##VIDEO ID:DoHa0p-88QQ## we are recording Christina do you know if anybody wasn't going to be present no I haven't heard from anyone hi Curtis hi all so we're waiting on Steve and Ursula here's Steve Steve me touch Bas with Ursula sh she's on her way great would you like me to start the going ahead and call the meeting to order and start the niceties but we can hold off on anything important until Ursula arrives absolutely all right so I'm going to call this meeting of the Mount Greylock Regional School District school to school committee to order on Thursday November 14th 2024 at 601 p.m. this meeting is taking place virtually pursuant to the law signed by Governor hey on March 29th 2023 which extends the temporary Provisions pertaining to the open meeting law the language does not make any substantive changes to the open meeting law other than extending the expiration date of the temporary Provisions regarding remote meetings from March 31st 2023 to March 31st 2025 this meeting will be live streamed on will.org and broadcast live on Spectrum cable TV channel 1303 in Williamstown meetings will be available as video on demand within 24 hours after the meeting on mgsd YouTube channel uh and it's specified within the agenda the URL for that YouTube channel as well as onet.org um so with that done uh we'll do a roll call to begin the meeting Bowen here conry here Constantine here Elfen B here green here Miller here and UR so let you arrived just in time to say Malloy here but we can't hear you quite yet okay now now you're good sorry Zoom had to update and it was a computer thing yes we're good all right um so I'll I'll read the mission statement Mission at Mount Greylock Mount uh at Mount Greylock Regional School District our mission is to create a community of Learners working together in a safe and challenging learning environment that encourages rest restorative based processes respect inclusive diversity courtesy integrity and responsibility through high expectations and cooperation resulting in lifelong learning and personal growth the next item on the agenda is student update I do not see either of our student council Representatives on yet so we can return to them if they a do arrive and the item after that is the masc presentation of the division 6 all state school committee 2024 award so I can I can do that um thank you yeah so on behalf of the Massachusetts Association of school committees I would like to to present the Allstate or an Allstate school committee award to Christina conry um Christina has provided steady leadership to the Mount Greylock Regional school committee for over four years not just through the challenges of covid but also through the transition of two different superintendant she has calmly and abl partnered with each superintendent to ensure that the committee could be effective and efficient while pending to challenges such as limit lied budgets a controversial track and field project and multiple contract negotiations with each bargaining unit due to her leadership and despite tensions that have Arisen in schools across the Commonwealth and the country the Mount Greylock Regional school committee continues to work cooperatively and cohesively to provide the appropriate oversight and support to its District so thank you Christina on behalf of the masc thank you thank you all right so the next item is my favorite because it's the last for me uh reorganization of the school committee um we're going to do um this uh this process of electing a new school committee chair um I'm going to follow policy BDA uh exactly um word by word and what it um requests that I do is it it first it first asks for a roll call um where each member will announce the name of the candidate of their choice and at the end of that ballot process I will ask if any member wishes to change their ballot vote I will then declare the ballot closed and announce the vote um so what I'm going to do is call on each of you in alphabetical order if I can um you will indicate the name of the person that you would like to be the next chair of the school committee um and at the end of that process uh if we have a majority that person will be the new chair of the school committee um if we do not have a majority then we will move um to have somebody make a motion presumably within that group of people that will be then be voted uh by a majority vote um either up or down as we move through um the people who are nominated point of order Joe yes if I'm using that term correctly um step one says nominations for the office of chair will first be made from the floor and then we do that process where we name who it is that we would vote for yeah yeah so I think we if we have multiple names then we go through that process if we have one name from the floor then we don't need it so why don't I ask for nominations from the floor can I make a nomination yes Julia Bowen I would like to nominate Julia Bowen as chair I will second that nomination and if I may um Julia and Jose and Ursula have just been reelected um to serve their next board years they've all been on the committee now for four years um Julia has shown um just great empathy for everyone and solid listening and communication skills and I really think she would be an excellent chair um to our committee are there any other nominations with dramatic pause I hear no others and therefore I would like to have a roll call vote uh for that nomination Bowen I conry I Constantine uh gratefully thankfully um yeah I elen Bine I no backies green ey Malloy ey Miller I can I say something very briefly sure on be on I'm sure I'm speaking on behalf of the committee I just want to thank Christina for her excellent stewardship over the years and to just remind the people people at home that you the tradition of the committee has been to rotate the chair uh especially between towns but you know with all that was going on it was very nice that Christina stepped up for so long and you know greatly appreciated everything you have done thank you and I believe that means that Julia we turn it over to you congratulations and thank you in advance and bear with me please I thank you I just want to Echo what Steve said thank you so much to Christina those are huge shoes to fill um and I ask you all in advance to bear with me as I um try to uh step into those shoes um I want to continue down the reorganization of the school committee but I also note that uh Liz lefant has joined us from masc um and uh Liz if it's if it's all with the committee I would just like to help Liz see where we are on the agenda and if she wants to add anything should back to the previous agenda item so Liz I already um presented because I wasn't sure if you were joining I'm sorry but do you want to add anything I I read the statement that um um we had supplied to Glenn but is there anything else that you'd like to add perhaps not Liz are you there okay so let's let's move on um and here I apologize Liz yes we can and did you hear Carrie I I did yes and I'm I'm sorry I'm having internet issues which seems strange to even say in this day and age but I know if anybody could understand that it folks out in Burkshire County so I apologize but it was a little bit beyond my control thank you Carrie for um reading that statement I just I guess I would like to add if I could that during the years that I've had the pleasure and honor really of working with Carrie um Carrie Christina y Christina I do mean Christina as as chair of the mount grock school committee during some pretty stressful times she really was always just the epitome of calm and pl oh no yes Liz are you there I am it's my internet I apologize okay I'm here okay you guys go ahead with your meeting um thank you so much Christina for everything you've done thank you Liz thank you Liz okay um so now sorry let's go back to the reorganization of the school committee and I will look for a motion to nominate a vice chair I would like to nominate Christina conry as Vice chair thank you Carrie is there a second for that motion second thank you Curtis um any discussion and just for discussion item you know again for the people at home it's been our tradition to have the cheer and vice chair from different towns and and I will personally say I will at stepping into this having not been the vice chair I will deeply appreciate Christina's engagement as Vice chair and learning from her in that process so um thank you I we need to vote on that so roll call vote Bowen I conry I Constantine I Elfin Bine ey green ey Malloy ey Milla I thank you that passes and now um I will look for nominations for secretary I'd like to nominate Steve I will second that I guess I probably should be following BDA but I'm also only hearing one um nomination so if I'm not hearing any other nominations then let's um we need a motion I guess to nominate sorry a motion for Steve to be the chair or the secretary secretary secretary secretary yeah so moved from Ur second from Carrie yeah okay h and a roll call vote Bowen I conry I Hon Elfen by an i green I Malloy I I great that motion passes um and as the agenda notes um subcommittees will be determined in December so we'll come back to to changes in subcommittees um I will now look for a motion to appoint uh Joe berson as the district secretary Millis so move second thank you thank you uh motion by Steve second by Carrie and uh any discussion hearing none uh let's move to a roll call vote Bowen I conry I Constantine ey Elfen B ey green I Malloy I Miller I great that motion passes um moving us to public comment I do not see anyone from the public and I did not receive any thank you notifications okay as the former chair thank you um okay so let's move to the approval of the minutes from October 10th 2024 can I have a motion to approve those minutes please Miller so move to make it easier for the transcript a can I have a second second thank you Carrie any discussion about those minutes hearing none I will'll move to a roll call vote boen I conry I Constantine I Elfen B ey green i m i Miller I excellent um these meetings will go fast this is good um let's move to the principals and directors report and I believe we have Nolan on uh for a school year update good evening everyone um Joe said two to three minutes which is really hard to parse down the first 51 days to two to three minutes so I'll hit you with some just cool cool things one thing we brought back this year which we haven't done since before the pandemic is we have our grade six leading groups um and what that means is they meet with Miss renzi and Miss vile and they prepare presentations and to the students five through uh K through five so the first one was in the middle of September they broke out in their groups and they talked about what it means to be a wyver wyvern which is our mascot and kind of like what lboro is all about our our culture and who we are as a school and then in mid October they rolled out our positive behavior interventions and support system um which is getting a blue ticket so they went students went to nine different stations each led by a different sixth grade group and they learned like ways that they can earn a ticket and then all ways that it's reinforced they come to the main office they tell Mr G how they earned a ticket they get a sticker home rooms at the end of the week that have the most tickets get a pict picture in the wyver weekly end of the month get an extra 15 minutes of recess and potentially if they have the most at the end of the trimester maybe a game of basketball or something with a teacher or principal so that's the first cool thing second cool piece of data robino helped me with this yesterday um year to date uh this time last school year we had 635 absences already um this year we only have 506 which is a significant decrease and I think we've had more days of school than last year it's got to be pretty close um so that's that's a great step in the right direction of what we're doing and then lastly a new thing that we're doing some teachers are taking on is we're having like these prek and younger family nights um so miss Chris our prek teacher Mrs V our uh School like our Sharon ker OT and Cindy jingis our speech and language speech and language pathologist put the put together these after school events for young families they come in they do they work on social emotional skills they work on OT they work on um all these cool things to help build our pipeline into our prek and our our school um and then lastly book club is starting on Monday our book first book this year is this is my world by the Lonely Planet Cooperative um and 84 different kids from around the world talk about their Homeland and their culture um so I'm looking forward to that starting on Monday but I think that was about two to three minutes I could go on I have a whole list I just picked the ones I liked or the ones that I think the ones that you would like um Ursula I see your handed up yeah sorry I have a question um the absence data that's awesome I was wondering if you have any notional a of why that might be or is it just coincidence like have you done something different or uh people are just sick I think there's there's two pieces that I think are right play here one is we were adamant about people being at school I think nurse Larson and I have been on the same page