So you had to you had to communicate with everybody and make sure everything was flowing correctly. Thank you.
Miss Tensley Williams. Young man, what is the name of your group again? You guys have a group. What is the name of it? Not tug of war. Yeah. Um, you're talking about the student ambassadors. Yes,
it is called I'm sorry, I'm looking. The student ambassador program. That's what it's called. Thank you so much. Next up, we have our dean campus representative, Miss Bea. Welcome.
Okay, so my name is Jes Vega. I'm in the 11th grade and I attend deep tech. I'm in health assisting. Um to start we have a vocational shop shout out and that's that goes to our dean techch culinary which will begin
our second consecutive year working with the white hut restaurant at the biggie this Friday. 11th and 12th grade students alike co-op you know they will start um they will start with that and they will be provided on-site instruction by their instructor and
these juniors and seniors will gain valuable work-based learning experiences that have potential to turn into co-ops. So, they're learning, but this is also an opportunity for them to get a job. We thank Bean Restaurant Group for their continued partnership. Our attendance um
on average for these two weeks was 93.6, but a special shout out to the seniors because they had a attendance of 95.5%. This year's student council held their first meeting this afternoon. I attended
and it was well attended as well. Besides supporting our face coordinator with fun Fridays, they have begun their fall food donation service project. We look forward to all they plan to do this year. Thank you so much, Miss Wilson.
Do you know more about the fall food and want to share that with us? Yes. Um, so the student council, they did this last year as well. Um, they asked around and they also made a list of what people might have needed for
Thanksgiving. It's a Thanksgiving thing. It happens in November. And we emailed people. We emailed the I emailed the superintendent last year. Um, we email whoever we can so that they can help donate food or money or whatever they can so that they can feed families who
are in need. So if someone who might be watching this at home or people here if they want to uh donate, how does that happen? Um you can reach out to the head of the
student council which is um Lulu. Uh I have her email somewhere with me. Yeah, we can reach you can reach out. Let you let us know whatever you want to donate or whatever you can't do. And if you don't know what to donate, we have things that we can offer for you to
donate as well. Thank you so much and great job. Right, we don't have student showcase today. Great round of applause for both our student reps on their first one of the year and thank you for
giving your time to being here and representing your schools. We don't have student showcase today. Then next up we have public comment and I have a list. I will call your name.
Please state your name and address and then you'll have two minutes to speak. First person on the list, John Roach. My name is John Roach to Laurel Drive, East Hampton, Mass.
Good evening, members of the Hoyok school committee, Mayor Garcia, interimm superintendent soda, citizens of Hoyok here tonight or those watching from home. Again, my name is John Roach. I am the history department chair at Hoyok High where I teach American government
and AP US history and I serve as co-chair of the Hoyok teachers association's bargaining team. I have taught in Hoyok for 23 years before receiverhip, during receiverhip and now as decision-making returns to the people of Hoyok.
At our first bargaining session last year, I said the hta is pleased to work side by side with the Hoyok school committee on a fair contract. We are excited that decisions about our schools are once again being made by the people of Holio.
I stand by that statement today and the HTA bargaining team stands by that statement. When my students walk into class, I ask them to take a deep breath and I ask them to work with me to be productive during that day's lesson. Tonight, I ask
the same of us, the leaders of the Hoy Public Schools. Let's work together. I also want to acknowledge school committee member Shien at our last bargaining session when our team raised questions about lensure and the MTL. You
listened and you said we are willing to hear the HTA's concerns. We will look to provide an equitable agreement. We the HTA agree. We are not at an impass. We want to bargain. We want to
listen. And we want to reach an agreement that supports both the teachers and the students of the city of Hoyok. That means bargaining on what an equitable school calendar looks like, bargaining on what an equitable teacher salary scale looks like, bargaining on what an
equitable professional development looks like, and much more. The HDA bargaining team is committed to these conversations. We want a contract that keeps teachers in Hoyok, supports our students, and builds a strong lasting partnership between the school committee
and the Hoyok teachers association. We have a letter that has been signed by 95% of our HTA members and this letter is all about continuing the bargaining. Again, I thank you for your time and I ask let's do this together. Let's
bargain. Thank you. Next, we have Katie Bol. Yes. Thank you. Hi, I'm Katie Boolick and I have been name and address. Sorry, I'm Katie Bolick, 285 Brainer Street, South Hadley. And I've been
teaching here in Holio for uh since 2016 and this is my fifth year um with HPS. And while my address might be in South Hadley, my heart is here in Holio with all of us here in this room today. Um I have started my fifth year at New Peek and I'm very excited with this brand new
building and all of the opportunities that it holds. As many of you know, I am also co-chair with John on the HA bargaining team and I have been at the center of this negotiation work with my team. I wanted to be a part of this team to help drive meaningful conversation and change in Holio to ensure educators
voices, many of whom were quieted for the last decade, are represented at this bargaining table. The return to local control is a unique and historic opportunity for our district. Few commi communities have this chance to reshape their schools in this way. And it is essential that we approach it with
collaboration and with trust. That is why it is concerning that at the first sign of difficulty, HPS has turned to outside counsel rather than working directly with us. I want to be clear, the HTA and HPS are not at impass. On
August 28th, when Mr. Connelly, the HPS attorney, asked if we were at IMPASS, our team answered no. When asked about next steps, we stated that we needed more time to meet as a team and would follow up. At no point did hta suggest
or imply that we are at impass and would not return to the table. Declining a proposal presented as all or nothing did not end negotiations. It simply indicated that we could not move forward with the package as presented and that we needed time to meet as a team to determine our next steps. Our goal is
straightforward. To bargain with our local school community com school committee and its representatives and to create a contract that respects the expertise, commitment and loyalty of Holio teachers. We want to move beyond the status quo and build a district
defined by stability and opportunity for our students to thrive in. We have provided our availability avail Oh my goodness. our availability to HPS over the following few months and we look forward to working together with you guys. Thank you.
Next we have Nick Cream. Name and address, please. Uh hello, my name is Nick Cream. I live at 7 Warner Street in South Hadley. I'm an ethnic studies teacher at Deant Tech and president of the HTA. I want to start by assuring you all as the person
named in interim superintendent Sodto's email to all of our members that contrary to what Mr. Sodto has shared, we stand ready to bargain with the school committee's chosen bargaining team. We appreciate the fact that Dr. Rivera Cologne and Mr. Sheen were at the bargaining table last session as well. Miss Wilson was at attendance as well.
