26. Sorry. >> Um, just need to let people know that this meeting is being recorded. Start with the pledge of allegiance. 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. >> Okay, we're going to start uh tonight's meeting with um a public hearing on school choice. So, I'm looking for a
motion to open the public hearing on school choice. >> So, seconded. >> All right. Motion's been made by Kate, seconded by Henry. All in favor? Okay. The motion passes three to zero.
So, it's going to use we have a policy for public comment and use a similar policy for uh the public hearing. And that's really just to to give people everyone who wants to speak an opportunity to do so. So, does anyone want to speak up about or have a a
comment or a question for us around school choice? Uh, anyone remotely wants to raise their hand or have a question around school choice? Okay. Um, so we have a recommendation from the superintendent. Um, I am
looking for a motion to approve the recommendation that we do not participate in school choice. >> Did we want to have John explain the recommendation I told you? >> That's a good point. So, let's have some discussion. John, can you just help us on just give us some background, please? >> So, basically in the state of
Massachusetts, you are um if unless you vote not to have school choice, you are deemed to be a school choice district. Um my recommendation at this point would be to um not have school choice. Um there's this vast you know there's
discussion as to why or why not school choice. Um part of part of for me some of it is um you know when we have students come into the district um there's a $5,000 um you know cap that you know monies that come with them. Um so there's always that conversation
where appropriate expenditure is a lot higher than that. we're only getting $5,000 back. Um that's not really the whole reason, but that's part of the reason. And the second part is is when students come into us um through school choice, a lot of times um it's been my
experience that uh we have school choice kiddos come in um in any district that maybe haven't been successful in other districts and just looking for like sometimes it's a a refresh or restart, but sometimes it's kind of just trying to move away from um something that
wasn't working well for them. And the other the other thing to consider generally um again in my experience the school committees generally um consider the fact that uh if we say yes we um want we we're going to take school choice students we have the right to say
like what grades and how many but we do not have the right to ask if they have disciplinary issues um what you know the needs are. And so there is the inherent risk to say yes, we're going to bring students in which you could or could not
be, you know, something that committee want to do, but we don't have the ability to to be deserving of that. And I know that sounds cold and callous, but it's just the reality of of again my experience with schools that I've worked with generally, you know, want want to
consider. Um so I think it's at this point I think you know we have um currently this this situation is you know we have budgetary constraints already. um having school choice students come in unless we were to get a
whole host of them in um the budgetary implications wouldn't be on the positive side um really and you know run the risk of you know adding um extra supports or resources that we don't really have the ability to fund um potentially. So I
think I think at this juncture I would continue to recommend not having a school choice district um with the consideration moving forward every year that we reconsider all these uh questions uh remotely or from the audience.
>> Um I'll make a motion that we accept gentlemen's recommendation. I'll second. >> All right. Motion's been made by Kate, seconded by Melissa. All those in favor. The motion passes four to zero.
Um, now I'm looking for a motion to close the the uh public hearing on school choice. >> So, seconded. >> All right. Motion's moved by Kate, seconded by Henry. All those in favor?
Okay. That motion passes four to zero. Um, we are now back to our regular business meeting and our next item is commendations. Does anyone have any commendations?
>> I mean, I'll just say I said it when I was coming in today, the phone run was this morning at Brown School. Just want to thank everyone for their involvement. Um, all the volunteers, Mary, like it was it's my daughter's favorite event of the year and it was amazing. So they raised a ton of money. Um 28,000
>> 30,000 >> 30,000 >> this afternoon. >> Wow. Yeah. So kudos. >> Is there anyone uh remotely want accommodation? Any accommodations? Okay. All right. Um I do have
accommodation. Does this end up collition? Okay. >> Um, so although uh Jen is not here tonight, uh, she has a conflict, uh, this would be her last full school committee
meeting before the conclusion of her term. And I just want to take this opportunity to commend her for her service to the public to the Marblehead public schools. Jen has served multiple terms on this committee. During her tenure, she served as chair, vice chair,
and is an engaged member of numerous subcommittees. Jen has kept academic achievement and student success at the forefront of our work. Uh, Jen's commitment to our schools also predates her time on this committee. She held numerous volunteer roles within our schools before she ever sat at this
table. When her term ends next month, it will mark the close of many years of dedicated volunteerism and advocacy for the Marble Head Public Schools. So on behalf of the school committee uh and the Marblehead public schools uh we
thank you chair. Can I I just want to I want you to vote first before I get back there. Two comments I want to make as well. Um first I want to commend Will for his uh his year of uh service to the school committee for the student representative. Fantastic job and I want
to recognize that publicly and this is I believe his last meeting yes before graduation. I want to thank him personally for that and um like committee agrees that what job well done. Well, thank you. Um, and uh, just in regard to Jen Shaner, uh, you know, she was instrumental in
bringing me on board here in Marblehead and, um, and you know, she's been very supportive of me and in my role as superintendent and I and I told her as such uh, many many junctures and I want to say publicly thank you um, to her um because, you know, again, she's
instrumental bring me here to Marblehead and I I love being here in Marblehead. It's been a great experience and you know I I want to thank her for her dedication in the years of service like like um like Al said but I think you know uh for me personally um she's been someone that's reached out she's um
she's been supportive she's you know even though you may not always agree with everything we always been able to talk things through and as a superintendent that's really important and so I want to give public mention of that. So um I just want to thank her for for her time um while I've been on as
well. Thanks. Thank you. That's all I have to >> Jonathan. I'm assuming you raising your hand for public comment which we'll go into now. >> Can you hear me? >> Yeah. Let me know.
>> Okay. I don't know if I can get my >> How do you get video on on the um on the webinar? >> Okay. That's fine. >> Can you still hear me? >> Yeah. >> So, you should get a prop, Jonathan, so
you can be a panelist. >> Okay. All right, that's better. Now, can you see me? >> Spotlight. >> Yeah. Can you spotlight? >> Okay. Uh I can't see my video, but hopefully you can see me here. Bend. So,
I just wanted to take a moment and drop a comment to uh I'm joining you tonight live from Camp Bondale where our Village School sixth graders are in the middle of one of the most memorable experiences of their elementary years. Over the last few days, our students have been
building friendships, learning independence, trying new activities, working through challenges, and creating memories that they will carry with them long after sixth grade. We have students who were hesitant to come because they've never been away from home before, but now they're thriving. One
parent actually shared with me while fighting back tears how grateful they were to see their child gaining confidence, persevering. Sorry. Uh persevering and embracing the experience. We've seen students catch their very first fish
with pure joy on their faces. and we've watched new friendships and connections form from beyond the students within their own classrooms. Later later tonight, students from all four teams will take part in Sixth Street Idol, one of the signature evening activities of
the trip. The performances are completely studentled, and it's an incredible to watch the students step outside their comfort zones, support one another, and build confidence in front of their peers. I also want to recognize the tremendous commitment of the staff
who make experiences like this possible. Teachers, support staff, and chaperrons have stepped away from their own homes and families to spend nearly 4 days supporting students around the clock. This time at Camp Bondell goes far beyond the regular school day, and staff
volunteered their time because they care deeply about providing students with a fun, enriching, and memorable experience. I also want to acknowledge the incredible amount of work our school nurses did prior to the trip to help support students and families and ensure
that all students could safely participate in this experience. Trips like Camp Borndale are filled with fun, laughter, and unforgettable moments. But they also depend on structure, trust, teamwork, and shared expectations. Those experiences help students grow, not only
as learners, but as people. Tonight, our students are laughing, cheering each other on, and making memories that they'll remember for years. This only happens because of dedicated educators and staff who consistently go above and beyond for our kids. Um, so right now, I
don't know if I've gone over my three minutes or not, but you're going to start to see >> about a minute a minute to go, John. >> Um, so today is our color. I don't know if you can see real quickly. I'm up above. Um, but the kids are all in their their t-shirts of the four teams.
There's green, pink, uh, black, and blue. So, tonight we took pictures of all the teams by the cabins by their team color. What they're getting ready for now is they're coming down to the beach and we're going to mix them up because after tonight, they become one
class. uh and it's amazing uh kind of culmination to the first six years of their time in Marblehead public schools and truly an experience that they will never forget. Uh so I just wanted to take a moment to share live from Borndale. Um and I also want to thank
you know the superintendent came out yesterday, our assistant superintendent came out today, our chair came out today as well. Um it was awesome to see them down here. Uh, and it was >> I hope they had an amazing experience. First of all, uh, John Julia caught a
bigger fish than you. Just saying. >> Okay. Um, >> I need proof. >> Okay. Well, we we'll get proof. Um, she got a giant one. It was like I don't know, six feet long. Although, one of the kids did catch a
catfish today. And and and Mr. Vulpi said that's unusual to catch a catfish this early in the uh the day. It was this first thing this morning. And that's what is on the leaderboard right now. And so he has a chance to win that uh rotten rail combo that Tommo's donated to the schools. Uh so it's
pretty awesome, >> right? >> Off to be quite honest. >> Yeah. No, we're good. I'm going to go take a picture of the kids and keep checking our Facebook feed and tonight if you get a chance 7:30 tonight, idol live.
>> All right. Thank you, John. >> Thank you. Have a good night. >> Thank you. you too. >> All right. I think that brings public comment to an end. >> Did anyone in the room >> Is there any anybody in the room for public comment?
>> All right. Thank you. Um we'll move on to an update from our student representative Will. What do you have for us? >> Um thank you so much everyone. Um I'm really excited to do this one more time before graduation. Um, that was a really cool Borndale update. I didn't get to go co, but I heard about it growing up from
like kids on the street and it does look really fun. So, I'm glad to have that experience. Um, mathcast was this week for many sophomores, including my sister who said it went really well. Um, quarter 4 progress checks came out this week as well. I mentioned this last quarter, uh, but they're new this year
and I think a very important step in making sure people are caught up on work and families are aware of their kids academic standing. So, it's a good thing. Um the NHS induction ceremony was last night. Students in the junior class were inducted to the club as members and the senior members who completed over 40
hours of community service while in the club were celebrated and given their graduation cords. It was a great event with a ton of family and friends. It's nice. Um MHS culture feast is next Friday, the 29th at the high school from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Students can enjoy food, music, performances, and more. On
Monday, we had our final uh instrumental concert of the year. It was really fun featuring great performances from the jazz band, concert band, chamber orchestra, and the ensemble orchestra. This also happened to be my final concert playing the trumpet here at MHS or here in Marblehead and a great send off for the music program I've been a
proud member of for 9 years. For the first two years, I played percussion uh at down at the village school. Then in sixth grade, I switched to trumpet. At first, I was online and that presented an entirely new set of challenges. Playing music online was very hard. Um but then through the middle school and
now in the high school playing the trumpet as well as a brief st on the baritone horn when we needed some extra bass voices for the Nutcracker. Um but the music program has meant so much to me um for those many years and although it's not the most prominent part of who I am, I'd certainly say it's been a
defining part of my high school experience. Um so I want to thank you all for supporting the arts here at Marblehead and um really allowing me and so many other seniors who are graduating this year to have this great experience in two weeks. So thank you. Uh and finally sports baseball is 8 and 11.