about making sure when kids are out they're like hey we know that you're out what's going on how do we get you back and the second is the general I I don't want to speak for everyone but the fear of being a a contagious person has also diminished a little bit not it's not completely gone there are still some families are like I'm I'm freaked out my kids going to get other people sick um but I think that's just the way of the world getting sick at in element like the first two weeks of elementary school is like a right of passage thank you anyone else all right have a great evening thank you Nolan all right uh let's go over to you Jose for the policy and governance subcommittee report yes thank you Julia we will uh we will miss you whoever is going to be on this subcommittee will certainly miss you um but uh I can dive into uh this action item which is policy bedh public comment um we heard uh Curtis read this as a discussion item um this was moved unanimously by the policy and government subcommittee to of the full committee um would anyone like to to Second our motion har second uh thank you Carrie uh any discussion of the policy that we have before us they always say wait 30 seconds and someone was it's bound to to speak up but I think we're pretty close um on that note we'll roll call vote to uh vote on this on this motion Bo and I H I think you hry I Constantine I El by I green I Malloy I Miller I motion passes uh up next we've got uh uh this action item on WE sending policies B DH hyphen e and BH hyen R um excuse that sound of beeps behind me uh this I can't recall Julia as our notetaker I I think we also actually can you can you remind us where we sat as a subcommittee if this was something that um we moved to the Flor the committee we're sending in these two policies um I believe they are embedded in the new bedh and I'm seeing a nodding head from Curtis and so they are um redundant or pot potentially contradictory but theyh now takes over okay um I think because they're scheduled that we still vote and maybe to be safe um I'll welcome a motion to resend these two policies so moved Curtis moves second uh any discussion on resending these two policies I think it's keep this one short so we'll roll call vote B and I hry I Constantine I Al B ey green I Malloy I Miller I right the motion passes and I get to pass it right back to you Julia thank you um we are going to move to the business administrator report and that will be Joe just getting my screen sharing setup there all right so the first item within this update is uh field and track project update um we are we're pretty much there we have a punch list of of items um that are being completed right now um some of them will will need uh to carry forward into the spring um once grass is growing again and final checks and and uh improvements can be done um but the the facility is in wonderful shape our track and field team is ecstatic uh our lacrosse and soccer teams um from every student that I've spoken with and been able to take a take a quick look at it um they have loved it they can't wait to be out there as soon as they can um so we are we're pretty much there um the finishing touches that we are now working on are trying to figure out um exactly what we can get into um this project as it relates to um some of the ve very needed field and track equipment the the loose equipment that is utilized around the around the track and within the the the field sports um as well as bleachers and an audio system um so those are those are some of the items where we're really trying to get finer points on them now that we're clear of all of the other um expenditures that uh that existed prior um so we're we're zeroing in on that and I think over the course of the next couple of months um those things will be finalized as well and then we'll be marching towards the first season for the field and track team um as soon as they ready in the spring the facility is ready for them um as far as the field on the interior of the track um right now what we're looking towards is maybe playing a game or two um at the end of their season but we really want to make sure that um the sad continues to to root and that um as you can see right now especially in the overhead shot um those those uh lines where you see the roles of sads still having some division between them um those will will merge into each other as the grass continues to to grow laterally um and as the soil continues to settle um and so the Architects will be out a couple times over the course of the spring to run some tests and to let us know um how things are going um so all in all really wonderful news we're excited it's it's been a great project I have a lot of thanks for for cha for scansa for Keller um Keller really came through um with some some kind of um odd conditions to try to work in uh last fall over the winter and the spring um they they got right through the summer and and brought us to um this point very near completion um with uh with a whole lot of class and and precision and and and they really did a wonderful job so thanks in advance um before we're even fully fully done um to everybody involved in the project because they they did wonderful work um the next items for the school committee will be um we look forward to planning and hosting some sort of grand opening in the spring um that that can and should involve the field and track team and and their schedule and and somehow um create some kind of a Grand Event um that's number one and then number two is um I would like to continue to work on the landscaping around the project right now it's a fairly blank canvas I I think that we have um we have space for the development of shade trees which are functional but also beautiful um we can we can start to talk about some um potential uh gifts and memorials and and things that can help us really build some some culture and and history and celebration around the outside of this facility as well um so that's something that I think we'll we'll try to figure out how to how to parse out and and bring forward in the coming months um as we look towards the spring are there any questions on the field and track I'm not seeing any but just got miniature versions of you off on the side there okay um next up is uh budget timeline priority review um so here's uh here's what we have as we look all the way ahead to FY 26 which is scarily coming up pretty quickly um on the leftand side I've got priorities um figuring out the Mount Greylock Regional School resource needs uh to me will be the most complicated set of discussions that we will have uh over the course of the next few months um the Departments within the school right now are working on understanding um based on student enrollment demand their Staffing levels um projected schedules um they're working on um trying to figure out what they would like to propose needing um in order for them to function um to the best of their abilities we are simultaneously trying to perform um a separate review trying to figure out how can we best describe and understand and um amplify the voices of the building um to best advocate for the needs of the building when it comes to um providing the best school that we possibly can for our students um those conversations they will start in December so um with the next school committee meeting um and they will undoubtedly continue as agenda items through January February and then into the public Hearing in March um that's a headliner um reading intervention needs um we have had a districtwide team that has been working um both through the dyslexia Institute as well as um internally and and with desie resources on trying to best understand how to improve literacy instruction within the district prek through 12 um we've made additional Investments this year in grades seven and eight um as it relates to um special education resources and trying to better plan for the future um in that regard um but we will definitely be bringing forward some um plans and priorities as as we look towards FY 26 um to try to add more um weight and ability there um the topic of communication understanding awareness and relationships um this is it it's it's an Amorphis conversation here as a single bullet point um but as we move through the next few months trying to figure out how do we communicate with our community how do we best um uh listen to them how do we best uh serve needs by by having both inward Communications as well as outward Communications um that's an area where as as we look at the budget I could foresee um proposing some modifications to how we go about things and to the funding levels associated with them um as we look at FY 26 um improving continuous assessment and review practices this goes to all the benchmarking assessments that we do um at a regular clip through the elementary school and that we are expanding into the middle uh middle school and potentially High School um there could be some budget impacts there um and then curriculum adoption um this year we are field testing a uh new math curriculum within um the two elementary schools and um we could have uh fun in needs associated with adopting a new curriculum as early as next year it might not happen in time for next year but it but it might so uh that could be a conversation on our plates as well and then with all of those bullets there um trying to avoid any deficits through deferred M maintenance or or other things that we might be tempted to defer in the quest of doing something else um those are going to be conversations as well U because I I do feel like with with the new building um at the middle high school as well as our 20 plus year old buildings at the two elementary schools um we need to keep up the process of um maintaining and improving and and um and if we lose sight of that um it will be shortsighted so um those are what I already know to be priorities um that said um we are uh going through the process um both at the superintendent level as well as as well as the principles um of working with school councils right now to to try to understand the voices that are coming through with them um we're certainly making uh a number of realities clear through conversations around here are some things that we already know to be uh potential priorities that we know to be um needing discussion at the school committee level um but uh school council input will be coming Mount Greylock I believe will be going in December and then the two elementary schools in January um so we'll start to hear early and often from them as we move um through the regularly scheduled December and January school committee meetings um other Revenue inputs notably Chapter 70 chapter 71 um those will probably not come until uh at some point mid late January which means the February school committee meeting would be the first time um that those would be uh ready for review um and incorporation into draft budgets um I think we'll probably start to get the finance subcommittee together um more often as we begin to have that data available um so the finance subcommittee will be working on that um in late January and very early February prior to the full school committee um seeing and reviewing um then the major cost drivers health insurance it's likely that burshire Health Group will be voting um its rates in late January which means the early February meeting would be the first time that the full school committee meeting the full school committee would have that data available um as far as our um Union contracts um we are uh still within the current contracts as of um the next school year as of FY 26 um so we will have projections ready for the finance subcommittee and for this full school committee um based on best available data um regarding um staff Uh current staff so level Staffing as of um early January we'll make sure to have those projections ready um and then other key areas um in terms of other Revenue sources grants areas like that I think we'll probably be looking at a lot of that come February um so public hearing is currently scheduled for March 13 um our deadline for uh sending a budget to to our towns is um March 30th so we do have some time in between if we need it to uh continue our discussions and to um have the school committee come to a vote um but March 13th currently is our public hearing um Town meetings Williamstown currently scheduled for May 20th Lanesboro scheduled for June 10th um I don't think I've heard any any indications that those uh might be changing but but it's always possible um that either town could change its um town meeting date so that's the overview the high level um are there any questions on it okay uh Jose sorry Joe just uh thank you for for this and it's really helpful to have it outlined for us for the for the community um the members of our community to be able to keep track of of the process just um curious about how and whether you and your sort of unique role as our interim superintendent you know who's taken on a lot of responsibility on on whether or how additional support might be helpful to you um you know imagining I don't know what that could look like but just just curious about um you know how we're doing administratively and and sort of viewer ability and the ability of your team to kind of um you know guide us through this this process