kick off the meeting, guys. Um, and perhaps other friends will join us as we as we go. Kirk, do you know if Maria was going to join us today or Maria and Ryan
possibly? >> Um, I had not heard. >> Okay. >> I did not get any notice that they were. I would anticipate Ryan is not. Um, I think we gave Miss Farewell, but I have not heard from Maria. >> Yeah. Yep.
All right, that's fair. Um, I was going to maybe have them go first, but maybe they'll get here or Maria will arrive later. No biggie if if she can't. All right, everybody. So, um, let us call to order the regular meeting of the
Nshoba Regional School Committee at 6:02 p.m. on 5:27 2026. Uh, if you would like to, you can join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Uh so we are going to um be heading into executive session right off the bat here. will come back into the public session from that
executive session. Uh we are entering into executive session for two different purposes. So you guys can all bear with me as I read through this motion on actually. Yeah. So I move to enter
into executive session at 6:03 p.m. pursuant to mass general law chapter 30A section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or
litigating position of the public body and I as your chair do so declare. This will be for both unit A and unit C collective bargaining session A to include the school committee superintendent Downing, assistant superintendent Ross Melurin, assistant
superintendent Laura Friend, director of student services Rowan Deanch Deanch, and director of human resources Jessica Murdoch with also attorney Mike Macaro being available by phone if need be. And
uh we will also go into executive session pursuant to master general law chapter 30A section 21 A2 to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with non-UN personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with non-UN
personnel the superintendent of schools. Session B to include the school committee and superintendent Downing. We will reconvene to open session at the conclusion of the executive sessions. Do I have a second? Second. I
>> think Jackie got it. Thank you guys. Any discussion on the motion? >> All right. So, we're going to go around. Uh Jackie, >> yes. >> Myself, yes. Matt, >> yes. >> Scott,
>> yes. >> Robin, >> yes. >> Sharon, >> yes. >> John Door, >> yes. John, >> yes. >> And Lindsay, >> yes. >> Think I got everybody.
And I am the host now. As we march on past executive session, the next item here is public comment. We are running a little bit behind, so I'm just going to give a gentle reminder to all of our guests that we should be um concise in our presentations. If you
don't mind, I will try to do the same. Uh we have no public comment that has been registered with me um this evening. So we're going to move right ahead with the consent agenda. It is um a longer one. Is anybody looking to pull anything out of the consent agenda?
All right. I'm not seeing anyone trying to do that. So Amy, do you have the motions? Go for it whenever you want to unmute. >> Okay. I move to approve the consent agenda of May 27th, 2026.
>> I will second that. So, any further discussion? All right. Amy, >> yes. >> Myself, yes. Sharon, Matt, >> yes. I saw Sharon's thumbs up, by the way. Uh, Robin,
thumbs up. Shandor, >> yes. >> Scott, >> yes. >> John, >> yes. >> And scanning. Lindsay, >> yes. >> Jackie, >> yes. >> All right. Did I miss anybody? I don't
think so. Okay. We have a lot of people on the Zoom tonight. It's fun. Uh so moving on uh with the agenda, the next item here is the school committee chair update. Uh there is just one thing that I wanted to share with uh the committee and with
all of our viewers. We at our last meeting in person were able to celebrate the members of our committee who are rolling off. This is their last meeting. So one more time I just want to say thank you to John, to Jackie, and to Amy for all of their fantastic service.
We are going to really miss you guys. We really appreciate everything that you've done for us and I know that we um all were happy to give you some gifts at our last meeting and Amy, I dropped yours off on your front porch and so I hope you guys are enjoying that. But Amy, I didn't really get to say much about you
and your service because I wanted to wait until you were here. And so if you guys will indulge me for just a moment, I would like to say the following words in honor of Amy Cohen and her amazing service to the Nohoba School Committee. Uh Amy, you have served on the Nshoba
school committee for six years now. Can you believe it? I remember the first meeting you came in. It was um one of the first virtual meetings we had during the COVID pandemic in 2020, I believe. and um you were one of three new members including
Sharon and um one other who's no longer on the committee. But throughout your tenure um our district has definitely faced some challenges and we've celebrated many successes. But through it all, Amy, you've been a steadfast and really tireless champion of the
educational mission of the district and that is to serve all the Nishoba kids to the best of our ability. You're not here for your kids alone, which is what I've always found so fantastic is that you're here for all kids. I feel like you really are focused on all the kids. So,
you are incredibly thoughtful. You're super reflective. You work hard. You never shy away from a problem. You're always willing to seek solutions until you find them. You build consensus. You are unassuming. And you always maintain high standards.
And you set high expectations for all of us. So there is absolutely no doubt in my mind, I hope there's none in yours, that you've made a huge difference here at Nishoba, pushing us all to be better. And so I want you to know that we've all benefited from you being here on this
committee, donating all of your time and your energy, and we thank you for your partnership. And I would like to personally say that I thank you for your friendship. >> Thank you, Leah. That was uh I promised myself I wasn't going to uh get emotional, but that was really very
sweet. And I have to tell you guys that this has really been um the honor of of my life. I mean to serve my community. I've learned so much from each of you. Um, I joined the committee to make sure that a parent's voice was represented
and the decisions that were be made at the district, but I came away with so much more empathy for how difficult it is to um meet the needs of students, parents, teachers, employees within all of the constraints that we're working
under. So, like from the bottom of my heart, thanks to to all of you and and um I will I will miss you all. Um, so thank you. >> Thanks, Amy. Uh, please do not be a stranger. All of you, John, Jackie, and Amy, we really
thank you for your service. And I will tell you guys that I've met with two of the incoming members for orientation already. I know that Kirk has met with two of them. The third member is also has his meeting set up with Kirk to um introduce himself, and I hope to um also
have that orientation as well. There's one other thing that I'll remind everybody of. There are a couple of charting the course courses coming up in the next month and within your first year of service, you do need to complete that task. So, if you need any help with it, let me know. Those are upcoming. If
you're super brand new, then you do have a full year to complete them. Although, it's um always useful to frontload that so that you understand the job. So, all right. Well, moving on. Amy, I know you're never far. And Jackie and John, you too. If you know we ever need you,
we won't hesitate. Um, so the student representative report is next, but I don't think our students were asked to be here tonight. And um, this is a very busy time of year, so correct me if I'm wrong. I think that the student rep is not here. Maria's not here. >> That's correct. >> Totally fine. So hopefully Kate, we look
forward to um, seeing Maria at the next meeting and maybe our new rep who is going to be joining. Maria, >> have two candidates. So yes, absolutely. And then elections are next week, so we will have some for the >> Yeah, very exciting. >> That's awesome. Um, okay. So, let's move the agenda now to the superintendent's
report, and I'll turn it right over to Kirk. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. And if I may entertain a suggestion with you, is that uh we have a lot of guests here tonight, and I know our opening session took a little bit. I'm happy to take our elements of the superintendent's report
after the presentations tonight. There's only one person appearing that's on the superintendent report and that's Miss Hanigan. So perhaps we could do her report and then move on to the presentations and we'll complete the superintendent report afterwards. I'm I'm happy to step back if you would like me to do that.
>> Yeah, for sure. So you're recommending that we um actually take up new business before the superintendent's report. >> Uh but we can have Miss Hanigan give her portion of the superintendent report. Miss Han element. >> Got it. If there's no objection from the committee, I will proceed in that
fashion. >> Great. >> All right. Seeing none, um do you want to go ahead with Miss Hanigan first? >> Yes. Miss Hanigan, would you like to provide uh Miss Hanigan is our communication specialist and innovation pathways coordinator here to give you an update on our use of social media. So,
Miss Hanigan. >> Thank you guys. I'm happy to be here tonight. I will keep my overview as brief as possible. Um, we have developed an updated social media process that we are planning to implement beginning during the 2026 2027 school year. The
main focus of this work is to better organize and support the district's existing social media accounts. These accounts are primarily based out of the high school. Um, and they do a really great job of helping our local press and media highlight the student clubs and the athletic achievements of our students. So, they're not anything we
would want to get rid of, but we want to make sure that we are, you know, just maintaining them the way that we should be. Um, as part of this updated process, all existing existing district affiliated social media accounts will complete a registration process to ensure that we are maintaining accurate
records and that we remain in compliance with state archiving requirements. Uh, these in, you know, this includes connecting accounts to Civic Plus, which is the district's archiving platform, uh, to ensure that our social media content is appropriately retained and managed in accordance with the state
regulations. The updated process also creates a more consistent procedure for establishing new social media accounts moving forward. The goal is to reduce the number of unauthorized or unofficial accounts by providing by providing adviserss and coaches and staff members a clear approval process. Um and under
the new guidelines, any new social media accounts must receive approval from the building principal and the communication specialist before being created. Um, accounts should only be representing official school groups and activities or athletic teams, and all accounts must be created using district email addresses.
Um, in addition, the process establishes a clear system for updating, deleting, and removing accounts that are no longer active or are no longer being managed by a club, team, advisor, or coach. Uh, this is in an effort to help the district better manage the number of accounts associated with us so that we're ensuring that the publicly
available information is as accurate, relevant, and up-to-date as possible. Um and finally, the updated guidelines really establish general expectations. So by creating account managers, we'll be able to explain, you know, what the process is, how the district expects social media to be used um in relation
to information going out. So in short, this is really focused primarily on um ensuring that our existing social media accounts are linked up to our archiving system um so that we're able to continue to use them, but within state regulations. So if anyone has any
questions, I'm happy to answer those. All right, great. Thanks so much for that. Are there any questions on these new guidelines? And I checked our policy manual. It there's actually very limited structure built into the policy manual.