Softball is al or sorry 11 and 8. Softball is also 11 and 8. The girls tennis is 11 and six. Boys tennis is 17-2. They're on fire. Uh boys lacrosse is 13-4. Girls lacrosse is 9 and 9. Boys track is 5-2. Girls track is 4-3. Um the
track teams both have their NEC conference championships tomorrow which could go really well. So I'm excited for that. And that's all I have for you today. Thank you so much. >> I've known Will since he's in seventh grade and I'm so proud of Will and all
of our seniors. He mentioned they didn't get all the same activities and stuff through co um we were still dealing with that in seventh grade and this group of seniors is resilient, brilliant. uh the honors national honor society event last night was amazing and just to hear just from that the group of students that
were there what they're pursuing in their next endeavor like I'm just so incredibly proud of Will and all of his classmates and I'm just so excited for graduation to see them on to their next chapter so congrats well I'm so proud thanks
>> okay uh next we'll get an update from our superintendent Thank you. >> Good evening. Uh we have a robust agenda tonight, but I want to take a moment to share some items from across the visit. Thanks again, Will. Good luck. Um last week, Julie and I were invited to Jen Billings class here at the high school
and witnessed modernized scenes from Romeo and Juliet for our schools. It was really cool. They did a great job. They introduced the scene. They kind of they had to improvise props. Um they had to work together. It was really neat. Um so, you know, they had several per class
perform. It was really neat. uh I I got to go and um Dr. Crossley came you know part with me and Julia came and she it was really neat. It was a great way to bring like literature alive and so I just want to thank for doing that and the kids for their great work. Um on Wednesday the 13th school hosted a whole
school assembly um had an incredible speaker. His name is Thomas Smith. Um he came to share a story of resilience and passion after having not once but three spinal cord injuries result in paralysis. Um it was really moving. We had they had a whole school assembly
which I guess is the first time they've done that since co um and the kids were like just engaged and there or present. It was really cool to see. Um he just shared a story. He had unfortunately a hockey accident that left him paralyzed and he was never going to walk again. He was back on the ice a year later. Had a
another hockey accident like shortly thereafter. He got paralyzed again and he wasted down. Was coming back from that. He got unfortunately he got in a car accident with his dad got paralyzed again. Um, but he's been so resilient and his message of instead of being impossible that I'm possible was great.
Um, the kids were like, you know, it's really cool. And he's he has a foundation. He's raised like almost $4 million for other um people who have had similar um things. He's walked lost a marathon like eight times now. He's getting ready to transverse Antarctica next December. So, really cool. It was
it was um it was really cool. Well, I believe um I believe that uh Amy Madden was uh spearheaded the event and she was uh she was just wonderful and and it was just great. It was great to see and I was really glad to be able to be invited in for that um to be able to get to
witness that. So um continuing with the village theme as as we heard from Jonathan Early Born is still happening as we meet now. Um it's exciting experiential learning is such a phenomenal opportunity for our students to learn and grow grow together. Thanks to Jonathan Heler and the Bull Village team for ensuring the experience is so
powerful for our students. I went down last year was like 40 degrees and raining the whole time. It was freezing. Yesterday I went down it was, you know, 90 but 80 with a nice breeze, sunny was nice. It was it was definitely a good way to get out of the office, but more importantly to see all the kids just engaged and just it's really cool
experience. So I can't underscore it enough. If you get a chance to get out at some point, whether it's for your one of your children or anything any reason, um it's it's really cool to see. Um, I was was uh um glad I was actually second on the leaderboard of fish when I was down there yesterday. Was that 12 and
1/2 in with the white perch, but I guess I got beat out today. That's great. I'll feel um and finally in village news, we got a lot of fun on village. They were they were the lucky recipients of a barely announced visit by Desi. Um they came in, they decided to come in and let us know there going to observe um the
MCAST processes and protocols uh with very little warning, very little notice. Um, so I just want to thank Scott Williams and Jenny Conrad and all the village teachers who demonstrated how prepared and organized the school is in administering and managing MTAS. But we haven't received the final report yet,
but feedback was very positive and um Scott Williams shared that as the gentleman or if he was a gentleman was leaving, he said basically that we won the lottery because it was they did such a nice job and it was just everything was just exactly what they were looking for. So I thought that was really cool.
So kudos to the village ducks. Um Glover School is helping me um to spearhead fundraising efforts for the John Glover farmhouse students doing chores to help raise funds and I got a waffle glover farmhouse as a culmination of these efforts. These are very cool community collaboration. What is that again? Um
>> 15th and is that all >> June? >> Thank you. I was looking for my calendar I can find. So yeah June 15th to 16th I got to walk down and just kind of as culmination. So that's really cool. Um, we talked about the National Honor Society. Um, the ceremonies last night. I didn't get a chance to go, but I'm
very proud of all the students, their hard work and their commitments. Um, the MHS and um, Vets Middle School spring art show reception was on May 14th at Abbert Hall. The students and community members came out to show their support. Thanks to Shirley White and Leader for
Leair for their efforts in this awesome endeavor. The exhibit will be on display until May 27th. So, please swing by and check out the incredible artwork. Uh Julia Ferrer and Veteran School English teacher Brejid Barnes collaborating collaborated to apply for a grant from
the Mark Sean Wer Holocaust Educational Foundation. Always give me big words to say. Um they were awarded a $1,000 grant to pay for Holocaust survivor to speak to the students at events and to purchase copies of Anne Frank to include in their classroom libraries. We look forward to welcoming the Holocaust
survivor Janet Singer Applefield who will be speaking with the seventh grade students next Tuesday. So that's really cool. um the whole bio um that that was shared is just really incredible. So, I'm looking forward to to attending that as well. Um that's that's really great to see that live and experience that
live. Um we had a Holocaust Holocaust speaker last year as well and it's really really I think it brings the tragedy and everything of the Holocaust to life in a way that you you just can't get out of teaching it out of book. So, it's really really neat. Um
um sorry, sorry. Uh this week the Marblehead Museum concluded years of work on Jeremiah Lee's brick kitchen and slave quarters project built in the 1760s as part of Jeremiah Lee's estate. The brick kitchen served as the hub of domestic um labor in the Lee household both hired and enslaved. The building
function as a kitchen carriage house and living quarters for enslaved individuals on the property located adjacent to the Jeremiah Lee mansion. This brick building is one of only three surviving detached slave quarters owned by a museum in all of New England. That's pretty cool. Um, in 2022, Marblehead Museum director Lauren McCormack asked
Julia Ferrer to join this incredible endeavor. Over the last four years, Julia has worked closely with Lauren and the team in planning and development of this project with recent fundings secured from the Mass Humanities Grant. There are now nine social studies educators and our district from grades 5, 8, and high school working on
developing curricula to be published for all teachers in Massachusetts. to all teachers in Massachusetts, not just Marblehead, for a collaboration between Marblehead Public Schools, Marblehead Museum, and proud that our team is part of this historical project will be open to the public on June 1st. So, thank you to Julia for her efforts and for Miss
McCormick for her efforts and just incredible that, you know, this is going to bear for everybody in Massachusetts. That's really cool. Both MASS and MASC have drafted position papers to Desessie regarding the graduation requirements. We've had those conversations here. um
MSC and MASS are really kind of pushing back a little bit on some of the things that DESI is trying to um force us to do this mandate us to do. And I just share this because um as things come around, obviously I'll update the school committee and the
public, but it's just really things around mandates that come from Desi and folks pushing back to make sure there's funding for it. That's really what it boils down to. I just thought it was um appropriate since both both uh entities put position here for the the desk into the um to the state. Um and finally,
graduation and prom are exciting times and should be cherished for all the happy memories. I just want to encourage all of our seniors to be responsible and stay safe as they finish the last few weeks um as Marblehead Scooties and also a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend with everyone as well. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> All right. Um, under the consent agenda, I am looking for a motion to approve the following the identified schedules of bills totaling 1 million I'm sorry, uh, $1,174
I'm sorry, I'll start over again. I'm having problems reading my own writing here. the identified schedule bills totaling 1,174,747 and the meeting minutes from our May 7th, 2026 meeting. >> Second.
>> All right. Motion's been made by Henry, seconded by Melissa. >> I had a comment on the minutes. >> Henry Jack at his name is like a bad penny that keeps coming up. Yeah. So the correction of correcting his
names has his name wrong in the corrected name. >> This is from >> and is on page three bullet point under B. Oh, >> yep. Are you able?
>> Yeah. Do we want to amend a motion? >> Yes. Um I I'll make a motion to Well, probably have to read. What's the number on the bills? Um, it's 1,174,747.
>> Okay. So, I will make a motion to approve the scheduled bills totaling 1,174,747 as well as the meeting minutes from May 7th with the spelling correction. >> Okay, I'll second.
>> Thank you. All right, so the motion's been made by Andy, seconded by Melissa. All those in favor? I think a motion passes four to zero. Okay. Um we'll move on to our school committee communication and discussion
items. Uh we start tonight with the Brown School improvement plan. >> Yes. We're going to welcome Mary Maxfield up tonight. Um we're going to finish up with our last two school improvement plans first from Brown and from Glover. Um Mary's going to share what our school has been uh lucky to do
with moving to next school year in alignment with uh the proposed dip and u Mary. >> Great. Good evening everyone. It's great to be here. Thanks for having us. Um we have a variety of goals. First I wanted to say that we made some great
improvements on our uh school improvement plan last year. We felt like we made some great strides. So the um items on this year sort of dovetailed on those is sort of the next logical steps that we have in our work. So uh our
first goal um we just have three areas. The first one is under curriculum instruction and evaluation and uh let's see. Yeah, we can go right there. So can they can't see that right? Can you make it a little bigger or do you guys have this? Do you have it?
Okay, great. >> I can do it and not present both. So nope, whatever whatever is easiest for people. I just want to make sure that they can see it. So two goals uh broad schoolbased goals under this area. And one is about students achieving typical
or stretch growth in math, reading, and writing as measured by I Ready MLAS unit assessments and Massachusetts grade level competencies. Um and then the second one is to assess preschool curricula assessments and resources in order to aid districtwide preschool
program development. So, we're really looking at some consistent preschool programming across both of our schools. So, this is the work that we'll start to do in our school. Um, and if you look under the improvement strategies, it talks about um doing sort of uh
inventory of what kinds of materials that we have. Um, what we have noticed is that it's not um it not only isn't necessarily consistent from Brown to Glover, but it may not be consistent across all preschool classes. Uh so we want to make sure that they're getting
um a a consistent uh experience and b that it does everything it can to feed our kindergarten program. Uh so that we we want to make sure we're giving our kids every advantage possible. So, and the first goal, I'm going to skip back
to that one about the typical goal uh goal growth, excuse me, the typical and stretch growth. That's terminology that is used under the I Ready. And the way we've listed this is I Ready, MCLS, unit assessments, and uh grade level
competencies because they all measure things a little bit differently. And what we find is we want to go for the most rigorous um obviously and what we have for reading. Um we have I Ready uh for math and reading and right now it
works pretty good for math in terms of helping us decide which kids need more and which kids um need more support and which kid needs more enrichment. Um but that's not so for reading. We find that the M-Class assessment and sitting with a student side by side has a lot of
value to it um in addition to our written wisdom assessments. So we want to make sure that we include all of that in and also include um the MCCAST. So we know that it's a third grade assessment but really it's an assessment for K to3
like what they have gotten all the way up through there. And so and we we tell our third grade teachers this all the time. is not a test of view. You know, it really is is for our whole school to look at that data and dig deep and say what are the trends that we're seeing? What are kids getting? What are they where are they strong? Where can we pat
ourselves on the back and where can we say we really need to look a little deeper there. So, we're going to look at all of those assessments as we take the next steps. One of the steps that we really need to take is um under our math progress monitoring system, particularly
for when um reading, we're we're looking good. We we feel like we can really identify when kids need that enrichment piece and when they need that piece for extra um extra support. Uh math is different. Um in reading you you know
you start with the sound then the letter then the word then the sentence then the paragraph and it there's a continuum. Some of you may know some of you may be better at algebra than you are at geometry. That actually starts in your brain really really young. So sometimes
kids can be really strong in one unit and the next unit they're really struggling. So just because we think that we see um a deficit in one area doesn't necessarily mean they're strong in all layers of map. So we want to make sure that we are capturing um everything
that they need um with every single unit. So we're going to dig a little deeper into that area. Um and then uh I think I mentioned oh and then the writing piece. So also under goal one, we're looking at looking at a writing
development certainly for consistency base um but also for assessment base. Um it's no secret in the state I think it's um about 24% proficiency in third grade writing and we we exceed them but it's only 34 I mean we're 34% proficient. So
um we clearly need to do some more work around that and with some consistency. So, Whiten Wisdom has given us some some nice rubrics. Um, and we this is year we're going into year four. So, we really need to make sure that in our PLC work, people are bringing writing
samples. We're actually looking at student work, comparing and finding out where do they need work, where are they really getting at, what are the competencies that we need to look deeper at. So, that's part of that goal. Um and then that last one uh creating an
inventory uh of the curriculum materials assessments utilized at the um preschool. And we we will work with Lisa Marie to give her that data so that she can uh form a district level team to um create some consistency across the
district. So that any questions on that area? Uh second area that we have um so known as the blue goal uh we this is in student support programs.