uh I feel Comfort I feel very comfortable with this process with the team that we have in house right now um as we look towards next year um there are a couple of things that currently working through with respect to how we can have additional support within the district um as as we look at uh next summer next school year um those are areas that I don't really have anything to present right now now and I also think that from a budget impact for next year everything that I'm thinking about right now does live within the the budget that you would expect given a superintendent and an assistant superintendent so um you without without Contracting but also without expanding um th those lines um but repurposing them in ways that um that I think will maximize what we're able to do here over the next year and a half thanks John y any other questions on any of that I did have this other slide just around um important dates and and I had I had given you the the the punchline which is March 30th of 2025 is is the latest date um given our regional agreement for us to to approve a budget um that said uh our towns often love to have information um as early as we can possibly give it to them so um as early as our public hearing can happen and a budget can get approved um is is definitely uh preferred for or by them all right the next item within the business administrator report is the Williamstown Elementary School uh floor maintenance equipment and consumables um uh agenda item um up for approval um so the williamtown elementary school floors they are 20 what 23 24 years old right now um we over the course of of working on um how to how to best um improve maintain plan for New flooring eventually um we came to the realization that Williamstown Elementary School has not had the same types of floor cleaning and maintenance equipment um that the other two schools have had um which which is a bit of a of an um Oddity quite honestly um so with that in mind we have looked at how we can better care for both our hard floors um those are in all the main hallways and in um portions of each classroom uh as well as the the car carpets that are in um a portion of uh pretty much every classroom in the building as well um so for hard floor cleaning carpet cleaning um it would be a pair of machines um and some upfront consumables um that would need to be purchased um we are looking to have um have the school committee approve an $188,000 um budget coming from the Williams College gift to West um for the purpose of acquiring those pieces of equipment and allowing the team the custodial team at West um to get moving with them um they they will allow for Best Practices around daily and weekly maintenance of of the floors um they will probably extend the current floors uh lifespan um which will ultimately be a cost-saving for uh for the district um and the equipment that we are uh working on procuring um will be applicable to any new floors that are that are put in over the next 5 to 10 years as well um so I can certainly uh answer any questions on that um the the motion would be to approve spending up to $18,000 on floor cleaning equipment and consumables out of the Williams College gift to Wes is there someone who wants to make that motion I'll move that motion oh sorry k no that's all right Ursula moves all second great thank you any questions for Joe um yeah go ahead Carrie and then Jose what exactly are we purchasing um the for hard floor cleaning um it is a device called a ct71 um it is a walk behind um I believe 48 in wide spinning disc where you can have have different types of uh floor cleaning discs along with um it uh puts down a cleaning solution in front it spins the disc to clean the floor and then it vacuums up uh the resulting liquid and sediment um and it will allow for traditionally the school has actually been cleaned with um mops and push brooms um and for a building of that size to have that be the approach that a that a small team uses um is uh it's it's um extraordinary uh for sure um and then with carpet cleaning um it is a uh a piece of commercial carpet cleaning equipment um that again has a solution that's sprayed down spinning discs and then a vacuum but it's designed for carpets um so it's a deep carpet type cleaner that can um pull um pull dirt up from the low pile carpets that are common in this type of setting um the ct71 is uh about $111,000 and the um and the carpet cleaning machine is about six and what do they come with servicing plans yes uh they they they come with an initial three-year um warranty and and service plan and then after that you can purchase um follow on service PL so they're they're designed for municipal purchasing environment so that um all of that works within within Contracting and and they're both going to be purchased off of State contracts from one of the state contract vendors so that that part of it is U simplified from a procurement perspective Jose you would raise your hand yeah thanks Julia just uh kind of following on uh car's question Jo this on the consumables part I'm guessing this is probably related to solution and the parts that um we need to be replaced on I don't know maybe they're part of what the I I what could you speak to what the consumables are um and what fraction of cost they represent two things I believe um one are the the pads that that are used they're equivalent to like a a mop head or a broom head um but they are I think for both machines they are discs that you stick stick up onto the machine and then once you're done you unpeel the velcro and you clean them um so there are a variety of types of abrasives and and things like that that that you use um and then the other would be cleaning solution um that you purchase in bulk and uh mix with water to um to run through the machines um the $11,000 that's that's quoted here is is what the team had said would be about a oneyear oneyear supply um to allow them to utilize each machine um through at least their first year and then about $11,000 would be that annual cost um after that um for them and and that would not necessarily add $1,000 to a custodial um line because currently they have other things that they've been purchasing to manually um go about that process and uh I don't have an exact comparison but the but it's a reason comparable automation yeah thanks Joe and sorry Julie if I could just ask just a quick followup um if I may the uh if Jo could you explain to us again why or could you explain to us why um the use of the gift in this way uh is the way that you're proposing for the district to acquire the equipment um as opposed to you know having it budgeted or become a part of our you know annual budgeting process that you just outlined for us both pieces of equipment are are capital costs and that they are long-term investments in um in the building um they are also both directly in line with preserving and maintaining um the building in the way that it is so they feel like um the right type of thing to to pull from that unless we were to wait another SE seven months to be able to purchase them through we there's no reason that we could not um budget for them as a part of our annual budget um but given the way the team is really trying to push to do things better now and we're entering the winter season where it would be really helpful to be able to maintain now and it was not something that we had um on our radar and it does fit within the purview of of the way the gift has been used it just feels like all of those dots line up in a way where it just makes sense to to go forward and and then just the very last question apologies the uh could you can you give us a sense of of what amount is available as a part of the the Williams College gift to West um I believe as of right now it's about $1.7 million but I could be I could be off there um that also does not represent any growth that happened over the course of last year through the endowment um we do not yet have those updated numbers from the college but that's something that uh that we are working on any other questions for Joe so we have a motion from Ursula and a second from Carrie and uh hearing no other comments or questions let's move to a roll call vote B and I hry I Constantin I Elfin B ey green I mooy I Miller ey that motion passes thank you um Joe if you can take us into the superintendent report please yes absolutely so first we we have an information only item um we don't really have anything ready for discussion yet but um with question two uh that we had discussed I believe it was just during last month's school committee meeting um question two passed uh last week last week through um a seems time seems so compressed and extended all at once right now um with it passing uh the department of Elementary and secondary education um issued its initial guidance which was included in your packet earlier this week um as a PDF essentially what it states is that um mcass as um as a determining um part of uh graduation requirements within the state um the earliest that that uh change um the removal of mcass from from its former role um will be the earliest that that will happen will be December um so anybody who is retaking mcast between now and December um can and should do so and if they pass the mcast and if that was their their final um gate then um that is valid uh after that um it will be up to and the state will be issuing additional guidance it will be up to each um local school district to uh determine how it um how it determines um graduation requirements um in line with uh the state's um education standards so um that is where we are as of right now I do imagine that by December um or at the latest January there will be follow-up discussion that will have a whole lot more content and uh potential um decision making potential any questions on the information there all right so next up also within your packet a series of enrollment updates um because of all of the other presentation items that um we have for tonight um I chose to not package the enrollment update into a presentation and instead to say that I think that there are two um key things to um pull out of that information um well I'll preface that with um I included the nees DEQ um you mind stopping sharing yeah absolutely thank you I included the nesd um enrollment report which includes projections um partly because we um over the last year had had renewed our our use of that service um and their enrollment presentations are um one of the valuable pieces of information that they share where they pull information not only from us and from the state um but also from other key indicators like um like births like um new building construction uh new housing units coming online things like that so they pull a variety of information sources together um to be able to give school districts and school committees um more information than they typically have individually um at their disposal um part of what the data says and and this is part one um is that our enrollment is tracking um with with the key data that that they pull in meaning um when you look at kindergarten enrollment it tracks roughly with recorded births um within the district um that to some extent goes counter to what we have we have traditionally run on um using the idea that um employment within our region drives more around enrollment than um people being born within this within this region meaning we often times believe that um if uh if an art museum or a college or a major employer like a hospital um is hiring new people um expanding their Workforce that that is what drives our enrollment numbers um and and instead I think it's it's valuable to glean that that it's actually a blend it's it's a blend of who is being born here within our towns um living within our towns as well as those factors um and and the new housing units that came online within our school District um notably a few years ago um those drove an increase in enrollment at the time um so those factors that's bullet point number one that I would want you to take home and then number two is we have a number of uh grades within our school district that are either extra large or extra small um relative to the norm um that is going to drive some received increases or decreases in enrollment um notably our senior class last year was was pretty large um taking that out of the averages um and and out of the the total count within the district um is driving our enrollment number lower this year than where it was last year um in terms of ins and outs of uh people either um enrolling a new or departing um that is that is fairly steady right now um based on the based on the data that we have available um one enrollment update oriented item that I did want to bring forward tonight is um we have been talking within the district about ways to potentially perform both welcome and exit type interviews with families within the district um welcome interviews allowing us to get a better sense of um families and students as as they are first arriving trying to standardize I on um ways of approaching that um that's something that we're discussing within the administrative team across principles and the district office um and similarly when families are moving away from the district um we are looking to um start to collect more information about um where they're