Jackie, do you want to elaborate? >> Jackie, I want to try. Um I do think that this could be something uh to review in the new year. Um understanding that this is more operational in nature and but mind to
make sure that we're crosswalking our current policy. Um >> and that and that would be something that you know I think policy would recommend for next year. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> I did have a question as well. >> Go for it.
So knowing that this is a fairly significant shift and that many of our students um have on the back end managed some accounts. I'm just wondering how are we supporting them through that process? Um
or at least I guess Bridget, you kind of touched upon that a little bit, but I'm just wondering for accounts that have been primarily um supported by students with adviserss maybe not necessarily being very active like how how would
that look? I so I've um worked with uh principal Boon and with Tanya Rich, our athletic director. Um we're working behind the scenes to develop some of what that would look like depending on how many of these accounts come forward that have that issue. Um, so it is, you know, something that we're aware of and
that we'll be working through as we start to implement this next year because we want to make sure that clubs and athletic teams have representation um and that we're able to find someone to help support that or a program that allows that check to go through either myself or someone else um in the building.
>> Thank you. That's super helpful. >> Are there any other questions? All right, Bridget, thanks for this update. And Kirk, thanks for staying on top of this cutting edge topic. >> Thank you. And the remainder of the report uh are all of us in attendance.
So, Madame Chair, we would be happy to move behind new business if you would like to move move the agenda along. >> Yes. Um so, let's leapfrog the rest of the superintendent report. That's what you mean, right? And head over to um new business. Correct, Kirk? Yeah,
>> correct. >> All right. So there is the next presentation here is a change for our educator evaluation system and Kirk, would you like to tee this up and maybe introduce some of your guests? >> Yeah, we have two important guests to
bring forward to you tonight, assistant superintendent Laura Friend along with Kevin Keveny, one of our educators and president of the NREA uh to give you an update on the educator evaluation tool. Uh this uh will need your uh support and
ratification. um so that we can proceed next year with the new tools. So I'll turn it over to Assistant Superintendent Friend. >> Thank you, Superintendent Downing, and thank you to the committee for allowing us the opportunity to bring forward updates to Nishoba Nishoba's educator
evaluation tools for consideration and approval. These updates and the work represented are presented in partnership with the Ashoba Regional Education Association and represent a lot of work um that began a while ago in the fall of
2024. A lot of time and a lot of meetings. Um they were great meetings and they were productive meetings. The products truly reflect a strong collaborative effort between district leadership and the NREA and a shared commitment to meaningful, supportive,
relevant, and updated evaluation tools for our NSOA educators. So on that note, I would like to publicly acknowledge and thank Mr. Kevin Keveny for his leadership on behalf of the NREA and members of the educator evaluation committee whom I would like
to acknowledge right now. It was a small but mighty committee and those committee members include not only Mr. Kiny but Jennifer Dontramont, Allison Rumbo, Corey Crestman, Owen Murphy, Gary Kslowski,
Jessica Murdoch, Rowan De Manch, Kate Boon, and Joel Bates. I would also like to thank Mr. Keven, Miss Murdoch, Miss Demanchch, and Dr. Boon for joining me not only with all of the educator evaluation committee work but to be present to share these updates
for approval with the committee this evening. Specifically, our purpose is we are seeking school committee approval of three updated components of Neshoba's educator evaluation tools as required
under article 5 of the unit A collective bargaining agreement. The committee's materials for approval include Nishoba's adapted rubric for classroom teacher evaluation rubric dated 2026,
the NRSD educator evaluation timelines revised in 2026 and the classroom educator focus elements also updated in 2026. And thank you to Miss Masterson for sharing with you um and presenting an executive
summary which is included in your packet which really provides quite a bit of information. This evening we are only going to be providing highlights um of of the most cogent updates. The updates presented before you not only require the school committee
approval but they also require ratification by the NREA. And we are pleased that Mr. Keven is here this evening to share an update about the ratification process before we begin. So with that, I'd like to turn it over to
Mr. Keveny to provide an update about where we are with a ratification process with these updated tools. >> Thank you, super assistant superintendent friend. Um um and and I and I have a a lot of thanks to give to
the um district team that worked with us on the education evaluation tool. Um it did take us a few years to get it done as they always do. Um but the work is worth it. It's uh very worthwhile. Um the idea of adapting what we have um
into what we have and and and create it with our own c within our own culture uh makes it um a very positive document uh for staff to work with on on both sides of the evaluation process. Um the only big update that I want to give is that
the NREA voted unanimously unit members to uh ratify the changes to the document. Um so the the work we we were in in conversations with um members um beforehand um during the whole process
um and it was a it was a very easy vote to take. So um I would encourage the school committee to look favorably upon this document or the documents the agreements that we made. So thank you very much. >> Thank you Mr. Keveny. Um, so with that, I'd like to just reinforce that the
executive summary that is included in your packet outlines the full scope of the work relative to these three items and um it also includes hyperlinks to the updated tools as well as the current tools at the bottom of the document. So
everything is in there for consideration. So as I had mentioned, we will be providing a high-level overview of each section of the executive summary. I can see that Alita is already there um in the key changes um section there in the
executive summary. But before we dig in there, I just wanted to give a bit of background and overview of why we were here and why we embarked upon this work. Um in the fall of 2024, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education actually released an updated model
classroom teacher rubric. This prompted all of this work and led Nishoba to reconvene its educator evaluation committee. The committee had last met in 2021 and reconvened again in 2024 when this
new model rubric was released. Districts have the ability to adopt the rubric in full or adapt the rubric um to meet the needs of both the indicators and the elements in the model rubric. And as Mr.
Keven had said to meet the requirements identified within that in within a district and that's what we decided to do as a committee and has been our practice um since educator evaluation um process and tools have been implemented
from the department of elementary and secondary. So we are going to present just key changes relative to these three documents beginning with our adapted rubric and the structure of the rubric and this really reflects the most
substantial work of the committee and our work really centered in this space. We adapted the model rubric ac across all four standards to reflect current evidence-based culturally and and linguistically sustaining practices,
ensuring that the rubric reflects where the field of education is today and more appropriately reflects the needs of our students. The rubric structure was also realigned to correspond with the reorganized 2024
DESIE model format while preserving Nashoba's adapted language and district priorities. And then finally um alongside the rubric rating language revi was revised across all performance levels. Specific highlights include exemplary descriptors
are not now more precise and more precisely capture what it looks like to go beyond proficiency while unsatisfactory and needs improvement language with standardized and improved. For example, replacing language such as sometimes with inconsistent for greater
greater clarity. The other document that we're seeking approval for from the committee is key changes to the evaluation timeline. The committee took a careful look not only at the rubric and its structure, but at the timeline and the evaluation timeline
specifically and made targeted adjustments based on feedback both from leadership and educators relative to our current timeline. One of the more meaningful shifts um and recommendations um and adjustments that was made was
that formative and summitive meetings which are part of the educator evaluation process are now positioned to occur before formal written reports and evaluations. This really works to center professional dialogue before
documentation rather than the current practice which is the other way around. as well. The educator record of evidence with evidence is also part of our evaluation process has been streamlined into a continuous open form process
allowing educators to curate evidence organically throughout the year rather than in concentrated bursts around those formative and summitive deadlines. And then finally, if you scroll down just a bit, Alita is work around our focus elements.
Um, the NRCS adapted rubric is big and it's comprehensive just like the Massachusetts model rubric is large. It spans 28 elements across four standards. Since 2016, Nishoba has had an
established practice of identifying a subset of those elements. These are called focus elements. They serve as the shared focus for observations, evidence collection, and professional conversations throughout the evaluation cycle. These focus elements are not a
replacement for the rubric, and they are not a checklist. Instead, they are agreed upon elements that represent the most essential anchors of effective teaching practice, providing a common and manageable focus for meaningful dialogue between educators and
evaluations. As such, the focus elements document has been reviewed and updated to align with the adapted rubric. A highlight here in this space is that high expectations and support is a new focus element in our 2026 update which
we we believe is a meaningful shift from the previous focus element which included quality of effort and work. And this update reflects a broader commitment on behalf of all of us to pair high expectations with equitable
supports for all students who meet them. And then finally, ask Alita to scroll down a bit. The rubric in front of you for uh consideration for approval reflects only the classroom educator rubric.
The department of elementary secondary educ education is currently piloting rosp specific rubrics for specialized instructional support personnel. This includes not only special educators but includes school psychologists,
counselors, nurses, social workers and librarians. And we are recommending in collaboration with the committee that Nishoba defer any updates to our CISP rubric and tools until that piloting process is complete which we understand
will be complete this summer. So with that, next steps include with approval by the committee implementation planning and professional development to support our educators and evaluators in using these updated tools and then
continued monitoring of the DESIE CISP piloting process with a working group to follow. And I know Mr. demanch will be a key player in working through those tools as it relates to our specialized instructional support personnel as we
move forward. And that is the update. I would like to turn it over, if I may, quickly to Mr. Kevin Kiny or to members of our committee who joined us tonight to see if there's anything that I may have missed, which is highly possible.
Uh I will say um um assistant super superintendent friend you are um thorough as always. So I thank you for that. Um and that was a wonderful presentation. So um I I didn't notice anything. I think you're good. I think we're good.