>> Sure. >> So when I hear districtwide right so now we're not talking about pro it shouldn't be in the school improvement plan but it should be in the district improvement plan. So I just need a refresher. Is that component in the IP?
>> Yes >> it is. Yep. And so at the Yeah, just want to make sure there was a lot of page back to the top of that one. So, in John's uh at the bottom of the district initiative, the last one, it says revisit current tools being used for the preschool curriculum. So, that
this feeds into his goal and Lisa Marie will have the same one. So, absolutely, great question and you're absolutely right. We should be making sure that we're all working in concert. Yeah. Um under your student support programs and
services. Um we have our school-based goals. We have three here. You look down just a little bit more. There we go. Uh ensure all students are provided with opportunities to exercise their personal voice, perspectives, opinions, and ideas. Um also providing a safe
environment. Uh and again, this preschool or what we're going to do in this area is look at our transition plan. What do we currently have in place for students moving from preschool to kindergarten? Do a pretty good job with third grade to fourth grade, but how are we helping those kids that go from
preschool um on that? So, pace just a little bit and can look at some of the strategies that we're working on. So, providing regular opportunities for kids to share and present their backgrounds, their heritage and connections. One of the things that we want to do is our witten
wisdom gives us some opportunities to do that. Um and we want to look across the curriculum and what areas are we allowing students to exercise their own voice, share their own heritage, share their own background and who are we missing, who what are the components that we're missing there. So we have our
leadership council, we have our uh we're rangers in the lunchroom where you know kids get to sort of have a leadership uh you know role there. Um we have our morning announcements. Um so we have tomorrow we'll have a Memorial Day
assembly and it will be run by students not the student council but other students. Um and so but where are we missing? Are all kids um allowed to share their voice and how else can we you know how can we identify who's maybe
not able to do that or provided the opportunity to do that and how can we do that better. So that's that one. Um, and then the next one, established schoolbased safety leadership team. So, we do a pretty good job of having our safety protocols in place. We practice
our Alice, our emergency lockdowns. Um, we have a communication team. We have our office team that does a great job during evacuation, but we what we don't have is a schoolwide safety team. Um,
where that we should we should have. Um, and um, I've had that in every other district. I was talking to um, Scott, he said the same thing. You know, that he's had it in his past districts as well. So, we want to make sure that, and it's typically probably going to be our mental health team where we do review
that, but we do need to make sure that we're carving out time just for this, making sure that we are reviewing those protocols on a regular basis um, with the safety team and they're bringing them back to their team. So, we want to
just make sure that we're we're um doing the best that we can with that. Um and then the kindergarten uh the preschool transition activities to uh kindergarten. So, uh we want to allow time for preschool teachers to meet with
kindergarten teachers. What are you looking for? How are they coming in? H what is it that we can do better? And then offer times for our preschoolers to play on the big playground, spend some time in a kindergarten classroom. um you know, all those things. Go to the art room, go to the music room. Those are
all new experiences for them. So, we want to make sure that we're able to provide as much as possible for them. Uh and then the last area is um >> before you can I ask a question? >> Oh, sure. Sorry. >> What percentage of your kindergarteners
come from the Brown preschool versus coming from >> uh about Don't quote me directly, but about 30% I would say. I that's my my guess at least 25%. At least 25%. So um
but yeah well >> and that's that's 25% in the year because not all our kids go from >> correct they like this year. Yes. Yeah. I have you know 40 kids but I only some of them are three some of them are four still.
>> It could it could be slightly less. Um but you know we have a lot of kids coming next year. So I think it's growing. That's that was uh when I was parsing it out and looking ahead, that's that's sort of where I was around. >> Thank you. >> Um and then our last one under
leadership, governance, and communication. Um under John's uh goal talked about uh reviewing uh district-wide technology resources to facilitate and stren strengthen our teaching processes. um we want to make sure that we're ensuring that technology
access and experiences are safe, age appropriate and enhance the overall experience. So um you know it's both research is coming out hard and fast on this now and um and technology is changing faster than we can than we can
keep up. So, it's really important that we create a team and a system for us to make sure that we are properly vetting technology, making sure we know how much time kids are on technology within every grade level and classroom and um and
creative systems so that we can help teachers understand. If you ask me now and I was, you know, swearing, I I I don't know that I could tell you, you know, exactly. So I asked my lead teachers, you know, tell me about how
much time and they all were about the same. I said per student, they were all between 15 minutes and 30 like on a device in terms of I ready or and it's they were learning materials. So then we asked the next level question like when
you do a readaloud, is it on the screen or is it with a story? And so that's that's mix. So, we want to ask those questions and really see how much kids are interacting with technology, but also, you know, and it's and it's not all bad. It's good, right? There's a lot of great things there. Um, we just want
to make sure that we're balanced and um and that we're doing right by our kids. Um, and talk with Stephen. He's been great about, you know, um, helping me with this goal and helping me sort of parse it out so that we can make sure that we're we're doing doing best uh,
practice on Any questions? >> No, I'm glad you developed this goal. I I hear about it from parents a lot, although probably not as much as you, but you know. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> I think it's a really important one because exactly as you said, so much
research is coming out about the impacts of the time and just having it as a focal area to just be monitored. >> Yeah. I mean I I think I know um about how much is being used but I I don't I have not collected that data so I can't
say for absolute certainty. >> It's hard to reflect. So like you know you you just said 15 minutes 30 minutes that's that's a pretty broad stroke right and then how much that 15 30 minutes is true academics probably be most of it at that level but then as you go further along you know I mean some
teachers may use more technology than others and then it's like well now you've been on screen time all the time and that may not necessarily be true and then you know as they move up the chain and this AI comes into the you know and it so it is it's just ever evolving and there's not a lot of longitudinal studies
at that level especially that says what's what's what's the good. So it is we're kind of like learning as we're going to fly I guess so to speak. But I love the fact that Mary kind of dug deeper into this goal for her school especially um for all the reasons she
just did because it is important. It's important to be able to speak to this intelligently when parents of younger students especially are asked the question like do you just like is there this thing oh we're just sticking kids on device and that's not true I can say that's not true however to have the data
to speak to it's this not this I mean it's great so >> and we need we need to create the conversation uh you know first and then we can go from there and I think um I think we've got our work cut out for us in terms of collecting the data and and
um and looking at the research and it's coming out hard and fast now. Any other questions? >> I just want to say having worked with you a lot in my time at Brown, how much I appreciate the way that data drives your work and I think the way that
you're using it in these goals. I really appreciate it and I think it's going to give us a lot. the teachers that um work really really hard when uh I first came like what um and yeah data it can be a dirty word
sometimes because we we do I'm like but they don't lie so but I will say also big shout out to my teachers because I'm having evaluation team uh meetings with them now and they are coming with data and they are like their goals are
rock solid and you know, we shot for like 85% of our kids to make sure they're getting at least 80% on this and here's what you know and they're really they're they're clinging to it. So that's that's huge progress.
They're doing a great job. >> Thank you guys. And last but not least, we have uh Franks, former principal champ. >> All yours, Frank. It's always hard to follow Mary.
>> But I do want to thank Mary though because this is as most of you do know this my second year. You know, Mary's been a great source for me, especially last few weeks about the improvement plan and my work and the work together. And we we do want to because our
teachers teach the same level student. We do want to try to coordinate where our teacher are teaching the same and students getting the same information as elementary schools from prek to three. But there are differences. Uh we do try to have different schools even though we try to make sure all the kids going to
build especially in fourth grade. Um, I do want to thank Julia and John for all their support by spend time with, you know, you can't do it alone, right? Always need support. So, it's nice. I
want to thank Sally behind me. He's always at these meetings. It's nice to have the support back behind me. And, uh, Sally challenges me because I take pride in the fact that I'd like to be the first adult in my building in the morning. Sally is a quick number two. So, I got to make sure I always get my
sleep to be Sally into work in the morning because I don't want her I say she beat me. Uh, and Diane's behind me as well. And Diane was on my SACE committee and Dian was a big proponent of everything I talked about tonight. So, I appreciate D. So, that all being
said, um, I enjoyed my time with with my SACE. Uh we had a lot of parents that offered to volunteer their time with us. I selected a few. Um it's it's great to talk about school improvement. We talk about Glover. It's
hard to imagine that we don't talk about next year already about what we're going to do, but it was fun to kind of look at it. It's not that I I'm a very humble person, but bragging sometimes is hard for me. But I will say sorry Mary that going into the spring that we were the
number one school in model with MCAST results and um with with growth. So I'm hoping that uh improvement from last year was successful and next year will be equally successful. So the Glover school uh will work to
enhance classroom instruction through increased enrichment opportunities, increased data collection through assessments and benchmarks. The first goal we talked about was developing a collaborative approach where teachers can work vertically and horizontally ensuring all students needs are met. We
really try to have this system where our third grade teachers can work our second grade teachers especially where all students get to know all our teachers. We think it's important that our second grade teachers can start to build relationship with their teacher in the following year and we like our teachers to know all the students in the school.
That's important to us. I know as a district it's important that all teachers know all the students in the buildings and at clever we really take pride in the fact that no matter what level you're at no matter what what needs you have we want all teachers know all students. So we really work on and by doing this you want to identify the
MCCAST guide writing data and see the option of learning and develop a roadmap for success. One thing we do a lot of in global chat, right? We don't really like to text and email. We like to go have conversations about students. Uh because conversations and I mean text messages
or emails get the contest gets kind of skewed a little bit. So it's important that we have real conversations about students. So that's one thing we want to work on developing stronger. Goal number two, develop a protocol for staff members to engage in activities and conversations to further build
relationships especially to wayfinder. It's our new curriculum this year and uh it has so many great tools, so many great learning tools, so many um icebreaking tools. I know uh uh John and Julie bring them out at at admin
meetings, talk about how us as adults, you know, we are adults, but it's important for us to kind of slow down a little bit, talk about how we can communicate better with each other and kind of work together and just share things we do outside of work, not so much inside of work. So, we want to work harder. I'm not a big ice breaker fan.