headed what their experiences were um as that is valuable um valuable information to bring in um as as people are are departing as well um so those are a couple a couple key points but if there are any questions on the enrollment data as was shared in the packet I can certainly speak directly to any of that too all right district oh Jose and you're on mute yeah thanks Joe I it's nothing certainly uh firm in my head or or well articulated in my mind in terms of what to ask but I think you just to um bring up the enrollment numbers at the Regional High School particularly with with grades I think it's grades 11 and 12 that you that you had highlighted and how that um is quite different from last year's graduating class at least in terms of terms of number of students and you you hinted at something I think regarding um the need for decisions or it was unclear to me what what you were communicating just wonder if you could revisit that or or I don't know if I I have missed something that um you were trying to communicate but I was just wondering what you what you were what you wanted to communicate to us about the about you know how the the changing numbers or demographics particularly those upper level grades um I don't nothing about decisions um okay having having a grade 12 and a grade 11 and to some extent a grade 10 that are much smaller than what we had at those highest levels of the high school over the last few years and what we will have in coming years so as as you look down um down the line at um at grades n 9 87 um next year's seventh grade will be very similar to the current grade seven um those numbers are going to bring um you going to bring Mount Greylock Regional School back up to um to significantly larger enrollment numbers that data is something that I I didn't I didn't speak to it here because I I was going to save it for December and January and February but um the the challenge Alles that the school faces around the number of enrolled students how to best schedule and how to offer the appropriate number of sections within each course um those challenges when you have swings of one year you've got 70 students who are seniors who are Desiring every every this and that class I'm not going to characterize them in any way but um that that you can possibly offer um and and then the next year you might drop down 30 students within that senior class that is a challenge um it's a challenge even for the for the best and most magical of guidance um offices and schedulers so um it's something that we're going to be grappling with so if if if that's part of what you were getting at absolutely that's that's true and that's um that's part of our challenge thanks Joe and um I can I have a second question that's related to this topic but I can I can wait for other folks to who might have a question um if it's okay jul I could just just ask ask what I have in my mind um just looking at and again I I don't know if I'm looking at the data in the right way or have enough understanding about you know how our demographics particularly between our two uh member towns um are changing but it looks on average uh at our elementary schools that it's you know in terms of population difference in terms of the student body two to one roughly between William element and lanor Elementary and those numbers shift closer to 3 to one when we get to the regional middle school and high school and I don't know if if it's fair to project well maybe that's the question are we losing lanb students um to other opportunities or other school systems or you know I'm not sure how to look at those data um but that's that's the question um there are a few different ways to answer that one is the trend is actually um it has been for the last few years based on the elementary school enrollment um the trend has been that lanbo's uh population has been growing relative to williamstown's um that has been the case for the last I think three consecutive years so seeing that reflected there um it isn't that magically when you move from elementary to middle and to Middle High School that that happens um but uh you know what you're seeing there is reflective of lanbo's population is is growing um the I I think that's the that's the best and most direct way to respond to it perfect no thank you Joe and maybe just to make clear there are no concerns well I don't know are there concerns that um we are loing losing students in are middle school high school to other educational opportunities or or um generally postco um the the spot that we are most likely to lose a student to um would be McAn um and and so and so that you know that's more of a of of course a number that you see as you as you move into those upper grades um so that's you know and and to what extent um that changes over time um McAn is offering more varied um program in than it than it ever has before which is a wonderful thing and those opportunities are very real and very present um and so I I I appreciate having that opportunity within within our region um as opposed to being concerned about it somehow being in competition at all thanks John all right so the next item on the agenda is the District Improvement Plan update um and I apologized because I I had planned on producing a a a nice beautiful presentation for you um of updates and then what I ended up doing was um today kind of late within the packet um I I placed really what what had been um the raw notes the raw working um working texts um but what I'm going to do here tonight is um this PD PF uh that I just screen shared now um is within your packet it's within the public packet I'm going to provide you a quick walk through of of updates um so that I don't read this verbatim um but um you all can always refer to these in in more detail and I'll make sure that this goes up on our website alongside the district Improvement plan um as soon as we are done here tonight or tomorrow um so uh first item Create A Renewed focus on best practices and teaching all students um the the high level here is that um our expanded uh use of benchmark assessments within the Middle School um we completed the first uh round um within Ela and math uh this fall um there will be two more um points for assessment um later this year um the middle school teams and uh the front office and the district office within the middle school um are all reviewing that data now um and will be uh utilizing it as an input as we move through the rest of this year and as we um plan for the program of studies and um what we need for next year um alongside that uh a variety of PD um was selected rolled out um and has been happening over the course of this fall and will continue through this school year um when when I have the note that there might be uh FY 26 and Beyond budget implications it is that through uh through that continual evaluation of how things are working within within the district um specifically right now within the middle school that will drive um Investments that we are proposing making within the middle and high school um as we look towards next year um plan for implementation of the 2023 Comprehensive Health and physical education framework um desie has uh has moved a little bit more slowly than I think it had wanted to um with respect to being able to roll that out um fully um so our team within the district has been participating in PD uh around it um and at this point we're we're really awaiting um additional guidance and um in detail from the state so we are in a little bit of a holding pattern um but as we look at what we are expecting to be required of us um starting in the fall of 2026 um uh sorry no I I should say fall of 2025 fall of 2025 um we um we might um see some uh changes to what we need to do within our program of studies to make sure that we fully adopt um so there could be some um budget implications there um planning for processing selecting and implementing an updated math curriculum um in the elementary schools um uh the curriculum selection committee for math curriculum um worked through last year um looking at a variety of curricula um they ended up choosing the I classroom math um to field test um within every grade level within the elementary schools um this year based on how that progresses so far it's been going swimmingly and uh people I I think um pretty much to a person have been have been excited about the future with it um depending upon how um that field test proceeds um we might move to adopt that um Elementary schoolwide we might say Let's do an expanded test um so that we can dip our toes in the water a little bit more um or if if somehow that that turns um we could be saying that we're going to go back to the drawing board and uh select something else to to give a try next year um so expect additional um conversations and decisions on that as we move through the rest of this school year and into the budget for um next year um the focus on increased literacy at all grade levels um um one we've had a districtwide team of uh reading inter interventionists District administrators principes um who have been working through the Massachusetts dyslexia Institute um for almost the last year um along with other department of Elementary and secondary education uh resources um they are at the point now having gathered knowledge having collaborated with other groups within the state um where we they are going to be developing um recommendations and and PD plan for how to improve um how we do uh literacy instruction um going forward on a prek through 12 basis we're trying to look at it comprehensively so that um early literacy is often times the place for um most investment so that you um have less of a burden later as you move through the prek through 12 progression um but trying to come up with the Strategic supports as we move through every grade level um critical something that that uh we and other school districts are looking at through a lot of different lenses than um I think how districts had looked at uh looked at them in the past um we did um for this year we contracted with a reading specialist for direct uh instruction support um within grades seven and eight um for uh specific um targeted supports um and we also relaunched a co- teing program for seventh grade English um those are two areas where you will likely see additional more permanent types of investment as we look at um next year and Beyond um to try to add um more more weight and resource um to them um to continue Improvement um so more information to come there um within goal two the student support and social emotional Wellness area um we had talked about um a selected population of students that could benefit from additional really Behavior oriented programming capabilities um We are continuing to evaluate um needs there but at the moment we're not foreseeing creating a specific program trying to budget for and and develop it um in time for the coming school year um we actually think that we're we're on a pretty good path there and we have a good blend of resources that are already already present available and in use um so we're feeling pretty good about that one right now um curriculum review um we um we did um expand the way that we look at um at uh benchmarking assessment data mcast scores um blended with um classroom grade scoring um and and this is an area where um at the district level principals special education office and individual teach teaching staff um we're currently taking a onetoone type approach there um where we're really looking at uh individual students's case studies and trying to understand what is happening and why um for a district of our size that has been um and I think will be the the best method that we have um in the moment for addressing that goal and for being able to um to uh find continuous Improvement paths um specifically for students within special education um programs goal three technology um we have um we've been going through a process of evaluating the various technology tools that we have Acquired and and used over the years um certainly during covid there was a significant expansion of um the need to try to um do a lot through technology do a lot through remote and Chromebooks and iPads and and to do that in a way that um that that may do with what we could have um that said we're at a point where we can take stock of um all of those tools that we have within our kit um evaluate how we are using them whether or not we are maximizing their use whether whether or not there are alternatives that are better whether or not we need them at all um given where we stand um within the world right now um so far we've evaluated the three primary tools um that are uh most used especially within the elementary school level ISL Lexia newella um those three tools will all see um varying forms of re-implementation reinvestment ways to um maximize what we get out of them um um and that will be happening over the course of the next nine months so in time for the next school year um reenvisioning how we utilize them um will will be complete um and then now the conversation's expanding to the the longer list of longer tail tools that we use um across smaller groups of students um so that area of the district Improvement plan continuing as planned um enhancing uh Computer and Network Security um over the over the spring and the