>> Thank you. >> Fantastic. Thank you everybody. We really appreciate that hard work. I know that that's an evolving but really important process. I wonder what you need from us specifically. Are you looking for us to
also take a vote on this this evening or is this something, Kirk, that we're putting off until the 10th? >> Uh, we need to have this in place for the next school year. So, we can be happy to include this in the consent agenda for our next meeting and it can be handled that way.
>> That would be great. Are there any um questions from the committee? Any feedback? Uh Amy, >> yeah, I just had a question about um the focus elements. So, did you choose a focus element from each
of the indicator categories? Was that the approach or >> or was it just Okay. Yes, we we chose uh elements from each of the four indicators
and those Miss Cohen um those documents are up at the top of the executive summary. >> The three documents for approval are reflected um as hyperlinks up at the top of the executive summary. Yeah, I'm I'm going through them and I was just trying to understand how the focus elements
were chosen, but um and whether you chose them from all four standards and I do see that you did, but there are some indicator categories that didn't get captured. And I'm I was trying to figure out why.
I I um I would add that the focus the focus elements do not replace the educator evaluation rubric. They really are intended to provide a focus for dialogue, evidence collection, and look fors in classrooms.
But the rubric itself in its entirety still plays an important part in our educator evaluation process. The focus elements really provide a more focused flashlight, if you will. on the dialogue and the look force in classrooms.
>> Okay, great. Thank you, >> Laura. Did any of the focus indicators this time around, other than the one that's about high expectations, were all the other ones I know that a lot of the language was changed, but is there like a substantive shift in your focus
indicators? >> Um, I don't know if anyone from the committee wants to respond to the question. Um I I'm going to stop speaking to allow members of the committee to respond.
>> Yeah, feel free to jump in anyone. I can't actually see everyone. So if your hand is up, just jump in. I I just I think I'm just wondering maybe from the educators themselves if they feel like cuz in my cursory look through them, it
feels like you did capture all the most important things. That's like the trick is looking at all of the many indicators that exist and then picking like the highest leverage eight or nine that like you know like for example meeting the diverse needs meeting students with
diverse needs is one of them that was not chosen but then there was one the the one following it actually speaks to many of the same things that that indicator addressed. And so I think what
you did choose kind of captures everything, but if you guys want to add anything to that, please feel free. Yeah, Kevin. >> Thank you, Leah. Um, we also had focus elements in the previous iteration and what we were trying to do is capture
based on the changed language um what what would have translated into the newest iteration and that was the driving force behind it. And it's not meant um to to create any kind of exceptions. It's saying, you know, this is what we believe as a group is good
teaching, but of course, we're going to have everyone in there. Um and we're still held to the standards of the of the entire um evaluation tool. Um but this is just something for for people to focus on. And this is the what we've deemed as the important um things um to
be evaluated on in our district. Thank you, Kevin. >> You're welcome. >> I'm I actually support the focus indicators that you all pinpointed. I think they were great choices. You can't do them all, so you do need to
focus, which Desi supports >> and I support the ones that you guys chose. I think it's >> really good. Any other questions or comments? All right. All right, I'm not seeing any golden hands. So, I'd like to thank your team, Laura, all of the staff members
for being here. We really appreciate the work. This is good stuff and we appreciate it. We'll we'll put in the consent agenda next week. >> Thank you so much for consideration and again, thank you to the committee for all their hard work and commitment. It it truly was a pleasure.
>> I agree. All right, everybody. So, we're going to move to our next item here, and that is to welcome our CPAC chairs who are joining us tonight. And I'm going to say, is it is it Miss Viola?
Did I say that right? >> Hi. >> Yay. Hi. Uh, welcome. And I know that I saw Miss Dougen. Uh, Pam is here as well. Yeah, there you are, Pam. So, I am going to turn it over to our CPAC chairs. They're going to give us their annual update. We're so happy to have
you guys here. So, please take it away. And would you like us to project the presentation or would you like to do that? >> Um, I'm going to I'm going to speak first and then Rebecca has a presentation. So, for mine there's there's no presentation. Um, so Rebecca
can kind of signal when when she needs that. So, all right. So, good evening. I want to thank everyone uh or just thank thank the school committee for the opportunity to speak. Um, for anybody who doesn't know me, my name is Pam Dugen and I'm speaking tonight as co-chair of the district special
education parent advisory council or CPAC for short. Um, just briefly in case anybody doesn't know, uh, CPAC is required under Mass Massachusetts law chapter 71B and our role is to advise the district on matters related to
special education and the safety of students with disabilities. But beyond the legal requirement, we we see ourselves as a bridge connecting families and district leadership in a productive solution focused way. We provide parent education, gather
feedback, and promote communication and collaboration. Our mission is simple. We want families to feel informed, respected, and supported. And we want the district to have meaningful, constructive input from families it serves. Our focus is on education,
engagement, and partnership. Over the past 5 years, I've worked to better understand and clarify the district's vision for the role of the CPAC through conversations with the school committee members, the superintendent, and directors of student services, both past and present. We
appreciate the positive working relationships and ongoing communication we've had with district leadership. In particular, I want to acknowledge our current director of student services, Rowan Demanchch, for being collaborative, thoughtful, transparent, and deeply committed to supporting
families, students, and staff. She consistently approaches challenges as a problem solver, and it is clear that she genuinely cares about improving programs, communication, and outcomes for the students we collectively serve. We also recognize that many of the
concerns and goals we're discussing tonight align closely with the district's strategic plan, particularly the focus on communication, collaborative partnerships, family engagement, equitable opportunities, and fostering a sense of belonging for all
students and families. At the same time, we still do not have a clearly defined process for how and when the CPAC is included in discuss in discussions affecting students with disabilities. Over the past school year, there have been many positive examples that
demonstrate what's possible when the district and CPAC collaborate collaborate intentionally. One example is the parent handbook project. Over the past several years, CPAC has worked to develop a parent handbook outlining the special education process in NRSD.
Myself and the previous co-chair, Allison He led the initial development of the project. In March of 2026, a draft of the handbook was presented to Mr. De Manch for collaboration and review. In April 2026, co-chairs Pam
Dugen and Rebecca Viola met with M. Demanchch to continue collaborating on the project. An open meeting was later held to gather feedback from parents. The handbook is now with Miss Demanchch for final edits and distribution. Finally, it took us a long time. Uh we
appreciate the continued partnership with the district and hope the handbook will support parents in better understanding the special education process and the many services and supports NRSD offers students and families. I also met with the director of student services in March 2026 to
discuss opportunities to strengthen collaboration between the district and CPAC as the district begins revising the DECAP, the district curriculum accommodation plan. That conversation also focused on increasing parent engagement and ensuring CPAC can provide meaningful parent perspective as part of
that work. These examples demonstrate the value of proactive collaboration and meaningful family engagement. However, CPAC involvement still often feels inconsistent and dependent on individual relationships rather than embedded into
district practice as a whole. Another challenge we've experienced is that CPAC involvement often appears viewed primarily through the special education department or student services office alone. While we value our relationship with student services, the CPAC
statutory role is to advise the district on matters affecting students with disabilities. We believe that role should occur should include broader engagement with the district leadership and the school committee, particularly when decisions involve district-wide
planning, programming, communication systems, or policy. Students with disabilities are impacted by many district-wide decisions that extend beyond student services. For example, district initiatives such as school links raise important questions
about accessibility, executive functioning support, transition planning, and equitable access. Too often, these concerns are addressed reactively at the individual student level rather than proactively during district planning and implementation. As
a result, the responsibility becomes fragmented and important aspects of a student's educational experience can be overlooked. We believe CPAC can provide valuable family perspective in these broader district initiatives before challenges arise rather than after
families begin experiencing difficulties individually. The recent changes involving the RISE and LEAP program locations are one example of this broader challenge. These were significant changes affecting students and families across the district. The CPAC was informed only
casually after key decisions had already been made which limited our ability to support communication with families, identify concerns early or help the district navigate questions and communi community response constructively. During the school committee meeting on
April 29th, there were many thoughtful questions regarding the decisions about the rise and leap programs. However, there was no discussion about CPAC consultation or family advisory input. That highlights the concern we're raising tonight. There's currently no
consistent process for involving the CPAC before major decisions affecting students with disabilities are finalized. I brought these concerns directly to Miss Deanch and I appreciate that she was receptive to the feedback and open to discussing the issue thoughtfully. However, the broader
concern remains unresolved. We still do not have a clear consistent process for how and when CPAC will be engaged in future district decisions affecting students with disabilities. This dynamic also has a direct impact on parent engagement. Many families do not
view the CPAC as having a meaningful role because they do not see opportunities for the council to participate in district planning or problem solving. As a result, participation declines and the district loses an important channel for collaboration, communication, and family
feedback. The district's strategic plan specifically identifies strengthening homeschool relationships, improving communication systems in increasing family engagement as district priorities. And we believe CPAC can play an important role in helping advance those goals. We have also struggled to
understand the intended role of the of the school committee CPAC liaison. While the liaison position exists to help support communication and collaboration, there's been little direct engagement with CPAC over the years and no clearly defined expectations for how the role
functions in practice. Clarifying the purpose and responsibilities of that role could help strengthen communication and partnership between CPAC and the school committee moving forward. We also believe CPAC needs stronger support and visibility at the building level to
encourage parent engagement. Families often develop their primary relationships with principles, guidance counselors, teen chairs, special education teachers, and school-based staff. We would welcome more opportunities to collaborate with building leadership and support staff to better understand how CPAC can help
engage families, strengthen communication, and support positive relationships between the schools and the families it serves. In support of these efforts, CPAC also recently developed a parent survey with input from in support from the student
services office. The purpose of the survey was to to better understand family experiences, identify areas where parents may need additional support or communication, and help guide future collaboration between CPAC and the district. We appreciate the district's willingness to support this effort and
view it as another positive example of how collaboration can help strengthen family engagement and trust. Communication is also part of this challenge. We appreciate the efforts student services and the super superintendent have made to include CPAC
information in district communications. However, families often receive information inconsistently, and many parents are more likely to engage through school-based communication channels such as principal newsletters and broader district email notifications.