We appreciating table is simple. We rejected the HPS proposal and told your bargaining team we would get back to them when we had a clearer idea of our next steps. Over 100 of our members who were in attendance can corroborate this. We find it
insulting and disrespectful that the attorney representing Holio public schools has filed for the state to intervene with our bargaining process. This is not local control. No one on our bargaining team ever said anything about not wanting to bargain. The only thing we did was reject a truly truly
disrespectful proposal from the HPS team. If we had accepted this proposal, it would have been an insult to all of the hundreds of our members who have taken part in building our bargaining platform. If we had accepted this proposal, it would have erased over a year of meaningful dialogue with
parents, teachers, counselors, pair professionals, instructional coaches, education team leads, and others who we have spoken with and received feedback from. If we had accepted this proposal, we would continue losing teachers at the rate we have been losing them with those
numbers most likely going up. Our ask of you all is simple. To keep your word and do what is best for the young people of Holio. You can do both of these things by telling your representatives to come back to the table and talk with us as equals and as partners rather than as
subordinates who you can push around and demean. We blocked off every Thursday as a bargaining team from now until December and we'll be ready to meet on any of these dates. Thank you. Next we have Ashley Howland. Hello, my name is Ashley Howland and I
live at 59 Longfellow Road here in Holio. I currently work as a special education team lead at Sullivan and prior to that I worked as a special education inclusion teacher. Over the course of these last months, I have attended each session where the Holio
Teachers Association in the district have bargained for their new contract as a silent representative. I have watched as our bargaining team has presented proposal after proposal aimed at addressing the safety of our schools, the quality of our students education, and the hiring and retaining
of teachers here in Holio. I have watched each time as the district provided little to no immediate feedback, instead agreeing to look over the proposals and provide responses at a later time. And I have watched as the
bargaining team has allowed that the specific language of the proposed contract would take time to respond to. On August 28th, I was excited to once again return to the bargaining table to see what responses the district had and
what they might propose. Like many of the teachers in the room that day when we met in caucus, I did not believe we could re that we could reasonably accept that package proposal that was presented to us by the school committee at that time. I did not believe that it fully
addressed our concerns around our Holio students education, our ability um to retain teachers here in Holio or the safety concerns in our school buildings. On August 28th, I heard the HTA's bargaining team say that they rejected
the version um of the contract that had been presented, but I also heard them say that they only rejected that package proposal. I heard them say that they would review the specific language of the document they had been given and that they would get back to the school
committee once they had time to meet um sorry once they had had the opportunity to do so and meet as a team. This asks for no more than the same consideration that the school committee and the district were provided as the HTA made their proposals.
Then I heard the lawyer for the school committee suggest that negotiations were at an impass. And I heard the issues bargaining team deny that suggestion. We are not at an impass. As a Holio teacher, I am still excited
to bargain for our contract. Um and I am excited for the back and forth discussion that makes up a negotiation. As I have talked uh to other teachers in this last week, every teacher I have spoken to has said the same thing. They
want to bargain. I want to bargain. We as teachers in the district want to bargain and we are excited to do so with the school committee. I know our bargaining team has reached out to you. I know they have sent potential bargaining dates. So, I implore you to take this time to think about why you
have chosen not to respond to that message, to think about why you have chosen not to consider continue to sit down and bargain with us, and to think about if this best serves the children of Holio. And I implore you to make a better choice.
Madam Chair, point of order. Miss Wilson, um, when your bell goes off, what does that signify? That the time is up. Thank you. We'll do. Thank you. Brandy Bellico.
Hi, my name is Brandy Bellachico. I've been here enough times that you can pronounce my last name now. I live at 10 Smith Street in South Hadley. I practice. You nailed it. Um, I've repeatedly been here to a forum that by definition is not a conversation and I've asked you to
come and have a conversation. On August 28th, your council presented a package proposal that we rejected because it would be detrimental to Holio students and educators. Instead of trusting our lived experience and urgent priorities, your attorney Dave Connelly
filed a petition for mediation. This is not continuing a conversation. It is purposefully ignoring the call to do what's right by your school system. It is ending a conversation before it even starts. Mr. Xian.
Yeah. I just um want to make one clarification just for the benefit of others. I know that um Dr. for verone and I were at bargaining the other day and just so everyone knows out in the public and everywhere that it wasn't a reason for others not being there they didn't want to go that we were the
elected and chosen members of the school committee I just want people in the viewing audience to know that it's not they didn't chose choose not to go but we were the chosen representatives so just so that's known for everyone that it's we were there representing um the committee I know everyone probably knows that here but just so people know no one
was derelictked on duties at all or Thank you. Next, Jacob Bilski. Name and address, please. Hi, my name is Jacob Bilski. I live at 142 Nassau Drive in Springfield. This is my second year teaching ethnic studies
and civics here in Holio. Um, our bargaining unit is united around our wish to negotiate with you, the elected representatives of Holio, for a contract that retains teachers and guarantees that your kids are being educated by experts that know the community. 100% of HDA's bargaining unit at PEC, the new
Beck signed onto our petition to resend the mediation filing. It was one of the easiest asks I have made of our members in my time as a building action team organizer with the HTA. The status quo of 20 to 30% turnover at HPS is failing our kids and failing
Holio. I'm reminded of a conversation that I had with one of my eighth graders last year. She had just taken a career aptitude test in STEM class and was excited to report to me that one of her options was social to be a social studies teacher. When I congratulated her and said that Holio could use teachers that grew up here and knew the
town, she laughed. Her plans were very clear to get out of Dodge as she as soon as she graduated. To be blunt, students can tell that their teachers are uncertain about their futures in Holio. As a secondyear teacher, I'm constantly disheartened that when I speak to teachers that have been in this district
since before receiverhip, they tell me to get out while I'm still young and they regret staying so long because the district has let them down time and again. I like Holio. It reminds me of my hometown, Midifford, Maine. Uh during my lunch break, I order from local
restaurants. On my way home, I run my errands at the mall. When I want to spend a night on the town, I skip the MGM and invite my Springfield friends up to Holio. If I were confident in a good contract, I would even move here and send my future kids to school here. A good contract means schools that make kids proud of their city, that make them
want to teach here rather than staying just because they don't have a choice. You, the school, you, the school committee, do have a choice. You can either maintain the status quo that is not viable through mediation or invest in your children, economy, and future by investing in your educators. As a civics
teacher, I hope you make the democratic choice and choose to bargain with your employees and constituents. Thank you. You next, Bob Williams. Hello, my name is Robert Williams. I live at 8 Maple Street in South Hadley.
Um I am a world history teacher. I teach 11 to 12th grade at Hoyok High School North Campus. I'm here today with colleagues to inform the school committee that the charge that HTA is unwilling to bargain or that negotiations are an impass is
ridiculous, absurd, and false. We have been told repeatedly by members of this committee, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education before them and its representatives that they want to work in consultation and collaboratively with us. The actions of your representatives have demonstrated the
opposite. Whether your intention or not, our bargaining team has broken their backs to develop cost-effective and sustainable proposals that would ensure number one better working and learning conditions in our schools. Number two, a pathway to bring Holio out of the meer
of receiverhip that we have suffered for the last 10 years. And three, a viable means to staunch the bleeding of a 30% staff turnover rate, which we have suffered every year on average for the past 10 years. You have a choice before you, and it's a very simple binary
choice. come to the table and actually bring viable proposals that seek to work with us and build off of the work that we have already done or sit on moving stuck in receiverhip stuck in mediation. Few moments in life provide us with such clarity. So I intreat upon you to grab
opportunity by the fourlock. We have continued to sit at the table with a willingness to cooperate and show respect. We are not willing to be bullied and disrespected by paid representatives. We will not sacrifice our students and our colleagues futures for anyone. They sit in front of us and
beside us every day and we will fight for them. We are ready to continue to bargain in good faith. That is why we are here and here is where we will remain until we are heard and worked with. Thank you. Next, Maria Perez.