summer um the district team implemented um a number of enhanced network security measures um those are rolled out working for us doing well now um we have uh the transition to one domain um which is almost complete there are certainly some some tools some areas where we're still um making sure that um that things are in good shape and uh able to be used as as we want want them to the big Advantage there it significantly simplified the scope of um how many different contracts do we have how many different accounts do we have how do we administer people moving from one school to another um how do we make it so that it's coherent um and how do we secure all of that um so that um in progress wonderful it it uh to me it's it's one of those things where I I I wish now that we've done it I wish we had done it six or seven years ago but you know that's that's always something to um to know for the future if we ever go through any other Transitions and then um the uh Google and um multiactor authentication within Google implementation um that is uh complete um students and staff um uh are within Google the um where we can have multiactor authentication within staff and and others um that implementation is complete um so we are in good shape there a lot of progress um artificial intelligence AI um we've done initial PD um we've developed draft of of guidance um for our teachers um and to inform our student handbooks um we are waiting on the department of Elementary and secondary education is rolling out um its own guidance on artificial intelligence how to best use it how to best regulate its use and so on um that is something that we're hoping comes over the course of the next couple months so that we can merge what the state is saying what we have developed and get it into a Consolidated set so that we can we can continue to work down that path um I think this is one of those areas where um rather than uh putting our head down in the sand and and hoping that it that it doesn't come instead figuring out the judicious and appropriate ways to embrace it to educate um and to uh help guide um that work continues and I'm really thankful for the for the team that we have internally that has that perspective as opposed to um ignoring or or trying to shut it off um which is just not a practical approach in my opinion to um to the topic at all um digital Wellness programming um we uh Max stel in the spring for those of you that um participated he provided um one of the most eye openening forms of presentation and bodies of information that that I think many students and staff and families who who were able to spend time with him um could imagine Katie Greer came this fall um and provided a a different perspective but one that I think was equally impactful um in that we saw students walking out um talking about um well I'm taking that app off my phone or I never had any idea that they track that or wow I I didn't know that and with the small number and this is where I'm I'm highlighting Community event attendance not just within this area but um within all kinds of uh evening events that we've had um within the area of Education um PD you know things that are that are not our our uh our theater our Sports those types of events which remain well attended um Community event attendance has been challenging um with Katie uh or only a handful of of families there to be honest um she delivered content that was incredibly valuable informative um and we really need to figure out how to um improve the ways that um we get families into those seats so that they can gain that valuable information so they can use it within their own households um so that that's a challenge that's on us that's on me um and it's one of the things that I'll be pointing out um here within superintendent goals in in a few minutes um and then social dilemma uh the um I'm going to use it again eye openening movie um the screenings uh are continuing in grades five six uh seven had already saw it last um spring and grades 8 through 12 um so those are being scheduled and and run through this school year um and then we are currently developing a program committee inhouse that will be focused on um how can we create more Gra Grassroots in-house community-led um content and moments to be able to gather around talk about the topic of digital Wellness talk about wait until 8th um figure out how to harness the power of our community to be able to Grapple with these issues more effectively um as as a community as opposed to as individual households wondering does everybody else have a mobile phone does everybody else's child have a Snapchat account does everybody else get to instead of living in silos within our individual households um being able to work on that as a community it's it's something that we are trying to more actively approach um this year and and in coming years um goal for belonging Equity inclusion and and diversity um the curriculum and materials review for bias um tools and process and PD plan um that that Joel and uh and the district um and and school teams developed over the course of last year and have rolled out this year um it's been going really well um it's been going so well that uh the state is actually promoting the process that was developed as a model for other districts we we've had um a couple of districts reach out to us saying hey we we heard you've got something great um can we learn from it um which is wonderful um it is it's a little bit of proof but at the same time the proof is really in after we've gone through the first year um and then we do continuous review every year after um the results that come out of that that review effort um so that once again might bring some budget requests for FY 26 if we are able to in time for that budget um identify areas where we'd like to put additional Investments to help um work on areas where we have identified bias and issues um within curriculum or materials um reducing chronic absenteeism you heard some good news from Nolan tonight um broadly I would characterize it as um the administrative teams within each School building are um are working with individual families trying to identify um the what's and the wise for um absences um the gap between unexcused absences and ex us used absences is something it's a challenge that the state has certainly put forward um with its guidance and its regulations and its requirements um and um we are trying to um best understand why a student is absent when they are um and try to have the relationships and the sense of belonging that students feel in coming into school and wanting to be in school um help to overcome that um it's something that right now we're handling through the individual relationship building process um but we certainly might be rolling out additional um more formal structured processes um as we look forward um the other area and and it's one that I that I do hope we're able to talk about through data um we do have a number of long-term absences that happen every year driven by Family interests that that uh I want to go and spend a month um with my extended family in a different part of the country or the world um how do we better address that challenge because technically that student is then chronically absent um and then the ratio of unexcused to excused absences um that's where we are in understanding of a student um being sick or absent for uh for a reason that that is marked as excused versus unexcused um trying to do the data analysis between um between those and trying to decrease that ratio of unexcused to excused um is something that's a considered effort working within the context of chronic absenteeism and now we're at the last goal goal five district building um creating more and more frequent opportunities for students families and staff to work together to build District cohesion and strength um part of this is creating the opportunities for people across buildings across towns um to be able to be together more often um building relationships part of it is US improving the communication around those opportunities marketing those opportunities to people um to be so that they participate in them um those two things are related but they're also separate um and we need to be working towards both um it's linked to a lot of other areas that are within the district Improvement plan and that are also within superintendent goals tonight um this um we are going to be working on I will be working on um what we've talked about in the past which is how can we better enable all of the different um Community groups within the school district uh sphere to cooperate to expand uh what they do um and to be able to carry more of more of the the standards and weights for um for the district um that is uh that is and needs to be a a big area of focus for us um and then meanwhile um the school's principls and teachers are continuing the work of bringing together the elementary school grades um at Mount Greylock for as many events and and Club cooperations as they possibly can um just today grades five and six um headed up to the Middle High School um to uh View a rehearsal for um Hamlet um which is uh happening at Mount Greylock for the general public um tomorrow night um so Elementary School students grades five and six were able to um come and and be a part of that be together be at Mount Greylock um which again is it's just an example of trying to get more people together earlier and more often um across the district um I will note just because I I I feel like it's it's uh it can't be noted enough um the geographic and transportation challenges um that we face when it takes uh 25 to 30 minutes to drive between our two elementary schools um that's a durable challenge that we and the larger Community needs to try to figure out how to um amarate best address um so it's just something that that we've got there as a as a placeholder always um and then streamlining school and District website uh Communications um parent Square roll out has been great um we continue to see uh strong usage um strong responses as as parents um and Guardians are um are utilizing it um there are definitely ways that we can continue to improve um the rate at which families engage with the content that that comes through parents Square um so there's continuing work there but in general that as one primary effort that we've had going really well um we have made efforts within the website um to uh make the three schools navigation consistent to make sure that um information is offered more consistently than it has been in the past but it's an area that needs a lot of focus um and I'll be talking about that in a minute um and then the student Opportunity Act um the three-year plan um that needed to be um done and adopted was approved in April of 2024 so that part of the district Improvement plan is um is up and live and and it's good so that's the update on the district Improvement plan there was more detail within this document but I wanted to make sure to touch as many areas as I could are there any questions okay um so I lost track but I think it was about a half a dozen times that you mentioned um budget increases or potential budget impacts um do you have any sense of a kind of a cumulative impact um or just any anything more or is this something that we should share with our finance committees at this point and just say you know watch this so that you have a sense of kind of what's coming down the road what what what we have done over the last few years is try to Telegraph earlier and earlier in every budget season here are realities of of wants and interests um in reality not all of these will translate into here's a proposed budget because I I believe that that if we did everything that we wanted to do and that is not what any citizen or it's not what many citizens of our towns would want us to do um we could pretty quickly stack up a 10 or 15% budget increase that that's not what we've ever done it's it's not what we're planning on doing um but I do think it's worthwhile pointing out all of the good work that we really want to be able to do and the hard process that then pairs that down to what we really can do and to be able to explain that um it's in the name of transparency it's in the name also of um trying to be as proactive as we can about communicating here all the different things um so I do think that as part of this budget year um I will be uh a little bit more upfront in um December and January and February about here's what it would cost if we wanted to or if we were able to um but ultimately we will also pair that down into into some something smaller um it's a longwinded way of saying uh I don't have numbers behind this that are magically ready to pop out with the click of a button tonight um but each of these will be talking points as we as we look at uh December January February and March um coming up okay I think in a if you could maybe in the next month's packet include this but with a highlight on each item that has potential B budget implications that would be really helpful yes um and in some of these areas we we do not yet know what we would propose you know so so there are areas where we could we could propose four or five different things as our best foot forward so not everything will come with a with a number um but certainly more I'm