So we I'm going to try to get out of my comfort zone next year and work more develop a free agility among staff about finding out more about each other. Um we do this during faculty meetings. Staff meetings will share their learning progress with colleagues and staff
members will carry this over into the class because what we do as adults the kids can benefit from. And my and my last goal in this area is implement best practice by working with coaches to ensure grade level
performance and high level proficiency in math and reading. Our coaches are fantastic. Um Mary, Rebecca, and Emily, they they bring a lot to uh school and they bring a lot to our classrooms. Uh they bring the data meetings and all the data stuff. And I know Katie mentioned that with Mary, we do a lot of data
collection to make sure we know where the gaps are with the children. And when parents ask us how the children are doing, we like to not tell them, we like to show them. And uh it benefits a lot with it gives us a lot of um authenticity when when it comes to information share with the parents and
parents want to know they want to know where the where the child lies on the pendulum. They want to make sure that the grade level proficient, excuse me. Teachers will uh and leave will work collaborative to examine the wind data, the MCAS data again and unit assessments. Sure, we assess a lot at
Glover and I know they do brown as well. It's important to kind of, you know, not always assess like this is a test, but assess, you know, verbally, talk to the kids, find out if they're understanding it. Sometimes talking is easier than writing things down. So, we like to make sure that the students actually are actually articulating what they're
actually learning and what they're hearing from the teacher. Uh my next area is professional environment to increase overall students social emotional well-being and developing schoolwide accountability of our own. We
brought PBS back in. It's we didn't have it last year but we have previously previous years. It's been such a tool that our counselors have done incredible job. They got great buying by our teachers and by our faculty where students feel
empowered to be good be kind citizens and when when they're good and kind citizens we all benefit clearly and um they feel good about themselves and we really take pride of that when they feel good about themselves their image improves their self-worth improves and
they work hard and we build off of that. So we want to provide opportunities for faculty to celebrate all successes in their classroom and beyond. Our teachers recognize our students daily and not just because we want to. They need to do something worth recognizing. We don't
believe every kid should get an add a boy out a girl just because it has to mean something. And we also have monthly Fridays ways to celebrate staff and adults through PBS. We also had a system where our adults celebrate as well by our children
because children would recognize an adult for doing something cool in the school and they would give a give the Delta ticket for being nice. I got a couple so which I'm still very proud of. So we we kind of like model what what we
do as adults to through our children, students of of my children. Um to make sure that we all work together for the school. And my last goal that we talked about is leadership, communication, student centered. Uh we
develop we develop a plan to have parent volunteers to offer that help for enrichments. We talked a lot with our SACE about tapping into our parent population because we talked about when when students are in grade
level or above and they seem bored in bored in class and they want some advancement, we want to find ways to enhance their enrichment in the classroom. Instead of sitting around waiting for a lesson that new lessons are sharp, we want to find maybe during the wind block during other times during the school day. you can maybe bring in
parents that have cool jobs or they have cool experiences that want to come into the school um and teach the kids and work with the kids. Uh I know that when our parents come in to read books on the students birthdays, the kids light up. They absolutely adore when their parents
come into school. So we want to find ways to bring parents into the school to kind of see what we're doing every single day. It's important that you know the parents can kind of live the life of this their child for you know a day and see exactly what who the friends are and what they like to do and listen to their
teacher. So we want that but we also want to continue to collaborate to ensure we're offering inclusive practice throughout the school. Very important to us that all students should get the same curriculum. All students should have rights to everything else everyone else is teaching and we really work hard at
including everyone. And that goes right right back the relationship building that we do in the building where we we greet every student at the front door and we make every student feel important. We want every student to be have access to the curriculum no matter where they are or where they are academically in the school. Uh we have
uh it's kind of like what Mary was saying about we have students voice constantly. We have assemblies all the time. Well once a month we have students present in front of their peers. We take students do the morning announcements every day. um to a point where I used to help them. Now I tell them, I give them
a piece of paper. I told them to figure it out because we don't want to do everything for the kids. We want them to think for themselves. So now it's kind of cool where they take a list, they they coordinate it. You do this, you do this, you do this, I stamp that, we take a couple pictures and and they do it all by themselves. And it it sounds great
and we do it uh kindergarten students do it right up to our third graders. So they get an ultimate taste of public speaking in the school as well. Uh we really believe in that students should own the school, have a part of the school uh and have a voice in the school. We really work hard last 18
months to ensure that it happens every single day at the school. I know uh John D, they come up with school a lot and they see it and they go to our assemblies and uh we take pride in the fact that we get to share the work with everybody. >> Questions questions.
All right. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Yes. Could I ask if we uh could move the surf survey up to >> Sure. >> Before we do that, I think we need to vote to >> Oh, I'm sorry.
>> Okay. So, we'll start with the Brown School. Looking for a motion to approve the school improvement plan that was presented to us tonight. So, moved. >> Second. >> All right. Motion has been made by Pete, seconded by Henry.
All those in favor. All right. The motion passes. Four to zero. Uh similarly looking for a motion uh to approve the Glover school improvement plan as was presented. >> So second. >> All right. Motion made by Henry,
seconded by Melissa. All in favor? >> All right. The motion passes 40. >> Thank you. Can I have a problem? Yeah, that would be great. I appreciate I didn't mean to jump the gun. I just want to make sure we didn't jump into the next person.
>> Um, so yeah, so I'm going to invite Gina Ars. Um, so Gina's going to share the Marble Head High School survey of substance abuse and related risk factors, also known as the SER survey. She's done that for several years now.
Um I want I would be remiss in saying that um not saying that this is unfortunately gonna be the last time that Gina is sharing this survey with us. Um we're sad to report although happens for Gina sad for us that she has chosen to move on from Marblehead. Um
and I think uh in conversations with Gina, you know, I've only been here a couple years, but in the time that I've gotten to know Gina, she's like topnotch. Um she does a lot of work. She's well respected in the district. She's been here for how many years? I don't know. And it doesn't matter
because if you're here a year or 37 years, I mean, she's just she's been phenomenal. It's going to be a huge loss for the district. Um, but I think uh I've been very we've been very supportive of the move because I'm all about growth and development. I think Gina's looking for more of a leadership
role and it's definitely time for her to to do that and spread her wings and um and so I appreciate the time that you've spent here, Gina, in our district with all the phenomenal work that you've done. Um not just for this survey. This is just one little drop in the bucket for those that you do a lot of work
here, but like one drop in the bucket what you do for our students and and your colleagues and um you know receiving history is lucky to have we're sad to see you go. So I started start with that. So >> I cry >> now. Yeah, now you can start.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. I really appreciate that. And the reason I'm ready to move on to a larger role is because of all the support I've got from many people throughout the year. But for really central administration um has been incredibly supportive and mentored me and um you know believed in me and
championed me. So Julia, thank you so much. John, thank you so much. My building administrators and Michelle, thank you so much. And yeah, I'm sad to go, but I'm ready and I'm I'm happy to share this with you. And I know that this will continue on after I'm brought because we've shared all the information
and I'm I'm always happy to walk the next person through what they're going to do, but I know it it's of value to the people. So, thank you for that. All right, so let's jump right in. So the um we call it our youth risk behavior data because it's a combination of the MGH um
schoolwide survey which is substitution risk related factors and then we also have a chance to create our own questions um which we meet as uh the district leadership meets at the start of the year. We have a really great process. We meet we discuss the data from the previous year. We talk about what do we want to know this year
specific questions to Mahhead because this is a survey that about a 100 schools in the state take. Um, and so we really want to make sure our our questions are specific to Marblehead. Um, and we're now in our fifth year collecting data. So we have digitinal data, which is really nice to see. And I just want to say how important it is
that we do this because it's actually used for things. We use it to inform the need for programming and curriculum. I just presented it to the staff last week who can help teacher reach out to can you send that to me because it helps inform the need for what they're doing in their classes. our tiered interventions, our response to, you know, our restorative justice around um
discipline measures and diversion programs when we have assemblies um our our tiered interventions. So all different types of things people go back and look at this data and it's also important to share with our community so that we can see the trends the needs and then kind of respond appropriately. I
think what's great is that um we have some really positive trends to talk about um and so so yeah, I'm going to start sharing the information. So, all of our students take this. They take it in the fall. Um, we had about a 75% response rate, which is great. We always
allow um parents and guardians to opt out. We give them plenty of time to do so ahead of time. Students can also opt out in the moment. So, it is something that's optional, but we do it in a structured way. Um, we share the data with students um when they take the survey because we really want them to to
know their their community and what their needs and strengths are as well. Um you'll hear me kind of show longitudinal data from 2022. Um and we'll talk about risk and protective factors, things that make our students more vulnerable um toward or like
protected from um developing substance use and mental health. And I think important thing to also talk about is you know a limit of a study like this or or really any major survey is um you know how do we know the data is valid? Are students really honest on the survey school about substance use? And I think
we have to consider that. And what we want to talk about is we can't use it to be exact. We use it as a jumping off point a base level. And we use it to compare trends over time. And we can also compare to state data, national data. And that's how we use it. And I
think if you look at it over time, we have a pretty accurate um uh database. So that's just something to do. Do I do this here? >> Go ahead. All right, things to think about. So, the the survey is anonymous and
confidential. Um, they do ask if students need support and that question is separate. All that we get is the counseling staff gets is just a student ID number. We usually get about six to 10 students that we then follow up with because that which is great. Um, other things to note, um, to minimize breaches
of confidentiality, if there were 10 responses or less, they don't include that in the data report because then those students could be potentially identified. So, that's how one way to help to make it confidential. The other thing is we do get comparison data from the other schools that take it. When we write the report, I don't always include it because one of the things they talk
about is comparison schools are not selected to match any known characteristics of MHS like location, demographic. So, it's not always like really comparable. We chose some kind of um data points to compare just so that we could see but I think it's important to know can't always compare um to the
state data because the the towns that take it are not necessarily similar to Marblehead for different reasons. So just uh demographics I think things to of note one of the things we're going to talk about is historically marginalized identities and um students
that may be vulnerable um populations for mental health and substance use. So students that are sexually diverse, gender diverse, students of color, um our population is becoming more diverse. We've gone from about 90% white to 80% white. We do have um lots of different
cultures and so we are becoming more diverse. Just some basic protective risk factors. A great thing is that most of our students feel um positive connection with their peers, which we know is great. um almost 60%
feel connected to a staff member at the school. Always something to improve upon, but it's a good number. Um a little bit of a respect or less than half um feeling happy about the support they receive from people in their lives. So that's something that we want to look at as a whole. Some really great protective factors is that structured
activities and extracurriculars that they engage in. So many of our students engaged in music, sports, club, or having a job or work. Um less than half of our students report getting the recommended hour of sleep that they should. So that's something to look at. And a new question we asked this year was about um risk for problem gambling
about 5.5% of our students. Something to think about. And then really important mental health. So you you see now um four years of data. Red is this past year. Blue is other schools. We did use the other schools to test. So we have above the
risk threshold for anxiety, depression, psychotic features. So the the questions we asked, of course, we can't then diagnose with it, but the questions are aimed at identifying symptoms that could create a di diagnostic profile. So you're you're clinically at risk for having anxiety depression. It's
important to note that just because you may not be clinically at risk, a lot of our students have these symptoms, but these are kind of the ones that are more at risk for having a diagnosis. So about 19% for anxiety, 10% for depression, 6% for psychotic features, which what's good is we're trending downward.
Um suicidal thoughts and behavior are always really important to think about because this is for the safety of our students. Non-suicidal self-injury um thoughts plan all either were the same or went down a little bit from the last year and attempt was about 1%. I think
we take that data really seriously because again our students um about safety for our students and I think our response to this we tier one we learn about um suicide prevention and mental health and depression and the health passes and the speakers come in our mental health staff collaborate we also
have a really great um training system and um safety protocol for our counselors in the building to kind of respond to safety issues and assess and refer it's something that we're always going to be looking at as it relates to students Body image and disordered eating again
trending a little bit down which is positive. About 32% of our students saying that they struggle with regularly with a negative body image. Um about 16% um having trouble concentrating or um because of preactivation um thinking about weight or shape. So that's
something to think about. I know they do include some um tier one uh curriculum and health classes around. So then looking at our populations that we need to be paying attention to that may be u more vulnerable toward u mental health. So students that identify as um
sexually diverse 64% and then we have all different um students of color 58.3% students that are Asian and so on Haitian black African-American His Latino multi-racial um and then freshmen have the highest
levels of anxiety. It was always seniors in the past, but this year it's shipped to a and really the numbers are right around the same, but it was the highest. So, and we can think about that our freshman coming in the transition. So, we want to um I know the high school does a great job and the middle school students who are working together on
that transition and having programming and support, but some and then rates of suicidal thoughts and behavior. Our vulnerable populations again um sexually diverse compared to eight. So, 44% compared to 8.8 heterosexual. Even though this is um across the board, nationwide, this is
data that's pretty comparable. But then again, our students of color um compared to um you see all the data there compared to 9.8% white. So this is where we want to think about um these populations. How do we make sure that this equity and representation of curriculum that our staff are trained in
how to have um inclusive classrooms um that we are our staff are trained in how to identify microaggressions. These are all things that we are always incorporating, but we worked more this year to incorporate. I think moving forward we're continuing to do that so that we're providing the right support for um historically marginalizing
a little bit more specifically students of color um answered these questions. So um and some of them um were more related to peers but others did not include you in their activities your English was for always the highest um percent question for this is you were called racially
insulting names. So that's something really important for us to think about about around our kind of bullying policies and our the interventions we put in place around like replacement language and perspective taking and actively doing which all of our counseling staff um disciple
class disc. So it's really important to recognize that our students of color are having these experiences and these kind of health response and preventive um experiences of discrimination related to other personal identities. So, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion,
socioeconomic status, disability. For some of these, we do also see trends downward, which is great to see. Um but again, it's it's important to know that that these things are happening. And then it's really important when we have mental health um issues going on,
who are we talking to to access support? So, we do our best in school to kind of um make sure that our mental health department is visible, that they're like promoted in the health classes. Um that we're we have a really great open system to refer to our student assistance team if they're students of concern. Um and a
lot of students are talking to their parents or caregivers, friends or family. Some students accessing um therapy support outside of school. What we want to think about as a risk factor is when people are have a mental health situation, they're not talking to anyone, which is about 14%. And so what can we do to try to destigmatize mental
health and make sure that we I know we used cartwheel this year so that we can convert directly to um um a resource for therapy for students. So a lot is in place. So it's again just so now we're going to go into questions about um substance use. So we're going
to see some some positive trends and we're going to see some risk factors. I do think it's important to note that sometimes that we know that we know that teenagers are using substance use. absolutely something that we um need to be responding to and working to prevent at all ages nationally and statewide.