Hi, my name is Maria Perez. I teach dual language at Kelly Oh, Maria Perez, 195 Farnum Drive, Holio, Mass. Um, I'm Maria Perez. I teach dual language at Kelly School. I serve on the HTA bargaining team. So on behalf of the bargaining
team, the silent reps, and all of the educators across the district, we are respectfully urging you to reconsider your decision to declare an impass and file for mediation in our negotiations. We do not believe that we have reached a true impass. We remain committed to the
bargaining process and are fully prepared to continue meaningful negotiations. Our refusal to accept the current offer should not be interpreted as a refusal to negotiate. Rather, it reflects our deep commitment to securing a fair and sustainable contract, one
that supports the retention of qualified educators and most importantly meets the diverse needs of our students. We are not walking away from the table. We are asking to stay at the table to work collaborative collaboratively toward a resolution that reflects the
shared values and priorities of the district. That is why the bargaining team has offered every Thursday between now and December to bargain. We are ready to do the hard work of negotiating. Are you? Next, we have Alexis.
Hi, I'm Alex Espedz. I use they them pronouns and I live on 13 Fail Avenue. Could I kindly ask folks to, like I do in my classroom, put your Chromebooks or laptops 45 degrees and track me as I'm speaking. Thank you. All right. On
August 29th, the HA was notified by your lawyer, Dave Connelly, about a DLR petition for mediation on your behalf. We do not need any more interference from the state here in Holio public schools. The decision moves us further from local control, not closer to it. As
many of my colleagues have already stated, the union remains ready to bargain. We've waited seven months to even see the elected school committee members at the bargaining table. It is disappointing that you've misconred rejecting the package proposal as a failure or refusal to bargain. Myself,
the HCA bargaining team, and over 100 silent representatives reviewed the content of this proposal. It was truly a continuation of aspects of receiverhip that has led to the loss of many great educators in this city. We fundamentally could not accept an all or nothing proposal that falls far below what Holio
educators, students, and families need. We intend to continue bargaining in good faith with you all. And we remain committed to negotiating a contract that reflects the priorities of our students, their families, and 500 plus unit members. This includes fair compensation that addresses the inequities created by
receiverhip, a culture of respect, shared decision-making and educator autonomy, a school day and year in line with our surrounding communities, modern and humane parental leave for our staff, equitable case load ratios and class cap sizes, and a district-wide oversight committee on health and safety to keep
educators and students safe in our schools. We work tirelessly to support Holio students. We've called on each of you over and over again, not merely to hear us, but to treat us as professionals and equals to negotiate a fair contract. Show that you care and are willing. Don't let the state
continue to intervene. Come back to the table and bargain. And we're also delivering a petition. 95% of our unit sign this petition. And we're dropping off a letter stating we are not at impass. Thank you. That is the end of our public comment.
Moving forward, superintendence report. Thank you, Dr. Rivera Cologne. Um, so two items on the superintendent's report. uh one of them um in you know we're going through every single school committee policy and creating a district
action plan um to make sure that you know uh the the district is in line with all of the policies and one of the policies that we came across is uh policy CE which states that the superintendent may establish such permanent or temporary councils,
cabinets and committees as he she deems necessary for assuring staff participation and decision-making. for implementing policies and regulations and for the improvement of the educational program. The membership composition and responsibilities of
admin councils, cabinets, and committees will be defined by the superintendent and may be changed at his or her discretion. However, the school committee wishes to be kept informed of the establishment of and dissolution of these groups as well
as their membership and their purpose. So you can see in your packet that I have included uh a draft of uh what we are thinking for um uh committees, councils and work groups. Uh one of them
has you know we have had in place for a while which is the teacher advisory group. We recently uh surveyed uh all the former teacher adviserss that were a part of the teacher advisory group to just get some feedback on the process and you know how often we should be
meeting and we we hope to get that group up and running. Um in the past you know when we had resoning they they were very instrumental in providing you know uh input. Um, oftent times whenever we have a topic that we're going to be
discussing, uh, each of the members of of TAG end up reaching out to their colleagues in their buildings and getting feedback from them and reporting that back out to, uh, the teacher advisory group. In the past, we had met once a month. Um, but we're we're soliciting feedback from from, uh,
former members to see if that's, you know, if that's the right frequency. So, um, we plan on still continuing to have that group. Um, and the frequency, uh, will be TBD. We have the parent advisor, the district
parent advisory council, uh, that usually meets on a monthly basis. Um, and, um, Steven Moguel usually is the one helping facilitate that along with, uh, Stephanie Garcia and, uh, a parent lead that had been
identified. Um and most of the time those meetings are uh are are remote. We do have a student cabinet/ student advisory council. Um in the past we would meet online and last year we started meeting in person here at dean
which has been great. um the culinary department uh prepared a meal so that when we're bringing um topics to the student advisory council. We usually mix up middle school and high school students together so that they can sit with each other and talk to each other
and talk about what high school is like to some of the middle schoolers. And um the in-person here at Dean has has been working out really well and I look forward to continuing with the student advisory council this year. Uh we want to put a uh a
competency determination work group that and it it it's already met. Um as you are aware the last meeting um we have to put uh we're targeting a deadline of October 31st to create um a draft of the competency determination policy that we
have to submit to the state. I know we we don't have to submit it to the state until December 31st, but we're shooting to get all of that work done by October 31st. Um, and Rebecca Thompson, our executive director of academics, is leading that group. She's already met
with uh many of our high school teachers and counselors and administrators to uh design. I had an opportunity to review some of what was put together, and I know that this is going to be talked about at um our September 29th uh leadership and accountability meeting.
We also want to put together an HPS uh grading policy group um also led by uh Rebecca Thompson. We have the district literacy leadership team built and prism team um that is going to be meeting monthly starting in
September and engaging in action planning and execution of our prism grant work um in support of early literacy. We want to put a music programming work group together to create alignment and equity and access in HPS music programming vertically and
horizontally to ensure enriching musical experiences that build skill and the love for music. And that is also something that um our H uh Rebecca's working with our HPS music department head.
Um this one is tentative um but we definitely want to get it get it going. We have uh we're looking to put together an artificial intellig artificial intelligence policy working group uh to develop guidance for the use of AI for
both staff and students. Um Rebecca is going to be leading that and uh she's getting support uh from another member of our team uh Erin Lynville to just get this going and research best practice and research other policies.
And uh we have had the transportation task force as many of you are aware. Um I think transportation costs are a point of contention in the budget with city uh with city council specifically because of the rising costs and um the fact that
those costs are outside of net school spending and and really fall on the city to fund. So, uh, whenever we, you know, we have had this task force for several years, but whenever an issue comes up and we want to look into it, that that committee, um, gets together and usually
meets a few times a year just to provide some recommendations on how to be more efficient in uh, transportation. And then there's uh, the other three are just district man uh, district mandated ones. uh the LPAC um English lang
English learners parent advisory council, the CPAC special education parent advisory council and the career technical education advisory council. So that was that uh part of the agenda and then the other part of my report was
just a quick update on back to Miss Wilson. So, you used a couple acronyms during that. Um, Prism, this prison team, what is the prison team? Who was on that? Prism is Prism is a grant that we got
from the state. Um, and that grant initially we got some startup funding, but ultimately what they're going to what that group is going to be doing is taking a look at early literacy and helping us design a literacy plan for
the next 3 to 5 years. Thank you, Mr. Willahhead. Real quick, thank you. Thank you for the list. Um, some of the task force they kind of they're they're tenative sometimes they're um they come and go.
Maybe each year if you could provide the committee with a with a list of each task force um just to kind of keep us updated. You know, some of them might go away and then maybe um the names of the
of the teachers or the principles that are that are on them. those might change each year too depending on their their their service. That'd be great. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for that. And that's what today was about is just providing a list of what we're thinking for this year.