not asking for numbers I'm just yeah just a yeah yeah thank you yes thank you uh Jose thanks joh I just had a quick visit there um thank you so much for this and I think the uh uh the detail the thought the detail that uh you you you you're sharing with us regarding each of the goals and the thought behind each of them I think uh is quite commendable and I hope and I'm sure our community will will appreciate this just have a question on um on goal four uh on the you know the updates um which for most of the goals kind of speak to measurable PL plans that um with impacts or or Consequences that are measurable or identifiable they all seem pretty clear for most of the goals but I struggled a bit in in this goal and and I appreciate this is an incredibly you know hard thing to to both articulate and how do you identify progress um but you know that second half particularly 4.2 you know like someone might ask and this is this may sound like I'm I'm being um partially critical but I'm not because I know there's a lot of thought and and and care that goes into this but someone might ask you know what does a de what does it mean to develop a district-wide perspective for instance um or what does it mean to find a way to develop a relationship like how do we know what that looks like and I guess what I'm curious about is um as you you know these are all active verbs here like as you work to develop and and find ways um what are some tools that you have available or your team has available to help guide this process in a way that's meaningful in a way that uh you know in a year's time we we can look at and and can see and measure the progress that you've made particularly in this you know um in in my perspective very important goal the the the measurable progress here plainly is in decreasing the number of of chronic um chronically absent students within specific demographic groups um the progress that we are um the progress update that I supplied tonight um is is that um this school year um well every school year principal's offices guidance offices reach out to students when they are um students families when the student student is absent um and encourage them to get into school um that said this year we're taking um more of an approach around data collection as to why a student is absent trying to get to those root causes a little bit more aggressively um and trying to work on a districtwide basis on a team basis understanding what works to get students back into school um and what are we seeing so um when I say district-wide perspective I I just mean that we're trying to work as a team um across the district to understand well this worked for this student that worked for that student here's what we're seeing here are you seeing the same thing um what what worked what didn't work um and and so ultimately the the data that we hope to share at the end of this school year um and at the end of the next school year is um um the declining numbers within each um specific group of students um as well as I'll be able to characterize using the data that we're collecting um why various students were absent um and and I'll do that in a way that anonym like that is deeply personal for the staff who are involved but that also anonymizes it so that we're not um you know so that we're not talking about specific students so we're using the benefit of being a 1200 student District um to to be as as intimate as we can with with the hundred or so students say um where where we have daily questions concerns and and are and are working with them and their families um personally yeah thank you yeah anything else all right well try to find Jo if I can just also give you a time check um I think this is going a lot longer than you had originally anticipated so not to cut you short but want to just keep that keep let you keep your mind on that thank you and I'll try I'll I'll try to be brief here although there is one item that I just I I needed to share that might add last night was the was the Mount Greylock unified classic the the red versus white basketball game um within the unified basketball World um this this picture on the left hand side it was standing room only for for the fans it was it was awesome um it was the kind of event where um um the common conversation among staff members was we just we just wish every night could could be like this one um so I just wanted to wanted to bring that up because it was like I I figured we'd be segueing between various uh more more challenging topics um so this one was uh it was awesome um okay so uh superintendence uh goals annual plan um we are in a little bit of a unique spot given um that I am very happily the interim um as opposed to somebody on a on a permanent contract um and that um I will probably be be serving you in this way uh until um the end of June of 2026 um so with that in mind um trying to come up with a way to offer um meaningful goals uh meaningful metrics um but at the same time um do that in a way where it's November right now want to get through this school year and then have one more year um where we're all able to see progress um so what I'm going to put before you are four goals um that I would love for us to either approve this month or next month um I would propose that we then do a midyear uh check-in in February um and that uh I present uh evidence of success hopefully um in July of 2025 um with all of you being bble to complete an evaluation based on that in August of 2025 um and then I would present uh new goals for next year in September of of that year um some of these goals have lighter than ideal specific metrics um but that said um they are aggressive and I do believe they are measurable over the course of uh the next year um and that they will serve as a strong foundation for um what I think can be um even more meaningful um goals and metrics for the year following um so with all that said are there any questions on that before I dive in so that I can try to okay superintendent goal number one um this is uh I should also say that all except for one of these are probably also already fairly familiar to you as priorities for us and for me um uh so hopefully none of it is is uh is surprising but um to revise or reaffirm bias-based bullying and sexual harassment and discrimination incident response capabilities um all of the below will have been either revised or reaffirmed by the superintendent the district teams um and uh The Advisory Group or advisory groups um that uh that I will bring um all of these areas the policies that the school committee will need to adopt um the procedures um which to me are the written promises of what steps we take when something happens and what kind of a timeline we follow within that um the initial training for any things that are updated but also to reaffirm if things don't change uh for yearound staff um and plans for continued staff training for for uh school year staff because if we revise procedures um by June realistically we would need to just have a training plan in place for school year staff so that when they come back in late August that would happen um communication to stakeholders meaning students families and staff members um around what those policies are what the procedures are how to report things and what to expect over the course of um an incident response and and a result or determination um accountability measures um which to me um means two things one is an explicitly stated and used approach to sharing data with the public um as well as uh well-defined documentation for what is provided to parties um at each point in time over the course of an investigation so that if they are ever asked what ever happened to or did you ever get a response or did did you how did that go um that they would have that stack of communications and they would know what they were supposed to have received and whether or not they did that to me is accountability um so evaluation metrics for Success would be um completing each of the above so at the end of this school year um or at the end of what I'm saying uh July um you would be able to know did we update the policies do we have the written procedures um in hand did training happen um for yearound staff is it planned for school year staff um let's get copies of all the communication pieces that that exist and that are being shared um with students family and staff um around all of that that I that I wrote and um what are the accountability measures that have been put in place all of that can be um gathered up as a package and presented um and experienced um by by families and and members of our community um so that is goal number one it's tied to the district Improvement plan goal number four um and it's also directly in line with commitments that the school committee um and the district have made with um with arpa funds from the town of Williamstown um and Williams College over the course of the last bunch of months so that's goal number one Julia would you prefer that we that I present each of the four goals in Rapid fashion and then we talk or would you like to talk about each one I it seems to make sense if people want to ask questions after each one yeah that that and then a discussion at the end in case there's anything any themes cross that should be touched [Music] on okay question on this one so um you mentioned the arpa funds um so those are specifically to h a consultant right um and I'm wondering have we made progress toward um toward that goal yes the the RFP for the consultant um hopefully will be going out um very beginning of next week um responses will be in uh in early December um and then we will be able to uh select a consulting firm for that uh for that professional development um uh prior to the end of December which is really when we when we need and want to so that the work will then continue or the work will initiate in January or February carrying through um towards the end of the school year great thank you yep my other question is um a process one so you did include the um superintendent evaluation um the desie uh document so um did you by any chance determine like the metrics by which you know each of these things should be evaluated or has the whole process changed ched so what I have here tonight um the the evaluation Bullet at at the end of at the end of the list that indicates um the type of evidence that would be collected and how the Judgment uh how judgment would be made as far as whether or not um that goal was achieved um that's how I've laid it out right now but I could certainly convert that into more of a more of a Dusty grid style um I think before we do an evaluation it would be helpful to have the Desi grid style only so that we're all evaluating if we're using the Desi evaluation system we should all be evaluating on the same things but for tonight's purposes this is great thank you yeah definitely all right goal number two um complete the plan of action for increased literacy across all grade levels within the district um so earlier within the district Improvement plan context um it talked about uh the um the district-wide team that have been assembled um consisting of the director of curriculum and instruction the principal is the director of special education reading Specialists curriculum and grade level leaders specifically um curriculum and uh grade level leaders within the middle middle school and the elementary school um and then other teaching staff um they've done a lot of learning um over over efforts both within and outside the district over the last uh year um we we do need to go through um a a uh process of of documenting the proposed improvements um within our curricular offerings and and the and the tiers of support that we offer um we need to provide justification for um the re resources that are needed in order to implement that um and um we also need to work through the process of um of uh understanding fully how our current benchmarking um assessment and evaluation tools work within that context Andor um the additional tools that we would need in order to monitor um Student Success achievement um that will all culminate in a in presenting a plan of action um for improving our um literacy instruction prek through 12 um that plan of action um to be presented this spring is um the the culminating document showing um the the work the knowledge and the results that that came out of that um almost two-year long process um and so um that plan is one that um I would view as being a a goal and um successful adoption of it by the school committee questions on that that is tied to the district Improvement uh District Improvement plan goal 1.4 um and it is a building block for being able to to significantly improve student student learning within that area in the coming years okay number three um leading the hiring process for the next permanent principal at Williamstown Elementary School um through a collaborative and comprehensive process um the development of a hiring committee is something that I I need to kick off uh very soon um that will consist of Administrators building staff parents and Guardians um more broad community members um that's that's step one step two is um I would like to have um as much of that uh committee as present as possible for listening sessions that we need to coordinate and schedule for