Data has been trending downward over the last three years for substance use support. So, you know, when you look at it sometimes it's kind of like really that's that's it. But I think again we think about like using this as a jumping off point. So it could be a little higher just based on a school survey of course, but we also want to look at that
that statewide nationwide these these numbers are trending down. So we have about 32% of lifetime alcohol use 28% for nicotine and 16% for tools daily or near daily use when we because that first question is have you which
obviously you know in a perfect world none of our none of our children would ever but that doesn't give us a picture of who's using them regularly. So when it's daily your daily that's much more of a risk factor. So um about 1.5% for alcohol, 1.3% alcohol, um about 4.5%
or nicotine. Um age of first use. This is always, you know, we always talk about the same risk factor. All the research shows that the younger you're trying a substance that um as a psychoactive ingredient, the more likely you're going to be to get addicted to that or have an addiction or
a mental health problem later in your life. So, we want to we have lots of conversations about um what we're doing at the lower levels to kind of have conversations about substance use um protective and risk factors around mental health um engaging our parents in our community in that conversation. I
know we now use a health class village because of this which is wonderful. But what this chart shows us is that many of our students are using alcohol nicotine cannabis before the age of 15, which is the youth. >> Gina, can I ask a question? Does your
data tie age of first use and daily or near daily use? Is there a correlation or a connection there? >> It can. One of the great things about the MGH survey is they give you like this really great report and then if you kind of ask for something specific, they'll go in and look at that for you. So that's not something that we have
available to us, but we could look at that. So So um daily use and age of Yeah, that's a great question. How many the younger they use is the more likely that they use every day? Yeah, that's something. Yeah, thank you. So this is another really important
question around impaired driving. So um driving after alcohol use about 2.4% of our students said that they had done that. Driving after marijuana use about 2.5%. And I think this is where we really and I actually go into the health classes. Um they you know a lesson about
substance use and mental health and that's I share this data with them and then we talk about safe driving and I know they do things every year around um safe driving because again if there's something going on with that it's um and then also getting in the car with
somebody else. So have you ever been in the car with somebody else who was um under the influence? It did go down a little bit from last year, which is great, but it's up 90%. It's really important in all of our curriculums here at Dwan. This is something that we're talking about. Texting while driving. Um, only students
with driver's license respond about 165% um about 165 responses. 60% of students reported texting while driving. And what Chief Pay says is that's more than half and so we should be we should be concerned about that. um 34.5 say only
when necessary and 9.7 versus so that's again there's lots of conversations about technology social media I think that ties into that peer perceptions accept substance use so social norm theory tells us the more we think our peers are doing something the
more likely we're going to be to do it because we think the risk is low so what our data tells us is 71.7% of students think their peers are using alcohol at a higher level than the data in the group 62% but negative between about 50% of them. So I think that tells us something
that's why we share the data with the student. So we actually have a student facing data sheet that that they created for us this year that we we hope to use in the fall. Another protective respect is parental attitudes around substance use. So we asked about how would your parent feel
if you were using regularly. Um many of our students said that there would be a consequence or reaction which is positive. We want to be talking to our students about this kind of have boundaries around it. And then another thing is if a parent or gardening has um has a substance use issue or people are
concerned about their parents substance use that's another risk factor. So um but a person and so that's something to think about when we do substance use programming. We always want to be sensitive to that. You know there may be students that are limiting this experience. So we try to always offer support optouts. Um also sometimes
students are able to share theirs which is great. So, a little bit more about substance use. What's great is our substance use on school property has declined from 27% to 10% in the last three years. Um, in the next month, the students that are
using that want to quit, you can see the data there. That tells me that they're getting great education about the negative effects of it and that they're trying. It's just really difficult. But, we have a diversion program. Um and then when we think about um substances that are can be even more addictive or higher
uh risk for overdose 4.5% of students have tried prescription drugs which could include opiates, hallucinogens, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, analog steroids, club drugs social media usage. Um we made this question together last year. Yeah, the
three of us I think and and um Dr. Um 91% of our students use social media, views the media unsurprisingly, Instagram, Snapchat are the highest use. Um positive aspects of social media. They connect to each other. Um business and marketing, spreading awareness for
good causes. Um community engagement. About half of our students recognize that there are negative effects of social media like cyber bullying, peer pressure, phone addiction, privacy concerns, comparison, negative mental health effects. And so I know we brought in different um programs over the years
like project reboot um around like it's year one kind of discussion around this and I think it's something that's always positive as technology and it's always a discussion around the phone policy as well. We talk to them about that and we do focus groups and interesting conversation
and and so I think it's important to that's our quantitative data. I think it's really important that we're then having conversations with students about this. So when I go into the health classes, I then talk to them and have discussions and then we also run a focus group. Um we ran on April 29th. We had
about 20 students participate. Um and so some of the claims um alcohol may be viewed as more acceptable than other substances by adults in the community. And we talk about things. It's like more than half of the students in the post said the same type of thing. Um they're aware of the apparent discussion going on in the community around safety
concern about substance use. Marblehead may normalize census due to local demog demographics especially in the winter like location less to do. Um what's really great is to hear all the all the really smart conversations students I've heard this a lot the students that do
engage in using substances. We look out for each other. We we take each other's skis away. We make sure there's a sober driver. Um, we encourage people that might look like they might be having a problem get really great conversations around risk to kind of support each
other. Um, what we really try to pay attention to also because it's hard to engage in the school setting students around substance use. It's really hard to get in the buy in. Um, and so what we've learned over the last few years is we we've done some big assemblies and those can sometimes have an impact, but
students really appreciate having people with lived experiences come and speak to them in small settings where they're more comfortable to kind of share. And so we do that a lot in health classes and then they they like to say like don't pull me out of my magic block because I like doing stuff. So having it
built into their regular curriculum. So we've really tried to integrate that in the last couple years. Um okay we can go on to that and I won't go over all this but I added this I think there's three three slides now because we try to then think about
all right there's so much good stuff happening what are we doing for SEAL and these are just most of the stuff is run by teachers like in their everyday clubs classes so I just want to give all these people credit for all the things that they're doing I send out an email tell me what you're doing and more every year
I get more and more back so um what's going on in their curriculums clubs um some of the things we talked about with for inclusivity is all happen um our health teachers Carlos Kay Penny Holen do an amazing job based on the data
putting all of this into their so that all students are getting this 9th grade 10 data alone so I won't read it all but you can see there all the important topics they're covering um I always talk to vets about what they're doing and here's kind of a list about their response to a substance use
and mental health. Oh, and that village school, right? We have that information, too. So, I think they put in that. Um, so, um, and both the vets and the high school do esport, which is a state mandated, um, substance use screening for n, seventh grade, and we looked for
that to report that data. And then just a couple notes about new support of this. We have staff training for NAD, trauma informed care, um, commercial sexual exploitation of children, multicultural populations. So this is for all of our staff so that we
can uh in the building know how to respond and um role model for students partnerships like u mascal the vote of health um groups and initiatives like the anti-disermination committee magic coalition health and wellness committee resources that we use like the CSA and
cartwheel in the back and put Sullivan for substance use and we have really great funding resources like the funded VA's office and PCO and this is Julia's obviously love working with Gina and it's been amazing and just this
partnership over the last few years has just been really great to to think about the work that she's doing here and how that can positively impact our students K12. Um so we mentioned a little bit about uh we use the data um when we previously came before ask the school
committee for funding for health educator at village school and that's been going really well. We've piloted um a really strong curricula there and we'll report on that soon. Um but within just Marblehead public schools as a district we have the multi-tered systems of support framework. Uh a component of
that beyond the academics is a social emotional learning and the behavior. So we're looking to work together based off of the data that we're seeing at the high school and think about how we can support our students through um uh where they feel safe, supported, they feel that sense of belonging in school. Um we
are now in year two of our wayfinder curriculum which was mentioned previously by our principles um and our teachers K12 are integrating lessons um to support student sense of belonging and their um skills. Um we are also continuously working to support our
educators Gina and others led amazing professional development this year specifically on March 13th. >> Can I grab the name plate? >> Yeah. I'm at the band banquet right now downstairs in the calf, but they don't believe you.
>> Grab this. >> But thank you so much. >> Autograph that make him think. >> That's awesome. Well, >> and you came back. >> Love that. >> Yeah.
>> Um so, Gina, your session was fantastic this year. um and so many and we have brought in a couple new um guest speaking opportunities, but we did it as Gina mentioned in small groups or small settings. So, we're learning things and implementing that um because we really
just want really healthy supported students in the district and thank you for your work. I'm actually um I'm in a home room for way higher and it's really nice to see the kids engaged in the activities. Um all right, so lastly, like what do we do with this information? Um, and we kind
of already talked through as we went, but paying attention to the early use issue. So, having evidence-based prevention programming at all, um, levels, thinking about local specifics, what makes um, like Marblehead unique to some of the the risk and protective factors, harm reduction around substance
use. So students really respond well to kind of having open conversations and the idea of reducing harm as as opposed to like expecting nobody to ever use or using scare tactics and having like that educational conversation how it affects the brain. um social emotional learning and mental health support like Julia
just spoke about LGBTQA and racial and social justice program which we spoke about throughout um and that relates to the you know representation curriculum and staff beauty um body image and eating disorders and um one of the things I always talk about is parent and
community programming um we really need to partner with our parents and communities because the school does an amazing job and so does our community and parents but um it can't be all in the school it can't be all in the parents state we have to work together to send the same messaging um so that
that three form approach can like best support our students um the social media and cell phone usage and then the school life survey isn't able to so it's really important to continue collecting data any questions >> I have a question yeah
>> um what do you think like in your opinion what do you attribute the the downward trend in almost all of these metrics too. >> Yeah, I think that's a really good question. I think there is almost like a generational response to substance use
right now. I I don't have like the exact data on it, but like things being engaged and other things um not being as interested in it. And I think all that has to do with I think the education and the awareness and um around substance
use and addiction being a mental health issue um and more conversations around that. In my opinion, that's that's one thing. Um in terms of like the downward trend in mental health, I think that's really interesting because like as a as a social worker in the school, my day is
very busy and our department is very busy. We talk about that, you know, is there really a decline? And I I think it's hard to know. That's why that's why you talk about like how accurate is the data. I think we use it as best we can. Um I think people are accessing mental
health supports more and getting and learning coping skills more. Um that's one thing that I can definitely there's also far more mental health supports available. Um and again it's decentization around that conversation. It's okay to access support. That's
that's my like opinion without having like concrete knowledge of the decline. Um, I think it's positive, but I I think it's important because I don't want to assure it's getting better, but I think we need to learn more about the trends and I think we we need to keep the approach we have in place because we
don't want to we don't want to remove anything because I think it's what we're doing is working. But I think it's really I looked at that too and was like, huh, you know, but um I I think a lot of kids are what we try to teach them at least based on like the
the mental health department in high school. I know we're how do we build skills and then get back to class? That's, you know, how do we build resiliency skills so that we're access so I do think there's a little bit more of a shift to in that um want to provide support but it should be really specific
and focused to like coping skills and skill. >> So those are just my thoughts but >> appreciate Thank you. Yeah. And I if I may answer that too, like you know, a lot of these conversations that we've been having, it's, you know, kind of talk about the later grades like but now we're starting to shift towards, hey, we
really need to focus on the grades and I think we'll see the data bear out a little bit differently over the next several years now kind of where the integration is going to school and vets and um I'm hoping I think that's that's I think it'll bear out that way forward
>> actually and I I think because of the response, you know, putting in SEAL supports far earlier is hopefully showing us outcomes now uh over the next over the last few years that the more we kind of put these preventative supports in place around
functioning and social emotional learning we then see that that would be my hope is part of the reason right which I know we've been working on so yeah that like preventative work >> um I had a question as well just I
appreciate all the work that goes into this and it's a tremendous volume of data and so like as you've sifted through it and looked at it what would you say is a bright spot for you and what would be something that you saw in the data that you'd be concerned about?