And the policy does state that uh you know if if we were ever to dissolve one of these task force or anything like that that you know the the school committee wants to be kept a breast. So I will make sure that we incorporate that into our um just daily operations.
So, if we're we're if we're done with a task force and you know, normally what happens is the you know, a written report, you know, here's what we heard, here's a recommendation. Um, but if we're eliminating one of those, uh, work groups, we, you know, I plan on bringing
that back to the committee to make you aware. Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it. Miss Wilson, I I don't think this uh policy has come before you yet, but there is a recommendation um that each school have a student uh group um working and
speaking on behalf of their school with their principal. So, I just wanted to let you know that that's possibly coming down the pike. Student advisory group for each school. So, I just want to let you know principles. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Uh, and I just wanted to provide a quick update on the start of the school year. I'm I'm going to ask Jackie to come up as well for a portion of this. Um, basically, we had a a really strong start the, you know, the last couple of
weeks. Um, starting the school year is is usually so much work goes into planning and then, you know, operationally getting our our facilities ready. We had a ton of projects that we were doing. Um, we had a brand new school that we were building. So, I I
really want to shout out the, you know, the the facilities team and all the work and everybody involved with launching that team and the and the PC crew specifically. They did a lot of work um in making sure that that building was ready. Um, you know, this year we we've
had, you know, a really strong start. I think every year we, you know, one of the things that our team does is uh maybe a few weeks to a month right after the first day of school, we get together and we start talking about like what are
those issues that we came up you know that that kind of prevented uh you know prevented us from having a stronger start. like we ask each department head to go and like keep that in mind and document like what are those issues that
we can do better next year. Um and we plan on doing that again uh next week. Uh but you know we did this was one of the strongest starts that we've had. Um the biggest on the operational side the biggest issue that we had was we're
implementing a brand new student information system. So we're moving away from school brains and moving to power school and uh our student information system feeds so many so many of the systems that allow teachers to teach and
students to learn. You know there's so many apps that are linked to that. Um all of our contact uh uh contact information is in there. We do attendance there. Our referral system is there. So um we had a key member of that group um
resign you know a few weeks before school started and and that person was you know bearing bearing a lot of the workload on making sure that this implementation was strong. So, uh, the rest of the team, which is a team of two, um, along with, you know, our
counselors and our front office staff had to really pick up and and, you know, um, it was a little rocky. You know, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. It was definitely, uh, hard. You know, we wanted to work really hard to make sure that when kids got there on the first
day that they had the uh, the materials that they needed and the apps that they needed. and there were some complications there, but the team has been working really hard to make sure um that those things are mapped over and everything's working. So, we we're in a good place right now. We were the the
last hiccup that we ran into was the iPads weren't working with some of our assessments and it was because of the older generation of iPads um you know just just don't work. You got to use a newer generation. But the team continues to work hard. um when you do an imple
implementation that big of a system it it you know it's going to there's some growing pains but we strongly believe that this system is a a far better system than school brains and that once we're past this implementation phase it's going to be you know beneficial to
the district Miss Wilson since this is a significant shift and you're talking about all these applications what type of training was provided to teachers pared educators anyone who would need to be able to access that information.
Yeah. So, we had some, you know, we had some some training was drop in and, you know, provide the training by Jenna Malave and some we created how-tos and tutorials on how to uh do different
things. Um I think that that was probably one of the things that you know um so the the team that we had in place that you know the person that we had that was actually working on all the
technical aspects of it was going to be doing that and then the other two individuals were was going to provide like in-person training during those PD weeks. We had to pivot because we needed those people to actually do the technical pieces so that day one when a
kid sits down and uh is ready to learn, they had access to all the tools and when the teacher needed um all of the the applications that they need to teach that they had those in front of them. So, we had to pivot and and create some how-tos, but we still plan on providing
more in uh more opportunities for in-person training from our data team. So, um I I to be honest with you, um I find it disheartening that um educators have to fight their way probably through a new system trying
to understand it. Um and that there should have been um a backup training plan um for those uh professional learning days because that would have been the ideal time in order to have this. So our educators are prepared to
show their students how to use this. So I I am a little disappointed. Yeah. As am I. You know, this wasn't something that was planned or in our control. We had a person leave suddenly like the day of and we had to pivot. Um
but point taken and that's not how we would deliver professional learning around a system like this. Um had that not happened we would have uh the professional learning would have been a little different Mr. So, what supports have been set up now like
building by building for this because obviously there's going to be concerns like what I mean so we understand that there was concerns with implementation and we're probably still even in implementation and I know that you had mentioned there were concerns with accurate phone numbers and all sorts of
different things with it. So now what is the day-to-day support? Have we built up like subject matter experts for schools that we're using as like um to assist like what is the day-to-day if I have a problem? What do I do? And how am I
going to be supported for like grades are going in? We're going to be I mean granted I know we've only been in school for two weeks but it's going to be the end of the first marking period before we know it. So yeah, our plan is to uh you know, our data team um right now it's two, it's
Jenny Malave uh who's leading it. Um when we get to a point where uh there are you know if there's a if if grading is coming up as an example like you know uh we will be providing opportunities to uh drop in and provide you know some
some training but I think the the biggest issue right now is if there are any questions that people have that are preventing them from being able to interact with that system that they uh email our uh data team. We have an email that has gone out to um all of our
principles and one of the things that I'm having Jenny do is provide regular updates on here's the last update where we were and what some of the issues are and here's what we're working on and then moving on um and you know providing a regular update. So the last update
that we had went out uh last Friday and we're going to continue to do that. But if anybody's receiving if if anybody's having any issues with anything there's you know that we asked them to reach out to the data team. Um we did part before
we implemented powers school we had uh you know a couple of our counselors go to the powers school training specifically around developing schedules because that's where schedules are built out. So they did, you know, there is per se an expert um that has supported, you
know, implementing the schedule at the high school and then um Jenny has met with each of the DMOs and people at uh different people at the school to provide them with with training. So like you know our front office staff, they
take attendance and there you know there was a training held on how to do that. Mr. Shan. So I would just encourage and and I understand that there was loss in data team. I will also say that a lift like this especially having been through things like this in previous employment
is not easy. Um but and I would also say that people who are probably highly effective on data teams maybe aren't the best facilitators either for new trainings. And that's nothing against the people that we have. I just mean in general. I've worked with a lot of people who are data team people that are not facilitators. Like we all find our
path and calling of what we're good at. and I would be a complete failure working on a data team um or in a data department. But if we can build some capacity and it would even possibly be with either central office staff and station people in schools for a period
of time because it's not fair to I mean I understand that clerks go through the trainings and principles go through the trainings and the deans go through the trainings and all this but like teachers may need help if they knew that every Tuesday there's going to be someone just sitting here in the library or in a teacher room or somewhere from um 10 to
2 that they could stop in and Hey, I have these questions. It might you come up with some of those problems and if you try calling someone, you can't get a hold of them. But knowing that there's going to be someone stationed once a week in each building or something, it might just help some of that. And it it's some of the problems could be
navigating the system, but some of it could also be the fear of the unknown. And I think that we deal a lot with that with things and even supports for parents that were trying to navigate through it. And I know that parents had some concerns and just learning the the new mechanisms. And I just think if we can if we can just put someone there. I
mean it's you would go and talk to someone before you maybe would call on the phone or something and it would just build support and maybe we look at in the future like building some building a subject matter expert on these. It might be a teacher that's willing to take on um additional
compensation, additional responsibilities. Like I'm not saying a volunteer, but just someone that could help with other teachers. I just these tech things can be very challenging and this isn't going to be solved in a year. Like let's just own that. Like it's for a teacher to be fully comfortable with
it. It's going to take a couple years to get the full functionality of these programs. And um I will say I've worked with multiple student record programs. I think once we get through the growing pains of power school, I believe it will be a better program for our district and for our students and for our teachers.