um this winter with families staff and and school committee members um we want to make sure to of course conduct that search in a ways that allows for broad reach um maximizes Equity through the hiring process there are a VAR iety of professional organizations um similar to the way the uh school committee has utilized masc in the past for superintendent hiring um there are a variety of professional organizations that um have detailed services for the hiring of Administrators like principles um that's definitely something that that will be within consideration um and then uh making sure that we hire a principal for the start of the 2025 2026 school year with um as a permanent principal um so the successful completion of each of the uh steps that I just outlined I'll be gathering evidence um you will certainly be be hearing a plenty along the way as well um and uh it's it really needs to be a a goal for me um because it is it is one of those high level items um that does not happen every year um and that is incredibly important and um being able to document that process um and bring you through in that way is the right way to go about it any questions on that and then goal number four further develop two-way communication between the district and our students staff and the community um communication and relationships and transparency and information and people knowing what to do how to do it why something happened learning about all the wonderful things that happen within our district on a day-to day basis um that's the professional practice goal that that I have in front of us and and and it is personal but it's also very much a um a districtwide need and to me it underpins everything that we do um within the district um and I do believe that that that we can do better and that that will have a positive impact um on the district so um what I'm proposing is that I'd like to work and this is one area um where uh I would like to gain outside help as quickly as I can um work with an outside consultant on the on the implementation of improved communication approaches um that that can be looking at um at our website it's looking at p our approaches it's looking at a regular clip of communicating um with our community um it's looking at the process that we use for um knowing what to say when to say it why to say it um part and parcel of that is improving our website's ability to educate and keep people informed um continuing to improve our use of parent Square as an update and a news tool that's that's um integral um within within our lives um increasing news to the community around positives because I I I don't think we we spend enough time letting people know about the unified program um we don't spend enough time talking about all of the wonderful ways that um that we are uh interacting within our community um but also the challenges um coming up with ways to be more proactive um more communicative when there are challenges within the district um implementing a mean mechanism for regular check-ins um with students staff and families um surveys polls temperature checks um measuring senses of belonging um asking people how something went um sending out a quick poll checking to see whether people prefer the color red or the color white um things like that gathering information listening um as well as having um and doing that at a regular clip but also developing improved ways for people just to reach out saying I have a question I have a need um I want to let you know that I had a horrible day and I know that you care so I I want you to hear this um this is there's a lot of stuff there and there are a lot of words um like improve and and uh and increase and I know that those are not the most measurable things um or that those are not measurable in and of themselves so I did take all of that down into um two things that that are yes or no um did he succeed or not type questions one is launching a superintendent news um website and social stream component within within our world um where I I put up at least one post per week um that's part one and then part two is launching the check-in tool um with at least monthly usage by students staff and families um that will probably be a thirdparty tool um rather than something that we already have within our sphere um but there are a number of them um in existence Panorama education is one company that offers um a system like that so that you can pretty quickly craft something so that you can um get meaningful data back quickly um coming up with a way to utilize that um across all of our different groups students staff and families um is important and it's something that um I believe we can launch by um the end of this cycle and and uh begin to gain information um at a regular clip that will help inform everything else that we do um so that's how I try to make that as measurable as I could so those are the four goals they are a lot but I also think they are important and there are things that I'm already doing and that already keep me up at night so I might as well um put them out there as uh as goals Jose thank you Joe and uh just speaking from the ey here I I I am very grateful that you are serving our district in our communities in in this way um I think you know what You' shared with us just now and throughout this meeting tonight I think really speaks uh to just how lucky we are you know to have you have you serve Us in this way I just question on this goal that first bullet point on the consulting or working with an outside consultant um could you speak a bit more or explain a bit more on why you see this as a need and uh and you know you you have articulated here this consultant will help uh with the implementation of improved communication approaches that speaks to me that you or your team have a sense of what our challenges are with regards to communication or communication approaches um I don't know if that you are in a place where you can share what you think or what your team thinks are our challenges as a district and uh speak more concretely on you know the role this consultant will play the sense that I have earned over the last couple of years is that um people don't know nearly enough about all of the work that we do why we're doing it and why that's a Force for good within their lives that's that's part one part two is um many times conversations that I have with families or that I have with advisory groups um they they go to the end of oh I didn't realize that or why why isn't that written somewhere or I just found three different copies of that procedure which one is the actual one or I tried to load that but I couldn't actually or I tried to search for that I couldn't find it or when is that thing happening again um where does that how do I sign up for that club um those are all you know those are all challenges that everybody in the world faces with all kinds of things um but I do think that we within this school district can do better and and and I do think that that that will help address in very direct and tangible ways experiences that people have that either not as good as they could be or that don't lead to us being able to convince people of things that we need to be able to convince them of um in order for us to do our jobs in order for us to do our jobs happen and well um and when people talk about trust whenever anybody within our worlds whether you're a school committee member or or a district level administrator here's something about trust oftentimes it comes down to people not having had information at the moment so that they felt as though we were being as transparent or you know you made that decision and you did it quickly and we say well no we we talked about it monthly for seven different school committee meetings like those are all the things that I think we can address here um could we do that could I do that could do do we have people internally who could do that work yes but one it it's not what we already do naturally every day right now um two there are people outside of this District that only focus on Communications PR website development tool usage like there are people who focus on usability and asking the right questions and providing information concisely um learning from them working with them um both for me as an individual but also I think with the team that we have within the district um will pay dividends in ways that are multiples of of of anything so um it's a long way of saying we could do it inhouse but I think that having an outside view here and having outside help um would be hugely beneficial forgive the thumbs up I think I must have done something with my hands that I wasn't I was actually agreeing with it it was it was great I I just love the little yeah but no appreciative thank you Joe so um aside from the um hiring of the principal would any of these be better as two-year goals it just does seem a lot to accomplish in nine months let me kind of take us through um this goal is is one that we are already working towards um and I believe we have a a good commitment to concrete movement and change you know I would say movement towards good um whether it's revising or or reaffirming and better explaining and you know better teaching um what we do um this I feel like it's it's going to happen prior to the end of June and we're best off having a having a goal here um of that sort um this could be a two-year goal but I also think given the urgency that the team internally has been working um with so far and also the reality of us needing to start to put some um stakes in the ground from a budget perspective um so that we have a an updated plan for how to how to roll out improvements um I feel like this is one that also has enough urgency and also enough progress already so that it's it's a realistic thing to do prior to the end of the school year um hiring we already we already talked about that one and then and then number four realistically this is going to be a continuous a continuous effort and I think it's a multi-year effort um that said the um the measurable goals that I put down at the bottom I think are pretty they are pretty reasonable um if I wanted perfect perfect everything here yeah it would probably be a an Infinity year goal but um but there are some measurable things here that we can get done here this year and I wouldn't be surprised if this if if there's a goal that builds on this for next year too thanks Joe could you talk about how these goals impact the goals of other District members kind of following on to car's point if you were holding all of these fully that would be too much but how do they Cascade down through the district to inform other people's goals yeah so um goal number one um I I have a de Advisory Group um that I'm working with um there will be an outside consulting firm um providing for really each of these bullet points here here are um learned best practices that are already implemented in other districts and here is the here is the blueprint that we would propose you use um within the policy World masc actually has has done a pretty good job of of laying ground work for us too um and really in order to go through all of this um the the principles are also going to be very much a part of of every minute of this after we've done enough to start to form exactly what we're going to do and and how we're going to go about it um so this is it's a it's a districtwide effort um and there are plenty of other folks also also helping um but I I need to be the point the point at the center and I guess I mean the qu I guess embedded in that question is how are these then also in the goals of the principles or of the people who are engaged in this um as of right now no but I I do think that I mean part of this tonight is also trying to make sure that things can can waterfall from there and and we can start to say well now that the school committee has has approved this we're really going to get moving on it um in in ways that perhaps are different from how we've how we've done it in the past done it before um goal number two um so much of of the weight is already being has been carried by the director of curriculum and instruction the principls director of special education and the reading Specialists um so they've been doing the leg work to learn um gather additional information um and have foundational discussions around well why are we doing it this way look at what school district XYZ is doing let's let's grab more information from them they've gone through that process already and they're continuing to do it um in terms of learning and Gathering um the the process now that that I'm trying to to make sure I um I put my feet into uh the fire with is really making sure that all of that learning then converts into um a plan that comes to you um that can be our road map for um the efforts that the district is going to take in a very coherent um budget supported way um to um improve uh literacy instruction um across all grade levels within the district for years to come um number three um th this one I there's going to be a hiring committee that will um consist of people from across a lot of different groups within the district but ultimately um it's an area where where I know that I I need to be at the center of of each conversation each decision um in terms of the professional