Yeah, I I I think it's the qualitative data and that when you sit down and have the conversations with students and they want to come and talk to you and they want to tell you about all the positive things that are happening and they speak really um
eloquently and maturely about really complicated complex um situations and to see when they sit in a group together the way they kind of support each other and respect each other. So I think it just in terms of the process that's and I think that's that's a really good way to like know because again you're like
how many kids are taking it? Are they being honest? It's a really good way in the room to know that you're getting like accurate data. So um I and I think also like I just said every year I'm adding a slide of all the things that we're doing for so that's really neat and people wanting to like does this
count and I'm like yeah putting it in the slides. Um so I would say that was the right. >> Yeah. I'm glad to hear about that the the programming starting earlier. Like if you were to ask me what what was contributing to sort of nationwide
trends of of reduced substance abuse, I would said we've got >> better at addressing it earlier and so there's more reinforcement for the kids who who are growing up now. So I'm glad we're continuing to collaboration but community is also huge too. like Dan
Dean touched on quite a bit like a lot of collaboration had with it's not just a school, you know, and that's and that's helping, right? So, for instance, I just had a I just had a conversation with Tom Sarah from the board of health and he's very interested in when this committee goes to five members to start
doing subcommittee meetings that the school committee does because he's seen the good work that's been done there. And we had a conversation just the other day about if we they create a subcommittee, can we include staff from the school on that and really be planful? And I know as a you know Marblehead mental health task force and
this should be even more focused than that and so we had that conversation already. So I think that like that kind of stuff is cool because people are willing to have the conversation willing to not just have a conversation but put it into action and it's because of these kind of conversation this data driven decisions that we're making here that
other people are seeing the good that's coming out of it and wanting to actually be a part of it. So I think all of it's you know positive kind of kind of positive >> one more bracelet and when people ask me for the data and I more and more over the years people you know students will
for like their groups and you know when I have more and more people asking me for it for different reasons and that makes me happy because it's like okay >> I think the stigma too you talk about dstigmat I don't mean jumping in but this is like to me I think you know
dstigmatizing even the substance abuse and mental health seeking help for that is really cool too because I remember one of the first conversations when we at the moment it was it was almost like oh my god this this is showing us bad stuff and we don't want to see it >> and I think that that's that's not the approach we need to take. I'm glad we've
kind of shifted from that >> and very quickly I might add and I think it's it's a good thing and I think that the singment that word um about around mental health is really important you know you've done a great job in some of your colleagues in the counseling
really helping I just it's important >> anything else >> no thank you so much I'm going to tell you that. Thank you so much. Thank you. >> All right. Our next item is um a
revision to our school calendar. >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Superintendent. >> Um thank you. Uh so we had vote on the school calendar and then um you know like anything else we had some more feedback on our PD days and um we had this you know Juliet shared around the districtwide PD day and there's really
some um eager folks to say hey can we replicate that the PD day the way we did it this year next year and so the the um recommendation would be to move the agreed upon PD day from March 29th backwards to March 19th which which is
Friday March 19. So that's certainly a change that we'll be looking into and that's based solely on our educators asking um for us to do that because it worked out really well for them last night. If >> I could add um so when we presented the calendar to the school committee, the PD
day happened after that time frame and they noted two important things um we had that we just didn't pick up. They actually really appreciated the Friday because then it like sent them into the weekend on such a high note and they could reflect on and they didn't have to go do a million things and then back in
the classroom the next morning they could really reflect on their learning. And also that weekend is um for some um a holiday weekend and they were concerned that we have amazing teachers that they wanted to have all the time to prep and be ready and with the holiday
for some of them. They just thought that moving it to the Friday would be a better uh fit um to the 29th. So we're just asking for the school committee to please consider that again as as the superintendent said it's purely um teachers coming to us and the PD committee asking for that.
I'll I'll make a motion to approve the the full calendar. I'll >> second. >> All right. The motion has been made by Henry, seconded by Lassa. >> Any further discussion? All those in favor? All right. The motion passes to zero.
>> Appreciated. >> Uh our next item is an Elard proclamation that Henry has to agenda. >> Yes. So, I I was wondering what we could do to show support for for the override for the additional funding in school.
There's obviously a long list of things we can't neglect official capacity, but um issuing a a proclamation in support of an override is something we could legally do. It's also something that a lot of other school districts have done.
And I think I see this as an extension of the vote that we already made to pass the the override onto the ballot. Think if we didn't believe in it, we we wouldn't have pushed them to the ballot. But um
for me I think it's really important for this school committee to say that as a committee we support and I'll read the I'll read though the the proclamation so that the gist of it is that we support the funding at the highest tier at at
tier 3 8.5 for the schools. um that that is really what the schools deserve and what we should be asking the town for. Um so I I'll I'll read it. It's in the drive, but um this is a proclamation of the
Marblehead School Committee regarding the FY27 to FY29 override. Whereas this Marblehead public schools have su successfully closed a $3.7 million gap for FY27 through the elimination of 18.2 25 letter.
>> Yes. 18.2. This is a problem. >> 18.25 FTE positions and the one-time repayment of 1.5 million in special education out of district tuition. And whereas the onetime options utilized in
FY27 cannot be repeated in FY28, creating a structural requirement for new revenue to fund educational expenses. And whereas tier one of the proposed override 6.2 million schoolside provides the funding necessary to
maintain existing staff and programs and fund special education obligations through FY29. And whereas tier 2 7.2 million schoolside builds upon tier 1 by funding full day kindergarten and establishing a sustainable life cycle
for student classroom technology. And whereas tier 3 8.5 million school site provides the most comprehensive fiscal solution by establishing a recurring school building capital fund and an IND district 18 to22 special education
program to manage long-term costs. Now therefore be it resolved that the Marblehead School Committee officially supports the adoption of tier 3 as the designated funding level to ensure the fiscal and operational stability of the school district through 2030.
Um, any questions about what I >> No, I appreciate you doing this. I think it's a, as you said, we already voted on it. Um, and I think it's it's something that's important that we
as a committee. Thank you for doing that. >> Yeah. Well, I mean, it's it's maybe >> um I agree with what Melissa said. I think this is, you know, a really straightforward essentially recitation of the facts of
our financial situation. Yeah. And I think that it's all we can do, but it's worth doing. >> Yeah, I agree. I I'd rather risk overcommunicating this
than the opposite. >> Yeah. >> So, good. I I don't have no problem supporting this. I'll make a motion to approve the proclamation. I'll second. >> All right. Motion's been made by Kate, seconded by Melissa. Any further discussion?
All right. All those in favor? Motion passes four to zero. >> Thank you, Henry. >> Thanks. We have taken that initiative. Um, >> what do I do with
posting it on the website? >> Yeah, I'll ask Stephen tomorrow if I'm posted. >> I'll send it to you. Thank you. >> Not until tomorrow. >> I I think Do you think the proclamations are typically signed? >> Yeah. Generally speaking, >> so we could just Yeah. Whatever the type
we've used in the past, if we could just have that. Oh, I >> I'll I'll do some research. >> Oh, yeah. >> Or we can just put I mean I I'm just thinking how we've done >> or the school committee letter or
something to be added and signing. >> Okay. Uh the next item is district improvement plan. Superintendent. >> Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, so this has been this has been a process and I appreciate everyone being part of the process and u giving me feedback.
Everybody from staff to administrators to um parents, school committee. Uh so I just want to kind of start with um just kind of framing this and then I'll kind of go through the the the changes that I've made based on some of the most recent feedback. So uh district district
improvement plan is kind of a framework. It's a outline um and it's not really intended to necessarily like identify granular level level items. It's more kind of um overarching what we do because as you saw from the SIPs, you know, that's where kind of we start
getting more granular the day-to-day work that we do is where that granular level work does. So, I know there's some feedback saying, "Oh, we should add some of this and some more of this." And where I appreciate that it's like sometimes um when you get too many pieces of smaller detail kind of it
starts getting lost in the sauce. So I just want to frame that a little bit. Um, so if you didn't see every single thing that was kind of um um asked to be put in there, that's that's part of the reason why um the points not lost on me um around this plan was kind of driven
by I walked in the district and one of the first things I saw things but in the in my first several months I noticed that the plan for success was getting ready to expire. So we got to jump on this pretty quickly. Um this is like se several iteration of the school police
since I've been here. So we didn't really have the opportunity so to speak to have a planful discussion about how what should the district improvement plan look like? How how is it how is it you what is the input from the school to the development I kind of just jump right in and in reflection and in having
conversations and reflecting maybe it could have been done the opposite way it was done. So with that being said, I I recognize that I understand that um you know, I kind of did it from based upon what I saw in the success uh plan for success. Um took the pieces that made
sense, added pieces that I thought we needed to add in based upon my own thoughts um knowing what I the little I did know about the bishop coming in and what I saw some areas of growth that we needed and then starting to gather input. So this this has kind of been reiterated uh several times now and I
thought it was important to kind of frame that part of the discussion recognizing that you know um in a perfect world it probably would have been driven from the school committee perspective to the superintendent it was kind of done opposite and it just was done out of necessity more than more
than a plan. So I what I what I want to mention about that is that you know I mentioned that this is a fluid plan. I I'm not someone that got to do a plan, stick it on a shelf, and pull it back out in three years and say, "Oh, we got to do it again." This will be fluid. This is conversations with obviously our
school leaders, with parents, with the school committee. And I think that I I foresee that as we go through year one and into year two and then year three, um we're going to see things that will evolve. School committees priorities will change. My my priorities will
change. Our school administrators priorities will change. The parents things will change and we'll evolve. and we don't need to wait till we 2029 to start make it I think we make those changes as we go when they make sense. Um, and that's not to say that I'm just going to redo the that's not the same as
redoing the dip every single year because that would be crazy, but like just where where are we with this goal area and these objectives? Are we are we meeting the benchmarks or not? Are we are we way off the mark? And so I mentioned I think at the last or one of the last meetings that my intent is to
kind of come back to the community say here's where we are in these in in some of these goal areas. Here's where we are in some of that. Here's where we're excelling. Here's where we're falling short. And that's going to help kind of drive the discussion when the school committee meets to do your um
summer um the retreat in the summer. You know, maybe that's maybe that's part that's probably a good place to have start having a discussion about hey what might look different. How do we help John to develop this in a way that's um is you know really mean nothing is meaningful
meaningful in a way that aligns with this committee's priorities. Um and you you always bump into you know u five members of the committee now it's election come up it's going to like change and then it could change again you know so every year you may have a change in the committee so you know
that's that's just part of what we deal with um um doing this a long time happens every time um and it's just part of what we need to do. So, I think that's that's really important to me to kind of explain that um I recognize that. I think it's it's an area um that
we'll continue to work on and I think um you know having the progress kind of it's where I am we'll um allow those discussions in an ongoing way rather than waiting to the end of the first year saying oh what did I do well what what did we do well that's that's hopefully well the the school may well
agree with that um some of the changes that I made from the last iteration was uh I added the cover letter there was some conversations about maybe there needs to be a little more of an explanation as to why or what the what the dip actually is. And again, my my shortcoming I've been doing this for a
long time, so I always think everybody understands what it is. So that was very good um input. I kind of outlined that on the front cover sheet just kind of desi guides this like the goals are based upon what they you know that's six overarching goal areas that are outlined by Desi. The core value areas are stuff
that we identify and then we kind of um start to build plan from there. So I added that. Um there was some feedback around the uh on the lefth hand column the improvement strategies to number them which actually is pretty astute observation. Um probably should have done that to begin with but so like for
instance set a goal one the core value areas that are addressed in that goal. So you might one of the feedback that I got was there's not the same amount of core values in each goal area and that's that's purposeful because not necessarily every single goal area is ident you know addressed in every single
you know overarching goal. Anyway, so goal one, the curriculum instruction evaluation, the goal focus area is listed there. Then you have objective A and then what we do is objective A 1 2 3 4 5 six, you know, and so on down the left hand column and obviously personal
responsible resources needed. Then uh the other input that um I had was that other column said assessment, evidence kind of seemed to be a sticking point for folks. So I kind of aligned that to the SIPs a little bit around it's more of a data point than I say evidence or assessment. Some of it could be
evidence, some of it could be assessments, but it could be other things that are more considered data point. So, I I changed that and I think it fits more aptly into the overarching document. And then the other um feedback that I got from several folks was, you know, adding in some sort of an timeline
or an intended timeline in there. And the way we sought to do that was these are the you know, if you look at that right hand column, it's you know, year one, we're looking to work on these these items. and then it'll only say like year one and two makes year one through three. So there's always going
to be ongoing things. It's just it's going to carry through. There's going to be things that we're going to focus on first. And just because it's goal one objective one doesn't mean that's the most important. That's just that's other than goals. So hopefully that timeline will help. So when we get into next year, you know, obviously be focused on
the ones that just say year one. You know, those will be like the the progress area focus um that I think we'll we'll plan on identifying. So, I thought that was um that was some good feedback we got. And then there was some specific stuff. We added some language around the specialized programming a
little bit. We added some more ELLL language in there. We added some um a little bit of MCAST stuff, but I didn't get too deep in the data stuff because that's really kind of born from the conversations that the principles have with with the committee and share that. Um we added in some other areas where
the the teaching and learning was kind of maybe not absent but needed to be focused on a little bit more like who's responsible for that teaching and learning. um department things like that. So you know tweaked a lot of that. Um I was really thankful for Julia um in this last iteration along with the
school committee um feedback her um teaching or coaches for teaching learning department really kind of went through together even though they had the opportunity as an administrator as staff some of them as parents to give their feedback they sat together and
really really great it was great. So it was good. It was it was good solid feedback that was like, "Oh yeah, like you know, and not that we hadn't had the conversations. It was just a different view and a different input and I love that and that was great."