Like I've I've seen it be very successful. It's just getting there and getting from point A to B. Miss Bega, um, did any of the training that you guys had prior to starting school have to do with teaching students themselves
how to get into the power school? Because I know that that was a problem schoolwide from freshman to seniors. I didn't know how to get in and I still haven't gotten into it. And say somebody wants to check their grades, they're not able to because they don't know how. And the only advice I've been given is to
contact support, but I don't know how to do that either. Yeah. Yeah. I think that we're at a place right now where we're we definitely can do exact. That was the initial plan, Mr. Shien. Um was to have uh somebody to both people positioned at
during PD week um and you know provide that training. And I'm hearing now that we you know we could we we need to do a better job with e educating some of the students on how to access that. So um now that we have state reporting done which we submitted uh last week, we had
to get an extension to the deadline because of this you know this staffing challenge that we faced and the the huge part of the implementation was basically making sure that all these applications were working and people had accesses
over. we can, you know, we can divert the team's focus on on better, higher quality training and making sure that we we um we provide those opportunities. Mr. Sheen, so if a student has challenges with it,
are they calling the same and reaching out to the same support as an educator? And how are they doing that during the day? Yeah, I mean, I'm going to have to get back to you on the student piece. This is the first time I'm hearing that students were having a issues accessing
it. I know we had issues with new enrollments, but I I I wasn't aware that we had issues with um all students. So, I'm going to go back to the team and and figure out what that issue is about. And and it's not even just like I I mean, it's not just having trouble accessing,
it's just the complete non-using it. I mean that's it's so that's is we've and I mean I've people who have been here for a while have known that grading and putting grades in student information things has been my biggest pet peeve for
the past 16 years. um that we had these tools that some teachers were using it, some weren't. But now we have students that can't even access grades and see in real time and now we have educators who are now putting everything in and it's there's just a complete disconnect and we can't have I mean first of all we
don't want students using their cell phones during the workday or during the school day. So workday I mean whatever it so whatever mechanism whether it's a ticketing system or whatever it is I I don't know if if that's going to support that and that's more reason why we just
need someone people in buildings and it might be building capacity out with your staff at central office and saying okay you're not going to be doing this for a few days you're going to be sitting here and helping this stuff but like every student where the expectation is for students to be able to enter at whatever grade level
we're expecting that We need 100%. We need whether it's taking a few minutes out of the day and saying like are you able to log into this and help someone through it like we need 100% of students to access it. I know we can pull at least every high school student needs
to be able to know how to access that. We're giving them the tools. I will add that at this point there's some lessons to be learned. Oh yeah. Right. This was a huge overhaul
put in the shoulders of a single person. That's not a good plan because when a person can't do something then nobody's there to be able to fulfill that. So that's important. So there's some lessons here. We didn't step with the
right foot on this. We need to be able to all work together to fix it. But there has to be an actual plan that includes people in buildings. That includes every person who has to access the system to had one a person they can
contact if they have issues and also a way for tracking and making sure that everybody has access and that they can do it appropriately so that way we can move forward and continue with this because I do agree with Mr. machine.
This is a very powerful system that we can use. But at this point, if we can't get access to it, if we can't use the information that we need is useless. So, we want to make sure that everybody has access and that we have a plan moving
forward. But, I'm confident that Mr. Sto is going to make that happen. Yeah. And I I just I want to like I don't want people to walk away from this thinking that one person was running the whole thing because it was a combination of a team of three plus all of our
family engagement team you know for some of it plus main office staff for some of it plus counselors for some of it. So the system is used for so many different things that you know the expert in you know not everybody gets trained on how to schedule in power school you know
there's probably one person in the building that is going to be doing that so those people received training like our family engagement received training on like how to enter attendance. Um some of our counselors received support in
how to enter referrals and things things like that. So each piece is different but we do have uh we do have a building you know a stipended building tech lead at every single school and you know the the data team has used those people to
be subject matter experts and you know on the ground for you know things that you know not things like you know my my screen went blue and I need a new computer right that person but you know things that can be um you know supported
at the building level. The tech leads are usually usually the ones that um that do that. So, we use them in that way. But, you know, there there is, you know, I I will be going back to the team and figuring out, you know, what what training we did provide and what's still outstanding. And I want to learn more
about Mrs. Vega's um at, you know, trouble accessing it and, you know, whether or not that's, you know, schoolwide or is that an isolated incident or what. So, um, thank you for all the feedback on that.
Miss Lefave, what about our other student rep? How you doing? Hello. How's it going? I'm doing Are you able to get on to that app? And no, I didn't really uh know what this was. I I didn't get told the point.
I never logged in. Thank you so much. Yeah, there's your response. is none isolated to one school at least. Miss Vega, go ahead. And if I can offer some more insight, um I know I was made aware of this before
school started that the things were changing because I went to go log into my school brains to see my schedule and I had realized that it was still from the 10th grade. So was confused. I had emailed my principal and she told me that we were changing. And when I tried to log in through the school Chromebook,
it it told me that it was blocked, that it was like it was a website that wasn't allowed to be used. And then I tried it on my phone and it also said that I'm not allowed to use it under this username. So it it seems like it's an issue of like security like if it you're not allowed
to because of something set in place. Mr. So, I'm just curious, how is this impacting like calls about attendance and stuff for students? Because it seems like if I mean, do parents have access
and have parents been trained on how to access all this so they can the next phase of the project was to implement that parent portal app? Um, we we haven't implemented that yet. Like that's going to be work that's happening in September and October.
Okay. Um, uh, about like open house that parents will have. Is that like a goal? Yeah, we're going to do something for to make sure that parents are aware how to use the app and what what do you use it for? So, you know, um our open house is,
you know, the the open houses that are scheduled this month. Like I said, we haven't rolled out that app. That's we've we've always intended of including that app um as part of the proc the work the work was going to be happening in September, October. So once that done,
we'll we'll roll out, you know, what the um you know, how do you use that app and and what do you use it for? So just in terms of attendance and our attendance goals. So like obviously I'm sure P school is the driver that makes the phone call, right? I mean it's not just someone calling like we have a
system for that. So P school is that happening? Yeah, Thrillshare now, you know, we were up to the wire like getting that to function before the first day of school, but Thrillshare is the application that calls and emails
and sends texts and that is linked right now to P school. Okay. And it's not communicating to people like to check P school, is it? No, usually they get a they get a text, an email, and a phone call or not a phone call, but um you know, for
once we get to where family engagement coordinators are focused on a cohort of chronically absent students, there'll be follow-up calls. And like I said, I really hate to harp on this, but I just have to say again, we have trained our students so well to be checking their grades and to be judicious with checking
that and seeing like, okay, I took a test and the grade got posted and I can see what my grade's going to be in the first quarter, second, like, we just can't lose that. And we can't lose that because they don't have access. So, it's just like we and it's just such the world we're in. Like, you can access your college grades, you can access your
work schedule, you can like they just need to be able to access their grades. And probably I'm assuming parent or teachers can put in there if a student's absent they can put if there's missed work. Maybe I I'm assuming that they students can see like okay I'm missing these two assignments let me engage with my teacher on this. And so we're we're
just creating more barriers for automatic barriers for our students because I'm sure the app would give a you could get an alert saying Devin Sheen is missing his ELA assignment and it would tell me when to get it in or you're approaching a deadline or whatever. Like we just in such an
instant world that we've trained people and where everything is on their phone, we just we can't lose that because it's going to be so hard to to rewire that to to want to get those alerts and to that instantaneous nature of it. Miss Lefave,
I'm sorry. So, really quickly, so you sent out an email back on July 10th. Um, that powers school was officially live. Now, it was supposed to also send out the invitations for the synchronous trainings and live trainings.