For example, we recently hosted a virtual presentation for parents titled Supporting Executive Functioning at Home: A Guide for Parents of 6th to 12th grade students presented by uh two very well well
um or well-known um doctors of the Conquered Comprehensive Neurological Services um over at Conquered. Um the presentation was offered free of charge to all district families and focused on practical strategies to support executive functioning and student
well-being at home. Despite being included in district communications, the superintendent's common no families in attended and the workshop the workshop will be rescheduled for the fall. In contrast, another CPAC sponsored workshop held virtually on March 19th,
transition from school to adult life using the IEP to create success, drew strong interest from families. The presentation was provided free of charge by Massachusetts Advocates for Children and focused on transition planning, student services for ages 14 to 22,
chapter 68, and Massachusetts inclusive post-secary education opportunities. Following the workshop, I spoke with Miss Manch about the Massachusetts inclusive postsecary education program. She shared that she's familiar with the program from her previous work on
Pitchburg and plan to reach out to colleges currently participating in the grant program to explore whether students could potentially access similar opportunities in the future. These examples show both the importance of family engagement and the opportunities that can emerge through
collaboration between CPAC and district leadership. I was also recently, it was also recently brought to CPAC's attention that during a recent Bolton Bolton town meeting, several re residents expressed concerns about the town budget and the percentage allocated
to school expenses. At a time when public public education faces increasing financial scrutiny, it's more important than ever that the district, school committee, families, and CPAC work together to support and advocate for the educational needs of all students,
including students with disabilities. Strong partnerships and transparent communication help build trust within the community and strengthen public understanding of the services and supports our students require. We want the CPAC to serve as a productive partner to the district, helping
strengthen communication, build trust, identify concerns early, and support students and families. But that requires a structure that allows for meaningful consultation before major decisions are finalized. We believe stronger CPAC collaboration supports the district's
broader vision of creating a safe, caring, inclusive, and collaborative community where all students and families feel connected and supported. Our goal is not to slow down progress or create conflict. Our goal is to strengthen partnership, improve communication with families, and help
ensure that decisions are informed by the experiences of the students and families most directly affected. We believe the district and the CPAC ultimately share the same objective, providing students with disabilities the support, access, and educational
opportunities they deserve. We respectfully ask the school committee to help establish a consistent and meaningful framework for CPAC consultation so that family perspective becomes part of district planning, communication, and shared leadership consistent with the goals and values
outlined in the district's strategic plan. This evening, Rebecca Viola Viola will also present an overview of the parent survey findings and share additional family feedback gathered through that process. I thank you for your time and consideration, Rebecca.
>> Thanks, Pam. >> Rebecca, I just want to can I give you um and I do not want to rush you whatsoever. I'm going to do the same thing to every group. Can we maybe um say 10 minutes? Do you think that that's enough for you to give the rest of the presentation? >> Oh, yeah. >> Okay, fantastic. Go for it. And and if
you need somebody else to share for you, please let us know. >> Okay. Um I I sent the slides over to Alita. She could open to the Alita. Let me know if you are having trouble. >> I've got it open. Oh, there we go. All
right. So, uh the these results are were gathered in April of 2026. We had the caregiver survey open for about 3 weeks districtwide. Uh we hoped to gather information from all levels of um experience through elementary, middle,
and the high school as well as out of district placements. If we could have the first slide or the second one. Here we go. Uh, so we received 71 responses to the survey. You can see the breakdown by town here. Stow came in with the most responses at about
45% followed by Bolton with 26 and Lancaster at 25. Out of district was uh 2.8. If we could have the next slide. We even broke it down by specific schools. So Stow came in with center and hail
with about 20% each. Florence Sawyer about 18, Mary Rollinsson 15, and the high school about 13. If we could have the next slide. So the first thing that we'll start with are identified strengths that families reported. The first one is commitment
and dedication of individual staff. There was a lot of commentary um from families um about really feeling that individual educators um were wonderfully uh supportive of
their students and were really um communicating how much they cared about their child's progress. And several caregivers highlighted strong relationships with teachers or specific service providers who go above and beyond. that was seen across schools and
across um famil family's experiences. So the interpretation from there was that the district really benefits from dedicated professionals who earn family trust and these relationships are functioning as stabilizers even when the system itself can feel strained. You
could go to the next strength. Secondly, families said that the collaborative tone during the meetings was something that they very much appreciated. Uh many respondents felt that meetings were respectful even when outcomes were disappointing or maybe not
what they were hoping for. Um representative comments included um meetings felt very calm and respectful and focused on the learner. Multiple respondents noted feeling genuinely listened to and felt like their input and ideas were part of the discussion
even if they did not agree with whatever the final decisions were in those IEP or 504 meetings. So our interpretation there was that the meeting culture appears much healthier than in prior years and s suggesting progress in relational practices with the district.
Our next strength is increasing transparency in some schools. So there was some variability um across towns and schools with some scoring higher in communication and preparation for meetings. Um and advanced drafts of IEPs
and 504s uh were consistently given to families days so that they could review materials in preparation. And um representative comments included uh caregivers saying that getting drafts ahead of time really felt good that they didn't feel rushed. they felt like they
had um the same information in front of them that the professionals and teachers had and they felt like they were able to see a little bit more um about their students experience and a number of comments credited building level leadership with really improving uh
communication. So we've interpreted this as effective practices exist within the district and may be scalable if formerly identified and shared um throughout. So next we have some areas of improvement that families identified. We
could go to the next slide. The first one communication consistency and clarity. So what we've seen in the comments are um communication and parental rights categories with much much lower scores. Uh navigation confidence remains a concern for both
IEPs and 504 families. Um, a few comments that stood out was parents describing communication as reactive rather than proactive and some families feeling like they had to constantly follow up in order to get responses to their concerns. So, we interpreted this
as families perceive communication as inconsistent or person specific. kind of going back to that um professionals um really feeling like they need to their student needs to land with the right teacher or the right specialist in order
to uh build that relationship which can increase some stress and the possibility of mistrust. In addition to communication and consistency, survey responses suggest that procedural safeguards may not be consistently explained in a way that is meaningful or memorable to families and that this
might contribute to some of that lower confidence in navigating the special ed process and concerns about whether parental input or evaluation finding uh findings are reflected in final decisions. Uh the next area for improvement was evaluation and eligibility process
frustration. Um, families report some confusion about decision-makings or specific criteria that their learner was either meeting or not meeting. Um, some representative comments including that evaluations did not fully capture their child's needs and that eligibility
outcomes were described as either poorly explained or overly technical. Um, some families feeling like sometimes they just weren't understanding some of the um the language or the or the concepts behind uh some of these ideas. So our interpretation of that was
even when teams follow regulations, families may experience the process as opaque or dismissive without clear explanations and support. Our next area for improvement was concerns about follow through and implementation. Uh 504 families report um in particular
concern about consistency. Some of the representative comments we received are caregivers noting uncertainty about whether accommodations were really being used dayto-day and some families felt that accountability was unclear once the plans were finalized. Uh we interpreted
this to mean that implementation gaps can undermine trust and diminish the perceived value of these collaborative medians. Our final area for improvement that came up from the survey is um specific to uh support and structure
of 504 plans. Um on average the 504 families experienced uh lower levels of uh communication, preparation and confidence. They also felt like they received uh fewer advanced drafts and a little bit less guidance um in followup.
Um specific comments included uh parents described five or four supports as informal or easy to forget and several noted confusion about who oversees implementation and how things are communicated um through staffing. Uh 504
reinterpreted this as 504 processes and it benefit from clearer ownership documentation and clearer family education. So finally, uh, emerging themes just across the board for the survey was families want predictability and transparency, not just kindness.
Caregivers are seeking partnership and not conflict. Parental rights may not be consistently explained in a way that's meaningful or memorable to families, kind of getting um, lost in kind of jargon or terminology that might not be clear. And variation between schools
suggest opportunities for standardization. So based on this information that we gathered um from this survey, we've decided that um three goals or major focuses for CPAC for the following school year. We would like to
be working on the communication consistency and clarity issue, procedural safeguards and parental rights, making sure that we are communicating with families and parents so that they're understanding um their equal partnership um in these meetings
and also building parental engagement uh with the CPAC group in general. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you very much. That was an exceptionally well done presentation. We appreciate that. I wonder if the
committee has any questions, Jackie. Um, I just wanted to say um I really appreciated the survey that went out. I thought it was a fantastic opportunity for families to give feedback. Um, I know that we've done that in previous
years through the CPAC and it it's it is very valuable data for us to have. Um, I also think it's important that, you know, as the school committee heads into the retreat, maybe over the summer, um, there's just a lot of, I think,
complexity around student support, special education, and making sure that families are feeling not only supported at the district level, but also in the school. And
it it is a challenge because there is this opportunity to get really rich feedback and input from families to collaborate with student services, but also while navigating like more individual concerns or or building
teacher specific concerns and making sure that we're keeping uh students and their famil family's dignity at the forefront of those conversations. It's a tricky it's a tricky balance and that sometimes some of the things that I have
participated in advisories before where we want so much to have this operational input and really maybe would be helpful for the school committee to look at current districts and school committees
that are navigating that advisory role in in a really like more ideal way um because I I know that this has been a long-standing challenge of trying to figure out how to well before my time on
the school committee for many many many years. And so I just I think that it is such an important resource not only to the school district but really to our families and our communities and that there's been a tremendous amount of work put in. I also
think it's very complex and you know perhaps looking at exemplars um would be a really good place to start as we think about like what that would look like for our regional school district.