>> And you joined us. >> I did. >> You were amazing to join us and have conversations and we had a couple questions about things and you >> outlined a great vision for us. So we really appreciated that. >> Yeah. And I think you know and and again I thank you and I think like reflecting, right? It's always good to reflect. I think they try to model that for
administrators is when we reflect on what we're doing like how could we have done it better? How could we have started maybe in a different way like I mentioned earlier? How could we how could I have maybe got some some affinity groups together differently? I mean, we met as admin teams and they yeah, this is whatever. But of course,
it's the beginning of the school year. They're trying to get their buildings on. They know come on like whatever. So, we have to kind of have those ongoing conversations. But, um I think I think it's good. I would have I would have liked to have maybe some again and I'll reflect on this is how do I get staff to
give me a little bit more pointed and ongoing feedback. I think sometimes when you create things in a survey kind of thing, people get nervous cuz this survey was intended to become um anonymous but folks get nervous. They're like I don't want to share my thoughts.
I'm going to get in trouble. whenever the that's a cultural thing I have to change because realistically input is important and to give the input so I can put it in a plan and and address it is what I'm supposed to be doing as a superintendent if I'm not getting the input I can't I don't know what the
areas are so um so I'll look to kind of evolve that a little bit more um and you know so on throughout but um again I know I didn't address every single point that folks made but I I hope I captured some of what more of what we're looking
for as a as a team and be more than willing to have further conversations and um ensure that you know whatever needs to be in this plan from all perspectives is >> that's what I ask John just to I think this is a small thing but on page two
you specifically address the core value areas that are accomplished in the plan >> and there's six items listed right so there's you know and there all the goals are going to address all six and in detail which but if you go down to like
page 10 I think it's goal four there's seven core value areas listed so I don't know if the solution is just adding one more core value at the top >> I don't think there's any is there any
doubled up you know the nurturing safe educational environment was added into that um I I have to I think with that I think that was added in as uh as feedback from one of the groups and so >> therefore maybe standing it back up to
the top is fine. >> I I I want to say that probably came from the admin group and when they had some editing right so which is fine and I appreciate you bringing that out is that what I saw the feedback it was like I know okay great
yeah me >> you got it. Yep. Appreciate that. Yeah, it's there's a lot of bullet points here. So, I love it and it's hard to look at all, you know, it's hard to even the way it's for like SC.
Um, I appreciated your comments at this opening because I know that they at least are in part in response to some feedback that I've given and I think that this is a great plan and I they were really behind the goals and objectives that are articulated here.
Um, I'm struggling with the fact that I don't see sort of the overarching message of like this is where we are trying to go and this is taking us like where where is this taking us? Um, but I see that as really the snow committee's role to say this is where we want to go
and then you tell us how we are going to get there. Um, and I don't think it makes sense at this juncture to sort of impose that higher level plan on top of this. Um, but I think that now
there's an opportunity for the committee to sort of deeply engage in using this to shape our own goals for next year. um you know working with you on where you know where our progress is and then using that to drive the creation of the
next plan and to have that start from whoever is saying this table at that time saying this is where we want to see the Marvel space go in the next 3 years tell us how what we need to do to get there >> and I I I wholeheartedly appreciate I
think that's great and that's kind of what I was alluding to at the beginning that this was kind of driven by, you know, hey, what do I think we need to do in Marble Head? And now, now, you know, I've been here 2 years now. It's like they have a much better or much clearer thought about some of the things we do. Like Julie and I have had this
conversation like we're starting our third year together, which is crazy on one hand, on the other. I'm like, wow. Um, but I feel like I have my feet a little bit more firmly on the ground after the first two years. And, you know, starting to develop closer bonds and relationships with staff. It's it's
helpful because now people are seeking me out more and having conversations that you know they're nervous to have when comes in. Um so all that matters and I think um part of what you were saying Kate also with the the the dip and the sips and all the conversations
really drive I I try to lead from the middle. I don't lead from the top down. I try to lead from the middle and part of me leading from the middle is establishing evaluation goals for administrators that are shared and that shared goal helps to create culture. It helps to create alignment. It helps to
create consistency. We're not there yet by any stretch of the imagination, but we're getting there. That takes a little while, but this is some of the work that has to happen to be able to create goals that make sense. Like I came in like I think we should start here. And that's what I did. I quite frankly I said I
think this where we need to start. Um so this is all right. It's all good stuff. >> I think that's an interesting perspective. Uh when I think about strategic planning, usually you do kind of identify what the end point is and then this is more how you get there. >> Yeah.
>> And maybe we can I I have no problem school committee step, you know, stepping up and doing some of that and maybe we can tie together if some of what the end points are a little bit more identified that might be providing some of the why we're
doing this and where we're trying to get. the >> Yeah, I think some of it is baked in here just sort of pulling it out and >> you know I have a whole separate thought for another time about >> I somehow ended up on an email list from my high school and so I received there
the strategic plan in this sort of like beautiful produced you know electronic format and I think that that's something that you know the school committee could help distill this into it's not going to be what that was but >> you know communicate out the community
so people understand what the plan is for the next three years we're working on and why but that's a conversation for >> yeah I think there's value I think there's value in making it all shinier for sure and I think there's also like I also don't want to hide things in shininess cuz I I've seen that like
firsthand I'm like this looks beautiful and it's a strategic plan and you me there's no substance whatsoever so I'm I hear you but I'm like I'm all over I'm like here here's the substance okay now learning folks have already offered to, you know, they were showing me all sorts
of links and this and that and I was like, but like some we have some really good folks in district that that do that time. How can they enhance this too? So, I think the partnership and the collaboration will be I think it's awesome.
>> Yeah, I I I like the idea of having this as a tool when people come to us with questions. Have you ever thought about like this happened to me today at the farm where people would come up and speak about
the technology in schools and and what I should have been able to do and what I should have done was pull pulled this up and said well this is actually one of our district goals and here's the timeline for it. Here are some of the data points that we're using to measure it. So I think
getting people accustomed to using this document in that way would would really help it. Yeah. >> Yeah. And and people will the gotcha. I've seen that. So, you know, I don't, you know, don't love that. But I, you know, sometimes it's accountability is accountability, right? So, I mean, I
again, I try to model that for our administrators, too. Like, you have to be accountable to your to your own action. You have to be accountable. You can make mistakes. Um, and so like a a public document like this, 100% people are going to be like, well, you said you were going to do this and you didn't do
this. And, you know, and that's going to happen and and I get that. M you know because that one thing might be very important to a handful of people and if they're not seeing progress on it we're going to get called out and that's that's what you've been playing field >> you know it's never you know kind of a
live document some some of these might go away we might decide hey time has gone you know >> y >> 16 months has gone by and now this particular goal doesn't make as much sense as it did then and so we're going to remove it versus always keeping it on there to say you know why didn't you do
Sorry, I didn't mean to. >> If you're accomplishing everything, then your goals probably aren't >> enough. Yeah, you shouldn't be able to. >> It should be a balance. And that's that's kind of what I was going to say. Like even when we do our eval our teacher evaluation goals, our administrator evaluation goes. So I'm sitting down with something and then
you're like, "Oh yeah, no, I finished that and said we need to shoot by or sitting down and say I'm not close to finishing this then you shut the so it's the balance and that's that's really part of the the challenge of talking about this cuz you're never going to hit it right on." And so but you also don't want everything you just said going cuz
some of it could be but the other thing is there was some feedback at some point um that was like well we're already doing a lot of this. I'm like we are but like this also gives us opportunity to say we need to continue doing this and how do we enhance those areas to do it better. So it's not just forward I mean
I I mean I don't stuff fall stuff. So what do you recommend we do in terms of checking into what do do you want to check in in six months? Do you want to check in? You know, like
>> I think it makes sense to probably, you know, uh do almost like maybe like plan like a quarterly kind of thing cuz obviously I'd love like this this all basically be implemented for the fall, right? So I need a little bit of time to to get going. Um so maybe somewhere on
before the holidays makes sense to do first check in, you know, till Novemberish maybe. Um and then we can kind of talk about from there probably makes sense. But I'm I'm open to suggestions. It's there's no cookie cutter approach. I just I would I would
highly advise against waiting till the end of the year to find out >> or certainly not the end of three years. Um >> easier to do it. >> It is three. Yeah. >> And then it's also we can say like we can identify right then and there like
okay we're not close. >> Yeah. I'd much rather do that than be like spending all summer red doing the whole thing because we only need seven set of theme parks we can push to the end. I think we've established a key like for the for the financial updates which I know I'm kind of muffling it's a
little bit off this but like having a cadence to the topics we're checking at these meetings and also again I hope that the more we do that the
easier it is for teachers instead of >> so we comfortable starting with portal Yeah I we'll make that part of our calendar you know quarters but >> I think we'll learn is you know we
probably want to focus on things a little bit more in the immed future if we have a goal that's two years away that may not that we don't have to report on that for you know immediate >> employers or can you do like hey these are like goal yeah do the year year one stuff here's where we think we're going
to meet the goals do ongoing. We'll get to that. You know, that's that's probably the way to do it. I've done it. I've done it different ways, but um and there sometimes like you say, it could be like say for instance, we're building a new school like that would be
a major part of things that that would cause us to have check-ins not just on a facility thing, but like a lot there's a lot to it, right? So, you would check in a lot more frequently. So, if there's some big thing, you might want to focus on that a little bit more. But I think I think the way we have it crafted very
poorly makes sense and if we need to do more develop we comfortable approving the district improvement plan tonight. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Okay. I'll make a motion that you need approve the district improvement
plan presented by our superintendent tonight. >> I'll second that. >> All right. So I'll make the motion seconded by Kate. All those in favor? All right, the motion passes four to zero. >> Thank you so much. I appreciate that.