People received those. I mean, yeah, there was. Yeah, there was some trainings that already happened, but there was specific training that we wanted to provide. We wanted to drop in during PD and and be there to support um during PD week. Those we had to pivot a little bit
because we just needed the team to focus on things working day one. Making sure that you know Thrillshare is connected so that we can call families um and and do all calls and making sure that the schedules were done. making sure that
when students needed to access some of their applications through Clevver that that was synced and everything was all set. So we had to pivot a little bit but our focus is going to shift towards providing better support and training. So I heard that loud and clear from
everybody. We definitely got to um you know uh divert some of our attention to those efforts and I would ask that this in one month from now an update on where we're at. Yeah. Okay, happy to provide that.
Um, I think that that captures the, you know, we spent a lot of time on Power School. That has been the biggest pain point to a successful launch of the start of the school year. As you all are aware, we had a micro burst pass through
Holio over the weekend and you know uh we had our facilities team go to every single school just to make sure that um the facilities were were in good standing. We had uh a little bit of flooding in the basement at METAF and we
had a a down tree at Ian White that was subsequently cleaned up. And then we ran into issues um today at Holio High School that you know that the custodian never really reported to us and it it had to do with internet
and phone. It was a power issue. So one of the switches ended up getting fried and um things are up and running. The last update that I got was like that we still had to finish half of the phones, but internet was back up and we we were able to fix that. So, shout out to um
everybody that came in on the weekend to make sure the buildings were ready for Monday. Um and like I said, uh next week our cab our our team is going to sit down and just document like some lessons learned. A lot of it, a lot of the lessons learned are going to be around
our student information system and scheduling and never doing an implementation like this again, like right before the start of the school year. Um, and then on the instruction level, I just wanted uh Jackie to provide, you know, a f, you know, what
is our focus for the month uh with the principal playbook? Um, the first 30 days are are completely focused on setting up your rituals and routines and building relationships. And in my work with school leaders and helping them to prioritize their work,
we break out the year in in what I call the arc of the year. What are we doing in focusing on in quarter 1? What are we focusing on in quarter two? What are we focusing on in quarter three? In quarter one, um, it's all about systems and
structures. So, there's a playbook for principles every week. It's paper. They collect data with their team. And it's like, hm, this week, we're going to look at uh the lunchroom, how's the food coming out of the cafeteria, how are the kids, is the are the routines clear, is
it staffed enough? Next week, arrival might be on their list. How's it going at arrival? Are cars coming in? What about walkers? What about buses? What how is that system running? Also, it's about looking at classrooms and supporting teachers who may need some
support around giving clear directions, ensuring there's routines for passing out papers, getting papers, how do you sharpen your pencil, how do I let you know that I need to go to the bathroom. There are many educators that still need support on that. And so this playbook
allows leaders to visit classrooms, identify if there's a need for support, and then provide that support, whether it's a practice clinic with just a small group of teachers or maybe it's something that they do on a Wednesday PD. But each week there are different
indicators for leaders and their leader team to look at. They look at the data and then they plan some professional learning for all or some of their teachers within the next week or so. Thank you, Miss Wilson.
So, I'm just following up on the aroma in the hallway. Um, there was a uh a distinct um foul smell the last time we met and it's still there. And um I don't know how much it goes through the school, but it would definitely be an
impairment for me if I was an educator or a uh student here if that smell was in my classroom. So, um I would really like to have that uh resolved as soon as possible. I'll have somebody look into it, but there have been no reports of that foul
smell anywhere else, but I did I did smell it as well. So, All right, moving on. New business, budget, transfer, and reports. I have a motion that the school committee accept gifts and grants received.
Second. Motion moved by Mr. Willy, seconded by Miss Wilson. Discussion. Deon's on. We haven't voted yet. She's just letting me Thank you. Thank you all. So, I'm just
gonna let it miss Wilson. My um computer died, so I do not have access to it. So, I think from now on I'll be requesting uh paper copies. Sounds good.
Take USBC. I have a charger. My my computer is completely It won't even open. I don't know what's wrong with it. It just died. Oh, thank you. So, Miss Lef, would you would you like to sit next to
me? I don't bite. You can. Miss Wilson can sit here. I'd love to. Thank you. I'd like to have a friend. Miss Felician, are there any questions
on Zoom? Any questions on Zoom about this discussion? Miss Wilson, I know I'm going to hide it. Um my question is uh I would just like to better understand these creative experiences
for the $5,000 for one two three four four schools. Mr. Soda. Yeah. That's for uh Morgan Ian White Lawrence and McMahon and they each collaborated with the Hitchcock Center for Environment to provide a year-long outdoor science program for grades one
and two. So that's what that grant is for. Any further discussion? Seeing none, roll call, please. Starting with Miss Lefave. Yes, Miss Leave.
Missy Williams. We're gonna stay in order. Mr. Yes. Mr. Willahan. Yes. Miss Wilson. Yes. Dr. Veron. Yes. And Mr. Sheen. I think you might be on mute. Ah.
All right. Moving on. Warrant approval report. May I have a motion that the school committee vote to accept the report of warrants approve as listed above? So moved. Miss Wilson, seconded by Mr. Willing. Discussion.
Seeing none. Roll call vote. Miss Feliciano. Yes. Yes. Yes. Dr. Colon. Yes. Moving on. Updates of committees. Policy and governance subcommittee. Miss
Wilson, we have a meeting on Wednesday um at starting at 5:30. Um we're going to finish section K and uh moving on to the end section L. Um uh we are going to
revisit um I I I don't have it in front of me because it's again in my links. Um we're going to revisit one of our policies that we've already reviewed for chronic absenteeism.
um that um we had um a me former member of the school committee um who is part of the development of that program um who believes very strongly who um and we're going to review that um once
again. So Wednesday 5:30 down at Suffach Street. Thank you. Finance and Operations Subcommittee, Mr. Willahan. Thank you. Um, planning on holding a
meeting this Thursday, September um, 11th at 5:30 at 57 Suffach Street. I think the topics are going to be a lot of the items that were referred to the committee from our last meeting. Thank
you. Thank you. Join city council school committee. Mr. Willingham. No. Thank you. Local control subcommittee. Miss Lef leadership accountability and
measurement. Mr. Sheen, the goals. Yeah. Thank you. Ongoing business, superintendent search update. There was a request for information from Oh, and we'll have Miss Lefave excuse
herself from the quick update. And I guess I should also ask Mr. Sheen. Yeah, sounds good. For the superintendent search update, uh Mr. Mangano helped us
sending a request for information from four firms with expertise in superintendent searches of firms that have been used for searches in comparable districts around our area. And we requested that
um we didn't necessarily have the dollar amounts for the information so that way the school committee can have more flexibility at looking through the information about what the firms can offer before actually requesting the quotes
because we are required to pick the lowest quote. So um Miss Wilson, you will be receiving the um the information from um the four firms so that you can discuss with the
subcommittee. Nope. Our search for evaluation. Yeah. Yep. So you will have information for planning your first meeting. Yay. When might I expect that information so I can work?