Thanks Jackie. I have a quick question for you guys about the survey. were you? So 71 is not a it's not everybody. Um I wonder
if you feel like we could collect the data in a in a better way or like why do you think we only had 71? I I think it's hard to answer why the pool was so small this time around. I
know that the idea has been floated to open the survey into um a much longer time period. So that this one was really only given 3 weeks um honestly to just kind of get it out there and give
families the opportunity and then quickly collect it and process data so that we could have something to present. I think that the more time and space we can give to this data collection is going to be much much richer for what we're able to get.
>> Okay. >> I do want to >> Oh, sorry. I want to recognize though that um that the um Kathy Terelli in uh the student services office really helped to send send it out several times. We did learn that. Um, so, so we
sent the we sent the link out and it was in the common. Um, but then she sent out kind of like an email blast, like just an email to to everyone and then when she repeated it a second time, we got like 20 more responses right away. >> So,
>> you know, I think that was very helpful, you know. >> Okay. But I I also think that if it was coming from again like the the school-based because sometimes I think not everyone looks at the common I but I think that they they know that their
school principal newsletter that's coming out that's going to have stuff that's really relative to them and we might get more of a response if it was there as well. But it's just hard for us to have to contact every principal, you
know, to and and that's what I'm kind of that's what I was talking about was just that to get more parent engagement, I really believe that we need more support at school-based level >> in order to to be able to reach the parents
>> in and then my other question is did you or are you able to with the current data or perhaps it's is something you do going forward. Can you pull it apart by age level? >> Yes. >> So, you did ask that question. >> Yeah.
>> Okay. Because I think that in my experience professionally that parent experience and and family experience really does differ from K to 12. >> Mhm. And so I think that going forward
in order to really understand what's happening we need a we need a bigger sample size. So we need to work on that and we need to help you guys do that. And then the other piece is we need to disagregate the data so that we can better understand the challenges at the different grade levels because special
education looks really different as kids get older >> um for better or worse. And um so that's just that's my two immediate things. But the other thing I would say is that I think we have a lot to work with with what you did gather. And I like what
Jackie is saying about putting this on the to-do list for the retreat this summer. So I thank you guys for bringing it all. >> Yeah. And I I do think that there's um because there's certain events that happen. So So say say a student was
evaluated uh for an initial IEP and they weren't they weren't found eligible. it would probably I think it would be beneficial to have a specific survey for that that event um you know to say did
you were you satisfied with with you know with the with the district's response with how did you feel like there was enough testing done you know like a little bit more to kind of find out how the process is working you know as as a whole I think there's beyond
just breaking it down by students I think that there's you several things. There's the annual IEP meeting. There's the, you know, three-year re-evaluation. I think there's a lot of different places that you could that we could work on and, you know, come up with good data
to help us to kind of figure out how the process is working. >> Yeah. Okay. All right. Well, if I'm not seeing any other golden hands, I really appreciate everybody's thoughtful time and in
hearing this and um we're definitely going to have this on the on the agenda at the summer retreat. And Pam, would you mind emailing that um presentation that you spoke to me? Would
you mind sending that to me? >> Sure, I can do that. No problem. That would be great. All right. Well, to our CPAC chairs, we thank you and um keep up the great work. We hope to live up to your expectations that you put down there and and um we'll
be in touch soon as soon as the new school committee kind of kicks back open. >> Thank you for the opportunity. >> All right, everybody. So, um, on that note, we're going to move the agenda to the next piece here, and that is a very
brief DearJ presentation. I know Robin, you're going to give us a little bit of an update on, uh, the trajectory here and, um, next steps. >> Yeah. So, um, Jay had put together their annual report and it's been shared with
all of you. Um we had chatted with the team about you know when we when should they present and so one of the things we had thought about is should we present at the end of the year or should we present early next year and inclusive of that participation next year they're
going to give us a tutorial on how to use the equity tool um I'm sorry the equitable decisionmaking tool and the feedback form and I know we've shared that a few times with the larger group here Um, and I know some of you have
actually used the tool in subcommittee meetings. So, the idea is for for next year just to continue to get that uh used more frequently amongst all of our subcommittee groups. Um, so anyway, so
again, you can go ahead and review their uh their presentation at your leisure, but I think the two things that we wanted to highlight and their accomplishments this year were the um, you know, the continued work on the decision-making tool and then also
creating that feedback form. Um because the you know the committee really does believe that it's a living breathing document and that you know as we do more within the school system and things change you know being open to feedback and having that tool kind of move along
as we needed to and change as we needed to uh over the coming years. And the other piece of their uh presentation was just sharing what their equity audit recommendations are. And you know in thinking about the summer session, you
know, I encourage everyone to read through what those recommendations are so that when we sit down to summer session, we can talk through those um and figure out how we want to implement them as we go into next school year as well. So just a huge thank you to the group,
the DRJ advisory group, uh, as a whole. I know they put in a lot of time and effort to, you know, have thoughtful, uh, give us thoughtful advice on the things we ask them to, uh, bring forward and, you know, it's just a great group
of folks and look forward to seeing what the next years brings. >> Excellent. >> Thanks so much, Robin. Thank you to dear Jay for that presentation in the materials. Uh this is again something that we revisit every summer. Um
advisories as you know need to be reauthorized every single year and that process can get underway. I would like to make this my official request or announcement calling for anyone who is interested in serving on DearJ in the
next school year to please send to me and copy Robin Pyma um an email that states your interest in serving on the advisory. We typically like to keep the number anywhere between 7 and 9. um making sure that we have
representation from all three towns and people with some amount of expertise in the area or professional experience. So, please send to me and Robin an email of your interest and why you would be a good fit for the uh continuing work of the DearJ advisory and then over the
summer uh we'll continue to kind of pour through this. Thanks, Robin. All right, everybody. So, we're going to move to our next item here in new business, and that is the school improvement plan wrap-up conversation. I am trying to keep my eye on the clock.
Even though all of this is so important, we do need to manage our time a little bit. So, um, Kirk, what is your expectation here just for time before you open it up? >> This is this is going to be inside a tight 10 for sure. Our principles are ready to go.
>> Okay. To our amazing principles, uh, I will let you guys take it away and do your thing. Yeah, I would like to uh uh bring forward our principles andor their representatives that are here tonight in no particular order because I'm working across the waffle here. Uh Mr.