Thanks. Village. Yeah, it's good. So, I appreciate all the input feed you back. >> All right. >> Uh, next item is an anti-semitism task force and Jewish Heritage Month activities update. So, I'll turn it over
to our superintendent. I'll be tracking second. Um, so a couple things. one um the I'll start on the anti-semitism um it's actually anti-discrimination um committee if that's okay um
>> anti-discrimination committee uh update is that we met on March 16th was our last meeting um we're scheduled to meet on June 4th uh we were meeting pretty reg like mostly monthly every I think about six weeks or so um we've had we
had some committee members that you know have been not coming regularly. So there's been a little bit of disconnect. But what I will tell you is that the last couple meetings what we're working on we're going to finish out the year with on hopefully on June the 4th is uh
a reporting form for um students and st you know a reporting form for um discriminatory actions behaviors. So uh what we did was we looked at our current policies. We looked at what do we have? We have we have a lot of uh forms and things from
bullying and harassment which obviously can be part and parcel of um but we didn't have anything specific to discrimination harassment specifically cuz not all going in since you know they're not all either one or the other. So what we did was we looked at several
different school districts um what they had for policies and their forms um and we discussed it as a group um to say you know our harassment policy really speaks to what we need to so we felt comfortable with that but our we didn't have we just didn't have a board that
spoke to discriminatory things harassment um so we're looking to hopefully finalize that um I have just catched up some events that that we we came up with um some parts from one school district that had done it and so on. Another staff will gel it together,
bring that to the committee on the fourth and hopefully we'll have enough committee members to um have a robust discussion and then uh you know hopefully have a finished product before end of the school year. That's the plan and then um we'll talk about what that looks like for going forward like um do
we continue to have a committee in another way? Do we do a do we start off the school year? Did you have hot? You know, all those questions will come up just like any other debate that we have. Um just kind of see the the lifespan is been assessed as well. We know it's ne
necessary, but like how faithful and what we want. Okay. Um I want to get to I think we're in a much better place than when I started. Um I think there's always people that think that it could be a lot more a lot different, but that's that's um being on a committee.
Um, so I'm going to just reflect on this year and see what went well, what could have gone better, and where we actually need to go. We'll have that conversation at the June meeting sponsor. So, there's that. Um, the Jewish American Heritage Month update. Um, I'm a little I just
I'm not going to go to I'll give an update. I just I thought it was a little weird that we're asking for this when we didn't ask for any update on any of the other heritage months. Um, so I'm not really sure why, but um I will share not That is something we probably need to think as a committee to be more consistent.
>> Yeah. >> Around, you know, >> and I'm fine. I I'm fine doing. I just >> Yeah, I can understand where it's a little inconsistent right now, but we'll we'll address. >> So, um No, I appreciate that perspectives. Uh so, anyway, um so I'm going to talk mostly about the high school because then that's where the the
benefit of most activity is. So, for um we've had, you know, student voice has been conversation that we've been having since since last year. Um so student led effort um with four of our uh our students that are Jewish Maya Burman, Gabby Burman, Jack Conley and Dellayia
height. Um Kasia our co-director and Dr. Carlson met with the students several times over the past few months to help plan some of the activities for the school. Um and um K is also I encourage students to kind of um inject some of
the Jewish heritage into the culture feast that's coming up. So I thought that was really cool. So um there's also been conversations with John Constantino and the food services around how do we address any of the any of the area demunks through the food services. Um
and I'll just be very uh blunt that some of his concern making sure that his authenticity in providing food of a certain culture or heritage he gets a little nervous. He's not not doing it justice. So he's a little not he doesn't want to do it. He's just a little hesitant. So he's doing something for
Jewish ter we want to say don't bully I think he's got to do like lots of ball suit so it's you know cuz you know you start talking about different terriers you know if we have kosher we don't you know things like we can't really do do it the proper way we want to make sure we're not you know um so that's but
we're working on that we're going to we're going to get better at that um so let's see the Dr. Carlson Mr. going to the village talk about students visiting to share um information and possibly the sixth grade pri prioritizing Jewish heritage. So that's kind of a non
ongoing conversation. Uh the magic coalition, the Jewish student union um trying to form a a partnership in a little different way. Hasn't gone exactly how we would hoped, but um they're working on that. I said that's something. Um and then there was some conversation about from the the students
around um when the banner flag and banner um policy was created. Jewish Heritage Month banner was not one of the was not one of the banners that was identified. Um so they were talking about um should we should we have that as part of you know should we hang that
should we not should so I had the conversation that we need to have that conversation with the policy subcommittee at some point and how do we how do we manage that cuz I'm thinking there's also other months that we may have you know you always run the risk when you're when you make a list in a policy then you're going to miss
something so I think that's that's for future conversation but it it was part of it so um so I just want to share that uh Dr. Carlson um has uh Jewish American students um doing morning announcements throughout the month um or you know just uh making doing all the announcements
and sharing you know information um she's also doing that with um Asian-American islander students as well. It's also um that heritage month. Uh let's see she's she's doing um they're working on writing or watching uh documentaries and social studies
class here. Um, one is called Shared Legacies for students in grade 11 US history and AB US history. They got to view that film. And then the path to Nazi genocide, which is for students, um, grade 10, Western traditions and AB European history. They got view those films. So that's those are films that
they talked about, the students brought those forward. They tal they vetted them through the administration. Um, not sure exactly when they're going to be added in, but they'll be they'll be viewed as part of Jewish courage. Uh we're going to talk about that. Uh they're displaying the Jewish, you know,
famous Jewish Americans on the screens and posters um around around the building as part of um Jewish American Heritage Months. Um districtwide, we talked a little bit about the Holocaust environment that's going to be speaking at events. Um we have one of the students earlier
mentioned Gabby is going to bring 100 lis lockas um to Culture Feast. Um so that'll be full. And then they did talk about getting the the and the snow cattle car the cattle car for
the um but it's it's really expensive so it just falls but there was conversation like get that um kind of part of like heritage month. Um those are the main things. I mean there's other things going on in the district folks in high school. Um so um yeah
that's that's the update I'm doing so far and again going forward I think we just need to have the conversation we have to update interment or or not so just >> all right uh our next item is subcommittee and lays on updates
>> uh facility subcommittee met we reviewed the items that we um that we not covered during our building walks. Um, sort of where those play if anybody's interested. I know Mike has a list and also he you went through that list of
status of all the on um and the other thing you discussed was the village Portland some improvements to there's there's a there's a parent group
said >> um policy subcommittee hasn't met since our last meeting yet we have a very ambitious agenda in an attempt to fully review the policy manual and the SC updated changes. So, brace yourselves
things. >> I just want to say um the key job wasn't that having done that before, having been part of doing that before, it's it's very uh it's very cumbersome to appreciate it because you know MAC is
constantly reviving. But I think when when you when you noticed there was a lot of like all they created policies that we work looking at we we had shared all my you know I reviewed them she didn't kind of share with me
anything called on steal on some of the help ones so this is certainly a lot of collaboration with share thanks because that's that's yman's work for sure >> and we heard from vessie they approved the revised CTE the middle school
exploration celebration. So, thank you for all of that. Right. >> Special. >> Any other updates? >> All right. Um, any correspondents?
>> Just the two that I put in the drop box. >> That's right. I have way too many papers tonight. Been bravy. All right. So the mid Sume talked about the Mel Nelms's visit to the middle school. So there's a little
publication called Midlines and we were uh we were celebrated there. So it says Marvel Marvel Head Veterans Middle School is newest known spotlight school. I just talk I won't read it but it talks about um how they came and they they will say during the tour led by eth grade students. One said there isn't a room
that I would I walk into that I don't feel comfortable in. Another said it's just so great the teachers care so much. it's what we were feeling as well, but we wanted it's great to hear directly from the students. So, that's really cool. So, we were published there. Um, so that's awesome. And then we received
a congratulatory um letter from Commissioner Martinez. And I will read this cuz it's short. Um, dear John Ramadoo, congratulations on your school's good work on reducing chronic absenteeism. We recently uh released chronic
absenteeism data through March 1st, 2026. And your district is one of 55 districts that decrease chronic absenteeism by at least 5 percentage points or more over the March 2025. I don't know why I keep saying that straight. I can't say it now. I got to
say it absenteeism rate. Thank you for your attention to this important subject, which is the foundation of student success. and then going to fill out a survey around the strategies um that your district put in place that have led to this improvement. In the meantime, I hope you will share your district's accomplishment at your school
committee and I hope your school community takes pride in all that you have achieved. That's been Pedro Martinez, the commissioner of education, which is awesome. I mean, it's clearly not where I wanted to be still. You know, we have to shoot higher, but one out of 55 districts out of 351 districts
in in Mass is pretty cool. >> Yeah. So, um, we'll continue that. It's important to be in school. I will at the beginning of school share my little data chart that shows like what 10 minutes late means. Missing one day of school over 10 and this some pretty telling little chart they like to send out just
as a reminder. But, um, chronic absenteeism is is tough and it's it's a collaborative effort. It takes talking to parents, takes, you know, a lot of the stuff that Gina talked about today is a reason why kids are coming to school more frequently. So, all good stuff. Thank you for all that you and
your team have done. You know how important that issue is. >> Thank you, sir. It's awesome. Thanks. Yeah. Good stuff. That's all I have. >> Thank you. >> Um I'm looking for a motion and vote to meet in executive session for the
following three reasons. Executive session pursuant to chapter 38 section 21 A3 purpose 3 to discuss strategy with respect to and in preparation for collective bargaining. The Marble Head Education Association, Occupational Therapists, physical therapists, board certified behavior analysts,
occupational therapists, assistance, physical therapist assistance, certified nurse assistance because an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position in the school committee. The chair so declares without intent to return to open session. Executive session pursuant to chapter 38
section 21A7 purpose 7 to comply with or act under the authority of any general or special law federal grant in aid requirements specifically the open meeting law uh chapter 3A sections 22FG relative to the school committee's
executive sessions for the following dates December 19th 2023 October 17th 2024 November 20th 2024 November 25th 5th, 2024, January 6, 2025, January 15,
2025, July 31st, 2025, December 4th, 2025, and December 18th, 2025. In executive session pursuant to chapter 38 section 2183 purpose 3 to discuss
litigation Marblehead school committee and Marblehead Education Association MUP-26-12060 is an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the school committee and the chair so declares without intent to return to open session.
>> So second move. Yeah. >> All right. A motion can be made by Henry, seconded by Kate. I believe it's a roll call for for this. So unless you >> favor. >> Henry >> in favor. >> Kate >> in favor. >> Al in favor. The motion passes 4 to
zero. So we will enter into executive session pursuant to chapter 3A section 21830 purpose 30 to discuss strategy with respect to in preparation for collective bargaining with the Marble Head Education Association occupational therapists, physical therapists, sport certified behavior
analysts, occupational therapist assistants, physical therapists assistance, certified nurse assistants because an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the school committee and the chair so declares without intent to return opening session. Uh also
executive session pursuant to chapter 38A section 21 AC purpose 7 to comply with or act under the authority of any general special law federal grant in requirements granting aid requirements specifically the open meeting law
chapter 3A section 22FG relative to the school committee's executive sessions for the following dates December 19th 2023 October 17th 2024 November 20th 2024 November 25th, 2024, January 6th, 2025,
January 15, 2025, July 31, 2025, December 4th, 2025, and December 18th, 2025. And also executive session pursuant to chapter 38, section 2183, purpose 3 to discuss litigation, Marblehead School
Committee and Marblehead Education Association, MUP-26-12060. has an open meeting. You have a judgmental effect on the litigating position of the school committee and the chair so declares without intent to return to open session. Okay, we'll have our executive session
in this room.