Can I send it to you right now? Oh, good. So, I can work on that. Thank you. Yep. And um can we just uh reiterate who else is part of that committee? That would be Mr. Isasa. Um Miss Laura Martinez.
Wonderful. Thank you. You right. And then we have the final draft of the student and family handbook as well as the summaries changes. We'll call back Miss Lefave and Mr. Sheen. Yeah, this has been a recurring item. Uh
we've incorporated all of the feedback that we have received. The last time um we were here uh we had uh Mr. Makavoy talk about some of the language that was in question and there a decision was
made to delete it. So there's no updates outside of of those. So, we're hopefully looking to get final approval from the school committee on both the uh student and family handbook and the final draft of the employee handbook. Um, with the
employee handbook, there's one small section where we just need to accept the the changes uh that the attorney had, but once we have those, we can send them to translation and disseminate them um as needed.
Thank you. No discussion on this. I think we've discussed this enough, Miss Wilson. Never. No, I was just going to say that I think the summary of the changes is is very helpful to be able to see where those changes were.
Thank you so much. Final draft of of employee handbook. Same thing. Yep. All right. referral of policies. We have AC non-discrimination policy including
harassment and retaliation. That's good. Let's take a step back. Now that we have both final drafts of both student family handbook and employee handbook, may I have a motion for approval of both handbooks?
Motion by Mr. Isasa, seconded by Miss Williams. Discussion. I would have appreciated if it was on the agenda that we were going to be asked to vote on this this evening. Duly noted, Miss Wilson. Any further discussion?
All right. Roll call vote, please. Miss Feliciano. Yes. Miss Tensey Williams. See? Yes. Yes. Yes. That was a yes.
All right. Policies to refer. So we have AC non-discrimination policy including harassment and retaliation. ACA non-discrimination on the basis of sex and ACAB sexual harassment. May I have a motion that the school committee vote to refer above policies to the policy and
governance subcommittee before review? Moved by Miss Afave, seconded by Mr. Isasa. Discussion. Miss Wilson. So I'm just wondering um what is uh caused uh these policies to be sent uh to the pol sent to the policies for
review? if there was any particular action that was done that the policy committee should be aware of. Subcommittee, excuse me, miss I thought we already did that. Um well, I thought we already did the first
reading and then it was supposed to be posted any um recommendations and it comes back for a second and final reading. But are did something happen? Because we initially sent it back because there were um specific
individuals that needed to be named as to who's going to be in charge. Uh but I thought that was done and it came back with those names and it already came to the committee at some point this year. I just can't
remember when. How does that sound? Miss Feliciano, do you have any information for clarification on this for the AC non-discrimination and anything else? It would be the those three because those were the ones that needed a name. They were they were read in back in um
3625, right? And then they didn't come back for a second reading after the mistakes. I there was an email to bring it back on 811 turn back to the Fool's Committee to refer it back because it had updated language. It got reverted back to its original.
Miss Lefave, I'm a bit confused. Reverted back to the original. I thought the names were already put in there or But it never came it never came back. It hasn't come back since you guys asked for the request to get the names changed
and it has not been in subcommittee either for updates. Miss Wilson. So my understanding legal looked at this and they're making recommendations. Is that why it's coming back to the policy subcommittee? Yes.
Okay. So there's recommendations from legal that will be forwarded to myself as the chair of that subcommittee. Then I can share that with the group. That's right. Wonderful. And so it's not going to be on the agenda for, you know, Wednesday. Yeah.
But it will be coming soon. Yeah, sounds good. Thank you. Any further discussion, Miss Lefave? Yeah. And I'm going to tell you why it's very confusing. Let me look at those letters again. It was AC. Give me the letters again. It's
ACA, ACA, and ACA. I have ACA, ACAB, AC. I don't have I was keeping track myself and the amount of times that we were doing second and final readings. We did do second and final readings on
April 28th of 2025. And the effective date when we said it would be for 71. So now did something else change after that that there is a change to the policy because then we'd have Okay, so
she reviews it, it comes back, it's got to be posted again, but if it's the same language, why are we sending it back? Yeah, this is this was language that um based on the version that was reviewed in subcommittee, the attorney had not
seen that language and he had some recommended changes. So since then he had he has had an opportunity uh Matt Makavoy to review all of that language and make the necessary changes based on
updated um you know based on his legal opinion. So, we were hoping to get this referred back to the subcommittee so that we can have Nica Smith and Attorney Makavoy speak to any of the changes that are being recommended to the policies.
Miss Faith, and I think that when that happens, maybe if you just give us like so that we know why she why policy is going to go back to square one.
Um because all I see in here is just additions of legal references and cross references. I don't see like change. No, but I mean if that is the recommended change is just the addition
of legal and cross references or something to attach to that at least they know what what it is. That's Yeah, we were hoping to have the discussion in subcommittee. Um, I sent an email on August 19th that
uh that um a few of our policies had been reviewed by legal and uh that there were some recommendations to comply with some of the latest Title 9 changes. Um, so and then you know I I just named like
I'm seeking seeking direction as to where it goes from here now that the attorney has reviewed it and has recommended changes which led to it getting added here to then get referred to the policy subcommittee. If there's a different way like if this should have
just went right to the policy subcommittee um then um I'm happy to do that. But you know I was that that's how this happened. Miss, no, I mean that that's fine. It's the it's the right step. It's just it got us
all confused because there was no reasoning behind it. To me, when I saw it, I'm like, why are we starting all over again? You know what I mean? Without a backing to it as to really understanding. Yes. All right. Now that we have clarified
our questions, seeing no further discussion, roll call, please. Yes. Mr. Faith, yes. Miss Tensey Williams, C. Mr. Zaza, yes. Mr. Wellan, yes. Wilson,
yes. Dr. Cologne, yes. Mr. Sheen, right? Moving on, policy for discussion, ADF, Holic school district wellness policies and BBA school committee powers and duties.
Miss Wilson. So on the first um so there was mostly just updates about changing children to students um for ADF the district's wellness policies and though so this is um what we used there is one significant change and there was uh
significant conversation around this um I believe it started um when we took information in from Ian White families and you know maybe two years ago it feels like Um so one recommendation is
um under daily recess all elementary school students should have and we're saying at least 20 minutes of supervised recess each day. Administration or staff cannot take away recess as a form of
consequence or punishment. So that was the significant change um within this policy. Miss Lef. So it's a recommendation for a first read and refer to the interim superintendent to post for
recommendation for comments, recommendations. Okay, that's my motion. Motion to refer to the interim superintendent to post for two weeks for public comment and viewing.
Second. Seconded by Miss Tinsley Williams. Discussion. Mr. Mr. Willahan, I had recess taken away from me many times in grammar school. That would be hard to believe. Where were you before me?
Yeah. So, so I want to say that there was conversations um about um kindergarteners and first graders actually having two recesses uh within their school day. um
you know based upon research and study and movement is so necessary. Um I also want to note that I was informed that one of our schools may have challenges for an uninterrupted 20 minute recess if we are linking it to um lunchtime due to
staffing. Nothing in this policy says it has to be linked um to a lunchtime in order to make that 20 minutes. But I I we are the policy its spirit is 20 uninterrupted minutes. It is not two 10
minutes for five minutes. Um and then of course there's discretion for educators um to take their students out as well um when they feel they need a a significant movement break. But I just wanted to share that. Any further discussion?