Blanchard, Miss Copinger, Quinton Burks from Luther Burbank representing Son O'Hay, uh Dr. Buon. Uh I'm moving along, Miss Canton from Florence Sawyer School here for Mr. Bates as well with uh principal Kyle
Grady. And so I will just turn it over to the team and let our first speaker begin. >> Thank you so much, Superintendent Downing, and thank you, Madame Chair, and the members of the school committee. Um, if you want to pull up the slideshow, we want to start by taking
the opportunity to thank you for giving us a chance to share the progress that we have made towards our school improvement goals this year. Our team is incredibly proud of the hard work and the dedication that drove these achievements. In this evening's presentation, we will highlight our successes, identify our ongoing
challenges, and share the emerging questions that we're exploring as we look look towards the work ahead. On slide two, you'll see that our four shared goal areas, which have been consistent for the last three years across the schools, are communication, social emotional learning, professional learning communities, and safety
practices, procedures. Principal Boon, >> thank you very much, Principal Cop Copinger. Um these should look fairly familiar because I presented on these um relative to our NEAS priority areas at the last school committee meeting and our school improvement plan is required
to align with our NEAS priority area goals. So um our goal area one uh focused on student engagement and belonging and integration of the portrait of ana graduate competencies um more seamlessly within instruction assessment and school culture. Um and
that is aligned with NIA priority area three and those action steps are familiar from last time. Um, NRHS goal two to develop and implement a coherent fully enacted standards aligned curriculum, common assessments, authentic learning, equitable access to
programs and pathways is aligned with the ask priority area too. Alita, next slide, please. NRHS goal three creating equitable access to highlevel courses and robust tier one through three support and
instruction for all students that is aligned with NIASK priority area 4. And then our goal for uh building professional culture of collaboration through professional learning communities and redesigning our
schedule is aligned with MIASK priority area 5. and you can see those action steps that were shared at our last uh school committee meeting. And I will turn it over to Principal Blanchard. >> Thank you, Dr. Boon. Um so on this slide, uh these are some of the common
things that we're seeing across schools um organized into three different areas, shared strengths, shared challenges, and emerging questions. Um some of our strengths uh are commitment to equity and data informed instructional practices. um the ongoing development of
our PLC's and um collaborative cultures uh with an increasing uh mutual accountability. Uh some of the challenges that we've seen are um building distributed leadership within our PLC's, strengthening all staff's understanding of our MTSS framework. Um
and from that we get our emerging questions which include uh how do we create more opportunities for distributed leadership in our schools uh particularly within the PLC structures. Uh how do we help staff internalize the MTSS framework that has been developed so that it becomes more embedded within
our practice. Um and then uh another uh piece another emerging question that's probably um more aligned to specifically the elementary schools um that we've been thinking about is how do we align our uh SEAL instruction at the elementary level
and now I'll kick it over to uh principal Grady. >> Thank you Principal Blanchard. Um so what you can see in this slide is um it's a bit of a a look ahead um and some granular details from each of the
schools. Uh I think generally speaking what you um can see from this this update is that there's remarkable consistency and purpose across all the schools in Ashoba. Um and as my colleagues have have already stated um
we've had some tremendous gains in our improvement plans. Um I would say our our accomplishments are are noteworthy but not worthy of ausement. Um there's some genuine momentum building here in a number of different areas. Um uh
throughout the district and and also in each of our individual school improvement plans. Um, and I would I would say that um I think we all agree that while the while the road ahead is clear, um the journey for our schools is
is far from over and we still have a um quite a bit of work to do. Um and uh we'll be back, I believe, in the uh in the fall of next year to present our our next version of these school improvement plans. I'm not sure if there's um time for
discussion or questions. >> Yeah, that would be great. Thank you so much. I do appreciate you guys keeping us on the great road with your your thematic presentation there. That's fantastic. Um does the committee have any questions
about the road ahead or where we've been? Jackie, >> of course. Sorry. Um, so I have had the experience of going through
multiple school improvement plan presentations. And I think what I would love moving forward is more clarity on what are the specific goals like how are we
how are we actually measuring success? And the reason why I bring this up is because I think it was so it was back in November of 2024, we had talked about the school improvement plans and one of
the things that came up was when you're implementing MTSS, having like ready to go materials that are accessible to everybody in the district is so important. And I had asked about what curriculum we were using. Um, and I know
that I remember because I I wrote it down in my notes and I was very excited that um, Principal Bates had said um, that you were using Trails to Wellness. Um, but I think that from some of the things that I went back through to research looking at like the MTSS
handbook, then there's some embedded um, documents that I was able to look at. And what I guess what I want to ask is are we using consistent
materials that are accessible across the district? And then I if we're not really thinking about and I understand that this is like a massive undertaking when we are also at
the same time rolling out really rigorous academic goals, equity goals and I just had some this like basically this realization that what I thought I
knew I didn't know. I and I didn't know to ask. So that's one of the questions that I have is that is there a tier one SEAL shared curriculum across the school district at this time?
>> Uh Kirk, yeah, you want to take that first? >> Yeah, I will. And principles certainly join in. At the middle school level through our advisory, we have the trails curriculum uh that is utilized in Florence and that actually goes a little beyond just um the middle school grades
and the wayfinder curriculum is what we're growing exploring at Hail and Burbank I recall. Uh we don't have a unified uh curriculum across the elementaryaries. This is something we've talked about and that we're exploring and looking to do. as you know um you
you rightfully just pointed out Dr. Rinard that with competing agendas of lifting all of the goals that we have at the district. Yeah, it has been a challenge and in terms of coming to the time and the alignment which is why we
brought in best practices as our first step and why we worked with Dr. Larry Epstein for three years is in working and trying to build common best practices. And I think the next step is to start walking into a common curriculum across the schools and even
if it's not the exact same curriculum because we want we want buyin by our educators in each of our locations uh to make sure that we're dedicating time to that. So we feel good about how we're doing that in our middle school grades and we certainly need to expand upon that um in our elementary and high
school grades. I appreciate that. I I I think that moving forward, one of the things that would be helpful for the team to think about when they're setting a goal for school improvement
that there there are goals that feel very aspirational and then they may feel like we're achieving them on one day and not being as successful the next. And so I just would encourage um the team to
really think about that. And then also, you know, for families and for community members, people do not understand special education, they certainly are not going to really understand the nuances of RTI and MTSS. and that I
understand that that is a tremendous undertaking that I have like the most profound respect for our district for taking on and I really am eager to see more progress across all grades because
this it is the foundation right for all the other things that come after and that is not in any way to um minimize the tremendous amount of work. So, I I really appreciate that and um
and I thank you all for that. >> Dr. Riner, that gives me an opportunity just to share and I mentioned this a little bit at the last meeting. Um we are going to be working with a former special educator and former superintendent in Paul Zinny um who is going to be coming to do some training
with our leaders at our retreat next year and taking that series into in the in the into the into the fall uh with a very it's it's a specific focus on being a leader of special education. And as I mentioned before in a school system we
are all special educators. It's not just a pocket of people that work with students on IEPs. Every single employee is a special educator and we're going to be growing that practice. >> I love that notion. I'm going to go over to Principal Grady.
>> Uh thank you. I I'm just put my hand down. Sorry. um you know while while there is not maybe uniformity in all of the um evidence-based practices that we're using or the curriculums I I um I think we would all say that there is
absolutely unity in um the the different um ways we're addressing SEAL in the sense that all of our programs are rooted in some common themes based on the capital um um the um uh competencies
um that are embedded in, you know, whether it be trails uh program and and in the middle school level, we are um exploring maybe some hybrid versions. Uh there's some differences in our in the students before us and what their
needs are. um um we are at different places but you can see in our presentation and in um our past data that there's been a lift of SCCLC in all of our schools um and it's been a central focus whether it's a home base
or an advisory program um and I I know that just this summer there's um a number of my colleagues are running some um work with teaching and learning during our um summer academy to really revise and review the work that we're in
uh and with our advisories um to lift up next year a more robust version uh that um supports our students needs. But um like Superintendent Downing said, we we are in different places, but it is a a core and central uh pillar in uh our
four uh goals of our school improvement plan. >> Thanks so much, Kyle. Um, I know that at the last meeting we made a request of Kirk to bring the wrap-up surveys to our
summer retreat to help us understand because we had the midyear SEAL survey data and then we're hoping to also understand the end ofear survey data which is not yet ready. Kirk, do you are you guys collecting that data soon?
>> Yeah, we're in our benchmarking window. That's the That's specifically the um uh universal screeners. So, we're in we're wrapping up universal screeners, I think this week, Miss Friend. So, yeah, we'll be happy to report back on some of those uh at the retreat.
>> Yes. So, we're going to we're going to be able to look at that as well to to get an idea. I would say that um it's very difficult to build school improvement plans that are similar for the elementary schools, middle schools, and the high schools. I appreciate that
you guys are trying to create that through line. I think that the high school does the high school have PLC's yet? >> Not currently. We're organized by and that is um the plan to implement um next
year. >> Great. And so I think that you know we are in very different places. I think that there are some structural obstacles in place at this point in time that almost prevent those tier one programs
from being built out at a pace that we would want it to be built out. I'm sure all the educators would feel the same way. Time, time, time. So finding time to do this is is essential and we need to have the structures in place that
will allow us the time to build these things out because it does not happen magically. Educators need time. And so eliminating as many of the structural obstacles as we can is essential. And that's what I think this school committee really is
interested in, seeing happen sooner than later. So that the the groundwork that you've been laying with all the training can actually start touching the ground with the kids in a really really thoughtful and strategic way. especially
up into the high school where, you know, we're those kids are almost away from us and and we need to get at that. Um, anybody want the last word? Are we feeling okay with this? >> So, Madam Chair, if I can join in. First of all, just thanking all of our
principles and our assistant principles and our deans for coming this evening uh to participate and be a part of this. And the second piece is I is I hear that desire coming from the school committee. We'll want to be thoughtful in our agenda planning for next year because I think the kind of comprehensive
reporting that you're asking for can't be executed in a 10-minute presentation. It will require more expectations than thought. So, if that's the expectation that that is shifting for us, we're happy to meet that need. >> Thank you.
Um uh thank you to all the principles, the assistant principles. We appreciate the late night that you've dedicated here. Some of you are still at the office. Um we hope you guys get home and and have some dinner. So, thanks everybody.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right, everybody. So, um we have only a few things left here. We have about 15 minutes and I think that we can do it. We're going to jump back up to the superintendent's report and Kirk, can you, you know, shy of the social
media update, can you provide us with the rest? >> Yep, happy to do so. The next item is the ABC update number four. What you have in your meeting materials is a presentation that I had the opportunity to to listen to as a board member of the
ABC uh collaborative that outlines the budget for the 2627 school year. This is not a school district budget. This is the ABC budget. I'm uh essentially bringing it to you to show this is the work that happens in the collaborative. Um and I think we're in a positive
trajectory uh at the collaborative and you can note that in what the audited fund balance was in 2025 uh where there were some difficult uh times with bud in budgetary concerns in terms of declining uh um audited balances over the years. We're trending
in the right direction overall in the collaborative. Um and next I'll ask Mr. Karen to give us a brief update on uh the up an update on the food services contract. >> Uh thank you, Superintendent Downing, and thank you to the school committee for allowing us this time for a brief
update. Uh as the committee is aware, we did receive one response to our RFP for food service management. Uh yesterday the district administration and legal council met with leadership and members of the Nishoba Regional Educators Association to discuss the implementation and impact of the
potential contract. As stated at prior meetings, the contract would allow current employees to stay employees of the district unless they otherwise choose to work for the food service management company. We will be scheduling a follow-up meeting between the two parties uh to review information prior to a contract being put forward
before the school committee for potential action. Thank you. >> Next on our list is the assistant principal hiring update for center school. I know uh there's a summary there, but principal Carpenter has been
hosting two finalists uh this week and I look forward to bringing an announcement soon uh on our new assistant principal that'll be joining us in Stow at the center school. And last of all, uh there's a paragraph with our school choice update.