organizations that that help with principal searches um nezda is one of them um there are a few others that that do it so there are certainly um organizations and folks who who do this every day and and who can um lend a lot of help um especially within um some of the more finer finer grain points within the process and then within four um this I separate from the measurable goals um there are a wide variety of people um Ellie who is is still she's she's survived uh two and a bit hours of this school committee meeting um she is she's integral to all of this and and she's carried a huge load with respect to parent square with respect to to work that's already been going to really prepare the website for um improvements and to and to um have solid efforts everywhere um so she and I will definitely be working closely um on all of this and um and it's integral to what she's already thinking about and doing on a daily basis um but trying to give us um more of a catalyst um more of uh of a primer on um exactly what to do next and how to go about it and and how to follow best practices um that's where we'll will be utilizing um outside resources that do this kind of thing every day um and that and that understand really what what is possible um for a school district of our size with the abilities that we have um so it's it's a a lot of good within the district um coupled with outside um horsepower too thank you any other questions for Joe on goals all right um do we want to vote on those are we do we feel prepared to vote on those tonight as a committee if so can I have a motion uh to approve the goals that Joe has just walked us through no moved thank you Curtis can I have a second I will a second uh well Christina will second that um any other discussion on the goals thanks for the work that you put into presenting those and putting them together hearing no other discussion uh let's move to a roll call vote Bowen I conry I Constantine I open by an i green I Malloy I Milla I excellent um that passes and uh great to move that forward Joe you've got two more items on your update on your report uh I I am not going to talk about the 57 Pages within the end ofe report that was in your packet um you are welcome to ask any questions that that you have but it's really just the summation of everything else that that happened over the course of last year um so unless there are any questions on it I'm going to leave it leave it as is um and then now the student-owned technology devices um policy uh rollout update um I never imagined that I would be able to say all the positive things that that I will tonight um the way that students have have have embraced it and so often actually come up and said you know I was kind of angry or I was kind of I wasn't really sure what the school year was going to be like but now I mean I'm I'm I'm talking dozens of students within Mount Greylock um grades 7 through 12 have walked up to me and and said things like that like it's actually it's actually okay or I've actually enjoyed it don't tell my friends this or you know um that said you know and and and I uh still trying to find wood to knock on because it's just gone gone so well um part of what's made it made it successful is the Simplicity of it um it it doesn't have loopholes it doesn't have ways to kind of you know it's it's it isn't graded out in various ways it it doesn't have lots of complexities around systems um uh that has led however to questions around what about this exception or what about this or can we do that um and there are a few things that I want to bring up that I think have been um learning moments and that we might adapt over time depending um but but not right now um and so I'll just list list those out just so that you have some of the negatives to go along with what I think is really an overwhelmingly positive um situation for the district at the moment um but um oh did I note that and and I I don't know how many students at Mount Greylock are listening but the number of times now that they're talking playing cards jumping rope um during lunch now is like it all it almost makes me cry just how different and positive that lunch environment is from what it what it was um so do you have any similar feedback from the elementary schools in terms of those kinds of things well the the elementary schools they they didn't um mobile phone usage wasn't allowed at all already um but the principles have experienced less needs to um note that a student pulled out their phone in the hallway between classes quickly um which is yeah it's that's also a positive um but the but the real dramatic change has been within within the Middle High School um yeah so I that's um okay so challenges um part of part of it has been um you students at Mount Greylock they um they take courses at local colleges they um they do work um where they want additional tools to be able to do that work um faster or in different ways um part of our Mantra has been and so they say well can I bring my MacBook can I can I um can I have my MacBook for two hours during the day but then put it away um and and so those conversations we engage in to be able to gather information for a few different reasons one is it's just genuinely interesting to learn what the advantages are of the various pieces of hardware and software that they want to use are um we can learn whether or not there are things that that we can and should make available for all students um two is we have conversations around Equity around if if you're able to do this and your peer next to you is not like what challenges does that create for them is that fair um let's talk about it um it doesn't mean that our Solutions are going to be perfect um but they are very human and and and they are um evolutionary um and then and then three um being able to have the conversation around so is this the type of technology that we should push for for every student in why or should we think about adapting the material what you're learning what you're being asked to do so that it so that it works in a different way so that it works for you um all of those so far um we've had a couple of situations where within very specific independent studies or um places where um students are off campus we've adapted our rules so that so that they they can work um but ultimately if if you were to change what you do um so that you welcome any student to utilize a Macbook if they have it during a specific hour of the day um one it's not Equitable which is one one conversation to have and two it does open up that all of a sudden they're on iMessage and Snapchat and other things going through there and that creates anxiety and that creates moments where everybody else needs to try figure out how to get around things and do things um so so far we've we've been very very very very um surgical about what we do and why we do it um with respect to exceptions um that's part one part two um of the conversations student-owned devices that can communicate with with others um the reality is that if you're if you're wearing a pair of headphones walking around the school those headphones they can be connected to the phone that's sitting in your locker and we would have a more difficult time realizing that or you could be hiding your phone in your backpack and have your headphones connected and doing things um so we've had to have stricter rules around no no student-owned headphones um and and that has definitely been an area where some students have come forward saying well we know that you're supplying earbuds now but the earbuds aren't the kind of earbuds that I would want to use or I don't really like them they don't fit my ears perfectly that's a continuing conversation trying to figure out how do we how do we best allow for that type of thing um but we do it in a way that does not compromise the core benefits of um of the policy and the implementation of the policy um those are really the those are the two areas um special capabilities of some devices that students own where they really want to be able to use them and and uh the impact of um not allowing people to utilize their own headphones um specifically when they're at Mount klock but aside from that I mean I'm I'm thrilled with how things have gone and I think as are the administrators and the students um so it's been good any questions on it so that that's the end of the agenda items related to superintendent report I'm sorry for going over the 30 minutes well all important information all important uh conversation um I the masc division 6 report Carrie is that you um typically it's me but I actually wasn't able to make it to the conference this year and there was a division six meeting at the conference Julia did you happen to attend I I did actually so if that's what the report should be um the I it was a very poorly attended meeting um I think the conference being four hours away from here is a challenge for Brookshire County um school committee members um the key conversation we had was that uh division six was the only division that didn't put forth a slate of officers um for the various divisions across the state and at present I think that carry has agreed to continue to be the president of our division that yeah yeah no one else stepped up yeah no one else stepped up there and they weren't they weren't going to be able to um take nominations that day so there's going to have to be the um apparently the board of the masc will be um maybe po pointing or voting based on if if division 6 submits any a slate of officers but so um if Carrie does it we are fortunate um I think the other people who are there were going to be thinking about is there anyone else in their District in their um School District who would do it but I think there also still needs to be a vice president and a um secretary treasur appointed or or named so that was the corrects of the meeting okay um thank you for your service there Carrie that's um super helpful um I can have a quick uh conference update um broader than that um so I was there last week uh lots of really great sessions and really really terrific networking with other s with other uh school committee members so I just encourage I haven't been before I know Carrie's been um I think Christine has been I don't know who all has gone just encourage you to think about getting there in the future even if it's not for the whole time but if it's just a day or two um there's a lot of really great sessions um I wanted to in particular update everybody on the resolutions because we discussed those at length about what the masc is going to be um lobbying for or asking the legislature to support um when we spoke last there were I think 11 resolutions um that were outlined they they all passed um some varying degrees of of conversation and the amendment that this committee discussed and I put in was um approved almost unanimously um so that they're saying update the mcast or change the mcast um but just don't put a moratorium on them while you make the updates so that passed almost unanimously um and then there were the um old resolutions that were being brought back if we if the group wanted to those actually ended up getting voted as a block and they were approved as a block so right now I think the masc has something like 20 different things they're trying to lobby for don't know how that works um so that's that's my quick update all right um upcoming meetings our next meeting is December 12th at 6: PM uh we also have a policy and governance subcommittee meeting happening before then um so I'm not quite sure how we reallocate committees but I will follow up with Christina um offline on how that works um because there's I think December yeah and Julie I could apologies for jumping in um can you consult with with Joe about whether we want to hold that date for the subcommittee or whether that can wait until we have our reallocation meeting yeah okay great I'm happy either way okay um I don't have any other items for discussion not reasonably anticipated Christina I'm gonna ask you had you heard anything nope okay excellent and are there oh yes Carrie um are we going to meet sorry are we going to need a finance subcommittee meeting before the next school committee meeting um because I think the um subcommittees continue as they are until we so we could and I don't expect changes to the finance subcommittee I don't with with Thanksgiving in the middle here I'm trying to figure out how much I would actually be able to prepare okay um and I'm not sure if I would have something meaningful whereas I do think that meeting maybe after the next school committee meeting but before the end of December would make sense if we could okay yeah um do we want to put something on the calendar now since people scheduled um so that would be like well I can't do it the 19th all right let's just do a poll or something figure it out later sounds good I I'll make sure that we get an email out just checking on availability for for December okay um any agenda requests terrific um and with that I'll entertain a motion to adjourn ask for a motion to adjourn so moved Curtis and a second I'll second thank you Carrie all in favor or bow and I roll call vote B and I conry I Conan ey elf and B ey green ey m i m i good night all good night everybody bye guys thank you yes good thank you hey