Roll call, please. Mr. F. Yes. Miss Ty Williams. C.A. Yes. Yes. Wilson. Yes. Yes. Mr. Next up, BBA school committee powers and
duties for first reading. So the only thing is uh with personnel matters um that the superintendent uh you know appointed by um is appointed by the school committee and uh they have to perform certain duties that are required
by law um and as well as um making recommendations for the assistant superintendent and it goes on variety of different languages um based upon what it is uh school business administrator, special education administrator, school physicians, school nurses, and
supervisor of attendance. And these positions uh do not report directly to school committee. And then there's a note of a cross reference going in with the school attorney being added. Mr. Willingham, thank you. Yeah, just for the public,
these are the only positions that the school that the school committee has authority over in terms of hiring. you know the the teachers and um administrators in in general don't come to us for u appointment they come to the
superintendent um are we going to get a list of these um employees are they going to start start coming here I know there's some vacancies and recent hires that that haven't that haven't come I'm not sure if they're on contract basis one year or
three years I'm I'm a little confused we will provide you um anytime a new person is appointed into any of these positions, we will provide them to you. So, um, uh, Irene actually has all the
new nurses that were hired this year. Um, it didn't make the agenda for today, but we'll make sure that it gets on, um, the next agenda, but um, she already has them and we had put a packet together. Um but uh it will unless the committee
is asking me to provide a list of names for people that were already in these positions. My plan was anytime we're going to hire anybody into these positions that we we share that with the school committee and go through that process. Mr. Willian.
Yeah. Um again, are some of these one-year appointments or they're based on contract? I know the city of Northampton is negot they recently negotiated their their business man business manager's new new contract. I think you had like a three-year contract
and that was negotiated by Yeah. the school committee, you know. Is that going to be similar here? I don't know. Yeah. So, the nursing the nurses are not on a you know one-year contract. They're part of you know the the nurses union.
Um, and then the uh special education uh dire uh the person who oversees special education um is on a three-year contract. I'm not sure what year it's in right now. Uh the school business administrator is on a
three-year contract. Um everybody knows Sean and I already announced to the full committee that his last day is going to be October 17th. So um you know when we're when you know when we get a new person in that place it will have to
come to the school committee uh to you know to approve. Yeah. And that's a three-year contract. So it's standard um in those positions uh for to have a three-year contract. Yeah. And then there's positions that are
not on a contract. The you know the it there's no term limit. So, the attendance officer is an example of that. That's not uh, you know, that's not a contract employee um where they go through, you know, three-year contracts and then it gets renewed. It's just, you
know, that person has been in the position for a long time and um, you know, there's not a contract. The the handbook kind of dictates the working conditions. Can I like request maybe a like a list? Sure. like a starter list so everyone
everyone can be on board. List of these positions. Some of them are called different names. You know, the business manager, that's sort of an archaic term, you know, no one calls it that anymore. Finance director, you know, was is typical typical name.
So, may I would just recommend if we can get a list of the positions listed here, who's in them, we'll do if they're vacant or not. Mhm. Who's in them? What the tenure is? Is it a contract?
If so, what year is what year are we in with the contract? If it's a year-to-year deal or if it's just when you're hired, you're hired. And you know, um so that would be helpful to me and I I I think my colleagues just to get a
running total that I know, um you know, this hasn't been the norm in over over 10 years. Okay. So I appreciate that though. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Willahan. Miss Wilson. So I was going to ask for the same thing. So I think it's absolutely Thank
you, Miss Thank you, Mr. Willahan. I'm just The motion is going to be to refer to the interim superintendent for posting. Two weeks for public comment and recommendation.
Second. Seconded by Miss Wilson. Any further discussion? Roll call, please. Mave. Yes. C.
Yes. Yes. Um, Wilson. Yes. Dr. Yes. And Mr. Sheen. Moving on to final reading. May I have a motion that the school committee vote to approve as final reading and to adopt
the policies to be effective as September 8th, 2025. So move second. Seconded by Miss Chancellor Williams. Oh, Mr. Never mind. Got it. Discussion.
Mr. Well, where are we exactly here on the um final reading policies BDD, BDE and BDF? Just before announcements. Okay. Um I just want to comment just on
the proposed update for BDE. Just the um um to the vice chair, to the chair. We've talked about that before at length. um the members um uh
members of the subcommittee. So we're changing that from four members to three. Correct. Okay. So I'm just in favor of that. Um, if you have four members for a
subcommittee, you need three for a quorum. So, it's a little harder to meet that charge. If there's vacations coming up, if there's illness, if COVID comes back for any reason, this is harder to get um three members. So, I'm I'm in
favor of the of the the three member committees. It's easier to get two members. Okay, that that's my experience. I know even the city council has a couple subcommittees that that only have three only have three members and they have 13 members. We already
really have have nine nine members. So, I'm in favor for that. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Wilson. So, this is the second reading for all of these three. We've already uh reviewed them once. Um made uh recommendations to language changes. Um,
these have been posted for the public to comment on our recommendations that we've already made. So, I'm going to ask Miss Feliciano, were there any public comments on these policies? No. Okay. So, there is no recommended changes from the public for these
policies and we've already had a first pass to make recommendations. Miss Lefave. So, I'll do a motion second reading. That's what you're saying. No, final, right? Final. Oh, okay. Final. Okay. You just confused
me with what you just said. Okay. No. Yeah. All right. So, that the school committee vote. Didn't we have to approve? That's what I did. We Oh, that we did. It's fine. I'm sorry. If there's no discussion, only me. I only I don't need discussion.
Miss Wilson. So I just want to comment that the um BDF was the um advisory committees um that each school has to have and it's by law. So I am saying that with this approval we we will need to establish
these for each of our schools. Seeing no further discussion. Roll call, please. Miss Lefave, yes. Miss Tenzy Williams, C. Mr. Zaza. Yes. Mr. Willahan. Yes. Miss Wilson. Yes. Dr. Veron. Yes.
Mr. Sheen. Excellent. Down to announcements. Just a few extras that I want to put in there. Look out for some emails from Miss Feliciano inviting
us to different things. The Springfield Puerto Rican Day parade is coming up September 14 14. And we also have the Big E Holio Salute
Day that's coming up and the 16th and then we will have to sign waiverss if you want to, you know, hop on in the trolley and be celebrated.
And that's along with all the open houses that we also have here listed. Miss Tinsley Williams, today I had a chance to meet with um Mr. Rule Ratray at um Sullivan School. I had a wonderful visit. Um they were on the
recess and he made an appointment for me to come back and meet with the art teachers. There's three art teachers and I had some things that I showed him. He wants me to get involved with the project. So I will be doing that. Thank you, Miss Tley Williams. Welcome, sweetheart.
I have a motion to adjurnn. That was Miss Wilson. I wasn't on microphone, but I made the motion to adjurnn. Second that. Seconded by Miss Tensley Williams. Roll call, please. Miss Feliciano. Mr. Fave. Yes. Miss Tenzy Williams. C. Mr.
Mr. Willahan. Yes. Miss Wilson. Yes. Mr. Verone. Yes. And Mr. meeting adjourned at 7:42. Thank you everybody.