Um we uh collected uh all of our responses and we did conduct a few lotteryies uh this past Tuesday. Uh we were happy to have uh Mr. Bates come and also Miss Hanigan come as our witnesses. We actually even had a pair of
grandparents come uh and they were very happy to find out that their grandchild was actually not part of the lottery. Uh so so that was quite great. Um lovely folks. So um what I will begin with is
um um four students uh that uh we had to conduct a lottery three lotteryies. There were nine in third grade uh for the third for the third grade spots at Mary Rollinsson Elementary. Four students were selected and the remaining five were placed on a waiting list in
the order in which they were picked. There was one applicant each for fourth grade at Florence Sawyer and Center School. Both students have been awarded that seat. In grade six, all three applicants were accepted with one seat still remaining. Uh um uh excuse me, I
meant to say that was at Hail School. Um so a lottery is conducted for sixth grade at Luther Burbank Middle School for the eight applicants. Same thing. Four were awarded, four are on the wait list, and they will be given the option to fill the final seat in hail in order
of which they uh came. four students applied for seventh grade seats, two at Luther Burbank, two at Florence Sawyer School. So those students have been awarded their seats and uh finally uh we were able to award three seats to 11th and 12th grade anticipated students
and um in the ninth grade we had nine applicants and four were awarded seats. The committee did ask that I bring that number back once we had that prior to June 1st so that you can consider the question of if you should open up the
9th grade uh to nine seats um prior to the June 1st uh limitation that we have. I will share with the committee that with these four students that have been guaranteed a seat in school choice that puts us at an estimated level of 200 students. We have an estimated 196
coming with four more students. So, if you were elect to allow five more students to come in via school choice, we're well below uh what our self-imposed ceiling of 220 students for school choice would be. And so, with that, Madame Chair, uh this is an item
that you would have to vote on tonight uh considering that we need to do this prior to June 1st. >> Understood. And that is um down below in the agenda asking or prompting us to vote. Correct.
>> Uh yes. >> Yeah. >> That is in the unfinished business. >> Okay. Um guys, do you have any questions on the superintendent's report? Any aspect of it? Scott, did you did you want to ask a question? Nope. Okay, good to go. All
right, everybody. I'm going to allow the unfinished business to roll and we can talk about the school choice option when we get there. So, moving on to we are going to leaprog finance and operations. There's nothing new to report there as we already talked a little bit about um
things related. Let's go down now to the school committee goal reflection. And if you guys don't mind, I actually have the spreadsheet that I can share and we are going to power through this because we have chair people who are rolling off
the committee and we want to make sure that we have everything accounted for. So let's start with budget and warrant. Here you have our proposed 2024 2026 goal cycle and
um end of year reflection. Scott, do you want to just um kind of quickly summarize what you believe the committee has not only the subcommittee but the committee as a whole has accomplished? >> We didn't want to overwrite column H, so we put our commentary in column I.
>> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> This guy here. >> Yep. >> All right. Go for it. >> You want me to talk about it? >> Yeah, you can just give us a brief summary. Do we meet our goal? >> Um, we met some. We have some work to do
and others. That's kind of the short. >> That's a good short version. What which is which? >> Um, let's see. More work connecting the subcommittee actions and goals to the strategic plan going forward. So we kind of didn't we
didn't do we didn't do the best job of connecting our goals with the strategic plan. So we think we should do that better in the future. Um but many of the committee members do feel that they did their best to communicate with the township and reach out to the members of the community. So you know um that's
kind of where we're at. >> All right. Great. Um you know guys, this by the way is meant to inform us as we go forward. Uh the work is never done. So, we appreciate that feedback. Budget and warrant. Thank you. And then policy, what do you think? Um, Jackie, do you
want to give us an update on how you feel like we did? >> Yeah, I was actually just playing this up. I I feel like that we continue to to meet our goal. I think that continuing to also to
policy is often a reactive model. um we get updates and then make our changes. I do think that moving forward really being able to I think really be proactive. Um I think that some of those
conversations have already started this year um with Superintendent Downing and the policy subcommittee and so I would just encourage um future policy subcommittee chairs to have those conversations. Um
because not only do we want to meet Mass General law and make sure that our policies reflect our practice, we've had a lot of really good, rich conversations as a school committee around maintaining our voice as a district in
our policies. And so I think continuing to prioritize that moving forward will be very important. >> Excellent. Thanks. policy. Um, let's go to communication. Amy, do you want to lead us here? >> Sure. So, we we met our goals this year.
I think we did a really good job. We met with the student council twice, although I think, you know, going forward, we could do a better job of um thinking about the timing and the topics that we're giving the student council to work on and like making sure that they fall
within our purview. um so that the work that they're doing feels meaningful to them and impactful for everyone. Um we did a survey that informed a new website, a redesigned
website for the school committee. Um we thought going forward that that survey should be reissued every year. um just to gauge how the new website design is working for people and that the communication subcommittee should
be responsible for making sure the links are active and that it's still relevant. Um same with the school committee orientation manual that that should probably be checked on an alternating year basis or something agreed upon sometime schedule agreed upon by the
future committee. Um, but that should also stay within the communi communication subcommittee's responsibilities. Um, I also just want to point out that I linked some documents that our subcommittee put together for so that
they're not lost when committee membership changes. Um, so that's there for future committees and we made sure that the ownership of those documents stays with people who are staying on the committee since I'm >> Okay. >> I don't have access, but do you want it to be viewable to everybody or just the
committee people? >> Um, >> I just gave you access, Leah. >> Yeah, Shondor is the owner now, so you can you can fix that. >> All right. Thanks, Shandor. All right. Well done communication. Thank you very much for your work. Personnel, I know
that we haven't actually um done the hard work yet. That's next. But um what is your update for us, Robin? >> Um I think we did we did a good job this year. We got um 10 responses on the survey. So that was quite high. And um I
also think that the tool uh thanks to John and you know throwing out there that there's got to be an easier way. And thank you Leah for putting together the Google worksheet. Um, but when it, you know, all the feedback came in, it really was a nice tool to have. So,
>> you guys can already evaluation, but I think we did really well. >> I found it super I found it far easier to complete the evaluation this year because of the survey tool than ever before. >> Good. >> So, yeah, I agree. Great idea, John, and
the whole personnel committee. And Robin, you completed the composite. It's in the materials. That was a huge undertaking. Thank you for that as well. Can I ask you a loaded question? >> In the survey, in the survey results,
did you notice that whether it be Gemini, I don't know who was doing it, but did you notice an AI summary tool that was happening in the survey? >> Did you find it useful to kind of springboard from it? >> Yes, absolutely. And I did. Um I just I
but you had to read through it. Um it was a great summary but then so when you read it and then you went through and read the comments there was some word smithing that we did because it just needed to be done. So yes, huge
helpful launching point but definitely something that needs to be done in detail. >> Excellent. Um, okay. So, dear Jay, how did we do with this? Um, and Matt and Robin, you can jump in at
any point in time. I know that some of this stuff is outdated, but not completely. So, how did we do with meeting our goals here? >> I mean, I think what I saw for the last few uh meetings that I participated in is I think they they the team, the DRJ
team has built a really great tool. Um I think the frustration with that team now is that they need us to implement the use of the tool and so you know it's a it's a ongoing concern and a discussion point at every meeting is now that we've
built it why aren't you using it and providing feedback and I think that is one of the reasons why we want to start fresh with dear J coming in and presenting that tool and teaching us uh how to use the tool and the importance of the tool. so it resonates a little
bit more as we move into the next career. Um, and they've talked a bit about using that tool even beyond school committee if it's if people find it useful, how do we, you know, broaden it to the larger school community. So, um, excellent.
>> What I've been mostly involved in is that is the tool. >> All right, that's good good, uh, information. um negotiations is underway as you guys know and um
almost complete but unfortunately we're going to be having one of our subcommittee members from Lancaster roll off in our last conversation at the negotiations meeting. We did not think it was a good idea to pull a new person in. And so Matt and I will finish the job as Jackie
rolls off. and Jackie, we appreciate all of your energy and effort and time there. Um, Scott, what do you think about audit advisory? >> Oh, sorry. I wasn't prepared for that. >> That's okay. But I mean, you're presenting next. You have your group coming to present next week.
>> It's in two weeks. Um, >> or two weeks. Yeah. >> Yeah. We we just met today to come over the report. Um, I actually think we're it's a good group. I mean, it's it got off to a slow start this year, but it's actually make made good progress as far as um, you
know, adhering to the agreement and um, reviewing the work and I think it'll be with with the continuation of the same members next year, I think we'll be well positioned to have a really good year next year. Awesome. All right. This is uh good stuff to work
with as we go to set our goals for the next time. Not to mention all the other things I've taken notes on and the things we heard earlier today. But I think that the one thing that resonates with me is I think Scott said it that we really do need to have the strategic plan speak through these goals even more
as we go and and we and we try to deepen the work. So, more to come on that, >> Madam Chair. >> Yes, sir. >> If I can seize the opportunity for the school building committee. >> Oh, I'm sorry. That was not even on
here. >> We are on time and within budget. >> Oh, very good. >> The two important goals for a school building committee. On time, within budget. >> Yep. Agreed. >> Nine o'clock. >> Yeah. So, we have, you know, a very
important task yet to do. Can I get a thumbs up if everybody can give me 15 more minutes? You're the best. You're the bestest committee ever. Um, I know it's late, but let's do this because we have some important work left to do. It's really
um only a couple of unfinished business items here. And let's first talk about the superintendent summitive evaluation. And Robin, I'm going to let you kick this off. the material or the rather the document is in the meeting materials. So what can you tell us?
>> Yeah. So um the pool like I said before was excellent. Um it was, you know, uh Sharon and John and I got together and really uh it was it was quite clear, you know, once people put in their vote, you know, give you a nice pie chart of where
everybody kind of felt that uh the superintendent landed with the goal, the progress towards goals. Um you know, some of the results Sharon and John and I had to spend time kind of splitting hairs to figure out where we land. But I think as you go through the evaluation
um it it very much lines up with where Kirk has rated himself um in terms of progress towards goals. Um a lot of these you'll see uh in goals one and two well one through six. Um you'll either see significant progress has been made
and in a couple of occasions the goals have been met. Um, and we went through and tried to give, you know, having not done this before, trying to give little snippets of information that were gathered from the comments that people made. Um, and also recommendations if
there were any referenced in there as well. Um and then again it kind of steps for step two uh assessing performance to st on standards that kind of changes the scale to uh either unsatisfactory needs
improvement proficient or exemplary. And again you'll see in uh this feedback that you will either see that uh the committee believed that things were done proficiently or um if the performance was exemplary. And again, I don't know if you want me
to get in and kind of mine out all of these details. Probably not. Um, but the overall rating that we gave is exemplary. Um and again I think as you kind of look
back through the evaluation uh and Sharon and John please jump in as well but as we were looking at the goals that were completed and it it's made reference of it you know with other people's comments within the feedback as well is that a lot of these goals
may very likely be on the goals for the next year to two years right they are they are goals that are constantly in motion and even though they they haven't yet been met. There has been this great effort to achieve these goals and you know bring up the level of education
that the kids in our school system are getting. So you know even though you know things aren't saying met met you know there is just a ton of effort and a ton of time that has been put to make this significant progress towards these
goals. Um so that's why you know looking holistically at everything that's been put out um and the evidence that Kirk had provided we came at you know towards the to the end of the evaluation said you know we believe that that Kirk and
the full team have uh done an exemplary job over the course of the last two years. >> All right I thank you for that Robin uh useful information. I'm going to give it over to the committee now uh for any feedback because as you know guys the personal subcommittee does build the
composite evaluation for us that gets submitted to Desi. But if you have any um question marks or if you um think that something might be off base, now is the time for you to voice that. You can
also just like log um a note. You don't want to necessarily change anything in the composite, but you want to put something on the record. That's fair as well. So, I think I saw Scott's hand first. >> Yeah. Um, I I first I want to thank the personnel committee. I know this is no
easy task to pull this together and so I appreciate your efforts in pulling all this together. And I also want to say that, you know, I think Kirk is an excellent superintendent. He deserves all the praise in this document and it often times does an exemplary job in his
job performance. However, I don't understand how the overall performance comes out as exemplary when many of the subcategory ratings came out as proficient. So, the math just didn't add up to me as far as the overall rating is concerned.
>> Uh Sharon or Robin or John, do you want to speak to that at all? >> And I I will try to speak to that. Go right. I think that when you look at those in the that first section, those first six
goals, um those are not small goals, those are heavy lift goals. And if you are, we spent a lot of time going around and around about this. Um,
if you go by strictly by the data, then the data says the goals are what's that rating, Robin? That middle one? Significant. >> Um, and so that's where it landed. But we
also recognize that these are the goals, especially at this point um the goals that were easy and quick to achieve have been achieved. Um and the ones that we are working on now are the ones that are
very um they're meteor goals. They need time. They need um a whole system to be moving together. And that is um I don't know can somebody come up with a better word than heavy lift because that's the only
one I have right now. Um and so that is where we we landed on um some of those uh ratings coming in or as help me out significantly significant
progress >> significant progress. >> But overall the work that has been done is outstanding. It's exemplary because we recognize the level of effort and commitment that has gone into getting us
to the place where we are. And we um commend the superintendent on reaching getting us to this place. >> And I think what makes it confusing too is the change of language. Right? So the
first six goals you're looking at, you know, as I said before, you know, are you making, you know, significant progress? That's not asking for a proficient or an exemplary. Do you know what I mean? So >> I I think that's kind of one of the things we picked apart is
you know you yes there's more proficient than exemplaries in the second section of the of the report but in the first six goals that's to Sharon's point that significant progress made on the first six goals took exemplary work from Kirk
and his full team to get that progress like trying to kind of mesh the terms together I guess to make sense. Yeah, that makes sense. Any other feedback or questions, Amy?
>> Uh, yeah, I'm I'm trying to formulate my comment and um I think I had the same question as Scott. Um, and I like the way he worded it. While I agree that much of the work that Superintendent
Downing has done is exemplary, it just didn't like because I have such an analytical brain, it didn't line up with the the ratings above it. Um, I think for me one of the challenges for doing
the superintendent evaluation every year is that the goals are so um aspirational and um ambitious that I always struggle with
how to rate the superintendent because um they are goals that require many many years over a long term. to to meet. So I guess
going forward and and I think other committees have said this over the years there should be some consideration given to formulating goals that are structured more to like short-term goals and long-term goals because I think it would
make it easier for us to measure progress towards meeting things within the time frame that we're looking at the work that's Um my other comment is that I think
um a lot of the when you read the guidance on what category to to choose, a lot of it has to do with the evidence that's presented. And I think big as a general comment, we could do a better
job of asking for more specific evidence of demonstrating progress from each goal. But um I'll I'll vote I will be voting in favor of this um evaluation. And I I just want to say thank you to
Superintendent Downing for um the exemplary work that you've done over the years for Ineshoba Regional School District. I >> I'll give my opinion and say that I'm also going to be voting in favor of this. I do also think that the
superintendent and his team has done exemplary work. I will say this because I just want to put it on the record and this is for going forward. I hope if you guys can hear all the frogs outside. That's actually crazy. >> Um, I think that
a lot of the work that is being done at the top level is exemplary. There are still problems with it touching the ground and having students feel it and experience it. And so that's I think where we need to go next time.
Show me that kids are feeling this. show me that kids are experiencing the instructional strategies, the assessments that are varied, the um diversified instructional strategies. I need to see like the portfolio work, I
need to see that all students are getting that um that instruction on the ground. And so whereas the portfolio is so aspirational, it's so lofty, the portrait of a learner, all the things that we're doing with regard to that, there's still many students who don't
know what it is. And so how can we make sure that all of the exemplary work that is being done is actually penetrating through the many layers of our system all the way down to the kids. That's what I'm what I'm looking for next time.
But I am voting in favor of this because I think that um without Kirk and his team uh driving this district toward excellence and helping all of our educators prosper that we would be nowhere without
it. So I thank you guys. Any other comments? All right. I am going to make a motion to accept the composite evaluation as contained in the meeting materials. Do I have a second? >> Second it.
>> Thanks, Amy. Any further discussion? Let's go around the room. Myself, yes. Amy, >> yes. >> Jiren, yes. Robin, >> yes. >> John,
>> yes. Lindsay, >> yes. >> Scott, >> yes. >> Jackie, >> yes. Shandor, >> yes. >> And Matt, >> yes. >> All right, Alita, you can file it with
Desi. Thank you so much to the personnel subcommittee for all of that important work and to the superintendent's team as always. Uh, moving the agenda to the last item here and we have 60 seconds or less. Um, we have a school choice vote
to uh consider. Is there a motion to extend our freshman school choice offerings to the number of nine? >> I will move that. >> I'll second that. What discussion might there be?
All right. Um, so it looks like we might have uh be ready for a vote. So Amy, >> yes. >> I vote yes. Robin, >> yes. Jackie, >> yes. >> John Door, >> yes. >> Matt, >> yes.
>> Sharon, >> yes. Lindsay, >> yes. >> Scott, >> yes. >> And John, >> yes. >> I hope we just made five people's nights. >> Welcome to NOVA, people. It's a great
place to be. Um, so subcommittee report outs. I think we've already done that. items for the next agenda. There is no next agenda. Uh we will be finding some many of you at the organizational meeting on June 10th. But for one last
time, I want to say thank you so much to Jackie, John, and Amy. You guys are the best. Thanks for your service. I'm going to move to adjourn. Do I have a second? >> Second. No, you have to let Amy second
it. Oh, >> okay. Go ahead, Amy. Vice Chair Amy. Oh, >> I'll second that for the last time. >> All right. Um, so I'm going to take the vote. Amy, >> yes. And goodbye.
>> Jackie, yes. And thank you all. John, >> yes. And thank you. >> All right. I vote yes. Lindsay, >> yes. >> Scott, >> yes. Sharon, yes. Matt, >> yes.
>> Robin, >> yes. >> Did I get everyone? >> Uh, yes. >> Shandor, thank you. Shandor. Hey, uh, Amy, Jackie, and John, we all know where you live, so you can't escape us.
>> That sounded scary. >> Good job. Yeah, John, I know where you live. My school committee retirement I go. Goodbye. >> Cheers. >> Bye Amy. Bye Jackie. Bye John. Bye everybody.